#I hope you realize that those two things can coexist.

[taldigi]

You like Five Nights at Freddy's? I thought you hated horror?

Yes.

[psalacanthea]

Are we going to talk about how scary being the Inquisitor is for a Lavellan or…?

I mean, the more and more I have played this game, the more the Chantry shit is terrifying. Over and over again, you see painful and irrefutable evidence about the shit humans did to elves in the name of the Maker. The Exalted Plains is an obvious example.  (I consistently call it Dirthavaren you don’t like it fight me bitch) 

Like I think the entire fandom can agree on fuck that bitch sister Amity. The Chantry crusades destroyed what was left of the elves, destroyed them. Culture, body and spirit. Like be honest, there aren’t many Dalish clans left and each time a new game/book comes around, another one bites the dust. It’s so easy to lose your clan in Inquisiton and even easier to accidentally kill off Marethari’s. Hell, you can choose to kill Zathrian’s. 

The Dalish are dying out, any way you slice it.

Then suddenly a hole rips open in the sky and everybody thinks Lavellan did it. It destroys the Conclave…don’t tell me for one second that the humans didn’t immediately start developing an ‘elves and vengeance and antiMaker’ conspiracy theory. The ‘remain silent’ dialogue option in that first interaction isn’t a stoic ‘I don’t give a fuck’ to me, it’s more of a ‘whatever I say doesn’t matter I’m already dead’ for a Dalish Inquisitor. 

The true horror is knowing that they wont just kill you, they’ll call for a bloodbath on elves across Thedas.

“For the elves were guilty of the greatest sin, of turning from the Maker.”

You’ve damned them all and you can’t even remember how or why. For a First, it must be terrifying to realize even if you try to diplomatically talk your way out of it, they’ll never believe you. As a hunter or warrior, you know it’s hopeless. All you can do is throw yourself forward as the villain, claim that whatever happens you acted alone and take as many of these shems out with you as you can.  As a mage you know if they take pity on you, you’re condemned to their mage-slavery prisons.

“Whatever you think I did, I’m innocent!”

But then they believe you (barely, like thank the Creators the Lavellan clan taught you how to talk to humans civilly and not panic) but it’s basically a hostage situation. There’s one other elf with you and even if he’s not Dalish thank Mythal because shit you were scared and you’re still scared but at least it’s something. His name is ‘Pride’. You take it as a sign from the Creators that it’s not time to give up yet. Suledin, you think.

There is an orb, a weapon that caused this. Solas tells you it’s elven and your heart sinks.

“Eventually, the humans will find a way to blame elves…”

You become Inquisitor and things are a little better but the humans call you Herald of Andraste. You don’t believe in their Maker but none of them care. You know your clan would feel betrayed, think you’ve given up your gods. You haven’t of course but the terror is there…what if the gods think you’ve given up them? You talk to Cassandra and Leliana, trying to understand the human chantry and maybe figure out a way for your two beliefs to coexist. 

 But no.

You realize it wont help. Cassandra talks about spreading the Maker’s word to all corners of Thedas…you remember the lonely howls of the wolves across Dirthavaren. You know what ‘spreading the Makers word’ means. Leliana at least acknowledges what the Chantry did, but she dismisses it with words. All those lives and hopes and dreams dismissed with the words ‘that hate won’t just go away if you dissolve the Chantry’. You understand what she really means, though. 

She’s saying that the hate will never go away, not until the elves are just like humans. The Chantry will never stop.  She says she wants elves to be part of the chantry so they survive and you try not to taste bile in the back of your throat when you think of what that means.

“My father says humans are like weeds that choke out the grass…”’

Slowly, slowly, slowly...they consume you.

[habeascorpseus]

im curious, what do you consider ooc for grian? i agree w you completely but i would like to know 👁👁

ohoho *takes a BIG sip of my 5 hour energy and slams it on my bedside stool*

okay, so i HOPE this doesnt become a big old rant, because i really should sleep, but, the thing people misunderstand about him MOST, which therefore sort of branches into most other mischaracterizations i see with his character, is that he's not an asshole.

he's also not not an asshole.

here's what i mean: grian's moral compass is looser than a door without hinges, but his honor, and the honor of others, holds priority. in season 8 during the boatem prank war with big eyes, he aptly called his policy, "prank hard, clean up harder."

for the more innocuous offenses he commits, like pranks, and minor amounts murder, he will almost always feel bad and offer to help clean up if he feels like what he did is "too much." "too much" is dependent on circumstance, but most often it includes permanent loss of valubles- like armor, large amounts of resources, and hard to obtain items- which he will attempt to replace or make up for with helping the unfortunate recipient of his ill-fated prank with chores. "too much" also includes griefing and base editing whether it be accidental or on purpose- most notable examples being in season 7 when keralis discovered the "removing stuff from keralis' base" challenge, and rebuilding part of scar's base in season 8 after accidentally getting it blown up. if he feels like it's even partially his fault, he'll almost always offer to help fix the mess, even if he does complain about it the entire way though.

so he likes to fuck with people- he doesnt like permanent damage. that doesnt mean he doesnt occasionally want to cause permanent damage, such as in the life series, but he also often needs a reason to cause damage like losing lives or permadeath.

renchanting trap? scar wasn't doing his job properly as the only red life. tnt base trap? home no longer safe, revenge for pizza. killing jimmy and mumbo in last life? they provoked him and were reaping the consequences. killing bigb and ren in double life? they provoked him by (to his knowledge) being the cause of scar's death as a yellow life. no matter what death grian has personally called in the life series, either before or after it took place, you can find an instance of grian saying why he felt he needed to do it. and if the death is accidental, or accidental collateral damage, he tries to make up for it with his time and energy. (like with the physical objects.)

i see a lot of fics on ao3 with the tag "grian is an asshole in this one, sorry", and i dont normally read those, because those just leave a bad taste in my mouth- but i also see a lot of fics unintentionally write grian as more of a jerk because they forget he abides by honor. its not that grian isnt a murderer, its that he needs a reason to do it- or he'll excuse it after the fact with a reason. its not that grian isnt reckless with other people's lives, its that if he realizes the damage he causes is permanent he balks at doing it. its not that grian isnt an asshole, its that he likes to piss off people but wouldn't dream of purposefully damaging his friendships. grian, as a character, is defined by his willingness to push boundaries and his hesitance to cross the line. and far too often, people forget these two coexisting facts, and write grian as only being one or the other.

again, this is all mostly opinion and writing advice, and ive read fics where grian was ooc that i still enjoyed. but also sometimes you just look at a fandom and you're like "wow youre so valid but youre also wrong!" and occasionally i do be feeling that. in the end what matters is that the fic was fun to write, and the rant resulting from that is also fun to write. goodnight all,

[hwashotcheeto]

𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑵𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆

Park Seonghwa X gn!reader

Summary: After you fall ill, your loving boyfriend promises to take care of you

WC: 1.4k

Content: Fluffy sick fic! So fluffy! Cuddles, lil bit of crying, lots of comfort, Hwa being an overbearing partner

AN: I wrote this because a) I got COVID 😭 and b) because I love comfort/sick fics. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it, because oh, I got emotional writing it.

Moodboard credit again goes to my lovely @malldreamprincess . Thank you again sweetie 💜

Of all things you expected to wake up to, being sick definitely wasn't one of them. 

You stood in the kitchen, a hot drink in one hand to soothe your sore throat, and in your other hand, a COVID test. You stared at the little window, waiting to see if the other line would appear to tell you if you had caught the plague or not. 

And unfortunately, that second line appeared. 

As the revelation came over you, it seemed as if your body realized it had the cursed sickness the same minute you did, and all the symptoms came crashing into you at once. 

A frustrated groan leaves your lips as the body aches begin, like a vice gripping onto different parts of your body. You slam the test on the counter and go to sit down at the table. You take a sip of your drink, and right after, you're choking up phlegm and spitting it into the trash.

Then the headache hit, and you were done with the day before it even began. 

You put your cup down and held your head, feeling tears well up in your eyes. Your first day off from work in a week, and you somehow got sick. The irony of it all was the cruelest joke you could think of. 

Your boyfriend came into the kitchen, his eyes still half closed from sleep. You didn't get the chance to say anything before he saw the test. 

“This is what your sore throat was?” Seonghwa asked, his morning voice low and scratchy. You nodded and looked down at the table as you rubbed the tears out of your eyes. 

He caught the small movement and went over to you, putting his arm around your shoulders. Instinctively, you moved away from him, not wanting to get him sick. 

But when you looked at Seonghwa, he looked genuinely hurt. His eyes were heavy and his shoulders were down. 

“I don't want to get you sick,” you tried to explain, but Seonghwa was already walking up to you and pulling you against his chest, his arms around your waist. 

“If you were already showing symptoms yesterday, then you had it yesterday, and I've probably already got it.” 

He was right, but for some reason, the idea makes you tear up again and you lean into his neck, hugging him back. The cries and whimpers come a few seconds later. 

Seonghwa didn't say anything. He just held you tight, slowly rocking back and forth. 

And it felt good. You felt awful, sure, but it felt good to cry. To be held by your loving boyfriend, and to cry out your frustration. 

You and Seonghwa had made plans today. You were going to finally hang out for the first time in a while, doing cute couple things instead of coexisting. You were going to make breakfast together, then play video games, maybe watch some movies too. You two were even going to go out to dinner and spend some time out, just wandering the streets. 

And now you were sick and couldn't do all those things. The cries come out harder and you hug Seonghwa tighter. 

“I got you, jagiya,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to your forehead after. “I'm not going anywhere. I'll take care of you.” 

“But you'll get sick,” you tried to protest. 

“I don't care.” He put his hand on your cheek and tilted your head up, wiping your tears with his thumb. “I'll spend all day with you. And tomorrow, and the next day, for however long you're sick.

“Seonghwa, I can handle-” 

“Jagi, don't push me away.” His eyes changed then, back to that sadness when you moved away from him. “Please. I want to take care of you.” His hand moved to the back of your neck, cradling your head and neck in his palm. “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” you whispered, just before he pulled you in for a soft kiss, solidifying his promise and sealing his fate. 

At that moment, you considered yourself the luckiest person on the planet. To have someone who loved you so much, they'd throw caution to the wind just to stay with you while you were sick. Not because they had to care for you, because they wanted to. 

Seonghwa helped you dry your tears before he gave you another forehead kiss. “What do you want for breakfast? Say it, I’ll make it for you.” 

“I'm not very hungry,” you started, but Seonghwa cut you off. 

“You're going to eat breakfast. You need it, especially now that you're sick. Now what can I make you?” 

You can't help but smile. Your loving boyfriend has always been overbearing, like a mother, and you've always loved it. He took care of you better than anyone else, he was always there to get you food or water, help with chores, ask you how you were feeling. 

Sometimes, it's annoying, but it comes from a place of love. He wants you to be happy and healthy, because he truly loves you more than anything else. 

Even more than Star Wars and Lego. That's a lot of love. 

You stayed next to Seonghwa as he made you your requested breakfast. You boiled a pot of water to make yourself tea for your throat, upon Seonghwa's insistence. 

“I can just drink water.” 

“The tea will help, jagi, I promise.” 

Seonghwa made two plates of food, and you both went to eat on the couch. You were wrapped up in a blanket and pressed up against Seonghwa’s side. He had his arm around you, eating his food with one hand as he cuddled you. He still managed to finish before you, somehow.  

After breakfast, despite your protests, Seonghwa brought your dishes back to the kitchen. You were used to your boyfriend’s cleanliness, and honestly, you appreciated it. But today, you wanted his cuddles more than you wanted his perfectionism. 

When he came back, you made sure to hold him in place with your body weight. He noticed it and couldn't help but laugh. 

“I'm here, jagi, it's okay.” 

“You left me,” you whined, pressing your face into his shoulder. 

“For a minute.” 

“But you promised.” 

“I know, I promised, but I'm here now. For the rest of the day, I'll bring you with, okay?” 

You nodded this time, feeling the fatigue already creeping back up on you. Thankfully, Seonghwa had prepared for this, and already grabbed the Switch controllers. 

But before he began, he offered you some pain killers. “Here, I got these too.” 

You hadn't even noticed that he'd gotten them, but you gratefully took them with the tea. 

“You'd make an amazing nurse, you know,” you joked as you set the mug back down. You had your arms around his waist, your head against his chest, hugging him tight. 

Seonghwa smiled down at you as he draped his arm over you. “What do you mean? Aren't I already your nurse?” 

The two of you laughed together, but it was true. He was a nurse. Your personal, adorable, gorgeous, loving nurse. 

Seonghwa had started up Animal Crossing, despite him insisting that you two play something together. But you were content to watch him run around with his villagers and do chores. It's a simple game, but a relaxing one. 

“What's that one's name again?” You asked, pointing at a blue bunny wearing a letterman jacket off to the side of the screen. She was looking at a snow covered bush, holding a little basket. 

“Her?” Seonghwa asked, running up to her. “This is Sasha. Haven't I told you before?” 

He probably had, and you just weren't remembering correctly because of your sickness. 

“She reminds me of you.” 

“Yeah?” Seonghwa asked. 

“Yeah. Because you're a tokki.” 

He laughed, and you swear, it felt like the aches disappeared for a few seconds. 

The game was starting to put you to sleep. You'd wanted to stay awake a little while longer, but before you knew it, your eyes were falling shut again. Seonghwa didn't notice until he heard the soft snores coming from you. 

He looked down from the TV and smiled at you. Even when you were sick, with your face bright red from your oncoming fever, you were still his adorable love. 

He put the controller down for a second to pet your head, like you were a sleeping kitten. 

“Sleep well, nae sarang. I’m here for you.” 

Thank you for reading! Please reblog if you enjoyed! 💜

This is a work of fiction written by me. This does not represent the idol in any way. Any re-upload is not allowed and will be reported.

[thecameronchronicles]

Because I Can

TW: Smut. Language. 

SUMMARY: Your sole purpose on this night is to get back at Kiara Carrera, and you find the best way to do that is through JJ Maybank…

WORD COUNT: 1200

*Requested*

Anonymous asked:

Do you think you could do one with Loe and reader having beef with each other so one night after they argue at a party she decides to hook up with jj even though he’s a pouge and somehow she makes kie find out (not dark just reader trying to annoy kie) 🫶🏽

Because I Can

You and Kiara Carrera were oil and water. Unable to coexist without affecting the other and ruining the balance of your natural makeup. Where she would do this socially to you, demanding a room and undermining your opinions and comments, you would do so to her academically. To think you were once friends seemed like a distant world away as you had been embarrassed for the last time as she explained how she pitied you for being single for so long. The idea was a personal choice to focus on school as you knew high-school relationships were doomed to fail, and those that were committed to longevity did not seem to exist within the confines of your senior year. So you found yourself on a search for the one thing that could not only prove her wrong, but get under her skin in such a way that she would wear the scowl and heartache you had right now. And you would find this in JJ Maybank. 

The life of each and every party, more pogue than kook, even if he wouldn't oppose to the taste of the sweet life if offered, and that was just what you intended to give him. 

"Got anything a bit stronger?" You asked beneath a purposeful batting of your lashes as he would do a double take at the fact you were paying him this seduction. Even if he had a wide range of lovers ranging from all social classes, the fact you were a natural enemy to one of his closest friends made him feel as if he was playing with fire. But he was a rebel through and through, and you were on a mission for the night. 

"Whatcha have in mind, princess?" 

"Got any whiskey?" His brows shot up before nodding as you let him lead you into the chateau, focusing on the nearly bare cabinets housing stale chips and nearly expired but unopened pantry staples. 

"Ah ha!" He cried out in victory, blowing dust off of the bottle as you both chuckled and he unscrewed the lid. Sniffing it for a moment, he offered it towards you. 

"Do you want it on some ice or-" You took the neck of the bottle, downing at least two shots worth before returning it to him. 

"Damn, sweetheart, didn't realize you could drink like that..." 

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, JJ..." 

"Oh really?" He began to flirt back, taking a swig from the bottle itself as you looked to the party before returning your focus to him, just hoping Kiara would "happen" to find you. Of course there were ways of making that happen. 

"Give me your phone." 

He obliged as you turned the screen to selfie mode before taking a snapshot of you two together, bottle separating you from a kiss on either side, a playful moment that could have resulted in something romantic if the neck of the bottle was a centimeter to the left or right. But it was perfect. Innocuous enough on the line of flirtation just to piss her off. 

"What are you doing?" He asked as you tapped away on his screen. 

"Putting my phone number in...For when I need the good booze." He nodded, indifferent and oblivious to your true intentions as you had actually sent a text to Kiara. 

"Whiskey and good company." Was all you titled beneath it as you grinned proudly before slipping his phone back in his pocket, teasing his lips, and pulling the bottle back to your mouth. 

It would take only a handful of minutes before you could hear Sarah call after her to calm down. Luckily, JJ was too distracted by the effects of the liquor and your attention to notice the arrival of his friend's anger just beyond the horizon. For this, you were able to take the moment up a notch as you had a split second to react. 

"So are you going to make a move or are you waiting for some literal sign to hit you in the face?" He didn't hesitate before crashing his lips to yours. 

Marijuana and alcohol mixing in a perfect entanglement of his vices as he pushed you against the kitchen counter. With his hands on your hips, you would guide yourself onto its surface until you were wrapped around him, managing to become breathlessly invested into one another before your fingers pulled through his hair, a tongue drawing his from behind his full lips, as you moaned against him. 

"Which room can we use?" You asked boldly as he bit his bottom lip before lifting you into the closest bedroom, the door closing in the nick of time before Kiara would make her way inside. 

"Slow down there, sweetheart-" 

"You don't want to?" You asked as he had stopped you from discarding his belt, pausing for only a moment, before you took him to the bed. Removing his shirt to marvel at his figure, you were taken in a kiss before he copied the motion to your own. A series of playful kisses and your role as dominant would take your fingers through the loops of his cargo shorts, pulling him on top of you. 

"You seem to know what you want..." He explained with a smirk as you nodded. 

"Problem, Maybank?" 

"Just that it hasn't happened sooner..." He kissed into your neck and down your chest, your hands pulling him from the attempt he made for oral pleasure. This wasn't romantic or sweet. It was a fun and quick hook up, a sweetener to the way you knew it would make Kiara's blood boil. But if you were being honest, he was one hell of a distraction as you found yourself melting to his touch, dissolving as your clothes became shed, and all that remained had been the vulnerabilities of your bodies. 

Using his teeth to tear a condom before leading it to his shaft, you waited patiently, offering a sweet smile before guiding him in to you. The second his cock made its way inside of you his hands were on your breasts, as if this gave him some sort of pass to fondle your skin. And he would do so with eagerness and compassion as he assessed what you enjoyed most before committing to that. He did this with his touch, his kiss, and his stride, until you were warning him of your release, to which he mirrored the threat of his own. 

"Oh my God, princess, I'm gonna-" You wrapped your arms around his, pulling him deeper. 

"Come with me, JJ...please...oh my...JJ!" 

There was an awkwardness as you lay beside one another, barely more than friends, and having brought an irreversible pleasure to one another. But as both of you knew well, it was worse the longer you remained. And so, you dressed quickly, before making your way out of the bedroom to find her glaring at the door. 

"What the fuck, JJ?!" She scolded, throwing up her arms as he looked between the two of you in consideration. But no matter the reputation JJ had, he was loyal to a fault. Pogues for life, which meant you were apologized to before he ultimately ran after Kiara. But that was fine. You got what you came for…

Taglist: @hopebaker @iovdrew @penny4yourthoughts @magnificantmermaid @pickingviolets @lovedetlost @trikigirl271 @maybankslover @slut4starkey @slvtherinseeker @obxiskewl @obxxrxfes @bluesongbird @slut-era @ailee-celeste @rafesbae @pankhoeforlife

[canonicallyobserving911]

9-1-1 Season 6 - Constructive Criticisms #7

Stereotypes in Season 6

Stereotypes have negative connotations due to the way they unfairly characterize a person, a group of people or a thing and unfortunately 9-1-1’s season 6 was filled with them.  Both the definition and modern meaning of stereotype shed light on why the word is negative and they illustrate the different ways people interpret them. According to Dictionary.com, stereotype is “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing”.  A modern definition is “Stereotype is most frequently now employed to refer to an often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary.com).

While there were a lot of stereotypes included in several episodes of season 6, the reason for their inclusion is still unclear.  It’s possible some of them were unintentionally included but that can’t be the case for all of them since widely recognized stereotypes associated with men, women, ethnicities, race, nationalities and the workplace have been common knowledge for decades. Both main and recurring characters were portrayed in a way that stereotyped them and the vast majority of those stereotypes weren’t subtle.  Some of the stereotypes that are included in this post were easier to identify when the entire season was viewed as a whole instead of just viewing individual episodes.  Also, some of them were blatant and egregious and could be identified simply by the act itself and/or the portrayal of it.

Before proceeding below the cut, it’s imperative to note that everyone’s interpretation and identification of a form of media can be different since beliefs, choices, experiences and ideals differ.  All sorts of factors contribute to a person’s point of view along with their differing perspectives about a situation therefore, some people may not view the situations identified as stereotypes in season 6 in the same manner as someone else.

Full Disclosure:  As a woman of color, I struggled with the decision to post this “Constructive Criticisms” and I debated about it for several weeks because I hoped the things I identified as stereotypes were isolated incidents.  However, after I analyzed the season in its entirety instead of noting a singular stereotype that was included in an individual episode, I realized there were too many stereotypes included for this topic to be ignored. While it’s unclear if they were intentionally or unintentionally added into the season, my decision to post about them came down to me knowing I wouldn’t have been able to provide a clear, concise and objective point of view of season 6 overall if I would have excluded it.

My seventh set of “constructive criticisms” regarding stereotypes in season 6 are included below the cut.  Please note criticizing a TV show is NOT a bad thing especially since TV critics have been doing it for decades.  Constructive criticisms are designed to help make something better and they are VERY different from negativity.  A person can offer criticisms about a form of entertainment they spend their time watching and not be negative about it the same way two people can agree to disagree on a topic. Just because one person liked the season, they shouldn’t expect others to feel the way they do because everyone has their own opinions.  Simply put, two people can have different opinions about 9-1-1 and those opinions can COEXIST since they are not mutually exclusive.

If reading criticisms about the TV show 9-1-1 upsets you, then don’t read below the cut.

             Warning! ⚠️“Constructive Criticisms” Ahead!⚠️

In previous seasons, 9-1-1 episodes were balanced and they usually provided well-rounded viewpoints. An example of this included the way they showed a single father who left his toxic parents in El Paso, TX to relocate to Los Angeles for a better life for him and his son. Another example included a woman who overcame all the odds within the workplace when she successfully became a firefighter and a paramedic.

But something changed in season 4 and the well-rounded viewpoints became more singular in nature.  It almost seemed like one person or a small group of people started pushing an agenda that focused solely on their own beliefs, choices, experiences and ideals. Then they implemented them into the show in a way to make their beliefs appear to be the “best” and “only” way things should be done. Their ideologies were heavily included in season 6 to the point where they appeared in the form of stereotypes with underlying tones of biases and racism.  To illustrate this point, several stereotypes have been identified below and the topics included revolve around stereotypes for people with a single marital status, toxic parenting, men, women and the workplace.

Single marital status stereotypes

The stereotypes used to portray main characters who were single in season 6 was not only atrocious; they were simply just flat out WRONG and FALSE.  Contrary to popular belief, all single people aren’t lonely and every single person isn’t dying to get married or be in a relationship. However, 9-1-1 chose to depict Buck and Eddie as two lonely hot guys who don’t want to be alone but since the people in charge projected their own warped sense of beliefs, ideals and experiences, into Buck and Eddie’s storylines, they stuck them with one-dimensional women yet again who’ll suffer the same fate as their season 4 and season 5 counterparts.

Also, Eddie’s a hot single dad but they had Bobby and Pepa diminish the idea of him being enough as a single father by pushing him to date. This is a stereotype that has plagued single parents for decades. Eddie told Pepa he wasn’t ready but she pushed him the same way his mother pushes him so he would admit he didn’t want to end up ALONE. But the fact is HE WON’T BE, BECAUSE HE’S NOT ALONE SINCE HE HAS BUCK.  They went on a date in 6x13 so who knows what that whole storyline for Eddie was supposed to be in 6x14.

The stereotype that single parents can’t be happy was ridiculous especially since some people want to be single parents. Then there are others who become single parents when their spouses die or leave and in those instances it’s not by choice. Furthermore, some single parents don’t want to date until their children are grown because they don’t want to introduce their kids to someone new or they don’t want to run the risk of introducing their children to someone who’s weird.

It’s possible Marisol may not be weird but the way her character was portrayed in 6x5 was interesting since it appeared she may be in love with her brother so to stick her in the end of the season and to pair her with Eddie was RIDICULOUS.  Also, if the point was to put Eddie with a Latina instead of a woman from another race or ethnicity, then the show contradicted itself when they “haloed” Shannon in 6x15 only to validate Pepa’s comment about her being an outsider in 2x4 after she pushed him to date a Latina named Vanessa in 6x14. The show can’t have it both ways, so they have to decide who’s better for Eddie. Is it someone like Shannon or someone like Vanessa?   These decisions beg the question of who greenlit this? Did they even look at the previous episodes so they would know this didn’t make any sense at all?

The stereotype that hot guys like Buck can’t be single and happy was FOOLERY of epic proportions because Buck needs to figure himself out and he can’t do that if women keep being thrown at him like javelins. He was trying to work on himself but for some reason another woman who DOESN’T KNOW HIM was thrown at him in the final episodes of the season because someone believes a hot guy can’t be alone, so they want to keep him looking like a HIMBO when he’s clearly not that especially when he’s a HUSBAND whenever he’s with Eddie.

Also, it may be possible Natalia isn’t weird either but her fetishizing about Buck’s death was GROSS and she should have been left at Marie’s live funeral where Buck met her.

Toxic Parents

The stereotype that every person needs to make a mend with their parents even if they were toxic was STUPID and UNREALISTIC.  All parents aren’t good parents and just because one person chooses to forgive and forget, it doesn’t mean everyone should. The fact is some people shouldn’t be parents and their actions prove it so it would be better if 9-1-1 shows one or two of their main characters cutting their toxic parents off especially when they haven’t earned or deserved a redemption (Part #3 of this series already addressed this topic.)

The biased undertones of the Buckley parents being forgiven by their son who they treated like he was nothing for years was BAD on so many levels. All the Buckleys were shown doing in 6x10 and 6x11 was buying him a couch and they finally went to see him in the hospital after he died but they weren’t held accountable for everything they spent 29 years of his life doing. They lied to him and based on their reaction to his sperm donation in 6x10, it’s likely they’re still lying to him.  

Also, the underlying biases that plagued Sang and Chimney’s father son relationship was HORRIFIC and to have Albert’s mother, who doesn’t know anything about Chimney except for whatever Sang and Albert told her, speak up on Sang’s behalf and tell Chimney he’s prideful just like his dad was even more ridiculous than Buck forgiving the Buckley parents. She didn’t know what she was talking about so she should take several seats and Sang should have been the one to talk to Chimney instead of her.  If Sang and Chimney had a conversation off-screen, then that’s a perfect example of why 9-1-1 needs a new showrunner.

Men stereotypes

Throughout season 6, for reasons known only to the people in charge of decision making for the show, stereotypes were included for men of all races, ethnicities and ages and some of those stereotypes were filled with undertones of racism and biases.

Fathers of color and stereotypes

Most fathers of color were incorrectly depicted and the majority of them had storylines and comments made about them that were stereotypical and untrue.

Eddie Diaz

Eddie was portrayed as an ANGRY dad in 6x11 who would have lost his son if it hadn’t been for Buck but THIS WAS THE MOST EGREGIOUS AND NEGATIVE STEREOTYPE with racial undertones that was associated with a main character of color who’s also a father in the history of 9-1-1. Eddie was labeled as an ANGRY Latino because he participated in a fight club in season 3 but here’s a quick reminder, a white woman introduced him to it but she wasn’t categorized as angry so what was the goal for them to use that word in 6x11 to describe Eddie?  His fight club storyline was used to define his entire character and I call BS because Eddie is NOT ANGRY.  So, WTF was that?

EDDIE DIAZ IS A GREAT DAD and Buck was the first one to say it in 2x4.  So, how did Eddie go from being a great dad to an angry one? He’s done nothing but sacrifice for Christopher while he went without. He left El Paso when Chris was 7 years old to give him a better life and he quit the 118 in 5x10 when Chris was afraid Eddie might die so WTH was this show trying to accomplish with that BS description of him in 6x11?  There’s no way Eddie would have allowed his parents to take his son away from him especially when he LEFT El Paso to get away from them. The fact is he would have stopped being a firefighter if it meant he could lose Christopher to his controlling mother Helena.  Eddie’s character was completely ASSASINATED with one word and for viewers who didn’t or haven’t seen him in seasons 2-5, they’ll always associate his character with the word ANGRY. Then to top off that egregious comment about him, the implication that Buck was the “white savior” who stepped in at the last minute to help even though Eddie would have moved hell and highwater to keep Chris was even more BS. (This topic will be expounded on in a future constructive criticism post.)

Nathaniel Green

Nathaniel was portrayed as an incompetent liar from 6x9 through 6x13 who didn’t tell Denny’s mothers he was spending time with him. He was a standup guy in 2x5 when he told Hen and Karen, he would follow their lead only for the show to turn him into a stereotypical black biological dad who lies and hides things from the child’s mothers and it was filled with racial undertones.  He was shown to be irresponsible when he listened to Denny instead of being responsible and contacting his parents the minute Denny showed up on his doorstep.  This is a problem because Denny showed up at some dude’s house and there’s no way he could have been 100% sure Nathaniel was his dad without having met him first.  In 6x9 it was implied that Denny didn’t show up at the right man’s house because Nathaniel’s face wasn’t shown.  No one knew who Denny was running around with for over four months until Hen and Karen found out in 6x13 so what was the goal of this storyline?  Also, IIRC in 2x5, Eva told Hen and Karen she used to do drugs with Nathaniel and they met in rehab so how was anyone supposed to know he was still clean and sober?

Furthermore, with the current state of the world, Denny being taken and picked up from school and going to the park with some RANDOM DUDE WAS NOT OK. Why was this storyline even allowed to play out like this especially after 6x3 aired?  This was done in BAD TASTE and someone should have said something about it.  For all Denny knew this man could have been someone else and the way Hen found out was asinine. What if she hadn’t been at the hospital that day? This was one of the WORST storylines ever and it should have been addressed by someone who understands the dangers of children riding around in cars with strangers and showing up at their homes unannounced. Denny could have been kidnapped or anything. Has the showrunner ever heard of STRANGER DANGER? Apparently not since she greenlit this BS storyline.

Noah

Noah’s stepfather was portrayed as a thief who used his stepson to get information so he could burglarize homes.  Noah is black and one of the two home invasion guys was black too, so by process of elimination, the probability the black home invader was Noah’s stepdad is 50%. If he was then this was stereotypical with racism mixed in because his stepfather was portrayed as a stereotypical black man who was willing to do anything to get money including use his stepson who put his job and his freedom at risk.  Noah got arrested and probably went to jail so tell the audience again who greenlit this storyline and who believed it was a good idea?

Connor

Full disclosure: I never liked Connor because he manipulated Buck to get his sperm but the way his character was portrayed in 6x12, 6x17 and 6x18 turned him into a stereotypical deadbeat dad.  In 6x12 he was shown like he was preparing to run away from his responsibilities which has been a stereotype that’s plagued the black community for decades and it’s contrary to what some people think since all black dads aren’t like that.  There are some black fathers who adopt and raise children who aren’t biologically their’s all the time. The character was written in 6B like he didn’t know what he signed up for in 6x4 when he asked Buck for his sperm but it’s possible the storyline wasn’t initially supposed to play out this way. If it wasn’t then someone thought it was a good idea to turn another black father into a deadbeat who didn’t want to take care of his child.  It seems like this was another case of someone projecting their personal belief system onto a character.

Sang Han

Full disclosure: I’m not a fan of Sang Han because of the way he treated Chimney and the difference he made between his two sons. However, he was portrayed as a prideful, arrogant, traditional, out of touch with reality man who spued derogatory comments about a man raising another man’s child being unnatural and it was an OXYMORONIC statement. Why was he the one chosen to say that especially when his own son was raised by another man?  Mr. Lee raised Chimney after Sang abandoned him so WTF was this storyline even supposed to be?

Stereotypes based on nationality and/or ethnicity

Chimney Han

Chimney being told he was prideful by Albert’s mother was so far from the truth that it would be funny if it wasn’t implied to be accurate.  Chimney has never been shown to be prideful, so this was a stereotype based on his nationality/heritage and that makes it even worse.

Ravi Panikkar

Ravi was stereotypically depicted as a Gen Z influencer who wants nothing more than to get money by being a landlord.  Once again someone who makes decisions for the show is out of touch with the current state of the world especially with regards to the increasing rate of renters being evicted from their homes and apartments. It begs the question of why Ravi couldn’t have been shown investing in Cryptocurrency or something other than real estate?  This was another egregious example of a stereotype with bias and racial undertones.

White men stereotypes

Evan Buckley

Buck always being portrayed as the “muscular, blonde haired, blue eyed HIMBO” that all the women want is a stereotype that needs to end. Contrary to popular belief, every person out there looking for a hot guy is NOT looking for one who looks like Buck because some people prefer Eddie while others might prefer Chimney, Bobby or Ravi. This constant pushing of Buck being the only guy on the show that women want is TIRED and it needs to change in season 7. All of the men on this show are handsome so please put the spotlight on Eddie, Bobby, Chimney or Ravi next season.  

Women stereotypes

There were a lot of stereotypes associated with women on the show in season 6 too and some of them were just as egregious and blatant if not worse than those included for the men.

Women of color

Women of color were incorrectly depicted several times in season 6 based on stereotypes but it’s unclear if these instances were intentional.

Lottery tickets

Two black women, Athena Grant and Hen Wilson, being shown scratching off lottery tickets in 6x8 was a stereotype. Playing the lottery has been a negative stereotype that has plagued minority communities for years so if the show wanted someone to play the lottery, they should have chosen other main characters to do it if it was really about someone’s fantasy. Why was this even included in the episode?  Maddie and Buck could have done it especially since Maddie suggested Buck buy a lottery ticket in 6x11 after he woke up from his coma.  Since Athena and Hen didn’t win the lottery, the scene was unnecessary and shouldn’t have been included in the episode.

Hen Wilson

It was implied with the emergency in 6x16 that Hen was a stereotypical black woman who says negative things that make her friends and co-workers uncomfortable. Typically, the emergencies included in an episode coincide with the main characters’ storylines and in 6x16 the black lady in the emergency who had the tonsil stones was connected to Hen’s character since something egregious and unkind came out of their mouths. This was a stereotype that could have been easily overlooked if it hadn’t been for the “something stinks” theme included in the episode. Reminder, Hen told Chimney he shouldn’t get married in front of the 118 and she argued with Buck about Chimney figuring out for himself if he wanted to propose to Maddie. The black lady in the emergency told Chimney he was important too while they were in the ambulance so was it the show’s intention to include those racial undertones?  Only the people in charge know the answer but it wasn’t lost in translation like someone thought it would be.

Women – general stereotypes

The stereotype that all women, no matter their age, race or nationality want a man like Buck to rescue them is also TIRED and needs to stop because it’s not true (see above).

Maddie Buckley

It was implied Maddie makes more money than Chimney in 6x15 when she said she pays more than half the expenses and reminder this was after 6x10 when she asked him if he was still bothered by them borrowing the money for their down payment from her parents. This was a stereotype about how some women who make more money than their significant others, mention it at the most inopportune times. The point of her comment wasn’t addressed but a quick look on Salary.com clearly shows a Los Angeles dispatcher’s salary is about 55K per year while a Los Angeles firefighter’s salary ranges from 79K to 113K.  Also, Chimney’s been a firefighter for a long time which means his fictitious salary could be closer to 150K while Maddie’s only been a dispatcher for 4 years (reminder she quit at the end of season 4 and she didn’t return until the end of season 5) and the money she got from Doug’s estate is gone because she said she spent it all in Boston. Did anyone think to check Salary.com about this before Maddie’s comment was included in that episode?   Also, what was the purpose of this stereotypical statement?  Was it to show the audience Chimney isn’t paying his fair share? An answer to that question will have to wait until season 7 if it’s even addressed again.

Rhonda Fitzsimmons

Better known as “Crazy Carol the Coupon Lady” in 6x13 was portrayed as someone who stays home and swindles money from unsuspecting citizens who want to save money by using coupons. Who greenlit this storyline because it played right into four stereotypes, i.e., (1) a white woman who swindles people out of money, (2) a white woman who stole a black woman’s identify to do it, (3) a pushy white woman who invited herself into Maddie’s home without being told she could enter and (4) a woman who used her nephew to get what she wanted instead of doing the right thing?

Workplace stereotypes

The manager, director or leader knows best stereotype is another TIRED trope that should end. Bobby not talking to Hen about the interim captain slot in 6x1 because he assumed she was too busy to do it was ridiculous. Him not telling Chimney the real reason he was sending him to the academy in 6x14 was another blatant misstep. Him deciding to promote Lucy in 6x1 even though she was shown to be incompetent in 5x14 was egregious especially for viewers who actually have to report to incompetent managers who don’t know how to do the job but were promoted solely because they have the years of experience. Instead of Bobby talking to Buck about his PT scores, he just marked them as outstanding in 6x14 until Buck called him out on it.  Eddie listening to Bobby’s advice in 6x14 and 6x17 regarding his personal life for him to misunderstand it was redundant.  Maybe if Bobby got some storylines that actually pertained to his role as Fire Captain of the 118 instead of him being a private investigator these things wouldn’t happen. Let him talk to and have meetings with other captains or here's an idea, show Bobby talking to Chief Alonzo or the LAFD department leaders because it’s actually part of his responsibilities.

It appears whoever was in charge of the direction of characters’ storylines, projected their own ideals, beliefs, choices and experiences onto the characters because they felt like everyone in the world should do things the way they do them or they want people to make the types of choices they make.  For example, the attempted normalization of characters like Maddie, Buck and Chimney accepting their toxic parents appeared to have been someone’s twisted idea of the things everyone else should do because they probably did it. It would have made more narrative sense to show Maddie and Buck cutting the Buckleys off and Chimney having a real conversation with his dad instead of Albert’s mother explaining away Sang’s bad behavior.

Hopefully these stereotypes weren’t intentionally included in season 6 especially since 9-1-1 previously highlighted the way their characters overcame those types of ideals, beliefs and experiences. They’ve always been about groundbreaking television with showing different perspectives and different sides of situations.  Prior to season 4, there were many examples of main characters overcoming difficult situations and THEY DID NOT follow the typical path to move forward from their experiences.  Maddie and Bobby provide two examples of this.  In season 2, Maddie had been abused by her husband and she was shown to overcome it by leaving him.  When Doug found her, she fought for her life and went to therapy afterwards to deal with her trauma.  Bobby lost his entire family in an apartment fire in Minnesota before he moved to L.A. He had a plan to commit suicide after he would have saved the number of people that were lost in that fire but he talked with his priest on a weekly basis to work towards healing from his trauma. Also, after he told Chimney about his plan, Chimney was the one who saved Bobby (NOT BUCK because contrary to Buck’s twisted memories in his coma dream, he didn’t fix Bobby) when he found a couple whose baby was saved after receiving a blood transfusion of Bobby’s blood. He’s still dealing with his trauma and so is Maddie but they were shown to overcome them and they’re moving forward.  9-1-1 was a top-rated show back then but now they just aren’t and it’s mainly because the ideals, beliefs, choices and experiences they’re presenting appear to be from one person’s point of view.

If the goal is to be groundbreaking again, they’ll have to get rid of these stereotypical storylines and push the envelope by showing the main characters doing something other than what every other TV shows’ characters are doing. It’s unclear if these decisions are being made by the showrunner or if they were being pushed to make them by the network.  If it was the latter, hopefully the move to ABC will change this otherwise it’ll end up being just like the other shows that are on their last legs holding on to a few viewers because people are tired and they want to see realistic television not redundant storytelling.

These are my criticisms regarding stereotypes and “Constructive Criticisms” #8 will be posted on Monday, July 17, 2023.

I have a total of 15 CANON “Constructive Criticisms” (8 remaining) and my goal is to have all of them posted by Monday, August 28, 2023.  The topics are being posted in a specific order that begins with the overall issues for season 6 so they can be referenced within the posts about individual characters and ships that will follow them.

[the-sky-the-stars-the-sea]

So I’m again on my Once Upon A Time rewatch and I just finished watching season 4, and y’all, this season is sooooo chaotic. And so freaking funny.

Like:

Introducing Frozen but no one in Storybrooke knows anything about Frozen

Elsa almosts kills Emma in the ice castle and instantly feels bad about it

RUMPLE AND BELLE HAVE A BEAUTY AND THE BEAST MOMENT AND IT’S BEAUTIFUL

trying to find the author of a magical storybook

“I knew there was a good reason why you kept me locked in there for all those years, waiting for the time you needed me most.”

Regina puts Sydney back in the mirror

Anna meets Charming who has long hair

“I’m not bossy, I’m the queen.”

Basically any time Kristoff and Elsa are on screen together

The Snow Queen and Elsa coexisting AND ARE RELATED

Sooo many moments that are references to the original Frozen movie scattered throughout the Arendelle plot making it feel like one big inside joke that we are let it on

“You’re the mayor now.” “I am?”

“STOP SAYING LETTERS”

The stunned silence at Mary Margaret finally losing it

“Can I have ice cream, Mommy? REGINA let me get ice cream.”

Will Scarlet. Just. Will Scarlet.

“You seem like a decent sheriff. I trust you’re not the sort to shoot a man in the back.” “What…?” *starts running*

“TWO sheriffs?? That’s just bloody unfair.”

Belle frantically calling Emma because a drunk man passed out in her library and she has absolutely no context and is definitely freaked out by it

“I may be a thief, but I’m not a liar. Let me show you.” *immediately starts trying to break in* *fails to break in* *EMMA BREAKS IN INSTEAD* “Neal taught me a few things.”

ANNA BESTS RUMPLESTILTSKIN WHEN SO MANY OTHERS FAILED

The character arc of Hook’s left hand

Emma finding her parents waiting eagerly for her to return home + Mary Margaret who wants to hear EVERYTHING about Emma’s first date vs David who thinks that some details are okay to be left out

Mary Margaret finding Will Scarlet and thinking that David set it all up and Will being So Confused

“I’m the sheriff’s wife.” “You’re married to the blonde?” “No that’s my daughter. I’m married to the other one.” “What now?”

“So…the sheriff’s wife can pardon me?” “I’m also the mayor-” “He did it.”

“I’m an idiot.” “Finally, something we can agree on.”

“Regina, I was hoping we could talk.” “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m about to storm an evil ice cream truck.”

“It’s bad enough that I’m stuck with you and Captain Guyliner making eyes at each other.” “We don’t make eyes.” “Ready love? 😃”

“Have I ever told you the story of how I met Marian?” “Only about 3 dozen times.” *starts recounting the story* “3 dozen and one.” *tell the story together*

“My whole life I have stuck to my code of honor.” “So why are you here…?” “Today is not one of those days.”

Mary Margaret telling Regina to button her shirt before she goes to check on Henry

“Wow you royals REALLY go through exhausting lengths to ignore your issues.”

Frozen Hans in the closet

“I think it’ll be easier to break into the library now since I’m not drunk and taking punches!” *Robin opens door with ease* *points to sign* “Open till ten.” “Well that’s generous.”

“Guess what! You’re my oldest friend!” *rips Hook’s heart out*

“Now it’s Elsa trying to find her sister that’s screwing us all!!” “…Coming from you that’s terrifying.”

“Kristoff!” “David!” “You cut your hair!” “So did you!”

Ingrid convincing Emma to stay in the foster home instead of running away by encouraging her to terrorize a kid with rubber spiders

THE SPELL OF SHATTERED SIGHT

…The spell of Shattered Sight, and all Snow and Charming do is roast each other

“I AM NOT HAPPY!! 😡😡😡”

“Sealed in My Own Vault?! UGH!!” *looks at outfit* “what the hell am I wearing??” -> the evil queen is back!!

“Emma, you’re prickly, but I don’t hate you.” “…I’m prickly??”

I’m sorry but Regina just has THE most comical face when she realizes Emma is coming, and any time she’s acting like the evil queen in this episode, all of it is just over the top and such a caricature and comical and I can’t take it

Poor Anna trying to make everyone feel love

*sing song-ish voice* “Snow White is a murderer. I killed the evil queen’s mother. And I said I was sorry when I wasn’t.” …Snow??? What???

“YOU said you could keep a secret!!” “I! Was!! TEN!!!!!!!”

Basically all of Snow’s and Regina’s sword fight

Plus David watching uselessly (except for when he teams up with Snow briefly to disarm Regina)

Henry making Hook trip on marbles when he enters the mayor’s office

Will wants another go at Hook, charges, misses, Hook knocks him into the wall, Will crumbles

Anna: *hits Kristoff over the head* *reads note* “*gasp* Kristoff! Do you have any idea what this is?! *pause* Oh, right, I knocked you out. *moves closer* wake up! We have to take this to Elsa. *kisses him* I love you! You’re amazing! …You’re unconscious. *gets up* I’ll be right back, okay? Stay there! I mean I know you’ll stay here but I’ll be back anyway!!”

Ingrid sacrificing herself and the music going on in the background at that point OH MY GOSH

WHEN THE SPELL IS UNDONE THEY LAUGH AND THEY HUG AND IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL 😭😭

*very confused* “…what am I wearing?”

Regina, David, and Mary Margaret laughing, like,, authentically laughing, like so much that it almost looks to me like they’re Lana and Josh and Ginnifer just having fun, and they’re all falling over laughing too, and it’s almost a blooper reel

“I’m sorry I tried to kill you.” “With a cross bow! You tried to kill me with a crossbow!”

“The door to Arendelle must be around here. It’s just a matter of finding it.” *magic broomstick finds it instantly* *silence* “…there it is.”

Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella DeVil’s first entrance like wowie that is cool and ahhhh they look so good

BELLE STANDING UP FOR HERSELF AND COMMANDING RUMPLESTILTSKIN TO GET OUT OF STORYBROOKE LIKE YEAH THAT WAS PAINFUL BUT HOOO ALSO WELL DESERVED AND IT WAS DEFINITELY BOUND TO HAPPEN AT SOME POINT

They just. Released Chernabog. From the hat. Freaking Chernabog was just. In the hat.

Regina and Emma’s phone call with Ursula and Cruella

*Chernabog turns to Maleficent* “I knew it.”

“I hope you choke on my bones.” THAT IS SUCH A RAW LINE WHAT THE HECK ASFJJJGJDS

“The Chernabog was looking for the heart with the greatest potential for darkness…but it was not looking for Regina. It was after Emma Swan.” AHHHH CHILLSSSSSS

“If you say a word about this to anyone, especially Emma, you won’t have to worry about Regina. I’ll rip out your hearts myself.” …SNOW??? WHAT??? DUDE??? HUH???

Snow finding out she and Maleficent will both be mothers and she’s straight up like “nah, I don’t wanna work with you. I won’t darken myself by associating with you.” And Maleficient is like “you…wouldn’t want to make a better world for our children…just because you don’t like me??”

Regina crushing the glass after taking the shot as if it was a heart, like. What. Regina how did that prove you are villain it just proves you have a strong grip (you’re lucky you were wearing gloves or else your hand would be pretty messed up)

“First one to save us loses.”

Basically Regina is trying to join a gang

“I said we needed to meet covertly! You brought the whole Charming Softball Team and their pirate mascot??”

*Regina without warning possesses Mary Margaret to communicate where she is and what she’s doing*

Robin Hood stealing a horse in New York

Actually right before that as the camera is panning into the scene you can hear someone shout “I’m walkin’ here! I’M WALKIN’ ‘ERE!”

…I don’t even wanna get into the Zelena is Marian plot because that’s a really icky part of the plot

Ariel: *sees Hook* *immediately slaps him*

The Apprentice putting Isaac in the book without warning

Pinocchio being turned back into August

August being wood and then being a person again but then his nose grows

“We have a lot of questions.” “I bet you do.” *brings down curtain ONTO A WOUNDED MAN and runs away*

It looks like Cruella is going to get a heartbreaking traumatic backstory to show why she is how she is…but really she’s just a bad person

Emma and Regina go on a road trip

The wolf making them crash, giving everyone watching déjà vu to season one (including Emma)

“You know me from the diner, right? Smile and hold my hand and walk around the block for a little bit and you get free burgers for a week.”

*teen Emma is depressed on the bench waiting for a bus* Lily: “heyyyyy ���😁”

The Apprentice thinking it’s just Okay to sit next to a teen girl and address her by a name she didn’t tell you. Like. My guy. I know YOU mean no harm but you REALLY gotta think about what it looks like to HER

Lily’s conspiracy board

Lily steals Emma’s bug -> Emma grabs a wrench, smashes a car window, and steals a car

Regina looking freaked out when Emma starts talking like she herself would

Regina holding on for dear life when Emma is angrily chasing Lily

*spreads arms out* “go on. Kill me. Put me out of my misery. Put an end to this.”

“There have been many authors, from the first cave painter […] to a man named Walt.” *1966* “Our last author…he passed away recently.”

Rumplestiltskin almost dying (again) (you know, just his seasonal near death experience even though he’s immortal)

Seeing Isaac write “Once upon a time…”

THE LAST TWO EPISODES OH MY GOSH I COULD WRITE A WHOLE POST JUST ABOUT THE CHAOS OF EPISODES 4x22 AND 4x23

Henry standing up to Isaac

Rumplestiltskin the light one.

RUMPLESTILTSKIN THE LIGHT ONE.

“This does not come with a price!” THAT FREAKING BROKE ME

EVIL SNOW

Charming saying “I will always find you” but it sounds Wrong

The dwarves do in fact whistle…but it is Unsettling

Regina is the outlaw with a bow and arrow instead of Snow White…and she’s aiming at Henry

“My name is Henry. I’m your son.”

Regina and Robin’s meet cute that is just like the first time they met and AHHHHH I LOVE IT

Zelena is Robin’s … fiancée

Episode 22 ending with Emma locked in the tower

HOOK BEING A TIMID LITTLE MAN

Henry breaking into the castle using a Star Wars reference

“Why isn’t it rum?” “Rum? I’m allergic to that stuff.” “Of course you are.”

Hook is jealous of himself AGAIN

“Now you’re down to six. Would you like to make it five?”

Regina and Emma meeting again

“What does your heart say? I know what my heart says. But what if his doesn’t say the same thing?” “Isn’t that a risk you’re willing to take?”

Emma confronting her parents with such a brilliant speech and amazing expression…but if you watch in the background you see Hook holding the sword above his head, pointy end going being him, gritting his teeth, bouncing forward and backward, trying to look brave but actually just looks like a scared doofus (in the most endearing way)

Hook sacrifices himself for Emma

They all go to crash a wedding

REGINA SACRIFICES HERSELF FOR HENRY EVEN WITHOUT FULLY KNOWING WHAT HE MEANS TO HER

Henry becoming the author

Hook scaring Emma because he’s not where they left him

Henry breaks the Author’s pen

Rumplestiltskin isn’t doing so hot

Belle storms into the shop yelling at Rumple but is immediately concerned when he falls to the ground

The Darkness overtaking the Apprentice

Regina is about to be taken by the darkness

Emma becomes the Dark One.

I’m pretty sure I’m missing a few things too.

Anyways, like said, this season is chaotic as HECK.

[soupthatistohot]

dazai on the new light novel cover reminded me of what you say abt nihilism/absurdism - do you have any thoughts on that artwork?

This one?

To be completely honest, I’ve purposely not familiarized myself with The Day I Met Dazai ln because I want to go in as spoilers-free as possible when I eventually get around to reading it. So, I can’t really comment on the story itself and how it ties into the art.

But I do have some thoughts on just the cover art itself! It’s definitely meant to be representative of the two sides of Dazai: the nihilistic, hopeless and depressed version of him that seems to be at his core (left), and the cheerful mask he often puts on (right). Oda being positioned in the middle makes me think that he’s a bridge between those two facets of Dazai’s personality, the person who makes him realize that he’s not completely one or the other, that both can coexist and he can find authentic joy, even just in small moments.

Because that’s the thing about absurdism, it’s not exactly the most hopeful of worldviews. It’s hopeful in that it’s not quite as doom and gloom as nihilism, but at the end of the day absurdism still contends that reality is inherently meaningless and that one cannot force meaning upon it. Oda and absurdism are that middle ground of being able to accept the absurdity of reality but also learning how to deal with it and find fulfillment that way.

This concept reminds me of dark era, where he tells Dazai that there’s nothing that can completely fill the void within him and in the same breath tells him to join the side of good because it might be more beautiful. He is able to take the nuanced view that things absolutely do suck and will continue to do so and yet there are ways to find beauty amidst all the awful insanity.

[artbyblastweave]

Gideon The Ninth Liveread, Chapter 5

Gonna add some disclaimers here (if I haven’t already? I forget) that a lot of my predictions are at least partially going to be polluted by stuff I picked up via tumblr osmosis; I’m getting nice “oh, snap” moments from time to time but most likely not when the Author intended that I would. Here we go:

We open with a nice, domestic scene of mutual domestic hatred. Kind of interesting that apparently, they are capable of coexisting in a living space if necessary; you could infer that, because they can’t have been in a state of violent cartoonish warfare all the time, there are situations where they’d have to be off the clock, but there is this fun tension to the whole sequence, like those looney tunes gags where the wolf and sheepdog both clock in before starting to fight.

(also there’s a kind of. Homerotic face painting scene. reminds me of that one meme.)

I like the attention paid to the gross nitty-gritty of actually applying the badass war paint. I've done full-scale zombie paint on myself and that stuff looks cool and sucks ass, respectively.

Thanergy! This is I think the first big indicator we’ve gotten of how necromancy works mechanistically, and it implies a handful of nasty things:

Harrow is likely disproportionately powerful because most of the Ninth house is dead or headed that way; her power is inseparable from the collapse she’s (fruitlessly?) attempting to stave off. (I sense a prompt for a worm trigger event lurking in here somewhere.)

The Empire likely requires a continuous death mill for necromancy to be as culturally and logistically ubiquitous as it is; I suspect this setting has something like the flower wars going on, endless expansion where death is the natural resource being extracted.

First House, if it’s first but also has almost no one on it, may have been the site of a mass casualty event or depopulation, thus rendering it an ideal meeting ground for necromancers.

Side note: Thanergy is a very Homestuck kind of Portmanteu (complementary.)

So this is a Con- there’s no Ortus, there never was an Ortus, Gideon has always been the Cavalier, we’ve always been at war with Eastasia. Harrow expresses concern that her inability to control Gideon will convey to the other houses that The Ninth was unable to control Gideon- and that’s an appropriate fear, because they’re one and the same. Going full Sun king “I-am-the-state” is a double edged sword.

Side note: this whole set-up seems massively transmittable to fake-dating AUs, Regency Pride-and-Prejudice AUs, et al et al. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Author did so deliberately (and this is one of the few times this is not meant to be a remotely cynical assessment, I think this slaps.)

“When I’m a Lyctor, everything will be different-“  Oh, Okay, So Harrow is Taylor Hebert except textually a lesbian instead of by fandom consensus, and with more aggressive religious trauma. “When I take over the city, I can fix things!“ Want to get those two in a room and see who eats who first. Also, does Harrow have a reason to want to bolster the sinking ship that is Ninth House, or is she just fully inculcated on that as The Thing To Do?

So here we get some more detail that the Ninth (read: Harrow) has been isolating itself on purpose; the collapse makes a bit more sense when you realize that the group has been putting up a front while rotting from the inside out. Unless I’ve got the timeline wrong, and this is something Harrow’s parents started that she just continued, This marks a pretty specific harm that Harrow specifically has caused Gideon; there used to be strangers Gideon had to be dragged away from. There used to be outsiders. There used to be the faintest hope of outside intervention.

I get the sense that when, of course, this all ends very, very badly, I’ll be pining for the AU where all that happened was Ortus reading poetry over the still brawling corpses of Harrow and Gideon.

Anyway, to close things out, this strikes me as the kind of book and author where I need to keep that bone-meal-chestburster trick Harrow floated in the back of my mind, waiting for the moment where it rears its ugly head.

[chocottang]

heyyys hope this isnt an awkward ask but, since you like cami a very normal amount i presume, i thought i'd ask... do you maybe understand or have any interpretations or headcanons about cami and her shadow and how they manage to coexist in the same body together?

(e.g.: is cami always her shadow? do you think she see it and interact with it like fred? how come she has more control over it than other characters but still not enough? etc.)

overall just your personal thoughts about it just because i think that was never really explained in the show and i would love to see what someone who has such a complex and interesting understanding of her backstory thinks about it ! hope this isnt weird to ask hnhnfnfng

hey! not weird or awkward at all, i love getting asks! and thanks for the nice comments u///u

i put a read more just in case it's too long

like you said, cami's shadow wasn't explored a lot in the show, we only got two frames to be exact.

i'm going to call her shadow tat

i already talked about the first frame in the analysis: i think tat came out as a result of cami's realization that she's not alone, that eak and t-trap have been with her all along. tat was probably triggered by the uncommon influx of overwhelming emotions. her purporse seems to be to keep the body going as normal, since the only thing that we see of cami after this is a frame where she looks the same. we don't know if it's cami or tat in z3r0 but she's also acting the same.

about the second frame, it's interesting in the context of the song, because tat seems to be reaching for something while the lyrics talk about finding a way out. after the song, tat takes over the body, so maybe it was alluding to the way out of the shadow world. but, the frame also goes together with this one in an interesting way.

this frame is actually supposed to go with the one of ttrap reaching for cami when they were kids, cami only reaching out now. but, it could go with both of them. cami is both reaching towards ttrap and tat. meaning, she wasn't taken over by her, but rather, she let tat take control. it may be alluding to cami letting her most repressed emotions take over again, accepting them. nevertheless, we know shadows are sentient beings, not just metaphors, so this leads me to think that:

1. even though cami was met with a pretty strong realization after eavesdropping eak and ttrap, she didn't want to actively change anything about her life. at least not yet.

2. cami and tat have at least met before for cami to willingly give her control. besides, they don't look even mildly surprised about what's happening. only on the second frame does tat look different and it doesnt strike me as surprised, but rather like she's just reaching hard.

which brings me to this question: how does cami have powers? a little out of nowhere, but bare with me.

cami and owynn have powers of some sort that are connected to the shadow world, they can make someone's shadow come out and cami can make someone into a mindless zombie.

we've seen that shadows have some sort of power. gold could turn people into mindless zombies (or maybe he was just retransmitting cami's power?), shadow fox had some sort of fire (or maybe he was the fire?) and fred was able to...explode...and make a group of people forget the last year of their lives.

in z3r0, we learn that when humans and shadows fuse, they gain powers that can debilitate shadows.

this makes me think that cami and owynn's powers are nothing more than their shadow's powers. i don't think its a fusion, since those powers seem to be specifically for debilitating shadows, the opposite of what owynn and cami do. in the case of cami, her powers may be just her shadow coming out, since we dont see her eyes very often. but im very sure that the one time owynn used his powers on that one piano, it was himself. so, there exists a way for a human to borrow their shadow's power. meaning, they have to have a relationahip with them in some way. do they make a deal? do they force them? i dont know. but based on the little we see of tat, it seems that at least her and cami are in good terms.

i don't think it's in the level of fred and freddy though, as i believe most shadows are confined to the shadow world unless they take over the human's body. fred is an exception, a very special boy. but i don't think it's necessary to have a ghost form in order to form a bond with a human. the villains seem to know quite a bit about the shadow world, so maybe they found a way to access it on command so they can regularly talk to their shadow and make sure they access its powers.

so, i think cami and tat are in good terms, and cami visits her regularly in the shadow world. whether it be for accessing her power or to talk about what tat has done outside with the power. since the powers are used to serve the villains, tat has to know about the plan and is on board with everything, and since cami has always been aware of what's happened regarding the plan, it means tat is always telling her what she's done (if she's the one using the powers). they really trust each other and are on the same page. at some point, they had an agreement that when cami has to deal with strong emotions, tat will go out. this may be so cami can escape the situation so she doesn't have to deal with her feelings, while tat keeps normalcy. also, so they can be a productive peon for owynn regardless of the situation. so, they have open communication and willingly give control of the body over to the other one, the frequency of this depending on if tat is responsible for all magic acts or if she only goes out on dire ocassions.

the fact that she has more control over her shadow than most characters may be because she simply has more of a relationship with her. or, perhaps the control she attempts to have over her own feelings manifests in a docile shadow, easily controlled. I don't think tat has the same cold personality as cami, but rather she pretends to. i think, in reality, she houses cami's deepest and most repressed feelings, and tat pretends that she doesnt have them so cami won't get mad at her. she does it and agrees on everything cami wants to do so she continues visiting her. even shadows can get lonely, especially in the black endless nothing of the shadow world.

uhh i think that's all i have. its mostly dumb theorizing. thanks for the ask!!! it was really fun to think about. i do like cami a very normal amount <3

[italoniponic]

Golden Like Daylight | Diasomnia

Synopsis: Malleus couldn’t make it to the party in Scarabia that Kalim invited him and, as usual, Diasomnia falls into quiet sadness and frustrated thunderstorms. He thinks about all his parents taught him and how the world can really be cruel sometimes. But after the most violent storms in the nightfall, there are little glimpses of daylight as well.

platonic diasomnia family / angst with a comfort ending / based on ch10, vol 2 comic anthology ft. my own lore hcs / 1945 words

Notes: Since half of this fic deals with my hcs about the Valley of Thorns in general, I made a separate post that will summarize it so we don’t have long ass author notes~~ Also, it’s based on that chapter from the comic anthology but apart from context, it’s not a need to read it to understand this story Hope you enjoy it!

Golden Like Daylight

Malleus has been alone for much longer than anyone could have imagined. Born into a family of noble blood, all he could remember from early childhood was a lot of people around him, caring and watching over his well-being. His parents always had a glimpse of his special power and told him stories of the glory days of the Valley of Thorns.

But the more time passed, this special and happy atmosphere ended up like wood consumed in the fireplace. Lilia’s presence was one of the few things that truly remained unchanged.

The Lady of Thorns’ gaze grew colder every day. The countenance of the Lord of Thorns, direct son of the Queen, harder than stone. Malleus wanted to believe that they didn’t ever realize how much they left their son aside to deal with the affairs of the kingdom — without rest, just gathering together at dinner. Still, he was almost always aside.

Not that he didn’t understand why. His father worked as second-in-command for the Queen and his wife dealt with diplomatic issues. It was amazing how a place so isolated from the world could have so many problems. 

It was only a hundred years after the Last Great Fairy War and they were just organizing the policies of coexistence with neighboring human villages and trying to maintain the peace between the two fairy valleys in which a lot of blood was shed to achieve.

As a prince, Malleus had everything at his disposal. Toys, books, comfortable clothes, access to quality lessons. But he had only one wish. A simple, even silly wish.

“Go outside?,” his mother repeated his words in a confused tone.

The Lord of Thorns took his eyes up from the treaty papers of the new diplomat of the Valley of Flowers, Florian Braginsky — which he was being forced to read — in order to face his son.

“Malleus, why are you talking about this?,” he asked.

“I wanted to see what the eastern mountain village looks like, it is near here. Lilia could take me there.”

The sound of his former tutor’s name made the Lord’s blood boil. How revolting it was to see the man who taught him everything he knew lower himself and abandon all his ideals, those he used to deeply believe. He was right when he said, that night a hundred years ago, that Lilia had lost more than one wing in the Battle of Dornröschen. 

“I do not see why you should go. There is a cruel and terrible world beyond the mountains that surround our kingdom. Not even among our own can there be anything greater than mere alliance. These fairies should be grateful every day for the good fortune of being in our presence and keep living,” the Lord of Thorns put down the papers on the table.

The hard thud made Malleus cringe a little. His mother took the papers and arranged them better in a perfect pile. 

“Malleus, you know that our species is very rare and therefore, it is not surprising that the other fairies fear us. We don’t want these people to say bad things about or to you. Therefore, above all, you must stay in this castle,” she said to her son, perhaps not as docile as she thought her tone would come out.

The marriage between Mephisto and Tauribeth was, as with Malleus’ grandparents, a way to keep the dragon-fairy species alive. There were really few such families around the valley, the most powerful House managed to rise to the throne — and these were the Draconia, the center of everything being the Queen of Thorns.

Still, Malleus wondered how the most powerful and feared fairies should need to hide from others. Malleus knew about the scars that the human kingdom nearby, now not so numerous, had made in the fairy valleys. His species was one of many clans that still held grudges against them.

However, he wasn’t going to a human village. It was a place inhabited by faeries. Lilia would be next to him, he would be well protected. 

“No more talking about it,” his father cut off before Malleus could try to argue once more.

“Yes, sir my father.”

There was a brief sound of doors opening and, for a moment, Malleus had a glimmer of hope as he saw his grandmother enter the dining room. The air around her was heavy but elegant, full of ceremony and honor. As a queen should be — what the young prince should have become from there many hundreds of years ago.

In general, the Queen of Thorns was a little more compassionate to the wishes of her grandson than his parents might like. However, this didn’t mean that she didn’t share the opinion and hesitation of keeping him inside the castle rather than showing the kingdom beyond the heavy wooden doors.

‘Well, well, well,” she said as she sat down on the other side of the table, in a large, thorn-adorned chair just like the one her son was sitting in.

The Queen looked tired and perhaps a little frustrated that Lilia was planning yet another future trip abroad — a distant and sandy land, something alike — in yet another of his usual “whims”.

“What were we talking about?,” the Queen of Thorns asked.

“Nothing, madam my mother,” the Lord said, giving his son a sideways glance to remain silent.

  But Malleus had already given up hope of mentioning the village he wanted to visit again. 

Over the centuries, he began to wonder at certain times if his parents were not right. Well, they were no longer there with him to face him and silently state how obvious it was. That realization was a sad thought two hundred years ago, not so much nowadays. It was neither time nor age that mattered in the present to Malleus.

The day before, he had been invited by Kalim to a party. 

And it folded as it would usually happen: Malleus missed the event due to a mysterious circumstance. Sometimes he didn’t really notice the time, other times others forgot about him. 

At the time, Cater forgot to tell him that Kalim’s banquet night had been rescheduled at last minute to that same night. Since Lilia had orchestrated for Malleus to participate in his place, he also couldn’t have known about this sudden change. 

In order to help Malleus make friends on his own, things got complicated. As per usual.

Because of this, strong thunder crackled through the skies in Diasomnia and a torrential rain fell on the outskirts of the castle, becoming a misfortune for any student who was outside the dormitory at that moment.

Lilia would like to say that the situation wasn’t so bad because Malleus distributed all the treats and souvenirs he bought in Sam’s store to the students, but his aura didn’t change at any time. Each gift was delivered as if they were objects rescued from a disaster or belongings of deceased soldiers being returned to their families.

It was undeniable that Malleus had a special sense for gifts of the highest quality — of this no one dared to complain. Sebek’s voice competed with the storm outside in all his praise of his generous veteran and sovereign prince.

But Malleus was still in his worst “Nihilleus” form. 

Nothing made sense, everything was worthless. That was what his eyes of emerald flames said, burning low. How many times had he been through these situations? How many more would you have to overcome before fate is satisfied with his humiliations?

The world always abandoned Malleus, and he no longer strove to try to hold its sands in his hands. In his thin, light marble fingers there was only loneliness. The nothing. His grandmother sometimes held those same hands and repeated the words of their family.

A Draconia can only trust a Draconia. A fae can only owe to a fae. 

He was alone in that vast world that pushed him away with fear and distrust. Just like his father said they would. Malleus sighed, asleep in his own thoughts as he sat on the sofa in the Diasomnia lounge. The place made him feel at home — but sometimes, that was exactly the problem.

His parents were right. He would never leave the confines of the royal castle. He should not, that was his world. The only place where he would be safe and well received. Still, none of this comforted him. Not only would he be completely ignorant of the human world and the other fairies around him, he would be alone.

Always alone, as if trapped in a long night of eternal sleep. For eternity, eyes closed. The rest of his semi-immortal days would be a mere drop in the greatest of oceans. Would he ever die? Impossible. Few things can hurt faes, especially dragon-fairies. 

Sitting on his throne of thorns, nothing could reach him. Not even death. Much less life.

“Malleus-sama? Could you teach me more about this gargoyle?” 

Malleus awoke from his deep thoughts as if awakened by a kiss of the dawn. Soft morning rays passed gently across his face to bring him out of that dreaded darkness. Thus, Malleus faced Silver who was holding a miniature gargoyle in his hands. 

Ever since Lilia had brought that little human into their life, Malleus had wondered what his parents — mainly his father — would think of Silver if they could have had the chance to meet him. 

Silver with his crystalline eyes, lilac as the most delicate wildflower. Dedication to the prince of his people — because he was raised among thorns — in every action. A human he could trust.

Malleus knew Silver had pity for him, but there was something in his mercy that didn't make him feel completely ashamed. He then noticed how Sebek continued to praise him, his words worthy of the best books in the Royal Thorns Library. Nearby, Lilia gorged himself on sweets.

A small smile appeared on Malleus’ face almost at the same moment when the rain outside slowed down.

“Well, Silver, this one is a pretty simple model, but…”

Malleus always felt good about talking about gargoyles, maybe that was the benefit Silver had in mind. He remained silent and paid attention to Malleus’ words as much as he could — at least, to understand part of the matter. Soon after, Sebek joined Silver’s side as an avid spectator.

“Um, it reminds me that I had saved some cookies that I made last night,” Lilia suddenly commented. “Let's rock this party, boys!”

The young fellows suddenly jumped off the couch to go after the old fae, trying to convince him that he didn’t need to do this — and “the wise words of the Young Master about gargoyles will feed our hearts enough!!”, as Sebek said.

Watching them closely, Malleus let out a soft laugh. He was incredibly grateful for the company and patience of those three.

They were golden like daylight. 

The thin rays of sunshine that appeared after the gray clouds of rain stopped its dreadful crying, slowly making it into a new time to step outside. Of course it wouldn’t be enough forever. Malleus needed to learn more about the world around him, make new friendships and understand the purpose of his own existence.

But sometimes all he needed was his family. Maybe not exactly his grandmother or his parents. Just Lilia and his awful cooking skills and jokes. Just Sebek being this tall, endearing and energetic child. And just Silver being like the morning dawn, sleepy but gently welcoming to view. 

Not his servants or soldiers but his friends. Malleus’ friends. Precious lives he loved with all his heart.

Special notes: yes, this is a tiny little reference to “Daylight” by Taylor Swift. It was meant to be a Silver fic, then turned out to be more suited for Malleus, then it just got too deep… And I’m planning on doing a little omake about Lilia’s cookies. I just thought that randomly inserting some comedy would break the flow here (and it would be too long lol), so I’ll let it for another time. But thanks for reading 🩷

[mistbow]

Sorey and Mikleo at the core of Zestiria

長谷　人間と天族の共存を象徴するのがあの2人の絆なので、どういう決着にするかはいろんなアイデアが出ましたね。

HASE: Since the bond between the two symbolizes the coexistence of humans and seraphim, there were many ideas on how to put a conclusion to their story.

Those two.

I know I have talked a lot about Sorey and Mikleo, but at the same time, I feel like I haven’t talked enough about them yet. It is certainly one of the relationships that is often talked about in the fandom, but for how much they’ve been brought up, there is surprisingly not much effort to actually analyze what makes them work in the context of Zestiria.

I would like to begin this with bringing up the core themes or ideas underlying Zestiria as a story: the specific genre name, “Passion will light up the world” (“情熱が世界を照らす”), and “Legends will someday become ‘Hope’” (“伝承はいつしか「希望」になる”). I want to keep these in mind when talking about Zestiria as a whole.

The idea of “passion” being the heart of Zestiria actually came up when the creators wanted to incorporate the “passion” of Sakamoto Ryouma, a Japanese historical figure, a low-ranking samurai in the late Edo period, as revealed by the director, Hase Yuuta, and producer, Baba Hideo. They were enamored by the fact that he was a low-ranking samurai, yet through his deeds, managed to indirectly change Japan. It was his passion and love for Japan that exactly made him think that Japan could not remain the way it was. Then, intertwining in various ways with people in various positions, the world moved on. He didn’t try to move the world, but the results of his actions moved and changed the world.

Elements from Sakamoto Ryouma’s life and personal figure can then be found in various aspects of Zestiria. We do things because we want to do it, not because we have to do it, yet both of those things are important, so how can we realize both of them without sacrificing one or the other? Sakamoto Ryouma also left his small hometown, out to the vast world. The part where he originally did not want to change Japan, but ended up changing Japan while he was pursuing his own dream. The part where Sakamoto Ryouma was thought to be able to see things “differently” from others who had lived in the same era, as well, like how Sorey is able to see the seraphim.

長谷　坂本龍馬の要素を全部スレイに持たせることはできないので、実は一部をミクリオが持っていたりします。あまりにも感情的な行動をするとユーザーさんとの気持ちがかけ離れてしまうおそれがあるので、スレイは意外と冷静で落ち着きがあります。むしろ、クールに見えるミクリオのほうが感情的ですね。

HASE: It is not possible for Sorey to have all the elements of Sakamoto Ryouma, so actually, Mikleo has some of them. Sorey is surprisingly calm and composed, as too much emotional behavior could lead to a disconnect with the player’s feelings. If anything, Mikleo, who seems cool, is the more emotional one.

Which might seem familiar, since the head writer also said the same thing, and I see this quote being thrown around a lot anyway:

山本　[...]そういう意味ではおとなしい主人公に見えるかもしれませんが、熱い思いはちゃんと持っていて、叫んだりノリや勢いだけで解決しようとはしないキャラクターにしたんです。代わりに、ミクリオをストレートに感情表現するキャラクターにして、2人で1人の主人公のような言動をとるように工夫しました。

YAMAMOTO: [...] In that sense, [Sorey] may seem like a calm protagonist, but he has passionate feelings, yet does not try to solve problems by shouting or just going with his spirit or momentum. Instead, we made Mikleo a character who expresses his emotions in a straightforward manner, so that the two of them act and speak as if they are one protagonist.

So they were concerned about Sorey being too unrelatable if he is fully modeled after Sakamoto Ryouma, who seems like someone bigger than life when you look at him throughout the history, as such, they divide the elements inspired by the figure into two characters, Sorey and Mikleo. This is because despite the fantastical framework they worked with on Zestiria, they also wanted to convey that the legends also lived in us all. That the characters that lived through those legends, were also just like us. That point is important.

――どのキャラクターも強い個性をもっていますね。 山本　シナリオチームには「物事でドラマを描くのではなく、キャラクターの心情を繋げていくドラマを作ろう」という大きなテーマがありました。勢いだけで動くのではなく、互いを思いやる部分やそのときの心情によってキャラクターからどういう言葉が出てくるのか、というのをリアルかつていねいに描こうと。なので、その言動から、スレイたちが何を考えているのかを読み取っていただけるとありがたいです。

――Every character has a strong personality. YAMAMOTO: The scenario team had a major theme, “Rather than a drama based on certain things, let’s create a drama that connects the emotions of the characters.” We do not want the characters to only act because of the momentum, but to realistically and carefully depict what kind of words the characters would say depending on their emotions and how they care for one another at the time.

――ストーリーを作るにあたって、特に苦労した部分がありましたら教えてください。 山本　やはりその心情ドラマが非常に難しくて、何度も修正しました。RPGとしては目的を提示したり、これはこういうことですよ、と書くほうが楽なんですね。事件でストーリーを繋げていくという。ただ、今回はそれよりもキャラクターの性格との整合性を重視して何度も書き直しました。セリフの収録でも、役者さんにキャラクターの細かい心情を大切にして録ってもらったので、後半になると役者さんのほうから「このセリフってこのキャラクターだと言い方が違うんじゃないですか？」という意見も出てきました。「じゃあ先に行こうぜ」と言うのか、それとも「ここにいてもしかたないよね」という語りかけにするのか、といったちょっとしたニュアンスの違いなのですが、そういうセリフひとつでもキャラクターらしさを重視していました。

――Please tell us if there were any particular challenges in creating the story. YAMAMOTO: That emotional drama was very difficult, after all, that I had to revise it many times. As an RPG, it is easier to present a goal, and write based on “this is what it is all about.” Something like connecting the story beats with certain incidents. This time, however, I rewrote it many times, focusing more on consistency with the characters’ personalities. In the recording of the dialogue, we asked the voice actors to record their lines with the importance of the detailed feelings of their characters, and in the latter half of the production, the voice actors instead would suggest, “This line would be said differently by this character, wouldn’t it?” It may be a small difference in nuance, such as whether to say, “Let’s go ahead then!” or “I don’t think we should stay here,” and even in such a single line, we focused on the character’s personality.

I know it seems like I’m not getting anywhere with this, but bear with me. So we have both Sorey and Mikleo sharing parts of Sakamoto Ryouma, but what I personally find interesting is that Sorey takes the parts of Ryouma that are more “legendary” about him (e.g. he brought upon a huge change without meaning to, he was believed to have seen something invisible that couldn’t be seen by his contemporaries) and Mikleo takes the parts of him that are more mundane (e.g. that he was full of emotions, very expressive). On the outset, Sorey as a human is regular-looking, and Mikleo, as a seraphim, has ephemeral, otherworldly qualities to his appearance... but even in the game, Sorey is the one depicted as being a child of miracles, the only human amongst the seraphim, someone who keeps going against all odds, the one Shepherd with a special end to his journey, and Mikleo is “merely” a young seraph who doesn’t even know a lot of things about his kin.

(Just like how we see things through Sorey’s eyes, and how he learns from the various humans he met and parted with along the way; when it comes to how seraphim work, we usually learn about it because Mikleo, the youngest seraph he is, is curious enough to ask about it from his seniors. You can see it in the skits in-game.)

伝承はいつしか「希望」になる

Legends will someday become “Hope”

I’ve talked about in detail how Zestiria is hugely inspired by Shinto, and, subsequently, places a great importance on legends and history just like Shinto as a religion. The catchphrase of the game nicely illustrates this. However, one thing I’d also like to point out is that it’s easy not to think too deeply into “legend” as an English word, we tend to take words for granted after all. I don’t know if what I’m saying is making any sense, but Zestiria is a work that chooses its words very carefully and you’re supposed to read between the lines.

In the Japanese word for “legends”, “伝承”, lie implications that might not be immediately obvious to people who can’t read Japanese: that legends are transmitted, imparted, handed down (伝える), and that legends are received, taken in, accepted (承ける). There is a give-and-take relationship here, it’s not a one-way road.

The epilogue in the novel, focusing on Mikleo like in the game, emphasized more on this:

永遠に流れる時の中で、人の一生はまるで一瞬の光だ。けれど、語り継がれ、受け継がれた意志は長い時を超える。伝え続けたいと思い続ける限り。

遺跡もまた、語り続ける意志だと青年は考えていた。時を超え、未来へ伝えたい思いを形に残し、いつか受け止めてくれる人を待つ。

いつまでも、いつまでも。

その意志を余すことなく受け止めたい青年は、ひとりでここを再訪したのだ。

In the time that flows eternally, a human’s life is like an instant flash. However, the will that gets handed down and inherited transcends the long time. As long as we want to pass it on.

The young man believed that ruins are also a will that can continue to get passed on. Transcending time, leaving behind a shape of thoughts that they want to convey to the future, waiting for the right person to accept them someday.

Always and forever.

The young man, wanting to take in [to accept] all of this will thoroughly, revisited this place alone by himself.

Humans and seraphim are fundamentally different beings: time flows differently for both, humans accept external changes, seraphim stay the way they are due to their nature as incarnations of the purest hearts. To Mikleo, whose passage of time is comparatively stationary, seeing Sorey, a human, who keeps changing (growing; maturing) just makes their fundamental differences even more obvious, so of course it gives him complicated feelings on the whole matter.

Just before, they were the same height, then Sorey grew even taller than he was, as highlighted in the manga. However, the Sorey that has lived up until now, still lives on inside Mikleo anyway. After all, they’d been together all their lives up until then.

…陪神になってスレイと同じ使命を感じてなんとなくあの時僕を拒んだ理由がわかった

導師の使命も世界も知らないただイズチにいた頃のままの僕らをスレイは残しておきたかった

…As I became a Sub Lord and feel the same calling as Sorey, somehow I understood why he refused me to become one at the time.

Sorey wanted that that part of us, that didn’t know of the Shepherd’s calling nor of the world, just staying the way we were in Elysia, to still remain.

But Sorey’s core―the reason for why he is who he is―it’s Mikleo, the one who has come to share his dream and time, who has it. To Mikleo, a seraph who will continue to be for a very long time as an untainted and unchanging heart, Sorey entrusts his dream. So that after this journey ends, he can walk with himself again.

Sorey, the childhood friend who holds the dream of seeing a world where humans and seraphim could coexist, won’t go anywhere, as long as Mikleo is there, even if Sorey changes. Even Sorey, the one who carries on the Shepherd’s burden, isn’t going anywhere, because that will is carried on to the next generations, by Rose and the succeeding Shepherds.

Speaking of Rose, I think her role in the story as Sorey’s foil will highlight Sorey and Mikleo’s relationship even more (this is not saying that Sorey and Rose’s relationship is any less important, just that it’s a different form of relationship). Even from the character design perspective, Sorey’s gold/orange (the image color that is used for him in both the World Guidance and the manga) and Mikleo’s teal are complementary colors, their eye colors (green and purple) are also complementary colors, and they share the color blue as well, whereas Sorey’s blue and white contrasts Rose’s red and black. I believe this is deliberate, as deliberate as Rose and Lailah sharing the color red yet contrasting black and white, because from the information that has been revealed, Fujishima and Inomata as the veterans of the series were asked first to design two humans and two seraphim respectively, based on their styles, and that their characters would be the main focus of the work.

(Which I also believe is the basis for why it is Sorey [Fujishima] and Mikleo [Inomata], Lailah [Inomata] and Rose [Fujishima] in the night before final battle scene, a scene that has held importance in the entire Tales of series.)

Also, I want you to pay close attention to the key visual for Zestiria above. I will also bring this up again:

右手は身・体の、左手は霊・心の在処

The right-hand side is where the physical body is, while the left-hand side is where the spiritual heart is.

To his left, Mikleo, the Sub Lord, and to his right, Rose, the Squire. Lailah, the Prime Lord, on the far back, evoking that distant feel of the mystical, of the legendary, in the same center as him, the Shepherd. Sorey and Rose actually have a lot in common that are easy to miss... they both grew up with seraphim, sort of, and it cultivated in their pure hearts and high resonance. They’re both humans. But it is with Mikleo, the one who’s decidedly different kin from him, that he has complementary relationship with.

Maybe Zestiria wants us to focus more on their similarities, than their differences, when it comes to Sorey and Mikleo. However, humans don’t grow if they only hear what they want to hear; they have to be challenged, and besides, if you’re going to step into the world out there, there are many kinds of people, people with different views and approaches from you. This is what is needed for Sorey to meaningfully grow. So despite the similarities, Rose is the one human who Sorey knows, outside from himself, that lives with a seraph yet rejects them vehemently at first. That each of them has their own role, to give life and to take life.

This is getting more and more about Rose instead, but I promise I have a point to make here. Besides, it was also Mikleo that managed to convince her to join, for Sorey’s sake.

MIKLEO: We seraphim are indeed Sorey’s friends. MIKLEO: And yet we cannot say for sure if Sorey sees and hears the same things we do. ROSE: Because he's... the only human out of all of you? MIKLEO: Yes. Sorey has no human compatriots who can truly understand the burden he bears as the Shepherd. ROSE: You want... me... to join him. MIKLEO: It's ultimately your call.

Pay attention on the camera positioning, on how Mikleo is on the left on the screen talking to Rose on the right of the screen. It’s not enough for Sorey as a character who has been surrounded by seraphim his whole life, to just be surrounded by a party of seraphim, yet it was Mikleo who first realized this instead of Sorey himself. Also, it wasn’t just in the way he didn’t force her to join Sorey, but the way he was also so gentle in his word choice, even telling her that it was okay for her to be scared of him.

This is why I like how the English trailer dubbed Mikleo as Sorey’s “voice of reason.” Sorey isn’t exactly unreasonable himself, but I think this fits nicely with the designation that in the end, Mikleo chooses to act as the “spiritual heart” to Sorey’s “physical body.” I deliberately use the word “choose” here, because, just as it was Sorey’s choice to be the Shepherd, it was also Mikleo’s choice to fight alongside him.

天族とは誰かの想い、誰かの祈りから生まれた露な＜人の心＞そのもの。

執行者の名を持つ天族は、その心の最も純粋な形として生まれた化身。

Seraphim are born from someone’s thoughts, someone’s prayers; they are the very bare “hearts of humans” themselves.

Seraphim bearing the name “Enforcer” are incarnations born as the purest form of those hearts.

It was implied that Mikleo, the seraph, was born from the thoughts of Michael that were paradoxically both his hope and his despair. And I’m sorry for repeating myself here, but these pages of the manga really spelled it out (I have an entire post on Sorey, Mikleo, and Growth here and here):

SOREY: …I never… want to forget this pain… SOREY: It’s exactly because I felt pain that I was able to continue this journey. SOREY: We’re grieving, suffering because of the reality across this world… and that’s why we are able to rise up for hope. ROSE: ! SOREY: Many feelings even beyond that I had never known before were shining through! That being case, we— MIKLEO: (Humans accept [receive] something, and with that, they change their way of being.)

SOREY: We’re not afraid to go down this road!! MIKLEO: (With time, you grow taller. With your calling, you don the mantle. If you, with all that, are willing to accept the pain that tries to dye you…) MIKLEO: (Then I, the seraph that resides within you, as the thought that you are who you are, will draw the bow together with you.)

(Another neat detail is how on the first page above, the paneling positions Mikleo on the left and Rose on the right.)

So Mikleo was born as Michael’s hope and despair, but decides he will act as the thought that Sorey is who Sorey is. The left to his right. The spiritual to his physical. The seraph to his human.

Choice indicates agency here. I will always remind people that Zenrus has never raised both Sorey and Mikleo to be the Shepherd and his Sub Lord, even though Muse did suggest that idea to him when he took them in. No, they came to accept these roles themselves. The one thing they learned from Zenrus was the dream of coexistence between humans and seraphim, basically the core idea of Zestiria itself.

And their bond is conceived to symbolize the possibilities of that coexistence.

(Speaking of Muse, I want to bring up that there are only two story-related weapons in the game (as in, weapons used/obtained through story and not by loot): the first is Lailah’s Sacred Blade, used by Sorey when fighting the hellions during the Sacred Blade Festival, and the second one is Muse’s Staff, used by Mikleo. I feel these weapons nicely represent Sorey’s connection to the seraphim and Mikleo’s connection to humans outside of each other.)

If such seraph and human—heart and body could exist together, if the physical body could not lose sight of its own heart, could listen carefully to its voice, and could feel its presence, then humans should be able to live the way they want to live, without being tainted. Sorey, who has lived with the seraphim, is that proof.

I won’t let you carry this by yourself.

They share their passion together, they share their inherited will together; for that, they share the burden needed to get there. Personally, despite what I might seem like, I’m actually detached when it comes to liking characters... I don’t really care about the characters individually themselves, and this might make me seem like I don’t care about them personally, but it’s more like that to me, characters cannot be divorced from the narrative and context they’re supposed to work under. Sorey and Mikleo are obviously intended to be the symbols representing what humans and seraphim (the right and the left, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the heart) can do for one another, and legends are full of those symbols. Their unspoken, unseen bond, often described as something like tacit understanding/heart-to-heart communion (以心伝心) also contributes to that feel of seeing something transcendental you often find in legends and folktales, because even words are not necessary anymore, it’s shown in every step they take for themselves and for each other.

Yet at the same time they’re also depicted just as boys. They can get to be happy over the smallest things, they get into heated arguments, they tease each other, they get worried about each other, they don’t want to lose to each other... they are so normal, despite what I’ve said about them before. They’re both symbols and realized characters that I can relate to on a more personal level, and there is multiple facets to both their characters and relationship. I think that’s the best way to show what living in harmony with the world, with the history, with everything that has been there all along without us immediately realizing it, means. They really are there to embody the themes and messages of Zestiria together.

MIKLEO: Both iris gems and ruins are just fragments of the past. What’s important is what you get out of them. MIKLEO: “Because history is the architect of our hearts.” SOREY: Whoa, Mikleo! That was a sweet quote! MIKLEO: You think so? I’m planning to put it in the book I write one day. EDNA: Well, aren’t you full of surprises. MIKLEO: I mean, don’t you think it'd be a waste not to pass on our tale to future generations?

Yes, the details and nitty-gritty are important, but above everything, it’s the bigger picture. What you get out of them. And what I get from them is that hope is not created but inherited. Their journey, their tale not only carries on the hope from the previous generations, but to the next generations as well.

This tale begins with them and ends with them. It is their tale after all.

[seeds-and-sins]

Could I request a fic with homelander & a female reader, whom was brought in as a child to basically be John's "little doll". Perhaps they reinforced her body and made her "durable" so she wouldn't break easily. Also I think it'd be interesting if she had powers like Mantis where she can completely understand and influence emotions (with direct physical contact). And that, that's why Vought created her for John in the first place, so that he "would have something to love and that would love him back". she also has a strong dependence on John cuz she fears abandonment, loneliness, and being betrayed so her way of expressing her feelings to him is by displaying physical contact and constantly letting John know how much she loves "belonging" to only him and how much she loves him, pulling him aside to simply hug him since all she wants is to be "closer to him".

Sadly Earth Scene

Paring: Homelander x F!Reader

Rating: M (WARNING: Abusive relationship!!! And brief mentions of sexual content. Also, Cursing.)

Description: You were a project, never meant to aspire for anything more than servitude. Your whole life depended on him, your whole existence. What would you ever do without him?

Author's Note: Finally! I am crying inside because it took me way too long to get this finished. I wrote it at least three different ways and then I decided to just mesh all those different options into one. I hope it's worth it because I definitely know the asker has been waiting for this. I actually might even pursue a second part, but life is killing me right now. We will see what the tide brings in. Enjoy!!!

Rats, mice, monkeys, cats, dogs, animals of all species, of all shapes and sizes, have been used in the name of science for centuries. Vogelbaum's main studies focused with that of rats and mice, the pharmaceutical industry realizing that those particular animals were most akin to their needs. Monkeys being too loud, sometimes too big, not quite biologically meeting the parameters of what Vogelbaum was attempting to accomplish. Rats and mice, small rodents, reproduced and grew at an efficient rate. Not to mention, they had similar genetic coding to that of humans, making them perfect subjects for the likes of experimental medicines and other projects. It was through rats and mice that Vogelbaum had developed an idea, or rather, a solution.

It was in a recent study that scientists had found that keeping rats and mice in the same pen carried little influence on their growth and reproductive rates. Biologically, nothing changed. Behaviorally, nothing changed. Two different species, perhaps from the same family, were capable of coexisting with one another without any repercussions. To most, the discovery was meager and bore no true necessity. However, Vogelbaum saw the study as an act of brilliance. It fueled his curiosity.

Rats and mice, in the same pen, together.

What would be the results if he were to do such a thing with his more sentient subjects? Rely more on social ecological theory in interdependence of one another: children connect with the parents, then to the home, then they make friends at school, at their local church, with the neighbor across the street.

John killed so many of his caretakers. Not even Vogelbaum's most established scientists were able to enter the cell without fearing for their lives. By the time the boy was ready to be released, he would have no sympathy for humanity, no love in his heart. It wasn't as if Vogelbaum cared all that much. He created John with the intention of him growing up into a strong hero, a living and breathing Superman, his greatest dream coming to fruition. Who cared how he got there?

But, it was Stan Edgar that insisted that he fix the problem. The problem being that John had already killed dozens of innocents and he was only eleven.

Here was Vogelbaum's solution. Here lied the answer.

If theory was anything to go by, all Vogelbaum needed to do was find someone that John couldn't kill. Much easier said than done.

That was where you came in. Subjects were presented to Vogelbaum of varying ages, some had already undergone changes from Compound V. At first, Vogelbaum had his sights set on someone older, someone that could stand in as a parental figure for John where it was needed. But, his interest peaked when he saw you. Orphan, age ten, Compound V injections age two, accelerated healing, empath. The answer was there, right in front of him: the ability to control the emotion's of others, the ability to empathize. You would be a perfect mice to John's rat. All Vogelbaum needed to do was... reinforce you a little bit, make you stronger, sturdier. You had the healing factor, but you needed more if you were going to survive John.

With some of the finest implements of genetic manipulation and some more injections of Compound V, you would be a treasure. For you the pain would be excruciating, but once it passed you would be everything that Vogelbaum ever could have dreamed of.

The final leg of your journey could end up being your last, but Vogelbaum didn't care about the success. If his experiment failed, he would start again. It was all part of the process after all, trial and error.

"Who are you?" Shoved into the twelve by twelve lead cell that housed John, you were clueless, frightened, lost. Was this another horrible test? Another injection of V that would leave you twitching and crying on your metal slab of a bed for days on end.

The boy before you stared blankly, he had never seen someone his age before, someone so small and fragile. He wondered what test this was for him. Did they want him to kill you? Laser through your insides, rip you to shreds, remove your head from your body, break your back? He could do those things.

"W-Who are you?" You asked in a whisper, pressing yourself as far away from him as you could. Vogelbaum's voice cleared over the intercom system, beady eyes monitoring them from the other side of the two way glass.

"John, I would like you to meet (Y/N). (Y/N) is your friend. She will visit once a week. (Y/N) tell John a little bit about yourself." You gulped, glancing nervously between the mirrored glass and the boy called John. You twiddled your thumbs, heartbeat breaking through your chest. "(Y/N) tell John about your powers." The scientist demanded a bit more firmly. You would have sobbed if not for your survival instincts telling you to suck it up and do as you were told. You don't want to get electrocuted, or worse.

“I-I can feel things.”

“Good girl, just like we talked about.” Vogelbaum praised, “Why don’t you two take some time to get acquainted with one another? Be nice, John. Remember, she’s your friend.” Friend? John had heard about the word and had seen pictures of ‘friends’ during his training sessions. The president was a friend, generals were friends, soldiers were friends, police officers, fire fighters, normal people were friends. Friends had become synonymous with someone that John wasn’t supposed to kill. But a true friend wouldn’t lie to John, a true friend wouldn’t try to hurt him. Right?

“You’re my friend?” The young blue eyed, blonde haired boy lifted his chin, standing straight to assert his power over you. You could feel things, what did that mean? 

“I-I don’t know.” You stuttered, curling yourself inward so as to put yourself in a better position for defense. 

“If you’re my friend, why don’t you know?” He stepped closer and you recoiled further, holding your palms up, your breath quickened. You were lying. John didn’t like liars. You lied like those others, the ones that told him they loved him. “Are you a liar?”

“I don’t think so.” You bit your bottom lip, John remained blank and impassive. He held his hand out to you and his lips quirked up in an almost sickly smile. 

“Take my hand. We can be friends.” You vigorously shook your head, tears collecting at the corners of your eyes. 

“I don’t want to.” The intercom screeched abruptly and Vogelbaum’s booming voice returned.

“What did we talk about (Y/N)?” He spat, you squeezed your eyes shut and shook your head. 

“I’m scared.” You cried, turning your head into the cold metal wall.

“Don’t worry...” John chirped, that smile still splitting his boyish face. “I won’t hurt you.” If you were going to lie to him, then he had every right to lie to you. He was convincing, to a young girl that had no one and nothing. He was different than the others: your age, just a boy, no white coats and pointy needles. No one. Nothing. Slowly, albeit hesitantly, you held your hand out. It was the only way you could gage what he was feeling. You could determine if he was a threat from there. 

When your fingers touched his, he was instantly overwhelmed by a whole mess of tingles. He immediately withdrew, jolting away as if he had been stung. His eyes widened, and for the first time he was actually presenting a genuine emotional response. The Doctor took notes. 

“Who are you?!” John shouted, you flinched away, but did not mistake what you had felt. When you touched someone, you felt everything; likewise, they could feel what you did. You could manipulate such emotions to an extent, feelings could be altered to lessen someone’s anger or pain. What you felt in John, wasn’t all that different from what you felt in yourself. You instantly made the connection. John’s reaction on the other hand was-reasonable? You had been born and raised in a pit of Vought’s own creation. As an empath, you had been tested in the art of emotions since the moment you could walk and talk. Your training consisted of constantly being presented subjects. 

What is this person feeling? Can you make them feel like this?...

What if we cut their hand off? Do you feel their pain? Can you make them feel less of that pain?

What if we hurt you? Can you make someone feel what you feel?

You were used to it, your existence having been molded by emotions. But with John, all it took was one touch, and you knew, he was not used to feeling what others felt. He wasn’t short of emotions, but to truly empathize? He had never empathized with anyone. He had been chained down and caged his whole life, experimented on in every way, shape, and form. No one had ever walked into that room, knowing what he felt. And he had never been able to understand how they felt in having the freedom and independence that he never had. 

You sniffled, finally considering the situation that you had been shoved into.

John and you were not so different. In fact, he too was the only other person you had ever met that felt like you did.

“It’s okay.” You straightened yourself, stepping a little closer. You held your hand out again, hoping he would accept it out of curiosity. You did feel that he had intent to hurt you, but you couldn’t blame him after everything he had been through. He felt betrayed, angry, lost, lonely, cold, frightened. He was a brew of everything you felt, and more. Finally, someone’s emotions that were your own. John took your hand, cautiously, but this time his fingers snatched you and his grip tightened like a vice. “STOP!” You screamed, he was on the verge of breaking your hand any second. You poured as much of yourself into the touch as you could, all your pain and all your fear. The results were immediate. John’s entire expression softened, his grip relented. Instead, he held you gently. You winced, knowing your hand would bruise, but surely it would heal in no time at all. 

Then, something astounding happened, the Doctor leaned in closer.

“I’m-I’m Sorry.” John spoke, tentatively, it was his first time ever saying such a thing. Truly. 

Progress. The Doctor thought. And so it was...

“(Y/N)! Jesus Christ! How much trouble is it to get your fucking attention?!” You blinked from your daze, pulling your eyes from the expanse of city below. Your attention darted in John’s direction: he was pacing behind you in a furious step, hair slightly disheveled and violently blue eyes darting about with an unsettling rage. “Did you hear what I fucking said?! Or do you just not give a fuck anymore?!” You shook your head vigorously, immediately jumping to action. The exhaustion from it all was deep in your bones, but your body moved of it’s own accord; some sickening inner instinct, honed after years and years of being at his beck and call. You would do anything for him, and if that meant putting aside your personal needs then you would. That was what you were here for after all. That was why Vought created you: to keep Homelander tame. It was the one job you had been failing at for far too long. No matter how hard you tried, nothing ever seemed to be enough. The only thing that helped you get out of bed everyday was the hope that your efforts weren’t all for naut. 

“No! I always care, you know that!” Your hand rested on his forearm as he paused beside you, fierce glare turned down in your direction. He was unconvinced, so you knew he needed an explanation. “I’m just tired.” You confessed, tone dull and low as your emotions got the best of you. You forced a smile on your lips, hoping that it would lighten the mood. Homelander rolled his eyes before aggressively tugging his arm away and pacing again. 

“Well, go be fucking tired some other time. This is more important!” He began to pace around the table, putting some distance between you both. But even in the gigantic meeting room, everything felt so small and fragile when it was just the two of you. He had the power to make you feel insignificant and, yet, necessary all at the same time. One second he was cracking a joke with you and the next second he was yelling at you over something that annoyed him. Recently, things had been particularly bad for him. With John’s ratings going down, Stan Edgar constantly breathing down his neck, and Stormfront poking a stick at him whenever she had the chance, tensions were high. You had anticipated that John was going to come take it all out on you, his personal punching bag. You simply hadn’t anticipated the scale of his anger when he had called you to the meeting room that morning. It was draining to say the least.

“I’m sorry, John. Keep talking, I’m listening.” The urge to run and hug him was hard to ignore, but you knew it would only serve to make him more irritated. He very rarely ever let you touch him nowadays, and you had long given up trying to convince him that you loved him. The last time the both of you had experienced physical skin on skin contact was probably ten years ago at the least. He used to need you, undoubtedly, coming to you on a daily basis so that you could relieve the overwhelming mass of emotions bubbling in him. There was once a time where he sought you for relaxation and calm. You had once been the constant in his life, his rock to lean on where no one else could withstand his baggage. You had trained for it, had grown up with him, you knew him better than anybody. But, perhaps, it was that revelation that made him begin to push you away; the revelation that you knew him, in ways that no one else did. Instead, these days, he came to you for release of a different sort: mostly for complaining and degrading. There was a constant teeter tottering between him truly seeing you as his friend, but also as his therapist and his property. 

“Oh, you’re listening, now?” He snapped back, lifting a brow at you and scowling. “Suddenly, I’m all that more interesting again?” You visibly softened, shoulders drooping with a harsh exhale. 

“I don’t know what you want from me anymore.” You bit your bottom lip, holding back tears. “I don’t know what to say.” It was the only truth you could muster. There wasn't anything human left and without being allowed to use your powers on him, you could never help.

"Hmm..." His stoic glare penetrated you deep as you waited for some semblance of comfort. God forbid you try to get it from anyone else, he would kill them. He was making his way around and back to you then, within arms reach. "You're so pathetic, do you know that?" He cocked his head, eyes darting up and down your smaller self. You shivered involuntarily at the darkness and the cold that flickered in his eyes. "Would you even know what to do without me?" It didn't take you long to find your answer.

"No."

"That's right..." He confirmed, stepping into your space so he could feign a tender stroke along your cheek. "You need me." You allowed your eyes to flutter shut, his gaze still burning holes into you. As a few minutes of silence passed, his gloved hand painting invisible marks into your skin, you thought about saying it again. I love you. But it would still mean nothing to him. He touched you nowadays like one would touch their pet, and pets were supposed to be obedient. "Now..." His glove squeaked as he clenched his fist and took a step back. Your shoulders flinched when you thought he might lay a blow across your cheek. He knew you could handle it, you would heal fast and he didn't care if you felt pain. The blow never came, he gritted his teeth and turned sharply into his pacing again, fists propped behind his back. "Back to what I was saying, I need you to do something for me." Your eyebrows furrowed, but you swiftly bit the inside of your cheek and hid your confused expression. John never asked anything of you, ever. You mostly were kept around the tower to talk to him. You didn't have a job and your tasks were strictly limited to housekeeping in his penthouse.

"Like what?"

"That's what I was about to fucking explain, if you'd just shut the fuck up." You nodded your head vigorously, twiddling your thumbs out in front of you. One of the tears beat the threshold of your eyelash and began to slide down your cheek, you panicked to wipe it away before he noticed. "Not too long from now, I'll be heading to the set of Dawn of the Seven. Another stupid fucking marketing ploy..." He stopped by the large expanse of window, not far from where you found yourself standing shortly before. "I want you to be there." He clasped his hands firmly behind his back as he nonchalantly spoke those words. You immediately turned your gaze up, your expression clenched in confusion as you considered him.

"Really?" Did you sound far more excited than you should have been? Yes. Homelander never brought you anywhere anymore and it's not like you were allowed to go places you wanted anyways.

"Don't get your hopes up." He rolled his eyes, turning his side to face you and sending you a bored stare. "You'll be working. I want you to find out everything you can about Stormfront. Talk to her, convince her, whatever the fuck you need to do to let me in on her fucking shit. Understood?" You had used your abilities on many others in the past. Vought couldn't deny your importance when faced with a reluctant corporate shareholder or a stubborn politician. However, you had never used your powers on another suoerhero before. You were immediately nervous at the idea. No matter how resilient you were, you were still a fragile soul. What if you messed up? Stormfront was a powerful superhero. She could hurt you. "Is that a problem?"

"I've just..." You gulped anxiously, "I haven't used my powers in at least a year, and what if I mess up?"

"Aww, poor thing." He snickered, "Frankly, I don't give a fuck how you go about doing it. Just fucking do it." Another difference between now and then: Homelander had never sent you out to do something like this. He was usually very protective of you-possessive being the better word for it. "Or, do you not want me to be happy?" You blinked at him. Of course, he always said that to make you budge, to manipulate you into doing what he wanted. And you knew it, and you let it happen. Years ago, when you were both younger, he would tell you: I'm not happy here. I don't know what makes me happy. You'd hold his hand and give him all of the joy you could muster, and then he'd smile. His smiles were far more genuine then. Perhaps it was because he was genuinely feeling happiness.

"I always want you to be happy." You responded, devoid of any emotion and dully spoken.

"Perfect." He grinned, closing in on you to cup your cheeks. "Because if you don't..." He whispered lowly, ducking slightly down till you were face to face. "I will break every bone in your body. And when you heal, I will do it all over again." He pinched your cheek as he shoved past you and vacated the meeting room, knowing full well the effect his threat would have on you in his absence. You dropped your head, thinking about simpler times and missing the Homelander you once knew.

Within the hour, Ashley was dropping by the penthouse to accompany you to the set of Dawn of the Seven. You didn't protest and the whole time she spoke with you, you remained quiet and curled up. She was afraid, you could hear it in her voice. That was what Homelander did to people, he scared them into submission. In their case, they feared him doing his worst: burning them through with his lasor vision, or pulling them limb from limb as they suffered an agonizing slow death. In your case, you feared him discarding you completely, casting you aside, never coming to you again for anything.

"Urgh, isn't this exciting?!" Ashley hollered with feigned excitement, she squeezed your shoulder as you both stood outside of the limo that brought you to the set. "Homelander told me you never leave the tower, so I figure this must be a crazy experience for you. You want a latte, or something?" You faced her finally and shook your head, knowing that she was only appeasing you for the sake of Homelander's approval. You never knew what Homelander called you. There was once a time when he wanted to call you his girlfriend, but Vought refused. Later, Vought then paired him up with Queen Maeve and the two of them seemed to be an item for a while. But, what he called you nowadays, you weren't sure. Part of you didn't even care anymore.

"No, I'm good. Thank you." You reluctantly smiled at her and she returned it.

"Aww, aren't you adorable." She commented, you twiddled your thumbs as she directed her attention briefly to her phone. "I've got to take this, feel free to walk around and help yourself." Ashley strode off in a furious step, lifting the phone to her ear. You inhaled deeply, taking in the expanse of the set out in front. Trailers went on and on for acres and in the distance you could make out a staged destroyed city scape. You decided the quicker you got to completeing your task, the better. You started walking between the trailers, passing employees and sending them friendly waves so as not to come off suspicious. Stormfront wasn't anywhere in sight and neither were any other members of the Seven.

One particular turn and you were being swooped up into a pair of strong and thick arms, your back pressed to something hard and immovable, and it didn't take you more than a second to know who had grabbed you. Gloved fingers pulled up around your throat and a heated breath beat across the nape of your neck, sending shivers down your spine.

"John?" You whispered breathlessly, he had for some reason dragged you into a small gap between two trailers, somewhat shaded from the sun that beat heavily over the entirety of the Vought movie grounds. "What's wrong?"

"Have you talked to Stormfront yet?" You shifted, but immediately corrected yourself when the grip on your throat tightened. Your heart was pumping so fast, Homelander hadn't held this close in ages. You rested your hands on his forearm that belted your waist, squeezing at the muscle there. Without his skin touching yours, there was no stopping him from hurting you here.

"Not, yet."

"I thought so..." He growled in your ear, "You think it's fucking funny to parade around like a whore?"

"W-What?" Oh no, what did you do now? You thought you were doing pretty well, all things considered. "I just got here. I'm trying to find her."

"Why did you smile at Ashley? Hmm? And those other pathetic fucks that are moping around? You don't think I wouldn't notice. They're all looking at you. Is that what you want?" Jealousy. You belonged to him, remember?

"John-" He spun you around and slammed you against the trailer wall. The metal dented from the force of his shove, his hand still gripping harshly at your throat, and you winced. When your eyes finally settled on him, you noticed something that chilled you to the bone. John was looking anywhere and everywhere, anything that wasn't at you, and he was almost frantic in his movements as he leaned his weight from side to side. If you touched his cheek, you might be able to gage what he was feeling, but as far as you could see he was extremely disturbed. "I won't smile at anyone anymore, okay?"

"You-You shouldn't." He sternly chopped back, then finally glaring into your soft gaze. His eyes darted across your features, down your body, and then back to your face. "That's it. You're coming with me." He wrapped his arm around your waist and before you could protest you were being propelled up into the air by at least two hundred feet. You squeaked in surprise, wrapping your arms around his neck as he slowly lowered you back down to the ground. It was somewhere else on the set now and not more than a few feet away you saw an awning. Beneath that very same awning were a handful of members of the Seven, including the one you had been looking for.

Homelander was unceremoniously pushing at your lower back, guiding you toward the awning. Homelander had the wildest and fakest grin on his lips as he pushed you toward Stormfront. A-Train was sitting at one of the chairs, a morose looking Queen Maeve alongside him, upon seeing you they both sent you pity filled grimaces.

"Stormfront," Homelander's chipper voice jarred you from your dazed state and your eyes focused on the leather woman in front of you. "I'd like you to meet one of my best friends, (Y/N)." He nudged you forward, Stormfront smiled at you and your brain instantly saw the comparisons in Homelander all too sweet chesire smile.

"Aww, aren't you a sweetheart. I've seen you around the tower, what do you do?" Homelander's fingers slightly followed the curve of your waist and when you didn't respond quick enough he squeezed there.

"Oh-Um-I help Homelander with all sorts of things-Um-"

"Cool, cool, very cool-"

"Anywho," Homelander interjected, quickly losing all interest in the interaction. He did his part in his mind, he introduced the two of you and hurried your misison along just fine. "I have to go run a few errands and was wondering if you guys could watch her for me." He briefly glanced at A-Train and Maeve, but you knew he was mainly referring to Stormfront.

"Absolutely, we'll get some girl talk started." It was so fake it made your stomach churn, and when Homelander withdrew to go 'run some errands', as he had claimed, you found your fingers instinctively grappling onto his forearm. He glared at you, then snorted awkwardly as he used your own grip to drag you back closer to him.

"What the fuck did we talk about?" He husked in your ear, you stood on your tippy toes, till your lips were near his cheek. You were always so careful not to touch his skin, knowing it would set him off.

"I don't like her." You whimpered, "I don't like any-"

"Do as I fucking say, or else." You hesistantly nodded, allowing him to slip through your fingers as he stormed off. The ground rippled with a small quake as he leapt from the ground and sored into the sky.

"So..." Stormfront began, "You guys have an odd friendship, right?" You slowly faced her, she was plopping a few blueberries into her mouth. There was a darkness in her brown eyes that didn't sit right with you. "I'm just asking because, well, I've heard rumors that you're actually just his fuck toy." A-Train was in the middle of sipping a soda, he choked halfway through a gulp and hunched forward in his seat.

"I remembered I needed to be somewhere." He was a fast mover that A-Train, leaving just as soon as he uttered that last word. Maeve crossed her legs and then ducked her forehead into her palm.

"It's alright," Stormfront stepped into your personal space as she glared at the retreating A-Train. "We don't need his kind here anyways." Your entire face went pale, part of you wanted to ask her to specify what she meant, but another part of you was sickened by the idea of her explaining it.

"Come on. Let's talk." She dragged you to one of seats nearby and plopped next to you. Your soul fled your body as she began a one-sided conversation about the super terrorist threat and her job. Dread filled you as you listened to her go on and on, about things that you were certain Homelander didn't really need to know. The whole time she kept making off-handed comments at you, mostly pertaining to what you did and your relationship with Homelander.

"How does it feel to be the cocksleeve to the world's strongest man? I mean, I don't blame you for it, that's your place." Maeve left at some point, meaning that you were alone with Stormfront. After at least two hours of talking, you decided to take a chance and reach out to touch her. If you made her feel more amenable towards you, you could ask her anything and she'll tell you. That's what Homelander wanted, her secrets, right?

"You've got something on your-"

"Don't even think about it." Her once friendly tone had dissolved into disgust. You slowly returned your hand to your lap, squinting at her in wonder. People who knew where you stood, at Homelander's side, but nobody really knew that you were a supe. "Oh, you didn't think I knew?" She sighed, then spread the length of her arm across the back rest of your chair, she leaned in. "I know everything about you, (Y/N). You're a supe created and tailored solely to be Homelander's little fuck doll." Your lips parted to protest, but no words left them.

You were so tired. So very tired.

"Look, like I said, I'm not judging. That's your place, to keep Homelander in check..." Her gloved finger twisted in your hair. "But..." She emphasized, a tight lipped smile sealing her expression. "I can't help but feel like you've kind of failed, hm? Is that what it feels like, at least?" You stood up from your chair and went to flee. You didn't want any part of this conversation, or where it was going, or- "I could help you." She said cooly, just as your back was turned to her, you froze. Hesitantly, you spun back on your heel to face her. You were desperate. For what? You didn't know.

"H-How?"

"You don't really want this, do you?" She snickered, shaking her head and then dropping her gaze with an almost distant expression. "I mean, Homelander certainly doesn't." You stepped closer, feeling hollow and drained.

"I belong to him, I like to belong to him."

"Oh, please..." She rolled her eyes, "You've got some fucked up form of Stockholm Syndrome. It's been, what? Twenty years in the making. Don't think you're in the wrong for wanting anything else. He doesn't love you, he never has. You were gifted to him by the very same people that threw him in a cell for most of his childhood. Seriously, no wonder he hates you." Your eyes burned with tears, but none came. Your tears were all gone, used up, dried up. "You're tired." Stormfront grasped your shoulders as she came to stand, rubbing them up and down with a soothing grip. "Let someone else take care of him now. Let someone who actually deserves to be at his side, take care of him."

"Y-You?"

"Yes. We'll create a new world together, we're perfect for eachother." She huffed as she gave you a once over. "When was the last time he even touched you, a real touch." Years. Years. Years. Oh, how you missed him so much? She was right, he didn't want you. "Don't you want him to be happy?" You tensed at those words, realizing their engrained purpose in your brain. "Go out in the world. Explore." But what would I do without him? "I'll take care of him. You won't have to worry. This is what's best for him."

"I-" You gently removed her hands from your shoulders with light shoves. "I should get going."

"Yeah, of course..." She smiled brightly, "Think about what I said."

You left the set of Dawn of the Seven through Ashley. She seemed hesitant at first, considering that Homelander hadn't given her the okay, but she could see you were distraught about something so she ordered a limo for you. When you returned to the tower, you immediately went to Homelander's penthouse and you proceeded to drag yourself around. You tried watching TV, eating ice cream, listening to music, nothing was making you feel better. Eventually, after a few hours stuck in your thoughts, you began to pack. You didn't expect that Homelander would return for a while, so that gave you plenty of time to write a note, gather your things, and leave. Would he come after you? Would he kill you? Most importantly, would he miss you?

No.

He didn't care about you. He needed someone better, someone stronger, someone he had chosen.

And you needed to get away, you needed to take a break, you needed to know that Homelander wasn't the only person you could rely on anymore.

Your biggest fear: Would Vought come after you? You had never been out in the world on your own before. Would they find you?

You heard the double doors to the penthouse burst open and your breath caught in your throat. You knew you had spent too much time looking at that picture on the wall. Ya'know, the one of Homelander and you when you were young. His arm was wrpaped around your waist and you were buried into his side and he was smiling, genuinely. If the photo were alive to reveal that moment, when after the massive flash, you turned to kiss his cheek and he turned to kiss your lips. There was never any amount of love that you could pour into those kisses that proved yourself to him, that proved how much you cared for him, that proved how much you loved him. It was never enough.

Homelander entered the bedroom, his teeth grinding together as he looked upon the scene before him.

"What do you think you're doing?" He growled lowly, you plopped down on the edge of the bed; the bed was covered in your folded clothes and your toiletries, a suitcase open at the foot. You couldn't meet his gaze, fiddling with your thumb in your lap. "You didn't do anything I asked of you all day. Why shouldn't I punish you?"

"I'm leaving." His head craned back as if he was stung, his face channeled through a series of expressions before he settled on a stoic glare.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" He clasped his hand behind his back, cape wisping out behind him as he carried forward. "You need me. You don't know what to do without me. You're pathetic." The same words he always said to you, a broken record of insults and degrading comments that you had come to agree with.

"I know." You sobbed, a burst of courage bubbling up from the intense sadness that coiled your insides. You stood, chin up to face him, and the tears were fresh this time. "But why put yourself through this any longer? Why keep me around? You don't want me, you don't need me. I'm a burden everyday, and you're you." You gestured at him with an aggressive swing of your hand, then turned to start shoveling items messily into your suitcase. "It's not good for me to be around anymore. I only remind you of what we suffered through. I only remind you of Vought's attempts to control you. I don't deserve to be at your side, I-"

"Who told you this?" When he spoke this time his voice was cracked, uncharacteristically soft. You didn't dare look at him, too afraid of what it would do to you.

"I thought of it myself." You stopped, realizing he could probably tell if you were lying to him. You were holding a clump of once folded clothes in your shaky hands. "John..." You placed everything down and then finally faced him, your feet shuffling at the navy blue carpet. His eyes were glistening, as if he was about to cry any moment and it threw you for a loop. "I-" You shakily reached out to grab his forearm, eyes focused on the way his muscles twitched under your touch before you looked up at him. "I love you so much. More than you have ever known. But, I'm tired. I'm so tired. You deserve someone better, someone you chose."

"I-I'll-" His eyebrows furrowed in a split second of rage. "I'll find you. You'll never be able to hide from me-"

"Why? Why bother?" You forced a comforting smile on your lips to sooth him, although you were the one that needed soothing. "You know I-"

"I don't know what I'd do without you." He husked out, struggling to utter those into the space that parted you both. You stood there, absolutely gobsmacked, unable to peel your fingers from his arm as your body froze completely.

"W-What?"

"I do need you." He admitted, albeit with some reluctance. You watched as a tear trailed down his cheek. You wanted to hug him so badly, you want to touch his flesh and tell him everything was going to be alright. You wanted to make him better again. "So, stay. I'll do better." You lowered your head, chin pressing to your chest.

"I want to believe you." You whispered and luckily his super hearing could pick up on the faintest of sounds, because the words were barely voiced from the pit of your throat. You spun away from him, toes curling into the carpet, you continued packing. "It's been years, John. Years since I've touched you, years since you've needed me. I've only ever wanted to be closer to you."

You made him feel human, he wanted to say. You made him feel whole, he wanted to say. You made him love, he wanted to say.

But he was Homelander, the strongest man on the entire face of the earth, superior to all, and long ago, he had learned that having you so close made him weaker. Having you around made him human.

At the same time, watching you leave killed him. He didn't know what it was like to die, but this must had been as close as he would ever get to it.

"I can't let you leave."

"Then, kill me, I guess." You released another choked sob and his heart wrung at the sound. You closed the suitcase shut, after shoving in the last of your things. The sound of the zipper rolling on the track, pulling around the case and sealing it shut, it made him wheeze with desperation.

It was the unknown. The unknown of not seeing your face everytime he entered his penthouse. The unknown of having to live without talking to you, sharing light conversations and the occasional jokes he cracked that were in reality quite morbid and unsettling. You wouldn't be around when he needed you. You wouldn't belong to him anymore. You dropped the suitcase to the ground, deciding that any sort of goodbye would not suffice. You slipped on your flipflops and as you were leaving the room...

"Touch me." You gasped, pausing in the doorway. You could hear sifting out behind you and it was Homelander, removing his gloves. "Please."

You faced him, relishing in this moment, but anxious that it might be too good to be true. Should you give in? Or should you proceed to leave? Homelander had never laid himself so bare before you, John had never given you this much in far too long. He sniffled, tossing the gloves on the bed and holding his hands out to you. "Please. Touch me." You relinquished all of your power to him.

You held your hands out the same and as you were within reach, your fingers interlocked an entire explosion of feelings, overwhelming and strong, came through. You looked up into his eyes and began to cry and so did he. Why would he put himself through this? Why would he suffer, when you were there the whole time?

"Oh, John." You cried for him, jumping up into his arms and pressing your lips to his in a chaste kiss. His entire body wracked with a harsh sob and his arms wrapped around you to hold you closer. You would not break the connection, cupping his cheeks and holding your forehead to his. "I wish you had come to me sooner, my poor boy." Your thumbs wiped away as many tears as you could catch, but there were so many. You hadn't seen him cry like this in ages.

"More." He breathed, "I need more of you." He whimpered, tugging at your clothes, you nodded your head vigorously.

You were so tired.

But you would give yourself to him.

[aalissy]

Angelic/Demonic

Two chapters for today as I get caught up on Marichat May haha. I hope you like both of them <3. Lemme know your thoughts!

AO3

In a realm where light and darkness coexisted yet remained separate, Marinette was an angel, a being of pure light and kindness. She had wings as white as freshly fallen snow and a heart that radiated warmth and compassion. Her duty was to watch over the mortal world, guiding and protecting the innocent.

In stark contrast, Chat Noir was a demon, a creature of shadows and mischief. His wings were dark and leathery, and his eyes glowed a brilliant green in the darkness. He was a playful spirit, often causing harmless trouble but never truly evil. His realm was the night, where he felt most alive.

Despite their worlds being so different, fate had a curious way of weaving their paths together. One fateful evening, as Marinette descended to the mortal world to tend to a lost soul, she found herself drawn to a quiet, moonlit garden. It was a place where shadows danced with light, creating a mesmerizing spectacle.

As she landed softly, her wings folding gracefully behind her, she sensed a presence nearby. Out of the shadows stepped a demon, his green eyes twinkling with curiosity and mischief. He tilted his head, a playful smile curling his lips as she stepped back in fright. "Well, well, what do we have here? An angel gracing my garden with her presence."

Marinette's heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. She had heard tales of demons but had never encountered one herself. "I'm Marinette," she said softly, her voice like a gentle breeze. "What brings a demon like you to a place like this?"

He chuckled, his tail flicking behind him playfully. "I'm Chat Noir, and I could ask you the same thing, angel.” He dragged the word out like it was something disgusting and she bristled at his tone, her sapphire eyes narrowing into dark blue pinpricks. But, he continued, uncaring of her fury. “This garden is a place where light and shadow meet, just like us." 

He gestured between the two of them, a smirk on his face as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. 

Marinette glared at him, trying to maintain her composure. "It's not often that angels and demons meet, let alone in a place like this," she retorted, her voice firm.

Chat’s smirk softened into a genuine smile. "True, but perhaps that's what makes it interesting. Don't you think?" He took a step closer, his curiosity evident. "What brings you here tonight, Marinette?"

She hesitated, unsure if she should reveal her true purpose. But something in his eyes, a spark of sincerity amidst the mischief, compelled her to speak. Perhaps there was something wrong with her. She had been trained never to discuss details with demons. And yet, here she was, revealing her role to him effortlessly.

"I came to help a lost soul. My duty is to guide and protect those in need."

Chat’s expression shifted to one of genuine interest. "A noble task, indeed. And how do you plan to help this soul?"

Marinette glanced around the garden, feeling the gentle pull of the lost soul nearby. "By offering them guidance and light, showing them the way to find peace."

Chat nodded thoughtfully. "And what if the soul doesn't want to be found? What if they enjoy the darkness?"

She looked at him, surprised by the depth of his question. "Everyone deserves a chance to find their way, even if they don't realize it at first."

Silence enveloped them for a moment, the only sound the rustling of leaves in the night breeze. His gaze softened as he watched her. "You truly believe that, don't you?"

Marinette nodded. "Yes, I do."

Chat’s playful demeanor returned, though it was tempered with a newfound respect. "Well, Marinette, you have your work cut out for you tonight. Perhaps I can be of assistance. Even a demon can help now and then."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, skeptical but intrigued. "And why would a demon like you want to help?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Let's just say I'm curious. And who knows? Maybe you'll find that even darkness can have its own kind of light."

With that, he extended his hand to her. Marinette hesitated but then took it, feeling a strange sense of trust forming between them. Together, they walked through the garden, searching for the lost soul that had drawn Marinette there.

As the night wore on, they shared stories and insights, their initial wariness slowly giving way to a budding friendship. Marinette found herself laughing at Chat’s playful antics, while he listened intently to her tales of compassion and duty. The garden, once a place of stark contrast, began to feel like a bridge between both of their worlds.

Finally, they found the lost soul, a small, frightened spirit hiding among the shadows. Marinette knelt beside it, her wings glowing softly as she spoke words of comfort. Chat watched in awe as the spirit slowly emerged from its hiding place, drawn to her light.

With his guidance, they led the spirit to the edge of the garden, where it was bathed in the gentle light of dawn. As it finally found peace and disappeared into the morning light, Marinette and Chat Noir stood side by side, their bond stronger than ever.

Marinette turned to him, gratitude shining in her eyes. "Thank you, Chat. I couldn't have done it without you."

He smiled, his eyes twinkling. "It was my pleasure, Marinette. Perhaps we're not so different after all."

As the years passed, Marinette and Chat Noir continued to meet in the moonlit garden. Their bond grew stronger with each encounter. They shared their joys and sorrows, their hopes and fears. She found solace in his playful nature, while he found comfort in her unwavering kindness. Their friendship deepened into something neither could name, but both cherished dearly.

They often wondered if their worlds would ever accept their bond. Angels and demons were not meant to be friends, let alone something more. Yet, Marinette and Chat Noir could not deny the connection they felt. They longed for each other in a way that transcended their differences.

One evening, after many years of secret meetings, they found themselves sitting side by side on a bench in the garden. The moon cast a soft glow over them, creating an ethereal atmosphere. Marinette leaned her head against Chat Noir's shoulder, her wings brushing against his.

"Chat," she began softly, "do you ever think about what it would be like if we didn't have to hide? If we could just be together without fear?"

He sighed, his heart aching with the truth of her words. "Every day, Marinette. I think about it every day. But our worlds are so different. How can we ever bridge that gap?"

She lifted her head, looking into his eyes with a determination that took his breath away. "We bridge it by believing in each other, by believing in our love. We've spent so many years together, Chat. Isn't it time we take that leap of faith?"

Chat’s heart raced as he realized what she was saying. He had loved her for so long, but he had always been too afraid to act on it. Now, with her so close, he couldn't hold back any longer.

Gently, he cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing away the tears that had begun to fall. "Marinette, my angel, I've loved you since the moment I saw you. If you're willing to take that leap, then so am I."

Marinette smiled through her tears, her heart swelling with love. "Then let's take that leap together."

With that, Chat leaned in, capturing her lips in a tender, passionate kiss. It was a kiss that bridged their worlds, blending light and shadow into a beautiful harmony. Their wings unfurled, wrapping around each other as they shared that perfect moment.

When they finally pulled apart, Marinette's eyes were filled with tears of joy. "I have to go now, but we'll meet again, won't we?"

Chat nodded, his smile genuine and warm. "We will, my angel. No matter what, we'll always find each other."

With a final, loving glance, Marinette took to the sky, her heart filled with hope and love. And as Chat Noir watched her disappear into the light, he knew that their love would transcend the boundaries of their worlds, forever uniting them in a bond that nothing could break.

[celestie0]

HALLO ELLIE!!! proud to say ive successfully managed to move on from my situationship! hope u don’t mind me rambling about this guy.

let’s call him f since that’s his initial. F and I have been friends since primary sch, he eventually had to move because his dad passed away. Anyways, two years ago we started talking again because his family visited mine. Long story short, things were complicated because we had been flirting a lil bit and he also said that ‘if you flirt with other guys, I’ll starve myself’ which Icked me so BAD. He did apologised .Last year, I ‘happy birthday’ed my way into his life and started talking again because I really did miss him, he’s my childhood best friend after all. After like two weeks? I don’t remember anymore💔 He told me he loved me and i was happy to say it back to him. (I was such a fool😭) I remember being giggly and all. On 23rd August we got into a fight because we planned to meet up and i said to him ‘okay I’m nervous. I don’t think I wanna meet up’ which made him mad. MIND YOU! we were in planning stages. i didn’t cancel on him on the day itself! I had lots of things going on at that time so him just casually saying I was PLAYING him made me so upset. He had the cheek to tell me ‘ily’ because honestly I hate when people start getting all affectionate after a fight. I hope you get it😭 the next month went okaaay until 23rd sep. (23 is like a curse at this point💔💔) I confronted him on why he hasn’t been saying ‘ily’ back it may seem something small but I hate not getting it back like excuse me? AND HE SAID TO ME ‘my ex was the only one who managed to make me feel loved’ I CRIED SO BADDD!!!! how could he say that after everything I’ve did for him. smh. yada yada things went on and in dec we stopped talking. I really did liked talking to him and all but it was too much. There was certain moments where I felt like he was just using me cause I wanted him. The times where we sexted (no nudes were exchanged, just texts.) though we did call because he wanted to hear me moan. not my proudest moments, I don’t wanna be begging for a guy’s attention again. I genuinely loved him with my whole heart :((

IM SO SORRY 4 RAMBLING ON!!!! I needed to let this out so badly 🤒❤️‍🩹 love u sm ellie

— frank ocean anon

hiii my love <3 omg GASP i’m so proud of uuu situationships are hell on earth i hope you feel at peace now!!

PLS YOU’re SO REAL FOR GETTING THE ICK OVER THAT!! i swear jealousy is only attractive w fictional men ✋🏼😭 it is NOT a cute look for actual men slsldkfjfh imo its a lil overbearing n strange haha

aww thats sad hun u guys are like childhood best friends so i imagine it was still tough not speaking :(( WOW he said i love youu n you said it backk. its ok bb if it was a happy thing in the moment then it can stay that way in your memory regardless of how stuff turned out in the end :”) be kind to yourself <3

ahhh yea thats 🚩 the whole getting mad cuz you cancelled…and no i totally get that, i hate that sort of “love bombing” after a fight, it just comes off as in-genuine. thats so valid n i relate

OH MY GOSH THE COMMENT ABOUT HIS EX ☹️☹️ WHY WOULD HE SAY THAT…some things you should just keep to your fuckin self. thats awful im sorry love 🥲🥲 you deserve SO much better than that

it’s okkk bb, you knew him a long time n even apart from relationship/situationship, there was still a friendship there too. you can really love someone but also realize theyre bad for you, those two can coexist. i’m so proud of you for realizing you deserve better than someone who makes you feel like you’re being used! no one should ever feel that way. take it easy bb but truuuly truly truly time will heal <3 chin up!! so many wonderful experiences out there for you still my dear

- much loveee, ellie ☁️

[torturecave]

HEYy anon from last questions here!! I got SO excited when you replied oh gosh it made my day!!! I love your takes on this franchise and these two so much, thank you for the insightful answer and for taking the time to reply, that was so kind of you and I appreciate it <3

I really wanted to know as like I said, literally your art is SO SO pleasing and good!!!!! your style is like nothing I have ever seen in an amazing way and I love how soft, touchy and dynamic it feels, it just gives me a sense of warmth that I cant get enough of ! <3 warning I started typing too much accidentally ops sorry in advance, excuse me any typos too its like 5am and i'm going wild hahah ;w;;

I was very curious with how you thought of Branch and Poppy now as I noticed how fond you were of their intimate pranch take, honestly maybe both takes can still coexist, I feel like Poppy was all down for being like that with Branch even before TWT, but he just wanted a confirmation to act on cuz he's a dork and needs it and fears the worst, and so Poppy found it hard to understand if there was consent in a sense maybe? The way in the start they basically hold hands (I think the hair intertwined is canonically supposed to be this, which is adorable af and shows just how comfortable Branch is with Poppy touching him ;;w;). And looking at it like that it is so sweet that he had so much fear and angst about his feelings being returned, I imagine everyone being like "wait you weren't dating already?". Pop trolls did see them ball dance in a pot while being cute as heck aughh i cant with them i love them and their slow burn. Really I still appreciate how the first movie ends with Branch asking for a hug, it shows how touch starved he was and how much he loves and trusts her now even if he's slow and clumsy at it, he doesn't ask for a group hug, he specifically waits when they're alone to get it, so adorable, he fell so hard, 10/10..

OH DON'T GEt me started on the hot air ballon scene, it is legitimately my favorite moment of the movie regarding both of them. It's filled with so much tension?... It being at midnight, the bickering, the way Poppy simply has to stare lovingly at Branch and he just can't take it, just looks!!!.... Wow. Thank you Dreamworks

Just like the first film, Poppy simply KNOWS Branch will jump in and come help her, she's really just hoping it doesn't take him a whole musical montage in which she's dying like last time, which is why I think she's so relieved, because I know she must realize Branch is following her no matter what, they just can't be separated !!! Much less now. :D

So that was a perfect little moment.. I think your wife was the one who made the little essay on how in the first film despite Poppy crashing his bunker, she's confident and not even surprised he came and how that's so telling, I just love the fact that Poppy from the start knows Branch deep down is soft and how despite being a happy bundle of sunshine Poppy also has her rather cruel ways of getting what she wants and is very very smart and smug. Makes their dynamic way more endearing X)

Incel Branch kills me, he has to be the a rare case for sure in this village help! A bit unrelated rambling coming but have you seen Holiday In Harmony special? In it he's ALL about his gf unashamed and unaware of how trolls think he's being strange and it is so funny. He also replaced all of his paranoid trauma carving in his bunker with Poppy related things and it kills me gosh, in one of the notes he calls her "My queen" too, god, hes down BAD!!! I love it T,,T

AAHH holy damn i'm chuckling hard at your observation about Girl's Just Want To Have Fun.... Wow Branch. What is up with that like you gotta wonder if it was intentional.. And he's also secretly lovingly caressing a picture of them (And on the spot /she's/ in!!!!). Doesn't help too that in the original storyboard he was naked.. Much thinking about this from now on from me, thank you very much for pointing it out X)

Those concepts/aus your wife and you had have been on my mind so often, thank to her too for her work, I absolutely also adore her artworks!! It's very nice to know that you two are happily together, I imagine it was fun for you two to grow and still keep watching the silly trolls franchise as more movies kept being done :DDD

Also she's absolutely right with her observation on TWT and TBT oh my gosHHHH. Poppy and Branch taking turns in being obsessed with each other is such a delightful way to describe it, they are so freaking cute. And the way she describes the first movie is spot on yes you get me!!!!! There's a beauty in just seeing them bond and how natural it feels. I still adore the mere fact that both of them actually have some sort of history and dare I say tension from the start that makes them so so good. The beggining in which Branch is obviously waiting for his invitation when warning Poppy and I can just imagine him sneaking into the scene to grab the smashed invitation while Poppy pretends she doesn't notice he did or deep down has to know he appreciates them because she keeps making them special for him and it is so sweetttt!!....

Stuff like that gets my imagination going wild X) and the scenery and exchanges as you say are so so nice :D I could go on and on about the first film but I enjoyed all of the movies for different reasons, definitely agree with you! I was very hesitant at first about TBT, but it surprised me for good!!! AND OH TRUE COLORS IS FOREVER BEST THEM SCENE ,,,, The intimacy and gentleness it has kills me everytime, the moment Poppy touches him and the color starts splashing back to him from the hand she touched instead of normally to emphasize SHE makes him happy is sublime and how they cant stop looking at each other gosh... Perfect perfect perfecttt !!! >www< ALSO later on their secret handshake and whole flirty dance it's just, a BIG catharsis to go after everything they went through !!!

Also I can tell you enjoyed Viva, she was so fun and well, having more than one Poppy is simply guaranteed to be a treat ;;w;; definitely a bit I loved even if I couldn't believe they were going with the lost sibling stuff first X) How do you think Branch is handling being constantly braided and hyped by basically an older version of her gf at least in a superficial level? There's gotta be some funny feelings there somehow or at least I like to think. On a related note, also notice how lowkey horny Poppy gets about Branch's brothers, she is too much, I know it's because she's a fangirl but the similarities they share with Branch have to play a part too imo 0v0

I wish the movie would have shown us more of their sister moments, really found it more endearing than the brozone plot even if that was fun too ;v; I cant stop looking at your doodle where Viva is holding baby Poppy AUugh SO ADORABLE I LOVE IT SO MUCH we needed a moment like that in the movie you are doing god's work!!!<333

Also last thing but thoughts on Branch being called a boy toy? That shocked me when I watched TWT like damn does he seem that submissive? Poor guy.. Also the whole rock zombies moment in general just had a kinky tone somehow lmao. I bet rock trolls must have different social norms, really I adore how pop trolls seem to stand out thanks to being captured for so long, so much that they're the only ones who hug each other to cope with this. I really find the worldbuilding interesting in that regard!!

Now i'm just rambling nonsense hahah i'll try to stop now before I end up crashing tumblr somehow X) I'm sorry for that, I have so much thoughts about these movies and pranch/broppy and you and your wife just get it so much!!! Thanks again for the reply and taking your time on it, really appreciated and i'll keep an eye open for more stuff you post!!! It makes me happy to see you around, as I said, lovely art and content in general (Goes to your wife as well, you 2 are very talented!!!!) and you are so so kind!!!! Thank you <3 btw no need to reply to all of this or any haha, I just needed to get out some stuff cuz I loved your replies so much! I'll try to not spam on your askbox, im just a huge fan of how insighful and how nice your blog is!!! Though if you mind me asking so much let me know and i'll stop right away ;w; !

Last thing, regarding the underwear/clothing, that explains a lot thanks for sharing your thoughts,,, it's amusing that we get to see Branch slapped on the butt casually (Which you know always wanted to see it but coming from Poppy, like that art you did years ago 0v0) yet Poppy must not be lewded because if she had the power to show us how lewd she is these movies could not go on, she would be TOO powerful!!! Just look at how she growls at Branch X)))

Once again, thank you for reading my cringy fanboying, your thoughts and content in general makes my heart happy !!! <33 Have a nice day anytime you catch this :D *runs away once more*

Hello again! ^^ / Nice to see you again, and I'm happy to see my reply could do so much for you... Your ask was very refreshing and delightful to see! The same goes for this one as well. :3 It's nice to hear from someone who not only has an appreciation for my work but also the movies themselves. So you don't have to worry about typing too much either heh. (Honestly I would've answered this question sooner — I was immediately drafting my reply — but I got nerfed by a recent power outage + getting sick bwahaha. The world trying to stop me from talking about trolls...)

I will take a moment to really appreciate how you think my art is so unique. I don't want to sound too full of myself, but I do find that what I want to make / isn't something I can easily find...! I can accept it is particular... and that it can be enjoyed for that reason. >w>

I was very curious with how you thought of Branch and Poppy now as I noticed how fond you were of their intimate pranch take, honestly maybe both takes can still coexist, I feel like Poppy was all down for being like that with Branch even before TWT

I agree! I think the reality is that whatever Branch feels for Poppy is already reciprocated by TWT... To the point where I imagine that after TWT, whenever Branch had a conversation with Poppy about dating (?) she was probably like 'haha, why didn't you say so Branch!?' If he wanted that 'status' she would've been happy to oblige I think, nothing's stopping them... And whatever intimacy that included, she'd be eager for it as well.

Trying to word something here, huhm... I wonder if Poppy, on her own, wouldn't necessarily expect to be 'more' than Branch's best friend? She definitely knows she's special to Branch, enough to tease him over it lol, so I don't think she doubts her importance to him so much. ... And perhaps it's hard to, as Branch is still less social than the avg. troll, persnickety about being touched and whatnot. There's plenty of exclusivity in their bond. (Indeed no one is intertwining their hair so cutely with Branch-!!) It might be that Poppy is just happy to be... whatever she is to Branch, in that moment.

Though for Branch, he benefits from something as definitive as being Poppy's boyfriend. Because no one else is Poppy's boyfriend. Lots of trolls in the village are Poppy's 'friends', and she's probably called many of them her 'best friends' as well — Bridget currently occupies that niche after all. It isn't exclusive to be those things... And I think for Branch, it isn't reassuring to feel as though he is 'on the same level' as... Biggie or Cooper etc.

The REASON it is devastating to watch Fuzzbert high-five Poppy after he failed to is, because, it exemplifies the very things he doesn't want to be true. Like noooo HE CAN'T HAVE A WORSE CONNECTION TO POPPY THAN FUZZBERT...!!! He can't be a lower rung! In her life! Than Fuzzbert! He needs to DO more for her than that!! He needs to have some sort of... implicit value. I'm extrapolating a lot, but I wonder if being 'like Fuzzbert' would make Branch feel expendable, replaceable, basically not precious enough. Regardless of the fact that Poppy cares muchly for her village... but well, that's the thing, as a queen she is obligated to care for her subjects... It's not special, necessarily. And further doomer-incel thinking is to conclude, it's also not 'special' enough to love Poppy because EVERYONE loves queen Poppy... loving her a lot won't set you apart from all the other trolls...

TBT adds an interesting depth to Branch's misery, he... really believes it was his fault BroZone's performance went so badly, and that everyone left. As much as he believes he killed his grandma... It seems Branch has grown into someone who is very sensitive to the idea of abandonment. Unlike Poppy, Branch cannot reassure himself that he will stay in anyone's life, definitively... It didn't matter how much he loved his brothers, or grandma Rosie, they were equally taken from him. He's been isolated for many years without 'proof' that things will be different...

(I'm not sure if Abandonment Issues Branch is really Dreamworks' intention but I like what they've written here. As you can see my mind's been running wild with threading all the events together from all 3 movies. Tasty conclusions.)

While I'm here like a madman, I will share a tangent related to this all. :) Just something I've been thinking about lately... Even though I don't see Poppy jumping at the bit to date Branch quite like he is in TWT, it isn't out of a lack of enthusiasm or interest or anything like that... JUST that Poppy is more easily satisfied with not putting a term to their dynamic. Quite frankly I think she would be completely receptive to Branch romancing her... surprisingly early in the timeline!! Like as far back as movie 1? It's Branch who's been resisting her this whole time. I think she'd be like. Kind of, agog, if he was suddenly forward with her... if he recited poetry directly to her, even? Since he won't sing.

There's a point where Poppy is so so soo determined to even crack a smile out of Branch, to befriend him and sing with him. I think you could like. OVERWHELM HER, even, with the proposal of romance LMAO, I think it'd be like akdkjf..f jgdhfk what is this /// BRANCH LIKE ME MOMENT!? BRANCH... really... THE mysterious Branch kfkdfhs he doesn't like anyone.. ... 0.0 but he liek me? // omg //// but , waitactually yeah there's always been something here.. between us... hasn't there... 😏

So yeah this is just me saying not only do I think Poppy is receptive to Branch in TWT, I think she would be in the first movie, and, I think he could do, a lot, I think he could earnestly court and kiss that one tbh. If he put on the charm. Branch could be capable of a lot... it's just that he's held back by his traummies kfdhjgjsf

I think your wife was the one who made the little essay on how in the first film despite Poppy crashing his bunker, she's confident and not even surprised he came and how that's so telling

Yes that was my wife, she's fixated on the bunker scene and compiled caps / made gifs / and discussed it. It's an incredible scene really. Her brutal counter to Branch being all smug and difficult at her... can't handle her being smug in return, for real! Then we've always loved how she reacts when she sees Branch again, after having been beaten and battered by the world, blacked out in a spider web. Somehow she goes BRANCH my man. What a funny girl... Incredibly endearing lol. I always like the flow of that scene / them leaving the forest / then them walking on that fallen log. (The log is one of my fav panning shots in the movie~)

[laughing] I'm glad Incel Branch is amusing you, I want more people to see it this way, it's just too funny. What kind of troll... Oh but I have seen Holiday in Harmony! (I like the other special as well... Hope we get another with Viva this time as main focus. :3) Lol but yeah in this special I get the impression Branch just can't seem any less obsessed, it's funny the way Prince D and Cooper are there to get kinda like 😰😰... Put-off by Branch's idea of a present, the way he would go about making something for Poppy and the lengths he would be willing to go (like secretly measuring her etc.) They're just there to be like... the normal ones... for contrast ww

I hadn't observed his crazy lil pinboard so closely, I didn't know it said things like "my queen" but that's very sick (unwell). Looking it over, also some of the things in here are just like, a drawing of Poppy in a heart, cut-outs of hearts scribbled in with ink, help... The fact that he makes that little scrapbook in the end is very sweet, but I do love that because it's Branch, it has to be a scrapbook with a bit of a Deranged quality. Frantic and kind of oddly cobbled together.

HONESTLY it's sad now that we've seen his old bunker plans, because there was a time when Branch was able to make... NORMAL NOT SCARY ART...... Not anymore though.

The visualization of Branch's brain degrading over time (lol)

Another thing I did not know: that Branch was naked in the storyboard for his part of the opening seq in TWT. I... guess... it was gonna be us seeing both of them naked as a parallel but, ultimately I have to say I do prefer his bathrobe lol, I think it conveys still 'intimate at home' but has more of a chill vibe. (Spoken as someone with a clothes fetish. :B) Whatever the case I'm just glad to have pointed those lyrics out to you heh.

Those concepts/aus your wife and you had have been on my mind so often, thank to her too for her work, I absolutely also adore her artworks!! It's very nice to know that you two are happily together, I imagine it was fun for you two to grow and still keep watching the silly trolls franchise as more movies kept being done :DDD

I'm a big fan of her work as well💞 She was my greatest inspiration back then, and remains to be, honestly she inspires me in every way now, she really helped me come into my own... I'm also glad we can be together and enjoy these movies still. I just have so many memories of talking to her about the first Trolls, and ah... IDK if I've ever posted the story here, but I actually tagged along with her to a furcon when we first met in person. She'd stay up talking to me as long as she could, then have to sleep because she was tabling at the con. I'd stay up a little later, writing fic based on our Trolls discussions... then I'd sleep in the hotel room until she came back, and between commissions she'd be drawing things based on our ideas. We'd exchange art/fic...

Recently when we were rewatching the 1st movie after watching Band Together, I couldn't stop myself from saying "these movies helped us fall in love 🥺"... pfwhsh. So yeah I have a lot of personal connection to it, though outside of that it's just a great movie. :3 The sense of history that the two have is the best...!

[simply nodding in agreement with all your appreciation for the diff scenes!] I also love how Branch's colors begin to return without him realizing, the way it starts at their point of contact... It is all perfect 💖 Oh I really love their dancing in the credits to September, seeing them bounce all along at the end of things is really so wonderful. Ugh lately I've been thirsty for every second of them flirtily dancing together. -_- I wish I could have some sort of saucy music video featuring them...

Ackk yeah I'm head-over-heels for Viva honestly... How could I not be, I adore Poppy so much. 'Two Poppies' was something meant to thrash me around by the ankles, there was no way I could be prepared for that!! Here I was concerned about being bogged down by brother stuff, I didn't stop and think... sister stuff. Goodness.

How do you think Branch is handling being constantly braided and hyped by basically an older version of her gf at least in a superficial level? There's gotta be some funny feelings there somehow or at least I like to think.

Perhaps you wrote this innocently, but, I feel like it's a targeted attack on me, what're you doing... (laughing) I accept it though. You're giving me an excuse to jump into my crazy thoughts.

I...! Do, think that Viva's attention, compounded with Poppy, will be overwhelming for Branch. As it is, I think meeting Viva is too much — kind of leaving Branch agog that Viva is so Poppy-like... Because, as we've discussed, Branch is so very obsessed with Poppy, and I think she is very unique to him, indescribably so. (It goes with the sentiment of 'of course everyone loves Poppy, she's a shining star amidst us all!!!') The idea of meeting another troll could feel like meeting Poppy... That's surreal! Why would that be the case...!? It's almost relieving, perhaps, to find out they're related.

... almost. Whatever relief and ah, placidity Branch feels about them reconnecting, I think it'll fade when dealing with them long term. Won't there be a moment where he's sitting between them, being fawned over, hugged and having his hair played with, hearing them hum together... and won't it make Branch feel dizzy, like argh where am I-? Like a bizarre dream. What's going on?

There's so little that can 'get to' Branch quite like Poppy does. He doesn't give anyone the same amount of attention or consideration he does her, and he's not as interested in others, he likes his space and privacy. Viva is going to challenge this... by being Poppy-like! On top of that, Viva has a past that will let her connect with Branch's? She'll benefit from his perspective and advice, too... This + the fact that she is Poppy's sister, of course Poppy's going to make sure Viva spends lots of time together with her and Branch — all that time lost, they need to make up for it! And because Viva is going to like what she likes then Viva must like and enjoy time with Branch! Er, and she will I think, since she point-blank goes "I like you!" after that little braid moment, after the kiss... h-hm, I wonder what it's like to have your hair missed with mid-kiss.... ueuahhg

If anything, it's like the movie is twisting my arm, forcing me to think about Branch having "funny feelings" about it all... In fact I have to think about everyone in this circumstance having "funny feelings"...! Viva and Poppy are screaming like fangirls together at the end of the movie, aren't they? And when Branch "proposes" to Poppy, the first thing she does is invite Viva to join her, ahaha.

Just to make me more insane, there's this BroZone tape inside beside Viva's rollerskate bed... So even Viva has some sort of familiarity with BroZone? A fan in some capacity...?? So could her and Poppy really just lay there girlishly, ranking the members in terms of hotness!? Per-haps........

Me and my wife have been fervidly thinking about this all... Discussing chicanery like, well because Poppy has that odd comment about her hypothetical sister being mistaken as her twin earlier, I wonder if they would have fun doing switcheroos. Dressing up as the other and enjoying acting as the other. Branch would be shaken up to have mixed them up, even for a second...

A more innocuous scene we've discussed is one where Poppy invites Viva over to Branch's bunker for the first time, though unannounced. In this moment, a sleepy out-of-it Branch could approach Viva, purring from behind — and then quickly must. Become stiff when it's like LOL Branch it's meee! & Poppy is like, HAHA did you think she was me!? XD Branch hehehee!!!! The girls are so fond of one another, I think being seen as similar would only flatter and excite them. It's more sisterly bonding. It's Branch who will feel like [cries] nooo waiit that's not-!! I- you two are individuals to me-!! [voice cracking]

[sighs] and beyond THAT... I've thought of more intimate things between all three... I can't in good consciousness go into great detail (too weird) (and it'll take a million years) but well, you can just know that this is where I am at with them. In my mind I see Branch twirling the girls around, and them all singing together... I've also been mentally making mash-ups and creating playlists basically, of things for them to sing at/with one another...

On a related note, also notice how lowkey horny Poppy gets about Branch's brothers, she is too much, I know it's because she's a fangirl but the similarities they share with Branch have to play a part too imo 0v0

LOL thank you for being willing to say it, point blank, like yes... She, just is, horny, about Branch's brothers, fsr that is the thing, ongoing in the movie. I know the idea is that they're depicting that usual "boyband fever" but, most boybands aren't composed of. Brothers-!! So I think that's what creates this strangeness ultimately, like, *doubletakes* ??

I am sure part of Poppy's appreciation of meeting the members of Brozone is her current connection to Branch. It's like something she's loved in the past now informs her about her partner... Untold levels of excitement! It's not just meeting a celebrity, it's meeting someone who was close to Branch ! That Branch sang with!! All those years ago!!! And... I imagine any resemblance between them isn't a small thing lol.

Though it kind of amuses me, the difference here is that Branch's brothers are not... deeply into Poppy... in the same way. There is a barrier. I think JD is offended by their intro and, really in general more of a Lone Ranger type, while Bruce is extremely monogamous (seeing Brandy as his Soulmate out here), and Clay is like... too orderly, not leaning into the bit of being asked to do his old dances etc...

(An aside — IG fandom fsr sees Clay & Viva as a thing but I don't?? I suppose his willingness to leave her behind and slip out w/o her noticing and, describing her as "she's got some stuff going on" doesn't feel loving to me... They feel more like co-workers, genuinely able to collaborate on their job, but that's it. Amusingly enough, even how Viva talks about Clay, calling him "Mr. Clay" and saying he does the BORING STUFF makes me feel like, it's a Funny sort of rship like, Viva feeling 'lol couldn't be me' about Clay's nature... Not like besties out here? Hence, why Viva is so lonesome and desperate to have Poppy back in her life...)

Anyways it's all amusing, the way Poppy seems to be the only one down for it. Though to be fair, I do think it'd be like, a bit Much, if Branch's brothers abandoned him 20+ years ago, and then they come back in his life, condescend him as the baby and, flirt with his girlfriend. It's for the best they don't... go that, far. Branch doesn't seem keen on sharing so much with his bros in That Way, I don't think.

Him and Poppy have such different circumstances with their siblings... IG in the case of, if Viva were to fangirl and gush over Branch, it wouldn't bother POPPY remotely... if anything it's a way of bonding. And I- guess I don't think the 'siblings' element is off-putting for Poppy, she just seems so open-minded to many things in this movie LOL... That's my takeaway at least.

Yeah I'd have loved for there to be more sister focus in this movie, I'm happy with what I got but I could always use more! I needed to draw Viva with baby Poppy especially... Poppy's fixation on having a sister throughout TBT makes me think she somehow has deep, buried memories of Viva. Enough to give her this sense that she "should" have a sister... like something is missing. She was just so young though, she can't recall it distinctly.

On Viva's end, she's so emotional when she processes that Poppy survived, that she's finally meeting her again... You can just tell that Poppy meant so much to her, even from that brief time together. And I just love how Viva describes Poppy as having been so cute, eensy and weensy... I have to believe that when Poppy was born Viva was the sort of kid to be like, I'm going to be the best big sister ever! I'll love you forever and always Poppy! We're going to be the best-est of friends! Carrying her around in her hair and whatnot... Gah. I can see it so well.

Also last thing but thoughts on Branch being called a boy toy? That shocked me when I watched TWT like damn does he seem that submissive? Poor guy.. Also the whole rock zombies moment in general just had a kinky tone somehow lmao.

oh lmao that scene just makes me laugh... In general Barb's referral to Branch as Poppy's boyfriend seems to be in a heckling manner, as he comes to her rescue, meant to be rude perhaps about his loyalty to her? He does fling himself to protect her, maybe it's all just making fun of that behavior... like Branch is her dog lol.

The rock zombie scene does have ? A quality to it? I think when you watch Poppy shredding it and throwing her head back, tongue out, it does make you feel something. The glowing red eyes. Perhaps though it's just the 'aesthetic' of rock, things like messy hair and heavy eyeliner and fishnets just have an ~evocative~ vibe, compared to their typical outfits, which are more modest. I think that's mostly what we're picking up on. 'Trashy' is often slutty as well.

I agree overall there's a gap in culture... Though I also like how the more the movies progress, the more we have to conclude King Peppy's faction of trolls are distinctly sheltered, since Viva's group managed to be more resourceful and aware of themselves? I used to think it was a result of domestication, but I think actually it's just that Peppy has specific hang-ups and wants no one to dwell on any bad memories. It's an interesting thing to instill into your group... Poppy's generation of trolls post-Trollstice tree times are quite distinct.

And, I'm glad, my underwear insight was of value to you. Omg but wrt spanking... I feel so... *tugs collar up sheepishly.....* *closes eyes* .... like I said, I don't begrudge that old art I made, but it feels embarrassingly dated... I was quite young and figuring out my preferences out, at the time. Now ermm, I'm more into projecting into the one doing-the-spanking, so my modern inclinations have been thinking of Branch as the one who spanks Poppy...

It feels silly to talk about but I'm now. Into top/dom Branch..... This is like where my thoughts terminate with Poppy being all crazed fangirliing for Branch, that she'd become an overstimulated love-struck girlie under his touch. Also we don't think about Poppy being poly anymore either kfdsgsh we amusingly hit a point in conversation recently that was like. 'Sheltered virgin Poppy.... now that is thought provoking'..... It would be a gap moe situation though, like all her natural sauciness and overt thirst co-exists with a lack of experience, so there's anxiety when things actually get intense. When it's time for private dirty dancing if you will.

(... it's hard to believe anyone would still be reading this post rn...)

WELL anyways you're a very nice person, thanks for your fun questions. *waves as you scamper off...!*