#and I don’t know I’d be curious to see where this sort of interpretation would go

[quibbs126]

So something that came to my brain

We’ve gotten Optimus and Megatron iterations where Megatron is older than Optimus, and in more modern interpretations, where they’re around the same age

So why not have an iteration where Optimus is the older one of the two?

The idea that immediately pops into my head is that before the war (assuming we keep the story of the two knowing each other prior), Optimus could have been a mentor to Megatron, only for Megatron to eventually change for whatever reason and turn his back on Optimus, creating the Decepticons and waging war

It doesn’t need to be that, it’s just what came to my head first. But the idea of their dynamic being where Optimus is the older and Megatron the younger is maybe something to explore in future iterations. We now have a version where Starscream is notably older than Megatron, why not do the same with him and Optimus?

[lifenconcepts]

Sorry if this is a rude ask; but what is DivineKin?

(I was looking at what ya tagged as pinned posts)

I’m just curious because I’ve heard of AngelKin or GodKin but never DivineKin-? Is it just an umbrella term or is it something else entirely?

(Also I literally adore your blog /gen)

it isn’t rude at all! I welcome asks like these! Don’t you worry :) also I keep forgetting that others actually check tags, with such a site and all I’d expect it to be more common lolol-

Divinekin is pretty much an umbrella term for someone who feels like they are divine, godly, or angelic, without neccesarily being a god or deity or angel. Some use it as a way to communicate a vague identity and some use it alongside godkin and the sort. But it’s pretty much open for interpretation by the user.

I personally am divinekin purely out of the lack of a better word for who I am, which is pure energy and light. I know any other site would ridicule for someone identifying as a non existing concept but I’m constantly in a mixed state of adoring reality like it were the most beautiful thing, being hyper aware of my human self, and yet being ‘derealised’ to where I don’t exactly feel tied to this realm but nonetheless enjoy it.

For me it’s just a term that better describes and fits me because I’m not like some specific identity with a set amount of ideals or expectations, but rather this vague presence. Where I’d like to be acknowledged but at the same time am fine with hovering around humanity and the sorts. I don’t have that gap between what is real and what is unreal, because as I likely mentioned in some post, this is tightly linked to spirituality for me and I am constantly in a state where I try apply either psychology or philosophy to my actions and thoughts. Because no matter what identity, I can’t help but be pushed and pulled by my mortal mind and body into certain actions or desires.

I know I already answered but I also want to add that in this sort of ‘godly’ state, I do ofcourse feel as if I’m above people, but it doesn’t bloom into narcissism. Although that is entirely fine, I just thought I’d mention it. I am fine with people thinking I’m faking, but not with presuming something else about me. I’ve analysed myself so deeply and rawly that I spill out every thought onto some paper or notes app to make sure I am capable of understanding it and making do with this wide array of knowledge. I have plenty of information inside me, it it always needs to be prompted. I can’t really remember things if someone blankly states “what did you eat this morning / yesterday??” (Also because I don’t keep track of it in my journal. Thoughts, experiences, and ideals > actions and behaviours) with light exceptions to things I already keep on the tip of my tongue to respond with. But writing is like this incredible thing that I’m wholely swallowed by and with pride, because unlike others trying to convince me otherwise and say it’s an addiction, it’s the only thing that allows me to upkeep my psyche and stay happy & healthy. it’s no joke how being connected to the divine can drive one to madness. And in my eyes, some schizophrenics DO see/hear/feel actual spirits, but are just not inclined enough to understand why, how, and what to do with it and logically their mind self destructs trying to comprehend something it doesn’t know. and even if some delusions actually are just the mind playing tricks on it, most other stuff can be explained, but what people also fail to grasp is the fact that needing meaning is also an entirely human thing. That some divine beings are no different in animals as they just follow what they feel is right, and yet their way of comprehending things is way beyond our span of available brain power.. I also think I’m energy! Ain’t that neat? there’s very little proof anyone can give to having a soul, energy around us, and whatever.. but tell me, have you ever thought about and tried to comprehend how there is so much to the internet, so much that is happening, all these little bits and bobs, in something that fits inside your hand? Can you just take in for a second how strangely complicated and yet simple the phone is, that we grew to use as a second part of ourselves?! And all this information.. you wouldn’t be expected to know it all, would you? Now this is exactly the point I’m trying to make in the more spiritual sense, where there’s so much things around us that we just accept without batting an eye, but just how much went into allowing it to exist, or simply having it be in our hands and world.. now you can just go about not caring to what components are inside a phone or computer or how there’s some server churning away to make sure this site stays on or even who made the damn platform we’re on.. but isn’t it curious? Don’t you want to know more? Well, maybe not here but somewhere else.. most of us have a yearning to know something, even if it’s just like.. an animal or a place or activity! For me, it’s the bare basics of existence and the human-esk factor of it, because even though it’s not as simple as we think, there are still things about it that’s utterly fascinating. And even with the risk and strangeness and unclear motivations and limitations- I still crave it like a hungry wolf searching for flesh to pierce.

I can go on and on explaining parts of myself, or the world, if you so care to, but goodness.. isn’t it beautiful to simply be? To exist? To not have to prove anything? I’m contradictory at the core because so is the actual universe! The ‘laws’ of nature are man-made limitations that it made up to know what to expect and better teach others. Knowledge isn’t passed down though, no, it’s shown. And just as you can sit at a screen for hours or listen to someone talk, it doesn’t mean you’ll get anything from it. But some just are more inclined to find things for themselves. On hands work than anything else. Slam a few piano keys until a melody comes out of it, and that’s my attitude to life. I’m currently being protected by a force unforeseen yet felt, and I’ve grown to utterly adore them. Too many times has a ‘coincidence’ fallen in my favour, that ‘divine intervention’ has grown to be my unironic statement for ‘luck’. I want to explore everything there is from my own perspective, not what someone can tell or teach me. I don’t care for that, unless it’s a warning. For even with my utter ignorance to societal norms, I still am faced with a care for safety, which allows me to integrate into the world around me like a chameleon. I can describe this with strange explanations, but it’s most true; I’m something that isn’t human and yet was, like one matures into adulthood I have matured into ‘divinehood’ where I’m slowly being given my knowledge back that rebirth had rid me of, and the things that nobody around me seems to know flow through my brain like a sweet little dream or even a wordless melody. I’ve always felt like I was made for something more but the people and world around me led me to believe that this is wrong, that I’m broken, and need to be fixed. I looked through all information I could find and was led to the belief that I could have schizophrenia or something, and I nervously accepted that even though it felt alien and wrong for my identity. And now? After coming to terms with things that made and make me - I understand I’m simply apart of the rare few that society doesn’t accept. Those who’d be burned at the stake, but for genuine reasons. We- .. I bare information that others may find shocking, worrying, suspicious.. blatantly treated as witchcraft even though they have genuine basis.. many laugh this off and be like ‘haha because I like women I’d be killed in the past!’ But have you wondered just how many people, primarily women, have been silenced for their genuine connection with the beauty of the world? How different they must have been then before learning that they wouldn’t be accepted for who they are and had to put on a mask that dug in so deep that it practically turned them into their false self? Now the same is happening today, but at this strange level where everyone is convinced they know everything but all are still limited. I also acknowledge i’m not all knowing but I feel partially there, and that’s a big reason many may not believe me.

Also I just HATE those who presume the same meaning onto all.. like maybe some are delusional but you can’t stare blankly at someone opening up their entire soul and say ‘oh yeah, you’re just making stuff up because you’re traumatised. There’s no way that can be real.’ BECAUSE SPIRITUALITY HAS ALWAYS EXISTED!! I stand by the fact most religious people are following rules blindly without understanding the connotations, but if someone came up to me to prove me wrong I’d be more than happy!! Is it just the comfort of the known that cushions someone’s ass to make them make wild claims and express that this core part of existence isn’t real?? CAN YOU HEAR THE WARMTH OF THE SUN SND BITE OF WINTER??! How beautiful both are?? Okay okay.. I’ll stop fighting invisible accusations now but I get frustrated at the fact people in this day and age are so indoctrinated to believe there’s nothing to the world but a forced society, work, and the internet.. that nobody takes time to reflect.. and most say ‘oh but I don’t have time’ well fucking try and do it anywhere and everywhere. Meditation is one thing and reflection is another. Just look back on what you just did or what you’re doing and try form some thought of of it.

I went on a ramble, didn’t it?

IN SHORT: yeah umbrella term and also I don’t have a physical form that is expected of an Angel or god and my connotations for those words are entirely different than yours for example.

again, I must say, thank you for the question!! I appreciate any, of all sort!

also I’m glad you love my blog, I love ya too!

[beepsparks]

I'm curious, what is it about clocks that makes you so happy?

Ooh. Ooh. Hehe. Sorry you just triggered an infodump.

Cut because i feel like this is gonna be a whole YAP session. Apologies but you are gonna have to deal with both reasons why I love clocks and just clock related infodumps.

So basically a special interest in DHMIS and a character fixation on Tony The Clock for 4 years straight will surely do something to someone

With my absolute love for Tony I had back then, I’d grow fond of timepieces (especially analog clocks) and even the concept of Time in general (hence me having an interpretation of Father Time and even slightly disturbing and ethereal timepiece characters I simply have not drawn yet)

I find clocks to be a major comfort object for me… (due to my fixation and also admittedly trauma that would not be fun to talk about so moving on)

contrary to most finding ticking annoying, I find it very comforting and actually don’t like it when a clock DOESN’T make a ticking noise! In fact ticking can help me sleep, even with almost 40 clocks running at once (speaking from experience). My family asks how I sleep with all the noise but tbh it’s very easy to forget it’s even there lol. But yeah I find clock sounds of any kind (ticking, chiming, cuckoos, etc.) very cozy, comforting, and fun. I actually have a vocal stim where I just mimic Cuckoo Clock sounds. I think it’s my most common one.

I LOVE the variation in clocks. There’s all sorts of different types clocks, designs, chimes, even in the sound of ticking itself! (And on that note, if there’s any two types of clocks that I don’t have yet but REALLY want… it’s a Cuckoo Clock (that makes a genuine noise and not… a speaker that’s battery-powered) and a Grandfather Clock.

(Fun fact actually, the actual term is “Tall Clock”, and Grandmother Clocks do exist! There’s a difference! Grandfather Clocks are Tall Clocks that are 6 to 8 feet tall, and Grandmother Clocks are Tall Clocks that are 5 to 6 feet tall. I find the naming very cute, as I actually do also tend to get attached to my own clocks in an almost familial way tbh..)

(Adding onto that, last time I checked it’s kinda expensive but The Clock Book written by Philip E. Balcomb is very great I highly recommend it I love it a lot. Got it as a Christmas gift years ago and I still love it)

Speaking of variation and creativity in clocks…

Weird clocks. Clocks that make you question “why and how does this exist”. This is a clock I saw at an antique mall (but didn’t get). Yes. It is a themed clock about ZYRTEC. THE MEDICINE. Quite possibly the weirdest clock I’ve ever seen, and I love it.

And also… my favorite (existing) clock in the world is this sweet guy.. the It’s a Small World Clock Tower at Disneyland, often called “Glockenspiel”.. he’s just so cute and impressive! He was built in 1965 and Walt Disney himself called him “The most unique musical timepiece ever created” and I’d honestly agree! He’s like a giant cuckoo clock where every 15 minutes he sends out a little parade of dolls to perform the song everybody knows (and seems to hate… so mean)

I live in Florida and have a pass for the Disney parks and whenever I go to Magic Kingdom I tend to make a BEELINE for It’s a Small World. Despite Magic Kingdom has the smallest and unfortunately least interesting clock tower, I still absolutely love it. He’s like my friend yayyyy

There’s also a clock tower in Disneyland Paris that actually takes on a completely different appearance, I see that one and Glockenspiel as different people :p

Now it’s pretty obvious even by just looking at my OCs that I LOVE clock characters to the point I feel like my eyes dilate like a cat whenever I see a new one. I actually probably wouldn’t have realized that the facade in front of It’s a Small World was a clock tower (yes I’m stupid but also Glockenspiel only tells the time every 15 minutes so can you blame me for missing that 😭) if it wasn’t for THIS GUY!

The Clock Tower from Epic Mickey (who I tend to call “Clockenspiel” to differentiate between the IRL clock tower, Glockenspiel). My absolute FAVORITE clock character ever. He’s so CUTEEE. I don’t care what face he has, paint or thinner, I find both cute and HE’S JUST A BIG SWEETIEPIE WHO DID NOTHING WRONG… augh… they do him so dirty in Epic Mickey canon across ALL Epic Mickey media and it upsets me. He’s actually so kind and literally a gentle giant despite his huge, metal arms that could crush you. I know hiss bossfight has him try to actively kill you, but Epic Mickey doesn’t do a good job at explaining WHY he’s like that.

He had to listen to the same song, over and over, for literal decades, all while being left to rot, abandoned, with, in my headcanon, absolutely no social contact with others. That would make me go crazy, too!! And even despite all of that, if Mickey chooses to restore him in the Paint Path of his boss, he’s all gentle and friendly!! Augh!! I genuinely love him so much and will forever be upset that he dies in EVERY SINGLE VERSION OF EPIC MICKEY…

Although I will note that in the canon “Tales of Wasteland” comics, he’s shown to be grumpy and irritable, but that was also implied to be just because of him hearing the same song over and over.

But yeah, he’s so cute, I am in love with him and his design. His GLASSES.. they’re so cuteee. I keep saying that. He’s cute. An adorable, big ol clock tower that I love.

Also I feel like mentioning this.. sorry I am very passionate..

At EPCOT, the Germany pavilion has a clock tower (that functions kinda weird tbh) and a shop called Clocks and Crafts… it’s an entire store themed around Cuckoo Clocks and I am very normal about it (LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER)

There’s an entire wall of fully functioning, hand-crafted Cuckoo Clocks. They’re also really expensive for even more reasons. I swear I’ve gotten stuck in this store for 30 minutes. Twice actually. To the point the 2nd time I went into that store just to stare at the clocks, one of the guys working there recognized me. Actually one of the tasks of working at that store (I think) is literally just to tell facts and explain things about the clocks there, if not just clock related facts in general (mostly Cuckoo Clocks though of course). I have heard it so many times by just staying in that store as other people walk in and out but clearly I haven’t had it drilled into my brain yet. I need to have it all memorized.

Idk.. I could DEFINITELY go on even more about clocks, clock characters, etc… I dunno. I’ll just drop this. My comfort short film for real. https://youtu.be/wrNBMgWrX9Q?si=p8A1qHwQkhIBHQn_

TLDR: I love detail, design, creativity, and sounds in clocks, I have comfort characters and OCs that are clocks… etc. idk it feels hard to explain sometimes.

Basically:

[shewhoeatssand]

Why do you like kaneki so much (you can be as insane as you want while answering this)

Honestly I have thought about this a lot for a long time and I don’t really know. One day I saw him for the first time and went “yep this is it this is my new guy” and nothing ever changed. It has been years. And this has never happened to me with anything else. I just saw him and decided I needed to know about him and then he was in my life every day afterwards (going to have a big yap session under the cut)

And I find this kind of crazy, because the kind of person I interpreted him as has changed a lot over the years and I’ve only ever come to like him more? I’ve never been disappointed when finding evidence that changes what I initially thought of him, only more enthused. You know those cringy edits of him saying edgy stuff with the same few shots of him being sad in the anime or artworks of him with his mask on? That was my first impression of him and it was completely different to anything I ever liked before!! And I knew this!!! I wasn’t even allowed to view violent media!!!! And I kept getting more curious about him??????? It was so weird, every time he acted in a way I wouldn’t have found interesting my tastes just changed to accommodate it without me realizing.

I knew something was definitely up when I was well into my Kaneki fixation, but wanted to make my own oc bc I kept seeing other people making them. I wanted them to be as beautiful and intriguing to me specifically as possible. I’d think “what is the most attractive hair colour?” and it’d be white. Then eye colour, face shape, gender, personality etc and then I’d have Kaneki. It was impossible for me to create an oc that I could like more than Kaneki because they’d either become Kaneki or I’d think of ways to “improve” them that just pushed them more towards being like Kaneki. So I gave up and now I have no ocs. I couldn’t even think of any names because I could not think of good names besides Kaneki 😭😭 I missed a crucial phase for creative kids who may have just gotten into anime because I liked my anime guy too much,,,

This stretched into everything. Any media I consumed I’d compare the characters to Kaneki and if none of them had somewhat similar traits to him I’d get bored. If they were vaguely similar, even if it’s just having a funny moral compass and wearing one article of clothing Kaneki might wear, I’d imagine pairing them with Kaneki and start comparing the two further, until I ultimately decide Kaneki is way better and unique and feel guilty for “cheating” on him with this other character (even if it’s just for a few days). A while back I tried to get into other series in the hopes of finding more characters I liked as much as him but this sort of thing made me realize I’m in too deep for any of that. Any music I listened to would have to have at least 1 linking lyric or similar vibes to Kaneki, or I could imagine scenes with Kaneki where he sorta fit the aesthetic of the song (how I listened to Lana Del Rey??). I had a genshin phase a few years back which only lasted so long because I latched onto Xiao bc I found his dedication to protecting Liyue similar to how Kaneki wanted to protect the people close to him while hurting himself. Then I left the game a few months after I got Xiao because there wasn’t much left to do for me. After that I had like no interests besides Kaneki for a long time. There was some fleeting stuff that lasted while I was actively engaging w it, one that stood out was Killing Stalking because it also had a well written violent character with mommy issues, but my level of interest in it was still like comparing Earth to the Sun. I was having violent thoughts around Kaneki all the time and it kinda acted like a balm to it for some reason.

I think I’ve gotten better though? I got into fish either last year or the year before (I genuinely cannot remember a lot of 2023 so it blurs with 2024), it never expanded into me knowing a really impressive amount but at least it was something to talk about. I found an album I related to myself with my experiences w Kaneki. I’ve been into splatoon lately but mostly bc I can play with my friends and guarantee a high success rate. I think it’s important I’m interested in other things, it helps me feel more normal and makes socializing easier.

A few times I started to see him more as a god than a character, and decided he was more important than school or any human relationships. If I couldn’t talk to them about Kaneki then their only use was to help me appear normal so I could engage in my Kaneki stuff without disruption. Sometimes he would be a bit like an actual person in my head, and in order for him to live his life I had to think about him doing it, and not giving him the time would be unfair to him. So I would only do things related to him for fun and if it wasn’t linked to him I’d have a hard time finding a reason to do it, which made school difficult. At some point I started somewhat believing that he would come for me from across the multiverse and together we would find a new world where we both were able to function as perfectly as the people in our current world could and we’d be like the new Adam and Eve for that place. Told a councilor that I was willing to abandon my physical body to achieve this if he asked and she called my parents :///// I came out of it after finishing my assessments and going to Japan and the voice in my head split into 1 mean guy who was cringe and pathetic and 1 beautiful boy named Kaneki who exclusively spoke Japanese and that’s where I’m at now :3 I don’t know why all that happened

Anyway I feel like this hasn’t been answered great 😭😭 tldr for this is that he is basically attached to me at this point… he is my boy and he is never going to leave… my love for him only grows and he trumps everything else I could ever love….. I could not stop liking him if I tried and I have. I lasted 2 days. He’s not going away. The line where I end and he starts is blurred. I bring him up to my online friend group almost every day and they haven’t even read TG, they don’t know what I’m talking about. I feel like the point of this ask was for me to analyse his character and explain why this attracts me but it’s more that every time he does anything I go “wowww :DDD amazing” and it is beyond my control I just like everything. I used to look at anti Kaneki posts and then every time they made a valid complaint I’d get more excited about him because omgggg he’s so silly…On a regular basis I try to think of things he’d do that are objectively gross and it just makes me like them. He’s going to get me into feet bc sometimes I remember he has them and it makes me go “aww he has such cute feet”, I’ve already gone through almost every part of his body doing this and I’m running out of them. I thought about how he would have some body hair even if it’s faint and it made me accept my own body hair (to an extent) when I’ve been insecure about it for years. He made me like math briefly because there was a building and I thought “omg sometimes Kaneki is in a building!!”. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to have a romantic relationship bc it won’t feel real unless they beat Kaneki, and if they do I’m genuinely terrified of the person I’d become about it. And to this day I don’t know why any of this started. I wish I could say we are soulmates but I don’t think he’d like being obsessed over to this degree, maybe he’d like it if it’s only a little but he’d probably find my level of obsession to be a nuisance and that crushes me (at least until I remember he’s not a good person either and might deserve to be uncomfortable). There’s days where I ache horribly because I miss him and he’ll never be there. I’m sorry I can’t give a straightforward answer besides “saw him once and it escalated from there until I couldn’t have anything else”, but that is kind of what happened. It’s both a blessing and a curse, since he gives me so much joy, but weird ass unexplainable mental stuff as well. Hope this helps 👍 please no one block me for being weird or not having a good reason

[andrew-nobody]

Hello! I dunno if I'm gonna word this right so bear wit me please. But I'm curious.

I heard from a lot of systems that when there's a fictive they're WAAAYYY different than they were in the source.

What's that feel like? I mean... how do I explain? Like, you're suddenly... alive? Sorry if that's offensive, I unno a good word for what happens. Manifest?

And then you're seeing all this stuff about you but they're also kinna NOT about you personally?

Is that super overwhelming? How do you deal with that?

I hope that makes sense. I'm so bad at explaining and wording stuff.

Great question. Not offended, glad you asked. Just the way you’re asking gives me the impression that you get it.

It’s incredibly overwhelming! That’s a big reason I made this blog. Before the blog, I kind of walked into the Motel (the innerworld) with no sense of where I fit into it, let alone the world-at-large. But here, answering questions and stuff, it gives me direction, a purpose. A way to connect to my source, and all the people who love that source. And I want to contribute to that, because I feel like a part of it.

I am sort of suddenly alive. I suddenly exist. And the rules are different. Reality is different. I still have all of my memories from the game. That was all I knew before I “walked in.” Hell, I have memories that aren’t even in the game, but they’re blurry and hard to define until I explore them - kind of like that ask about if I’d ever want a pet.

More under cut….

I don’t want to say that I’m “WAYYY” different than my source. I’m kind of like an alternate reality version of that Andrew, I guess. Like, yeah… I fucking killed people and even ate them and also I didn’t do that because that happened in a game.

Would I kill someone now? Well, no, my circumstances are completely different for one thing. Also I don’t want to perpetuate a stereotype of an “evil alter” that can switch in and commit acts of violence. But when I put myself back in the headspace of my source and the exaggerated experience of fiction, I can still feel it. And when it comes to the play of an ask blog, why not do a little murder? Or whatever. Who’s it hurting?

When it comes to seeing people talking about a me that is not me, there’s definitely cognitive dissonance there. I just have to try to separate their experience and interpretation of the me that is a publicly-consumable character versus the me that is me.

For example, a lot of people are really into transgender/“genderbent”/femdrew/Andrea—whatever you want to call her. Seeing those interpretations give me some gender dysphoria, probably because the host of my system is trans masculine. But none of those interpretations are about me. So it’s simple, I just keep scrolling. I move along. Trans Andrew is just as valid as I am. And I know every version of me is important to the person that version is stemming from, and it says more about them than it does about me.

As for suddenly being in a system full of people I don’t know. It kind of sucks! Everyone here can read my mind?! I’m not used to that kind of lack of privacy, and I used to live with Ashley so that’s saying something! And I’m not the only fictive here, either. (There are fucking Teen Titans here? Lmfao??) And that’s difficult because, you know, we don’t all get along.

Anyway that was a LOT longer than I meant it to be. Kind of a whole vent post! Hope you don’t mind, Anon.

If you see this, feel free to shoot me a DM? I’m happy to talk more about this in detail (though I guess I already have…). Hope to hear from you.

Thanks so much.

[jounosparticles]

So i was scrolling through the character profiles and it's interesting that ranpo's feels so different to others'.His likes and dislikes feels so,,,,vague?like you have to actually look into his character to try to understand it,not saying others' r all very clear,but they all at least have some things or foods or even ppl in the list,you see it n you think oh cool that character likes cookies.

But his doesnt have things so specific?Not even his glasses,snacks,any hobbies,solving mysteries or praises?ig you can count fantastic tales as an interest?still feel a bit vague to me though...

No sure what i trying to get here,but ranpo doesnt have any specific things makes me wonder if he sometimes exaggerate his feelings?not like it's fake we all know he is very blunt

>>>really hesitate about this statement cause not listing in it doesnt mean he cant have specifit likes or dislikes,and he's passionate about ada.maybe im just saying things atp im losing my mind beacuse of the lack of ranpo content

I'm curious what was Asagiri thinking when he made these profiles.I just want to know what his favourite food, place, animal,hobby ect is.Why am i having different thoughts everytime i think about his profile.this is driving me crazy.

Like tf do you mean you don't like common sense and useless knowledge?

Him not liking common sense makes the whole not understanding social cues thing seems more possible ig?Also curious about what kind of knowledge he seem as useless.Maybe he just doesn't like his brain overloaded with informations.

irrelevant but one of tachihara's dislikes is Teruko's craziness,i wonder why did she even do to him lol consider his only other dislike is his past

oooooo i love your thoughts here.

i assume based off the fact that ranpo has claimed to solve thousands upon thousands of cases that it can become a sort of fixation probably? so that when it comes to his likes/dislikes he immediately thinks of what he likes and doesn’t like in cases? since it’s the biggest factor of his life.

i do agree though, i wish we got more information about him! if i recall correctly his page in the bsd art book(?) stated that in his free time he goes to poe’s house, eats candy, then leaves. just some trivia for you :)

the feelings exaggeration could be from a variety of things. i kind of perceived it as a social cues thing, i thought maybe he was acting this way to make his intentions clear (so people don’t read into everything too much), or maybe it’s just who he is. i also could see what you’re saying with the exaggeration though!!

i can somewhat get what he means by common sense though. since a lot of common sense from my own experiences have most definitely not made full sense to me. things like people saying one thing but meaning another, or acting like something is super obvious when it’s not; much of it is just silly social rules that contradict or don’t make sense all based off calling it common sense.

i’d assume his distaste for common sense would stem from the fact that so many people use common sense to just bend the truth. take the time in untold origins where the theatre director said she would look into getting him a job but ranpo knew she wouldn’t do it. common sense would be to tell the kid she will do it to spare his feelings; but he didn’t catch onto that. things like that. at least that’s how i seen it, i’m completely open to other interpretations as well!

the useless knowledge id assume is just because he doesn’t need to hear it all to understand what’s going on. regular people would need a full explanation to the things he can figure out in seconds, and hearing other people state the facts he knows is probably just boring to him lol.

but yeah, i hope we get more ranpo content soon! he’s in my top 5 bsd characters, i love him a ton!

i assume tachihara’s dislike for teruko’s behaviour is just because she can be super loud and childish in the way she acts. remember the scene where fukuchi talked to tachi and teruko hopped on his shoulders angrily asking why he got the attention instead of her? or the other time he was really surprised she got gillette to confess? probably things like that annoy him lol

[planetsstarsandmoons]

Your chart interpretation is very detailed and informative and I really liked how you analyse every aspect carefully❤️ can you please do that with this synastry chart also?

Thank you!

That moon venus conjunction… just on blue’s house cusp so they can still double whammy in the 8th house… it brings a tear to me’eye. Now personally I’m in a sort of renaissance where I don’t believe in the significant effect of pluto anymore, but if I was I would be gawking at the stereotypical intensity aspects of this… pluto conjunct moon, pluto square the venus from THAT conjunction… but there’s already a lot of intensity created from the fact that those moons are squaring each other, while the same person’s venus is also conjuncting that moon. I want to make a seperate post one day about the moon venus conjunction when the venus person has a venus square moon natally.. because especially if they’re male that’s so interesting… you challenge his emotional core on an emotional level, but he cannot help respect and adore that core of which that ‘emotional level’ of yours comes from. Blue is learning a lot from red. Venus square jupiter.. love to see it. Again, venus conjunct moon is such a lovely lovely aspect and it being in the 8th house brings a needed grith to it that’s also riveting. It’s literally the perfect love conjunction in the perfect overlay, except it can make both of you a little obsessive and codependent. But even the typical 8th house trouble of this overlay is solved by the fact that this conjunction is almost the definition of perfectly romantically pouring into each other.

You are easy friends that are sexually compatible to each other. Often in relationship charts, you see a very casual harmonious mars sextile/trine mars aspect. At the base of those aspects, the sex ‘works’ and ‘is nice’ and it works in a way that typically has the man not feeling like he has to go anywhere. (The intimacy created by that venus-moon in the 8th houses adds to this too… I’ll stop). Blue is super duper attracted to how red presents themselves (i’d say ‘spiritually, but we both know I mean the ascendant vibe. What you project). I’m curious if he’s already your boyfriend or if you’re kind of turning around each other ? This isn’t really the kind of elephant in the room you can ignore. This one is pink/purple hahahaha

[scxttershot]

Hey! Don’t listen to that anon you posted about! They suck at life. I think you have a great portrayal of Floyd (and likely any character you play!)

I would totally rp with you except tumblr rp isn’t the easiest for me (I tried it a handful of times. Would love to again but I also have a lot of anxiety about it.) and I have my own “AU” of sorts and only play my ocs who do have pre-existing ties. I know that’s annoying to a lot of the community to I just stay away lol.

If you’re ever curious about my AU I’d message you. Even if not for us to rp. I’m just worried you’d think it’s cringe lol. But I really like ur portrayal of Floyd. Don’t let that anon get to you!

-Pink

[ 💚💚 Thanks, I am at least trying which I feel like is probably more than I can say for anon. And ehh don't worry about not liking Tumblr, I do always have Discord if you'd like to contact me there ( @ / leaveawhisperr) though. I'm personally completely fine with OCs, you see a lot of them managing a DC server for 4 years after all and I used to do solely OC roleplay up until 2019. I also have my own Batman AU outside of the server I'm on, and I always enjoy hearing about other people's work. :) It's cool to see how we all interpret things so differently, and where similarities are. So of course, feel free to reach out if you're comfortable with it!]

[away-ward]

hey, i found out your tumblr because i saw your damon & emory's relationship dynamic's ask and answered tag by you & anon > "asked and answered 54" and omg it was such a great meta! I see that you've changed your opinions about dn characters here and there quite a bit, and i'd just like to know if you still agree with your "asked and answered 54"? Or has it changed?

I also think your question about whether or not damon and emory reflects each other is pretty interesting, because while i agree that they are so similar yet so different from one another, i do know that a lot of readers still hate emory for things that damon had done way way way worse, just because she wasn't being accommodating to will. The readers' treatment of her and damon are very jarring, to say the least.

I'm personally not a fan of damon, and I dont think much about damon even after his cameos every where in the series, but since that ask and answered had involved emory, it does make me think about their history, unique dynamics and sincere friendship. Something about what you said in your closing paragraph just intrigues me, because it's true, and i never really thought of it in this angle before anon and you discuss it: Emory expected more from them, and that included Damon. But no one expected anything good from Damon, and he played into that. Sort of like “you think I’m bad, but I can be so much worse” almost? And here Emory comes, not accepting it, not playing into it. It leaves him with nothing to hide behind, and forces him to reveal a little of himself.

Hey. Thanks so much for referencing the post! That makes it so much easier to know which one you’re talking about.

For those curious: asked and answered 54

My opinions do change occasionally, but usually it’s a slight shift more than a major jump. I like to keep my mind open to other people’s interpretations, and not insist that mine is the only correct view. That can mean sometimes adjusting my view to accommodate another. However, I have wondered if I read through all of my ask replies, how much I would agree with now. I know I could probably word things better, at least.

One thing I should probably note is that I don’t like most of the characters, unless we’re talking about that character and Emory, that is. I’ve mentioned in other places that Damon’s story alone doesn’t do much for me. But pair his story up with Emory’s, and look at their possible friendship dynamics, and it’s a different ballgame.

I think for the most part, I still agree with what I said in 54, except for maybe the reflection bit. I believe there was another A&A that spoke about that, and I might have adjusted then, but I can’t remember. What I know is that for now, I’ve the idea that they were meant to be each other’s reflection on the back burner. I'm not sure that I have the skills to fully analyze what that would mean, or if there's even enough there to look at. But if someone wants to offer some thoughts on that, I’m open.

 i do know that a lot of readers still hate emory for things that damon had done way way way worse, just because she wasn't being accommodating to will. The readers' treatment of her and damon are very jarring, to say the least.

I know! Isn’t it so weird? But this goes back to readers loving unkind male leads and hating unkind female leads. Others have made the point that if Emory were a man, readers would have been all over her.

Knowing what I know now about how PD imagines their future, I’d say Damon and Emory probably don’t have the same friendship that I imagine them having. Still, I prefer to think of them this way.

I’ve found that a lot of people in the fandom have a variety of interesting thoughts and interpretations of the character’s actions. Even if I don’t agree with everything that’s said, I can usually find a point to appreciate. And I’ve enjoyed hearing their thoughts and hope that my replies haven’t annoyed too, too much.

Just for fun, here’s the ask and answered that deals with how I imagine Emory’s relationship with all the characters

Asked and Answered 46

Thanks stopping by and leaving this message. I hope if you stick around, you find something else you enjoy. But regardless, I appreciate your time. Sending warm hugs your way.

-KO

[jyndor2]

let’s talk about anxiety, excitement and negativity about andor:

(or cait has a slow day at the salon so now we get this discourse. read if you want, and if you think I’m being negative at the end of this essay I’m genuinely curious as to why, and I’d like to hear from you).

ANDOR SPOILERS behind the cut:

A good thing about Rogue One is that the fandom has very diverse, robust opinions on the characters. Undoubtedly some of those opinions I disagree with, but I like that we all have varying interpretations of canon. Fanfiction writers - even the ones like me who barely do any writing lmfao #rip - have done a lot to build fanon into what it is. And we’ve had YEARS to do it. So we’ve naturally got Pretty Strong Feelings about these characters and what they’ve been through before the film (and after for those of us in utter denial).

Cassian Andor is a character that I immediately liked - as was Jyn Erso, for very similar and different reasons all at once. He is a character that has a lot of the traits I most admire in people and that I value in myself - strong sense of right and wrong, good judgment, dedication, loyalty. And I liked that Rogue One allowed these characters to be unlikable at times, that they always stayed true to what a real person in their shoes might do, not what a character in a story might do. We get to explore what makes Cassian into the character we see in the film, how he grows into that man.

His growth is pretty dynamic just in the film alone, so the idea that we might see where he comes from - what shapes him into the Cassian we see in the film - has always appealed to me. When the Cassian show was announced I knew that it was going to change things for what we see as canon, that it was going to flesh things out about his character in ways I might not agree with. I was and am SO EXCITED to see one of my favorite characters on screen again.

When someone who is an authority on what canon is says something that doesn’t really fit our individual understandings of canon, that can feel weird. It’s different than when a fellow fan thinks differently on canon because lol none of us have any actual sway over canon - just our own interpretations of canon. I mean don’t get me wrong some of y’all annoy me with your hot takes too but it’s far more aggravating when it’s like one of those idiots on the Lucafilm Story Whatever Board spewing some shit. Even George Lucas sometimes annoys me with his literal own interpretation of his own content ... I mean that’s nothing new in this fandom.

For example, this is a silly one. Whenever Diego says (rightfully bc he is 10000% correct) that Cassian is dead, my dumbass is like WHERES THE BODY BITCH. I get kind of, idk, weird about it? Because in my headcanon, these characters are not dead. That is called a ~personal problem and I’m only sort of joking. I’m pro-the ending because it works so well, but I am also one of the weirdos who wouldn’t actually be mad if they retconned it. They shouldn’t, I know that it actually would take away from how hard the ending hits, but I wouldn’t be mad. I assume most of you disagree with that - and you’re right to disagree because I’m objectively wrong but I also just ~~~FEEL THAT WAY.

This is an example of my interpretation being non-canonical. But I’ve already seen the film so I can make that conclusion if I want to - it’s absurd and completely defenseless (NO BODY NO CRIME js) but it is what it is.

So it stands to reason that if we have feelings about how things would have gone had Cassian lived, we also all have feelings about how things went before Rogue One. And considering there is only a little bit of information canonically, our feelings are going to be WILDLY varied. I think we all know that.

I fully expect the show to deviate from some things in my headcanon - like for instance, I don’t expect Cassian to be a math/piloting genius just because I interpret the escaping Jedha scene as Cassian being exceptionally gifted at calculating jumps. That’s my interpretation and I recognize that it’s just that. An interpretation. I do expect him to be very good at piloting because he is one in canon. If the trailer showed 20-something Cassian sucking at piloting I’d be side-eyeing the shit out of it. I don’t expect Cassian to be someone who picks up strays everywhere he goes, but I do expect him to “have the face of a friend” no matter how superficially.

And in the same vein, and much more seriously, I expect that someone who argues with a literal former child soldier about how she only joined up when the fight impacted her personal life to have been in some sort of resistance in his teens at LEAST. I’m not saying the spoilers are conclusive in any way about any of this, but some of the quotes give me pause. I don’t think that’s negative, I don’t think that’s anything other than having a feeling about a thing that seems pretty much established fact: that Cassian Andor was a Separatist himself is kind of murky (he was a child lmfao) but that he was in the fight from an early age? Literally canon I’m sorry.

But also, spoilers don’t come with context and trailers misrepresent things all the time. That’s why I was waiting to firmly decide if I thought Adria was playing a love interest. Trailers lie: that scene could still be Bix showing Cassian something without like sexual tension lmfao, but it very likely is intended to be romantic. Okay, cool. I still don’t know how I’ll feel about their relationship because I haven’t seen the show yet. I have Concerns based on my interpretation of Tony Gilroy’s quote about their relationship being on again off again and Cassian burning bridges with Bix and everyone lmfao, but for all I know contextually it could work really well to me! But without that context, that sounds like a toxic relationship and I’d rather Cassian not have a toxic relationship, especially if my speculation about Bix not making it to the second season is correct. God, I’m so tired of women (in particular woc) dying for men’s stories to progress. I was worried about that when I thought Adria was playing his sister, and I’m worried about that now. I’m not being negative, I’m being realistic - this is a common trope for a reason.

I know that a lot of rebelcaptain shippers are uncomfortable with Cassian being in a relationship with someone else and I don’t agree in this context. It seems kind of odd to me to feel that way, but also I won’t lie that I wouldn’t like it if Cassian is in a committed relationship with another person when Rogue One begins. To me that would chip away at Cassian’s motivations in the film - he’s lost everything, so he throws everything into his service with the Alliance - and if we consider the novelization canon that would be... hard to square with his characterization in the book. But not impossible.

A lot of these spoilers are hard for me to square with my interpretation of what canon says. And my interpretation is pretty literal for the most part - except for the NO BODY NO CRIME ending lmfao - so that does worry me. It worries me that Gilroy said that what we read in Wookiepedia is not the truth about Cassian, but also we haven’t seen the show so for all we know he means that that’s not all there is to know about Cassian, or that the like idk supplemental materials (like the visual dictionary) are not going to remain canon. Which... alright, well then tell a better story.

I don't think it's out of bounds to be skeptical about things in interviews, there's a few choices that I personally not only wouldn't make but that don't seem to track with what literal canon says in the film, but also we have to remember that we haven't seen the context these things they're talking about are in, we haven't seen the show yet. So maybe they do make sense! I am reserving my judgment until I have watched the episodes twice because I know myself well - I have an initial reaction and then a more reasoned reaction after the adrenaline passes. Sometimes it’s the same (my feelings on Rogue One stayed VERY MUCH THE SAME LOL). Often I become a little more critical.

But I can't deny that it's disappointing to hear some spoilers that confuse me and make me nervous. I don't want to be nervous about fundamental things like Cassian's literal childhood not seeming to match what he says in the show - and anyone who says "well him being in the fight since he was a kid is your interpretation" lmfao no it is not. How he was in the fight is absolutely up to interpretation, and I hope that they stick the landing there. I definitely have my reservations from spoilers, but again there’s no context so it’s like... I can’t have an informed opinion.

I feel fairly confident that the show will be well-written and thoughtful, and definitely will have something to say. I think it's gonna be fantastic, but I'm also like, not all that trusting of Lucasfilm. For good reason - I was never a massive Obi Wan stan and even I can see that there were major issues with the show, even if I enjoyed a lot of it. And Boba Fett... yikes. But also the context is different: Diego is EXECUTIVE PRODUCER and has a lot of feelings on his character, and I’m speculating here but I think he has a lot to do with some details - Cassian’s dad is named Jeron in honor of Diego’s son Jeronimo, for example. I think the idea that Cassian is a refugee comes directly from Diego, and the fact that his (adopted) mother is a white woman almost certainly does too. I know Ewan McGregor was Exec Producer for his show but I’ve never gotten the idea that he’s as much of a fan as Diego is. It’s different.

Temeura Morrison also had a lot to do with fleshing out Boba and it still flopped imo but that show’s context is also different - it’s clearly supplemental to the Mandalorian, and also the showrunner wasn’t, idk, literally involved in creating Boba Fett at all. We’ll never know how much Tony Gilroy actually is responsible for - but he was a RO writer even before the reshoots. I wish Gary Whitta and especially Chris Weitz were involved, but who knows. Sometimes writers aren’t credited - Gilroy wasn’t going to be before the reshoots.

They've had years and years to develop the story and it's just got a different feel to the rest of the shows tbh - the fact that they’re not forcing Gilroy to use the Volume says a lot about how much effort they’re putting into the show and how much creative control Disney is relinquishing (maybe). I'm not saying that's a stopgap for bullshit choices, but it tells me they’re being purposeful. That this is a passion project.

But I guess the biggest question is this: what is negativity to you? Is negativity shitposting and making jokes about spoilers? If so, well then I guess I’m negative, in spite of literally all of my years of excitement about and defense of the show. I mean we all have different interpretations of negativity, so if you feel like I’m being negative, well okay then you don’t have to follow me. I’m a grown up, I can take it. I can see how some people might feel like I am being negative because I am reacting to spoilers and not loving what I’m hearing about some things. Personally for me negativity is a lot of things, but critique is not one of them. It is hard to critique something without having seen it though. Practically impossible tbh.

And it's been tiring for all of us Cassian fans to put up with idiots who have been relentless saying no one wanted this show (even though that is not true and also no one ‘wanted’ Rogue One but John Knoll originally, and it’s one of the most beloved SW films ever). So I can understand why some might feel like the anxiety some of us feel about the show’s version of Cassian would feel exhausting to deal with. I don't want to turn off people who are, like me, super excited for the show just because I have concerns. But I’m also not going to accept that having concerns, that being anxious, is being negative on its face. Because I’ve heard that all my life - being mentally ill is not usually a positive experience folks. I know when I’m being negative and when I’m being realistic.

For those of us who are anxious about the show, we should also touch some fuckin grass. It IS easy to get sucked into negativity when anxiety kicks in and ultimately we do not know much about the content of the show. We should try to be better about keeping perspective, not for our followers lmfao but for ourselves. Venting is one thing, but I do think it’s better to use venting to be constructive - find the Now What? of a thing that we’re reacting to. In other words, our immediate reactions will be what they will be, but what do we do when we pause and take the time to think them through?

An example: I think I was being negative in my initial reaction to Cassian’s birth name not being Cassian Andor. I almost immediate understood what they were going for - my last name is not what my ancestors’ last name was back in the old country lmfao. This is a common immigrant experience that transcends origin (thanks structural white supremacy and xenophobia <333) and is a very poignant addition to his story. But I was like EHHH FUCK THAT FUCK CHANGE for a good few minutes or so. Mainly because I’ve always called his Cass, and Kassa is close but honestly read more Greek to me ??? idk lmfao I just had to sit down and think for a moment.

Another example was when I said Gilroy wasn’t involved in writing Rogue One. Well it turns out that I was flat out wrong - he just wasn’t credited with writing he did for the script until the reshoots. So I was being unfair and reactive - it is very likely that he is responsible for why the movie is so good. I wasn’t joking about some dumbass spoilers, I was actually annoyed about the overarching picture these spoilers present of Cassian’s teen years - but of course how can I know what they mean without context?

Realistically I don’t trust Lucasfilm to stick the landing in every case. But I also know that they have before - and specifically THIS TEAM has stuck the landing before - so it’s not like I’m thinking it’s going to suck. I think it’s going to be great. I am worried about how these spoilers fit into what we are going to see but my expectations are still very high. And if they weren’t, well then idk maybe that would be a good thing! It’s easier to enjoy something if you don’t go in with super high expectations.

I think we as fans do need to keep in mind that the show is not going to match our personal interpretations of canon and our feelings on that are going to be what they are - but I also think that it is GREAT they are telling this story at all, and we should wait til we see the finished product to decide if we're actually happy with it or not.

And if we’re not happy with the finished product, well... then we can light them up for it lmfao.

[cuntycassandra]

Discussing Omega’s childhood on Kamino

Maybe I’m one of the only people curious about this as we’re all very hung up on Crosshair right now (understandable, I want our king back too), but I would really like a conversation between Omega and preferably Hunter, but anybody works fine, to delve into what her life was truly like on Kamino. How she was treated, raised, reprimanded, and how this all reflects on her relationship with the bad batch, and specifically in moments where their actions have fatherly intent behind them.

So, here’s what we know so far:

She was essentially raised by Nala Se.

She’s a first gen/holds unmodified Jango Fett DNA. Whether she was created at the same time as Boba, we don’t know, although it is unlikely.

Due to the fact she was unaltered, she must’ve been raised from infancy on Kamino.

She wasn’t allowed her own bedroom, so I speculate she either slept in the medical wing or had some sort of shared quarters with Nala Se.

She was frequently tested and experimented on, quite often against her will.

She was perceived to be property and nothing more than an evaluative source to help further Kaminoan research by everybody excluding Nala Se (potentially)

Her title role was a ‘medical assistant’.

She didn’t have a very warm relationship with the other clones, as we’ve seen they labelled her a “lab scrapper”.

She made friends with the existing medical staff, who were all droids.

And that is essentially it. Of course, we can make speculations, (a few of mine are: she must’ve been tormented by the other cadets for not being like them, she knew 99 and he kept her company whenever Nala Se left her alone, and that although she was educated accordingly for her medical training and basic education, she was very sheltered from things without ‘purpose’ to her life (as we all know, the Kaminoans don’t do anything without purpose) but we don’t actually know anything else about her time on Kamino!

First of all I really want to know WHY she was created. Taking into account she isn’t the same age as Boba (it’s very much suggested she isn’t, I mean she acts, looks, sounds and is treated significantly younger than Boba ever was), and Jango also didn’t request two unaltered clones, she must’ve been created a few years after Boba. Therefore, was Jango aware of her existence? And if he was, did he want her? Again, if so, what did Boba think of her? (We don’t actually see Omega’s reaction to being told she’s different, so although she might not have known of their exact relations to her, it’s very likely she could’ve potentially met Jango and Boba at some point.) So many questionsssss.

Moving on, I’d love to know more about her relationship with Nala Se. We’ve seen that the doctor has a soft spot for Omega, most definitely because she raised and grew to love her instead of deeming her a piece of property (not excusing Nala Se’s vile actions with the other clones, she can still rot, Omega has better parental figures now.), but was it always like that? Did she neglect smaller Omega for being just another clone? Before ‘Mega could show personality and differentiate herself, did Se still view her as nothing more then a test subject? How did that affect her relationship with Omega as a young child.

Speaking of which, what was Omega then like as a smaller child (hard to believe, she’s still so smol lmao), but I’m talking toddler age here. She is basically a regular person, going through regular human changes due to the fact she isn’t altered, which means she would’ve had all of those wretched toddler phases that parents dread. We can most likely assess that she was playful and curious, she still is now, bless her, but how was it received? Smaller children don’t have the complexity to understand the level of technicality that the Kaminoans work at, she wouldn’t have understood the necessity of sitting still and behaving, would she have been severely reprimanded? Was Nala Se nice to her about it? How was she raised to interpret mannerisms of other people in regards to this?

Furthermore, I want to know what tests they were performing on her too. She’s clearly important due to her first hand DNA, but before that was an asset, before the Kaminoans needed that, what were they doing to her? Why were they testing on her? How much pain was she in? Did she receive any comfort afterwards or was she expected to dry her eyes and get on with it? (I’m speculating it was the latter.) I need to know what they were doing and why. What was the purpose!

Her entire previous life is a huge mystery to us and I want to know more! And I hope I’m not the only one!

Just looking at her precious little face hurts because we know she didn’t receive the ideal childhood, if anything it was borderline abusive (I mean, not just testing on her, but the mind games the Kaminoans played with this poor kid, the fact she was well aware she was just an asset to their research and yet she constantly received mixed messages. It’s no wonder she idolised the bad batch so much; they seemed to be the only people who hadn’t either treated her like garbage at some point up until then, or died. Honestly despite the few slip ups, props to them for actually taking her in and being decent towards her.

I mean, this isn’t the purpose of this post, but just look at the comparisons.

She finally receives her own bedroom.

Said bedroom isn’t even a proper room, but they made do with what they could. She even acknowledges this and she still absolutely loves it. It’s decked out just for her with fairy lights, blankets and toys.

As said, she actually owns toys now, we don’t know if she ever did on Kamino, but I’m speculating it was most likely very few if any at all.

She has her own weaponry and equipment, she’s actually being assisted to defend herself and her squad, she’s gaining knowledge the Kaminoans wouldn’t have ever dreamed of giving her.

As we’ve seen with the amount of times she runs to Hunter for protection, she trusts them immensely. They’re doing everything right to gain her apprehensive trust so quickly.

And of course it isn’t just with Hunter (I’m a stan so pardon my consistency with bringing him up) but she’s the same with the entire batch, even Cross to a very mild extent! She trusts Wrecker with her life, she forgave him so easily after the Bracca incident because she knows the difference between someone purposefully trying to hurt her and them having no control over their actions.

We see she’s been patient with Echo and Tech, she loves to listen to them, she’s picked up on Tech’s dialect (as seen in episode seven) and she trusts him to help her whenever necessary, she has such a touching bond with Echo too, their little interactions melt my heart.

I could rant for hours about her bond with Hunter, so maybe that should be it’s own post at some point, but honestly just how she always seeks him out specifically for comfort, protection and reassurance. It’s so beautiful.

The way she’s addressed Crosshair over their few co-existent moments too. She’s tried to reassure him it isn’t his fault, because she knows it isn’t, she trusts him because she has no reason not too, everything he’s done and said to her hasn’t been within his control.

These are all severely different reactions to how she responds to both the Kaminoans on planet, whenever they’re mentioned, and from what we know in regards to how they treated her.

I’m repeating myself from a previous post here but honestly petition to give Megs all the hugs in the universe. She deserves ‘em. 💛

[aminiatureworld]

Time and Chance

Characters: Albedo, Childe, Diluc, gn!reader

Word Count: 4,028

Warnings: Swearing

Premise: Confessions are tricky things. Sometimes it takes week, maybe months, maybe years of building up courage for one to happen. And sometimes life throws the oddest wrenches in our paths.

In which the reader confesses.

Author’s Note: I may or may not have decided to go full sappy this week, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you guys with my overbearing angst. Also I thought it was cute. Originally I wasn’t sure if I wanted the reader to be the one doing the confessing or whether it should be the character. I decided upon the reader on a whim essentially, with the idea that I could do the character later. We’ll see! The title today is reference to one of my favorite novels, written by Sharon Kay Penman. If anyone likes historical fiction I’d highly recommend it.

Today’s characters are Albedo, Childe, and Diluc. Tomorrow will be Kaeya, Xiao, and Zhongli. And maybe Keqing.

Like I said in my past post Happy Valentine’s Day! Although this time it’s Valentine’s Day proper.

Albedo

In your defense, who wouldn’t fall in love with Albedo?

The mysterious alchemist of Monstadt; sharp as a tack, insatiably curious, and blessed with an ethereal sort of beauty on top of it. Who wouldn’t fall in love with such a person?

And that was the problem. You’d sort of taken it for granted that everyone loved Albedo, and in that assumption you’d found a particularly distasteful discovery. That if everyone loved Albedo then you were hardly going to be the only one asking after his time. And, following that line of thought, you figured it’d be incredibly rude – not to mention supremely irritating for Albedo – for you to confess your feelings.

And it wasn’t as if you two were the closest in the world. Although you wouldn’t say you were total strangers either. You instead drifted in that odd in between; more than acquaintances, not quite friends. Or at least that’s how you interpreted it. Albedo didn’t seem to be the person with inclinations towards friendship in general, a not altogether untrue or wild assumption, so you remained content where you were, happy with the conversations you had, with the times he’d trust you with a piece of equipment or would explain to you in detail what he was working on. I mean, surely that was enough?

Absolutely not. Even in your state of perpetual irritation and fretting over your feelings, you knew that simply ignoring them was a ridiculous solution. When did that ever go well? Miscommunication was the relationship killer, no matter what type, and what could be more of a misunderstanding than this? You didn’t even know what he thought of you for Seven’s sake!

So you’d resolved yourself to telling him. Even if he’d be irritated surely he’d appreciate your honesty. And even if he didn’t you needed to tell him, for yourself if not for him.

It was with this in mind that you approached him one afternoon as he was working outside.

“Um, Albedo?” Your voice had taken on a slightly weak tone, as if you didn’t have enough air all of a sudden. It sounded weird, and you kind of wished you didn’t have to hear it. But that was par for the course when dealing something like this, although it didn’t make it any easier.

“Oh, sorry I didn’t notice you there.” Albedo turned around to look at you. You noticed that he’d swapped his regular tools for a paint set and an easel. Glancing at the painting you were struck by how he’d somehow managed to depict Cider Lake so accurately with so few brushstrokes. Never did you think about how the slight ripples that appeared in it could look a bit like circles. It was altogether impressive, and for a moment you forgot what you were doing, or perhaps you’d pushed it out of your mind.

“Was there something you wanted to ask?” Albedo’s voice pulled you out of your artistic musings. Evidently you weren’t going to be able to get out of it now. Come hell or high water, you were going to tell him.

“Well, so… you see, I… I really love you and your work!” The words came tumbling out, dropping like stones in the suddenly charged atmosphere. Almost immediately your nerves were replaced with a distinct sinking sense. “Uhm, rather. I mean –” you tried to begin again, but your voice had suddenly turned quite small, and you found yourself unable to continue.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Albedo’s voice was calm but not unkind, for a moment you felt your face grow warm. Was this actually going to happen? It’d be impressive considering how you’d botched it. “I’m so glad to hear there’s someone else interested in my work. I find that unfortunately a great many people take the world around them for granted. That you do not is commendable.”

You found you weren’t really sure what to say; admittedly the only thing going through your mind at the time was something along the lines of Holy shit. Holy shit I fucking blew it.

Okay, so maybe that was an absolute train wreck. Still, you’d gotten that far, and at this point you felt like it’d be harder to stop and deal with the memory of your botched pseudo-confession than to try again. So you steeled your courage and after a week or so you found yourself ready.

This time you tried for as he arrived at work. Originally you were going to wait for afterwards, but you found the anticipation was tearing you apart, and so decided for before. The anticipation, combined with your slight exhaustion, was nearly unbearable; and a not so small part of you kept telling yourself that this was a terrible idea, but you were too far gone.

“Fancy meeting you here at this time.” There was certainly surprise in Albedo’s voice, but he was smiling, and didn’t seem to mind at all when you stammered out that you wanted to ask him about something. He simply nodded, before unlocking his lab and gesturing for you to go in first.

You loved Albedo’s lab. Various pieces of equipment gleamed in the early morning light, everything properly labeled and put away; a stark contrast to the clutter of Albedo’s desk, filled with papers and the odd sample. The whole room was surprisingly nice in general, floors made of wood, painted over with a type of resin as to keep it from being properly damaged, multiple windows keeping the space surprisingly airy, and the smell of various herbs filling the air, though not so much as to be overpowering. You’d once mentioned to Albedo that the space seemed much to homey to be a proper lab. He’d merely laughed, replying that all homes should be comfortable, no matter how out of the ordinary.

Now you used said comfort and familiarity to ground yourself. This time you’d do it. This time for sure.

“So, um about my question?”

“Yes?” Albedo replied, dropping a few things on his desk. You took a breath, steadying yourself before pushing on ahead.

“Well… you know when I told you I liked you and your work?”

“Of course. I was very happy to hear it.” Albedo’s tone remained opaque, you had no idea how your words were registering.

“Well, you see, I wasn’t being completely clear. What I meant was more… well… well I like you, more than your work.” Seeing the look of confusion on his face you sped up slightly. “Not that I don’t like your work of course! It’s just, it’s just…” you were foundering again, feeling stupidly embarrassed. Becoming more and more frustrated with yourself you shook your head. “What I mean is I like you. Personally. And I like you a lot, more than just as acquaintances or as maybe friends. And I know that this is kind of out of the blue and kind of intrusive, and I’m sure there are a lot of people who like you. But I just wanted to tell you because, well I don’t know, just because.”

You took a deep breath, feeling as if you’d said altogether too many words. Glancing towards Albedo you saw a look of slight shock on his face. A feeling of dread was creeping up on you. Maybe it would’ve been better to say nothing.

“Well, I’m certainly flattered,” Albedo began, all your hopes beginning to sink. Urging yourself not to look away your nevertheless started picking at your fingernails, praying that at least the rejection would be over soon. “though I’m not really sure what you see in me. I’m hardly the ideal sort of person. And there certainly don’t seem to be many people who like me.” Albedo paused then; staring at him you found yourself in slight disbelief, sure that the sudden blush painting his cheeks was a figment of your imagination. “That being said, I cannot say that I don’t reciprocate your feelings. In truth I feel quite foolish now, only for assuming you were uninterested and refusing to try my hand at my own confession.”

“Really?” You didn’t mean for the tone of your voice to come out as so utterly disbelieving, but you couldn’t help yourself. Slightly light-headed you took a step forward, closing the space between you and the suddenly bashful alchemist in front of you. “You like me too?”

“Yes.” Albedo nodded slightly. “And, well, since you like me as well, might we…”

“Might we?”

“Might you do me the honor of becoming my partner?”

You found yourself giggling hysterically, half from the sudden release of nerves half from how ludicrous the situation had turned out to be. Seeing Albedo, looking for the first time uncertain and nervous, you stopped. Your face burst into a smile and you nodded.

“This is quite dramatic. But of course, of course I will.”

“I’m glad. But, might I say something?”

“Yes?”

“I wish you’d told me after work. If only because I’ll never be able to concentrate now.”

 Childe

If you had to describe your crush on Childe in one word it would be: idiotic. If you had to describe it in a sentence it’d be; incredibly irritating but also impossible to ignore.

You liked Childe, you liked him a lot. And you couldn’t blame yourself. Childe was the ideal sort of partner; charismatic, athletic, with eyes that could make your heart skip a beat and hair that was asking for you to run your hands through it. Childe was attentive too, full of words that would make anyone swoon a bit, and always ready to listen, agreeing with you on every point and reacting just as you wished.

But that was the problem. Childe was a façade, his personality had been honed to be as sharp and as deadly as a knife. Of course he was understanding and charismatic and a perfect person to hold a conversation with, what else could one expect of a member of the Fatui?

At first you’d desperately tried to ignore your feelings, as if they were somehow embarrassing. You felt vaguely guilty for carrying a flame for Childe, as if you’d managed to fall into a trap you’d seen a ways away. It was an unpleasant feeling to be sure, and you tried to bury it as much as possible, sure it’d go away.

But it didn’t go away, instead your feelings somehow seemed to become more and more stubborn, as if insisting on leading you down the path that many fools who interacted with the Fatui had fallen down before. Childe was at the forefront of your mind.

You noticed when he passed by you, shooting you a blinding smile which always turned into a self-confident sort of smirk, no doubt a result of your inevitable blush. You noticed the way he always seemed to ask after your interests, but never failed to avoid more personal topics that might make you uncomfortable. You noticed how he laughed at your odd half-jokes and the way that his hand brushed your once, causing you to withdraw your own as if burned, stammering out a “nothing” when he asked what was wrong.

But still you refused to tell him. Surely that was what he wanted, another person who could be called upon to give information to the Fatui, or perhaps assist in their dirty work. That wouldn’t be you, that would never be you.

It was snowing on your way home, blocking out the normal sounds and casting the world in an eerie sort of beauty. You wished that it wasn’t so late, cursing yourself for once more forgetting how early the sun set. It didn’t help that it was blindingly cold, and that you were dressed for weather that was at least ten degrees warmer. Hurrying along you were thinking about the meal that you were going to have, unaware of the slick patch of ice lying in front of you.

“Whoah, be careful!” You were yanked out of your thoughts with alarm. Glancing around you quickened your pace, shoes slipping immediately on the ice. However instead of a hard fall on the street you found a pair of arms wrapped under yours. Glancing up you found your face only centimeters away from Childe’s.

“Sorry for causing that.” Childe’s voice was clear as a bell, marking the contrast between the two of you in your mind. Lifting you up he chuckled slightly. “I should’ve realized that a random voice yelling at you would be alarming. Nothing bruised I hope?”

“N-no.” You managed, face burning. You’d never gotten this close to Childe before, not really, and the experience was going straight to your head, as if you’d suddenly gotten very, very drunk. Shaking your head you shifted your glanced towards the ground. “Thank you.” You managed, although your voice was soft enough to be inaudible. You were still trying to process what was happening. One question kept replaying itself in your mind, why had he called out, why had he noticed you?

“I’m glad!” Childe’s voice was a beautiful thing, and you found you couldn’t really think when listening to it. “I was a bit worried I wasn’t in time.”

“Yeah…” you replied. Suddenly the situation dawned on you completely, and you found yourself looking at him with no little suspicion. “Why do you pay so much attention to me?” You blurted out.

“What do you mean?” The expression on Childe’s face was one of perfect confusion, but you could tell that he’d been somehow caught. The tone of his voice was suddenly muddied, as if you were hearing his uncertainty for the first time. This gave you courage to press forward.

“I mean it. Why, why do I always see you? I mean, why do you even pay attention to me? I’m not the kind of person to forget who you are, the fact that you’re a member of the Fatui. I won’t be roped into your schemes, no matter how much I like you.” Shit. That last part was supposed to be only in your head. For a moment you weren’t sure if you hadn’t actually hit your head somehow.

Childe looked frozen, his expression blank, filled with disbelief as well as… bashfulness? If that’s what it was it certainly didn’t fit the normal vision of Childe, still you found yourself somehow compelled by it. This was a part of the real Childe.

“I… didn’t realize you’d notice. Now I feel found out!” He chuckled again, but this time it was distinctly nervous, and he turned to the side slightly. Suddenly he paused, and his eyes snapped towards yours. “Wait, rewind. You like me?”

“…Yeah.” I mean what were you supposed to say?

“I can’t believe this.” The widest grin spread across Childe’s face, and he started bouncing on his toes slightly, it was very cute you could give him that.

“You’re ignoring the rest of my words. Personal feelings or not I still hate the Fatui, and I still don’t know why you’d target me anyways.”

“It’s cause I like you, can’t you tell?” Childe’s words rammed into you, utterly unexpected; seeing you shake your head he once more closed the space between you two. “No, I mean it. I like you. I just can’t believe that you like me back.” He let out another huff of laughter. “I can’t believe I’m this lucky, I’ve never been this lucky. Well, I’m sorry that I came off like I was some Fatui creep, I promise my occupation doesn’t include systematic wooing of civilians.”

“How can I trust you?” You were trying to stand your ground, but in reality you’d already fallen. The situation was too much, and what little resistance you’d managed to hold on in the past weeks was tearing to shreds before your own eyes.

“Because I wouldn’t lie about this.” Childe was suddenly still, his expression deadly serious. “I promise I wouldn’t lie about something like this. The fact is I like you, I like you a lot. I know my job is… unconventional to say the least; I also know that it’s entirely fair if you don’t want to associate with me because of it. But at least trust in my feelings being real, okay?”

What could you do? You nodded, a short “I trust you” falling from your lips. The feeling of happiness was surprisingly sedate, mixed with nerves, yet also somehow filled with contentment. It felt so good, it felt so good just to let go and accept what had happened. You liked Childe, you liked him so much, and he like you too. What more was there to say?

“May I ask you something?” Childe asked, voice slightly husky. Your faces were once more barely apart, and you found that you could stay like this for ages and ages.

“Yes?”

“May I hold your hand?”

You let out a laugh, smiling brightly as you slid your hand into his.

 Diluc

You weren’t even sure how this one happened.

It wasn’t that Diluc wasn’t the perfect kind of guy, I mean if he wasn’t you probably wouldn’t be falling madly into one sided love with him. It was just that you two didn’t actually have much of a chance to interact with one another, what with him being the manager and part time bartender of a surprisingly vast winery, and with you being an adventurer and someone not likely to get plastered any time soon.

But the few times that you had interacted with him, usually something to do with guarding the alcohol he was exporting, had been enough to cement an intense infatuation in your mind. There was just something about him; whether it was his voice, his polite yet intense form of speech; his mannerisms, always perfectly on time with what he needed, something which helped you and the Guild immensely; or his general charm, okay look he had great hair; you’d simply gone mad for him.

And mad indeed you were. Though you weren’t about to become a stalker – besides being incredibly creepy on principle since when did that land a person in anything but jail – you’d taken to trying to find out a least a little more about him. Because if you were going to be infatuated with someone it should at least be for more than his organizational skills and the fact his hair would look great in a high ponytail.

And what you’d found out only built upon your crush. The fact that he found the Knights of Favonius lacking, though perhaps a bit unconventional, was ultimately reasonable, or at least justifiable. You liked also that he refrained from drinking, and not just because the idea of ending the night sick in the bathroom was something that haunted you a bit. The more you learned the more you wished that you were in a situation where your feelings could be reciprocated, or at least where you could become friends of some degree. Really you just wanted him to notice your existence, sure he could pick you out in the endless sea of adventurers.

So you planned on introducing yourself at some point, at least as his almost designated wine protector. The only problem was when. Diluc seemed to be busier and busier these days, and when he was around he seemed muted, as if he was carrying something. You couldn’t bring yourself to add to his burden your own baggage. So you said nothing, and as your crush grew so did your dejection.

It was a lovely summer evening and, seeing as your apartment had becoming stifling in the daytime, you’d taken a walk, snaking through the streets of Monstadt before exiting via the back gate, glad to see there were no guards around. Walking down towards the banks of the lake you slipped off your shoes and dipped your feet into the water. Letting out a sigh you sat down and tilted your head back, enjoying the slightly breeze on your face, trying to take your mind off of the past months of agony. The world faded into background noise, and you found yourself in a state of pseudo peace, glad to have it, if only for a moment.

“Watch out!” A familiar voice broke through your reverie. Turning your head towards the source of your disruption you saw a masked figure as well as a cryo abyss mage. The mage, having correctly decided you were going to be easier to deal with than the actively armed person, suddenly appeared right in front of you. Acting on instinct you pushed your hand in front of you, letting electricity bloom from your fingertips.

As the abyss mage lay stunned your felt an arm wrap around your waist, dragging you a ways away. “Wait here.” The person carrying you said, before running back to fight. Finally getting a good look at your savior it was all you could do not to gasp. Despite being the cold hard truth you still found it hard to believe, and for a second you wondered if you hadn’t passed out somewhere and were having a particularly fantastic dream.

Finally the fighting was over, lifting yourself up you jogged over to the man who could only be the Darknight Hero.

“Master Diluc?” The words flew out of your mouth.

“Just Diluc please.” Diluc shook his head. “Forgive me for being a bit rough. Cryo abyss mages and electro users rarely work well together.”

“It’s perfectly fine!” You replied eagerly. “Really, thank you!”

Diluc offered a smile in reply, one that immediately made your heart seize up. Suddenly you remembered who the person in front of you was. Seized at first with something akin to embarrassment you also came to a sudden realization. This might be the only chance.

“Diluc?”

“Yes?”

“Well, can I say something?”

“Of course you may.” Diluc relaxed his stance, leaning slightly forward. Your face was burning, you really weren’t expecting something like this to happen, but it was now or never.

“I realize this will be quite sudden, but I… I like you.” You felt the urge to add on something, some explanation or apology, but unfortunately, or perhaps thankfully, you found you couldn’t say anything more. Running your fingers through your hair you lowered your head slightly, not wanting to see the expression on his face.

“Can I say something?” Diluc’s voice was gentle, and you couldn’t help but look up at him. Though you wouldn’t say his stance had changed very much, he somehow seemed more relaxed, something you weren’t expecting.

“Of course! I realize what I said must really be a shock, I’m really sorry.” You let out a pathetic sort of laugh.

“Don’t be sorry. I realize what I’m about to say must be equally as shocking. But, the fact of the matter is I like you as well.”

“I didn’t realize you knew I existed!” You replied, still not ready to drop your defense mechanisms. Diluc stared at you, a perplexed expression on his face.

“I’m quite surprised by that, I thought that my request for you to be the guild member in charge of the Winery would’ve been an indicator. Forgive me, I didn’t realize that you were unaware.”

“I thought that was a decision by the Guild to make things easier.” You admitted. “Although I guess I just didn’t want to admit that you might be aware of my existence.”

“Why?”

“Because that would’ve been scary! I mean, what if you didn’t like me, not in that way, just… in general.”

“Well I like you a lot.” Diluc’s voice was soft and warm.

“I like you two.” You replied, voice barely above a whisper.

As he escorted you back to your home the two of you spoke about a myriad of things, some important and some quite mundane. You found that having your feeling reciprocated had truly opened up something in you. Suddenly everything seemed so much realer, made manifest by Diluc’s presence. You couldn’t believe it really. What had failed with months of planning had succeeded in a matter of moments.

And all because of an unsuspecting abyss mage.

[antigonewinchester]

12x08 Season 12 is really trying to play to the contemporary political climate at the time, huh. A Christian President agrees to be possessed by the Devil to bring America to a better place, the month after Trump got elected through the strong support of Evangelical Christians. Not subtle.

This ep also continues the bad British Men of Letters vs. good American Men of Letters plot, especially in how much Ketch is a sinister flamboyant James Bond parody. He’s fun in a… queer-coded evil bisexual Disney villain sort of way. Kind of surprised to see this character type in 2016, but I suppose it hasn’t gone away, just become less common. It actually feels indicative of what seems to be going on in the writing of the later seasons, which has (sometimes) less explicit homophobic, sexist, racist plots but all of these ideas still shows up in subtler forms.

12x09 I’d seen how Ketch was positioned as a foil for Dean this season, but I hadn’t realized the show does the same with Mick and Sam.

Also had heard about Dean’s line about imprisonment vs Hell (“MARY: Why would you-- / DEAN: We were already dead. Being locked in that cell with nothing... I've been to Hell. This was worse. / SAM: At least this way, one of us gets to keep fighting.”) and I know I’m biased, but the writers continually downplaying Dean’s time in Hell is... Particularly because I do think Dabb intended this ep to echo back to Dean’s Hell experience—Dean being the one to “break” first (not Sam) to make the deal w/ Billie, Cas saving Mary but also Dean and Sam by killing Billie > paralleling Dean being in Hell, his breaking, and Cas then rescuing him after. And then in contrast to Sam holding out under torture at the beginning of the season w/ Toni. Leaves a weird & cynical taste in my mouth, I’ll just say that. (Although I will add the fandom takes this thread and runs w/ it to make it about 100x worse than it is in the show.)

12x10 The show has done a lot of “how does one reckon w/ the things one has done in the past and how one has changed” and not always succeeded at it, but this ep and Cas reckoning w/ his past mistakes actually worked for me. Somewhat. The writing is still doing the “I had good intentions so don’t be mad at me!!” pattern, which I will have more thoughts on later. What didn’t work for me, and what I think consistently prevents the show’s writing from being more nuanced around this theme, is how it presents a duality between revenge & resentment vs. forgiveness & letting go. Take Cas’s last line about how if Lily Sunder couldn’t forgive him, she could come find him (implied that she could kill him). It sets up only two choices: hurt people out of resentment or forgive them to let go of that resentment. But that’s a false binary; one doesn’t have to forgive someone to not try to get revenge. While chasing after revenge because of one’s resentment isn’t a good thing, resentment on its own isn’t necessarily bad; it’s just a feeling.

I’m also curious when the writers started intentionally writing Cas as in love with Dean, given 15x18. Some of the framing in the episode (angels falling in love w/ humans, certain shots of Cas’s reactions, Dean as Cas’s “heart”) could be read as subtext about Cas’s romantic feelings for Dean. It’s one of the first times when I’ve thought, huh, ok yeah, I could see an interpretation where the writers were putting the romantic angle in deliberately. Definitely only on Cas’s side, though.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Serenade (Daniela Dimitrescu/Reader) Pt. 6

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Rating: T for language, brief violence, and a line that hints at past physical abuse (depending on how you choose to interpret it) Warnings: Mild TW for implied/referenced abuse Notes: Okay so this was supposed to be somewhat therapeutic? But it ended up taking longer to get to that part than I intended, so... Don't worry though, next chapter will be fluffy and also involve more, like, actual Daniela scenes. Previous Chapters: Pt. 1: Nocturne, Pt. 2 Overture, Pt. 3: Accelerando, Pt. 4: Toccata, Pt. 5: Poco a Poco

Chapter 6: Elegy

(Elegy: A piece of music in the form of a lament)

When you dream, you do not dream of being locked in a tower, awaiting a kindly knight to come save you. When you dream… you dream of your old home, infested with monsters, nearly unrecognizable. Of being forced to flee, leaving everything you loved behind. Of escaping to a remote, quaint little village, only to end up trapped once again, as friendly faces morph into gaping maws and fangs dripping red. When you dream, it is less a nightmare, more memories retouched, covered in a fresh coat of paint.

Waking up is but a brief source of comfort. One hand goes to your head, rubbing gently, as if you could wipe away all traces of your past. A quick glance around your shared room leaves you confused, but serves as a welcome distraction. Though there are six beds in the room, yours is the only occupied one, the others having all been vacated and made presentable. The only explanation that fit with what you knew was that everyone had gotten up, and gotten to work, without waking you. Panic filled you as you connected the dots, knowing that missing work was a death sentence.

Rushing, you rise to your feet, throwing your dresser open to search for fresh clothes. While the castle’s staff was almost entirely female, the Dimitrescu family didn’t enforce traditional gender presentation, allowing maidens to choose whether to wear a dress or a button-up and trousers. Remembering the wound on your neck, you pause, glancing in the dorm’s singular mirror to inspect your injury. Most of the blood had rubbed off in your sleep (and would likely be a nightmare to clean from the sheets). There were, however, a few spots where dried blood mingled with the protective scab. Considering how late you already were, you didn’t believe you would have time to clean up.

As much as you hated the thought, the best you could do was go for a button-up, hoping the collar would hide the worst of your disastrous appearance. Your hair was another matter entirely, far messier than it normally was, and you struggled to brush/comb it enough to be mildly presentable. Good thing Daniela won’t see me today, you think, remembering her insistence on skipping today’s lesson.

Then you remember the rest of your conversation with her; the yelling, being dragged to your feet, and the pain in her eyes. For a moment you feel woozy, pausing in the middle of buttoning your shirt. Your eyes focus on a spot on the now-closed dresser… and suddenly you wish you had paid more attention when you first woke up. There’s a note stuck to the furniture, clearly addressed to you.

Heard you had some trouble yesterday. We’re just glad you’re alive! A certain someone has been a lot nicer since you started playing the piano, and we’re grateful. To show that, we decided to split your morning duties among ourselves, so you can sleep in. If you’re reading this, then it’s still before 4 AM. Feel free to just relax for a while, or even get some more sleep! We’ll be by to make sure you’re up eventually.

Sincerely,

Daphne, Rosalia, Ygritte, Alexandra, Juniper, and Riley

“I… have… freetime?” You mumbled, still a little drowsy, but now also shocked. This was a complete first for you. Maybe even a first among the servants! Sure, you had been given breaks before, but having a couple hours to do whatever you wanted? No one had ever pulled strings like this for you before. It made your chest feel warm, and you just about forgot the whole mess with Daniela. “I’ll have to find a way to pay them back, even if they think they’re paying me back.” With that said you relaxed a little, no longer rushing getting dressed, though still leaving your neck the way it was. You figured you’d stop by one of the maidens’ restrooms before you officially started your shift.

In the meantime, you knew exactly what you’d be using this time for: finding those damn piano books you had been promised!

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

“Let’s see… dust, more dust, a dead spider, even more dust, and- oh shit, the spider is not dead,” you said, barely holding in a yelp as the arachnid scurries away from you. If you had known the attic would be so unclean, you might not have bothered to come up here. So far your targets had alluded you without giving so much as a hint towards their location. The library had seemed a likely location, but you had heard Daniela’s voice within, and anxiety had sent you dashing away. Up here, in an area clearly used for storage above all else, was the next best guess, as far as you were concerned. Still, you hadn’t seen anything worth your time yet.

Just insects, really. Not even terribly interesting ones. Well, there had been a shiny beetle of some sort, but it had crawled into a crack in the wall mere seconds after you saw it. Other than that, though, nothing but creepy crawlies. Creepy flyers?... Both, for sure. One fly in particular kept buzzing around you, weirdly interested in what you were doing.

Somehow you didn’t understand what that meant until a firm hand had wrapped itself around your neck. The grip was tight, putting more than enough pressure to make your vision blur. Thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately, the culprit didn’t intend to just choke you out. Instead they lift you and toss you aside- casually, at that. You hit the wall with a terrible crashing sound, certain to leave bruises, and narrowly avoid toppling into a stack of heavy crates. So much for enjoying some free time, you think. Stunned for several seconds, you find yourself left helpless as your attacker approaches.

“You’re not allowed to be up here,” a voice snarled, familiar enough to leave you terrified. Of course you had to run into the most violent of the Dimitrescu sisters. “Looking for a way out, hmm? Or are you stupid enough to think we’d leave a weapon where a wretched thing like you could find it?” Cassandra asked, pausing only to send a swift kick your way. A grunt escapes you, leaves you coughing, but it doesn’t hurt as bad as hitting the wall. Despite wanting to curl up and give in, you tried to drag yourself to your feet. Surprisingly, Cassandra makes no move to stop you, perhaps enjoying the sight of you struggling.

“Lady… Daniela… gave me permission,” you said between painful breaths. By the time you’re back on your feet, the vampire before you is watching you with narrowed, albeit curious, eyes. Normally it would take a lot of courage to face her. But you’re exhausted, in pain, and you’ve taken nearly as much hurt from someone who called themselves your lover. It’s not brave to stare down Cassandra, it’s foolhardy. It’s idiotic, really, and yet you find yourself unable to care. “I’m just looking for a couple piano books I’ve been told about, so I can use them to help teach Lady Daniela.”

“Oh? You’re her instructor?” Cassandra asked, a strange smile overtaking her expression. Something in the atmosphere has shifted, dangerously, but you can’t figure out why. Clueless to your self-betrayal, you nod in response. Instantly Cassandra’s smile turns into an open-lipped snarl, and she reaches out to grab you by the shirt, this time slamming you into the wall with her own hands. “Then you’re the reason she kept me up yesterday, crying non stop! I’m going to rip you apart, you vermin.”

The look in her eyes is, most definitely, the scariest thing you had ever seen. It’s feral, inhuman, and unstoppably determined. But when tears fall from your eyes, it’s not because you know you’re about to die. No, it’s because the last thing you think you’ll ever hear is the news that your partner had been sobbing for hours… and that you were the reason why. Your heart aches, both physically and emotionally, as you brace yourself for the bloody end.

Instead, the grip on your clothes loosens. You don’t dare open your eyes to see why.

“What the fuck do you want, sis?” Cassandra asked, sounding like she had turned her head away from you. Before you know it you’ve been let go, and you slide to the ground, too surprised to hold yourself steady. When you look up, you see an irritated Bela pulling Cassandra away from you, whispering something you can’t quite hear. They argue for a minute, under their breath, keen on keeping you out of the loop. Eventually the younger of the two storms away, but not before making a dent in the wall with her fist.

“What a child,” Bela said, rolling her eyes at the display. Then she’s walking back towards you, extending a hand in an offer of assistance (one you gladly accept). “That girl has the foresight of a magic eight ball, I swear. If she had actually killed you… ugh, I can hardly stand to imagine how inconsolable Daniela would become. Then I’d have two insufferable sisters. Regardless, do tell me why you thought it would be a good idea to come up here unaccompanied? It is normally off limits for servants, after all.”

“I-I, well… I mean, firstly thank you for saving me, I had no idea-” Bela holds a finger up in a ‘shut up’ motion, then puts it away as soon as you pause- “right, you don’t care. Look, I was just trying to find the piano books that Lady Dimitrescu mentioned, but I’ve looked all over and I can’t find them, so I should really just go,” you explain, eager to get out of the attic. To your surprise, Bela gives you an odd look before turning away. Then she takes no more than five steps, shifts to the side, and opens an old cabinet. Inside you can see a dozen books of sheet music, notably from several different decades, all worn but still in decent condition. “How did-?... I thought I checked there.”

“Well, you must have been distracted. Nonetheless, you know where they are now, and you owe me twice over. With that in mind… come with me. We have things to discuss,” Bela commanded, walking away before you could protest. All you can do is grab the sheet music, tuck it under one arm, and follow her to who-knows-where.

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

“I’ll have to have you make my tea more often,” Bela mused, letting the mug keep her hands warm. The two of you were sitting in some sort of study, a room that you had never been inside before. From what you could tell it belonged solely to the eldest Dimitrescu daughter. Inside were several shelves, each filled with well bookmarked collections, a desk next to a massive window, a couple simple chairs, and a few instrument cases. All in all it was an aesthetically pleasing room, organized but not exactly neat. You could certainly imagine Bela spending entire days in this chamber. “Now, why do you think I brought you here?” Her voice brings your focus back into the present moment, as well as sends a spike of anxiety through you.

“Based on what nearly got me killed earlier… Does it have to do with Daniela crying?” You asked, doing your best to indicate just how bad you felt about the subject. No matter how cruel she could be, you did honestly care about Daniela, and even wanted a real, healthy relationship with her. Desire, or willingness, wasn’t the root of the problem by any means. Something told you that Bela understood this, maybe even respected you for it.

“Guess there’s more in that pretty head of yours than air and symphonies, hmm?” Bela replied, laughing a little as she did. It was a far nicer sound than Cassandra’s maniacal giggling, for sure. “Now, I don’t know all the details about what happened- just that there was an argument, clearly a bad one, and Daniela barely made it through dinner before locking herself in her room. Luckily for you, our mother doesn’t seem to know about your little ‘fight’. She’s not sure what upset Dani, and I doubt my sister would tell her, so your secret is safe. Assuming that I blackmailed Cassandra well enough, that is. Anyway, I can’t help you, and by extension my sister, if I don’t know the full story. In case it wasn’t clear, that’s your cue to start talking.”

You’re surprised, admittedly, by a number of things. But Bela seems impatient, so you go over the details of the previous night with her, occasionally pausing to let her ask questions. The whole time her focus is on you, unwavering. There’s also a noticeable lack of judgement in her expression, even when you voice your regret about how you handled the situation, and what is there seems directed more towards Daniela than yourself. Once you finish, Bela releases a deep sigh. One of her hands goes to rub her forehead as if warding off a migraine.

“Well, I can’t say I’m terribly surprised, as much as I wish I could. Daniela’s always had her head in the clouds, and it’s left her tripping over her own feet more than once. Still, this is certainly one of her bigger messes…” Bela said, shaking her head in disbelief. “I’m going to have to talk to her about this, aren’t I? There’s no way she’s going to process this correctly on her own.” This time she seemed to be talking to herself, gaze locked on her tea as if it might suddenly offer to speak to Daniela in her place. When the tea stayed silent, understandably, she returned her focus to you. “You seemed upset, earlier, about this ridiculous situation. I am going to assume, from that, you are genuinely interested in my dear sister. Normally, this would be the part where I drain you of all blood, and possibly keep your skull as a memento... mori. Yours would look lovely on a window sill, I think.”

She pauses, head tilting a little to the side, clearly evaluating your artistic value.

“However, Daniela appears to care about you, far more than her usual fleeting infatuations. So, for now, I have decided not to eviscerate you, you’re welcome,” Bela cooed, teasingly, enjoying the way you shifted uncomfortably in your seat. Still, you were glad that you would apparently be surviving the day. “So I’m going to give you some advice, which you will take, and you won’t even owe me anything extra for this. Daniela is in love with the mere concept of love- and she has been for as long as I can remember. Romance novels are practically the only books she reads. It’s… embarrassing, truly. More than that, I get the impression that she couldn’t even begin to describe what love actually feels like. She’s digested so much of that written drivel that it warped her senses. Of course, the, ahem, situation we find ourselves in, here at the castle, has undoubtedly added to this effect.

“To get to the point, Daniela’s terribly, hopelessly clueless when it comes to things like what she wants from you. And so I take it upon myself, as her older sibling, to ensure that you understand. Moreso, that you are not dissuaded. If this is an actual chance for her to experience real romance, then it could make her happier than I’ve ever seen her,” Bela explained. The look in her eyes was incredibly soft, to the point where it made you realize just how much this odd little family cared for each other. “Don’t give up, don’t let her occasional infuriating antics push you away. Given enough time… I think the two of you could, I suppose, compliment each other quite nicely. But if you break her heart? I will pull yours from your chest and eat it raw. Understood?” Gulping, you nodded quickly, ignoring the feeling of heat rushing to your cheeks. It was one thing for Bela to want her sister to be happy, but another thing entirely for her to acknowledge your “suitability” for the position. “Good. Now return to whatever it is you maidens normally do. I have a sister to talk sense into.”

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

Hours later, you stand alone in a display room, dusting various relics from bygone times. A trophy here, a bizarre art piece there, strange, unlabeled tools you can’t quite imagine are for wine-making. It’s a fascinating collection, really. But your mind is focused on other, far softer things. All you can think about is what Bela had told you, about how Daniela really is interested in you, and how she thought the two of you could make it work. After the chaos earlier in the day, this was exactly what you needed. Just some time to yourself, working quietly, thoughts all to yourself. Even your bruises bother you less, the pain fading out into the background. Considering where you are, though, it is not at all surprising that your peace cannot last. As soon as you finish your task you move towards the exit.

The door swings open, outwards, at your touch, only to reveal a familiar figure reaching for the doorknob. Both of you gasp, taken by surprise, before your gazes meet. Of course it’s Daniela. Who else would you bump into right now?

“I thought about what you said,” she blurts, suddenly, eyes wide and hands shaking. “We need to talk, yeah?”

[goforth-ladymidnight]

Hi, this is your secret santa again! I hope you are well 💕 I'm gravitating towards brilin for your gift over elucien, and I'm curious to hear you talk more about them as a ship. It's obviously not a canon ship so interpretations may vary, buy how do you imagine their relationship? Their lives? What do they enjoy to do together? In your interpretation, does Briar somehow become fae or does Tamlin give up his immortality to be with her? Why do they like each other? Etc

I am well, thank you! 💖 Thanksgiving preparations are in full swing at my house. I don’t know whether you celebrate or not, but regardless, I hope that you are doing well, also. 😊

I'm so excited to hear that you're considering writing for Brilin!!

Even though it's been a while since I've written on my own Brilin WIP (I'm so sorry to the readers who have been waiting so long for an update!!), I have given a lot of thought to their relationship, not just their story.

I apologize in advance if I went overboard, but hopefully there’s something in my answer below that inspires you. I do not know how to give short and concise answers, it seems. 😅

It is canon that Briar is a former member of the Children of the Blessed, who worshiped the Fae like gods. After being kidnapped and tortured by Hybern, she was rescued and taken to the Winter Court to recover. I think it’s natural to assume that she has become disillusioned by her experience, and is reluctant to trust again.

Tamlin, as we know, is still the High Lord of the Spring Court, but he doesn't act like it. He tends to lash out at those who would help him (Lucien), and he cowers from those who would hurt him (like Nesta in ACOSF). He stays in his beastly form at all times, day or night, at least until a certain human appears on his doorstep (or so I like to think).

I've seen some people suggest that Tamlin should leave the Spring Court to become the wandering minstrel he wanted to be from the beginning, and give his title to Lucien. Honestly, I'm not too crazy about the idea. If that's what you're angling for, far be it from me to criticize. I could fall in love with that story! If it were up to me, though, I would prefer to see him rebuild the Spring Court and allow other people into his life to help him instead of shouldering the burden alone or giving up entirely.

On that note, it would certainly be a twist in the ACOTAR universe to see an immortal being give it all up so that they can grow old and die with their loved one, rather than the other way around. (Side note: the song “Who Wants to Live Forever” by Queen will never not make me emotional.) At the same time, though, I don’t want it to seem like a punishment, as if Tamlin’s only redemption can happen through his death. As for making Briar immortal, I have not yet figured out the when and how, but I’m more inclined towards that idea.

In a way, I’d like to see Briar stay human for a while, to let her grow up a little as their relationship grows. (Of course, that could just be me wanting to see older women portrayed as viable love interests, not just the eighteen, nineteen, and young twenty-somethings, especially when the male love interests are perceived to be in their late twenties/early thirties. As a single thirty-something myself, the joke that men like Leonardo DiCaprio break up with women once they turn twenty-five becomes less funny and more icky over time. But that’s another rant for another day.)

Anyway, I love the idea of Briar and Tamlin realizing together that they want this relationship to last, and to last a long, long time. Let them decide together how they can make this happen, etc. Not that I mind what happened in canon with the Archeron sisters being turned Fae, but I think Briar and Tamlin have both been through enough that they don’t need Briar to be turned immortal in this intense, dramatic, death-defying way. (@/separatist_apologist wrote a version of Brilin where she is a sort of Sleeping Beauty transformed through an old magical tree in the Spring Lands, for example.)

One thing I appreciate about Tamlin’s character in Book 1 is that he fell in love with a human despite the nature of the curse: Feyre was the one who had to fall in love, not him, but he did anyway. It doesn’t seem so unreasonable to me that he would fall for another human. He has a protective instinct (often to his detriment, as we saw with how he treated Feyre later on), but I think that comes from the fear that he’s going to lose everything he cares about. Despite his “best” efforts, his worst fears have come true: he’s lost his family, his fiancee, his best friend, his Court, and his self-respect. I’d like to think that there’s some small shred of something left inside of him that wants to protect this woman that has suddenly come into his life. Perhaps it started in a begrudging sort of way, because to him she’s just another fragile human, but she is tied to the Winter Court and he doesn’t want Viviane and Kallias freezing his roses in retaliation, so he might as well look after this one to keep them off his back. But the first time Briar smiles at him, it’s not a pitying smile, and he realizes he would do anything to have someone smile at him like that again.

Meanwhile, Briar is wary of this big, growling monster who somehow isn’t like the monsters who tortured her and killed her fellow Children of the Blessed. And to be honest, this beast is kind of a mess and his house and his garden are, too, so while she’s staying there she might as well clean things up a bit, you know? And she gradually learns that beneath the dirt and the fur and the fangs is someone who has a wicked sense of humor, who cares about his mother’s rose garden, who likes poetry and takes notice of the little things.

And that’s just as they’re getting to know each other. 🥰 Part of this process involves them understanding and accepting that she's not like Feyre just because she's human, and he's not like the King of Hybern just because he's a High Lord and High Fae. As they begin to trust each other and, yes, love each other, touch becomes vital to their relationship. It's accidental at first. Shoulder touches. Playful nudges. Then it becomes more personal, especially when he starts staying in his High Fae form full-time. His hand at her waist when he stands next to her. Her hand on his arm when she wants to get his attention, and lingering there afterwards. He brushes stray hairs from her face as she’s trying to prune the roses or weeding even though he insists he has plant magic and can take care of it, but she says she likes getting her hands dirty. And speaking of hands, hand kisses. I melt into a puddle for hand kisses. Fingertips, palms, the inside of the wrist... *swoon* 

I believe it was @/isterofimias whose version of Briar is self-conscious about the scars on her hands from being tortured, and I just fell in love with the idea, and not in a sadistic way. (I’m actually jealous that I didn’t think of it!) I imagine that Tamlin makes more of an effort to keep his claws hidden because he doesn’t want to hurt her or scare her away after what she experienced. So little touches mean that much more. You can write a version of Briar with or without physical scars, by the way, but both she and Tamlin do still carry the scars of what happened during the War with Hybern, and more.

In my Brilin WIP, Briar is nervous around fire because of what Hybern did to her, so she keeps her distance from open hearths and hot stoves. So, until Tamlin hires servants again, he does all the cooking. @/bookishfeylin wrote a one-shot where Tamlin cooks breakfast, and it seemed so fitting for his character. If Brilin cooks together, she chops the vegetables, and he handles the cooking itself. She starts singing while she chops. They slow-dance around the kitchen. He thinks her eyes are the color of cinnamon, but when they kiss, she tastes like honey.

He understands that it will be a while before she's no longer afraid of open flames, but he admires her for not being afraid of him.

They go on long walks together, hand-in-hand. She likes the way her hand fits in his; that though his hands are larger, he is always gentle with her. They read together. Their relationship is not loud or flashy or particularly adventurous, but it’s peaceful and comfortable. Perhaps one day, he feels confident enough to take her to the Pool of Starlight, because he has many fond memories of that place, despite having shown it to Feyre and the fallout that happened afterwards.

And speaking of fallout... Whether directly or indirectly, Tamlin did save Briar when he intervened to save Feyre, Elain, and Azriel from Hybern’s naga-hounds in ACOWAR. I personally haven’t decided on how significant that incident is in the nature of Brilin’s relationship. @/readingwritingwatching wrote about it in her fic and interpreted it as Tamlin sensing his mate was in danger and therefore needed to intervene. You can interpret it however you like. 😊

Side note: I did not tag any of my fellow writers in this answer because I didn’t want to make anyone feel pressured to respond in any way, but I wanted to give credit for those creative ideas I admired. ❤️ And if I have missed any other Brilin fics, I apologize. I haven't stopped to read anything new on AO3 lately.

Whew! This took a while, but I’m satisfied with my answer. If you have further questions, my inbox is open! 💞

P.S. I don’t know how much research you’ve done for Briar, but the current fandom theory is that she is the same Child of the Blessed that the Archeron sisters met early on in ACOTAR Book 1. That particular character was not named, but was described with black hair and brown eyes. Canonically, Briar in ACOWAR is described as pale with black hair, but her eye color is never mentioned. Just thought I’d mention it in case you were curious. 😘

[tedturneriscrazy]

Another Saturday, another episode! Let's take a look at Keeping Up A-fear-ances!

(Good lord I'm starting to make myself sound like some sort of content creator)

Oh, okay, we're just starting at that level of intensity, huh?

Chest gem origins

Gwendolyn not being satisfied with managing the curse and determined to cure it? I'm sure this won't be a real world allegory in the slightest.

Oh, so Eda literally just stumbles upon the portal? I could call that contrived, but honestly it's not dissimilar to how Dipper found Journal 3. For that matter, the entirety of Lord of the Rings is predicated on an accidental discovery like this and nobody gave Tolkien shit about it.

Was the eye on the portal cracked in previous episodes? I don't remember.

Seems like Gwen is the "well-meaning but ultimately misguided" flavor of mom.

As an aside, I am now quite curious about how Eda's first trip to the human realm went. Maybe a future episode will cover it? At any rate, I smell a new favorite fic prompt.

The screaming alarms in the Demon Realm will never not be funny to me.

Also, that is a worrying number of hearts. Eda is straight up murdering these poor creatures.

For some reason the gold fang being removable never occurred to me as a possibility, and now I feel like a kid who's discovered that Santa isn't real.

Oh hey, the new outfit! I'm also impressed how close to symmetrical that tearing was.

I need to get a screencap of Luz sleeping on that stack of books because she is adorable.

Also, staying up all night researching? This season seems determined to completely eradicate the notion of Luz being dumb, and I am here for it.

I have a feeling the Hexside mug will be making its way to The Mystery Shack in the near future.

Lilith's first experience with transformation and she seems understandably horrified.

The curse acting stronger when stressed? That seems...important.

Ah, so the dismemberment is from the curse! A surprisingly useful side effect from what we've seen so far.

Can I just say that I appreciate how Eda's reaction to Lilith's first taste of transformation is immediate remedy, explanation, and reassurance? And doesn't make any snarky comments along the lines of "now you know what it's like?" Whatever happened in that week and a half must have been cathartic as hell.

"Always. Always curious." Luz is the TOH fandom.

(Also, Eda, you know she is, considering how much she went on about your "mysterious past" at the Covention)

"Magic bird tornado?!" Luz has a way with words that's just *chef's kiss*.

"Gwendolyn." Eda is already just fucking done.

"MOM?!?!" Jeez, Lilith, you're just now hearing all this?

I was charmed by how motherly Gwen was acting toward Eda, but then she kinda just...dismissed Lilith, and now I'm somehwat less charmed.

(Sweet flea as a term of endearment is kinda cute, though might have some unfortunate implications depending on how you want to interpret it)

"Who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?" OH WE GOING FOR THE ANTI-VAXXERS NOW YESSSS

Luz and Lilith's reaction to that whole exchange is priceless.

Everyone's perspective here makes perfect sense for who they are and what they've been through.

Poor Lilith. Her cursing Eda is beginning to make more sense.

Ah, thus begins the collaboration.

"We'll be consulting someone very special." Why does that seem so...ominous?

Is there anyone who watched this episode for the first time whose bullshit detector didn't go off immediately when Gwen mentioned finding someone who promised a cure?

Heh, Palm Stings.

Nonbelievers will be blinded by the power of the tome? I'm sure they will be, Wartlop.

I must say, as something of a scientist myself (okay that's not true, I'm a QA tech for a food manufacturer, but I do have a chemistry degree), I am 100% here for the swings being taken at faith healing/"miracle" cures/anti-vaxxers in this episode

Oh, we Wile E. Coyote now, huh?

Also, interesting how much apple blood is being played up in this episode.

Lilith please you're projecting your mommy issues on a literal child

OH WE REALLY JUST WILE E. COYOTE HUH?

You're right, Luz, Gwen's bicep game is goals.

(Somewhat disappointed the scars are from questing and not beastkeeping, but eh)

Why do I get the feeling there's gonna be a future episode where everybody stages an intervention for Eda's apple blood problem?

"Those feathers mean we're driving the beast out" Gwen no

Hooty is holding the brain cell? Oh no...

If that ice cream came from the Night Market it would explain why Lilith sounds drunk.

(Side note: I can't be the only one getting flashbacks to Mermista's ice cream binge, right? Different context, but still)

"Abomi-berry" "Franken fruit" "Key slime pie" These are A+ flavor names.

Oh, there's the transformation...

I must say that whole segment kinda rubbed me the wrong way. The way King's opinion on his dad was changed seemed...I don't know how to describe it. I get that they needed a trigger for Lilith's transformation, but honestly if any part of the episode is contrived it's this.

"¡It really is that good!" So that's what an accent slip in written form looks like. (The upside down exclamation point is used in Spanish, in case anyone didn't know)

I keep half expecting Eda to say "Beep! Beep!" at this point.

Luz is finally asking questions. Took long enough.

Ah, the classic "moving the goal posts to extract more money from a desparate family member" technique.

Luz channeling Scorpion, we love to see it.

There is an exquisite irony in Eda's mom being scammed, I must say.

Ah, so that's where the elixirs went. Dammit, Gwen.

Luz is definitely thinking "Are you fucking kidding me right now?!"

Beast!Lilith is massive.

"Sweet flea?" Gwen just realized she done goofed.

"I can see you still need a little time." God Luz is so fucking smart.

The con revealed.

OH DAMN SCARY MAMA

(Also I am terrified of bees/wasps, so extra scary mama in my book)

The scam is revealed, goblins, getting back into the Wartlop disguise is kinda pointless.

She joined the Beast Keeping coven entirely to cure the curse? That's dedication. A shame you couldn't have spared some of that for Lilith.

Still, I do like badass scary mama Gwen. I'd be down to see more of that.

Owl Beast fight!

I am slayed by the fact that the portraits are now officially a recurring gag 😂

Aw, here's The Moment™️

"My turn to drive" Does this imply cars are a thing on the Boiling Isles after all?

Lilith crying almost immediately💔 She was holding onto a lot of pain.

Yes, King, she was trying to do her best. I mean, road to hell or whatever, but at least Gwen got there in the end.

WHAT?! YOU'RE BREAKING UP LULU AND HOOTCIFER?!?!?!?

Terrace, that's just cruel. (Worthless brownie points for whoever understands that reference)

No, seriously, you can't just give me my favorite inter-character relationship in the series after Lumity and just...take it away like that, come on! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I know I should remark on how Lilith told Gwen about the circumstances of the curse, how Gwen rightfully accepted responsibility for the whole situation, and how Luz finds the big hair aspirational, but...NOOOO DON'T END THE ADVENTURES OF LULU AND HOOTCIFER WHYYYYYYYYY💔😭💔😭💔😭

"BUT I CAN'T HOLD A PEN!"

I will never emotionally recover from this.

Okay, I think I got that out of my system. Anyway...

Not the only human, huh? Cue the "Belos is a human" theorists going into maximum overdrive.

That said, a tantalizing lore dump.

We certainly do have a lot of garbage. Some of it even holds office. HEY-O!

Setting up the next episode, too. Continuity!

Camp's over, huh? That means it's been three months.

Way to misdirect with Camila, guys. That said, we have now seen Camila cry and I HATE it. (In the right way, I think)

WHAT THE FUCK

HOLY SHIT

CREEPY LUZ IS REAL WHAT

OWJEIWHQGIWWOPQ

(It's hard to keysmash on a phone, even with autocorrect off)

That wraps it up! The flaws in this episode seem more pronounced than any others in the season so far, but the good stuff was really good! Overall a solid episode! I know everybody's looking forward to library Lumity in the next one (so am I), but I'm personally eager to see what they do with Gus. His part is the A plot, after all.

Anyway, I'll be back at this next week! Still hard to believe this is a thing, but that's life, I guess.