#I'm pretty sure most of the hate stems from the fact that they both get in the way of the other ship(s) too. Like bro... 😭

[ablatheringblatherskite]

The fact I went from the Wednesday fandom and being a huge defender of Tyler Galpin, to the Phantom of the Opera phandom and becoming a huge defender of Raoul de Chagny, probably means something, I think. My poor golden retriever boys :((

[00127am]

signed with love and forever yours, chenle

postage. zhong chenle & gn! reader, cursing, mentions of kissing, very brief mention of sex (only in name, no details) cost to ship. 625 words

i can't seem to get you out of my mind.

you stick to my skin like glue that i just cannot seem to wash off. it's annoying, really. having to exist in each and every moment with the preconceived fantasy of you playing in my head with every word and every breath and every movement (all dedicated to one more second spent with the vision of you in my head). i hate how much i think of you, nearly as much as i hate being away from you (though the latter proves to be much worse).

i haven't been able to stop thinking about you since before any kisses of ours. and before the first time we fucked (does the use of the word fucking ruin the letter for you? i can practically hear you nagging me to change it to "making love," or something equally as stupid). you've haunted my mind since i before felt your touch on my skin and before you flashed that strikingly pretty smile in my direction. i can't tell you when it began. when you made your permanent home in the forefront of my every waking moment. but i wouldn't be surprised if you were always there, from the moment we first met.

i know i say that i don't remember it. and i don't, not your version of our initial meeting. and maybe i avoid the topic to hold myself from the embarrassment of admitting that i've been aware of you for much longer than you've been aware of me. or perhaps because if we did talk about it, and you pried (like you always do) then i would be forced to admit that i've been utterly and incomprehensibly in love with you from the moment i first saw you. a memory which i revisit nearly as often as i fantasize about you.

it's not revisited enough. at least, not enough to burn off the remainder of your lingering presence in my mind. something i doubt i'll ever be able to truly remove, though i'm not sure i'd ever want too. but if i did, if i had to move on from you, i doubt that i would ever be able too. both a matter of lacking the courage and the simple fact that i'm afraid that i will not ever be able to love anyone as i have loved you. because you, in every essence of yourself, are love to me. more so than any textbook definition and scientific measurement.

i can't seem to get you out of my head. so do me a favor and come to me in person instead. please.

about chenle's love letters.

all of chenle's letters are never meant to see the light of day, much less your gaze. he writes them on whatever is in his reach in the moment, the spare napkin laying on his desk and the back of the cardboard box from his most recent purchase. his words are lovely and kind, filled with an adoration that he expresses to you in touch rather than prose, filing the letters away in the bottom drawer of his desk. they'll reach your eyes some day, just not now, not when he feels like his heart may burst at the mere thought of you.

he often writes his letters in an irritated daze, bottom lip caught between his teeth and eyes set, furrowed, upon the bridge of his nose. the grip of his pen is tight, ink pushing harsh into the paper. all of his letters are written with love, despite being tainted by the faint impression of vexation. an aggravation stemming from the fault of feeling too much. loving too much. something chenle finds easy to blame upon you for all intents and purposes.

your mailbox

taglist. @evilsailorsenshi @222brainrot thank you for supporting me! ♡

🧾 © 00127am 2024

[ottpopfic]

Prologue

[prev]

-

It's been two and a half weeks since Leo died last

Jason is positive he's not handling it well. He's never handled any of them well, but the fact that he heard Leo die this time makes it different

Every other death there had been no sign of the other, just Piper and whatever bullshit they have gotten themselves into. But the last time, standing at the exit of the Sphinx's maze listening to Leo get crushed to death just out of his sight line had been horrible . Piper had had to hold him back from running in after him

So Jason taking off right after he had his sob fest might have been an asshole move to Piper on his part, but he couldn't stay there. They are getting closer, he can feel it. The spacing of the deaths is getting shorter, and that little window where they are both alive at the same time allows them to get closer to each other each time. Jason can feel that they are in the last push, that it's any day now and he might actually see Leo

Can he handle that, he doesn't know. It doesn't matter anyway, he's still going to keep trying

Currently, Jason is trying to reverse tree the other man. Zuse has turned so many people into plants that Jason is pretty sure it can be done in reverse. He spent over a week in research and flying about, finding the original trees people have been turned into and taking cuttings. He's hoping that he can draw energy from them and have Leo detreed back to life somehow

He's made a home base at the Baucis and Philemon shrine to his father. The place is set in a lovely grove of Oak and Linden, with the two lovers' trees twinned together behind the temple. The temple is guarded by what feels like half a million Canadian Geese, and Jason once again hates that he speaks bird

Like there's nothing wrong with birds per se, but they are loud, and opinionated, and rude. And also most of what they talk about is food and fucking, at great length and volume, which is not the most fun to listen too

Jason is down in the wildflower patch under the temple, a big clearing made by a long-ago flood. He's carefully flatted down the Jewelweed and Forget-me-nots like that one documentary on crop circles he watched with Will forever ago, bending the plants but not breaking the stems, it's a holy site after all 

Around him are the cuttings of the people plants he's been arranging into piles. Hyathsenth, Fig, Apple, Myrtle, Olive, Fir, Weeping Myrrh, Cypress, Walnut, Laurel, Popular, and of course Oak and Linden

“Godling, that bad place for nest,” a goose says as it toddles up to Jason through the wildflowers “Gramcracker can show you water if you need. Gramcracker built good nest with Cheerio by water, hatch many eggs”

“It's not a nest,” Jason tells the waterfowl

“Look like nest” Gramcracker observes, tilting his head “Sticks in circle. Not good nest, need better structure, try layering sticks not in piles”

“It's not a nest,” Jason explains “I'm trying to bring someone back”

“Back from where?”

“The dead”

“That fool errand”

“I've done it before” Jason sighs “I just gotta try something new this time”

“Ah” the goose nods “Lucky mate then”

“He's not my mate”

“Don’t, understand “ Gramcracker questions “Why build nest if not for mate?”

“It's not about him being my mate,” he sighs again “He can go have a life with someone else if he wants to, I just want him by my side”

“As mate?”

“Yeah,” Jason looks over at the goose “But he doesn’t have to be if he doesn’t want to”

“Make no sense then,” Gramcracker questions “Why build nest not for mate, no do dance yet?”

“Yeah, we haven't done a dance yet,” Jason snorts out a chuckle “But I'm making this so maybe he can come back and we can do the dance”

“Nest first then dance smart move,” the goose complements, sitting down next to him and tucking his little bird legs away “Did same with Cheerio worked very well”

“Are you happy with your Cheerio?” Jason asks him

“Very much!” Gramcracker flufflels himself out in contentedness “She's good mate, we hatch many eggs”

The goose sits with Jason as he works, simply watching his apparently atrocious nest-building 

“Why this one as mate” Gramcracker eventually asks “Many other birds on lake, less crazy godling work”

“Because he's, everything at this point,” Jason says back “We have been doing this for so long, I don't think I can stop now”

“Sunk fowllacy” 

“It's not just that, it's that he does it back. We haven't known each other for so long , but every time I go he calls me back again. He doesn't have to, but he does. It makes me want to do the same in return”

“Because love him?”

“Yeah” Jason smiles to himself “Because I love him”

“how long since been with mate”

“Three years”

“Three years ” Gramcracker squawks “That too long”

“You don't get it, you're just a bird” Jason twirls the cutting of Apple in his fingers “I heard him the last time, in the maze as it collapsed. He was there ”

“Gramcracker may be just bird,” the waterfowl ruffles himself in discontent at his answer “But Gramcracker know how to be good mate. If mate is in there you go to them”

“This is me going to him,” Jason tells the bird “If my ‘nest’ works I'll be closer this time. This time maybe I can actually see him”

“All this just to see ?!“

“We get closer each time,” Jason says, looking down at an intertwined twig of Oak and Linden “And the deaths are getting sooner. If we keep at it we might make it”

Gramcracker gives a contemplative honk “Strange curse on your mate godling”

“Yeah” Jason checks his notes again “but we'll break it eventually, we have to”

“Here idea,” the goose tells him ”Gramcracker know where good berries are, good roots. When break curse, come to Gramcracker. You two hatch many eggs then”

“Thank you friend,” Jason says laying out the last of the twigs “I might take you up on that”

-

@queenjunothegreat

[captainnait]

Go ahead, infodump about Bob from Headrush. No one is stopping you

3:11 pm, 5/20/2024

You will not believe how big of a smile I got when I first saw this ask 😭😭 Like I'm genuinely so happy to talk about him, thank you,,,

Anyway, you don't need to ask me twice 💥

(Yeah, a lot of rambling under the cut, hehe)

— One of my favorite canon facts about Bob is that he REALLY hates emoticons. He mentions it two times: one time in a question, where he refuses to read out loud the category name, that is just an emoticon, and instead just calls it "that. . . thing" or smth, and the other time is in the "Don't be afraid to express your emoticons" Headrush category, where he just straight up tells players to be cautious of people who use emoticons 😭

Either he had a terrible experience with someone who used emoticons. . . Or his old man brain just doesn't understand them. Or both idk.

— I don't know if it's just an Andy Poland thing or not (it's probably is, but still—), but I just really like the way he can change up his voices so quickly. My man can literally go from "uwu im so silly" type of voice to LITERALLY the most brutal and manliest voice imaginable in just a span of a few seconds, and I think that's INCREDIBLE.

If we talk about Bob specifically though, I really like how silly his voice sounds at the end of the round, when he says "bye-bye" or other similar to that lines. It just makes me giggle, okay,,

— I don't remember the full context behind this image and the question it is from, but. Yeah. Huh.

[For some reason Tumblr just doesn't let me put this image in, but it just a screenshot of the game with red words written on the screen, saying "Bob has a "thing" for Barney"]

It's also pretty funny, since a few rounds later I got another Barney question ("Even Purple Dinosaurs Have to Die... Someday"), and Bob didn't sound really amused by it lol

— There are a lot of lines in the game, where Bob jokes/admits that he feels pretty lonely and/or isolated, which is very interesting, considering that he doesn't seem as a very introverted person or someone who doesn't go outside much.

I don't have any specific speculations on why he is like that, but I think (headcanon, I guess) that it's something that he grow up feeling like and, perhaps, still haven't grown out of it.

— In "None of the Smoke & All of the Cancer", Bob says that he finds smoking to be "sexy". It isn't very clear whether if he meant it as a joke or not, so. Eh.

— A lot of people said it way before me, but. . . This man has major dog vibes. Like, I can't pin down specific things that make me think like that. It's— It's just the overall vibe I get from him lol

— I'm pretty sure I've seen someone already make a post about it (I'm not sure though), buuuut it's pretty fascinating to me how little sexual interest Bob shows in women (compare to other hosts in the series, at least) and how little he cares for "mushy" stuff in general, valuing friendship/platonic bonds a lot more.

This probably could stem from what type of game Headrush is, since it's aimed for a younger audience - teens, who probably don't really care about love in that young age. But yeah, just an interesting thing to thinking about while in a shower.

— His relationship with Old Man is pretty weird, because he both shows extreme violence and, yet, somehow, some type of respect towards him? Like, there are moments were he shouts, yells and doesn't mind kicking Old Man for his annoying shenanigans, maybe even having a way easier time with it than other hosts. But then there are a few rare moments, where he actually doesn't mind Old Man at all and would even listen to his stories with a genuine interest.

Of course it's not something completely new to the series, but it is also makes me fairly curious, since I feel like this is the game where we get to see a lot of Old Man's personality and how he influences those around him (in the case of this game (99% of it) - Bob lol)

. . . That's it, ig. For now, i feel satisfied)

I also would really like ranting about Milan and his weirdly homoerotic relationship with Bob, buuut I need to get all the TTwM clips first, so. Yeah. That'll have to wait 💥

[mdhwrites]

I wonder, did characters such as Gus and Willow even ever have a chance at being interesting? I feel not. They're bland and inconsistently written, especially Willow. Every time the show tries to give Willow the spot light they have to pull something new outta nowhere cuz otherwise she really doesn't have anything going on. The biggest example of this is the whole "good ol reliable Willow" thing from FTF.

So technically all characters have the chance to be interesting. Some can even be interesting with only a single appearance, like the twins or Viney. It's actually pretty normal for one off characters to leave an impression because they get introduced with a lot of personality, are the driving force of an episode because they do a lot and then they leave so they can't contradict each other. Heck, the twins' appearances after Adventure in the Elements never have quite the same amount of charm because after that, their teasing/prankster attitudes just kind of entirely vanish which is a problem for one off characters. They aren't built for long term success because they're not meant to be around for very long.

But Willow and Gus weren't one offs and they weren't introduced like they were... But they're treated like they are. Gus is actually treated less like a one off than Willow but they both suffer from requiring retcons to be relevant. Gus' first episode doesn't do this but then illusion magic is retconned into being pathetic and for Labyrinth Runners, they go against one of his few character traits, his confidence, to give him general anxiety but without any signs that he needs to calm himself or has issues under pressure before now.

And then there's Willow who... I mean, do I even have to state it? Literally all of 'her' episodes are actually about someone else. Either it's about Amity or it's about Hunter until FTF happens and she's finally put in the spotlight and everyone just has to go, "Wait, who is she again?" And so they reference old, long forgotten notes and tack on something that frankly doesn't actually fit what she's done in the show so far because she's spent too little time with others and too much of it actually being one of the most aggressive characters in the group on most matters.

A lot of this stems from the fact that they both A: just lack much of a real personality when they're introduced. Amity is the one who steals the show while Willow is introduced as a shy girl and Gus is introduced as comic relief. The latter is a state of being for most characters that struggles to have a character beyond his jokes which is why Gus and King both feel out of character during their episodes because they often have to abandon how they normally act so they can actually do stuff while B: the writers very clearly hated what they had to work with. I'm pretty sure someone on the writing team DESPISES the shy girl archtype and so Willow wasn't allowed to be that but they didn't have a replacement for that characterization so she just... is there. Eventually, everyone will become like Willow where whether or not they do or say something is entirely plot dependent, like Amity in S3, because there's no actual personality, character or personal drive within them. It's a couple quirks, like Hunter liking wolves or sci-fi, that technically let you know this is a different character but they don't behave by their own personal traits. It's just to fulfil the concept on display, including for Gus when he forgets he's Willow's best friend so Hunter can have a Huntlow moment by seeing through an illusion.

And you can have funny characters or capable characters who are real characters. Sokka is the funny man of the group but we still understand that his own pride and his own thoughts on what a warrior is are core to his character. A lot of his comedy derives from misplaced confidence, false ideas of granduer and trying to be MAN! which lands him flat on his face but is still rooted in a complex and intriguing character. Meanwhile, a capable character can have reasons to be as solid and mature as they are and how they handle that maturity and the strain it puts on them can all be interesting angles to take but you have to be willing to discuss why they're so mature. As a kid, I was always called mature for my age and that's because I overthought everything and turned my nose at normal kid things but it also left me feeling REALLY isolated and lonely which made me double down on the fact that I must be special until college smashed into the ground.

But you have to see them as a character and TOH never feels like it does. They were a vehicle to get Luz into the school and then to help her get close to Amity. Once that's done, they're there for Hunter and nothing else. The OG friends will never properly interact again in the ENTIRE series with Luz. Buuuuut abandoning principal supporting cast who helped cause like... a third of your S1 episodes because King and Eda won't do fuck all with Luz is kind of not usually something a good show does so the show keeps making shallow excuses for them to show up but with increasingly diminishing returns, especially as you wonder what the point is. After all, a better dynamic between Luz and Hunter might have been able to tackle Hunter's morality during his change to becoming good but instead the focus is put on Huntlow and shipping as he establishes relationships, including friendship with Gus, with two characters who haven't mattered since S1 and he's still only spent two episodes of the season with Luz, who theoretically was his main catalyst for change since she's the one who starts it and is also the one who ends it in Hollow Mind.

But this adventure comedy, not a romance, really did choose romance over anything else it could spend its time on, didn't it? So with those misplaced priorities, why should we be surprised that the characters only there for ships, or facilitating ships getting together, should end up so shallow?

============

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[itsclydebitches]

With all the discussion of CRWBY/RT's apparent obsession with heroic sacrifices in RWBY as of late (and how poorly framed/managed they are), a part of me can't help but wonder if they're trying to chase the high of Epsilon/Church's sacrifice at the end of Red VS Blue Season 13. (Here's the scene in question for context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5jM_mrOqec) Which I will admit, I found to be a pretty good scene as a sendoff to the character and at the time thought it was a nice way to end the show. Though RT ended up souring it by continuing on with season 15.

Thank you for the clip! I obviously have no idea what RT's motivations might be regarding the prevalence of these sacrifices - is it "chasing the high" or is RvB just early evidence of a writing trend? - but regardless, I like this a whole lot more than what RWBY's been giving us. I think this has a nice balance between the somber, emotional soundtrack and the funny one-liners that sound like they're core summaries of many character's personalities (unlike Weiss who suddenly becomes the comic relief). I like that Church (if I'm right about how is speaking there) doesn't actually end with "...I hate you all the least!" but has his actual goodbye speech once he's privately recording. I'm missing a ton of the nuances of his argument, but I like that it at least comes across as thought out: he's reassuring the AI voice that he's sure about this, he lays out how the sacrifice will hopefully help the others survive, he acknowledges that he's only here in the first place because of them, and there's some element of being "held back" that this sacrifice would do away with. Finally, I LOVE the self-referential acknowledgement that heroes don't get to see if their sacrifice was worth it (which is one of the problems with having Penny die and then chat with Winter, or Ruby drinking the tea and then waking up fine in the tree: suicide presented as just a journey where you don't really lose your connection to life), ending with the blank screen. We don't get to know if they win either! We are emotionally connected to Church in this moment, experiencing the story through him, and like him we don't get the reassurance of knowing whether the others survived! (Well, until you hit Season 14, apparently lol). You've just gotta have faith that the sacrifice meant something - "aint that a bitch."

And all this, I want to stress, is coming from someone who has NEVER watched more than like two episodes of RvB,which I've now totally forgotten. This scene is the entirety of my context... and I enjoyed it. Which I bring up largely because of the Moistcritikal drama. Personally, I take issue with the idea that someone's negative opinion of a clip is unreliable because they haven't seen the rest of the show. Does that mean then that my enjoyment is unreliable too? Most RWBY fans wouldn't say so because, after all, why would you get mad about others agreeing with you? They're only up in arms because he was critical of the show, rather than praising it, despite both situations stemming from the same ignorance. To say nothing of the fact that criticism is dismissed even when fans (like me) do keep up with the canon, a ton of the side material, are immersed in fandom, and are present for every major development. Doing everything "right," apparently, still doesn't earn you any trust in your opinion, so... why was all that necessary again?

I do believe that context (for obvious reasons) can severely skew an opinion one way or another. For example, I recently saw a new Magnus Archives listener saying that although they were loving the podcast, it really took them out of it to try and believe that all these people just happened to write down perfectly composed, poetic narratives about their experiences. I so wanted to say that there was a reason for this. That, eventually, the podcast would reveal a canonical explanation for how this occurs, taking what's originally a huge aspect of suspension of disbelief - arguably to the point of annoyance - and reframing it as a major worldbuilding detail that enhances the enjoyment instead of detracting from it. So there are obviously cases like that, just like I might enjoy the RvB scene more or less depending on my experience with the rest of the show... but that doesn't mean my enjoyment now is wrong? Nor is Moistcritikal's lack of enjoyment wrong. I find the 'Oh, you just don't understand and you're willingness to speak on the topic without every scrap of information is insulting' to be, itself, a pretty insulting response. This desire to invalidate someone's honest opinion of what they've been given is an issue on its own, but beyond that, a good show should be able to read well even without the rest of the context. Hasn't anyone ever analyzed a clip of a show in school that they enjoyed? Gotten excited over an ambiguous moment in a trailer? Decided to watch something based on just a video/GIF-set here on tumblr with no other info? Good media is good even when you don't fully know what's going on and bad media will read badly without the distraction of already being emotionally connected to the show. Toss in the fact that people can pick up a fair bit of context from the scenes themselves and that Moistcritikal had fans in the chat explaining the situation. People can still look at a clip and think the dialogue is badly written, or the acting shoddy, or the animation poor, or the whole conflict - once explanations are given - to be pretty badly conveyed. None of this takes an intimate knowledge of nine Volumes to develop an opinion on. Moistcritikal might miss character dynamic details like Yang standing in front of a passive Blake to 'protect' her from her little sister, but he can still respond to the general gist of the situation and the ways in which it was executed.

[larissel]

Not liking Lae'zel becasue she isn't a typical human companion is so.. boring? Like Mass Effect has amazing romances and companions that are alien. Tali, Garrus?

So dumb, I've also seen some people that hate Shadowheart and think Lae'zel is too good for her etc. Too old, different wants blah blah. Weird

Don't get how you can love one but hate the other? I'm still not sure what my BG3 ships are, might end up writing my self but at least you Shadowzel fans actually understand Lae'zel and Shadowheart's characters?

So many bad takes on them both. Bitchy and mean at the start etc.

They are probably my favorite companions in BG3. I adore them

Nah. People don't hate her because she's a non-human companion, look at characters like Karlach who a lot of love within the community, but the hate for Lae'zel stems from the fact that she's straightforward with what she wants and tells it like it is, how she doesn't exactly bow down to your character like most rpg games would do, and she's not a conventionally attractive character. But yeah, Shadowheart does get hate for being a "bitch". And Karlach gets pretty mistreated in the fandom because some people sees her as the "stupid" one.

[rael-rider]

What are your favorite jojo characters, as well as Joestars and villains? Also favorite part?

Ooooh a JJBA question

Hard to say who is my favorite Joestar because it changes. When I started seriously getting into JJBA it was Joseph, then it was Johnny (he was a bastard but his story hit me hard), right now it's Jolyne (so much I dished out money to get the Stone Ocean Tuk Ang shop embroidered hoodie that's only sold in Japan). I love her resilience, her will, character development, relationships, her willingness to sacrifice herself for her loved ones, and to me she's the Joestar I vibe with the most. Her story is sad and her ending is so bittersweet. She

I've also been reading a lot of Gothic Horror and I've found myself analyzing the hell out of Phantom Blood so I've been having so much love for Jonathan (whom I also started appreciating more after reading the PB manga and he's pretty underrated IMO), and find myself wishing there was a Phantom Blood remake that had the same care to it placed that the latter JJBA parts were given.

Josuke, Giorno, Jotaro, and Gappy are OK too but I haven't felt that strongly for them as I have with Jolyne, Joseph, Johnny, and Jonathan. I also think Jotaro makes a better supporting/mentor character than MC or maybe I'm saying this because I loved both part 4 and Part 6 adult Jotaros more than I did the teenage MC cool Jotaro with a chip on his shoulder.

Also there's going to be a PB musical so there's that to look forward to.

As for villains, it's Dio. He might not be the deepest or most relatable character, but to me he's the most fun and entertaining, and as much as I like heroic characters to be more human, I do love when villains are straight up unhinged fun assholes. That said I am not a Dio apologist and I think he's irredeemable but I love him that way. The only stuff he didn't deserve is the abuse he got when he was a kid, specifically the abuse he got from his shit father (I totally get why he poisoned and murdered him too). But everything that happened to him as a result of him being a dick, he got what was coming to him.

I'm also a sucker for vampires and Dio is fun to draw

(but also frustrating because I can never get his hair right in a satisfying way, I don't know if I'll redo it here).

His relationship with Jonathan is also the most interesting protag and villain relationship in the whole series and I guess because of how personal it is. Yeah it's toxic AF relationship built on hate due to Dio being the worst person. Yet they also had a soft spot for each other because of those seven years that they spent together (and it's more evident in the manga when you piece some scenes together) and I think it's so tragic how it ends. Mostly because Jonathan didn't deserve his fate (and then you see Johnny's fate, it's even more messed up but that requires it's own discussion) and what happens after his death is horrifying.

Other than Dio I liked Pucci and his whole journey in Stone Ocean. How the whole thing that went down with Perla and Weather affected him and the fact that Pucci, in contrast to Dio, is a very righteous person who thinks his path is the correct one and ultimately thinks he's helping everyone in the long run. All because of his own personal trauma. His relationship with Dio is also interesting because of how different they are and I also wish we could've seen it from Dio's POV (because I really think Dio was sincere about their friendship as much as he could be with anyone but Dio is also pretty self-serving and seductive and he needed a friend in order for his Heaven Plan to work so I can't help but think there was some grooming on Dio's part), the power dynamics in the relationship certainly weren't equal that's for sure.

I also think Pucci's Heaven Plan ended up being entirely his own thing rather than what Dio wanted. But that's just me. Pucci wanted people to know their fate so they could make peace with it and that stems from his trauma with Perla. I think Dio more than anything wanted to control fate so it would be in his favor.

Man I really loved Stone Ocean, It might be my favorite part with Steel Ball Run a close second (because I love Johnny, Gyro, Hot Pants, and Diego).

I am also keeping up with Part 9, it's interesting so far.

[crehador]

parting thoughts on bokura no ameiro protocol

honestly a bit of esports yuri could have saved this

i've been pretty hard on this one all season, maybe unfairly so, but it's just frustrating because there was so much potential here and i've been waiting for an esports anime for like. forever

first off, the esports parts? actually not bad! i quite enjoyed them right up until the final moment (the standoff between shun and mutsuki where they were just shooting at each other point blank. without dodging. and missing every shot. lmao. laughable and not in a good way)

but overall the esports parts were a hit for me, and i wish they'd focused on that more. because everything else was just... ridiculous, and not in a good way

which is a shame because it almost could have been good. if there'd been just a sprinkle of esports yuri on there

because here's the thing, right

you have shun, the mc. exceedingly average gamer guy who happens to be very good at xaxerion (the game the esports team will play)

then you've got his little sister mio, who hasn't been able to walk since an accident for which shun feels responsible. she's an unsettling little creep for most of the series (and i actually think she's well written! more on that later) with the goal of emotionally manipulating shun into taking care of her forever

then you've got yuu, a literal famous actress, who joins the esports team with a secret identity and oh yeah of course has a crush on shun

then there's nozomi, an oneesan type childhood friend of shun's who takes care of him like a mother and later of course realizes she has a crush on him

THEN A WEIRD GUY APPEAR rival player mutsuki is also, you guessed it, obsessed with shun. to the point of saying something like he thinks they'll have a relationship even deeper than romantic, as rivals

it's honestly too much, and i sincerely feel like it would have been amazing with just one change—if yuu's crush had just been on nozomi instead. she has these feelings because she played with them (shun and nozomi) when she was younger, though they don't know that. nothing would have even really changed? if she'd just had feelings for nozomi instead. in fact, it would've added another layer of depth to her struggle of hiding her esports life (her true passion/desire) while maintaining a public face (her acting career)

but with all these people completely obsessed with shun, the most Just Some Guy guy of all time, it just... becomes absurd

they also pulled back, weirdly, from the incest vibes? which were very blatantly there, like mio was sneaking into shun's bed to sleep with him and smelling his unwashed shirt. which all basically just went unaddressed. kind of a shame because her trauma is clearly the fuel for these actions, and that could have been fascinating to actually address and work on, but... nope

like if mio and mutsuki were set up to be the unsettling ones, let them be even more unsettling! pit them against each other. it would not have been remotely out of character if they'd tried to kill each other, and that would've surely fulfilled whatever melodrama quota this show was trying to satisfy

nozomi and yuu could have been so fucking cute and compelling together too. funny, even! have nozomi misunderstand, both yuu's feelings and her own. maybe she thinks yuu likes shun, and feels weird about that, mistaking her own feelings for jealousy stemming on a crush on shun (when in reality she's just bummed about the thought of growing distant from a childhood friend)

anyway. i usually hate being like "BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN THIS INSTEAD" because, well, it wasn't. it was what the writers wanted it to be. good for them. it sucked ass

eta: ALTHOUGH I'M GLAD YUU GETS TO KEEP PLAYING THE RESOLUTION TO THAT WAS NOT SATISFYING AT ALL!! her manager gets to be relentlessly negative about her passion for esports, belittling her, trying to corner her into quitting by manipulating her work schedule, not taking her seriously in the slightest, and in the end... she just gets to profit by getting the team as new clients? love a woman in a suit but fuck that, fire her

[lovelyhearts-things]

Get to know me!

My name is Ubby Heart Ravana Maggay, but I prefer to be called Heart, and I'm 16 years old, turning 17 next year on February 27. I was raised by my loving grandparents. I graduated from John Wesley College, where I met my barkada. I am currently studying at Saint Paul University of the Philippines. I love playing badminton and watching volleyball games. I have been playing badminton since grade school. Besides playing badminton, I also enjoy spending time with my cat, Sachi, and my little brother, Markus. Yes, I am a cat lover. They are beautiful, purring, intelligent pets that love and entertain us every day. And since I am the eldest in my family, I have to take care of my younger siblings whenever my mom and dad go out to work. My father works as an engineer at the Department of Agriculture, while my beautiful mother is a teacher. They both work hard for us siblings; they're also my inspiration and motivation to study hard and to not give up on my dream. My favorite color is purple or any pastel light colors. I love to eat takoyaki, fries, minatamis na saging at kamote, chicken curry, kaldereta, carbonara and spicy foods. A fun fact about me is that I can understand kampampangan and speak a little bit. I love cooking and eating. My hobbies are watching anime and reading comics. I'm also a big fan of J-pop and K-pop. I’m actually single and not ready to mingle because I’m afraid to commit and have trust issues. I’m pretty soft-spoken and my introverted parts of my personalities often get stereotypes as being cold and having guard up around myself. Yet I don’t have any guards up. This is just who I am. I’m extremely private individuals who prefer to only become involved in relationships that are meaningful and genuine. I would rather spend time alone than waste that time on someone who isn’t willing to give a sincere connection. I tend to hide to hide my true opinion, try acting like everything is ok. I am calm but energetic. I try to look and act cool but I’m actually really caring. I'm the kind of girl who is quiet in large groups or around people I don't know; you only see the real me if we're close. I smile and laugh a lot, especially at the most inappropriate times. I'm a hopeless romantic. I trip over air, upstairs, and over people's feet. I am the hardest person to offend, but it is all too easy to make me feel horrible. I hate telling people about my problems; they don't need to worry about me. I'm the one who listens to other people's problems. I believe people should not be judged before one takes the time to get to know them, yet I am guilty of doing the exact thing. I love to think rather than talk. I'm awkward, clumsy, shy, strange... but this is me. Take it or leave it.

After 10 years I see myself with some good qualifications, working in the hospital, my own hospital, spending time with my family, friends and doing something for my society and mother nature. 10 years from now, I’m going to be a rich auntie. Spoiling my parents and nieces. Yes, it’s vital to where I am leading to, even though I’m having a hard time adjusting and understanding my lessons I know for sure It’s going to be worth it and I’m going to make it.

STEM is the best choice this is for the reason that when you’re engaged in STEM subjects, students can develop and strengthen their cognitive skills and learn the basics of coding and engineering in primary schools. It is  is a highly technical track that equips students with the skills necessary for pursuing further studies and professions in medicine, engineering, economics, and more.

My choices are BS Biology or MedTech, also the reason why I choose STEM, because I want to attain my goal to be a professional license doctor in the future. Why I like to become a doctor is, it is a noble profession. It is my childhood dream. I can always associate with patients and treat them. Of course, to become a doctor I have to study hard and get good results.

[rosyvvoods]

What’s the most intricate headcanon you have for any character? (If it’s not someone in COD, feel free to answer this on another blog)

OOF this ask really made me sit back and go "what media do I even consume. What headcanons do I even have" HDJDHDJD in a good way of course!! I have a few for CoD and I wanna think of some for other fandoms, so I may reblog this to my main with an addition later on!! idk if it's really my MOST intricate and a lot of it is based in canon (sort of) BUT. I have some thoughts [:

Park and Adler first met because they were both brought on board the MK Ultra program because of their particular skillsets. Park of course was a guest from MI6- this part is mostly canon, as these are right from the wiki:

Despite the program officially being "shut down" in the early 70s, I'm entirely certain that the program was continued in utmost secrecy. So much so that only a handful of people knew about it, such as Agent Black, the man Hudson reports to throughout the Cold War campaign- I believe Hudson knew of the program but had to be briefed on its continuation when Adler and Park brought Bell onto the team.

And, as of the campaign, still only a handful know of what Bell has gone through and the truth of the MK Ultra program. Those are as follows: Adler, Park, Sims, Lazar, Hudson, Black, and ultimately- President fuckin Reagan himself.

That stems from the scene where he enters and addresses Adler, Hudson, Woods, and Mason about finding Perseus; he talks about "who do you think signed off on your last mission", and while it can be interpreted as being about the mission Adler, Mason, and Woods went on to hunt down Arash, Reagan makes a pointed look at Adler specifically when he finishes the statement- and sure, public speaking skills general dictate speaking to everyone in the room in that manner, Reagan is shady as fuck, as is what Adler and Park are doing with MK Ultra.

I also believe the president's statement was INTENDED to be interpreted only in the first way by the two people on the team who I'm SURE have no clue about what Bell has been through- Frank Woods and Alex Mason. ( @leevhs and I have talked about this a lot) Between how they treat Bell with generally a more lighthearted air than the closed off and at arm's length ways everyone else seems to, AND the fact that I am CERTAIN, with what Mason has been through, I think he and Woods would both be pretty livid about the whole ordeal. Mason's hands aren't clean for sure, but I don't think he'd wish the hell of brainwashing on anyone, even his perceived enemies. Especially since they essentially scraped out Bell's previous existence and puzzle-pieced it back together the way they wanted it. Mason would be sympathetic if not empathetic upon learning that Bell's been through that, whether Bell was in Perseus's close circle or not.

And thus, to protect the mission, they were kept out of it. And they probably don't know what happened to Bell after the truth ending- I also don't think they understand the full weight of Bell's betrayal in the lie and ambush endings either, just that Bell betrayed them flat out.

Just as an add-on to the above statement- Hudson is so uneasy about Bell not only because Bell is a potentially dangerous wild card placed in the center of a team of people he at least somewhat cares about, but also because he was the main advocate for Mason to LIVE past his brainwashing. Looking through emails and correspondence, a lot of the people around Mason thought he was a goner and completely out of his mind and either wanted to put a bullet in his head or let him do it himself (this includes, I believe, the higher ups within the govt that they report to). Hudson however was there to get Mason back on his feet, back to himself, and the two relied on one another for that sort of support. Therefore Hudson HATED the idea of Bell through and through. The danger, the potential for people he trusted to get fucked over, and the fact that he was endorsing exactly what Reznov did to Mason, if not worse.

Sorry that took me all day, I had to piece it together between customers and other things I was working on, but thank you so much for the question!!!

[pigeonp0st]

Since I loved your one shot about Lena, I'm requesting another one! Reader is a single mom and is afraid to tell Lena about her child cause she thinks Lena isn't going to take it well, but in the end Lena loves her child.

Lena Luthor x Reader #2

Words: 1,590

Warnings: none?

Notes:

Thank you for requesting! If you’d like me to change the name of the kid (or the gender) feel free to say so. Also...sorry if you were expecting more of Lena. I realized at the end that there might not have been enough (Sorry for spelling mistakes too).

———

Miles, your eight year old son, has started to pretend he’s a psychologist. He’ll sit you down, with your head in his small lap (which isn’t very ethical), and ask you about your life problems.

Usually, you’ll make up funny nonsense that he’ll struggle to find the solution to...but today a very real problem has arrived, and you know you shouldn’t be trying to confide in your little boy about this, yet you decide to anyway.

He knows about you and Lena, though Lena doesn’t know about him. He saw her on TV once, was awestruck by her “smartness”, and you let slip that she’s the woman you’ve been dating.

Dating used as a loose term, because you and Lena haven’t actually become anything official. It’s...weird. Made even more so by the fact that she doesn’t know about the most important person in your life.

You tell Miles as much in today’s session. He beams down at you, happy that you’re finally starting to take his sessions seriously, and then taps his finger against his lip, thinking. “You should just tell her,” he finally concludes after a long pause.

You narrow your eyes up at him suspiciously, and wonder if you should just pretend to take his advice and move on. You don’t. “People usually don’t want to get involved with single moms.”

His eyes furrow at that, clearly upset, so you rush on. “If someone doesn’t want to be involved with you, none of me longs to be involved with them,” then, you pause, “I just want to want to be involved with Lena.”

“So this stems from past trauma?” Miles asks, and you gape at him, shocked.

“Where the f—when did you learn any of those words, honey?”

He grins at you again, clearly proud of himself, and then schools his face into an attempt of looking professional. It’s humorous. “Psy- Psych—”

“Psychology.”

“Yes, that. It says that our fears usually come for childhood trauma.”

“I’m not scared,” but even as you say that you know it’s not true. You make a mental note to watch over whatever the hell Miles is listening to, to make sure it’s age appropriate. “Even if I am, it’s definitely not from childhood trauma.”

“From relationship trauma then?”

You let out a shocked laugh, completely stumped. “Baby, your eight. If you keep saying smart things you’re going to start scaring me.”

“Let's talk about your fears,” He suggests. Clearly wanting to move on he gestures for you to sit up. Once you do, he hops up from the couch, grabs his clipboard from the coffee table, and starts scribbling down things you aren’t able to see.

“Okay,” you hesitantly agree. “I’m scared Lena will want nothing to do with me.”

“Why is that something you're scared of?”

You give him a confused look that he pays no attention to. “Obviously I like her...I also fear that you won’t.”

He nods, finally looking up from his clipboard. “And what happens if I hate her, and she hates me, so she leaves and you never speak to her again?”

You choke on absolutely nothing.

“What will you do then?” Miles asks, and you have no response for him. He doesn’t seem to want one. “You’ll deal with it, like you always have. So stop worrying until it comes. If it comes.”

You’re equal parts extremely proud of him, and extremely concerned as you think over what he’s said.

Then, as if he’s tired of being the smartest eight year old alive, he hands you the paper he was working on for half of your ‘session’. The paper is full of sharp lines that get more curvy and tangled the closer they get to what appears to be the middle.

“This,” he says, “is how you’re feeling.”

And you believe him.

———

It takes you a week to build up the courage to tell Lena about Miles. He surprisingly helped you come to the realization that holding off on telling Lena the truth won’t change the outcome.

In fact...it would probably make things more complicated. Even now, she deserved to know sooner than this.

It’s too late, of course. There’s no point in wishing you had done differently.

“Are you okay?” Lena asks through the phone, sounding so beautifully concerned over the fact that you haven’t spoken for awhile. God, you're whipped for this world-saving genius.

“Yeah,” you say, “just...you know how I said I had something to talk to you about?” You don’t wait for her to confirm, because of course she remembers, she’s looked scared because of it all day. “I sort of have to show you...so would you mind coming over?”

Yes, you’re a coward that’s hoping Lena seeing Miles for herself, instead of you telling her about him, will make her more accepting. Miles has a very convincing charm.

“You want me to go to your place?” Lena sputters, clearly shocked.

In an instant you regret the decision you were so sure about before. Maybe Lena isn’t ready. You should tell her before she comes, so she isn’t shocked out of her mind when she sees him.

You should—

“Okay,” Lena says, determined. You hadn’t even responded to her before. “I’ll be there soon.” And then she hangs up the phone before you manage to say anything, leaving you wondering what the fuck you’re doing.

You could call her back.

...you’re not going to. You’re too scared.

——

Miles waits by the door, dressed in his best suit. He knows how anxious you are about this, despite how hard you’ve been trying to hide it since your weird ‘session’, so he says he’s going to try and be the best him he can be.

You tell him that all he needs to be is his normal self and everything will be alright, but he admits to being nervous to meet Lena too, because she’s super smart. (He’s been watching anything he can find of her on the internet)

Thus, the two of you wait together impatiently, trying not to descend into madness.

——

At some point Miles starts making and handing you scribbles of how you feel, and you start making and handing them back.

It’s while you’re handing Miles your next piece that the doorbell rings.

He doesn’t look to be that nervous anymore, just excited, so he follows you on your track to answer the door, and with each step you contemplate your entire existence beyond Miles.

Then…Then you open the door.

Miles is hiding behind your leg, looking up at Lena with hesitant hopefulness and uncertainty, it’s the exact match of the way you’re looking at her, and Lena is looking at him with wide eyes.

Because you’re sure you’re about to die from the silence, you croak out a wobbly and quiet; “hi,” at the same time Mile’s sticks out his hands and says his own charming greeting.

“Hello, doctor Y/L/N here. Nice to meet you.”

“Lena Luthor.” As if on autopilot Lena shakes his hand. “You’re a doctor?” She asks, smiling the smallest of smiles at him.

He nods his head eagerly, glad she’s smiling. “Yeah! Of—of psy- psych...”

“Psychology,” You finish. Lena’s gaze switches to you. It’s the moment you think you’re gonna die, but her gaze is concerned instead of disappointed.

“He’s older than the photo on your wallpaper suggested,” Lena says.

Oh.

Oh…

You’re an idiot.

Then, Lena smiles—wider this time because of your dumbstruck expression—and looks at Miles. “To be a doctor you have to be pretty smart.”

He nods, his eyes practically full of stars.

“That’s how I know you and I are going to get along great.”

Miles grins madly, pushes you a bit to the side so Lena can come in, and says, eager, “can I show you my work, please?”

And Lena looks from you, to him, laughs a laugh full of amusement and endearment, and agrees gracefully. “I’d love it if you would.”

———

Lena adores Miles.

Around him she almost seems, impossibly, like a child herself. She so obviously and beautifully wants him to like her, and all the while Miles is almost exactly the same around her.

They’re both complete dorks trying to subtly get each other's attention and all you want to do is watch the two of them interact for ages.

They both were two separate parts of your life, and now they’re merged better than you ever expected them to.

It’s great. Absolutely great. But whenever they turn their twin gazes on you you’re sure you’re going to melt into a puddle of adoration.

Wow.

“What is it?” You ask them, after they’ve both looked at you for too long without saying anything.

Lena tilts her head, her smile concerned again, “you look like you’re about to cry.”

Miles nods his agreement. “What’s wrong mom? Does whatever bothering you stem from childhood trauma?” He asks, and at Lena’s ‘the fuck’ face you burst out into a fit of laughter, that quickly turns into tears of absolute love.

Both Miles and Lena looked at you with alarm because they don’t realize this is the happiest you’ve been in a while. It is though. It is.

“Not childhood trauma,” you assure them both, and before Miles can suggest it you add; “not past relationship trauma either, it’s happy tears.”

“Oh,” Lena stutters, “good.”

“Oh,” Miles repeats, sounding relieved and a tad bit disappointed. “I haven’t learned how to deal with those tears yet.”

[xplrvibes]

thank you for your genuine answer! i’ve been finding hard to communicate with the fandom because people are either hating the situation or eating it up so it’s always both opposite extremes. a lot of people say stas is hated but from what i’ve seen, especially on twitter and instagram, she’s actually more loved than kat? she gets drowned in compliments, people worship her, they kiss her ass and hype her up for the most mediocre or mundane things (and i don’t mean that as hate) ever, some even call her “bestie” and have constant interactions with her. you did bring up shea being in group chats (i only recently found out about that while getting in the tea loop but didn’t pay a lot of attention to that particular fact) and it now is making me wonder, giving the similarities and another fact i just found out (stas willingly sharing personal information abt the group, such as their location), if stas isn’t on group chats as well, but ones that are more lowkey and with people that kiss her ass? it could make sense, but i digress.

i’m just finding this weird overall, like it started out of nowhere and now both of them are making this bigger and bigger and bigger by only posting each other and so on? like doesn’t that feel… weird to you, in a way? their posts have always been more “group” focused, group pictures, etc and now all of a sudden we’re being slammed left and right with those two only?

Of course!

There are a lot of extreme reactions to this whole situation, and let's be honest- it's all down to Colby. Stas is involved with Colby in a way that is supposedly "open to interpretation." That's a hair trigger for a good chunk of the fandom, lol.

Stas does get some pretty polarizing things said about her a result- I've seen some brutal hate, thanks to her association with Colby, and I've seen some idolization that they could build churches around. Some of that love stems from the fans that just really, really, really want to see Colby in a wedding tux lol, but some of it does stem from how she treats the fans themselves. She engages with them quite a bit, encourages them...and I said it the other day, but that's a BIG thing with the social media stans. They are looking for someone to see them, and for someone who they can connect to. They're almost looking for a supportive older sibling type, and they're finding it in the most random of social media types- Stas included.

I know she is indirectly the reason that some of their whereabouts have been leaked, which is not cool and is something that snc should definitely deal with at some point. I don't know if she is active in any gc's, but I wouldn't be surprised. I'm hoping she isn't pulling a Shea and giving out private information that isn't hers to give out- and honestly, I don't think she is, because that information would've been leaked by now (if there is one thing I've learned about fandoms over the years, its that nobody can keep a secret lmao)....but who knows, at this point.

As far as her and Colby posting a lot of content of the two of them...eh. They do spend 90% of their days hanging out with Kat and Sam, who are an actual couple who have been together for like 300 years now. They're bound to be spending a lot more time paired off together as a result of that. 🤷‍♀️

I do think they know people enjoy Stas and Colby content, that it gets people talking, and so they aren't shy about posting content of the two of them together anymore, for that reason. That would be totally fine, except when they step over the line, throw gasoline on a fire on purpose, get everyone all in a tizzy, and then skidaddle. That's where they lose me in this whole thing.

Amber and Colby, imo, have perfected the whole "posting content that playfully encourages the shipping while simultaneously making sure everyone knows its all in good fun and not to be taken seriously or used to start fandom wars or get everyone all riled up" thing. That's the kind of pot stirring I can appreciate.

[littlx-songbxrd]

Chain of Iron:Death theory

As the awaited release date for Chain of Iron approaches and the fandom decends into pure madness, I want to put in my last two cents of overthinking before I stop having coherent thoughts

So we all know this is a second book, and second books bring the absolute pain in the shadowhunter chronicles. There is likely going to be a death from the mains considering the theme of this book, and I am here to throw my theory and reasons as to who I think it might be. Im here to sadly theorize about why I think Christopher Lightwood might not make it past the last hours

1. Tatianas revenge

Right now, Tatiana wants revenge after all our main families: the carstairs, herondales, fairchilds and both branches of the lightwoods. For the lightwood-collins theres barbaras death. For the herondales her daughter has been manipulating their son for over 6 years. Theres a theory that the fairy poison Mathew bought that caused Charlottes misscarriage could be traced back to her. And there are other theories that Elias dissaperance between chog and choi could have something to do with Belial. As of right now the only family who is yet to recieve any permanent damage or tragedy are the lightwood-herondales. Which is really ironic considering its the only family that has two bloodlines Tatiana wants to harm. Not only that, but theyre also the children of who Tatiana blames directly for her fathers death, Gabriel. It seems fishy to me there hasn't been any permanent damage in their family, and I dont think that is gonna last for long

2. The family tree

The family tree states that Grace Cartwright (Aka Grace Blackthorn) marries Christopher Lightwood and theyre the ones who continue the line that leads to Alec and Isabelle. Now Cassandra has said varius times the family tree can be misleading, and I am a firm believer this is one of the misleading ends. Why this lie was created, I'm not sure, but lets analize some things. As of right now there are 5 lightwood children. At least 3 of them can pass down the lightwood name. Of those three, if we take into account that Thomas may not have kids due to being gay, that still leaves two branches of lightwood kids that may continue on. As of present time we only have word of one line, Alec and Isabelles. And Robert isnt said to have any cousins, theres no mention in the future of another lightwood line. So the idea that both Alexander and Christopher have kids is pretty unbelivable considering theres only one lightwood line in the future. Unless Alexander goes on to have only girls and Christopher has only one boy, it seems more likely the family tree is wrong. Isabelle and Alec are confirmed as of the bane chronicles to be decendants of Gabriel lightwood (Isabelle makes a reference to looking up her great great grandfather Gabriel Lightwood and telling magnus he was hot in the last story of the book)

So its already confirmed they're a) the last decendants of the lightwood line and b) that line stems from Gabriel. If we based ourselves solely on the family tree and Christopher being the one carrying the line, that would have been believable enough not to raise any red flags. Christopher IS the son of Grabriel Lightwood, able bodied and seems to have a general attraction to women (I mean, we all know hes aro/ace but lets stick with canon). There isnt anything pointing to him not being able to marry and have kids. Where the red flags raise for me is with Alexander

Alexander wasnt in the original plans for the family tree, he was added when Cassie started writting the last hours. If you take into account his role in chog, there really was no reason to add Alexander Lightwood. He doesnt seem to do anything, hes a 3 year old kid, you can very well delete him from the narrative and nothing would change. So why did Cassandra add him?? Why did she decide to make Cecily and Gabriel have another kid ?

To me, it seems a lot like the baby carstairs situation . The family tree says Alastair carries the carstairs line, Alastair is a gay man so he cant have biological kids, theres another unplaned baby to carry the line. It seems to me Christopher carrying the lightwood line is a lie, and Alexanders role is to carry it in his place. I even found a little info from an ask wayy before chain of gold came out where it said Alexander had green eyes, but in the book she changed it to blue eyes. The exact same shade the modern day lightwoods seem to have. A trait hes more likely to pass down than his lavender eyed brother who supposedly "marries" grey eyed grace

3. Character Arc

Characters in literature need goals, things to work for or work towards through the story in order for them to develop. We call those things character arcs, and it seems we have all ignored how christophers may have indirectly ended. If you read his short story, or just overall analize his character, his main goal is simple. He wants to create something that will help the nephlim through science. His personal character arc is that he wants to prove himself and his skill to the clave using his passion to be a hero.

An arc that could have been expanded all through the series, and ended with him using his skills in the end to defeat belial in some way, proving his passions worth. Through the story we could have had a glimpse at his struggles, how he was put down, the failed attempts, fustrations etc. This all could have rounded christopher as a character, and brought more satisfaction to the end goal of his arc which is proving the value of his science. But instead, his arc in book seemingly already ended? Because he did it, he figured out a way to combine science with his duty and saved the entire enclave from the demon poison. He is now acclaimed a hero for his skills. All the other characters have things to finish going into chain of iron, Christopher doesnt. Why would she end an arc that could have taken through the entire series in just one book? Christopher is the only secondary character with a defined personality and a lack of arc to look foward too in following books. This could all point that his arc was rushed because it was being cut short

4. Lightwood blood

There has been a lot of theories going around about Thomas being the one who gets killed in this book, which is resonable considering the unerving amount of forehsadowing we've had to him getting himself caught up in something. But I raise you this, why would CC be giving us so much assurance that Thomas was going to get hurt if she was going to kill him? Not only would she be reaveling one of her most devastating murders, she would basically be spoiling a very big part of her own book. Thomas death would affect everyone, if she WERE to kill him she wouldnt be indulging us in our Thomas death theory as much as she has. Itd be too expectable, I actually believe that by giving us all the info she has she has more or less confirmed he wont die.

I believe this is all a decoy. Shes giving us foreshadowing towards something bad happening to Thomas, to cover up the very big reality shes planning to kill someone else. Theres a very big chance that for the resurection, theyre gonna need Jesses families blood. Same way Malcom needed blackthorn blood to raise Annabel. As of rightnow there arent any blackthorns (by blood) left alive, the only blood relatives Jesse still had are the lightwoods. So we already know Thomas gets captured by the murderer (referenece to the art), but it is most likely he gets rescued. People speculate he most likely got captured for the resurection Tatianas trying to do, because of his lightwood blood. But if Thomas escapes, Tatiana still needs her families blood. And I'd like to point out this is also where the fact she hasnt taken permanent revenge on the lightwood-herondales would come in. Theres a good chance that if the murders are releated to her, and she cant have Thomas, she wont stop at just Thomas.

5. Story relevance

In all sense of story, Christopher is the perfect candidate to kill. As hard as that is to say: he's a secondary character, who has a well defined personality, loved enough by the fans that there would certainly be a shock factor following his death, important enough to the story that there would be a big impact to the narrative, and interwined enough with the main characters to cause emotional distress in the story. His arc is indirectly done, this author has a history of killing lightwoods, there isnt much to discourage the possibility he might be killed besides the faulty family tree. And as I said, that tree has been stated multiple times to be misleading

Bonus prove

6. Christophers cut-out

Same way were analizing the hell out of a broken spear, why are we not talking about the skull on christophers?

(Sorry couldnt get better quality pics)

The truth is, I hate this theory as much as everyone, Im genuinly hoping chain of iron proves me wrong. But there are 5 deaths comming, and not all of them can be side characters. Cordelia Lucie and James all have main character protection. I already explained why Thomas dying is unlikely. Anna, Ariadne and Alastair have gay protection (and I think some asks about Alastair dying were pretty much answered with a discreet no)

If there are mains dying, Christophers the most likely to go

[capri-ramblings]

These two were conveniently requested together so I decided to make it into one whole post. Also I posted this awhile ago but it didn't show up smh so I'm reposting it aha. I'm sorry for the long wait and thank you for your patience! (*´ω｀*)

Please refer to Pinned post before requesting.

Green as Envy II

Idia Shroud

- Idia's type of jealousy is the quiet one, though I wouldn't say it's not unnoticeable.

- He's immensely more reclusive and spends his time locked up in his room.

- Being pessimistic and awkward, Idia gets Jealous over small things that he tends to over think about

- Like the time Ace gave you his blazer when yours got dirty during lunch break or when Cater takes pictures of you and has his arms over your shoulders

- He knows they're your friends and that being the social person you are, you're bound to be surrounded by people but he just can't shake off the feeling that you're trying to get away from him

- As if you're using his dislike of crowds so you wouldn't have to put up with your closet boyfriend

- He isn't the most interesting person after all. He plays games and is an avid Otaku. It makes sense if you didn't want to be near him

- With that thought in mind, Idia starts to distance himself from you. He makes sure you don't bump into him after classes and he makes Ortho swear to always tell you he's busy when you come over to Ignihyde

- He's frustrated and insecure. He isn't sure where he is on your list or how much you really like him and Idia has never dealt with emotional pressure well

- He lets the Jealousy fester inside him and it caves in his entire mood. Just thinking about you hanging with Ace and Deuce riles him up

- When playing games, he switches to the kinds that are violent just so he can lash out a bit of his tension. Afterwards though he just lays in bed with his phone in his hand, wondering why you never bothered to call him.

- Gradually,Idia just gets moodier and whenever he sees Ace and Deuce, his gaze turns dark. He doesn't hate them,it's just...He wished he could be as fun as they were.

- Consoling him is easy though, convince Ortho you know how to make him feel better and you already have access to his cave.

- He'll be very fidgety of course when you suddenly enter his room. Part of his mind actually thinks he's gone insane but then you start talking and it's just horrible.

- You said you were worried about him? Has he been troubling you all along with his insecurities? How? And why?

- He won't know what to say but he will apologize even if a small Jealous part of him says it's your fault for being so carefree with other people

- If you hug him and nuzzle your head against his chest, you'll make him melt and Idia will stop processing thoughts all together

- It doesn't take much to reassure him but you'd have to reassure him a lot so his jealous side won't get the better of him again

Rook Hunt

- Oh,you made Rook Jealous?

- Well,at least now you'd know why Leona finds him intimidating.

- Rook doesn't express his Jealousy like most would, his eyes flicker too subtly for you to catch how he looks at you attentively watching Trey beat the pastry batter. How his hands just lightly overlap with yours almost like in a dreamy state

- A Jealous Rook is a Rook who starts to realise how easily likable and attainable you are to others and it's a jealousy that runs deep in his veins

- He won't say anything that indicates his Jealousy nor would he act any different, but if you paid a bit more attention to how his body reacted when other males make you smile or laugh, you'd notice how still his gaze is. As if he was burning the faces of those people in his memory

- Rook understands with you both being young and filled with life that there will always be things that will garner your attention greatly but the fact that anyone could so easily take your hand away from his whenever he's not looking...It just gives this bad taste gurgling in his stomach.

- He won't do anything that could hurt you though but he will act more profoundly and take you away with him anytime he sees fit

- You and a lot of other people would see it as Rook being his usual self, but the reason he's pulling you away isn't because he wasn't listening to your conversation but because he couldn't stop listening to it. How melodic and happy your voice sounded talking to Riddle and Epel.

- Rook will start leaving you small, unexpected gifts be it on your bed or in front of the porch of your dorm. Anything to make you feel pleased because of him.

- To Rook, Jealousy is simply another expression of love, so he isn't inherently frustrated by it but it does get him in a certain kind of mood. He'd describe it as the very first feeling he had when he went hunting. A Dangerous thrill.

- He's not upset but if you shower him with more attention than most, it'll earn you a lot of his in return.

Malleus Draconia

- Sulking.

- There isn't any other way to describe it.

- Malleus will say he isn't Jealous and he has no reason to be but the way he looks at you and the people around you is obvious if you really look

- It's like a brief glint that shimmers in his green gaze and colours it slightly off than usual

- He'll frown too but with Malleus always looking stern, it goes unnoticed often.

- Despite himself, Malleus gets Jealous when he sees how hands on you are with those around you,how involved you get into their lives whether or not it's planned and generally how people seem to just flock to you

- Usually the jealousness comes and goes pretty quickly but some days it just lingers in his head

- He won't ever tell you that he has no time though and insist you're allowed to come and visit as you'd like but he seems so distant and too quiet for you to not realize something is troubling him

- If you ask him he'll just stare at you a bit too long before he sighs and shakes his head

- "Just thoughts." He'd say

- Malleus rarely gets the chance to be around people and have them like him so when he sees you doing it so naturally, it makes him kinda envious

- He's not typically riled up by the fact you're surrounded by guys though since he trusts you completely but he won't lie that he gets a teensy bit irritated when people act as if he isn't part of your life

- Eventually he gives in and just expresses how he feels, asking if it bothered you or not that he wasn't able to solve such a simple emotional conflict

- All you have to do is just reassure him that it's normal to not be able to handle emotional things alone and that he's just like everyone else

- Simple words of comfort and a warm presence is the natural remedy to soothe this young dragon after all.

Epel Felmier

- Epel hates feeling Jealous, so whenever he does feel it, he tends to brush it off as a small matter and refuses to acknowledge it at all.

- Similar to Riddle though, his mood will tip over more often and he tends to lash out

- Epel's jealousy stems from the lack of progress he makes in making himself a strong and dependable partner for you and even if it's a one sided feeling, it frustrates him a lot

- He knows you're always putting yourself in danger and the thought of you being protected by other guys makes him want to grow as tall as Floyd and step on people who would hurt you

- He gets slightly touchy like Riddle too, and whenever anyone else tries to pull you towards them he gets this dirty look on his face and when he speaks his accent slips

- Epel will actually go as far as to use his naturally soft features to manipulate you into spending more time with him

- He'd pout his lips and his eyes would look so sad, how could you possibly say no to helping him make notes for his potion class?

- He doesn't see the manipulation to be wrong since he's not hurting you in any way, and plus it makes him less frustrated too. So it's good on both sides.

- At the end of the day though, Jealous Epel is harmless and actually makes him more motivated and boosts his spirit into building himself up as a man but if his moods get out of control, all you have to do is tell him there isn't a man on earth that could ever take you away from the one already holding your heart.

Ruggie Bucchi

- Despite himself, Ruggie gets Jealous a lot and his defense mechanism is similar to Leona's,minus the physical proof of it.

- He won't start biting or marking you like the beast prince would but his words does get kinda condescending whenever he sees that you don't realize you're making him Jealous

- Ruggie's seen it all, you know. How some relationships turn bad quick and it was mainly the reason he stayed away from it.

- But life is unexpected, and now that he's in a relationship himself, Ruggie's survival instincts kicks in fast.

- Unlike most Jealous partners,Ruggie's senses heightened and he becomes more observant of his partner's action and gestures.

- He doesn't trust easily, so this comes to bite him in the back and it starts playing thoughts in his head that riles him up even more than he is already

- Ruggie won't say he's Jealous,nor will he make it obvious that he is. When you ask him why he seems tense though, he'll laugh if off and add in something like, "What? Are you suddenly becoming some kind of mood radar?"

- He'll purposely let his words take you aback and he'll admit that he wants to see you a bit hurt but if it gets too bad Ruggie just starts to avoid you by acting like he's too busy

- While he's aware that putting the distance himself he's giving way to the possibility of you leaving him, Ruggie's conscience knows it's wrong to hurt you just because he's frustrated.

- He does a lot of self reflecting and tries to put a bit more trust in the relationship,but of course it doesn't happen in a day,right?

- Dealing with a Jealous Ruggie is better when you're patient and give him his space so that he can have his own thoughts before you come to confront him about it

- He's a bit harder to reassure but once he sees how genuinely worried you are,Ruggie will go soft and just let you shower him with any sort of comfort he needs.

- Though honestly the fastest way to convince him is to let him know that you only want him holding you.

Floyd Leech

- Floyd's a handful.

- A Jealous Floyd? That's just a nightmare coming to life.

- With his unpredictable moodswings, Floyd is always getting Jealous over things that you will never truly understand.

- He'll tell you that he's upset and that you're the reason behind it but he won't tell you how to fix it

- "Ha? Figure it out yourself why don't you? I'm kinda pissed so I don't want to help you."

- His eyes turn sharp in a split second before it goes dim and dull. Like he's bored of watching you look at him with confusion

- This goes on for days and not even Jade could help you, and that's only when his Jealousy is still mild.

- An extremely Jealous Floyd consists of Jade helping you avoid him at any cost everyday for an entire month because if Floyd so much as sees you, he'll make you run until you're crying for a brief minute to just get air into your lungs

- It's never sure as to why Floyd could get jealous nor is there any indication of it until he comes out and say it

- Most of the time though Floyd gets over his Jealousy when he has you cornered and he sees how scared you are of him, how close you are to crying in front of him. It makes him feel like he really does matter a lot to you if you're in pain because he's Jealous

- Rather Twisted,Floyd doesn't really know he scares the living lights out of you when he's in that state but once he's over it though,he's all over you with hugs and smiles.

- Best advice for Jealous Floyd? Make sure you work on your stamina.

Jade Leech

- Jealous or not,Jade will always smile even when he's displeased.

- His speech mannerisms doesn't change at all but somehow, whenever he's near you, his polite demeanor feels sick and dark. Like a looming dark cloud during a sunny day.

- He'll reassure you that he isn't upset or in a bad mood but the smile doesn't seem to reach his eyes

- "Oya,how could I ever be mad at you?"

- You must've done something to make him like this but like his twin,Jade won't say what it is.

- It shouldn't be easy to make him Jealous but once he is,Jade will probably the most hardest to reconcile with.

- Depsite his polite composure,Jade isn't so forgiving and even when he acts as if he's always in contro, he's not.

- Maybe it was the way you're always around those Heartslyabul boys or how doting you are with your first year schoolmates like Jack and Deuce.

- Either way,even when he's severely upset,Jade enjoys seeing you stumble on your existence trying to appease him, though eventually he'll get over it and start acting normally again

- When faced with a Jealous Jade,it's probably better for you to try and not get him in an even worst mood. And maybe try to not get too happy around him either, he'll think you're doing it on purpose to spite him.

[qqueenofhades]

The photo set you reblogged of Yusuf and Niccolo helping throughout time just filled me with so many happy feels and it made me realize that it seems so common in media with immortal couples that they take breaks from each other and reconnect after a few decades. Which is a great trope but seeing these two that seems to have been attached at the hip since the day they met just fills me with all the heart eyes.

(I haven't read your fanfics for them yet. I know I'm a bad fan but if it helps I havent been able to read anything since all this started but while writing this ask I got the feeling that all this rambling I spewed out is a big theme)

Hush. Bad fan nothing. We all are coping with this stupid, awful year in different ways, some of us by escaping into fandom and some of us being unable to engage with it and some of us doing both or anything else. You certainly don’t owe me or anyone any obligation to interact with our content, fic or otherwise. So just to have that there on the top. You’re good, hun. :)

ANYWAY, thank you for giving me a chance to meta a bit on the boys and their relationship and to have a window into what my brain looks like pretty much 24/7 these days. (I blame them.) I keep thinking about all the ways this couple is depicted in the TOG film and how lovely it was and how unusual it is for me to have an OTP where I actually love them in canon and don’t need to violently disavow it in order to create AU fan content with just the characters. (See: Timeless, Game of Thrones, pretty much any show I’ve hyperfixated on at some point.) I love AUs anyway, because that’s the way my brain works, but the fact that I can also enjoy canon just as much is rare for me and for a lot of us. I saw a post somewhere remarking on how the fanfic for Joe/Nicky isn’t fixing anything, which is usually the point of transformative fanworks: we take something that canon atrociously fucked up and fix it. But in this case, all our interpretations are based on actually appreciating the way they’re presented in canon and wanting to enjoy that and uphold it, and that -- especially with a couple like this one -- is shocking??

Like. Despite my historian gripes about the occasionally incongruous details for their graphic-novel backstories (which are the only things I HAVE fixed in my fics), I’m just... deeply appreciative of the care which everyone, writers and actors and all else, put into depicting Joe and Nicky and their relationship. And god YES, one of the things I love the absolute MOST is that they’re a loving, faithful, committed, happy married queer couple over centuries, and that seems to be the case for as long as they’ve known each other/ever since they got together. (See Booker’s “you and Nicky always had each other.”) These fools can’t sleep apart from each other even when they’re stuck on a freight train in the middle of nowhere, they flirt like teenagers at dinnertime and even when they’re strapped to gurneys in a mad-scientist laboratory, they make out to enrage bad guys and also because they’re just still that goddamn into each other after all this time.

I think it was Marwan Kenzari who pointed out that there’s simply no way to truly state the depth of their knowledge and devotion and commitment to each other. They’re 950 years old. They have known each other since they were in their thirties; they’ve been husbands for literal centuries. There is no way anyone else in the world could possibly come close to replicating the kind of bond they have with each other, and neither of them have ever had any inclination to look, because why would they? Especially with the fact that queer couples in media, even otherwise sympathetically portrayed ones, often have Drama and Third Parties and Promiscuity and whatever else (because of the tiresome old canard that Gays Equal Hypersexualized!), and Joe and Nicky don’t need or want ANY of that. There’s no urge to make their relationship a cheap source of soap-opera conflict. It’s the rock and the center and the core of both of their lives, and everything they do stems from that.

There have been some great metas/comments on how neither Joe and Nicky are sexualized, they dress like stay-at-home dads during quarantine (Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli are both objectively gorgeous men, and they’re out there looking like that, god bless), and the viewer is never invited to goggle at or fetishize their relationship. There are no leering or exploitative camera angles on anyone, and their expressions of love aren’t posed or intended to titillate the audience, they’re just solidly embodied and natural and lived in. It’s never bothered to be stated clunkily in dialogue that they’re a couple; we just see them exchanging looks and smiles in the early part of the film, and then we see them spooning on the train after the mission in Sudan, which confirms it.

At every turn, the narrative celebrates the kindness and love shared by the Immortal Family, the individual characters, and Joe and Nicky, especially and explicitly in queer form. The villains of the film are also defined by how they react negatively to that love. @viridianpanther​ had a great meta on how Keane as a villain is especially set up to menace Joe and Nicky as the narrative representation of toxic masculinity, aggressive heterosexuality, and the usual “Kill Your Gays” trope that we’ve all come to wearily expect. But instead, after that scene where Joe and Nicky fight Keane, Nicky is shot and comes back to life in Joe’s arms rather than dying permanently like we probably all momentarily expected, and then Joe gets to FUCKIN’ BREAK THE NECK of the guy who enacted that violence.... good GOD. The first time I watched it, I almost couldn’t believe it was happening. (This goes for the whole film, but especially that scene.) Like... when do we get that?? When do we EVER get that???

Obviously, there are so many stereotypes, whether visually or in behavior or character traits, that could have been assigned to a gay Italian character (excessively dramatic, effeminate, fashionable, etc) or a gay Arabic/Muslim character (explicitly announcing He’s Not Like Those Muslims, having to actively reject his heritage to make him more palatable to westerners, being tormented over being gay, etc) and Joe and Nicky subscribe to none of those. I get very emotional about Joe referring to Nicky as the moon when he is lost during the truck scene partly because it’s SUCH a common motif in Arabic love poetry. To call someone your “moon” is a beautiful way to say they’re the light of your life, and since the Islamic calendar is obviously lunar and the holidays, months, and observances, are set by the phases of the moon, this also has a deeper religious significance.

I don’t know for sure if they did that on purpose, but it it’s a lovely and subtle way of showing us how Joe clearly doesn’t have an issue with being both queer AND Muslim, and is able to draw on both facets of that identity in a way that a lesser narrative would have denied him. And that is just really wonderful. Yes, we’re seeing these characters when they’ve had centuries to settle into themselves, but there are plenty of writers who would have forced those conflicts artificially to the surface, rather than letting them be long in the past. It’s the same way when you watch a film set in the medieval era, it wants you to know that it Is Set In The Medieval Era. Cue the filth, misogyny, racism, violence, etc! Rather than it being a lived-in reality, it has to be jarringly drawn attention to, and I’m just so glad they didn’t do that with Joe and Nicky. And for them to have met in the crusades and fallen in love??! Come on. That’s just rude. Rude to me, personally.

Anyway, this was a rather long-winded and feelsy way of saying that these characters are constructed, acted, and written organically in such a way that you hate to even THINK of them being separated, and it’s not because they can’t function without each other, but because they are two halves of a whole. We also see that the characters themselves can’t stand being forced apart: Joe’s freakout in the truck scene when Nicky briefly won’t wake up, Nicky making sure to tell Joe that he’s glad he’s awake in the lab, the whole post-Keane fight scene that I talked about above, the way Nicky fights ferociously to get to Joe when Merrick’s stabbing him, etc. For that to be given to the queer couple, where the strength of their love and devotion is reinforced as one of the emotional goals of the story, and for that queer couple to be written in the way that Joe and Nicky are, both individually and as a unit, is just so very rare.

Because yes, there’s plenty of drama and angst and pain in their lives, but there’s none at all in their relationship, and that’s what fans keep telling TV writers the whole time: they WANT to see the couple confront things as a unit, rather than being kept on tenterhooks the whole time and forced to go through manufactured or artificial drama. It would feel especially wrong for Joe and Nicky, who have known and loved each other for 900 years. The fact that their respective actors also put so much care and love into them is very obvious, and makes me feel even luckier that they’re played by people who clearly get them and honor them and know what they’re doing.

Basically: of course Joe and Nicky have been with each other the whole time, and of course we’re all drowning in feelings over it, and I feel very blessed that this ship exists, and I very much need the sequel ASAP. Thanks.