#I just. Love the idea of their dynamic getting flipped in certain situations

[verdantglow]

Imagine the Hermits learning ballroom dance.

Imagine Etho being assigned to lead because he’s tall & everyone assumes he would.

Imagine him constantly fucking up, stepping on his partner’s feet, missing beats, just a mess.

Imagine Bdubs getting upset from the sidelines.

Imagine him getting blustery about this disaster & stepping in, saying no, no, no, this is all wrong, shooing Etho’s partner away.

Imagine anxiety bubbling up in Etho’s stomach, at having to lead for Bdubs, as he walks over.

Imagine Etho trying to place his hands on Bdubs, mentally preparing for another disaster.

Imagine Bdubs tutting & moving Etho’s hands away, much to Etho’s confusion.

Imagine Bdubs then firmly placing his hand on Etho’s back & grabbing his other hand.

Imagine Bdubs confidently taking over the whole situation.

Imagine Etho’s amazement as Bdubs leads him, and suddenly Etho’s dancing is on beat, smooth, no stepped on feet.

Imagine them elegantly whirling across the floor, everyone else watching them in surprise.

Imagine Bdubs dipping Etho.

Imagine Etho looking at Bdubs face while this happens & feeling his stomach flip at the burn of assurance in Bdubs eyes.

Imagine the song then ending, & them just staying there for a moment, breathing a bit heavy from the exertion.

Imagine Bdubs pulling Etho back up & releasing him & pointed saying that that was how you did it.

Imagine Etho staring at Bdubs, feeling lost & unsure now that Bdubs isn’t there, hand on his back deftly leading him.

Just like. Imagine.

[andre-and-cal]

hello vro it’s me again… 😈😈🤤

yk the last two hcs you wrote? one about sadistic cal and one about andre who likes seeing cal cry? (yummy)

i would love to see how they would act with that… dynamic 👅 like, both of them “fighting for dominance”? omg this sounds cringe but i need it

AND WHO DO YOU THINK WOULD “WIN” MOST OF THE TIME AHSHDJCKWJDNSK

HELLO POOKSTAH YAHOO !!:) and that doesn’t sound cringe at all! I’m more than happy to share my input! 😼🙏

Cal and Andre’s dynamic (SFW and NSFW),,

Contrary to popular belief, Calvin has a very distinct leadership role within Zero Day, just like how Andre does. Their contribution to the missions are divided among the both of them so that their accomplishments and control are in equilibrium. As mentioned in the film, they’d agreed to split the presses so that Andre would be the leader for half, and so Cal would be the leader for the other half.

Calvin holds spite dearly, wanting to drag others down and “leave them behind”. His callous nature, unsettling interest in gruesome topics, and disregard for the well-being of his peers are hidden very well— he’s pulled off a very believable facade, even though he can come off as rather distant at times. His acquaintances and family fell for it. After all, how could you really tell that this reserved, weird, yet rather funny guy would turn out to be a murderer?

Now, Andre’s apathetic attributes are kept buried within himself, too. He knows he’s messed up, but he feels content knowing that Cal is as flawed as him— for which their unique resemblances appear in an almost symmetrical manner. While Andre does seem to have a pleasant temperament, some of his classmates at school don’t seem to think so. It used to affect and upset him, but now he no longer cares. He is who he is. However, the slight suspicion that some of Cal’s acquaintances hold toward Andre has prompted him to get dodgy about certain topics, for fear it would lead to the discovery of Zero Day.

Andre isn’t the leader. He is a leader. He cannot maintain control over every situation, even if he doesn’t agree with an idea Cal has. In fact, he’ll follow Cal’s lead with lots of things.

Neither Cal nor Andre really mind if they’re leading or following the other. It kind of flip flops at random depending on if the other has an idea or suggestion, especially related to their plans.

Calvin likes to instigate, mostly. And Andre likes to execute.

Additionally, Calvin exhibits numerous sadistic traits, while Andre gets off on seeing him in tears. They both find it arousing how pathetic the other looks when he’s beaten down— in a good way, of course.

Calvin doesn’t mind letting Andre overwhelm him, either, even if it gets to be too much— whether it be when they’re dry humping each other, or when he’s on his stomach, quite nearly suffocating from Andre shoving his face down into his blankets. He definitely may cry a little bit during sex, but his tears aren’t genuine. He cries if it feels too good, or if there’s some muscle tension near his tear glands— like if Andre’s hand is around his throat or if he’s taking Andre’s dick or a firearm a little too deep in his mouth. Like mentioned, at times, Calvin will intentionally set Andre off, as he enjoys watching him get frustrated.

When Cal cries, Andre wipes away his tears with his thumb, feeling the wetness under his pad and admiring Cal’s stained red cheeks— his dick likes it, too.

Andre, meanwhile, lets Calvin jostle him and hurt him a little, and maybe even knock his dull self-confidence down a couple steps, too. He doesn’t necessarily like the pain, no— he just deals with it for Cal’s sake. After all, he cares about him. He also fixates on the suffering of others— on an erotic level, essentially— a bit less than Calvin already does, even though his calculating, troubled disposition clearly shows that he holds the same morals, or lack thereof, as Calvin does. Andre’s mental health has declined over the years, and he’s neither aware of this nor does he truly care all that much about how abnormal he and Cal may be. Additionally, one time, he let Calvin strike him in the face after Cal had begged him to let him hit him only once, just to stare at the fascinating runny vermilion leaking from his nostrils afterward. He swore that he wouldn’t break his nose.

Spoiler alert: he broke his nose, albeit accidentally, yet Andre never willingly allowed him punch him again.

Sometimes, both boys will want to be in control of each other at that moment. They can usually agree on a compromise to prevent physical or verbal conflicts, to avoid upsetting the other. However, sometimes, they disagree and start bickering.

Andre, if heated up over Cal pushing a decision onto him, will often try to grab Andre’s arm, maybe drag him over to him to snap at him, to get him to succumb to what he thinks is right.

But Cal punches him in the stomach— not too hard, though. He doesn’t want to actually injure him. He watches Andre as he doubles over, smiling in an ironically gentle manner and reassuring him that he’ll be okay, before demanding he stop trying to pussy out before he “castrates him”.

Cal’s always joking when he threatens to castrate the teen, but his body language gives away how much he believes Andre is “all bark no bite”.

Andre does have a mean bite. He just likes Cal and he likes the way he makes him feel. Also, despite his hesitancy with certain activities, he does eventually agree— if Cal’s involved, of course.

In conclusion, Cal overpowers most of their brief disputes, which often involve Zero Day and sex.

[moyazaika]

heyy genie, how r u doing??? i hope ur okay

can i ask u on how u do dialogue?? bc mine really sucks and whenever i look at yours im like wow. how can i do that??? bc wat tje characters say end up blowing my mind a little.

i also hope u don't mind that i go over ur writing and see what u do (obv not stealing the words) so i can adapt it into my own style 💓

all good with me nonnie, and i appreciate you for letting me know. i don't mind if you analyse anything i've written, it's lovely to know that my writing has the ability to inspire someone else's creativity :)

haha thank u sm. if i'm being honest dialogue drives my work so it's usually the first thing i put down in any new google doc and then the rest of the story i'm trying to tell sort of grows from that point.

regardless, here are some things to consider.

where is the dialogue coming from?

do you have any accents you like? changing words in small ways like turning darling to darlin' can build on characterisation and introduce variety into the dialogue.

is your character of a certain culture? introducing petnames or phrases from foreign languages adds flavour to dialogue. this one is risky and requires a little research, because doing it wrong may make readers cringe. but hey, high risk high reward ;)

even if you use 'normal' english, take a look at distinctive slang. there's a difference between calling it a flat or an apartment; a bird or a chick. using one or the other puts some pizazz into your writing, because it actually sounds like the speech is coming from your characters, and not just from you.

2. who is the dialogue coming from?

a character that's nineteen is going to speak really differently than a character who's forty-two. consider the simple sentence, "you're mine" and then the different ways that idea can be conveyed without making both of these vastly different characters say the same thing (which can potentially read as unrealistic, but not always. some 42 year olds are immature. some 19 year olds speak like poets. use at your own discretion) but here's an example;

19 -> "get that through your fuckin' head, babe. you belong to me." comes off as possessive, entitled, crude. then you can solidify your characterisation through their dialogue and make conversation flow by adjusting your darling's personality/speech in response to that. see the end of this post for interesting dynamics!

42 -> "you poor thing, nobody else would accept you as i have." comes off as benevolent, and somewhat infantilising. no 20-something year old is talking like that LOL

3. why is there a need for dialogue?

this one is straightforward, but can be difficult to actually implement. not all dialogue needs to serve some grand purpose in the machination of your narrative, i know that i'm guilty of indulging in a good one-liner, but it helps if you know why they're talking. what are you trying to tell me or show me that can't be depicted through their actions?

example; character A wants character B to be scared of them -> "my, aren't you a clever thing. did you figure all of that out yourself, hm? i'd almost be impressed if i weren't so fucking angry, love."

comes off as patronising, interrogative, makes me think B is on thin ice.

character C wants character D to not be scared of them -> "well, i always knew you were smart, so i suppose i can only blame myself. um, maybe just don't let it happen again. please?"

comes off as pleading, apologetic, makes me believe D has the upper hand. (but the fun part about writing is you can always flip the script later on—gap moe/contrast between actions and words. did C really aim to just forgive D or merely wanted to manipulate them into bringing their guard down?)

even if both A and C say the same thing (such as "i love you") the dialogue, seemingly simple, can open up some interesting exchanges and conversations depending on the situation and context its said in. dialogue works in tandem with action.

A; "i love you," he murmurs. you watch the expert way in which he wields the butcher's knife; cuts the beef down into smaller strips with deft, practiced hands. "yeah," you smile. "i know you do."

C; "i love you," he murmurs. you look down at him, on his knees. his arms cling onto you with fervent desperation, and when you reach for his face; you find him shivering. "yeah," you smile. "i know."

4. dialogue dynamics

since you're asking me for advice and i am a yandere oc blog, i'm going to give you some relationship dynamics to test out with darlings that can serve as a sort of structure for any dialogue you might wanna write in the future. it's easier to know what a character would say in a conversation or scene if there's a dynamic already present that may dictate how they act.

pleading/apprehensive. desperate for affection/selfish bastard. pathetic/apathetic. control freak/couldn't care less. bossy/outwardly timid, inwardly very opiniated. dominant/bratty. powerful/pissed off at the extent of said power. lazy genius/try-hard failure. ambitious/exhausted.

it's also interesting to turn the tables and subvert traditional archetypes. manipulate your readers. have dialogue mean nothing. characters say one thing but mean something else.

above everything else, treat it like a real conversation. if something sounds rigid and forced, scrap it; never force dialogue. (unless that's the sort of awkward vibe ur going for) always try to write from your character's povs' rather than as the author.

and don't forget to have the time of your fucking life. writing should be fun. make your characters say shit you wanna say. make them say shit you wish someone would say to you. make them say shit you never want anyone to tell you in your life. make characters respond in ways you would never dare to irl. make them respond rudely, nicely, strangely, or not at all.

HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and good luck <3

[scribbles-and-sprinkles]

yandere! nordics x reader

warnings ; manipulation; questionable power dynamics; 'luna' is a placeholder for the reader's name. very fluffy otherwise <3

how did he meet you . . . ?

it was a beautifully arranged library meeting -- meticulously placed decorations with various literary characters; adding into atmosphere of immersion. dainty fingers ghosted above titles, each one more fascinating than the last -- unsure where to start, or even begin. 'ah, may I help you? -- smooth, soft tone inquired; as gently slender fingers graspled with a particularly intriguing cover, handing it to the the girl. 'oh my god, this seems perfect -- I had no idea this even existed, really- thank you!' -- she smiled; flipping across pages carefully, nodding. 'you're welcome' -- seemingly mysterious figure smoothly faded back to the crowd, leaving faint note of intrigue -- amaranthine eyes studying every single little movement further out; helping others with their concerns.

yet something about . . . you. certain kindness; peculiar gratitude -- made lukas very interested.

it was another day -- seemingly so. bland in the never-ending existence of routines, diplomacies and documents. with a smooth, calculated step -- tino approached one of his favourite coffee shops in stockholm -- cozy, quiet place for work. glass doors opened -- him merely stepping inside, when a particular individual caught his attention. her. soft, tiny form -- hunched over scattered notes, trying utterly best to decipher complicated material. it must have been challenging -- judging by how intense expression blossomed. lukas definitely mentioned someone over usual rambles on the newspaper-written politics. tino was a known fan of his coffees -- but in much sweeter way -- just like him -- latte with whipped cream and if he was feeling extra fancy that day – with various syrups, and other variety of assortiments.

in the silliest way -- sticker-decorated laptop made him raise his eyebrow -- how entire rainbow of certain hobbies were represented.

this little declaration sparked curious interest in that particular someone; yet his eyes kept darting away -- obvious shyness taking better of him; considering how focused girl looked. with a smooth click -- tino settled down porcelain cup with cherry drink, clearing his throat -- carefully approaching. he really, really put uttermost effort to be seen as an gentleman -- embarassment betraying the best of odds, in a way.

girl gazed up -- flushing in an instant due to entire absurdness of the situation. a young guy, with softest, sincere expression actually paying attention? of course -- she deemed to possess such strange, out-of-the-box personality (or any other questionable qualities) -- this interaction... feeling unreal.

‘hello, um...-- well... this character looks really cool-– if i may ask, where did you find stickers for your laptop?’

how did you get woven into nordics . . .?

in all honesty -- after a kind, pleasant conversation in the coffee shop -- tino happily invited luna into their inner circle -- to spend a peaceful evening amongst... his friends. 'oh, yeah, of course! this sounds lovely -- next tuesday, 6 pm -- right?' 'ah, niin // yes, of course // -- you may have my phone number -- call us anytime!' 'i will! have a lovely day!'

luna happily waved away, leaving coffee shop; soft smile blossoming upon champagne lips. ;; 'so... you have 4 roomates? what- how does it work... exactly?' 'luna, well, it is complicated, you see--' -- before tino could flaunt a sheepish smile, looking for the explanation, leading girl through the corridor, his hand ghosting above the waist as a mere precaution... door flied upon with unflauntible wham -- way-too-happy mathias budging in the doorframe. 'look, what the have here! our cutie patootie -- lukas has been talking about you non-stop! c'mere!' -- luna giggled, picked up ever-so-easy into way-too-loving bear hug, carried away. 'o-oh, stop! ahahah! bollocks -- hahaha!' -- soft giggles echoed across apartment; as tino smoothly closed the door -- kicking shoes a bit too hastily -- coat left over on the rack. 'mathias! helvetti! // hell // you don't treat our friend like that! fuck-' bernwald merely raised his eyebrow at the noise -- returning to fill out related government papers; clicking study shut. ruckus was not entertaining. this is going to be a long evening. ;; bitter coffee notes blossomed, filling up the air with false sense of decency -- luna comfortably settled down close to the mathias. 'wait... it is actually really nice to have... relationship like that, or something along those lines. well, I am not lucky as you all' -- unspoken sadness swirled between irises; as floor would provide any sense of comfort. 'hey... what do you mean? you can talk to me, y'know' -- he scooted closer; wrapping hand around in such unspoken gentleness, as if provide comfort. 'I live alone, uh... I may only dream of something like . . . that' -- she gestured; bitersweet laugh following. 'This is pathetic, why am I even--' -- unwanted tears simmered; expression knitting over inner turmoil. 'And what if I told, darlin'... that maybe you could stay? I like you, Tino also does -- and we have a spare room to follow -- what about that?' -- honey-sweet words with even sweeter embrace; tears wracking entire body in the chaos of the feelings. 'Shh... it's okay, I'm here, you're safe...'

you did not even realise how deeply your soul intertwined with theirs at that very moment.

[iztea]

dy have any tips to make your art look less lifeless? I stare at my rendered digital art and everytime without fail i start to rot from the lack of soul in it

ok first of all, I think you might be judging your art too harshly. The only quite literal soulless art is AI art so as long as you create something, there's soul in it. But I understand what you mean. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm best suited to answer this since it's something I struggle with myself, but since you asked me, here are my two cents on the matter

A lifeless look in your art may come from two places: a lack of skills or a lack of message/delivery

Skill-wise, there's a looot you can do and improve on : gesture, dynamic poses, more expressive faces, better color language, strategic line expression, shape language, using color theory to better express a certain mood of a piece etc.

i could go into detail for each point but it would take too long so I'll leave it up to you to google and research things on your own ( or you can shoot me another ask if you want me to yap about a certain technical approach and I'll gladly do so)

but honestly, these are just skills and tools that you master in time. A first step is to at least acknowledge their existence. I want to talk more about the second aspect of this issue: intention. The intention behind your art is more valuable than you think. Art can feel soulless if it doesn't send any message, if it's generic, if there's no emotion behind it or if there's nothing to be interpreted. I'm not saying all art should be super deep or profound to hold value of course, but i often feel like this is a rather neglected part when discussing art. We sometimes get so tied up in the technical aspects like rendering or anatomy but the truth is, a general audience (aka the people who will see your art) doesn't give a crap about the technicalities. They judge something at face value and the first thing they look for is the /message/. What is this painting about? Who or what did you draw? The second thing they will look for is connection. When they can relate to the emotion conveyed or the subject matter, the experience becomes more rewarding and engaging. The same applies to the artist. Creating something meaningful and personal often leads to a greater sense of accomplishment. Honestly, skill comes second.

Case in point: why does hyperrealistic art get shit on? It's very impressive technique-wise, yes, you can't deny the artist isn't skilled, but does it express something? Nope, they do the job of a printer which again,. it is impressive but not from an ~artistic pov, just from a skill pov. On the flip side, why do poorly drawn sob stories get so much attention and praise? Because the art triggered a certain emotion (that has overwritten an already untrained eye) and emotions are extremely powerful for humans as we all very well know and it basically makes them ignore or neglect the execution

So, my piece of advice is to draw something that has personal meaning /to you/, that ignites a certain feeling you can't shake ( it doesn't have to be something #deep or sad, laughter and joy are equally valuable so keep that in mind), a certain situation or scenario and I can guarantee your art won't feel as lifeless to you as before. To better express this idea of yours that you now possess, you can now think about the technical side of how you'd express it. For example:

~deliberately messy brushstrokes and textures -> create chaos.

~maybe you're feeling something lovely dovey and soft -> warm colors to express that + brushes with lost edges

~maybe you want to tell a story in a comic format -> focus on calligraphy; shaky lineart gives off the impression of vulnerability; leave whitespaces etc

~something funny? -> goofy facial expressions or lowkey downgrading the quality usually makes something funnier

~Colors ! colors ! colors !!! pretty self-explanatory blues and grays for depression pinks and rainbows for the happy ( or NOT if you're feeling adventurous winkwink)

BONUS TIP: hiding/blocking out/blurring the face of your subject makes the painting feel more immersive. The viewer can relate to the person you're drawing ( "oh he's just like me fr")

There are artists who are insanely skilled but make kinda "boring" art and then there are artists with cool ideas but with maybe an underwhelming execution.

Ultimately, it's a combination of BOTH awesome skills and intentions. Those are my favourite artists. When i find someone who draws something that makes me stare and wonder how tf they drew that while also appreciating how cool the concept is I knoww I hit jackpot. And if they draw fanart of my fave?? bonus points

okkkkkkkkk i yapped for too long sorttyyyyy hope it helped maybe idk

!!!!DISCLAIMER!!!! this is all my personal interpretation and how i view things I'm self taught I've never been to art school or taken any art classes so i might be completely wrong !! take everything with a grain of salt !!

[scribz-ag24]

your grovyle and dusknoir pieces matter so much to me because you capture the very essence of how much the green gecko bastard and his 7.11ft tall ass ghost-guy-that-was-sent-to-kill-him-but-whoops-something-happened matter to each other and just how they change the other while still being all awkward at certain times because they are in a situation that involves feelings in which they are both not used to (grovyles emotional tendencies where he pushed down things and thoughts that would otherwise doom the mission he was on and dusknoir just being completely foreign to them because he strives from a world where kindness and love is seen as a vulnerability so he just strayed far from things that will inevitably stab him in the back) and how they try to navigate it while having to bear the annoyances of the other but still viewing them in high regard nonetheless. i dont go here too much but i figured i may as well say it because i think you're cool and because you draw those two annoying little studs so well. have a good day scribz

Waaaa thank you!! I appreciate you stop by here to be so lovely! This made my entire week ���🥹 I always love to see you when you tag, youre so thorough in everh post you reblog, it's a delight to see ^^

They are sooo important to each other, I don't think we appreciate enough how pivotal they are to each other's development, especially grovyle to dusknoir's. Still cant believe the ghost's parting word and thought was a a most thankful message to his old enemy, thanking him for giving his life meaning, for helping him not regret having truly *lived*, not just survived. I wish Dusknoir got some more dialogue after coming back to life, but those being his last words, in addition to him constantly referencing grovyle's speech, just goes to show how far he's internalized grovyle's words.

And the way Grovyle genuinely sees and reaches towards Dusknoir's inner goodness, *while* he's actively being betrayed, is beyond words. Grovyle loves his friends deeply and by this point he's clearly gone far enough to consider Dusknoir close to that status. Maybe Dusknoir protecting him from a blow hit too close to home and changed the dynamic in his eyes from "temporal ally" to just "ally". It can't be a coincidence that Grovyle opens up and explains his motives and ideas after Dusknoir takes the attack for him.

You just can't get one without the other in my mind, it's how they contrast and mirror each other, it's how the game switches the tables and flips their alignment so seamlessly. The thief-captor dynamic turning on its head once you see their true colors. How dusknoir appears more mature and put together thanks to his charm and social skills, only for him to end up learning and looking up to Grovyle, whose more developed life philosophy and selfless objective end up convincing Dusknoie to fight for something beyond himself.

Special Episode 5 is one of rhe best pmd chapters/story out there, and it's the most basic premise of Grovyle and Dusknoir working together. The writers developed them so well in conjuction that they can't be separated in my head.

But even then their contrasting personalities makes them so fun to put them into situations, despite the ares wjere they might overlap. they're both great but they belong together. And celebi just adds even more flavour to the mix by adding someone so radically different from them in her view and approach to things (seeing as shes one of the onlu characters explicitly in love, maybe even in priorities outside world-ending cataclysms xD). Future trio in post-canon is simply too rich, even the crumbs from PSMD links them together and that's enough for me.

(And also just in general the vibes are so good, we make fun of dusknoie for the "looking nervous having your back exposed to me" but grovyle's "you cling to me beyond expectation" and "i surrender, do with me as you will". BESIDES ALREADY THINKING ABOUR DUSKNOIR WAY MOEE THAN ANYONE ELSE.

he goes up to partner during the sunrise and goes "thinking about dusknoir?" whilw it turns out partner is thinking of how much they love the beach and their friend 😭😭 and then grovyle says in his letter "hey watch out for dusknoir bc he WILL BE BACK I KNOW HIM" and hero and partner jusr go "oh yeah that guy. remember that guy??" like THEY DONT REMEMBER WHO TRIED TO KILL THEM A DAY AGO?? 😭😭 why they dgaf lmao)

So yeah. I care about them a normal amount xD.

[willowcrowned]

Was reading a fic that touched on Qui-Gon teaching both Anakin and Obi-Wan and was suddenly struck by "Obi-Wan assures Anakin that he'll be fine, because Qui-Gon is better than he used to be, on account of Obi-Wan clicker-training him throughout his padawanship."

IDK what to do with this other than offer it to you because. It doesn't seem like Qui-Gon would be receptive to Pavlovian processes. But also. Obi-Wan is a conniving bastard.

no okay thank you SO much for sending this to me because it plays into my latest favorite interpretation of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s relationship in a really interesting way

Recently I’ve been really enjoying unpacking the potential that Qui-Gon subconsciously parentifies Obi-Wan over the course of his apprenticeship, because I think it applies a really fun extra dimension to the existing dynamic of uptight nerd attempts to control guy whose modus operandi is bulldozing through a situation in the most efficient and least appropriate way possible. Obviously the implication in TPM is that Obi-Wan is Like That because of Qui-Gon—it’s a sort of survival strategy—but making it a direct result of Qui-Gon’s own insecurities just adds that little extra special something that makes the Star Wars Flavor.

The basic idea I’ve been playing with is that Obi-Wan readily encourages Qui-Gon’s parentification of him because to Obi-Wan’s messed up ridiculously insecure and in need of therapy brain, being parentified means he’s needed, he’s useful, he can’t be tossed away. Of course the problem with being fifteen and deciding that you’re now responsible for a man fully in his forties who continuously gets chewed out by his boss is that at a certain point all that internalization of Rules and Proper Behavior you did as a child because you were terrified of being so unworthy you’d stop being loved is going to kick in, and you—subconsciously—are going to start believing that it is your responsibility to train the middle aged man in your care into being an Upright Young Man. Which like, as things go? Is a pretty standard Obi-Wan interpretation.

The FLIP SIDE of that though—the Qui-Gon side, the even weirder and messier side—is that Qui-Gon is parentifying Obi-Wan out of a very real and very deep fear that he cannot and should not act as a responsible guardian as a child (which, well, he’s not wrong. but he’s right for all the wrong reasons). Subconsciously, he’s trying to set them on more equal ground, trying to keep his influence on Obi-Wan to a minimum so he doesn’t have to acknowledge the responsibility of shaping Obi-Wan both through the ways he’s absent and the ways he’s present. And of course it’s not going to work! Of course it’s not! Even when he’s an adult, Obi-Wan will always be too aware of the rules that constrain his actions as a padawan to put himself on the same level as Qui-Gon. As a child, all he’s going to do is feel… abandoned on some level. The parentification might confirm that he’s needed on some level, but it can’t replace what for him is a very keen awareness that, on some level, Qui-Gon doesn’t want to be his master. Kids that get forced to be an adult to early, even the ones who think they like it, are always going to be fundamentally, subconsciously aware that they’ve been denied a childhood that other people weren’t. For Obi-Wan, I think that subconscious awareness manifests as a desire to affirm himself as an adult—to convince himself that he wants the responsibility, that it’s right for him to have the responsibility.

And he does that by clicker training Qui-Gon.

There’s a very fun feature of relationships mired in guilt (especially the ones where the guilt is born from a very deep love and a fear of failing that love) where, over time, certain patterns develop in which each person subconsciously takes advantage of the other’s guilt. When Qui-Gon bulldozes through an interaction, overstepping their jurisdiction by half and disobeying several direct mandates from the council, Obi-Wan finds himself… conveniently left behind for Qui-Gon to find later, when he returns wracked with guilt over having forgotten his apprentice but unable to admit to it because admitting to it would mean admitting to his fears, and admitting to his fears would mean admitting to the truth of his unfitness as a master, and admitting to that would mean he loses one of the very few remaining deep, meaningful relationships he has left. When Obi-Wan follows the letter of the law, refusing to break a single rule—even the ones designed to be broken—Qui-Gon goes ahead on his own, and just so happens to find himself injured and cornered by attackers he could have easily fought off with Obi-Wan’s help, left bleeding and tired for a guilt-wracked Obi-Wan to find, knowing that he never should have abandoned his master, knowing that he’s an awful apprentice, that he’ll never be up to Qui-Gon’s standards, that he’ll never confess that, because confessing it might finally make Qui-Gon realize it, and if that happens then he gets replaced and one of the deepest, most meaningful relationships in his life slips through his fingers.

It’s not healthy for either of them—it’s actually entirely the opposite—but it’s effective. And by the end of Obi-Wan’s apprenticeship, Qui-Gon is at least 30% less likely to go off on his own and start doing things he really shouldn’t, and 40% more likely to never, ever leave his padawan behind.

And then Anakin shows up, and suddenly everything they’d so carefully repressed and talked around and ignored becomes a big glaring issue in the face of Star Wars’ own #1 complicating factor

[fairydust-stuff]

Ciel vs Alois contract thoughts

The Black butler argument of Ciel & Sebastian vs Alois & Claude  frusterates me in fandom because the argument is Sebastian is kind and cares about Ciel while Claude is cold and doesn't care about Alois which is the set up for their demon butler dynamics but I disagree.  

Exhibit A Sebastian & Ciel 

Here Sebastian admits he only protects Ciel due to the contract, he’ll put Ciel in direct danger to keep things amusing for him personally. Also to push the idea onto Ciel life is pain if you ever mess up in any way the world will punish you.  

The emphasis is not on  Sebastian’s so called  concern for Ciel but their contract. It is the full weight of their relationship Sebastian whether he likes it or not is bound to protect Ciel and do his biding to the full extent of their contract and Ciel made that shit as iron clad as he could.  

(Honestly for a terrified nine year old Ciel putting those safety measures in place was quite clever of him considering the stress he must of been under during  that time.) 

  Ciel being from a business family and wanting to run his own toy company created an iron clad contract. Ciel was educated enough to set his own terms knowing the ways an ill thought out contract could screw someone over even with other humans. 

Sebastian raising Ciel not only wants his soul but Sebastian is going to get as much flavor out of that soul as he can. Sebastian is after a long term investment in Ciel one that stretches over many years to get the best flavor possible. 

It emphasizes how cold Sebastian & Ciel’s relationship really is based entirely on a type of transactional deal neither of them can fully break. 

Exhibit B Alois & Claude 

Claude  in contrast  puts an emphasis on the flesh. Alois’s only bargaing chip is having a soul Claude wants to eat. 

This also makes sense Alois/JIm after being sex trafficked and taught to barter his body for comfort safety the way he did to survive under the old man.  Gave Claude his soul in exchange for a good life.  

Alois being a peasant probly didn’t know anything about contracts. He just knew how to sell himself for what he wanted. If he did I doubt Alois would trust words on a paper anyway.  

Unlike Ciel who was taught to trust iron clad contracts Alois grew up knowing how uncertain his position is. If you think about it flipping out being jealous of Ciel makes more sense if you look at Alois’s survival was entirely based on being the favorite. 

Alois was possibly competing sick as it was with other boys for the old Earls attentions. In that situation nothing is actually certain and holding a position continuing to recieve comforts was based on favor. 

Alois not only loves Claude but needs Claude to want him because otherwise deep down he knew he’d be tossed aside without a second thought.  Which i’d argue is why Alois let Claude lead him since ultimately. Alois didn’t have much of a choice he wanted/ needed Claude’s love/validation. 

 Alois never trusted anything and accepted a very precarious position because it never struck  him how to make his position more secure other then eliminating the competition entirely. 

      As for Claude given his monalog about looking for something to spice up his life. Claude isn’t after a long term investment of careful culivation. He wants instant gradification a dance, a chase!!! 

Alois didn’t seem exciting to him since he was the secured prize  so to speak. Claude wanted to snatch Sebastian’s prey for the thrill of it!  

Alois and Claude’s relationship was based on a power struggle of selfish gradification vs desire for actual love. 

And that’s my thoughts on the relationship/ contract dynamics. 

[bullet-prooflove]

I have an idea for a sub Mouse x dom reader writing piece but I need some advice.

The reader is a tall, commanding, high-ranking officer from the Norwegian Special Forces. she is like 6'4" and a friend of Will Halstead (maybe thats how Jay knows her) and she comes to visit Jay after she came back from a terrorism prevention job in the North Sea. She's friendly with Voight and they need some extra man (woman) power on a huge case, like the Yates one. See where is goes from there...

I was planning to write this but I'm really sick lmao (bronchitis or pneumonia) and I'm exhausted. I guess I'm tired of trying to find fanfics about rare (so to speak) characters that don't have the cliché sub female reader who's short and a pushover. I need a second opinion/POV.

Either way, I love your writing style and I know you don't like being restricted creatively (same), I was just wondering if you could write some sort of dom female military leader x sub Mouse one-shot. Kinda like inspiration points so I could see another writers POV on a topic like this so my writing doesn't end up dry and full of plot holes. I also just need reassurance that people will want to see something like this because at this point it's just for me. Mostly because my tastes and preferences are stupidly out of the gender "norm" and hard to find.

Thanks so much, let me know what you think (if you want!).

Hi!

So full disclosure this is not something I am going to write as it is very much out my wheelhouse - I have virtually no knowledge/experience of the military life esp command positions.

From my experience people love seeing their fav guys in a sub position, I have requests for Sub Will and Sub Connor and Sub Otis all the time. The trick is figuring out what makes them need that dynamic for it to come across as genuine.

An example is for Connor, he doesnt feel like he’s worthy of love, he needs someone to express it, to take care of him and make him feel like he is worth something to someone. The dynamic works for him on that level as it's the only way he can 'ask' for it.

With Will, he is so in his own head about his decisions, the choices he makes. When he has a bad day it's hard for him to get out of his own head, sometimes to the point where he simply cant speak and he needs his lover to bring him back to himself, to take control of the situation to vent his emotions.

With Brian he's more able to ask for what he needs but he craves someone else taking control because the decisions he makes endanger people, he needs someone else to take responsibility for a while. He needs to not have to think.

This will help you determine the kind of dom you are playing with. So usually I go soft Dom for Connor. A bit harder for Brian and Wil,l I feel like could flip flop either way.

Another thing you will need to consider in my opinion is Mouse's PTSD and how he would respond to certain dynamics. As someone who has been diagnosed with it twice for two separate issues I am very aware that there are certain situations and environments I wouldn’t put myself in again. - this is why I feel the way the show wrote him out was unbelievable.

So if you are planning to use terms like soldier or Sarge, which I believe was his rank, consider that these could be triggering. He has come along way in his experience with mental health, I would consider playing into that.

As for the character you are discussing. I feel Mouse would love how safe she would make him feel.

If you look at my writing over the past six months I don’t inc physical desc when it comes to female body type as I know it comes in all shapes and sizes, it's more appealing to your readers as they can imagine themselves or a char. I do add tattoos or scars because for me as a writer it helps me develop aspects of the reader character.

I hope all of this helped!

[uwuwriting]

Affectionate moments with the Todorokis

Request: Can I get some Todoroki fluff and when I say todoroki I mean all of the todoroki children thank you very much- anonymous

Okay now we can proudly call Dabi a Todoroki. The waiting is over, we’ve won this war ladies and gentlemen. I need some soft Dabi right now so I’m happy to oblige. Love ya. 💖💖💖

masterlist

rules

warnings: fluff, maybe some angst if you squint

Dabi/ Touya Todoroki 

-He isn’t the most affectionate person both in private and out in public. 

-The maximum effort he will put while out in public might be just a hand on your lower back to ground you when things are kinda spiraling out of control. 

-But apart from that nothing. 

-Now when you were just fuck buddies he couldn’t care less about affection.

-He was just here to have some fun and then he was out the door. 

-But when things change drastically between the two of you and he realizes that he really can’t stand the idea of losing you, his demeanor changed. 

-He had come to see how important you were and how dependent he had become of your presence. 

-Boy really couldn’t function without you around. 

-So he changed his antics around you. 

-He no longer left after your shared nights and he would even go as far as to hold you or help you clean up. 

-You thought that that was the most you were going to get from him, that he had nothing else to give apart from those moments of affection. 

-You were wrong though. 

-After a rather hard mission he would come and cuddle you  out of nowhere. 

-He would bury his face in your neck as his torso lay between your legs while you gently stroked his hair. 

-It would help him fall asleep most of the time but on the rare occasion he could manage to stay awake he would talk to you. 

-Those conversations weren’t of any value; it was dumb stuff that came to mind and he just felt like sharing. 

-Then after one too many close calls he would begin to tell you your importance. 

-After witnessing you almost getting killed time and time again, making his heart almost come out of his mouth every time you nearly dodged an attack he couldn’t hold back. 

-He would pepper you with kisses as he would flip you over so you were on top of him, your head tucked into his neck while his rough cheeks would rub on your plush ones. 

-It always hit him hard when he couldn’t protect you. 

-He wasn’t *that* stupid, he knew his job wasn’t to protect you and that you could handle yourself better than anyone in that dumpster fire of a league but he couldn’t stop himself from worrying. 

-Those shared moments of pure domesticity and normality between the both of you made it hard for him to deny that he was indeed falling in love. 

-And he hated it because he knew that at some point, when push comes to shove, he would have to choose between you and his goal. 

-And he wasn’t so sure what he would decide to follow. 

-When you broke the news to him that you were expecting, around the time Shiggy was putting his grand plan into action, he knew what he would choose in an instant. 

-But you wouldn’t budge; you knew what his dreams meant to him and you wouldn’t let him throw it all away for you. 

-He could have this new life after the battle, after the dust had settled and all had been revealed. 

-So, with a camera in hand, you helped him make the masterpiece that would show the world who Endeavor really was. 

-And you couldn’t be prouder of your lover. 

Fuyumi Todoroki

-Ahhh soft girl hours. 

-Okay now Fuyumi is the type of person to go all out for their significant other. 

-So PDA is on the table even if it makes her a little uncomfortable at times. 

-She’s kind of a people pleaser so as long as you are happy she is happy no matter how uncomfortable she might feel at the moment. 

-But like the great girlfriend that you are, and because you would kill for her, you push her to tell you what she really thinks about certain situations.

-And the moment she tells you that PDA is kinda meh, you yeet yourself away from her. 

-Holding hands wherever you are is a must, a request or rather a demand made from the queen herself. 

-She just likes feeling you next to her and what better way than holding your hand? 

-Apart from that demand of hers she never ever asks for anything else in that department. 

-Like girly believes that you have to earn your love and others won’t just give it to you. 

-That you need to prove yourself as useful so you can get affection. 

-An effort-reward dynamic. 

-And you can safely assume that we can’t have that here. 

-THIS IS A LOVE INFESTED HOUSEHOLD GET YOUR ASS HERE AND TAKE SOME OF MY LOVE.

-When you ask her to move in with you, she sees that as her opportunity to shine, to show you that ‘oh I’m not useless’. 

-Baby will try doing all the house work and such. 

-You legit have to call her to cuddle. 

-You’ll be working on your laptop, sprawled on the couch when you see your girlfriend just mopping. 

- “Fuyu come here.” 

- “But I still have to-” 

- “Forget about that, you’ve done enough I just want to hold you.” 

-She just flushes bright red before putting the mop away and moving to settle in your lap.

 -Her head is on your shoulder while she plays softly with your hair, her legs stretching across the coach as you continue to type mindlessly on your computer. 

-You give her the occasional forehead kisses while she nuzzles your cheek. 

-Last we have chaotic girlfriend hours when she’ll straight up straddle you and start doing your makeup. 

-You both burst out laughing every five minutes because you get overwhelmed due to the fact that she’s a) straddling you and b) she’s too close to your face and you can’t help but want to kiss her. 

-I want a girlfriend…..

Natsuo Todoroki 

-College boyyyyy.

-He is in general a neutral person. 

-I mean he will give you a kiss on the cheek while he is leaving for his class but he won’t full out make out with you in front of others. 

-So things are pretty chill between you two. 

-He has almost the same mindset as Fuyumi so at first he would try to prove himself to you so he would be worth your love but once you caught on you smothered him. 

-Now baby loves his kisses. 

-He needs them to function okay?

-Every morning he will wake up and if you have slept over he will wake you up with nuzzling his nose in your neck and softly tracing shapes on your stomach.

-Then after his kiss good morning and his first I love you of the day he is ready to go. 

-If however you are in your dorm/apartment, he will sulk until he sees you. 

-He has that puppy love. 

-Natsuo suffers from trauma from his family. 

-It’s common knowledge. 

-He hates looking weak, especially in front of you, so whenever he has a fight with his father or Touyas’ anniversary rolls around he tends to become distant.

-Try as you might, you can never truly get him to speak to you about those issues and let you help you. 

-You weren’t part of his childhood, you don’t know what it was like but you can try to make him feel better. 

-In reality you were ready to devote your every waking minute to him if he let you. 

-But that Todoroki pride gets in the way and he doesn’t let you see him like that.

-Until the villain attack when his father saved him. 

-Endeavor looked so genuine when he talked to him and all he did was scream at him. 

-Was he too cruel? 

-So he made his way to your apartment and without missing a beat he attached himself to you and finally, finally, letting himself be vulnerable. 

-After his break down you started to rock back and forth before turning on your stereo and putting on a slow song. 

-Taking his hand you started dancing in the middle of your living room, Natsuos’ arm wrapped around your waist bringing you flush to his chest as his head stayed buried in your hair. 

-You would hum the tune as you moved around. 

-This became somewhat of a ritual whenever things got bad inside his head. 

-You would just put on that song and calm him down. 

-And that was the best thing someone has ever done for him. 

Shouto Todoroki 

-Ah poor baby.

-He is touch starved like very touch starved. 

-My mans is out there longing for someone to tell him it's okay since the age of five. 

-Anyways. 

-He really doesn’t know how to communicate his needs though so you’ll have to figure out on your own what he wants. 

-He might recoil at first but don’t be disheartened. 

-Baby has been abused ever since he was born so of course he will be reluctant to let anyone touch him. 

-Subtle things are the go to at first. 

-Linking your pinkies under the table or maybe sitting closer to  each other.

-Kisses are rare and far apart but they exist. 

-Now things change after some time. 

-Depending on his relationship with his parents that is. 

-When his dad starts to try and redeem himself and he wants to be an active part of his sons’ life *GET THE FUCK AWAY BITCH*, Shouto is really conflicted. 

-Especially when he doesn’t get his hero license on the first try. 

-So that’s when his touch starved side comes into the light. 

-He’s stressed out of his mind and he needs comfort but of course he doesn’t know how to convey that to others. 

-You pick up on it and start giving subtle reassuring touches. 

-Squeezing his hand when you notice him spacing out. 

-Giving him a quick hug before he enters class in the mornings. 

-And as time goes by you peck him on the cheek before he leaves. 

-He becomes addicted and soon enough he’s initiating things on his own, giving YOU kisses each morning and coming to your dorm for “study” dates turned to cuddle sessions. 

-You guys have a ritual for whenever things get extremely bad; when he can’t seem to stop flinching away from sudden movement, when he can’t recall anything about his older brother or when Endeavor says something again about his friends/you. 

-He will come to your room with a pillow and some snacks if he remembers them. 

-You’ll put on a movie and he’ll just sit in between your legs, his head tucked under your chin as you run your fingers through the soft strands. 

-He might break down, he might not, it depends each time. 

-But he knows that this time he doesn’t have to face anything alone, that he is loved and cherished and that you’ll be there to pick him up when everything seems meaningless. 

TAG TEAM AY:

 @the-arcana-fan-fic @angelwritings @axerrri @reinyrei @dnarez @bemorefiction​

[sweetbitterimpossiblecreature]

A Brief And Concise Summary Of Is Wrong With The ACOTAR Series

I think we can agree that a lot of ACOTAR is pretty iffy. Consider this a very brief refresher.

What's Wrong With Feyre/Rhysand (juxtaposed against Feyre/Tamlin)

Rhysand drugs and sexually assaults her in Book 1

This is "for her own good". Because he "has no choice". Despite the fact that, from what we know of the plot, Amarantha thinks that Clare Beddor was the one Rhysand was diddling, and is only interested in Feyre because Rhysand, "her" man male, has taken an interest in her.

If we extrapolate from this we can figure that Rhysand is the one directly putting her into danger.

Now, let's be clear: drugging someone is bad. Sexually assaulting someone is bad. One could argue there were extenuating circumstances. But if, in such a situation, what your mind goes to is "I know, I should assault this person... for their safety" I have questions about your moral qualities. There were a million things he could have done. He could have done whatever he did to Clare - that is, remove her ability to feel any pain - easily. He could have helped her escape. Under The Mountain, he - while still there unwillingly - has a lot of power, as Amarantha's side piece. Maybe this would have resulted in him being punished- however, he is hundreds of years old and a badass motherfucker, and she is a nineteen year old human girl.

Now, onto Tamlin. Obviously not a lot of people really ship F/T anymore after ACOMAF, because compared to F/R, it's boring. I read another person's post about it, which was very enlightening: they said that Feyre's personality is essentially a mirror. When she is with Rhysand, she's snarky and malicious- because she is "bouncing off" his energy. When she's with Mor she's super feminist and "in awe of her strength". On the other hand, Tamlin is kind of an empty character. He's a pretty boy with anger issues, which should be more interesting than it is. SJM manages to make him bland. Because Feyre has nothing to bounce off of, (a lot of this is from the person's post), she and Tamlin together is mainly just him introducing her to his world.

What Tamlin Does: prevents a skinny twenty year old from going on dangerous missions with him and combat-trained soldiers, accidentally blows up a room with her in it, and, at the end, prevents her from leaving the house.

This is not a Tamlin apologist post. Obviously it was really fucking gross of him to do that, and their relationship was toxic. However, a lot of his abuse stems from their inability to communicate, as well as own negligence. He does not knowingly and purposefully sexually assault her or rape her mind. And tbh, leaving a girl without combat training at home while he goes on missions with a bunch of muscled sentries is... kind of reasonable?

Again: not a Tamlin apologist post. It was abuse. However, if Rhysand is "allowed" to sexually assault, mind-rape, and drug Feyre "for her own safety", why is Tamlin demonized for preventing her from leaving his mansion "for her own safety"?

Another pertinent point: Rhys is never punished for sexually assaulting her. It is brushed off as part of his "mask" or that his hand was forced. Jesus Christ my dudes, his hand was not forced under her skirt. If he has to maintain his gross rapist abuser tyrant oppressor mask... why? Who did that benefit beside him? None of his actions remotely helped Prythian. They were done solely for his buddies - five people safe in a rich hidden city - and no one else, which is explicitly stated.

Finally, the power dynamic is fucked up. Feyre is less than twenty five years old. Rhysand is 500. There is a tendency in fantasy romance to romanticize a centuries year old man with a young girl, because the man does not show symptoms of age, and so it is easily ignorable. However, can we just briefly acknowledge how fucked up it is? Rhys is over five times older than Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, and other known predators/abusers. She is twenty. That is really fucking gross. She is in a vulnerable position and he takes rampant advantage of that.

If he had wrinkles, liver problems, and erectile dysfunction, more people would acknowledge it.

Let's be clear: I'm not saying writing a book with an uneven power dynamic is automatically bad. For example, in The Locked Tomb series, which is in my opinion THE BEST FANTASY SERIES THAT HAS GRACED THIS EARTH (lol i'm starting fires), one main character Harrowhark Nonagesimus is in a position of power over Gideon Nav, the other main character. However, this is not glossed over or romanticized. Gideon resents Harrow for this- there is a relationship of mutual antagonism, fraught with unwilling familiarity and intimacy from growing up together. They are roughly the same age. While there is a certain power dynamic (in that world, there is a dynamic of necromancer and cavalier, i.e. sorcerer and sword) the "empowered" character (Harrow) emphatically respects her and does not abuse this power, although both would of course deny this, and she does make a show of threatening and being aloof. In short, while Gideon obeys her, Gideon also has power over Harrow, and the idea of what is essentially slavery is not romanticized.

Feyre Doesn't Face Any Consequences For Her Own Actions

Let me present a radical notion: a guy preventing you from leaving his house does not justify completely fucking ruining his country and harming the people inside it.

In other words: Tamlin does not deserve what she did to him.

I know that sounds iffy. We're conditioned to think that if someone is an abuser, then they are the scum of the earth, they deserve to die, torturing/murdering/doing anything to them is completely A-OK. However, here's another radical notion: someone harming you does not justify you doing worse.

Obviously, the effects of psychological abuse can cause you to hurt other people (see: Nesta), but Feyre deliberately and maliciously (oh, God, that insufferable POV of her in Spring Court; she reads like a cartoonish Disney villain) dismantles his country. She uses sexual manipulation (Lucien), torture (causing the sentry to be whipped), and mind-rape (who didn't she do this to? lol).

A summary of the entire first half of ACOWAR: "It smelled like roses. I hated roses. For this capital offense against my olfactory system, Tamlin and the entire Spring Court deserved to burn in hell. I knew exactly what I was doing. I smiled at him sweetly: no longer a doe, but a wolf. He didn't see my fangs.............." *aesthetic noises*

Man. I'm starting to think SJM had a horrible experience at a Bath & Body Works and took it out on the rest of us. Don't do it, Sarah!! I know Pink Chiffon and Triple Berry Martini are way too strong, but don't take it out on an innocent population!!

She steals from Summer Court (there are, yk, other solutions to theft. Like maybe asking politely) and ruins Spring Court. Her boyfriend - yeesh sorry, MATE - does nothing while a dozen Winter Court children are murdered.

Now: moral ambiguity is not automatically bad. Again using The Locked Tomb as an example, in the second book (spoiler alert), Harrowhark has a sort of moral ambiguity. She was raised from the beginning to worship the King Undying as God, and so she obeys him without question. Because of this, she commits a lot of crimes in His name: she "flips" - i.e. kills - the life force of planets, and she plots murder (albeit the murder of someone who tried to kill her first). There is no attempt to justify this. There is also no attempt to paint her as a virtuous and yet also badass Madonna figure. She is desperate, plagued with the "wreck of herself", and the book clearly displays her moral pitfalls. While her POV is of course colored by her mindset, it also is limited by her lack of information, and we as readers can acknowledge that.

BACK TO ACOTAR: Feyre is seen by everyone as gorgeous, formidable, and essentially perfect. Rhys sees her as flawless, "made for him", wonderful, beautiful, blah blah blah. (THEY ARE SO BAD FOR EACH OTHER; THEY EXCUSE AND GLORIFY EACH OTHER'S CRIMES, IT'S SO BAD, GUYYYS). Tamlin is insanely batshit in love with her, or whatever. To the Night Court she's the High Lady. In this way she personifies the Mary Sue character. (Excerpt from the TV Tropes page on Mary Sues: "She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing. She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal." Sound familiar?)

There is the Ourobous scene. And yet, paradoxically, while presented as an acknowledgment of her flaws, it is in fact a rejection of them. She sees her own brutality... and instead of recognizing that she has these deep, deep moral flaws and realizing that she needs to grow and be better, she in fact "accepts" them.

Guys: Self love means: "I'm important to me, so I'm going to get a massage today after work", or "heck, why not splurge on some expensive lotion, you only live once" or "you know what? I had a tough day today. I'm going to get that strawberry cupcake". SELF LOVE DOES NOT MEAN "oh, I accept all the war crimes I have done, I love myself". LOVING YOURSELF DOES NOT MEAN ABSOLVING YOURSELF OF ALL WRONGDOING.

It's this refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing that is so grating about ACOTAR. It's so goddamn one-sided. And you can tell that after Book 1, SJM decided to completely change the trajectory simply because of how jarring Book 2 reads compared to the first one.

Also: Feyre is a very, very young girl (compared to the other ruling fey) who did not know how to read for the majority of her life. She has no experience whatsoever in politics. Her being High Lady is not a win for feminism.

Rhysand: He Sucks

First, he is 500 years old. He should be written as such, not as some 20 year old virile frat boy feminist. Fantasy is all the more compelling for its elements of realism, which is a concept that SJM does not appear to grasp.

Second of all, his morals are absurd. He is written as the Second Coming of Christ, as someone who can do no wrong, ever, and his flaws only serve to make Feyre love him more. Anything shitty he does is written as part of his "mask" and she can See Beneath It and knows that it "hurts" him to maintain this "mask".

Fellas, WHY DOES HE HAVE TO MAINTAIN THIS MASK???? There is no reason for it. If A) he does not give a shit about Court of Nightmares (we'll get back to that), only about Velaris, and B) Velaris is hidden/protected from the world, what is he pretending for?

It would not hurt him politically to be seen as someone who cares about his country.

"Pretending" to be "Amarantha's whore" does not in any way shape or form benefit the macro-world that is Prythian. In Amarantha's name, he commits atrocities. He commits war crimes; he systemically oppresses entire societies. It doesn't even really benefit Velaris, because Velaris is already hidden.

Let me put this in a real-world perspective. This would be like if Donald Trump was suddenly like: "I know I was a shitty president but IT WAS ALL PART OF MY MASK, WHICH WAS TO PROTECT THIS MICROCOSM OF PRIVILEGED PEOPLE THAT I CARE ABOUT". Like: okay? Sorry, or whatever, but I don't actually give a shit. What about the parents of the children who died? What about Clare Beddor? What about the people who were held in slavery, murdered, tortured?

Rhysand: omg it sucks that my cousin Mor was oppressed by this toxic misogynistic culture from the Court of Nightmares.

Also Rhysand: lol whatever, who gives a shit about Court of Nightmares. They all suck. They meanie. Lol what did you say? That there might be other girls just like Mor who are oppressed by this system? Lol whatever. I can't do anything, I gotta maintain my Mask. I gotta sit on this throne and show the entire Court that not respecting women is completely okay.

In summary: by parading Feyre around as his "whore" (!!) he demonstrates by example that it is completely okay for the Court of Nightmares to abuse their women.

A good ruler cares about all his people. Rhysand cares about a tiny tiny fraction of his people: those who were fortunate enough to be born into Velaris.

God, I'm exhausted. Onto Nesta:

The only character who successfully breaks the Mary Sue effect Feyre exerts on her people is Nesta. Her POV for the first half is a joy to read.

Obviously it sucks that Nesta was a huge bitch to Feyre for the beginning of her childhood. However, it was wrong for Rhysand to threaten her- he is a man male with a huge insane amount of power, and it is not okay for him to threaten to bring the brunt of it down on a young girl because she was a bitch to his girlfriend.

I've seen a lot of discourse on the morality of F/R sending her out of Velaris. Here is my two cents:

It was okay for them to cut her off of their money. If they don't want to enable her self-harm, that is their choice. Again, it's their money, even if it wasn't fairly earned (Rhysand born into an enormous fortune).

It was not okay for them to banish her from Velaris with the implication that she was an embarrassment. Let me explain.

If Rhysand and Feyre are talking to her as sister/brother-in-law, then that is that. They have the complete right to express disapproval and try to help. However, they should not be using their royal privilege against her.

If they are talking to her as ruler to subject, then they have the power to banish her from the city. However, a ruler would not give a shit about a random subject getting drunk and having sex. So, they should not be talking her about her problems as a ruler to subject.

I've heard it compared to her being sent to rehab. However, rehab is a system designed to help people with certain problems. It has specialized medical centers and involves therapy. Nesta gets her life threatened multiple times. It is not rehab.

In summary: why did SJM inflict this upon us. Throne of Glass was actually good! GAHHH! After the first few books she completely whipped around and introduced the idea of males and mates and fey and that C is actually A and the quality took a huge nosedive. Sigh.

Final horrible but unmistakable truth: The entire ACOTAR series reads like a bad A/B/O fic. I hate to say it but it's true. We're lucky there were no heat cycles. OH WAIT

[marvelsbanner]

Ohh!! Could you do prompt number 40: “Have I entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile for me?” with Natasha maybe? You don't have to if you don't want to, it was just an idea 😊 love your work btw❤️

Word Count: ~950 

Warnings: Minor cursing, suggestive language 

A/N: All mistakes are my own. Likes, reblogs, and feedback greatly appreciated <3 Thanks for the prompt darling, that was a cute idea to write! 

You groaned as you looked at the training schedule sheet outside of the Avengers gym facility. 6:00 am-9:00 am: y/f/n y/l/n, Natasha Romanoff 

It wasn’t that you didn’t like Nat, in fact, the problem was that you liked Nat a little too much. You couldn’t help it, and how could you? The fiery redhead had captured your attention since your first day on the team. She was a badass spitfire of sarcastic comments and playful banter; she looked as sweet as candy but you knew if you pissed her off she could have you pinned to the ground with a knife at your neck in seconds, no matter where you were. It was kind of hot. 

So yes, you had feelings for the woman. You didn’t actually plan on doing anything about them, you were teammates and she was closed off with everyone but Barton and Rogers. You didn’t want to cross any lines and scare her off, losing the little progress you had made with her over the months you had been at the compound. 

At least, you think you had made progress. You weren’t exactly sure what to consider your relationship- coworkers? teammates? friends? The two of you had an interesting dynamic when you were together. 

The first time you had actually talked was during your first one-on-one training session. She was cold and reserved at first, but that left you intimidated and giving a subpar performance when she knew you could do better. To get you more comfortable she began to warm up a little bit, throwing you sarcastic banter and even some suggestive comments that left you bushing as she was finally able to push you to your physical limit. She was harder on you than any of the other trainees that you could see, and it could make her seem harsh at times but you didn’t believe her to have ill intentions. 

Sometimes with her playfulness you allowed yourself a slimmer of hope that she could actually reciprocate your feelings, and other times you were certain it was just the way she was with everyone. She was still quite cold and snarky at times, especially when you would hit a sensitive spot with a joke or you weren’t performing as well as she wanted you to. 

You walked into the gym to find the redhead already warming up with stretches. Typical, you still weren’t entirely convinced the woman actually slept. You had only ever seen her in the gym or at meetings, and you almost believed she existed only in those spaces. 

“I was wondering when you would show up” she quipped at you, rising from her stretched out position on the mat. “Well Natasha, not everyone is naturally gorgeous like you. Some of us actually need some beauty rest,” you remarked- immediately cringing at yourself as the words left your lips. You don’t know what came over you. 

Her eyebrows raised in what could only be her muted version of shock before she quickly composed herself, “Cute, but flattery isn’t going to get you out of training” she remarked.

“Wouldn’t dream of it” you replied cooly, smirking as you watched her brow slightly furrow. You had never been this bold with her before, but you had a burst of confidence and you were going to roll with it. 

You shifted into your sparring stance and she quickly mirrored you, seemingly reading your mind as you went for a torso shot and was immediately blocked. She grabbed the arm you tried to strike with, twisting it before hooking a leg around your knee and pushing you front-first into the floor. 

“Well this is new, you usually like to have me on my back,” you remark cheekily, slightly out of breath as she cleared her throat and moved off of you. “Well.. it’s good to try out different positions. You never know what kind of situations you’ll be dealing with” she replied, and you could feel a warmth rising up your neck that was definitely not from the exercise.

“Yeah, makes sense. I appreciate that you’re looking out for me- and the team, of course. You make a great teacher” you said, and you could swear you saw those pretty pink lips of hers curve into a small smile as she turned her face away from you.

“Woah woah woah, have I entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile for me?” She rolled her eyes at you, lips falling into her natural tell-tale smirk before she was sweeping your legs out from under you and pining you to the mat again.

She quirked an eyebrow as she loomed over you, body pressed dangerously close against your own.

“You tell anyone I’m not as scary as I look and I’ll kick your ass” she half-heartedly threatened. 

At least your hoped it was half-heartedly..

“Oh but I’m hoping you do” you teased back, making her roll her eyes at you once more as she tried to hide a slight smile and moved to stand. 

She offered you a hand and pulled you to your feet before quickly flipping you onto your back on the mat once more.

The wind was knocked out of you and you didn’t even have the air to make a sarcastic comment at her. “Just don’t forget who’s in charge around here,” she said with a wink, turning and walking towards the exit with what you were sure was an emphasized swing of her hips.

“Close your mouth and stop staring at my ass. If you like what you see you can join me for dinner tonight. 7, don’t be late” She called back at you, neither turning around nor giving you a chance to respond. 

But she knew you’d be there, of course, you’d be there.

Maybe training with Natasha wasn't so bad after all.. 

[sokkastyles]

“Tell Me What Happened:” Zutara and the Female Gaze

I’ve seen some discourse about the male and female gaze, and I think some people misunderstand what these terms actually mean. So let’s go back a bit to the origins.

The term “the male gaze” was popularized by feminist film critic Laura Mulvey. In her essay, “Visual Pleasure in Narrative Cinema,” Mulvey uses the Hitchcock film Rear Window, which is a story that is entirely framed around the voyeurism of the main male character. There’s a point in the movie where the protagonist’s girlfriend, who had previously doubted the events the protagonist claimed to view out of his apartment window, which make up most of the action of the story, finally comes around to his way of seeing things, and delivers the very effective and famous line “Tell me exactly what you saw, and what you think it means.”

Most of the time when people talk about the male gaze, they refer to female characters being displayed as objects for an assumed male viewer. Mulvey argues that the way the character Lisa is portrayed in this movie does subject her to this voyeuristic interpretation, but it goes deeper than that. When Lisa is not the object being viewed, she is asked to see things through the perspective of the main male character. She originally doubts him, but eventually she is forced to view things from his perspective. Later in the movie, she becomes subject to the protagonist’s gaze as we see her on the other side of the binoculars. Her boyfriend, the character through which the movie establishes its viewpoint, watches her be threatened by another man and eventually she is saved.

The movie both invites the assumed male viewer to view Lisa as an object AND asks her, as the movie’s female protagonist, to view things through the lens of the male protagonist.

And that’s what most of the critiques I see of Katara and Aang’s relationship are about. Take “The Fortune Teller,” for example.

Many people have already talked about how "The Fortuneteller" treats Aang's crush on Katara vs Meng's crush on Aang, but I would like to point out what I think is a particularly egregious example of the male gaze in this episode.

This is Aang looking at Katara. We get the pan over her body with emphasis on how attractive Aang finds her to be. The lighting makes her look practically angelic.

Then, later in the episode, when we see Meng crush on Aang, we get a similar pan.

The joke is meant to contrast Katara's desirability with Aang's, yet we are supposed to root for Aang as he worries that Katara does not return his feelings.

The show is also making fun of Aang's crush on Katara by showing Aang's exaggerated perspective, but she still remains desirable in his view and to the camera. There is no undercutting of Aang's view of Katara the way the camera subverts Meng’s view of Aang. We are not asked to see Aang as desirable from a female perspective, which begs the question of what Katara should see in him if female desire is so, well...undesirable.

This is one of several places where the show is self aware enough to poke fun at the way Aang sees Katara, but still in the end totally validates him and the male gaze by only subverting it when the genders are flipped. Which isn't actually a subversion at all.

This is an example of the camera framing a female character as object of the male gaze, but it goes deeper than that. The male gaze isn’t just framing women as objects to be looked at, but inviting women to view themselves through the filter of the male gaze as well.

And therein, I would argue, is the appeal of zutara.

You could make a case that one of the reasons zutara is so popular is because the show does occasionally present Zuko as an object for the gaze of a female audience. The creators were aware at a certain point that there was a not insignificant portion of the fandom that was into Zuko.

But Zuko is never framed as an object of desirability for Katara.

What the show does do, though, is switch up the lens through which we are supposed to view the narrative. And the way this happens is directly tied to Katara’s relationship with Zuko.

Katara is, in a lot of ways, our narrator from the beginning. Her words are the first ones heard from episode one, telling us about the world and the war and the Avatar. Her narration is focused on Aang and his story. “I believe that Aang can save the world.”

Katara also has her own story, though, one she talks about throughout the series but mostly in relation to others. And it’s this story that she confronts Zuko with in the crystal caves, when she tells him that he has “no idea” what she has suffered, and she tells him about the death of her mother.

Zuko does something she doesn’t expect by apologizing and relating it to the loss of his own mother, but he still can’t fully commit to her side and ends up betraying their tentative truce. It’s when she confronts him with it again in “The Southern Raiders” that things start to shift.

Before that, Katara had used the death of her mother to empathize with other’s loss, and many times this is a male character. We’ve heard the story told many times. Sokka tells it to Toph to explain Katara to her.

When Zuko seeks out Sokka in “The Southern Raiders,” though, it is the first time that another character has asked to hear the story.

Zuko: I want you to tell me what happened to your mother.

Sokka tells Zuko the story and tells Zuko that it’s not something he likes to think about. This relates to how Katara and Sokka differently view what happened to their mother, and partially contributes to why Katara told Sokka that maybe he didn’t love her enough. For Sokka, the day of his mother’s murder is not something he wants to relive, but Katara is constantly forced to relive it.

“The Southern Raiders” contains three full flashbacks to Kya’s murder. First from Sokka’s viewpoint, then Katara herself as she is telling the story to Zuko. The last time we see the story play out, it is as Katara is standing in front of Yon Rha and confronting him with it, while Zuko looks on passively.

Here, the dynamic has shifted so that Katara is not only the one telling the story, but in the end she is also the one who gets to rewrite it, to define how it ends, and Zuko is the observer, much like Lisa in “Rear Window.” Tell me what you saw and what you think it means.

Zuko knows the importance of letting Katara give shape and meaning to this story because he himself tried to do the same with Ozai, who is the only one left to speak about what happened to Ursa.

Ozai: Don’t you want to know what happened to your mother?

That both of these narratives involve women being silenced emphasizes the reclamation of them as the shifting from a male gaze to a female one. That Zuko’s redemption is tied to such a shift is very interesting, especially given the elemental symbolism of fire = male and water = female. That “The Southern Raiders,” one of the most shippy episodes, involves Katara ignoring Aang’s attempts to define the situation and, in the episode’s climax, forcing two male characters to observe as she describes what happened to her mother, a woman she is so connected with, is significant. Katara directs both the gazes of Zuko and Yon Rha, and by extension the audience, just as she effortlessly directs the rain itself. The last time we see the memory retold it is Katara revealing the truth to Yon Rha, who thought he had killed the last waterbender. The fact that this episode was penned by a woman also emphasizes the power of reclaiming narratives with a female gaze.

[ramblingguy54]

True Colors: An Emotionally Fantastic Serious Game Changer.

If we’re to look back at Reunion as Season 1′s dramatic pay off for Amphibia’s message of toxic friendships, as Anne & Sasha’s conflicting dynamic showed us, then True Colors is a colossal expansive note on this big theme of the series. True Colors makes Season 1′s finale look like a walk in the park for what angst goes down between our three main heroins in Season 2′s climatic resolution. Everything that can go wrong does go oh so painfully wrong for these three kids. Anne, to no one’s surprise, gets double crossed by Sasha leaving things between them a Hell of a lot more bitter than they were previously, as if that couldn’t already be topped when Sasha tried to kill the Plantars before. Anne has had enough of her lies and manipulation not being afraid to tell Sasha straight up how awful of a friend she’s been in general, even hitting her where it hurts most of all saying, “No, I’m done listening to you! I’m done trusting you! You’re a horrible person and I am done being FRIENDS with you!”, going so far as to get a shaken reaction out of Sasha dropping her brave face act, making this girl try to wipe away the frog family.

Right off the bat, True Colors makes it highly evident this isn’t just another story of stopping a bigger threat, but one hitting much closer to home, overall. Yes, King Andrias is certainly a dangerous villain, who makes his presence and intimidating nature known to the others by True Color’s final act, which despite this Amphibia isn’t entirely putting him at the forefront, rather focusing on a more intimate study of Anne, Sasha, and Marcy’s big emotional conflict. This finale knows exactly where to put its focus of importance on, so I love that instead of it being action packed we’re getting the spotlight shined on just how screwed up these three of a friendship have, in spite of Marcy claiming in The Dinner episode, “We’re supposed to be friends for life. We don’t split up!’ . Very ironic stuff right there, indeed.

True Colors’ most powerful strength it adds to Amphibia’s ongoing profound story about healthy friendships is the thorough deconstruction of these girls defined “ideal relationship” as people. Before Anne came to the world of Amphibia this kid was afraid to stand up for what she believed in, even knowing especially well that stealing the calamity box was morally questionable, but did it anyway. Sasha was super manipulative, abusive, and used her power to control people, like she did a lot of toward Anne in their lives. Marcy, while very smart, wasn’t the most competent physically, who soon grew into being more independent without needing to rely on Anne always having to be there for her. These three were changed immensely by the events of being thrust into this world of sentient amphibian creatures. Anne benefited morally most out out of all three in taking up the mantle of responsibility and ironing out her own issues. She’s become a much stronger person all around. 

This episode asks us an important question though in nutshell with, “Have Sasha & Marcy truly changed for the better?”, since Anne has reached a point in her arc feeling genuinely content with who she’s become and the bonds that have been made with the Plantar family shown most notably with Sprig Plantar. Hence the whole purpose behind the song, It’s No Big Deal, with Anne feeling proud for who she is, yet not noticing a bigger issue right underneath her nose. That previous episode was meant to bring Anne’s happiness up only to bring it all crashing down in a devastating display of new revelations in True Colors. Every dramatic emotional beat isn’t just earned. Each significant moment is completely knocked out of the park by terrific voice acting, beautiful animation, and music composition that gave me serious emotional goosebumps. True Colors did exactly as Not What He Seems accomplished for Gravity Falls in shaking up its own respective dramatic stakes just when you thought it couldn’t get any higher for these protagonists. Shit seriously hits the fan here.

Did it ever occur to you, Anne? Sasha? That one of you knew more, than she was letting on? That ONE of you might’ve gotten you stranded in Amphibia on purpose...?

The big bombshell twist of Marcy playing a part too in getting them into this whole debacle completely flips everything upside down. Sasha pushed Anne into taking the Calamity Box, yes, but if Marcy never sent that photo because of her desire to stay with them together forever, then they wouldn’t have been stranded in basically a world full of dangerous creatures and who knows what else. Easily my favorite part of the episode, considering it adds more nuance to a situation that defined Amphibia’s story. It wasn’t just one person’s fault at the end of the day. Sasha bullied Anne into taking the box, Anne didn’t put her foot down to make a stand for something morally questionable, and Marcy took advantage of them both to benefit her own selfish desires for supposedly a “happy ending” not involving them staying apart, due to her parents moving away for a new job. All three girls played an important part on why they got landed into Amphiba. It’s why Anne’s statement to King Andrias, “The three of us may have made some mistake, but you...You’re evil and I’m gonna stop you!”, holds such a real weight to it, as this story continues to solidify how genuinely fleshed out their dynamic is.

Marcy’s super desperate plea to be understood by Anne & Sasha when Andrias revealed her getting them thrown into Amphibia purposefully was hard to watch. On one hand, I felt for Marcy because she didn’t want real life circumstances to tear apart that close connection she had to Sasha & Anne. Sure, she could’ve just kept in touch with them over the phone or chatting online, too. However, Marcy had known them since very early childhood. When you’ve been so attached to someone it can be a devastating thing, depending on just how vulnerable you are emotionally, to start drifting apart. Marcy represents that embodiment of toxic need for togetherness and couldn’t bear to let a possibility, like moving away, throw a wrench into her happiness and friendship, as well.

Never mind Marcy wanting to stay permanently in a different reality, rather than face her’s, but it made this person feel like something more. It gave her a chance to feel truly special in being able to live out a fantasy dream of having such power and freedom that a kid, like herself, couldn’t have had. The freedom to know she is plenty capable of making it out there on her own without Anne having to watch this kid like a hawk. So, to have someone, or something, try taking it away from her terrified Marcy of facing a terrible truth. That she isn’t strong enough after all to live a life without Anne & Sasha by her side completely, where Marcy will never feel truly worthy enough to blossom into her own person. It’s why that line, “I just...didn’t want to be alone...”, carries such a deep pain to it all. Marcy just crumbles into pieces accepting her greatest weakness. As much as Marcy fumbled the ball big time, it’s so easy to empathize with her on the idea of feeling competent enough. Marcy never meant to hurt Anne or Sasha, but the sad crushing punchline is she very much did.

Speaking of which, Anne had every right to be upset and mad, obviously. Anne has been missing so many things from her life before everything went off the wall. Hopping Mall especially highlighted Anne’s emotional desire to give anything just to hear her mother’s singing again. This teenager has been really dealing with a lot of grief in general quite honestly. Anne got into a high stakes battle against Sasha to save new friends, who’d practically became like an adopted family, which left the poor girl traumatized and heartbroken over the end result. She thought finding Marcy would help compensate for it and eventually be able to mend those complications with Sasha to boot. It’s simply painful to see it all blow up in Anne’s face to know not only Sasha betrayed her trust yet again, but realizing Marcy also played a part of responsibility in getting them thrown here. Matt Braly really just decided to slap future trust issues onto Anne finding out Hop Pop, Sasha, and Marcy were all super dishonest in their intentions at one point or another. Damn, I feel so bad for her.

It makes their embracing hug back in Marcy At The Gates so much harder to watch. Anne was super glad to see her again. Anne had wondered what became of Marcy or even possibly started to think she could even be alive at all. Then come to find out later on Marcy having intentionally ripped her away from a normal life must’ve felt worse then what happened with Sasha. Anne, already done with all of Sasha’s bullshit, thought she could at least expect better from Marcy not letting her down, but that too wasn’t the case. Marcy is very much as flawed as Sasha in what she has done. To think, Anne wanted so badly to get back home, yet she’s staring the very person dead in the eye, who ripped her away from it to begin with. Marcy knew Sasha would talk Anne into taking the box from that thrift shop, even if she wasn’t completely certain it would successfully teleport them away. Regardless of whatever good intentions someone can have in why they did what they did, it still doesn’t absolve them of said mistake. Fact of the matter is, Marcy tragically made her own bed, by choosing to mess with forces she couldn’t begin to comprehend and now has to face consequences, in spite of her not deserving them.

What really got to me was when Marcy tried to spin around Anne’s personal growth and close friendship with the Plantars as all entirely thanks to her. When she said, “I gave you this! I gave you everything!”, I was like, “Nope, that couldn’t be any further from the truth.”, seeing everything that has culminated in Anne’s journey of bettering herself. Marcy didn’t give Anne anything, but a one way ticket to cutting the kid off from her family, presuming she’d be fine with this idea. It’s all kinds of messed up, however what it boils down to is Marcy undermining Anne’s independence and agency. Anne’s moral judgement in decision making was what allowed her to create this new life she made for herself in Amphibia. Anne’s honesty as a whole led her down a path of togetherness, while Marcy’s lying landed her in a result of not wanting to be alone, costing her so much.

“I don’t believe this. We were so focused on each other we couldn’t see what was right in front of us!”

True Colors excels at earning each of its emotional beats because they line up with character motivations down to the last letter. Anne doesn’t want to trust Sasha anymore because of their already rocky past, which leads to her helping King Andrias regain control of his kingdom. Sasha not keeping a lid on her temper, wanting to rule over Amphibia, and trying to reinforce that power dynamic with Anne & Marcy only made things worse for her image of a changed good friend. There wasn’t a chance in Hell Anne would hear Sasha’s reasoning after she flat out tried to take away her frog family, by attempting to use the Calamity Box a bit ago in the episode. Marcy wanted to believe there was a happily ever after in seeing this world traveling idea as their only chance for salvation as friends for life, but it turned out to be something much more sinister, when learning of Andrias’ backstory and his true scumbag nature. All three of their motivations come clashing together, blinding them from a much bigger danger. Something that effectively puts everyone at stake.

Amphibia’s Season 2 finale works so excellently, given it covers important dramatic elements it’s been stirring around since Season 1′s early rumblings. Amphibia is a story centered around people’s need for emotional connections. True Colors builds miraculously off what Reunion already did quite well in showing friendships can become rough and they are never easy to deal with. When you have to make a stand it can be a tough pill to swallow on the reality check of maybe this “good friend” of your’s isn’t as nice as you previously thought them to be. Anne having been hurt one too many times now by her former friend sends that message close to home, so much so even Sasha begins to question her morality as a human being. It poignantly encapsulates how this trio’s complex friendship is a serious growing issue needing to be reexamined, overall.

What if Anne’s right..? What if I am a horrible person...?

Something I absolutely love to pieces about True Colors, also a testament to Season 2′s darn good writing, is how much introspective we get from each character on what they’re feeling. We’ve seen plenty of Sasha’s vulnerability before in other episodes centered on her issues, but now we’re getting to the root of it. Sasha is really taking everything more to heart, little by little. Sasha’s understanding what kind of an effect she has on people, seeing the damage it has caused made evident by Percy and Braddock in Barrel’s Warhammer. Grime once told her, “Some dreams have a price and not everyone is willing to pay it.”, where she’s questioning that idealism every passing minute the invasion plan proceeds further into reaching success. Sasha isn’t sure what to do with herself anymore feeling aimless. Those previous episodes had a real impact on her priorities more than she cared to let on with Sasha’s typical tough girl act. This kid has let her guard down more, which scares and confuses Sasha. She’s always used to playing the role of protector it contradicts everything Sasha stands for when the roles are totally reversed because now Anne has made her feel the tremendous change in their growth as individuals.

Sasha’s lifestyle has been all about control that after somewhat learning to be more considerate to Anne & Marcy’s feelings she feels beyond conflicted about what truly matters to her. The most screwed up part of it all is Sasha didn’t want to fight anymore, taking up a pacifist approach after seeing what King Andrias had been hiding from everyone. It’s a fitting punishment for Sasha to try bringing Anne over to work together once more, but getting her pleas for companionship outright ignored. Anne was correct that Sasha had wasted all the chances to be reasonable. Boonchuy tried to hear out Sasha before at The Third Temple. One wanted to start things over again to iron out their serious issues, but the other was driven by bitterness, while only remorseful to a degree at best, of seeing their once weak friend become so independent, mature, and stronger that it drove her up wall. Sasha wanted to take away that “problem” being the Plantars, since in her eyes they’re the source of Anne’s strength, driving a wedge further between the two girls in their heated Reunion 2.0 battle.

True Colors demonstrates the horrific price of no trust, communication, nor teamwork from the three main girls that Andrias smoothly took advantage of, as if they were fiddles. 

“That’s the thing about friends isn’t it? The more you love them, the more it hurts when they go.”

King Andrias is quite literally what I wanted Lunaris to be, where DuckTales’ Season 2 finale didn’t impress me on doing. He’s a serious big baddie to the main cast, who follows through on his threats of violence to demonstrate his wide array of arsenal and power. Andrias doesn’t just emotionally manipulate characters, like poor Marcy, but utterly crush them without an ounce of remorse for his actions. When he dropped Sprig out that window after Anne willingly let him have the Calamity Box back I thought they were legit gonna kill this boy off. The way Anne’s flashback montage of her good times with Sprig were eerily shot really didn’t help either on that note. Anne’s Calamity power finally activating is easily up there among stuff, like Dewey risking his life for Della’s disappearance in Last Crash, where the cinematography is shot and animated brilliantly. You feel Anne’s blind raging sadness in every hit she landed on those robots and Andrias. If anyone didn’t believe Sprig was like a little brother to Anne, then I dunno how anyone couldn’t view their bond anymore as such after this hugely defining scene. Anne went bloodthirsty when she believed Sprig to be dead further evidenced when she hugged him in relief afterwards exclaiming, “Sprig!? You’re alive!? Oh, thank goodness...”, which cuts deep so damn much.

Anne was ready to fight every one of Andrias’ troops in that castle to the death, if need be. Before Sprig came back from falling, thanks to Marcy’s quick acting, to comfort Anne, her only goal was to slaughter every opponent in that throne room, along with making Andrias pay dearly for even daring to lay a single finger on anyone of the Plantars. I’m not gonna lie, this pivotal power up reminded me so much Gohan turning Super Saiyan 2 after Cell curb stomped Android 16 into pieces with a smirk on his face. Anne Boonchuy’s maddening outburst is a classic testament to the idea of, “Piss off the nicest person and they’ll make it their mission to instill the biggest kind of fear/terror into you.”. showing this kid at her most vulnerable mental state, yet. Sprig & Anne’s cathartic embrace really messed me up in reinforcing just how these two respect, love, and would go above any of their limitations to help the other out. Sprig’s “death” scene was a masterful bait by the writers into making us think someone was gonna die and it was gonna be a poor kid, no less.  

However, it was actually all just a bait and switch for the real, “Oh, shit. They really just did that”, moment with Marcy unexpectedly getting run through with Andrias’ gigantic sword. In a last ditch effort, Marcy wanted to atone for what she had a hand in getting them all into. Marcy was ironclad determined in making her own stand for what was right trying to save the people she endangered. Akin to what Sasha did in Reunion for saving Anne’s life, Marcy does the exact same here. Although, unfortunately this time, no one is here to protect Marcy from escaping death, like Grime catching Sasha from plummeting at Toad Tower. Marcy couldn’t react in time because she was so focused on helping her dear friends out. She wanted to prove to herself at least one time, “I’ve screwed up so much stuff with my friends. Maybe, just maybe. If I get my friends back home, it’ll prove I’m not an entirely crappy person for setting these events into motion.”. Marcy’s own deep seeded remorse is what saved Anne & the Plantars, while being the cause of her own untimely demise at Andrias’ hands.

This scene is what no doubt encouraged the warning sign for younger viewers Disney decided to make for them. It’s impressive how far Matt and his crew are willing to go for intense dramatic content. Andrias trying to crush Polly with his fist after destroying Frobo with casual ease, dropping Sprig out of the window from up sky high, and stabbing Marcy with his powerful sword displays his cold blooded brutality. Doesn’t matter who you are. If you get in the way of Andrias’ plans for multiverse domination, then he’ll throw anyone into their own grave, be it man, woman, or child. That’s the mark of a truly terrifying antagonist.

Andrias didn’t care who had to be hurt or manipulated to get back the box, so he could invade other worlds with Earth being his next prime target for invasion. Marcy’s fate is a horrifyingly poetic statement, since Sasha stated to Anne in a flashback from Marcy At The Gates, “One of these days, she’s gonna get herself killed.”, with True Colors tying back to this line in a disturbing manner. Something that sends chills down my spine is we get to see the full extent of how far Andrias shoved the sword through her body. We don’t just see the entry point of where it hit her, but it even zooms out to show the whole thing. Real talk, I got serious Avatar The Last Airbender vibes from this scene. Reminded me so much of Aang getting suddenly zapped with lightning by Azula when he tried to enter the Avatar state. Marcy didn’t want to be alone so badly she ended up inevitably dying alone trying to send Anne back home to their reality. One Hell of a way to close off Marcy’s last moments in Season 2, until her inevitable resurrection happens in Season 3 now that King Andrias has her in a tube tank that looks tied to his master.

True Colors ends on a deeply bittersweet cliffhanger leaving the fates of Sasha & Grime totally unknown if they’ll get away by the skin of their teeth, or get captured by Andrias’ soldiers and robots. Anne finally returned home with the Plantars, but at a deadly cost of leaving her other close friends behind in Amphibia. After all the isolation, heartbreak, and endurance she went through with her frog family Anne finds herself at a total loss for words. Once again, Anne is in a state of solitude of not knowing if her friends are really okay or not, mirroring the start of Season 1 when she landed into Amphibia’s world. It’s safe to say to say that, “Finally me and it’s no big deal.”, lyrics have aged terribly for Anne’s realization of finding her own identity came at the expense of getting separated from friends she’s known since kindergarten. Definitely see Anne becoming a lot more protective of the Plantars now more than ever after watching Marcy drop to the ground from being stabbed in front of her eyes.

Amphibia’s Season 2 finale is exactly how you capitalize on a winning story telling formula of dramatic writing, lovable characters with layered depth, and increasing the stakes of your story in an organic manner. True Colors is a finale that should be talked about for a long time to come, as it not only showed how worth the wait it was, but reinforces why Amphibia is a truly great series. It’s unafraid to take its characters to dark places in a way that feels totally earned.

Amphibia Season 2 is everything a sequel to a first film should be.

[searenbound]

Since I couldn’t answer anything last night, here’s something I’ve been trying to convince myself to post for a while as a gift. Also this is heavily inspired by this one ask I got a while back where they were talking about Mina slowly introducing her shy friend to the boys

Warnings: gang bang, swearing, femdom

Pairing: mostly Mina Ashido x reader, Bakusquad x reader

-In all fairness, (Yn) was only bound to end up curious of everything Mina and her friends would get into

-They’ve been the best of friends since the day they met and Mina had never been shy about sharing her bedroom habits with her

-She knew about every date, how it ended, who Mina was thinking about seeing again

-More importantly, she knew that every now and again Mina and her friend group from high school would meet up and catch up

-One time lead to them somehow getting into a messy gang bang of sorts

-And they just decided to keep doing it

-(Yn) Would live for those stories the day after

-Her boys sound like so much fun and they all seemed so nice

-And if she was really honest with herself, she was a little jealous that they got to have and see her best friend in one of the most intimate ways

-Her curiosity got the best of her one day and she just asked if maybe, if it was fine with everyone she could join next time

-Mina was so proud of her for working up the courage to tell her

-Just excitedly pulls her into a hug and makes sure she understands how proud she is that she’s telling her instead of trying to ignore what she wants

-Asks about any past experience she’s had just so she has a better idea of what she likes

-When she nervously explains that she’s only had a few plain vanilla experiences Mina, who you won’t convince me isn’t a switch, would flip into gentle and careful dom mode

-She promises her that she’ll take care of everything and wouldn’t ever let her have a bad experience

-She can tell that they need to take baby steps before she can set up anything bigger

-Find out a few things she likes and doesn’t first and slowly introduce the boys to her

-Definitely offers to try some things out right then and almost doesn’t want to share her after

-She eager to please and try new things and just so cute and so very submissive

-But she did promise to introduce her and she really wants this so she’ll set her selfishness aside for now, but she’s gonna make sure everyone understands that they aren’t allowed to take her away

-She’s hers now and no amount of good dick is changing that

-After setting up some ground rules and explaining the situation, she introduce everyone one at a time

-She doesn’t want her to get overwhelmed and let’s face a certain someone, Bakugou, can get really intense really quickly and it’s probably not the best idea to just throw her in with the wolves so to speak

-Starts with Kaminari because he’s fairly submissive himself

-Mina has no problems giving him instructions on how to take care of (Yn) and he’s so gentle and playful with her

-He’s the one who shows her how amazing toys can be

-When she gets used to this dynamic and is a little more comfortable than they introduce Sero

-He’s bit more dominant over the situation, but he pays attention

-His focus is on teaching her to ask for what she wants and reinforces that with lot’s of praise

-Also introduces her to some very light bondage, which she actually loves

-Like with Kami, one she’s gotten comfortable it’s time to add another boy

-Kiri is a flirt and a tease when he’s comfortable with you and since he has a lot of secondhand information about her he feels comfortable with teasing her already

-Doesn’t really need queues from Mina on what to do, but he takes them anyways

-Figures even though he’s not really having any problems that taking Mina’s advice is the smart thing to do because who knows her better?

-He loves asking teasing questions about how she’s feeling and if the others thinks she likes it when she’s to lust mad to say anything, but cute babbling and cooing

-Once Bakugou is finally introduced to them he’s kinda surprised

-He was expecting some shy little pillow princess by the way the others have been gushing about her and instead is introduced this cutie that’s a little nervous, but handles everything he throws her way well

-Since Sero and Kirishima has pretty much laid the ground work for how she responds to dirty talk and being teased his rougher approach is to it is taken like it’s nothing and she can talk back to him without too much trouble

-Her new found confidence is a little bit of a problem because the boys just eat it up

-She’s adorable and they all kinda catch some feelings for her

-Mina is of course, is not happy about it and reminds them constantly that she’s being nice and sharing her friend and that she’s absolutely off limits outside of this

-They respect it most of the time, but there are some times when the boys start getting competitive over (Yn)

-She’ll put them in their places by making a big show of kissing her on the lips and with tongue

-She’s the only who’s been given permission to do so and it’s the greatest reminder that (Yn) is absolutely hers

-It’s not even a rule, just a known fact

-(Yn) will actively refuse to kiss anyone else, forehead kisses and neck kisses are allowed but never on the lips unless you happen to be Mina

-She’s also the only that can leave any marks and not get complaints about it or have them covered up

[poisonintopositivity]

(My Very Own) Top 20 Sterek Fics

Here is my very own Top 20 Sterek Fics (out of order)

For me, these fanfictions are a “MUST READ NOW!!!” kind of deal. These authors have so much talent, it’s incredible. These stories are just marvelous and deserve LOVE ! So, I decided to share them with you.

I’ve read most of these fics several times and some of them are even my bedside table books (with Harry Potter and the Prisonner of Azcaban and Jane Eyre)

So here we go!

1:  Enemy Lines by @qhuinn -  150k - Explicit - Dystopia - Enemies to friends to lovers - Action/adventure

This is the story of werewolf Derek Hale and human Stiles Stilinski: two people who grew up in the same town but completely different worlds, their realities split by the war between men and wolves.

Years later when Derek returns to Beacon Hills, he does it as Alpha of a military pack on a mission to capture those responsible for the region’s resistance. With his main objective, Sheriff Stilinski, out of sight, he settles for the next best thing: his son, Stiles.

Neither of them suspects they’ll need to trust each other if they want to make it out this alive.

2:  Actions Speak Louder than Words by @isthatbloodonhisshirt - 435k - Explicit - The BEST and slowest burn there is - Spark Stiles/Mute Derek - Friends to Lovers

“I apologize.” The cop finally looked back up at his face, seeming thrilled. “It’s just—it’s been so long. And we finally have you.”

That was a bad word. Not found.

Have.

Stiles wrenched his hand free and took a step back, but before he could even think up a gameplan, he felt a prick in his neck and jerked away, reaching up to slap one hand against it and twisting in the same moment.

One of the others had come up behind him while he hadn’t been paying attention, and his vision began to swim even as his eyes caught sight of the half-empty syringe the guy was holding.

3: Radio Tower by @hyperlittlenori - 130k - Explicit - Dystopia - Hope - Slow Burn/Build 

Everything was different. The world he knew was gone. It’d been a long time since he’d started thinking he was probably one of the last humans on earth, that out there the only sentient beings were those that would devour him whole. He wasn’t sure why he continued with the radio broadcasts, continued to talk into nothingness. The only explanation was that there was a spark of hope in him yet that he wasn’t alone. The lonely safety Stiles has built around an old radio tower in the middle of nowhere is about to be broken. Stiles isn’t sure if Derek is a harbinger of chaos or hope at the end of the world. 

4:  The Hollow Moon by @thepsychicclam - 180k - Explicit - Fix-It - Memory Loss - Slow Burn/Build

It's the summer after Stiles' first year of college, and he's working a crappy job and dealing with nightmares and anxiety - but he's okay, he swears. He makes it through most days without too much trouble. Then, a certain werewolf comes back into town. Which Stiles doesn't care about, nope, not at all.

After two and a half years, Derek returns to Beacon Hills with his small Pack. Though he tried to move on, something just kept drawing him back to Beacon Hills, he's just not sure what. Now, he figures he can start building something like a life - but he keeps getting distracted by Stiles Stilinski of all people.

5 :  Amor Fati by @alocalband  - 43k - Explicit - Consent is sexy - First Time - Fluff & Angst

When Stiles gets thrown into the bank vault about twenty minutes after him, Derek isn’t even surprised.As it turns out, neither is Stiles.

6 :  (not so) Pure Imagination by theroguesgambit - 33k - Explicit - Shared fantasies - Angst with a happy ending - hotdamn! 

"There is a world where whenever someone fantasizes about you, you can physically feel it, but you have no idea who is thinking it about you."

Stiles knows it's wrong, but he's been Fantasizing about Derek and he can't bring himself to stop. Derek doesn't know who's taken an interest in him, but he's enjoying it way more than he probably should.

7: What I Did On My Summer Vacation by grimm - 119k - Explicit - Wolf!Derek - Slow Burn/Build - Friends to Lovers

There's something weird about Beacon Hills that Stiles can't quite put his finger on. The way everyone in town knows his name the day he arrives. The way they insist the melancholic howling that echoes through the forest every night is just a dog. The way his dad denies getting a dog, even though Stiles comes home to find one sprawled across his bed, some big black thing whose eyes gleam red in the right light. The way that massive oak tree out in the woods vibrates under his touch, pulsing with sickly life.

There's something weird going on in this town, and Stiles is determined to get to the bottom of it.

8:  Stand Fast in Your Enchantments by @devildoll - 77k - Explicit - Captivity - Feral!Derek - Angst with a happy ending

"Stiles knew damn well what a pissed-off wolf sounded like, and every hair on the back of his neck was telling him that somewhere in this room was a very pissed-off werewolf." An AU in which Derek is feral, Stiles is magical, and they eat a lot of fast food.

9 :  What Fresh Twilight Bullshit Is This? by @isthatbloodonhisshirt - 196k - Explicit - Soulmate - Slow Burn - Misunderstandings 

“I am not Bella!” he insisted, shaking his fist angrily at Jackson, as if he’d been the one to suggest he was. “I am not Bella! I am, like, a Jacob, at least!”

Lydia made a noise of debate from his right and he whipped around to look at her.

“What?! What was that sound?!”

“You’re more of a Mike,” she insisted, shrugging neatly and flipping some curls over her shoulder.

“Wha—” Stiles had never been so offended in his life! “I am not! No way! I am a solid Jacob!”

“Mike,” she argued.

“Who’s Mike?” Scott asked.

“Shut up, Scott!” Stiles insisted, pointing a finger at him but still glaring at Lydia.

10 :  taste your beating heart by @cinematicnomad​ - 112k - Mature - Pack Dynamics - Slow Burn/Build - Stilinski Family Feels

Something was wrong in Beacon Hills. Derek was halfway across the country when he felt a call to return to his hometown, and somehow Stiles had been talked into letting the werewolf stay in his guest bedroom. This could lead to nothing good.

11 :  between the click of the light and the start of the dream by @thepsychicclam 105k - Explicit - Pack Dynamics - Getting Togheter - Fluff & Angst

A twig snaps, and then Stiles hears breathing and the rustle of leaves. He strains to get a better glimpse into the darkness, but it’s pointless. There’s nothing but a black void.

It's Stiles' senior year, and he's trying to concentrate on normal things - like the lacrosse championship, spring break, prom, graduation (and definitely not Derek) - when he starts having nightmares and waking up in the middle of nowhere. Oh yeah, and he's being haunted by a hag. Great.

12:  And You Say You're Alone by taelynhawker - 30k - Explicit - Pack Dynamincs - Bad Friend Scott - Romance

Between the kanima, the Argents, and Peter's untimely return from the dead, everything has fallen apart. Stiles and Derek try to put their lives back together once the crisis has passed. Stiles deals with the aftermath of being tortured, and the distance growing between he and Scott. Derek attempts to become a stronger alpha and keep his pack safe, and that includes Stiles.

13:  Trust Fall by Stoney - 144k - Explicit - Body Swap - Hurt/Confort - Slow Burn/Build

Stiles is fairly certain that a case could be made for every bad thing in his life coming back to Peter Hale. This time it's pissing off a powerful witch, who retaliated by swapping Stiles and Derek a la Freaky Friday, because sure. That makes sense. Um, there are GPAs on the line, not to mention the whole thing where his dad wants to shoot Derek on sight. Except who he sees as Derek is actually Stiles, and Stiles did not sign up for filicide.

Great. Wait...does this mean he's the Alpha until they figure this out? Holy. Shit.

****

Derek had stood in front of the bathroom mirror for a few minutes trying to control the panic as he saw himself as Stiles. As the loud mouthed human friend of the pack. He was going to kill Peter. He was going to kill the witch, then he was going to kill Peter. Maybe even resurrect him again just to kill him all over.

They were going to have to play this cool. They would have to stay calm and focused. Which is of course why the universe threw him into this situation with someone who physically couldn't be calm and focused.

Of course.

14:  Gravity's Got Nothing on You by @zosofi - 84k - Explicit - Fake/Pretend Boyfriends - Humor - Romance

“Three weeks,” Derek says.

“Still don’t want to,” Stiles says.

“I’ll pay you,” Derek says, and that… that has Stiles interested. Alf’s Antique’s may be a great job, but it’s not a high-paying job, and half of Stiles’s tuition is coming from financial aid, so…

“How much,” Stiles asks, “are we talking here? Because I know your family, dude. And it’ll be kind of awkward after.“

“My family thinks you’re some sort of fucking gift to the world,” Derek seethes, like he’s jealous, “they’ll probably be pissed at me when we break it off, so don’t worry about that. Five hundred bucks.”

“A thousand,” Stiles says, because screw ethics. Also, the Hale family is loaded. Derek can deal.

15:  Every Step You Take by @nokomiss - 49k - Mature - Magic - UST - Secret Feelings

Stiles accidentally ends up magically bound to Derek. It’s super.

16:  Baking My Way Into Your Heart by theSilence - 179k - Mature - College AU/Coffee Shop AU - Slow Burn/Build - Friends to Lovers

Derek is an uptight college student, all work and no play. His carefully scheduled life is thrown kilter when his regular barista is replaced with someone new.

17:  Windows by @drgrlfriend - 83k - Explicit - Blind!Stiles - Friends to Lovers - Found Families 

Derek has a new neighbor who won't stop looking.

Excerpt:

“You’re blind,” Derek said flatly, the anger draining from him so suddenly he felt almost woozy. His vision cleared, his claws sliding back into blunt fingernails.

��Thanks for the memo, genius,” the kid said acidly. “I can still fucking defend myself, so don’t take another damn step.”

“Fuck, I...I’m sorry,” Derek stuttered.

“What?!” The kid’s brow crinkled. “I mean — what?! You’re fucking sorry!?” His lips thinned into a harsh line. “What, is this some kinda Hallmark movie where you’re discovering the error of your ways because you don’t want to rob a blind person?! That’s fucking condescending, man. I’ll have you know that —”

“Just, wait.” Derek interrupted what was apparently the start of a convincing argument as to why he should rob the kid after all, feeling his head start to spin. “This is — it’s a misunderstanding. I’m — I’m not robbing you. You’re — you’re safe, okay? I’m taking three steps back. Just — just let me explain.”

“Explain why you came busting into my apartment? Yeah, go right ahead, man, I can’t wait to hear this epic tale.”

18 :  Just to See You Again by MellytheHun (@loserchildhotpants​) - 15k - Explicit - Love Letters - Getting Together - College AU 

A sterek college!AU where writing student Stiles specializes in love letters, runs a blog about it and can be commissioned to write love letters on behalf of lovers who are at a loss for words.

He makes some cash, he’s good at what he does (especially when he gets to be a little more explicit in his letters), it pays for his textbooks and that’s all he’s really looking for and life is fine. That is, until someone anonymously commissions him to write a love letter to mathematics student, Derek Hale.

19:  Chasing Slumber by @hyperlittlenori - 21k - Explicit - Post-Nogitsune - Porn With Feelings - Fix it

Stiles finds solitude and a glimpse at recovering from his ordeal with the Nogitsune in a dingy motel far from Beacon Hills. Inhuman blue eyes follow his silent struggles in the darkness of the room and he can no longer pretend to sleep, pretend he hasn’t been profoundly changed by all that has happened. He can only let his fingers stretch out across threadbare but clean sheets and clench around them, in a failed attempt at not reaching for Derek.

20 :  the thread is ripping by @thepsychicclam - 36k - Explicit - Pinning - Angst with a happy ending - Flashbacks

Stiles is 27 now, with a master’s degree and a career and a house and a serious boyfriend and a life in San Francisco that doesn't include Derek. But then Stiles unexpectedly shows back up in Beacon Hills, and Derek would recognize that scent anywhere.

If you are interested, feel free to check out my Sterek Fic Recs Collections on A03.

On this lovely note, happy reading guys!