#also the fact that they're his favorite and he's constantly talking about how important they are but who cares about that?

[fromtheseventhhell]

I’ll never forget how insecure Stansa’s got when the Key Five was revealed, complained about it and then to cope they created the ‘Core Six’ and actually ties into their continuous stream of passing of fanon as canon and at the same time being the usual delusional bunch they’ve always been

What's really funny is that they still confidently claim that the Key Five doesn't mean anything, solely because she isn't a part of it. The Core Six is a completely fanon invention but people talk about it like it's fact. They want her to be more important than she is so badly that they're straight up ignoring the author. And yes, until otherwise stated by George, the Key Five are still a thing. Tbh I'm not sure if there was ever a time that they engaged with the source material though? A lot of them came from the show (*cough*fanfiction) so that's where a majority of their takes are coming from. That's why we get people saying things like "Sansa charmed George off the page" or "Sansa took Arya's place as George's favorite Stark sister". They just desperately want the show to match up with the books. What's annoying is that her not being a part of the Key Five doesn't mean she isn't important, but people take it as hate towards her. It's sad that the only version of her they like is her fanon one.

[another-random-paradise]

Hey!! I was wondering if i could request what you think some housewardens would be like with a S/O who makes a lot of references? Whether it's anime, video game, pop culture etc etc, I don't mind which ones you choose as long as Idia is there!! Thanks :D ur underrated

A man of culture

Thank you so much for the request and the kind words, it really makes my day <3 I mostly kept the references vague, because as much as i love them, i am horrible at coming up with them- Hope you enjoy!

---------------------------------------------------------

Reader makes a lot of references

Characters: Idia, Malleus, Cater

Format: Headcanons

Warnings: None that i can think off

Idia

-You're on a somewhat big bolder, looking down at him "It's Over, Anakin, I Have the High Ground!" He is down on one knee with a ring, Or at least he would be were he not way to socially anxious he is so in love with you it is unbelievable

-Because it would most likely mean that you not only make references, but would also understand his! He won't have to switch to normie language nor constantly explain everything!!

-I feel like he'd be a lot more comfortable around you, because he feels more 'normal' with you; he knows you won't judge him for his word choice nor his interested, because you do the same!

-Of course his social anxiety won't disappear completely, he is still anxious around you, especially because your important to him, and there might be some days were it's worse and needs time to himself, that of course won't change that he loves you and tries to be as open as he can be with you (Speaking from experience here lol)

-If you two are dating/really close, he'll let you still chill in his room, even during some of his worser days, just don't expect much conversation. 

-Don't be afraid to look over and make a joke or reference based on what he's currently watching/playing, you'll make his day! He might not reply, but you can hear him laugh :)

-On his better days, chances are the two of you are having a date in his room, watching anime or playing video games in wich he definitely won't get competitive, noooo while eating snack and you're just almost exclusively talking in references, just going back and forth-

-In fact, not just during dates, during the few times he is outside it would be the same!.. much to your friends dismay, because most of the time, they can't understand a word you say. Cater might understand one or two from pop culture or if they're popular memes but that's about it

-Ortho also understands because he can just look it up! He very much approves of the two of you, because thanks to you, his brother is outside AND smiling for more than a few seconds, that's an absolute win in his book! :)

Malleus

-He doesn't understand a word you're saying, but he loves you anyway.

-Most of the time he just lets you say your references, happy you're comfortable enough around him to be yourself, even it confuses him!

-If the reference directly impacts the conversation though, or if one just happened to catch his interest. He'll listens very intensely to your explanation, almost scarily so! Not that you would ever find him truly scary <3

-You'd probably hold back from making to many references around him, not wanting to confuse him. When he finds out, he tells you not to. He wants you to be able to be your authentic self, and if he gets to ramble about gargoyles to you, then it's only fair that you get to make as many references as you want, no? He just needs some explanation some times

-That gives you an idea! You make a slideshow about the most common/popular, as well as your favorites, to show to him!.. Turns out he doesn't know what a slideshow is, but he is intrigued!

-So now you have a date teaching him how to make slideshows and help him make one about gargoyles! Now you have a slideshow date at least once a week, where you explain refrences and he talks about slideshows :)

-He is actually really happy about it, it shows your comfortable enough to be yourself around him and your slideshows lets him understand a bit of modern media, making it just a tad bit easier to get along with his classmates!  

Cater

-He either gets all of them or none of them; it really depends on the type of references tbh

-If it's pop culture, then he would get most of it, you'd be the type of couple who flirts through references and memes

-Half of his tweets would just be stuff like "[Insert popular hot character] ain't got nothing on my s/o" and his fans have a field trip every time. He'd also sends you like a bunch of memes and "Happy spouse, Happy life" videos

-So if you do the same? He'd love you even more than he already does! He really loves all your references that he does get, they never fail to make him laugh! You two would just be out and about, till you spot a dog that can jump very high, "Oh wow, that dog can jump higher than super Mario himself." You look to your side and see cater giggling to himself, a genuine smile on his face   

-And if you compliment him through references? Suddenly, he is very flustered!

-It might take him a while to accept the compliments though; You can't tell me he isn't actually insecure behind that influencer act. But once he does, he'll be a flustered mess every time, stuttering while trying to come up with an equally flirty comeback, BUT once he gets used to it, you two will absolutely go back and forth trying to out-reference-complement each other

-If it's anime or video game references, i feel like it'd be a bit different, since he would probably not get them unless they're really mainstream- I don't see him too invested in stuff like that 

-He'll still encourage you though, because he adores the how you'll excitedly compare something to your favorite scene, or how monotonly you'll compare someones stupidity to a character that's known for their stupidity 

-He loves it all, even those that he doesn't understand :)

This was so fun to write!! also, first time writing Cater, kinda nervous

Feedback is welcome, just be nice :)

hope you have a nice day/night!!

[mercillery]

CROSS GUILD WITH A CHILD READER

WARNINGS: GENDER NOT SPECIFIED + NOT PROOFREAD + I MOSTLY TALK ABOUT BUGGY OOPS

NOTES: A clown, a swordsman, and a sandman. My favorite trio. Everything written here is so random, so please buckle up. 🫨

You've got Crocodile and Mihawk, both big shots in their own right, and they've got a ton of stuff going on, right? They're busy dealing with all sorts of important things, and suddenly, you come into the picture needing someone to look after you. Now, it's not that they don't care about you or anything, but they're not exactly equipped to handle a kid at the moment. So, what do they do? They look around and think, "Hey, who can we pawn this kid off to?" And guess who they settle on? Buggy. They're both kind of on the same page about Buggy being, well, pretty useless most of the time. But hey, he can at least handle babysitting duty, right? It's like the least he can do to make himself a bit more tolerable to Mihawk and Crocodile. And eventually, you end up in Buggy's care, and who knows, maybe he surprises everyone by not completely messing it up. It's like a little test for him to see if he can step up and actually contribute something meaningful to the Cross Guild, while also maybe earning a bit of respect from the big bosses themselves—Crocodile and Mihawk. Plus, it might even help smooth things over between them all, make things a bit less tense in the Cross Guild. It's kind of like Buggy's chance to step up and show he's not totally useless after all.

Spoiler alert: Buggy is, in fact, useless, even when it comes to babysitting.

While under Buggy’s care, think of that one audio that goes like, “You want a beer?” “He’s four!” “I DONT KNOW WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH HIM?!” Buggy is the one offering you a beer, and it’s probably Alvida scolding him for offering you a beer. He’s trying, okay—and it’s the thought that counts. When Mihawk and Crocodile first told him he'd be looking after you, Buggy's gut reaction was to grumble and complain. But then he saw the looks they gave him—those death stares that could silence any king—and he quickly shut his mouth. Just like that, he accepted his new role with a resigned, "Okay, I am now a babysitter." Sure, he's skeptical about the whole thing. I mean, Buggy and babysitting? But he knows better than to argue. So here he is, awkwardly navigating this whole childcare thing, making blunders but genuinely trying his best. It's a weird situation for everyone.

I imagine that you have been with the Cross Guild for some time already, so this likely isn’t Buggy’s first time taking care of you. Yet every time feels like the first time for him. He's just not a natural with kids. It's like he's constantly second-guessing himself, unsure of what to do or how to act. But you know what really lights a fire under him? Compliments. Especially when they're about how cool he is. Seriously, mention anything about his awesomeness, and suddenly, he's walking on air. You can practically see the confidence oozing out of him. "Oh, you think I'm cool?" he'll say, grinning from ear to ear, soaking up every bit of praise you throw his way. And if you really want to see him shine, just keep the compliments coming. Tell him how flashy and impressive he is, and watch as he practically transforms before your eyes. Suddenly, he's not just awkwardly babysitting; he's putting on a show, trying to impress you with his swagger and style. After that, you'll probably notice a change in him. He'll start to relax a bit and maybe even start looking forward to spending time with you. Buggy the babysitter isn't such a wild idea after all.

And if for some reason Buggy isn’t the one taking care of you, it’s most likely Mihawk who steps up. Crocodile's usually buried under a mountain of responsibilities, so Mihawk takes it upon himself to keep an eye on you. Now, unlike Buggy, Mihawk's not exactly awkward around kids. He's just... well, himself. You know, all serious and stoic, like he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders. He doesn't really have much experience with children, so he kinda just treats you like a mini-adult. No baby talk or anything like that, he just sees you as a little human being. But don't worry, he's not some mean old grump or anything. He's just firm. Firm as in he won't tolerate any disrespect or nonsense from you, but he's not gonna yell or anything like that. His gaze alone is usually enough to keep you in line. Oh, and whatever you do, don't even think about touching his sword. Seriously, that thing's like his baby—the last thing he wants is a crying kid with a cut because they were being too clumsy. He might let you take a good look at it though. So look all you want, but keep those small hands off. But you know what he will let you have? His hat. If you beg ask him nicely enough, he might just let you borrow it for a little while. So go ahead, give it a try. Who knows, maybe wearing Mihawk's hat will make you feel like a little pirate captain or something.

And then there's Crocodile. When it's his turn to take care of you, his approach is pretty straightforward. He'll plop you down somewhere near him and tell you to behave and stay out of his way while he works on stuff. But what kind of kid is just going to sit there quietly and stare at their dad work on a bunch of boring papers? None. Exactly. So naturally, you start to get a bit antsy. At first, you try to be subtle. You scoot over a bit closer and peek over his shoulder, trying to see what he's so engrossed in. And what do you find? Boring paperwork. You sigh, plopping back into your seat, feeling utterly defeated by the sheer dullness of it all. Then the questions start. "Crocodile," you call out. He doesn't look at you, but you know he's listening. "What are you working on?" "Work," he replies, his voice flat and uninterested. "Crocodile," you try again. "Hmm?" he grunts. "Why are you so tall?" "Why are you so talkative?" "Crocodile," you persist. "What?" "Can I have one of your rings?" "No." He goes silent again, but you're not giving up that easily. "Crocodile," you say once more. This time, he finally glances over at you, annoyance etched across his face. Perfect, you think—this is your chance to unload all those burning questions. So you start firing away. "Why are you called Crocodile? Are you a crocodile? How did you get that scar on your face? Can you make a sandcastle? Can I have your hook? Can I have your coat? Can you make my hair like yours? Can you make me cool like you?" He listens in silence as the barrage of questions comes his way, his eyebrow quirking slightly at the rapid-fire interrogation. "Kid, where are all these questions coming from?" he finally asks, unable to hide the hint of exasperation in his voice. “My head," you say innocently, flashing him a wide-eyed look. It takes everything in him not to roll his eyes at your annoyingly cute innocence.

Now, when it's the three of them—Mihawk, Crocodile, and Buggy—all tasked with taking care of you at the same time, things can get pretty complicated. On one hand, you have the stern swordsman and the no-nonsense sandman keeping a close eye on you while you and Buggy play patty cake. It's a weird dynamic. Buggy's usual strategy in this situation is to dive headfirst into playing kids' games with you, trying his best to act like he's fully engrossed in the fun. But you can tell he's a bit on edge, especially when you notice him glancing nervously over his shoulder, feeling the burning stares of Mihawk and Crocodile boring into the back of his head. Sometimes, the tension gets to be too much, and Mihawk and Crocodile can't resist giving Buggy a hard time, even in front of you. It's like one of those awkward moments when you're watching your sibling get scolded by your parents. You can see Buggy's face go pale, and he looks like he'd rather be anywhere else. But then there are those moments when you step in to defend him. Buggy has never felt more grateful and relieved in his entire life than when you stand up for him like the little knight in shining armor you are. And believe it or not, your defense actually does make somewhat of a difference. Mihawk and Crocodile are way too mature to start bullying a child for defending Buggy, no matter how much they can't stand him. Plus, the last thing they want to deal with is a full-blown crying session from a grown man and child. Sure, your defense might earn Buggy even more glares from the two men, but it also makes them back off a bit. You can imagine Buggy clinging to you like a damsel in distress while you stand there, fierce and determined, protecting him with everything you've got. It's a sight that definitely annoys Mihawk and Crocodile. But hey, at least Buggy's got someone in his corner.

It’s pretty much a given that with Crocodile and Mihawk watching over you, you're practically untouchable. Even Buggy, despite his penchant for getting into trouble, wouldn't intentionally put you in harm's way. Sure, he may accidentally stumble into dangerous situations from time to time, but deep down, all three of them care about you—even if they don't always show it. Since you often spend the most time with Buggy, it's not uncommon for him to inadvertently lead you into precarious predicaments. Take, for example, that time you found yourselves perched on a rocky hillside, with Buggy enthusiastically rambling on about how cool and flashy he is. But then, in a classic Buggy move, he trips and starts tumbling down the hill—with you in tow. You’d think your life would flash before your eyes in a moment like that, right? Wrong. Instead, it's Buggy's life and yours flashing before his very eyes. The panic he's feeling right now is like when Crocodile and Mihawk are giving him those death glares, except multiplied by a thousand. But here's the thing: Buggy's luck? It seems to have rubbed off on you because, miraculously, you came out of this whole ordeal without a scratch. Meanwhile, poor Buggy's got a bloody nose, a bruised face, and who knows what else. But the moment he sees that you're okay, it's like a floodgate of relief and joy bursts open. He's screaming at the top of his lungs, cradling you like you're some precious treasure he's just unearthed. You can't help but feel a little overwhelmed. And it's not just because of the screaming clown in front of you—it's also because you know he's genuinely relieved that you're okay. (Think of that one part in the movie The Lion King when Rafiki just holds Simba high up—except in this situation it’s Buggy holding you high up and screaming out of joy like some madman. I legit had to search for this scene on YouTube because I forgot that dang monkey's name.) The only problem now is that Buggy's got to come up with a good explanation for those injuries he’s got when Crocodile and Mihawk inevitably catch sight of him. 

When hunger strikes, Mihawk is usually your go-to guy. He's not just the world's greatest swordsman; he's also a fantastic cook. If he ever decided to retire or whatever, he could easily become a top-notch chef. Or he could be the world's greatest swordsman and chef at once, who knows. On the other hand, if you asked Buggy to cook, you'd probably end up with something burnt. And Crocodile? He'd just brush you off with a classic "go ask your dad" line, where "dad" in this case is Mihawk. Of course, Crocodile never actually calls Mihawk your dad, but you get the joke. Anyway, Mihawk takes his cooking duties seriously when it comes to you. He doesn't cook for you throughout the day. Instead, he wakes up at the crack of dawn and prepares enough food to last you the entire day. By the time you wake up, your meal is already waiting for you, perfectly packed and ready to go. And the impressive part is that Mihawk always packs just the right amount of food, ensuring that you're never left hungry or stuffed. It's like he has some kind of sixth sense for portion control. If, by the end of the day, you haven't seen Mihawk at all, you make a point to find him at night just to say thank you. Mihawk, with his usual stoic demeanor, nods at you and sends you off to bed. It's a small ritual, but it means a lot to both of you. Another thing about Mihawk is that he's meticulous about your diet. He makes sure you're eating healthy, well-balanced meals. Sure, he lets you have sweets now and then, but he's always careful to remind you about moderation. He'll explain how too many sweets can be bad for you—not to scare you off sweets entirely, but just to make sure you're aware. He doesn't want you polishing off your fourth chocolate bar of the day, especially since Buggy is probably sneaking them to you because he thinks you're the cutest thing ever. Overall, Mihawk's attention to your diet and well-being shows how much he cares, even if he's not the most expressive guy. He might be stern and serious, but his actions speak volumes.

You have this cute habit of constantly asking Crocodile to pick you up. Honestly, who wouldn't want to be hoisted high up by the tallest guy around? For a kid, it's like an instant rollercoaster ride that's thrilling and fun. At first, Crocodile's pretty reluctant. He’s not exactly the most nurturing figure, and he's out of practice handling kids. But you, with your endless persistence, your pleading eyes, and that adorable pout, eventually wear him down. The first time he gives in is pretty comical. He picks you up with a heavy sigh, clearly unsure of himself. For a moment, he just stares at you, probably wondering what he’s gotten himself into and debating whether he should put you back down or not. But then you flash him your brightest, most radiant smile, and he knows he’s stuck. He figures that if he puts you down now, the cycle of begging and pleading will start all over again. So he resigns himself to carrying you around as he goes about his day. Unfortunately, you don’t get to choose where he takes you. Crocodile decides the route and destination, and that’s non-negotiable. If you start to complain about it, he'll fix you with a stern look and threaten to put you down and never carry you again. That usually gets you to pipe down pretty quickly. But all that aside, being carried by him is an absolute blast. He's so tall that you get an amazing bird's-eye view of everything around you. There's a thrill in being up high, combined with a comforting sense of security, knowing that Crocodile’s got you firmly in his grasp and won't let you fall. As for the way he carries you, it’s always in his arms. On very rare occasions, he’ll let you sit on his shoulders. But there's one rule: don't mess up his hair. Seriously, he’s adamant about that. So there you are, perched up high on Crocodile's shoulders, looking down at the world with a huge grin on your face. Despite his grumbling and sighs, you know he doesn't really mind. In his own gruff way, he’s grown fond of having you around.

You may be a handful, but you're their handful.

[tragedy-for-sale]

Bedrock Headcannons: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Bedrock headcannons are headcannons that I regard as a fact in the personality of a character I write about. They range from small details to a huge part of a character's backstory. These headcannons are a constant underlayer in all of my fics that involve these characters.

﹄『❝ Obi-Wan ❞』﹃

He cut his hair shortly after the war begun because Anakin made a comment he looked like Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan couldn't handle it.

Obi-Wan is very quiet and not just in the sense of him not talking a whole lot. But his steps, the swoosh of his robe, the smile in his eyes. He moves with grace which results in many people being taken off guard when he's in the room, as if he just appears. But he's also quiet in the way that you'd never know he was crying if you couldn't see his face, quiet in the way of showing love through always having snacks on him for Anakin, Ahsoka or any of his men. Whoever asks him first. He's quiet in pain and agony, in love and passion.

Obi-Wan feels extremely bittersweet about Dooku. He remembered how highly Qui-Gon regarded him, how they'd go catch up at a diner and how Obi-Wan always begged to go. He never knew the Dooku that Qui-Gon did and Obi-Wan has a hard time understanding how his master was trained by someone so vile. Everytime he faces the Count, he remembers Qui-Gon, and he remembers how much his master cared for this man that is trying to kill him.

He loves Coruscant in the rain. When he was younger, Qui-Gon would take him up to the roof of the temple and they'd talk until they could see stars. But if it was raining, they'd be outside splashing each other until they were soaked.

He doesn't go up there as often anymore, but the first year after Qui-Gon's death, Obi-Wan was missing all day. It was Quinlan Vos who found him, he was the only person still alive that knew about his hiding place.

Obi-Wan's 18th birthday was spent out on the streets of Coruscant. He snuck out with Quinlan Vos and Kit Fisto. The three ran into trouble and at the stroke of midnight, Obi-Wan was in tears, desperately hoping his friends would find him.

He was sent to Mandalore with Qui-Gon soon after.

Obi-Wan will go get tea with Padme when Anakin is still out in space. He doesn't say he checks on Padme to Anakin, but he'll say he caught Padme and they chatted for a while and that she's doing well.

During down time, he wears heavy robes because Obi-Wan is cold all the time. Especially when on the Negotiatior. If he's able, he'll always go sit in the sun, feeling the warmth on his face.

As the war progresses, the toll of it starts to affect him more and more. He starts to feel things more deeply then he ever had and he finds himself drowning constantly. Fear he's never known paralyzes him and he can't talk to anyone because there's nothing anyone can do. He's going to drown and he can see all the people he loves playing in the water not noticing he's been swept up by the tide.

Dex's Diner has been Obi-Wan's place for years, he brings only the most important people in his life there. Dex basically watched Obi-Wan grow up, he knows his favorite book, his deepest pain and insecurities, and how many times he's fallen in love.

Obi-Wan takes Cody anytime they're on Coruscant for leave. One night, it was late and after close, but it was in that little worn down diner that Obi-Wan and Cody celebrated their marriage, slow dancing to whatever jukebox tune was playing and holding each other tight.

After Order 66 happens, Cody feels drawn to the diner, he sits there for hours. Dex knows better to assume the identity of this helmeted man, but he always sits in Obi-Wan's booth and watches the door, expecting the love of his life to walk right in and apologize for being late. But Obi-Wan never comes, and there is never an apology.

﹄『❝ Obi-Wan ❞』﹃

[derangedanomaly]

hi! Could I have some Bad Sanses headcannons with a new member (crush or future s/o) who has the power to control time but doesn't think that power is a big deal?

Like, he thinks it's not a big deal because he only knows how to see the future and that's it (because the power isn't trained yet)

(please make reader male or gender neutral)

Sorry if it's confusing, english is not my first language :(

Nah, you don't have to worry. Your English is fine! I understood you very well ^^

I'll do male reader, since there's not many for my guys out there! But as I know myself, I think that it won't be mentioned much, so I guess that you can still take it as gender neutral?

Enjoy!

Masterlist

Bad Sanses with a time manipulator reader (male)

(Nightmare, Killer, Dust, Horror, Error)

Nightmare:

The only thing he's thinking right now, is; This dude can benefit me so much!!

Yeah... You just got yourself in a trap 😀

He doesn't listen to you when you tell him how you think your power is useless. He's literally ordering the others to train you while you're yapping.. wants to see your powers immediately.

He's kinda- disappointed when he finds out that you can only see the future. (Mf should've listened when you were telling him that 🙄)

These thoughts immediately disappear when he figures out that you can literally tell them the exact time the Star Sanses attack them.

Overall.. really manipulative.. constantly manipulates you into doing so many things for them- and they're not for the greater good either. 💀

Killer:

Mf does NOT believe you. (At first I mean)

You get bored of him asking you to prove your powers so fast 💀

"If you can read the future, then tell me what I'm going to do next!!" Immediately followed by your answer: "You're gonna call me a liar." "I KNEW IT!! YOU LIAR!!" "......" "You just had luck.." mhm. Yeah, sure. Luck.

His mouth literally dropped when he finds out that you in fact wasn't lying..

Now that he knows your powers are legit... Oh boy... He's gonna abuse the shit out of that..

And I don't mean it in the same way as the way Nightmare's using you, no! More like a.... Goofy way??

Bro's gonna be asking you about the next time he falls down the stairs, so he'll be prepared for that and not fall down. (He still will fall down.)

He will feel sympathy for you after Nightmare starts using you.. but he can do nothing with that. So... He cuddles you! (As a way of comfort) Only if you want to of course.

Dust:

Oh this nerd... He'll absolutely believe you! Like- the first time you tell them, he believes you. Wants to know more, actually.

He's probably the one you get close to the first, because he talks to you so often. I mean- they never really met anyone like you before!

He wants to document every single thing about you. Huh? Why are you asking him why your favorite food is important for this? That's only for him to know! (The dude is just a *closeted* hopeless romantic)

Wants to help you with the fact you can only see the future.

Visibly rolls his eyes whenever Nightmare is ordering you around.

Literally cannot stand the fact Nightmare is just using you, but he can't do anything about it... I mean, who in their right mind would argue with NIGHTMARE? Not him. That's for sure. But he will offer you comfort.

Horror:

Doesn't really care about your powers, but he does find it interesting.

Doesn't ask you as much questions as Dust does, but he does ask a bit about it.

He's probably the second one you get close to, and that's mainly because he sticks to Dust a lot, so he's basically a part of y'all's conversations. (Except he doesn't say anything 💀)

He doesn't want to use you for your powers, simply because it doesn't benefit him. (And he also doesn't think it's right.)

He WILL be pretty mad that Nightmare's using you. Will try to fight with Nightmare over this, but Dust stops him. (We all know that that wouldn't end good.)

From now on, Horror will always stick by your side, ready to defend you or help you out whenever! (Congratulations)

Error:

He actually thinks that your powers are dope.

He also wants to see your powers in action, similar to Nightmare, but he doesn't want to use you.

You might be asking, why? Well, his ego is bigger than the fucking sky, so he comes to the conclusion that he doesn't need for you to tell him the future, because he.."can predict Ink's move", he's also technically not part of Nightmare's team, it's basically just a part-time for him. (Whenever he's needed, or he's bored🤷‍♀️).

He's probably the last one, (not counting Nightmare), you get closer to. It's mainly because you don't see him often though.

He still lives in the anti-void, and spends a lot of time there, that's why. But you're not on bad terms either. (Don't have any reason to.. yet.)

Not much to say, really. You two don't interact much. But you can change that 😏

[tiredandoptimistic]

One of my favorite details about Trapper that I don't think I've seen anyone else comment on is the fact that he's the only lead character whose person back home is his kid. They've all got somebody who's the focal point of their "I wanna go home" scenes, the one they write letters to (other than Frank, who doesn't give a shit about anybody). Potter, BJ, and Henry have their wives, Mulcahy and Charles have their sisters, Margaret and Hawkeye have their dads, Radar has his mom, Klinger has his uncles, and Trapper's got his daughters.

Now, I know that BJ, Potter, and Henry all have kids they love too—hell, Erin and Peg are about equally prominent in BJ's stateside dreams—but the thing that sets Trapper apart is that he doesn't seem to care much for his wife. He talks fondly of her, sure, but he's also cheating on her constantly. Henry cheats too, but there are whole episodes dedicated to how he could never actually love anyone but Lorraine. With Trapper, he's just kinda...distant from his wife. Doesn't really talk about her much. If anything, his behavior is closer to Frank's; the serial adulterer who doesn't spare many thoughts for the woman back home. HOWEVER Trapper is leagues better than Frank in literally every way! Not being wholly in love with his wife doesn't make him a bad guy or a negligent father, it's Frank's many personal failings that are to blame for that. I think that's my point here, that I just think it's neat how Trapper is able to be a relatively more complicated figure because in him the symbols of domesticity (wife and kids) are divided. He doesn't need to be an adoring husband to be a devoted father, he can write home to Cathy and Becky because they're the ones he's really waiting to get back for.

The main cast of MASH has five married characters; Henry, Trapper, Potter, BJ, and Frank. Of that list, Trapper's the only one whose wife I can't name. Conversely, he and BJ are the only ones whose kids I can name. Henry and Potter both have children given names sometimes, but they're not consistent at all because they're not actually important in comparison to Lorraine and Mildred. Nobody gives a fuck about Frank's kids, least of all him. What I'm getting at is that, in general, the wives are the point of consistency, the anchor point representing "home." Not for Trapper though, for him it's his daughters, and I just think that's neat.

So yeah, Trapper McIntyre is dad of the year, even if his marriage might not be the best. This post was brought to you by the scene where he writes a letter home to his daughters and all the times he's cute with local kids in the show.

[hiso03]

what makes you ship halbarry, mine is the amount of symbolism and moments they manifest about them being compatible with each other and even the main lore knows theybare one😭😭

sometimes I wonder why these two aren't together yet since they are basically soulmates 😭😭

This is probably the question I have been waiting for the most and for which I have to have the longest possible answer. I will try not to go too far, but I will also try not to miss any points that I consider important.

I think I can start by saying that I love their dynamic, I've always liked it. To start Barry is a more serious guy, shy and introverted, always thinking about some situation and planning. And Hal is more outgoing, noisy and confident, he NEVER plans and is too impulsive.

They are opposing poles, not radically opposed as with other characters in the league, but they remain opposing enough to provide contrast to the relationship. There's also the fact that the two of them are fully aware of those differences, and even though they don't like some at all, they've never tried to change anything between them. Even when people constantly point out how different they are and how no one understands how they are friends. (Even they can't understand how they're so close if they don't resemble each other at all)

(Personally this panel is one of my favorites, as I love how Hal immediately jumps up to Barry's tastes, making it clear that while he doesn't like to do the same things Barry does, he doesn't find it as bad or boring as some might think.)

In general, the series of “The brave and the bold” I like because it allows you to take a close look at their relationship and give us lots of interactions of them, allows us to see a little more of their real character and their friendship.

There is also the fact that in that series they constantly show how well they know each other Hal and Barry manage to combine their skills to help each other. They always take advantage of each other's ability to resolve conflicts, and even when they fight or argue, they resolve them quickly. Another of my favorite numbers is the last volume of the series, when Barry falls into a terrible and painful depression and Hal is the only one who supports him.

Literally Hal tries to have some stability in his life to let Barry stay with him, helps him like Barry has always helped him and says one of the phrases I love the most.

“The poor man needs something to hold on to, so he will stay with me, maybe our friendship will be a comfort to him, he will always be able to count on that until the day we die.”

In this same comic is where Barry tries to sacrifice himself and Hal stops him, to that I add that in a previous issue we also show that one of Hal's biggest fears is losing Barry. The thought of seeing him die or get hurt is something that scares him.

Hal's not afraid to die, he's afraid that Barry will die and it's his fault, that I can't save him. And that point added to everything that's going on with Parallax and Crisis on Infinite Earths feels like a stab for both of them.

It's fucking tragic.

Generally in many moments of Hal as Parallax or The Wraith, Hal talks about Barry, continues to talk about how amazing he was as a person and a hero, talks about how he remains his best friend even though Barry is still dead. (That reminds me a lot of when I'm with my friends and some of them start talking about their boyfriends even though they're not there and we didn't talk about them originally)

And when they both revive, Barry constantly lets him know that everything that happened with Parallax wasn't him and tries to support him, try to be there for him for as long as he couldn't help him when his friend needed him the most.

We also have the fact that Barry has canonically been a blue lantern, and well, hope and willpower isn't exactly two opposing poles, on the contrary, it's likely that both entities are reciprocal forces. That they stick together and support each other, just like Hal and Barry do.

I also like to think that they had a somewhat similar childhood.

Both lost a father or mother, and that led to the loss of the rest of their family and childhood, they had to grow up faster than the other children, became more independent, and soon discovered that the world was cruel and unjust.

Although we also have other universes like:

The universe of Injustice where the two of them continue to support each other and remain together despite the mess that is around them, and there is even a panel where Hal as a yellow lantern is going to rescue Barry after Constantine abducted him.

Or we also have the fact that red and green in the chromatic circle are two opposite or complementary colors that are usually used when you want to create a harmony on a visual level. That is, from the choice of colors we can know perfectly well that they are opposite poles, but they complement each other so well that it creates a visual harmony when you see them together. (For some reason Christmas usually uses these two colors as its main ones).

There's also the fact that Hal and Barry met before the league was formed, and even when they met Batman and Superman, Hal wanted him and Barry to work it out on their own. (Barry refused because someone has to put prudence on their duo)

And we have the fact that in the story of how they met, Hal calls it his “first date”. (Let's pretend he didn't say that when he and Barry weren't literally on what looked like a date, where they went to dinner at a restaurant where there was live jazz music and Hal actually had a good time sitting on Barry's cell phone).

(Hal hates jazz, but he's still there with Barry at a dinner party while putting up with music he doesn't really like. That's pretty.)

I think it was also in this comic where Hal lets Barry use his ring to get you both out of there.

There's also universe 36 where we have two variants of Green Lantern and Flash that canonically speaking are couple. It is worth remembering that the two of them did not stay together, since in an event they participated in, the Flash of their universe dies. (It seems there can't be a crisis without a sprinter dying) Luckily at DC Pride they made the green lantern of their land look for their Flash, and they revived and were happy.

(They're supposed to be neither Hal nor Barry, but the truth, their designs and even their names feel like very inspired by them, so I scored it as a little extra point although I don't know if you can consider it).

We have DC vampires that although in that universe, Hal kills Barry because they won't let him turn him into a vampire because he would end up killing everybody. Hal finally gives us that line where he admits that he REALLY wanted to conquer the world with Barry, which kind of fuels his tragic gay romance.

Anyway, I would like to go longer, but I can't find some panels that I was looking for to explain me more, plus I feel that this is already long enough and meaningless to make it clear that I love them both. I just want to add that I think probably the thing I like most about them is that they both admire each other. Both their heroic parts and their civilian parts, and I think that's very sweet and nice, added to the fact that they're always there trying to support each other or show off parts of their personality that you can't appreciate with all their friends to the same extent. I like that they always have symbolism and like many times in the comics it refers to some moments that they have lived together. This makes me have the theory in my head that maybe some cartoonists and writers also like them in a sense beyond friendship, but since NOBODY dares to take the leap of faith and make them canon, they let us drop some crumbs so as not to lose faith.

(If anyone got here, thank you so much for reading all this even though it doesn't make much sense in some parts, I apologize for that and make up for it with some panels of them two)

[artist-issues]

What kind of music/which artists do you like?

This is going to be a long answer! Twenty One Pilots is the only band I can definitively say is my favorite. They're in a different league than all the other bands or artists rattling around in my brain, close to the same way C.S. Lewis is in a league of his own in my brain when it comes to storytellers. Theres another ask I answered on my blog where I talked about why and how—I've loved them for twelve years. I'll put a whole ramble about them under the cut if you want to hear more about that.

I love Kings Kaleidoscope. Same types of topics as Twenty One Pilots, but with more overt Christianity and worship. So much as I prefer and love TøP, I'll always recommend Kings first.

I also love the Gray Havens for all the allegories and Lewisian imagery. And Sarah Sparks' Into the Lantern Wastes, for the same reason! Some of my favorite songs right now are by Gable Price and Friends. My easy listening is Needtobreathe and The Oh Hellos!

I love that Twenty One Pilots' music is super genuine. And I don't mean it like everyone else seems to when they talk about, like, NF singing about his grief and anger or Taylor Swift singing about her femininity in the genre, or whatever. I mean, if you look at Tyler Joseph's background and then look at the specific way he chooses to word things, you realize he's not just being genuine about the way he feels. He's being genuine about the way he thinks, and how those two things connect—and how wrong he often is. And how silly our culture's patterns of thought are, too.

That's harder to do. Because essentially what NF and Swift and artists like them are doing is they're just sharing with you. They're telling you about themselves. And sure, there is a type of vulnerability to that. But it's one thing to make a statement about yourself—it's another thing to use a statement about yourself to make a larger, more important point. That's a type of self-sacrifice and honesty that actually helps others, instead of just shines a spotlight on you and how relatable or raw or great you are.

I mean, obviously, you can't have "a larger, more important point" without also having "a genuine statement about yourself"—because if the people you're talking to don't trust you or relate to you or feel like you understand them, on some level, then they don't want to hear your "larger, more important point." But the fact is, with Twenty One Pilots, it's not all about them. They're uncomfortably honest about themselves because they want you to be I comfortably honest with yourself, about yourself, to lead you OUTSIDE of yourself.

And to God. I believe to God.

Anyway. Examples of what I'm talking about from their work below, in case you care, and haven't heard them, and just thought they were the latest indie-emo My Chemical Romance or that I just like them for the teen-angst-nostalgia of it all—

"Hello, I've been traveling in the desert of my mind," (which is from Addict With a Pen, a song about doubt and a crisis of faith and apathy, and my unmatched favorite) is such a smart way to talk about what it's like in the human brain. And how morbid and dry and lifeless it actually is in there, when you keep turning to yourself and looking inward for answers.

It's a desert in here. The water/Truth you need to survive comes from outside of your brain—and you have to constantly be reminded of the Truth/water from the outside, because the more you keep it in your head and analyze it, the more prone you are to only analyzing it as a form of control over it, when all its power to help you in the first place actually came from the fact that the Truth is outside you, bigger than you, beyond your control. Once you measure Truth by what you can understand/control, you've stripped it of its authority over you, and its authority over you was what was helping you. It was where faith came in. So then it "drains." And you have to shake yourself out of your brain and go back to looking outside of yourself, humbly, for answers. Asking God to wash you, give you a feeling and a faith that you can't produce by willing yourself to have it or thinking as hard as you can about it.

Or, "Mindless zombies walking around with a limp and an hunch, saying stuff like 'you only live once.'" (Thats from Heavydirtysoul.) That's such a smart way to say that. Mindless zombies—zombies literally feed on living brains, they're happy to consume other people's thoughts, but they don't have any of their own—they're "walking around with a limp and a hunch," so first off, they're moving, but it's slowly, and haltingly, because they're dead. Not really going anywhere, just going through the motions of living. And then "with a hunch" not only adds to that visual of them going through decaying, useless motion, but "hunch" can also just mean a gut impulse, an idea that's not fully thought out. The zombies need to quit talking like they're "seizing the day" while they are actually just going through the motions of life, never thinking seriously about why they do what they do, or what they believe.

He says some of the same idea in Car Radio, which is all about the good and the bad of thinking, and he claims he "will try to come across like I am dying to let you know you need to try to think." But then at the same time, there are repeated themes through songs like Trapdoor and Migraine that "nothing kills a man faster than his own head," or "sometimes to stay alive you gotta kill your mind." And back to Addict With a Pen.

Basically what I'm saying is Twenty One Pilots is so genuine that they get to a place where they say, "it's important to pay attention to why you think what you think and feel how you feel —but never to let your thoughts or feelings control you. You control them. Let your thoughts and feelings lead you to what's true—which is that you're broken, and so are those thoughts and feelings—so what are you going to believe in, instead of them?"

At least, that's the core of what I love about them. And they used to seem much clearer, in their own way, about what they thought everyone should believe in: God. Who else knows your own head and feelings better than you do—but is still 100% more trustworthy as a compass than you are?

Nowadays it feels a little like they've fallen in love with analyzing the thoughts and feelings. Like that figure focusing so hard on the little drop of truth in his hand in Addict With a Pen, when what he really needs to do is realize he can't hold onto it and needs the Water to hold onto him. But that's okay. I mean, as long as they don't stay there.

[stackslip]

Always embarrassing to like smth people are saying sucks (and scary in case you watch it and end up agreeing with them) so that's why I'm on anon but I strongly disagree with the people saying Code Geass is fun but not good (paraphrased badly). It IS a fantastic show actually. Here's my very long essay about why you should watch it.

I got my brother interested in rgu by comparing it to Code Geass bc it's his favorite show. You'll be disappointed if you're expecting them to be actually similar, bc they're not really, but they have a similar tone in that it switches rapidly between Serious Plot and Touga Punches a Kangaroo. There's an episode where they have to chase a cat and that's what they do that day. The plot isn't all that similar and the comedy isn't all that similar but it's similarly inconsistent in swapping between the two. And I would argue that it doing this is thematically relevant, bc it's a double life show. Lelouch has his alter ego as Zero and when he's Zero everything feels different to when he's Lelouch. School life is just stupid in comparison, and he's constantly frustrated by it. His school life is pretty much just a humiliating liability, but he can't easily abandon it, so he just has to live with the fact that in between fighting in giant robots he has go to pizza parties (sponsored by Pizza Hut tee em) and whoops! It's Valentine's Day so everyone in the school has to wear heart hats and if a girl knocks off his hat they get to kiss him!!! And he's forced to take that seriously even though he knows how dumb it is and would much rather be commanding robots.

Now look. I do have to warn you. There is a part where he says if he wins the revolution he's gonna make the United States of Japan. That part isn't good. I want you to know I know that part is bad. The politics of this show are Not Always Great. HOWEVER. When I was watching, the main thing that compelled me politically about it was the contrast between Suzaku as the person who wants to Change Things From the Inside vs Lelouch who wants to actually just shoot the people who are oppressing you. Suzaku sucks and the show knows it and I like the show knowing it.

I'm not gonna argue this is a show with generally good politics, but it's not a show that actually cares a whole lot about, like, how a country should be run. The bad guys say fascist shit about like the strong ruling over the weak and the natural order, and they're racist against Japanese people, and the good guys want. I dunno, Freedom. Democracy. United States of Japan. They're bad guys and good guys. That's not what the show is about. The show is about the specific motivations of our important characters. Lelouch talks about wanting Japan to be free or whatever but he makes it very clear from the beginning that the Only thing he Actually cares about is creating a world where his little sister can be happy. And later on you find out what the evil emperor guy is trying to do too (although it's kinda more abstract and weird. Arguably another point of comparison between this and rgu, when it cares more about themes than about telling you What's Actually Happening). I guess I shouldn't act like the political positions of the two sides are irrelevant, but I really don't think it's the focus. Lelouch's politics are My Sister and secondarily I suppose Free Japan if I have time. Suzaku's politics are Free Japan but also you have to be niceys to the government and do what they say bc they're in charge :). The freedom fighters' politics are Free Japan. The Brittanian's politics are We Do What We Want. It's not gonna be a realistic depiction of a good revolution bc the writers didn't know anything about those.

And here I suppose I have to say that I last watched it probably years ago when my politics were worse, so maybe the politics are generally worse than I remember. But my point is you should treat the specific politics stuff like you treat the chess stuff. No one in the writers' room knew how to play chess. They probably didn't bother to watch someone play chess before writing it. When Lelouch says you should move your king first bc "how can a king expect his subjects to lead if he stays back and does nothing" laugh at it and take it as a thematic statement about Lelouch's beliefs. When he says United States of Japan laugh at it and. Well I suppose that one isn't even thematic. You see what I mean though.

Another warning is that there's a specific Very Important plot point that doesn't really make sense and feels really dumb and cheap. That specific thing genuinely does undermine a lot of the show, because it happens kinda suddenly and is very serious and the whole rest of the show is majorly impacted by it and it's very difficult to ignore that that Doesn't Make Sense At All. And you're supposed to be really upset and like. It just doesn't make sense. The second time I watched it it didn't feel as egregious as the first time but the first time I think I almost stopped watching. My advice is to do your best to pretend it makes sense bc I think the results of that thing are actually interesting.

Generally, I think that's the important thing to remember actually. Maybe that's my thesis. Of the essay. Yeah, that sounds smart. Code Geass is a show that doesn't always make total sense, and even when it mostly makes sense it's frequently Really Dumb, so like I can see why people might come away with the impression that it's just a silly nothing show where robots fight and he says United States of Japan. But genuinely I think there's a lot to get from it thematically if you can take it just seriously enough to see what it's trying to do.

There's more I kinda wanna say but I think I need to text my mom back and I can't save asks as drafts. Um um last two points, first, how much you like the show probably depends at least a little on your tolerance for Anime Geniuses knowing everything and pulling bullshit, I don't think Lelouch is as bad in that department as Light Yagami but smth to consider. And second don't watch the movies. The movies suck.

honestly anon i'm genuinely charmed by your sheer passion for this. it feels like it's mirroring me when i defend my fave flawed media including me with fma 03 tbh. like YES it sucks the politics suck but IT IS compelling. that's the kind of shit i enjoy most, ngl. you've made your case convincingly. i think what i really hate is when people claim something is The Most Perfect Thing Ever and then you watch it and it's dogshit in a number of ways that people absolutely refuse to acknowledge and definitely some code geass fans are Like That but also your talking about it kinda echoes how some friends i trust have been talking about it too. i think i'm still gonna go in with low expectations if/when i do watch it, mostly bc that allows me to be pleasantly surprised by something the series DOES do well.

also i grew up on 2000s shounen and seinen. my tolerance for anime bullshit is extremely high as long as i'm into what it's doing thematically or character wise tbh

[xxlady-lunaxx]

Will you love me? | {KokuZan}

Theme: Floof mostly

Note: Modern AU? They're sons of two businessmen who are working together (idk make it up), they're not dating yet- 

Muzan's dating Uta (I DONT SHIP THIS OK ITS JS FOR THE PLOT)

Koku's single :3 

aaand a bit of YoriiUta

×××

Yoriichi had always been the favorite. The favorite child, the media's favorite, the school's favorite. Michikatsu shadowed him almost always, only approached so people could get Yoriichi's number. Occasionally, people would go up to Michikatsu to get to know him, but it usually involved ulterior motives such as gaining fame or having some 'friend with benefits'. It tended to be women who were like this and, in fact, Michikatsu had absolutely no interest in them.

Days, months, years of being overshone by Yoriichi made life pretty much like being the background actor in a show—nobody knew or cared who you were, barely even noticed you. Sometimes even his own parents.

So it was strange when, one day, his parents told them both that they would be working with some other business. They invited the family who owned the business over for dinner. Interestingly, they also had a son, around Michikatsu and Yoriichi's age. The three of them were sent upstairs so the adults would talk about 'more important matters.'

The son was a bit on the shorter side with short, cropped black hair and intense red eyes. His name was Muzan, he said. But it wasn't about who he was, or how he looked. More about where his attention was drawn to.

Usually, people turned to Yoriichi, having recogonized him from some modeling in a magazine Michikatsu had never heard about before. But this time, Muzan addressed Michikatsu first with, what seemed like, genuine curiosity in his gaze.

"You're Michikatsu, right?" he asked.

Michikatsu and Yoriichi both stared at him, stunned. Having expected the attention to be droven to his younger brother, Michikatsu had already positioned himself behind Yoriichi. So when Muzan had spoken, not to Yoriichi, but to Michikatsu, the twins both stood there, half wondering if this was their imagination.

Then, perhaps getting a grip of himself, Yoriichi, relieved, drew the spotlight onto Michikatsu, stepping back to give the two space.

"I... Yeah, I am," Michikatsu said. He wondered how Yoriichi did this, constantly having to talk to random people he'd never met before but seemed to know way too much about him. Or just having to talk to people in general. "Uh... How do you know me?"

Muzan laughed. "You're the brother of Mr. Famous here, how would I not know you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Yeah, well, nobody bothers to learn my name," Michikatsu said scornfully. He sounded childish. Oh, whatever.

"Why not?" Muzan asked, frowning.

Yoriichi let out a breath.

"Yoriichi, here, is always the center of attention," Michikatsu said, trying to sound lighthearted. "People love him best."

"I'd prefer if they didn't, though," Yoriichi interjected, sounding guilty. "I dislike it."

Michikatsu lifted a shoulder. "Guess we're born to get everything we don't want."

"I get that," Muzan said, nodding. "Uta—my girlfriend—is always being pushed aside when people recognize me in public."

Girlfriend? And, for seemingly no reason, Michikatsu felt a momentary frown curve his lips down—before catching himself and plastering on a smile. "Well, welcome to the club to her, then..."

Muzan shook his head. "It's got to be very annoying, hasn't it? Personally, I like being in attention," he admitted, a grin growing on his face, before falling. "But it's hard for Uta, which makes it hard for our relationship in general."

"Ah. Maybe we should meet sometime. You and Yoriichi can walk down a red carpet and Uta and I could be your shadows..." Michikatsu offered. What kind of person was Uta? If she experienced something similar to himself, would Muzan perhaps be interested in Michikatsu in the future...? 

Yoriichi shook his head. "I'd rather be the shadow."

"Well, you don't always get what you want," Michikatsu said, a bitter laugh growing on his tongue.

Muzan sighed. "Sorry."

"What?" both of the Tsugikuni's asked, turning back to him.

"I'm the only one content with my position-ish," Muzan said, shrugging. "I feel bad."

"What, did you cause all of this?" Michikatsu asked, raising an eyebrow.

"...yep. I... cast a magic spell on you before you were born to get exactly what you don't want," Muzan said, raising his hands and wiggling his fingers in what was probably supposed to look like a sinister move—but looked ridiculous.

Yoriichi rolled his eyes.

"You look younger than us," Michikatsu said, lips quirking in a smile.

"...I am. But that doesn't matter," Muzan said, frowning. 

"Whatever you say."

×××

They ended up meeting Uta only a couple days later. Muzan had visited again with his parents and had brought her along. Yoriichi and Uta seemed to get along quickly—though their personalities seemed like polar opposites. Uta was like a ball of sunshine, very enthusiastic and Michikatsu wondered why she was neglected by the public. But, then again, Michikatsu had always been the social one.

"Uta seems nice," Michikatsu remarked, as he and Muzan wandered over to a different room.

"Yep! She's very sweet," Muzan said. Then paused, looking uncomfortable. "Oh, but there's something else..."

Michikatsu tilted his head in his direction. "Hm?"

"Okay, uhm." Muzan looked behind him and, once comfirming that nobody was there, turned back. "Don't tell her, okay?"

Michikatsu raised an eyebrow. "Tell her what?"

"I'm getting to that! Right, so, uhm... Yeah, I care for her a lot and everything... but..." Muzan hesitated.

"Go on. I won't say anything," Michikatsu assured him.

"Uh... I... I think I'm gay," Muzan blurted out. 

Michikatsu blinked. "What-"

"I don't know, or maybe I'm just bi or whatever. But, like, either I'm just losing feelings for her or I'm realizing I'm not into women because... because there's this other guy who I think I like and, well, yeah. I don't know how to tell her since I really do care about her a lot but, I just... Don't know," Muzan said, defeated.

Michikatsu patted him awkwardly. "You should probably just talk to her about it."

"I know..." Muzan whined. "I don't know how!"

"Don't know how to what?"

Muzan and Michikatsu turned to see Uta and Yoriichi walking towards them.

"Ehm..." Muzan hesitated and glanced at Michikatsu who gave him an encouraging look. 

Uta stopped, giving him a curious smile. "Hm?"

"I... uh... Nevermind. I'll tell you later," Muzan said quickly, plastering on a smile.

Uta nodded. "Alright! I have to go now, also." She waved her phone on the air. "My mother texted me."

"Ohhh, 'kay, 'kay," Muzan agreed. "See you later?"

"Mhm! I'll text you," Uta said with a smile. She turned to Yoriichi. "It was nice meeting you too!"

Yoriichi nodded. "It was."

Uta waved to Michikatsu then bounded towards the stairs on her way out.

Muzan and Michikatsu turned to Yoriichi who was watching Uta go.

"Do... you like her?" Muzan asked, a sly grin growing on his face.

Yoriichi snapped his head towards him, eyes wide. "What? No! Isn't she your girlfriend, anyways?"

Muzan rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah..."

Yoriichi frowned. "Is there something you have to say?"

Muzan lifted a shoulder. "Kinda? I may or may not be losing feelings for her."

Yoriichi raised an eyebrow. "She seems very likeable, though..."

"So you do like her?" Muzan asked, pointing at him. 

"Wha- No!" he protested.

Michikatsu watched them, his own thoughts mulling. So... if Muzan liked this other 'guy', that meant he liked a man, which meant Michikatsu had even more of a chance. Although he wasn't quite sure why it mattered. 

×××

Muzan and Uta started visiting more throughout the following month, on their own time. Michikatsu and Yoriichi occasionally visiting Muzan's house as well. They never went out in public, of course, but it was still very fun. They usually refrained from visiting people or having others visit since usually it turned into a fiasco. But it was fun, now.

Uta and Yoriichi were spending more time together whilst Muzan and Michikatsu were usually elsewhere, and Muzan still hadn't managed to break the news to Uta.

However, finally, Michikatsu persuaded him to tell her, saying it would only worsen their relationship if it continued on.

Muzan finally caved and agreed. So now Michikatsu and Yoriichi were spying on the two as Muzan drew up the courage to tell her.

Uta sat on Muzan's bed, organizing his things since he was, in fact, the messiest person to exist. Muzan entered, his nervousness clear on his face. He sat down beside her and she looked up with a smile.

"Hi!" she said, closing one of the drawers she'd been placing things in.

"Hey... Uhhh, Uta, can I talk to you?" he asked, eyes darting to and fro.

"Of course. What's wrong?" she said, placing her hands on her lap. 

"So... I... want to..." He paused. "Break up?"

She blinked. "What?"

"Sorry. I still care about you a lot, but I think I might be into men. I don't know for sure if it's only, but I don't see myself liking you the way I used to, I guess," Muzan said, talking quickly.

"Oh!" She frowned. "Am I doing something wrong?"

He shook his head frantically. "No, no, you're doing amazingly! I just don't like you... romantically anymore, I'm sorry. It's not your fault."

"Oh. Okay," she said, nodding slowly.

"You're... fine with it?" he asked.

She nodded again. "Its your own choice and your emotions. It's fine."

He smiled. "Thanks. This is why you're the best."

She laughed. "I wouldn't say I'm the best. Will you tell me how you figured this out, though?"

Muzan coughed. "There's... this person I like. A boy. Uhm..."

Uta's eyes lit up, seemingly forgetting the previous conversation. "Tell me about him. Do I know him?"

Muzan nodded. "Yeah."

"What's his name?" she asked.

"I'm... not telling you that," Muzan said, glancing towards where Michikatsu and Yoriichi were hiding.

Uta raised an eyebrow, leaning closer. "Tell me!"

"...Later," he said.

"Promise?"

"...yeah."

×××

"Yoriichi, you like Uta, right?" Muzan asked, leaning against the door frame. Uta had left and hour ago and Michikatsu and Yoriichi were about to go, having been called home by their parents.

Yoriichi shied away, averting his eyes. 

"Just tell her!" Muzan said encouragingly. "...but maybe after she tells you more formally that she and I broke up. Because she doesn't know you were stalking us."

"I wasn't stalking. And Michikatsu was too..." Yoriichi mumbled.

Muzan laughed. "Just do it, okay?"

Yoriichi nodded slowly. "Eventually."

"I didn't know you could be so shy," Michikatsu said pointedly as he and Yoriichi slipped into the backseat of the car quickly, tugging off the masks they had worn to avoid recognition.

"Shut up," Yoriichi huffed, looking away. He paused and looked back. "Don't you like Muzan?"

Michikatsu rolled his eyes, feeling his face heat up. "I do not!"

"Mhm. I've seen how you look at him," Yoriichi said, his own sort of smugness forming on his face as he gained the upperhand. 

"Uhm. I look at him normally!" Michikatsu protested, though he was sure his cheeks betrayed him. 

Yoriichi nodded—though in the most mocking manner. "Yes, very normally. Intensely, too, I may add."

Michikatsu spluttered for a response then opted to cross his arms, looking out the one-sided window as the streets rolled by. 

Did he like Muzan? Probably. Yes, he did. But the thing was, Muzan was probably not into him. He already had his eyes set on someone, he'd said. So... it was time to throw away any wishful thinking and put himself straight.

×××

...It didn't work.

Despite trying to think of anything else, putting his focus into whatever the hell his parents expected of him, literally doing the most random things ever, his mind would wander back to Muzan. It seemed sudden but, maybe, it was just some self-awareness that brought him to realize how much he'd actually been thinking about Muzan.

But then, it didn't matter if he did or didn't like Muzan. There wasn't that high of a chance for Muzan to like him, and he'd just broken up with Uta, so...

And yet.

(rushing this bc i'm lazy LMFAO)

Muzan texted him one day, asking if he wanted to come over. Obviously, Michikatsu said yes. Yoriichi was focused on something or other and was unable to come, so he arrived at the house alone.

Muzan let him in, guiding him to the room, talking about the most random things. They sat down—Muzan on his bed, Michikatsu on a chair. 

"Why'd you invite me over?" Michikatsu asked at one point, when the conversation paused. 

Muzan lifted a shoulder. "Just... bored? I guess?" he said. It was plausible. It just didn't sound genuine.

"Ooookay," Michikatsu said slowly, drawing out the word. "Are you doing anything this week?" he asked.

Muzan thought for a moment. "Yeah. I think I'm busy."

"You think?"

"I didn't look over the schedule," he said, a quick smirk flitting over his face. "They gave it to me and I only saw there was a lot written. I just tossed it aside... somewhere."

Michikatsu raised an eyebrow. "For someone who likes the fame, you're very bad at keeping it."

"Hey, people still love me, no?" Muzan said, flashing him a grin and leaning back against a mountain of pillows. 

Michikatsu laughed. "Sure."

"Anyways... Speaking of love," Muzan said, averting his eyes.

So this was what Muzan had asked him over for. "Yes?" 

"The... You know the boy I liked?" Muzan asked, still no meeting his eyes.

Michikatsu nodded—then realized Muzan couldn't see that. "Yes, I do. Liked? Did you stop liking him?"

"No, no," Muzan said, looking up quickly and shaking his head. "I still like him."

"Ah. Who is it?"

Muzan frowned. "About that."

"Hm?"

"It's you."

Michikatsu took a moment to process the words, staring blankly at Muzan. "...Huh?"

"It's you," Muzan repeated patiently, a slow blush rising in his cheeks. "I like you."

"...What?" Michikatsu had, in fact, still not comprehended what he was hearing.

"I like you, okay? I know it's weird and everything, especially since we haven't even known each other for over a year or whatever, I don't know, I'm sorry," Muzan ranted, stumbling over his words. 

"I... I-" Michikatsu was at loss of what to say, his head spinning. What??

Muzan groaned, grabbing a pillow and stuffing his face in it, screaming through gritted teeth. "Fuuck... Sorry, sorry, forget it all. Forget what I said," he mumbled, his words muffled by the pillow. "Sorry. I don't want to make it weird for you. Pretend I never said anything."

Michikatsu shook his head—realizing not for the first time that Muzan couldn't see him—and said, quietly, "It's not that. I don't... not like you? It's not that I don't like you, I like you, I don't not like you, I didn't know you liked me, I thought you didn't like me, I didn't know you didn't not like me." Then blinked, realizing he wasn't making sense.

Muzan had looked up. "Could you repeat that...?" he asked, after Michikatsu was done with his rant of nonsense. 

"I... Sorry. Yes," Michikatsu said, letting out a breath.

"You don't have to say sorry," Muzan said. 

"...You just said it more times than I did," he pointed it.

"Okay, true, sorry, go on."

Michikatsu raised an eyebrow but said nothing of it. "I meant that my silence wasn't because I dislike you or anything. I do like you... the same way? I think? Assuming you like me romantically... I didn't say anything before because you were dating Uta, and then you weren't really giving signs that you liked me, so..."

Muzan nodded slowly. "So you like me back?—ALSO I DID GIVE SIGNS." 

"You did not. And yes, I do," Michikatsu said with a quick nod, turning his head away, heat flickering in his face.

"Then... can we date?" Muzan asked, so suddenly Michikatsu jolted.

"Wha- I- ...yes," Michikatsu said, his face turning beet red.

Muzan laughed. "What's with all this blushing??"

"I'm... not!" 

"You are."

"Your question was just random," Michikatsu murmured. 

"It wasn't at all. Can I kiss you?" Muzan asked, grinning as Michikatsu turned an impossibly darker shade of red. "Your head is going to burst if you keep blushing."

"I'm... not blushing...!" Michikatsu insisted, though even the stupidest person could tell him he was.

"Sure, but are you going to answer me?" Muzan said, changing the subject.

"...Okay."

"Okay you'll answer or okay I can kiss you?" he asked, putting the pillow aside and standing up.

"...both?" Michikatsu said tentatively, hands fiddling on his lap.

Muzan smiled and promptly plopped onto the desk, a finger curling under Michikatsu's chin, tilting his head up.

"I don't... like this position," Michikatsu mumbled, frowning slightly. 

Muzan quirked an eyebrow. "No? You're still redder than a ripe tomato."

"...shut up."

"Make me," Muzan challenged, eyes glinting with mischief.

Michikatsu was hit with a sudden burst of confidence from who knows where; perhaps he had stolen it from Muzan. Nevertheless, he stood, coming a bit higher than Muzan despite the fact that he was sitting on the desk. He cupped Muzan's head in his hands, pulling him forward slightly. There was a sliver of space between their lips and Michikatsu waited, wondering if this was too much. Then Muzan leaned forward slightly and all was forgotten, his eyes fluttering close as their mouths fit together, the plush of Muzan's lips against his own.

The kiss was brief but sweet and when they pulled apart, they looked away simutaneously, a shy blush powdering their cheeks.

Then the door burst open and they scrambled back; Muzan pressed against the wall behind his desk, Michikatsu nearly tripping over the chair.

Uta barged in, a bag in her hand, arms raised up and a triumphant smile on her face. She took one look at them and quickly left, shutting the door behind her.

Muzan and Michikatsu blinked, then turned to stare at each other. There was a beat of silence before both burst into an awkward, nervous laugh as Michikatsu straightened himself up, fixing the chair. 

"So..." Muzan said casually, hopping down from the desk. 

Michikatsu tilted his head, looking down at him. "Hm?"

"You're my boyfriend now."

"And you're mine," Michikatsu agreed with a faint smile.

"Great. I'm going to go brag to Uta now, considering that she's here already," Muzan said. 

"No, don't-" Michikatsu whined, but Muzan was already striding out the door, deaf to his protests.

×××

« Word count: 2953 »

pretend this is good 💀

[aleksanderscult]

Hii girlie I was thinking about our shadow child a bit ago. And I remembered two separate scenes from two separate characters, but are very similar (the scenes). And yet they have very opposite responses. I’m talking about when Aleksander put shadows into Baghra’s eyes, and when Kaz pulled out a man’s eyeball. I made my own (very) little take on it but I love how you analyse scenes, and would like to hear your opinion why they're seen differently. Thanks byee

Hey, bestie!! Thank you for your kind words! 🥹💗

Ah yes... One of my most favorite type of tea to spill. Hypocrisy ☕

In order to see why they're seen as different we'll have to analyse the circumstances first.

The Darkling

Betrayed by his mother, a woman that is constantly seen as old and frail, who sent away the girl he both fell in love with and wanted her power to protect his country and people. So basically she committed treason (and she got away with it really lightly, if you ask me. Hell. If the King had found out, he would have her beheaded in the spot).

The punishment? He clouded her eyes with the black mist of the Fold. Some even theorize that she could take away that mist with her own powers but she didn't (my own opinion in this, is that she couldn't). It was a punishment that the Darkling could reverse at any time.

How did he feel about it?

Well... I'll let these passages talk for themselves:

He was hurt that he had to do this to his mother. He didn't take any pleasure from it.

Kaz

He was ambushed by Oomen, a man that is portrayed as frightening and disgusting, and who tried to kill the woman Kaz was secretly in love with.

The punishment? He plucked out his eyes. No reversing option in that. 🤷

How did he feel about it?

Uhh...nothing?

Now the differences are the following:

1) Baghra is seen as a frail, old woman that helped the MC not fall into the jaws of the bad guy. While Oomen is seen as cruel, strong and dangerous:

and he tried to mess up with the MC's love interest.

2) The relation the victims have with the offender. Baghra was the Darkling's mother. So the fans ask "How could he do such a thing to his own mother?!?" While Oomen is nothing for Kaz. He was a character that came and went from this book.

3) The way the perpetrators are seen and "painted" by the narrative and author ('cause readers almost always get affected by it). The Darkling was seen as a terrifying figure that inspired fear and respect since the beginning of the book. Also, the fact that he was "revealed" to be a "manipulative, bad guy" by Baghra herself in the middle of the book did nothing to give a good light on him. On the contrary, it only enhanced the conviction of the reader that "Yes, he must be an evil bastard to do such a thing to his mother. Baghra was right and the people were right". On the other hand, we have Kaz who is seen as a frightening figure too but!

A) We have his POVs, so we can glimpse his actions and feelings first handed (the Darkling never had that chance. And THAT is why POVs are important!) and it's easier for the reader to see his own side of the story (with the Darkling we don't have his side of the story throughout the trilogy).

B) he's a bad guy that is secretly in love with a girl. And YA readers eat that shit up every time. They naturally act like: "Oh he's a bad boy that has a secret crush! He killed for her! So romantic! 😍😭". While with the Darkling, the readers think he did it because he's a jerk. And, as we all know, the majority of antis think he wasn't in love with Alina. So he only punished his mother because of his "evil fury" and for the fact that she took away his chance to gain more power.

So Kaz has the advantage because he had the opportunity to show himself through his POVs and is "painted" by the author as cruel but badass and in love with a girl. While poor Aleksander never had one POV from that trilogy so we don't know his own side of the story and the author mostly "paints" him as an evil mastermind.

Oh! And let's see the aftermath of what happened after Oomen got thrown overboard!

Aha... He threatened one of his gang members to shut up otherwise...

And let's not forget how Kaz promised Oomen two things!

*five minutes later Oomen gets yeeted*

*five seconds later Kaz throws Oomen's ass to the depths of the black sea*

Kaz didn't feel anything while for the Darkling it pained him to do this to his mother. He didn't want to but she turned out to be a traitor who took away his hope, his joy and the girl he loved. In R&R he even offered to take her back home and I bet he felt even more regret for what he did to her after she committed suicide.

Do the Math yourselves 🙂

[emophilzablr]

WILBUR SOOT CHART ANALYSIS.

— Most of my analysis focus more on the negative impacts simply for the fact that I am attempting to contextualize most of his actions we discuss, as we talk mostly about his love life and his lyrics, and well, the bad parts of him, since we are critical. Though I will talk about positive aspects at a lot of points. I chose to do from Sun to Mars as those are the most "important" aspects, I might do something on the more secondary placements another day. Enjoy! Send asks and curiouscats about it, if you have something to say.

Virgo sun, 2nd house.

Plus, Virgos look for something concrete, while the rest of him, we will get to it, is kind of fighting against it. Virgo is Wilbur’s essence, it's who he truly is, it's the most important aspect, so for him to heal this part, specially as his.

His Sun is in the second house which might cause most of his insecurities, Wilbur seeks security, he seeks to do exactly right, the moment he fails at relationships, at any goal, it's prone to destroying him. Every failure is hell.

Libra Moon, 3rd house.

Here we get to the hell in and out of it itself, so Libra moon by itself is not a problem, yet, in this house and in conjunction with Virgo, it really causes a reaction of emotions that is rather complicated. Because here it is, Virgo already needs to have strong connections, they can though live without them, Libra moon cannot, it's absolutely horrifying to not have, Libra needs desperately to have a partnership with someone, living without it can cause a deep, deep set, emptiness. Also, there's a trait shared by Virgo and Libra moon, their ability to find problems everywhere, specially in other people, which causes conflict, and after that, the feeling of losing this partnership because of this problem, once again, destroys him.

And now the 3rd house, where it all goes even more to shit, Virgos are rational, avoid emotions, so to balance that out, the moon should act as a facilitator to that, but well, as much as Libra moon is not bad at feelings, the 3rd house is. It's 8 or 80, emotions are either extremely rationalized and looked over, avoided, or it's in big bursts. AND AND AND, this we saw so CLEARLY in him, his opinions are always changing, and there's a tendency of him to change for people, change who he is. ALSO!!!!! This placement has something very important, they seek a change of scenery, they need to move constantly, start new things, because they will get anxious and restless with, well, settling with something and staying somewhere for a long time.

Plus, I don't even have to explain, this moon placement also really really is influenced by early childhood memories, so the struggles of his childhood are very, very influential in who he is.

Leo rising.

This one kinda makes me feel bad for him, so basically, Leo risings are painfully self aware and conscious of their appearance and how they're sounding, that remembering every person who ever rejected him fits this so perfectly. Now, put that together with Virgo, his insecurities are SO strong in his life, like he's so insecure it's SAD.

But most of who he is comes from it too, Leo risings are always popular, always take leading roles, always start shit, the band, the content creation, the writing of lore, as much as his insecurities come from here too, he's also always going to be popular, because it's part of his nature. He has a natural charm that is seen in Libra moon too.

Virgo mercury, 2nd/3rd house

It's a good placement to be honest, it does end up bringing insecurity too but, it just means he's intelligent, good communicator, curious, likes to go deep, to create, pay attention to details, though he really enjoys being known by his intelligence so any time he isn't, it definitely isn't his favorite thing.

Both 2nd and 3rd houses are great, big highlight on intelligence and big highlight on creativity, also big nerd, loves reading, researching, being connected and having interests. The 3rd house especially is crazy, he has so many interests, and he always goes deep in them.

This placement literally says, this man is autistic, or at least autistic coded.

Leo Venus, 1st house.

That's what you guys want isn't it you cunts, let's talk about love. Well, if you want to know the good, they're love bombers, extreme love bombers, they will court you, they enjoy the chase, they need you, they will die for you. Well, for a while at least. The expectations are always extremely high, so high it's almost impossible to reach them, and when you do, they have this urge to be the absolute focus of your life, they want to be seen as God by you basically, that's where most his relationships fail, he imagines this relationship, and then gets hurt by the fact that reality isn't exactly what he thought it would be.

Wilbur is insecure, by nature, by every placement, so well, as much as some people might think not, him having this placement means he is incredibly high maintenance in love, incredibly so. He needs to be reassured, he needs to hear, he needs declarations. I think that's what killed him with Amelia, he wasn't the light of her life, and she replaced him, quickly. That scarred every single relationship he had ever since, that Libra factor of avoidance comes back here, he might leave and be bored before the person even proves themselves, because the trauma of having everything he wanted in love proven to him not true really scarred him.

Shubble could be in the same situation, the conflict of getting that spotlight from her and from other people, the expectations he put. ALL HIS PLACEMENTS WERE CONSPIRING AGAINST THEM! Absolutely insane.

He will not only love bomb btw, he will leave everyone and everything behind for a relationship, he deposits not only his self worth, but his happiness and his livelihood for LOVE! Silly, but so me and so bpd…

Talking about BPD, it's in the first house, which means, deep love can turn into DEEP resentment when it ends. Also he needs so badly to be liked by others that as well can cause all these feelings, not liking him, or rejecting him, can be seen as a crime.

Mars in Leo, 1st house.

Again, he needs admiration, he needs the spotlight, not having it is awful, simply not his reality. This placement reinforces that he needs to mean something, to be something, to be something great, something big, and it makes his fear of not being even deeper, all of his placements seem to simply reinforce each other, to deepen his fears and insecurities.

— Ending notes: Wilbur is an intelligent person, with leadership skills and a very very strong urge to be loved, to be devoted, to shine, to be something big. His biggest fears are the lack of that, the feeling of mediocrity, boringness, and settlement. He's anxious and insecure, to a point that it ruins most of the good things in his life, a natural overachiever, who never seems to rest. Hopeless romantic, he needs love, and quick, and deep, and intense, but also is afraid of it simply not being that, because trying made him realize it rarely is. He's interesting, high maintenance and sometimes hard to deal with, but still, all his placements show loyalty, charm, kindness and power.

This power especially, he needs to be in control of himself, of others, of how he is perceived and he needs to control his appearance to others, he strives to be perfect, universally loved, but always, no matter how much of that he seems to have. It simply isn't enough.

[questforgalas]

The Bad Batch HCs - Their PDA

On AO3

Crosshair

my sneaky link next to Obi-Wan and Rex

he's not much of a conversationalist. in fact, he's literally the worst with words and he knows this

so he lets his actions do the talking

he's not one to have his lips constantly attached to you in public, but he's making sure you know what you mean to him

his love language is physical touch, he needs you touching him and him touching you to feel peace

but again, he's not someone to be in peoples faces

master of subtle touches

hand on your lower back when you're standing side by side or lightly brushing as he passes you by

hand is gently on your shoulder as you all listen to the next steps in a mission

in quiet moments, he's pressing your back to his chest with his chin resting on top of your head/shoulder (depending on your height)

amongst the regs? ohhhh baby mr subtle touches suddenly becomes not so subtle

his arm is DRAPED around your shoulders in front of the regs and his smirk says "try something i dare you"

you give him a hard time but you L.O.V.E. it

Echo

look at him he's so freaking cute and admires rex so much

ANYWAY back on track

Echo is similar to Crosshair, he's not someone who's in your face but making sure you know how loved you are is important to him

however, he's significantly better with his words than Crosshair, but I digress

he doesn't mind PDA as long as it's subtle, again not needing to bring outside attention to your relationship to feel secure in it

you know that since Skako Minor he's self conscious about his cybernetics, and because of that he finds being able to hold your hand as precious as any kyber crystal

whether you're sitting on the Marauder or out in trading ports, he's gently grabbing your hand, rubbing circles with his thumb

he'll do it without realizing it while you're both relaxing, reading or catching up on reports

your favorite moments are when you know he's so relaxed and comfortable that he's softly humming to himself while he rubs his thumb across the back of your hand

Hunter

the sergeant of the batch takes his role as leader seriously

he wants his squad to feel comfortable and needs to be 140% when on missions

so because of that, he's not one for PDA unless you're on leave/down time

and even then, it's very very subtle

he's more about the subtle gestures

brushing your hair behind your ear, a quick peck on your cheek before he leaves the Marauder, or even just locking eyes across the room before the next step of a mission

they're all his ways of checking in making sure you're ok

in rare cases when you're both relaxing, usually when you're traveling in hyperspace, he'll rest his hand on your leg and rub circles with his thumb

if you both have the Marauder to yourselves, he gently pull your head to him and lay it on his shoulder, resting his head on top of yours while you finish reports for Cid

Wrecker

his affection to you is on the same level as towards his brothers which is loud and proud and affectionate (poor Crosshair)

he doesn't care about PDA. he'll hold you, kiss you, tease whenever and wherever he wants

his brothers adore his giant energy (yes even Cross as grumpy as he tries to be) so they don't bat an eye at his larger than life antics with his s/o

he'll have his arm draped around your shoulder anywhere you go, keeping you close to his side

and when he sees something exciting? he's grabbing your hand and pulling you with him with a boisterous "YEAH"

when he returns from his latest errand, he's not greeting anyone else until he's planted a giant kiss right on your lips

doesn't care who's in the room

when relaxing on the Marauder, he wants you in his lap with an arm wrapped around you

his love is as big as he is

Tech

this is my favorite gif of this sweet boy

Tech is not into much touch, if any at all

when you're intimate together, he's almost plastered to you, but outside of the bedroom he enjoys his personal space

he also isn't as comfortable as some of his brothers with showing affection in front of others

so the PDA with him is going to be minimal if at all

but he shows his affection and protection in other ways such as standing as close to you as you'll allow in public or around his brothers

during down time, he'll plop down to work on a project next to you wherever you are

he's much more about quality time than touching, just needing you near calms him

his only exception is pre and post mission because the only way to quiet his mind is by finding you and placing a kiss to your temple ensuring him you're safe

in that moment, he doesn't care who's around, he's going to make sure you're with him

[thaliagrayce]

i've been talking abt my voltron playlists and @iveofficiallygonemad asked to hear them and i want to share with anybody who wants!! i know they're not perfect, i'm working on them & trying to make them better. if you have any recommendations for any of them, let me know!! there's like A Lot and i want to give a lil explanation for most of them, so i'm putting them under the cut ^-^

SO first i have my favorite one <3 it's just. all of them. it's the whole team. it's a mess and it's a bunch of different genres because it's them fighting over the aux cord on a road trip. it's them trying to make each other laugh or annoy each other or play something catchy enough it will infect everyone in the vicinity with brain worms.

Hunk: i'm pretty happy with my Hunk playlist! chill vibes. he strikes me as the kind of guy who listens to calm music to try to find his own calm, and that's what i got here :)

Pidge: this is messier and less cohesive than my usual playlist because frankly i think pidge would have a shit taste in music. all over the board. this is a mix of meme songs and 8-bit covers and vocaloid and stuff that i think pidge would genuinely connect with, and i think pidge listens to all their music on shuffle without any regards for genre or mood because they're a gremlin. nobody gives pidge sole control of the aux.

Coran hears 80's music for the first time and loses his mind. He thinks ABBA is humanity's single greatest achievement.

Lance: i have ideas about where I'm going with this but haven't really settled yet. Lance seems like the kind of boy that loves to dance (is that canon? i forgot) so most of these are Bops That Make You Move in some way or another. he likes to present an upbeat face to the world, so there's no angsting in this playlist! we are clinging to the things that make us happy with both hands until our knuckles turn white!

Keith: i'm gonna be honest. i made him a playlist but i honestly don't think he cares about music very much. it's very important to some people! he's just not one of them! i haven't cracked this playlist open in a while but i'm pretty sure it's full of songs that i think he would conceivably train/work out to.

Shiro: this playlist involves the dumbest headcanon i have for shiro that has just not left me alone since i first thought of it. most of the playlist reflects the fact that he had an emo phase in middle school (that one isn't a headcanon, you just have to look at him to know) but BUT there are a few songs on here that are on here because. little known fact. he also went through a Twilight phase that he told nobody about. (keith knows. keith was there.) he has the entire twilight soundtrack memorized. he moved past the story but the music stays forever. he used to daydream about slow dancing to Flightless Bird, American Mouth. the first time Coran mentions that they have to avoid a place because there's a supermassive black hole there, he has to bite his tongue in order to keep a straight face. do NOT ask me why i believe this so wholeheartedly.

Allura's playlist sucks right now. I think it's because in my heart of hearts i know that, were she on earth today, she would go fucking nuts for taylor swift. i have ambivalent feelings for taylor swift. i cannot do allura justice like this. if you see my vision and have recs as to what might actually fit her, PLEASE.

Klance: i haven't done it yet but i'm gonna go through this and sort it to be a sort of progression of their relationship, starting with the more combative Rivalry songs, then slipping into "oh shit oh shit" songs, then maybe ending on the more lighthearted purely romantic songs <3

(i have two songs in a shallura playlist which does not at all encapsulate how much i'm obsessed with them. the tiny cop inside my head is just constantly screaming at me that i'm going to get yelled at for liking shallura. i am going to kill the cop inside my head.)

[acourtofthought]

Hello!

I need to vent how horrible the acotar fandom is.

This ship war has become hell. I can't stand to see how much they chase the girls (Elain and Gwyn) and exempt Azriel's contradictory actions.

Male chauvinist is very dominant as always, especially among such young girls.

Another one who suffers a lot from this is Lucien. The disrespect in theories is absurd, I doubt that Elain would like to be talked about the way they say about Lucien. Remembering that she defended Lucien from the love of her life Greyson in Acowar.

Absurd theories that Lucien is someone like Tamlin's father, Rhys' father or like Beron himself.

They say that acotar5 will be forbidden romance. Where they'll do it all behind Lucien's back like he deserves to be tricked or manipulated.

They place him as an aggressor and harasser, and he is a sexually and psychologically abused character.

They say the bond of mates is fake like Rowan, but they forget that the bond never existed. Rowan didn't feel that thread, and yet he loved Lirya and their child.

Aelin has great respect for Rowan's history, just as he does for her past and romances, unlike Azriel who sees Lucien as a nuisance and shows gratuitous disrespect.

Elriel stan are sometimes racist and make fun of the violence he suffered and even make fun of his disability.

I as Lucien Stan get sick of these things. How do you handle this fandom? Do you have any tips on how not to fall into the desperate Elriel's traps?

How do you think Elain would react to hearing the dismissive way Azriel says of Lucien? How do you think she would handle it if she heard about the Blood Duel idea?

Vent Away!! I understand your frustration because people have blown way past reason and logic and have entered into Mean Girl territory all in the name of fictional characters.

And pitting Elain and Gwyn against one another while treating Az like a poor baby who just needs to be "wuved" is disturbing.

This man TORTURES people. He starts fights in important political meetings because he can't control himself. He disobeys orders from his High Lord and High Lady.

Yes, what happened to Azriel is terrible and it's completely understandable why he's got issues. But constantly making excuses for him and giving him repeated forgiveness for his actions / behaviors while acting like two females under the age of 30 who very recently experienced major traumas and have not yet discovered who they're meant to be are the problem is crazy.

Elain and Gwyn are extremely parallel characters right now.

Both had older sisters who protected them. We know it's a fact for Elain and Gwyn tells us:

"Catrin was always the strong one" "After our mother died, she took care of me. Looked out for me."

Catrin was Gwyn's Nesta.

Both have shown moments of extreme bravery (Elain while saving Briar and when she stabbed the King and Gwyn during the attack on Sangravah and the Rite).

But despite that, they are both still hesitant to fully embrace their futures. Elain by sort of hiding in the NC telling herself everything is fine and Gwyn (despite her proclamation that she was tired of living in the library and didn't want to take the safe road anymore) returned to living in the library and wasn't sure she would attend Nesta's ceremony after the Rite.

Again, lots of similarities between them.

One of the only reasons E/riels have a problem with Gwyn is because Az is being set up as her possible LI. No, she doesn't need to be your favorite character but it's a near impossibility to hate a character whose major role in SF was to be Nesta's support system. To have created so many slanderous things to say about her. How can you have so much hate for a character who has not been written to be antagonistic in any way right now?

And the Elain hate is also extreme. I've seen some Gwynriels (this is a very select few as most Gwynriels I talk to are awesome) say that Elain should be killed off or SA because she's worthless. This is a girl who had a special cake made for her sister because she wanted her to know how much she's always appreciated her. Elain stood up to Nesta to allow Feyre to use their home as a meeting spot for the Human Queens regardless of what that might mean for her own engagement. This is a girl who has always shown the members of Feyre's new family with respect. She doesn't have to be anyones favorite but Geeez. Saying she'd be better dead or assaulted is way out there. Of course people have things they dislike about her, that tends to happen when a character is more fleshed out. SJM has given her good and bad (especially when we are witnessing sister squabbles on page) but acting like she's a more terrible person than Az is 🤔

And Lucien, my god. His entire journey so far has been filled with impossible decisions. Constantly being put in the middle of his friend and High Lord (a High Lord who gave him a job and home) and Feyre, a friend he had just met. Always between a rock and a hard place on what she needed versus what Tamlin and the Spring Court needed. Being accused of not doing enough when, whenever he tried to do anything he was threatened and eventually abused by Tamlin. Having to reign in any emotions he may have had for Rhys and the IC, people he was led to believe were the bad guys for centuries and who really didn't show Lucien much respect in the beginning, because they were allowed to dictate when and how he was allowed to see his own Mate. He's never threatened ANYONE or brought harm to anyone Elain cared for. He freely works with Az even though Az treats him like garbage He's always tried to find balance between respecting Elain's need for space while also letting her know he'd still like to interact with her. All while he can't return to his home as his father keeps trying to kill him and Feyre ruined his name in Spring.

What tough decisions has Az made as of late? What impossible situations has he really been placed in? Az is a bit of an asshole right now for no real reason at all besides his desperate need for love while Lucien has legitimate problems and is faced with difficult decisions. Az starts fights, has anger issues, refuses to communicate, and doesn't listen to authority. Yet Az gets more respect because.......? Because he said something poetic about Illyrians and the wind and acts like a perfect gentleman around Elain?

I do think SJM will restore Azriel's character but anyone holding him in higher regard at the moment than Lucien, Elain or Gwyn is a very interesting person indeed.

To answer your last question, Elain would dislike everything about the Az that exists when she's not around. From how he talks about Lucien to his casual disregard for he and Graysen's lives. To the real thoughts he has about her, that she's the "third sister" and that's why he wonders why he didn't get a bond, that his thoughts for her really only amount to sexual fantasies. That he doesn't think she can handle something dangerous.

It's ironic because the front Az puts up around Elain is how Lucien actually is yet she's so stubborn against getting to know him that she hasn't realized it yet.

I think the reason I don't fall into the E/riel traps and bullying is because, after looking through the series over and over and OVER again, I finally feel like it's all clicked. I came up with a lot of different thoughts, even trying to prove an E/riel endgame possibility at one point but some of those things didn't feel right. I'd have an idea and start running with it but after asking other questions, the idea fell apart under my own scrutiny.

A year ago, I would have probably been uncertain on my stances and wondered if I missed something but now I do feel very confident that I'm just as versed as any of them might be (at least on the Elucien / Elriel / Gwynriel debate) and that makes it easy to ignore or argue back. That's not to say SJM can't turn around and completely change the direction of her story but as far as things stand right now, I do feel that I've grasped the hidden messages she's left us about those ships. And that in order for E/riel to ever be a possibility, she would have to go in a completely different direction and decide what's she's written so far didn't matter because what there is does not point to E/riel.

So for others out there that struggle dealing with them I think really looking back through the series and trying to disprove their arguments can help because it builds the confidence that you understand the material as well as the next person. Or, you can find blogs that resonate with you, that their logic also makes sense to yours, and use that to build up your knowledge.

But even if it's a blog you usually agree with, it's ok to question their take on it too. If I or anyone else says anything that makes you go "wait a minute", then going back to the books can again help. See if you can disprove (or even find additional supporting proof) of what they're saying.

In the end, regardless of how much effort you want to put in when it comes the series, remember that anyone who resorts to threats is not anyone you should be paying attention to anyway. They are obviously not someone you should respect and allow to dictate how you feel about yourself or your enjoyment of something.

I am sorry for the stressful nature of the fandom though. It does suck the life out of me from time to time and it makes me desperate for answers from SJM.

[sioster]

oh god, you activated the rambles again. i'm sorry, i already know this is gonna be long.

first of all, yeah. tommy no.1 and tommy no.2 are the only people who know about... well, pretty much everything. that wil and dream are spiderman, that the multiverse is real, that there's a way to travel between dimensions, that dreambur are in love. they are very pissed about the fact that they can't tell anyone about it. (but they're also amazing friends. they know when to keep a secret.)

i think the four of them are the ones that know about the extent of it all.

doesn't mean dream and wilbur are alone though.

i do think they have relationships and friends outside of it, even if they can't always be completely honest with them.

for dream, it's george, a guy he met during his first day at work, and sapnap, who rents the apartment next to dream's, and karl, the nice, chill barista from his favorite coffee shop. he also gets along well with his family, especially his sister.

wilbur doesn't really have friends besides tommy, too scared to let anyone close again after he lost niki. but i imagine him having a very tight relationship with his parents and his bandmates (lovejoy is canon in this au because i say so lol).

all of them notice that something changed in dream and wilbur, even though no one knows when or why it happened.

in the end, it takes almost two years for them to see each other again.

wil's tommy is the first one to figure it out, engineering a save, stable portal that allows travel there and back whenever you want.

when wilbur stumbles into dream's room for the first time in 20 months, dream thinks he's hallucinating. it's only when wilbur's hands come to rest on his jaw, skin warm and fingertips gentle, that he realizes that it's real.

no one can stop him when, for the third time, he pins wilbur against a wall, hands gripping wilbur's hips tightly, scared that he could disappear again at any moment.

he doesn't.

they sit down on dream's bed and talk for hours, sharing everything that happened in the months they didn't see each other.

tommy's portal finally gives them the chance to date properly, and they visit each other whenever they can, sometimes staying a few days if their schedules allow it.

and omg the villain idea has so much potential!!! maybe a villain from wilbur's dimension accidentally crossing over into dream's and partnering up with their counterpart to take down spiderman. or a villain in dream's universe having noticed how important the new spiderman seems to be to the old one and kidnapping wil for blackmail and/or torture purposes.

So:

Imagine having to manage between being a superhero and in an active band,,,, hell nah I'd never, I would crumble into dust

Spiderbur our favourite rag doll getting slammed into walls👍

I hear torture and my mind immediately reverts to pandora. Ough.

Now seriously, mmmm. Lots of things to play with here :D how does it look like from their families'/friends' point of view? Both of the heroes have always been.. interesting people. But then suddenly one of them disappears for a month, and the other is constantly occupied and when someone does catch a glimpse of him, he's uncharacteristically happy.

Then they both go back to their 'normal' life and it's like all colour has been sucked out of them.

Mmm when they reunite they hate letting the other out of their sight