#and in the end i think they both ended up acknowledging how they'll never be able to let go of arthur

[camelotsheart]

arthur and morgana telling each other that they're not as different from uther as they'd like to think is such a raw 'i can stab you where it hurts' moment because they're calling each other out on the affection they had for someone who had mostly caused them harm throughout their childhood and adult life. they're calling out their inability to let go of a twisted love that had shaped them into the person they are, no matter how much they tried to stop uther from carving them in his image

[daytaker]

The Gang React to You Ignoring Them

Lucifer

"How childish. They'll have forgotten by the end of the day."

By the end of the day, however, Lucifer has reached his fucking limit. But his pride will not only prevent him from begging you to knock it off-- it will prevent him from even acknowledging in your presence that he is remotely bothered.

He probably goes to vent to Diavolo -- that is to say, visit him for tea and offhandedly comment about your immaturity for pulling such a stunt, knowing that he'll just contact you and beg for him.

Mammon

"Oh no you don't! MC! MC! MC! MC! MC! Hey! MC! MC! Hey! MC!"

He will follow you wherever you go. At first he thinks he's hilarious, being an absolute pain in the ass, but the longer it goes on, the more dejected he gets. His energy level tanks and soon he's just lying on top of the nearest piece of furniture and whining for you to stop it.

If you manage to get him off of you long enough to escape him, he will just text you.

Mammon: MC Mammon: MC Mammon: Hey MC Mammon: Hey Mammon: MC

If you block him, he will just text someone else until that person becomes so annoyed that THEY beg you to stop.

When you finally give in, he pretends like he didn't even care that much. It was just a little joke between pals, right? Haha!

Leviathan

"So this is how easy it is for you to just toss me aside like a piece of garbage."

Levi will take this extremely personally. Depending on why you're ignoring him, he might blame himself and enter a spiral of self-hate. He'll hole up in his room, refusing to leave until you finally come in and either apologize or forgive him, whichever is appropriate.

He'll spend a few moody minutes acting like it's too late for that, but soon he'll be on the verge of tears, making you to swear on a copy of The Tale of the Seven Lords that you will never pull that kind of thing again.

Satan

"Really? Is this what it's come to? You understand how pathetic this makes you look, don't you?"

Like Lucifer, he won't be too bothered at first, assuming you'll get over things relatively soon. But if nothing has changed within an hour or two, he'll start to get testy. He'll send a text, sit in the same room as you and stare a hole through your head, and if you're still ignoring him after a while of that, he'll storm up to his room.

Depending on how emotionally charged the incident was that led to you ignoring him, he will be more or less capable of fending off an explosion of temper. Most likely, any acknowledgement you toss his way will ease the tension, so it might be a good idea to just shoot him a text asking him not to destroy the house, please.

Asmodeus

"But it's impossible to ignore me! You can't look away from a face like mine! See?"

I don't think you can ignore Asmo. Being the literal Avatar of Lust with powers to charm and an intense need to be admired and adored, he simply exudes an aura that demands attention. You should probably come up with a different strategy of attack.

Beelzebub

"...Are you mad at me?"

Why would you do that to him? How could you be so cruel?

If you did do it, it would probably confuse and sadden him. Confusion and sorrow both make him feel hungry, so he will go ahead and start eating his feelings within an hour of the silent treatment. Even if you're content to allow this to continue, the other six demons in the house aren't, and you will ultimately have no choice but to make up with Beel.

Belphegor

belphie.exe has stopped responding

Considering you'd already forgiven him for the whole murder thing, he can't comprehend how you've become so mad at him that you'd go so far as to give him the cold shoulder. He won't know how to respond at first, but he will quickly become an angry, sulky ball curled up under the blankets on his bed. If it takes more than a few hours for you to come crawling back to him, things will start to change. Belphie will return to the common areas of the house, acting mostly the same as usual, and he will not spare you a second glance. Even if you stop ignoring him, well, two can play this game, and Belphie is absolutely petty enough to drag this one out.

After a day or two of you trying to talk to him, he'll relent. He'll feel kind of guilty, having worked through most of his anger while ignoring you. He'll probably text you a lot for the next day or two, just to ease some of his anxieties.

Diavolo

"I don't understand."

You can't do that. That's illegal. Next character.

Barbatos

"Hehe. What a troublemaker."

Barbatos likes it when you ignore him sometimes.

Barbatos will not change his behavior at all, ever. You could spend the rest of your life ignoring him, and he would simply accept it as one of those unfortunate circumstances life sometimes throws his way. He would prefer it if things didn't go down that way, though. Basically, he'll let you come to him whenever you've gotten over whatever it is you're upset about. What a king.

Solomon

"Hmm? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Solomon will act pretty much the same as usual around you too. He'll point out that you're ignoring him to whoever else happens to be around and bemoan the situation, but he won't actively appeal to you. Instead, he'll orchestrate a scenario that traps you in a situation where he is the only person you can go to for help. As soon as you do that, he'll act as if nothing ever happened. If you resume the silent treatment, well, he can always come up with another scenario.

Are you still sure it's a good idea?

Simeon

"I didn't realize you were so upset. I'm sorry (that/if) I hurt you."

Simeon will either immediately understand why you are doing this, in which case he will apologize (using "that") or he will have absolutely no idea what's going on, and he'll still apologize (using "if") to be on the safe side.

If you don't show any signs of breaking, he'll enlist Luke's help to make you an apology dessert of some sort. And how can you stay mad at him when he's offering you angel food cake with such a sad expression?

Luke

😧😠😣🥺😢

Wh- Whaaa...?! How dare you ignore him! That's so mean! It must be all the demonic influences rubbing off on you! Stop it! Stop it or he's going to tell Simeon!

And then he'll go and tell Simeon. Simeon will probably tell him to just wait until you've calmed down. If he thinks you're being unreasonable, though, he'll probably have a talk with you himself. Really? Pulling the silent treatment on an actual child? Sure, he's a millennium old, but he's still a child.

[bunjywunjy]

Are bears just.... undomesticatable

My friend and I were talking about it today, how humans will pet anything and domesticate anything even remotely friend shaped...so what happened with bears?

I mean we tamed wolves and big cats (domesticated themselves but ya know) oxen, deer and birds, wild boar....why never did we make tiny lovable bears?

well, the shortest answer to that is that domestication isn't really something we did TO animals, it's a process that happens over time that requires work from both ends! it's a two-way-street, so to speak.

see, for domestication to really work, the domesticated species has to actually need something from humans that they then get when they enter a partnership with us.

for dogs? companionship, food, shelter, safety of the group, and assistance with child rearing and territory defense.

for cats? access to a steady food supply, shelter and safe places to rear their young, companionship.

for horses? protection, safety and shelter, healing of injuries and illnesses, and a constant sense of reassurance.

for livestock animals like cows, pigs, and goats? guaranteed safety, healing of injuries and illnesses, assurance of producing young in a safe place, and an eventual swift mostly-painless death free of the agonies of the wilder food chain.

but bears?

bears don't want anything from us. bears don't NEED anything from us. they'll eat our trash, but they're just as happy pulling salmon out of a river somewhere.

they don't have any use for human protection or shelter. they'll eat you if they think it's a valid option on the table. (pun intended)

so no, no matter how much you might like a domesticated grizzly to cuddle up to on cold nights, they're just not interested and so it will never happen.

and that's okay! there are some animals that we just don't have anything to offer to, and it's good to acknowledge that.

bears belong in the wild.

[ryescapades]

hi hello how are you?? i would like to request a yor forger!reader with hoshina where it's friends to fake marriage if that's alright?

they both agreed to the arrangement just to get their families' pestering off their back, but they ended up catching feelings in the process.

basically married shenanigans with pining hoshina with his insanely strong (fake) spouse in the third division 🔥🔥🔥

thorny predicament | kaiju no. 8

characters: hoshina soshiro x fem yor forger!reader

genre/warning: fluff, fake marriage, idiot to lovers? pining, this is more like a character study i think, mixed use of present and past tenses (don't mind my grammar guys pls)

a/n: hi hii i’m doing well tq for asking and requesting dear anon ! sorry for the delay and i hope this is to your liking :3 it's been so long since i first watched spy x family so i'm sorry if the yor characterization is a bit butchered :c 2.98k wc

"ya have been quite distracted in battles lately. any problem we should be aware of, y/n?"

almost stumbling on the kaiju carcass on the ground, you let out a startled yelp at the voice. you switch your attention from the gun in your hands to the man behind you, holding in the grimace from showing on your face.

"vice-captain! apologies, um... i'm just exhausted, i promise!" you laugh, though you can't help but to cringe inwardly at how obviously forced the sound was.

hoshina gives you a long, scrutinizing stare. he then glances at your surrounding, making sure no one is around to eavesdrop. "alright, i know somethin' is wrong with ya. out with it," he presses. you make a gesture with your hand, attempting to brush it off. "no, no, i'm fine, sir! it's nothing, really—"

"it's just us here, y/n." hoshina cuts you off, mildly bothered that you're still addressing him in a formal way.

realizing you have no way out of this, you sigh in defeat. "it's my parents again... and their marriage shenanigans. they've been pushing me about it and if i don't make any progress, they'll have me do an omiai soon," you huff, kicking at a stray pebble on the asphalt.

born into a family who valued tradition above all, you've already known that you're going to be subjected to it soon enough. sure, your parents are proud that you're always out there saving the country, but true to their beliefs, there's no way they'd allow you to die a lonely maiden.

but for it to be conducted this early? you almost tear your hair out at the thought. you can barely cook anything to save your life!

knowing your parents, they'd probably pick your potential suitors from family friends or the sons of people they're close with at work. how can you stop that from happening, you wonder... hm, would eliminating them work? maybe let a honju go rampant near their houses— wait, no, no, stop! don't go there, y/n!

meanwhile, hoshina's eyes widen, blissfully unaware of your inner deviant thoughts. he's reminded of his own conversation he had with his father just a few weeks ago. it was exactly the same thing.

well, not that exactly.

his father only talked about how old he's getting and how nice it'd be to see some kids running around in the family estate. in other words, he's hoping for grandchildren.

hoshina vividly remembers the old man saying he 'doesn't want to bother soichiro because he's busy running a division'. he scoffs to himself. as if his job as a second-in-command isn't as important.

and as if he'd agree to marry some random woman his father picked for him anyway. because deep down in his heart, there's only one person he could see himself tying the knot with. though he never really indulges himself to acknowledge that fact, too afraid of what it could mean and the uncertainty of it to work out.

he watches as you continue to fuss over your dissatisfaction at the poor concrete below, panicking about the possibilities of getting a perverted and alcoholic old man as a husband and whatnot.

there's a notion in his head, it’s bugging him to voice it aloud. an idea, a way to dissolve this messed up situation the two of you have been thrown into.

and so he finds himself saying, "mind stopping by my office after we wrap up this operation?"

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

"i— we... excuse me?" you sputter in disbelief, gaping at your superior who's calmly leaning his hip against the desk behind him. you think this is the first time you've ever been this speechless in your whole life.

understandably, of course. never would you have thought that your family issues were something you can relate to that of hoshina's. and it's not every day you find yourself hearing your good friend suddenly proposes that you two get married. it's only a fake marriage though. but still.

"i know ya heard me the first time, y/n. don't make me repeat myself," hoshina gruffly says, shifting in his stance. little do you know there's a trail of cold sweat running down the back of his neck.

the line between your brows deepens even further. "sorry, it's just... i honestly don't know how to respond. are you sure you're up for something like that, hoshina?" you question.

"i wouldn't have brought it up if i'm not up to it. are you?"

you continue to ponder over your options, slightly stressing out because of how impetuous everything is.

it’s not like you think the idea is bad, no. if anything, you’d finally get to push your parents— and your whole family, in fact— off your back. god knows how many more ‘you’re getting old, y/n. it’s not good to marry so late. you’d lose your appeal as a woman, do you understand?’ you could take from your mother before you completely lose your mind.

your femininity is alright, but you don't think you'd make a fine wife-material out of yourself. then again, you're too much of a kind soul to outright say no to your parents about it. lying to them is a no-go either, for they'd always known how bad you are at lying and how hard it is for you to keep up the act.

it’s clear that the burdens of being a daughter in a family such as yours are too much for a benign spirit such as yourself to bear.

another thing is that your parents had once emphasized to take anyone but a defense force officer as your spouse. again, highlighting the fact that they don’t want you to suffer the despairing fate of a soldier; losing a partner in battle.

it’s not just that. there’s the case with hoshina too, where you think your relationship with him has always been in the grey area. you two are considerably close, though you’d rather describe it in a more-than-coworkers but less-than-best friends kind of way, given how the two of you have never actually confided in each other about something explicitly personal as this. so basically, this is the first time you’ve heard him confessing such problems to you.

apart from that, there were also some of those moments where you’d catch him doing something that threatened the thin, fragile line of your relationship. it’d send your mind into an impasse every time it happened, making you question about it more times than you’d care to admit.

although with that being the reason, you still end up agreeing to his proposal, knowing fully well the arrangement can bring you both mutual benefits.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

the day you formally introduce yourself to the hoshina family turns out rather smooth. the meeting with your parents, however...

you don't think you've ever been this nervous before. not when you held your first ever presentation in school, not when you were anticipating your jakdf acceptance letter, and definitely not when you fought your first kaiju.

another first experience added to the list of that involving hoshina soshiro...

simply put, the entire meeting was nerve-wrecking.

as expected, your parents were skeptical with your so-called husband of choice. they interrogated the hell out of him, asking this and that, commenting on every little thing about him with the intention to see him squirm in his seat.

but you know hoshina. he's confidant, undeterred and he knows how to handle his opponents well. with honeyed, dialect-thickened answers slipping from his tongue at every turn, your parents gradually warm up to him.

if only you knew the praises he had uttered about you all came from his honest heart.

since then, your relationship with hoshina grows closer, born out of correlative understanding and acknowledgment towards your newly shared status as each others' spouses. both of your parents have dwindle down a bit with their pestering, now opting to support you two in their own ways.

hoshina becomes a tad bit more bold with his gestures too. he grazes his hand a lot more with yours, stands a bit closer to you until your shoulders brush, suspiciously eyeing men who he thinks were looking at you wrongly. he even asked captain ashiro to let him have the same meal times and off-duty hours as you.

"you called for me, captain ashiro— oh, vice-captain hoshina, you're here too!" you salute just as you step into the captain's office.

hoshina gives you an easy smile, one which you gladly mirror as you stand beside him in front of ashiro's desk, now consciously aware of the engagement ring you wore as a necklace hidden beneath your uniform and a complementary one you know is looped around his neck.

"at ease, y/n. i just called to ask whether you'd be alright with having a schedule change starting next week?" ashiro asks straight away, her attention still fixed on the papers in front of her.

your brows raise in confusion. "um... respectfully speaking, captain, since when do i have a say in something like this? i thought that's only for you to decide?"

"well, seeing as hoshina is the one who requested it, it's only right that i properly ask consent from you first, since it's your work hours we're discussing about here." she says.

ashiro then continues, not giving you and your 'husband' a chance to utter a single reply, "besides that, i'm quite surprised you're still calling him by his last name, given that you're also a hoshina now, y/n."

thoroughly amused, the captain revels in the way the two of you blush almost simultaneously, turning away from each other in bashfulness after being called out.

right, you forgot captain ashiro is the first person to know about the true nature of your relationship... and yet despite that, she genuinely roots for you two, praying that someday hoshina will eventually confess his painfully deep-rooted feelings for you.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

hoshina enjoys watching you in action. polite and kind personality off the field but with impeccable fighting abilities, your unleashed force could soar through the roof on a good day, and your hand-to-hand combat skills are considered on par with his own. not to mention your extremely high agility and fast reflexes, hoshina has rarely seen any kaiju catching you off guard mid-fight.

in short, you're strong. monstrously so.

he's reminded of that fact during one celebration party, where you've emptied one too many glasses, drunk out of your mind to even think straight.

"you know, soshiro-kun... this is like the best decision i've ever made! like, ever!!" you slur in between hiccups, cheeks flushed as your heavy eyes shine brightly at him.

your husband's slanted eyes crinkle at the corners in clear ardor, though you never noticed it due to your intoxicated state. "what decision? you mean drinkin' till you're all trashed and plastered like this?" he drawls with a teasing lilt in his tone.

hoshina lets you drunkenly lean the entirety of your weight on his side, an arm hovering just above your figure in case you fall over. choosing to indulge himself a bit, he rests his cheek on your head, taking in the soft scent of your shampoo.

most of the others celebrating around you don't even bat an eye, already used to the sight of you and the vice-captain being so physically close together. the new recruits never asked about your relationship. they just assume that you're already dating since they've seen you two like this even before they got officially appointed as officers.

though they have no idea how unbearably frustrating it was for the older members of the division to keep watching their vice-captain pine for you for years now.

one is hopeless, and the other is oblivious. it's sickening.

"ehhh, me? drunk? no, no! the decision is me marrying you, of course! i'm so happy i said yes to you that day! cheers to my lovely husband, guys!" you giddily hoot, raising another glass in the air before downing it all in one gulp.

and then chaos ensues.

shocked exclaims of "you two are married already?!", "wait, why was i not invited??", "since when?!", and among others fill the already rowdy hall.

hoshina internally combusts, his ears burning hot for he doesn't expect you to suddenly reveal your status like that but you seem so delighted about it that he doesn't have the heart to deny anything.

at the table beside you, furuhashi shouts in victory, "hah! i told you guys l/n-san and vice-captain hoshina are together! pay up, suckers!"

the swordsman raises a thin eyebrow at the new discovery. "that's quite a bet y'all made there. think some good extra laps could fit in somewhere?" he provokes.

the newbies sit upright, body rigid as they're about to send apologies his way but then you cut them all off.

"l/n? soshiro, you had a partner before me? am i getting in between your relationship?" you shakily ask in your hazy stupor, barely able to get your words out correctly as you jerk back, tears pooling in your eyes.

hoshina halts, finally realizing that you're too far gone to grasp that they were talking about you. "wait, what? that's not—" he tries to console, but you move fast, more so now that you're drunk. "no, don't touch me! i'm not a man-stealer, i swear!" you cry out.

before anyone can say or do anything, your fist connects with his jaw, so strong and forceful that the sound echoes in the hall as everyone else freeze in their spot, almost in horror at the spectacle.

the powerful yet underserving hit left hoshina's pretty face sporting a nasty bruise for the next few days, and it got you apologizing every chance you get.

nonetheless, at least he finds it endearing that you're not the type to handle your liquor well.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

another thing hoshina adores about you is that you're protective of the ones you care about.

he can distinctly recall the sagamihara neutralization operation when officers furuhashi and ichikawa had stumbled upon the humanoid version of no.9.

after losing connection with the two boys, you knew something was wrong at that moment. deciding to trust your instincts, you immediately head towards their last reported location, hoshina's concerned warnings from your earpiece going unheeded.

relief washed through you when you managed to arrive on time, though the sight of two direly injured officers made something boil deep inside your stomach.

your heart leaped to your throat when you see no. 9 with its hand out towards furuhashi, seconds away from blowing him to bits. with an enraged vigor, you lunged towards the man, pulling him behind you and aiming your gun at the monster before straight away pulling the trigger.

furuhashi cried out your name but you felt your pulse quicken then, not because of the daikaiju's hand separating from its arm and its core almost exposed due to your piercingly pin-point shot, but because of the figure appearing just behind no. 9. it was kaiju no. 8.

the next thing you knew, no. 9's head was flying away, and you held furuhashi closer, your aim changing its direction to the new humanoid kaiju. "keep still, furuhashi." you grit your teeth when you felt him stagger behind you, eyes narrowing warily at the way no. 8 gently handled ichikawa to sit up.

you wanted to question how it was possible for a kaiju to act in such a humanely way, but you figured that was something to be figured out later, as you now have two wounded officers to worry about.

hours later, as the mission came to an end, you approached hoshina who was seated on the ground with a sullen look on his face. "soshiro?" you called.

your husband immediately turned at the sound of your voice, clambering to a stand and dusting off his suit. "y/n! you're fine, thank gods," he exhaled before fussing over you, peering here and there to make sure you're not injured anywhere. "you're crazy, you know that? runnin' off to face against two daikaijus like that. ya had me worried sick!"

your fingers mindlessly fidget with the ring necklace, heart melting at his concerned sentiment. "sorry... i was worried too, you know. to hear furuhashi and ichikawa-kun getting isolated with an identified kaiju like that. they're under my care so i have to be responsible for their lives. and then you just had to go off and fight no. 8 on your own!" you huffed.

finding solace in his safety and well-being, you dropped your head to his shoulder and brought his own ring close to brush a kiss on the smooth surface of the glinting metal. "but i'm glad you're safe, soshiro," you murmured quietly.

when a tense silence greeted you, you slightly winced as embarrassment slipped into your conscious thoughts.

were you making him feel uncomfortable? fuck, you shouldn't have done that. you're just his fake wife, you don't have any right to succumb yourself to such intimacy with him.

you moved to pull away, but a palm situated itself on the back of your head, making you settle back on his shoulder. the hand felt warm, and so did hoshina's ears, cheeks, neck and anywhere his blood rush could reach.

"soshiro...?" your voice muffled on the material of his suit. his grip on you tightened just a little, an airy whisper of "stay," brushing against your ear almost affectionately. slowly, you snaked your arms around his back, burying yourself further into his welcoming embrace.

hoshina's mind seemed to settle. calm like the ocean waves during a slack tide, rustling like the tree leaves on a bright, sunny day. his feelings for you grew tenfold, adoration and love blossoming like flowers on a ripe spring season.

at that time, all he could think about is how much he desperately wanted to make you his real wife.

no official wedding ceremony written bcs my brain just couldn't come up with anything TT also i wanted to add more tension-filled scenes BUT I'M SO BRAINDEAD HELP I WANNA CRY

anyways, title inspired by yor's nickname, thorn princess hehe

—

©🅁🅈🄴🅂🄲🄰🄿🄰🄳🄴🅂. do not steal, translate or repost my work anywhere else !

[starryeyeddreamer21]

I need Vaggie and Husk to be friends SO badly. I just think they have potential like they could possibly be one of the best duos if given a chance. I actually have so many thoughts on this so hear me out:

There's so much potential JUST because of their relationships with Charlie and Angel (Charlie and Angel are siblings but we don't need to get into that right now)

But seriously short grumpy characters with wings and their extroverted beanpole partner is killing me

So basically I can see them both ranting about what their partners are doing on a daily basis but it always ends with "I love them SO much" "Cheers I'll drink to that"

I have a feeling Charlie and Angel are both the kind of people to leave lipstick marks on their partners and just not tell them so Husk and Vaggie have to check each other out real quick before going anywhere. I mean no questions asked just one of them standing in front of the other with their arms and legs spread out until the other one gives them a thumbs up or a rag to clean it off with.

I also think it would be funny if Husk was the first person to know Vaggie was an angel he just didn't mention it. He says so himself that the residents of the hotel will spill their secrets when they get drunk so Vaggie definitely got drunk and let it slip that she was an angel but didn't remember it by morning. Husk's motto is basically "That's none of my business" so he just doesn't say anything.

Also continuing with the "that's none of my business" thing, Vaggie absolutely agrees with that sentiment as long as it doesn't hurt Charlie or the hotel. Neither of them like people digging into their business and having Alastor in their lives means someone is ALWAYS digging so it's nice to be with someone who just does not care.

Oh and they both shit on Alastor 24/7 so good for them

PREENING EACH OTHER!!! By the time Vaggie gets her wings back they're close enough for this. Husk hates his wings and is shit at taking care of them but Vaggie really wants this to happen. She does miss some things about the exorcists and that's one of them. Of course she would never say that out loud but Husk gets it and they do it anyway.

Vaggie would start flying ALL THE TIME after getting her wings like she has so much time to catch up on. Angel knows that her and Husk are good friends and that Husk hates his form so he'll get Vaggie to convince Husk to fly with her. It takes a little bit but they have fun and Charlie is really proud of her so it's worth it.

They can literally sit in comfortable silence for hours and not get bored

They bicker all the time about everything like they'll say the meanest shit but they're besties and they're joking so it's fine

They are so down to kill Valentino at any time. They have multiple plans, they have lists, they're really creative about it too.

They'll just sit, people watch, and judge strangers together

They're so judgemental but also the least judgmental??? They'd be like "Why would you do that you dumbass" but also actually listen to what's being said and try to find a reasonable solution for each other

Double dates that Vaggie and Husk don't actually want to go on but unfortunately Charlie and Angel are convincing (they have a really good time)

They were both stripped from their occupations (overlord/angel). They miss it sometimes and they feel bad about it because they were both terrible people during those times. When they get like this they always seek each other's company. Sometimes they actually talk about it, sometimes they change the subject to something completely different, sometimes they have a drink and sit in silence. Either way they only acknowledge it with each other.

Husk teaches Vaggie how to make drinks. It's calming for him (even though it's annoying that he's technically being forced to do it) so he thought she might like it. She does and is actually really good at it. When they get more residents she'll help him out behind the bar.

Sometimes they'll sing together. They sound amazing and their partners love it. Husk also tries to teach Vaggie how to play saxophone it does not go as good as bartending did

They're the only ones in the hotel that can speak Spanish so yes they do use that to their advantage

Are both so tired all the time. They just deserve a stress free nap. They end up curled up together asleep and are found by Angel in the middle of the night. He takes a picture and immediately sends it to Charlie. Charlie and Angel manage to keep the picture but are not allowed to show anyone or ever mention it again.

They would never actually admit to being friends even though they're best friends and one of the few people the other can actually stand being around

JUST HUSK AND VAGGIE BEING BEST FRIENDS YOU GUYS

[twilightprince101]

I see a lot of AU's for In Stars and Time revolving around the idea of "what if X character was looping instead of Siffrin" and they are all wonderful. I adore the sight of seeing how exactly they slowly but surely break down over the course of months, maybe even years of repeating the same day and seeing how they contextualize the game's events from their perspective.

But there's one piece of all of these AU's that I wish was included a bit more: their feelings at the very, very start in regards to communication with others.

When Siffrin is told that he can tell his party about the time loop at any time, he immediately dismisses the idea because that is who he is as a person. Extremely caring for others, barely caring for himself. This is arguably the catalyst for the entire story (yes, even compared to WHY the loops started at all).

But how exactly do the other characters deal with that information around the start? How do they initially start the timeloop when told "there's nothing stopping you from asking for help?"

For example: Mirabelle. She already has a LOT on her plate since she's struggling with being "The Chosen." But I feel that being put in the time loop like this would actually be a relief for her. She is quite literally chosen by some sort of deity to try as many times as she wants. She's thankful because she really was chosen by the Change God (hahaha). So maybe at the start she would be more confident, talk with everyone and explain the full situation at the clock tower. "Yes, we did die against the King, but everything is back to how it was. If we work harder, we can make it!" But she would do that, every single time. The same conversation. And she's too wrapped up in that routine that she just focuses on reassuring everyone that things will be okay and saying the exact same words. Mirabelle's catalyst is similar to Siffrin's in that they both care for their friends, but while Siffrin helps fix everyone's problems, Mirabelle helps comfort everyone emotionally and doesn't focus on herself.

Then there's Odile. I feel she would treat the matter objectively, almost like a standard time loop protagonist. The first thing she does is tell everyone about it, finding some way to prove it ("Bonnie got X ingredients, Isabeau never made a wish at the favor tree, etc."). But after a certain point, going through all of those extra steps becomes draining. So she instead focuses on saying the right words which will get everyone else to do certain actions. "If I ask what fruits Boniface is bringing tomorrow then they'll keep that in the front of their mind, which will cause them to eat the pineapple early, eliminating the risk that Siffrin will die of their allergy." But throughout it all, she never factors her own feelings as to why the time loops are happening. That is Odile's catalyst: she is too logical and doesn't acknowledge feelings as part of the equation.

Perhaps later on in the timeloop they would do different things entirely, stop talking to others all together. But this is specifically about everyone's catalyst at the very start, their own version of "Why would you need help? You're in the position to help everyone here." It would likely take longer to happen than Siffrin's, the emotionally repressed gremlin, but the end result would still be the same. It's about self-isolation after all.

I just think it's a fun thing to think about.

[kiragghar]

My Baby Don't Cry

Pairing: -

Kir's notes: he's my adopted son the moment I saw his backstory :( pls take away all his pain, double it and give it to his parents :(

Tags: spoilers from chapter 260, Kaiser's backstory, 12 y.o Kaiser, mentioned child abu$3, fostering, the reader is gender neutral, the author is bad at comforting

word count: 1507

It was a bit late and you were walking home to your apartment, until you saw a figure in a hoodie curling up like a ball in an alleyway with a football in his arms. You approached the little kid, thinking that he was lost.

"Hi there little guy, why are you out here?" You squat down and ask the kid. He looked at you, his right eye bruised and his face a bit dirty. "A-are you okay?" You asked. He looked away for a while, hesitation in his eyes then shook his head.

~•~•~

Kaiser looked away from the stranger, if he says yes they'll probably leave him or take him back to that nightmare of a house. So he shook his head without making eye contact. "Oh, do you want me to take you home to your p-" Kaiser cut that question off with a hard shake of his head. "How about my place? Well, until you're a bit better," they ask, his heart was moved, and they asked him in a soft tone, the tone that he never heard, no one had treated him like that before. He nods, he wants to go far from that house. And this person seems nice, purely having good intentions.

~•~•~

"Okay then, let's go" You stood up and reached your hand down to him, hoping that he trusted you, aside from all the answers you got from him. He grabbed your hand and stood up himself.

You both walked along the now-closed shops, you let loose of your grip a bit thinking he would too, but instead, he gripped your hand a bit tighter. "So, what's your name?" you asked, trying to start a conversation. "Michael… Kaiser" he answered with a tired voice. "Michael Kaiser... That's a pretty name," you said. "Thank you..." He replied. It ended there, your walk was awkwardly silent until you arrived at your apartment.

~•~•~

The second they turned on the light switch, Kaiser felt weird. He never saw a house this bright and homey. Their apartment is filled with generally cute things, shelves with organized books sitting there, and a balcony with plants.

“You sit there okay, I'll get something for you to eat,” they say, pointing to the sofa and then disappearing into the kitchen. He sat on the sofa, ball in hand, and looked around, it's his first time sitting on a sofa, and it was comfy. He laid his back on the sofa, he felt more comfortable, the feeling he never got in ‘that’ house. The coffee table in front of him is neat with a succulent in the middle. A marveled at the foreign surroundings for a few minutes until they called him into the kitchen.

~•~•~

“Wash your hands first okay,” you ordered him. He nodded and walked to the next where you're standing. You turn the tap on and he reaches to the flowing water. When he finishes you turn off the tap (ofc) and dry his hands with a tea towel. “Wait,” you said to him as you dampened one corner of the tea towel. When you reached his face, he flinched back. “I won't hurt you, promise,” you assure him. With that, he permitted you to wipe the dirt off his face clean. When you're done cleaning his face you ask him to sit down at the dining table.

~•~•~

Kaiser sat down, grabbed a spoonful of food, and put it in his mouth. It's warm… And tasty… another weird feeling. He chewed and savored the food. This will probably be his first and last night here before going back to that miserable house.

They sat across him, eyes focusing on him. “I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself… I'm (y/n),” they introduce themselves. “Oh… N-nice to meet you…” he replies. They hummed in acknowledgment.

~•~•~

After he finished his meal you guided him to your bedroom. “You'll be sleeping here tonight, I'll be on the sofa if you need me,” you informed him, he looked at you and nodded unsurely. He walked to your bed and sat on the side of the bed for a bit. Then he lay down on your bed. “Good night Michael, sweet dreams,” you said as you slightly closed the door, leaving it ajar. You walk to the couch and lie on it. Your eyelids getting heavier and heavier and closed, finally asleep.

A few hours later you woke up to hear sniffling sounds from your bedroom. You walk and open your door slowly to see Michael lying facing away from the door. You slowly approach your bed and turn on the lamp on the bedside table. “Michael, are you okay?” you asked, you're worried something is wrong with him. He only shook his head in response, still facing away from you. “Do you want to tell me ab-” he shook his head. “Alright, I'll be here if you need me okay,” you inform him, he nods in response. After that, you walked to your desk and stayed there, finishing paperwork due in a few days. While you're finishing it, you think of something, he looks familiar, but you can't recall.

“(Y-y/n),” you heard a soft voice calling you. “Hm? What is it, Michael?” you asked. “You'll put me in the police station… right?” He asked, worried. What kind of question is that? You've heard about lost children being turned in to the police station when they're lost. But you don't think that's his case. “Do you want to?” You asked. He shook his head, hard. “I… I don't want to go back there…” he says, voice breaking, on the verge of crying. “Michael…” you said as you sat beside him and hugged him, comforting him. “I… I don't want to go back… My father, he… he hates me…” he uttered, and you feel his tears soaking into your shirt. “A-and he… he likes to… beat me up…” he continued. You're shocked when he said that. His father is insane, no guy would beat a child this bad. “There there… You're safe now, no one will beat you up here,” you assure him hoping that you don't hurt him. He only nods, you can understand how hard it is to talk while crying. “How about you stay with me here for a while,” you said. “Y-yeah,” he replied in agreement.

~•~•~

Bonus: in the end, Kaiser's father goes in jail for child abu$e, reader adopts Kaiser, they grow a parent-child bond, reader supports Kaiser knowing little about soccer and lives happily ever after ✧⁺⸜(●˙▾˙●)⸝⁺✧

[ladyloveandjustice]

I love how in Princess Tutu everybody's relationships deepen and change in unexpected ways, leading to a deep love they all share at the end--Ahiru and Rue, Fakir and Mytho, Mytho and Ahiru, Mytho and Rue, Fakir and Ahiru--EXCEPT for Fakir and Rue.

It is ON SIGHT for them from the moment they meet as kids and throughout the entire anime... and the only real change in that in the last episode is that they are civil/neutral with each other. They don't even talk to each other when Mytho and Rue say goodbye, with Fakir only addressing Mytho and Rue only addressing Ahiru. I think they both now care if the other lives or dies, Fakir did help save Rue even if it was probably for Mytho and Ahiru as much as her and all that, and they probably understand each other a little better. But other than that? Nope. Just two people in the same friend group who want nothing to do with each other.

It's so funny how there's never a single tender moment between them when there is with everyone else. Like of course they're still not friends, Fakir's interactions with Rue are always just "WHERE IS MYTHO", trying to fight her, grabbing her and shaking her at one point, and calling her an ugly crow a couple times in the first season (and interrupting a moment where Ahiru might have been able to snap her out of being Kraehe). Meanwhile on Rue's side, she deliberately triggered his past life PTSD, attempted to murder him (which resulted in serious injuries), and said "hey man you're useless I think you should kys :)" every single time she saw him in most of season 2. Hard to get over that. And neither of them are as forgiving as Ahiru and Mytho are!

And what's also funny is as much as Drosselmeyer wanted Ahiru and Rue to hate each other's guts and fight incessantly over a boy, that never really happened- Ahiru never wanted to fight, was totally fine with Mytho choosing Rue, and loved Rue openly and deeply, just wanting the best for her, and on Rue's side, she did love Ahiru deep down but couldn't acknowledge it because of her father and her role in the story she felt she had to fulfill. BUT, meanwhile, Fakir and Rue WERE geniuinely hating each others guts and no-holds barred fighting incessantly over a boy. And had been since they were children. Just good ol' fashioned rivalry and "he's mine" vibes and Dross didn't even notice thanks to heteronormativity.

And that grudge runs deep, so I don't think they'll ever truly forget it even if they've stopped hating each other.

I like to think Fakir and Ahiru (whether in duck form or not) go visit Rue and Mytho, and that it's mostly fine but always extremely awkward when they end up in a room alone together. Just forced into stilted small talk and awkward silences. I also like to think because they can't conceive not arguing, they pivot to fighting over Ahiru: who she likes best, who's hogging too much of her attention, who understands her more....Rue probably just picks up Ahiru in duck mode and runs away from him with her at one point, and Fakir will be running after her yelling while Mytho watches in mild amusement.

[saintsenara]

I feel like in the Sirius/Severus fic I’ve come across the roles often tend to be quite gendered with Sirius either being jocky dom or service top vibes paired with a subby Snape who’s either cock hungry or somehow fragile or a bossy power bottom y Snape. Or the opposite with Snape as dominant and Sirius submissive, usually those ones lean quite into BDSM power exchange element or like caretaker/pet vibes. I’ve enjoyed both and also the rare few I’ve seen where they aren’t written so gendered and both enjoy a range of roles both literally position wise and power dynamic wise.

Wondering what your take is on the dynamic that best fits them in your mind? Obviously the inherent power struggle between them in canon lends itself to power dynamics being part of their chemistry but I can’t decide where I fall on thinking which side of the dynamic they each best fit, or if one where they switch is more in character

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

i don't have a fixed preference for the sexual dynamics in the snack i read - and i've definitely noticed the vibes you mention - but how sirius and snape would act in the bedroom is a question i've had to ponder quite a lot recently, since i'm writing some snack - the war of the roses - myself...

generally, i don't go in for a strict top/bottom division - so when it comes to who's putting what where, my view is that they'll switch.

when it comes to the power dynamic between the two, and the emotional response the two have to sex, i have more to say...

i generally see snape as somebody who's inclined to consider themselves to be inferior to their partner - and, as his canonical power dynamic with both dumbledore and voldemort attests, to think of himself as someone whose role is to serve - but not as someone who is submissive.

by which i mean, i think that snape would view his position in the dynamic as one of supplication, worship, offering, service. and so on. but that this would come without the consensual surrendering of control which defines a classic dom/sub relationship - and also without the consensual surrendering to being cared for which defines a caretaker/pet dynamic. snape canonically prizes his ability to deal with things on his own. i don't think he's someone who wants to be looked after.

what he does want, instead, is to be acknowledged by his partner as unworthy [a sinner who can never atone for what he has done] and yet loved anyway.

but - of course - this desire lurks behind a layer of self-loathing as thick as the earth's crust. and so i do think - at first - snape would be likely to give the impression that he was inclined to be standoffish - and, indeed, cruel - in bed. no negotiation, no aftercare, no acknowledgement that sirius is also involved... just a mess all around.

sirius, too, is someone who i think positions themselves as the worshipper in a god/worshipper dynamic. i particularly think this because i believe that unrequited prongsfoot is canon - sirius' devotion to james, especially after james' death, is quasi-religious. he too thinks of himself as a sinner unable to atone for his sins [as he tells harry in prisoner of azkaban, he thinks of himself as directly responsible for james' death], unworthy of being truly loved.

sirius' self-loathing canonically comes with a willingness to suffer. so, when snape lashes out... he's going to end up taking it.

that they're narrative mirrors is why i love snack as a pairing - and i like the way that this can be taken in any direction when it comes to the sexual dynamic between the two. egregious cruelty in an attempt to drive the other person away which gradually gives way to something tender, allowing each "worshipper" to realise that the other sees him as the "god"? sign me up.

the question i'd like to see more snack authors wrestle with, though? how much experience the two have.

i'll confess now that i never vibe with the characterisation of sirius - whatever his orientation is written as being - which portrays him as sexually [and romantically - i don't think the man's ever been on a real date either] experienced prior to going to azkaban.

this is almost entirely because of the unrequited prongsfoot thing - sirius strikes me as the sort of person who would endure his love for james in solemn silence, rather than seeing other people in an attempt to get over him - but i also think that, as much as i love the common fanon that the wizarding world is a queer utopia, it's going to be because someone from sirius' background would have a lot of extremely thorny feelings about being interested in men.

[including the fear that james would detest him for his sexuality. something i've done in the war of the roses is write james as someone who isn't a bigot, per se, but who - like many teenage boys - nonetheless assumes that his best mate is heterosexual, only discusses sex and sexuality with him with this assumption in mind, and makes plenty of casually homophobic remarks (stereotypes about behaviour or hobbies or appearance, etc.) which he never realises terrify sirius. if sirius ever came out to him, james would - of course - be nothing short of accepting. but sirius never feels confident enough to find this out.]

snape, too, was undoubtedly raised in a homophobic family - and he is canonically subjected to bullying which has a homophobic undertone - but he's someone who i imagine would embrace his queerness as a sort of "fuck you" to the world.

[not least because the masculinity of many of the death eaters - and voldemort's masculinity in particular, especially since, in snape's story, he serves a parallel role to dumbledore - is reasonably non-normative. voldemort is extremely easy to read as queer - and lucius malfoy's relationship with snape can also be read as having some sort of homoerotic undertone.]

snape is someone who - unlike sirius - has the opportunity to explore his sexuality after 1981 [even with the shadow of the aids crisis - which provides a really interesting context through which to examine snape's attitude to sexuality, pleasure, nihilism, and death], and so i really like mixing the idea that snape is the more experienced of the two in with the supplicatory dynamic described above.

[monstersinthecosmos]

buncha discourse a year or so back about how Marius and Daniel are both complete people without Armand (agreed) and that acknowledging the way Armand sort of haunts their relationship means we're taking agency away from Daniel as a whole person (vehemently disagree) and basically I just think, it's very short sighted to look at a relationship like Marius & Daniel's and NOT acknowledge the empty space of Armand between them.

Of course!!!!! We must acknowledge that fanworks and fandom are about transformative work and someone can easily devote time & energy to writing fics where Armand is never acknowledged once if that's what they want, but it's not what I want! It's not how I prefer to approach them!

I think there's something very salient about Armand's absence between them! I want us to spend time with it! I want to ask, when Daniel is at his worst, how much of this is Armand's fault? And I want to ask, when Marius nurses him through it, how much guilt does he feel? How might he look at Armand's behavior as a maker and wonder if he fucked up, if he did wrong by Armand by not being a better maker himself, if this could've been avoided?

It's such incredible source of trauma to look at--for Marius, I think it's a matter of "He behaves this way because I couldn't keep him safe, and I didn't rescue him, and I didn't rescue him because I couldn't reconcile how betrayed and triggered I felt by his cult, and if I had taken care of Santino and taken the cult seriously all along, this could have been avoided."

And for Daniel, we have to remember it's not JUST that he had a bad turning, that he's sensory-overloaded and bad at vampiring, but this is the nastiest breakup of his life! Especially considering that like, it's so much beyond being a marriage of sorts--TILL DEATH DO US PART except they'll never die. It must have hurt him so badly. And like, he was 20 when his life effectively ended, so it's entirely possible that this is his ONLY real bad breakup, and this was his only like actual adult relationship.

But even for him, I love thinking about how badly Armand hurt him, but as he gets to know Marius and understand the situation better, and understand Why Armand is Like That, there's such a potent space for forgiveness and empathy.

I like thinking about Daniel coming out of it slowly and allowing Marius to see his real personality, and all the space where they get to know each other and care for each other. It's not unlike the Devil's Minion--growing something where there was something else. With Armand it was fear and revulsion that become familiar and passionate. With Marius it starts with caretaking and confusion, and as he gets ahold of himself and things come into focus they can get to know each other as people.

idk I just really love this triangle in VC and the dynamics are really fascinating to me, and I'm happy that I've been poking at it and dissecting it for Vamptember, and I hope my haters of the past who told me I was stupid for approaching this way know that they can simply keep scrolling and write their own fics if they don't like it! :)

[yanderes-galore]

OW2

Romantic Yan! Mauga One-shot

This is an idea which suddenly came to my mind. Mauga with Fem! Talon member! Darling, who disappeared during one of the missions.

While the she is listed as a Talon's escaped traitor, she is imprisoned by Mauga on an island in Samoa, because Mauga considered her too fragile for such work, even if she can stand up for herself.

He won't let his Teuila get hurt.

I saw this request and immediately had an idea for it so this is the first one I'm doing 😎 Since Mauga came out yesterday I gotta give the Mauga content, yeah? (indulging in my birthday gift).

Not really edited, may have spelling mistakes, I appreciate feedback!

Traitor

Yandere! Mauga Short

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Kidnapping, Overprotective behavior, Possessive behavior, Restraints, Kissing, Babying implied, Threats, Forced relationship.

"Status on the traitor issue?" The leader of Talon, Doomfist, asks some of his most lethal members in a call.

"Surprisingly, nothing yet." Sombra answers the call of her "boss". "Are we so sure she's a traitor and didn't just... die in combat?"

"Is that not what we thought about Baptiste?" Doomfist brings up, making Sombra look disgruntled for just a moment.

"I guess you're right. A shame, really, she was really good at what she did." Sombra sighs.

"We'll find her and bring her to you." Reaper answers the call from behind Sombra.

"You better, I want answers." Doomfist threats before regaining composure. "Now, where's Mauga?"

"With us, although we're dropping him back off in Samoa for business." Sombra answers. "Then we're taking the jet back to base."

"Understood. Let me know what you find." Doomfist confirms before ending the call.

As Sombra and Reaper discussed what to do next, Mauga had his back turned to them. The smirk on his face was large once the call was over. Oh, they always seem to think he's just a dumb brute.

He's more capable than they think.

He wouldn't tell them what he did. Sure, this is eerily similar to the Baptiste incident, but he'd never admit to it. All the mountain of a man cared about was going back to Samoa now.

They could look all they want...

But Mauga would be sure they never found what they were looking for.

The sound of waves is what greets your ears when you awaken. You feel nervousness pool in your stomach as sit up. You sigh when you still see the same chain around you ankle and wrists, along with the door still locked.

You've been here for awhile. You're aware this is a home of a fellow Talon member and that this is Samoa. You've been here... for months you assume?

Unfortunately you were never alone for long.

You barely want to acknowledge the originally locked door sliding open before Mauga steps inside. You already know it's him. Even before his orange shirt catches your eyes. You instead opt to look away and stay in the hammock.

"They think you're a traitor, y'know." Mauga tells you, locking the door again. "That's good, means they don't know I took you."

"They'll find me eventually." You find yourself answering, the Samoan man looking over to you.

"Do you really think I'd let them take you? They wouldn't last against me." Mauga growls. You hear him walk over to you and tower over you.

"You know when they find us they may just kill us both. I was fine when we just did our damn job." You say bitterly. You stop yourself when Mauga pulls you to a sitting position from the chains on your wrists.

"Teuila, you're weak." Mauga hums. "I took you from the job because of such a flaw. You needed to be partnered with someone much stronger, permanently... like me."

Mauga then pulls you out of the hammock. You feel yourself picked up by his large form and pressed against his chest. You then hear him laugh, no doubt due to the size difference between you.

"Face it, Talon was never for you. You don't have the bloodlust or the strength. Aren't you aware of how easy it is to hurt you?" Mauga explains before laying in the hammock with you. You hear him sigh in a relaxed tone as he cages you to his chest.

"I was a great spy...." You hiss.

"All it would take is one skilled shot and you'd be gone, Teuila." Mauga counters. "Do you know what would happen after?"

"What?" You ask just to humor him, only for him to push your face closer to his.

"I'd kill them all~" Mauga grins. "Talon, Overwatch, doesn't matter. I'd make them all bleed if I lost you. I'd even enjoy every second of it."

Mauga then laughs at the shock on your face. You feel him pet your your head before leaning in to kiss your lips. The taste makes your stomach flip before he pulls away.

"So I guess, with that thought, I wouldn't mind if we were both traitors on the run." Mauga smiles, licking his lips. "As long as I get to keep you and do what I want."

You feel him caress your cheek before settling with you. You notice he undoes his shirt, presumably to tease you. Instead you try not to pay any mind.

"Hear those waves?" Mauga asks, you nod. "Someday I plan to take you outside to them. Maybe at night. You know better than to run, right?"

You can see the predatory glare in Mauga's gaze when he asks you. Hesitantly you nod, still unnerved from the threat he said before. For now, you'll continue to play along with Mauga. Not like you have anywhere else to go.

Without Mauga... Talon will find you.

Perhaps that means Mauga is all you have now... it may be better to have him on your side after all.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

"Him guilting Ladybug into staying quiet is why Lila is able to maintain her power for 4 more seasons."

I mean, I would blame more the writers for taking way too long to have Adrien realize his advice was bad.

(Post the quote is from)

Reminder that I am never actually blaming the characters, they are not real people. That's why this is explicitly a writing blog. In the context of the writing, yes, the pacing of everything Lila was terrible and is the real source of the issues. That doesn't change the fact that Adrien is the main narrative tool used to keep Marinette in line, thus me "blaming" him.

As you said, Adrien looks bad here not because he didn't understand how to handle the situation and gave bad advice, but because it takes him so long to realize that his advice was bad and apologize.

During Lila's first appearance, we see Adrien chastises Ladybug for being too mean to Lila, never once acknowledging that it was valid for Ladybug to be upset (S1E26). She is painted as fully in the wrong even though Lila was actively manipulating him and Ladybug arguably protected him here:

Adrien: Wait! Lila! (Lila runs away) Hey, what was that all about? Uh, I mean, weren't you kinda harsh with her? Ladybug: I...I don't put up with lies, especially when they're about me. (yo-yos away)

During Lila's second appearance (or, at least her second appearance where she actually interacts with the cast) he further drives that message home by telling Marinette to let Lila lie to people because he's more worried about hurting Lila's feelings than he is about removing Lila's power (S3E01):

Adrien: Are you going to tell everyone? Marinette: 'Course I am. Lila is— Adrien: (interrupting) A liar. Yes, I know. But do you really think exposing her will make things better? If you humiliate her, she'll just be hurt more. Making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy. Lila: Ladybug and I are like two peas in a pod. Marinette: So we just stand by and let her lie? Adrien: As long as you and I both know the truth, does it really matter? Marinette: You're right, maybe it's not such a big deal.

We'll circle back to how terrible this advice was in a second. First lets finish off going through the sequence of events.

And finally, at the tail end of season five, Adrien openly acknowledges that he's been giving terrible advice (S5E20):

Adrien: I'm sorry, Marinette. I was wrong. I shouldn't have told you to not act against Lila. If you give the slightest opportunity to people like her, they'll grasp at it and cause disasters in no time. And now, you're the one who looks like a bad person. Marinette: (reaches out to hold his hand beside her) You thought you were doing the right thing. Just like with Chloe. That's another reason why I love you, Adrien. You always want to see the good in other people. But sometimes, the good we think we see in some people is just a reflection of our own, and we end up being fooled by our own kindness. (They squeeze each other's hands.) But we'll find a way to expose Lila eventually.

If we look at these three moments in a vacuum, this is honestly a good character arc for a character like Adrien. He's a peace keeper, which is a wonderful match to Marinette's blind justice approach. It's good that Adrien is there to balance her out! It's also good for him to learn that his approach doesn't always work and that you can't always keep the peace.

The problem is that Adrien didn't actually get a functional character arc where he learned those lessons. The episodes are so drawn out that it doesn't feel like we watch him grow and learn. His apology is almost three full seasons after his second bit of bad advice, leaving us to wonder when he changed his mind because Lila does a lot of awful things during those three seasons. What moment made him realize that he was in the wrong here? We don't know, so this feels less like growth and more like the writers throwing in a scene to shut up fans who were still complaining about Adrien's terrible advice even though it had been four real world years since he actually gave it.

There's also the issue that Adrien tells Marinette, "making a bad guy suffer has never turned them into a good guy." This line implies that Adrien's goal is to help Lila change. The problem is that we never see him do that. He doesn't try to help Lila. The most we get is him making a deal with Lila to protect Marinette, but that's not him helping Lila change. He doesn't approach that conversation as if he's trying to help Lila see that what she did was wrong. He approaches it as if he knows that she won't change. It's less trying to make Lila a better person and more a deal with the devil:

Adrien: (sits next to Lila) I warned you once already, Lila, but you didn't listen. You hurt my friend Marinette, and that's not okay. Lila: Me? Hurting Marinette? But she's the one who- Adrien: I don't know how to prove you lied, Lila, because you're good at it. So you'll just have to come up with another lie, just as convincing. Only this time it's gonna prove Marinette's innocent. Lila: Why would I do that, Adrien? Adrien: Because we're friends, aren't we?

Minor Chloe rant incoming:

This is yet another situation where it would be so much better for the show if Adrien had actually done something to help Chloe change and succeeded. If he did that, thought it was a good path for everyone, and then tried to do the same thing for Lila, then this could have been a really great way to set him up for dealing with his dad. To teach him that you can only help people who want to be better without having everyone he tries to help stay "evil" as that's pretty depressing. As-is, we've literally seen him say that Chloe will never change so why does he believe that Lila can change? They're not portraying him as an optimist, they're portraying him as delusional. Terrible writing. Zero stars.

Rant over.

By the way, the above quote was the 24th episode of season three, roughly two seasons before Adrien's apology to Marinette. If he's viewing Lila as the devil here, then this should be where we get that apology. Or Adrien should approach this as him trying to make Lila better and Lila should play along, making Adrien think that he's right and that he's helping her change. Either approach would be better than the nonsense canon gave us.

In a well written show, this would all go down over the course of a single season or even just a few episodes. As-is, the season five apology feels like too little too late. What little kid is going to be able to follow this "character arc" and learn the lesson that Adrien maybe sort of learned? Casual viewers will likely not even remember that Adrien gave Marinette bad advice back at the start of season three because why would they? This is not how you do a good subplot. It's almost as drawn out as the Gabriel plot and that's insane! A subplot is supposed to be a short story within the story so that things feel like they're moving forward.

[creatingblackcharacters]

favourite Black characters: Owen from I Saw The TV Glow :)

I love all of Justice Smith's roles and it was a hard pick between Owen here, Simon from the DND Movie, and Radar from Paper Towns, but I picked Owen bc of the emotional depth of the character (especially after how *funny* Radar and Simon were)

the movie is about Owen's life growing up heavily dissociated and disconnected from himself in a really beautiful allegory for both trauma and transness and about the ways he connects to childhood friendship and the nostalgia of his favourite show, The Pink Opaque, as life feels really bleak. as the movie goes on the Pink Opaque begins to feel more real than ever possible and Owen has to battle both inner demons and the idea that there's something *else* sinister and waiting out in the world

I love Owen bc i found a lot of comfort in the ways the character portrayed such similar dissociative feelings to my own and I spent the whole movie hoping for some way for Owen to get out of it. [spoilers incoming]. he doesnt, actually, life goes on as it is (which. yeah okay it is a horror movie :( ), but it was still shown in a way with a hopeful ending, if that makes sense?? it's not suffering for the sake of suffering, Owen (and Juctice's acting) showcase an incredibly human experience of feeling like there's not enough time to be who you want to be, while the movie keeps feeding him that there is still time as long as you're still alive. we spend the whole movie with Owen and I walked away feeling like he was a lost childhood friend with just how much we see of his life and his joy and his hurt

tldr he's such a well written well acted example of a character who both has incredibly deep emotions but also never wants to think about or acknowledge those emotions for fear of what they'll do to him and I look at him like. "I get it. can we get ice cream together." Yknow

[final disclaimer that as much as I love this character he Is from a horror movie and the movie in question left me pretty shaken personally so anyone who wants to watch it just keep in mind the trigger warnings]

I have heard that this one is an impactful story!

[acourtofthought]

your last theory post is sooo true and the irony is that Azriel is like, the most angry and violent fae to ever walk the earth... they are so deeply mismatched it hurts that they have so much traction from people who don't understand their characterization.

You message is giving me a platform to bring up something I've been thinking about ever since I saw something in the Elain tag (posted by an E/riel) so thank you for that!

They were making fun of Elucien's and Gwynriels who claim that because Gwyn and Az both sing and are winners of the Rite, because Elain and Lucien are both good at talking to others and enjoy nature it means they're compatible in a way E/riel are not.

Their counter argument was that Rhys does not paint and Rowan does not play an instrument therefore an endgame pairing doesn't need to share in the same hobbies.

Which is valid.

But these are the exact same people who claim Vassa and Lucien are endgame because of the "Lord of Flame and Bird of Fire" line.

That's pretty much the entirety of what the Vassien ship is based on for them. Similar powers somehow equals endgame but not matching interests.

They'll claim it's also because Lucien blushed when Feyre called him an acolyte (though he looked right at his mate during that interaction) but they'll ignore how Az actually blushed at Mor and looked at her with yearning with Elain in the room. Or because Lucien looked relaxed talking to Vassa after the war but please show me what endgame pairing has looked like friends before beginning to fall for one another? I mean, in early days, not the enemies to friends to lovers trope she does during a characters arc. Please show me an SJM endgame pairing where the guy has been living with his supposed endgame love interest for an entire year as friends but still looks at another girl with longing? And not just any girl, his mate!

Similar interests are not the end all for a true match but neither are similar powers.

And when you look at the characters outside of their hobbies (as you pointed out in regards to their characterization), that's where their true compatibility shows.

Az is violent. Like seriously violent. Knows how to torture in a symphony of pain that made Feyre uncomfortable to witness just a bit of it violent.

Elain is bothered by cruelty and Az says she has no idea the things he's done.

Gwyn may not have witnessed Az torture a defenseless person but she has seen him slaughter men in front of her showing no mercy. She was also excited over the thought of the Valkyrie's crushing skulls.

I think it's pretty apparent which female is more compatible with Az.

Elain is very social, loves parties and balls, loves talking to people, loves sunshine.

Az is reserved, likes his space, is not very social, and prefers the shadows (and his are actually afraid of the sun). He says his shadows keep him company meaning they are independent of him, sentient.

Gwyn was training by herself in the cold of night and treated the shadows as if they were their own persons. She finds the most comfort in the library which is inside a mountain.

Elain has never acknowledged his shadows as individuals.

Lucien loves parties and is amazing at talking to others. He is also the heir to the Day Court throne and that means lots of Sun.

The author also said that Elain and Lucien are happiest in nature, something she's never said of Az.

Elain and Az don't need the same hobbies but it wouldn't be a terrible thing if they had some of them, correct?

That's still not the most important thing though, what is, is sharing in the same core values and they are not even close when it comes to those. Az and Elain might find one another attractive but they have nothing beyond looks that would keep them together.

[aingeal98]

Hi, loved your recent Stephanie Brown post regarding the violence, the rage and general ruthless scrappiness that to me is an essential part of her character.

It also however has always begged a question in my mind I'd be curious to see your take on.

Namely, how do you think Stephanie's willingness to potentially kill or let someone die fits into a Stephcass relationship?

Cos, its easy to see how it works with basically any other character, but their relationship is so distinctly unique and Cass's stance on the subject quite iron-clad.

Not in the sense she won't help a murderer try to change, but in terms of not tolerating anyone dying under any circumstances.

That its hard to see how they'd grapple wither with the fact Stephanie would be willing, or more notably if it actually happened. Obviously context counts for a lot, but yeah, just generally curious.

Ooh good question. I think that overall Cass will never stop believing in Steph despite her willingness to kill. She saw that anger during Steph's Robin run when she threatened to kill Penguin but she also saw Steph step in to comfort a crying child when Cass could not on the exact same mission. Steph was also honest with her about where that anger comes from and why it still exists. So I feel like even if Steph did fall to morally greyer moments than Cass could accept, Cass would be firm in her belief that it doesn't define Steph the way Cass's kill defines her. Steph can change, Steph can be better etc. Even if Steph did kill a villain (in self defence) I could actually see adult Cass defending her? Not the act itself obviously but what it means for Steph as a person. Because obviously Steph would have a bunch of conflicted feelings and the bat's judgement wouldn't help with that, and Cass would be able to pick up on that and given where they are in current canon I can see her trying to shut everyone else out so she can get through to Steph and guide her onto a path where this doesn't happen again. Cass could never look at her fully the same but that doesn't mean Cass would love her any less. They would both be very very sad the whole time though and feel like they're failing each other even if they never verbally acknowledge it.

That said I can definitely see tension between them if they fail to save some scumbag's life and Cass is devastated but Steph is just... Flippant about it. Like oh no the pedo rapist got shot. Sucks but at least it wasn't anyone else. And Cass would be furious, likely saying something insensitive and accusatory as a response, which would raise Steph's hackles in return and get her from "Yeah we tried but there was nothing we could do." to "Actually I'm glad he's dead fuck him and fuck you for being an asshole about it."

If we're talking batgirl Steph and black bat Cass I think they're both at the stage where they're not willing to let this come between them, even if they both get their feelings hurt they'll apologise and talk it out within a week. Neither will fully accept the other as completely right but I think they'd be surprised to find that it doesn't diminish their respect for each other as much as they feared it would.

Unless, of course, during the argument, Cass gets so disgusted by Steph's lack of guilt over the death that she says those three little words:

"Batman was right."

Because in THAT case... Yeah this argument isn't getting resolved with in a week. It'll take a lot of stewing in their hurt feelings, dredging up past traumas and arguments, and probably outside intervention from at least one or two other batfam members. I have faith they'll work it out in the end! They'll just need a bit of help with the communication and apologies because if left alone they'd 100% make it worse.

Ultimately I think what it comes down to is that after Steph's first resurrection, their bond is so tight that neither of them are willing to give up on it no matter how it hurts, which is rare for both of them honestly! Anger and pride can cause them to get nasty but it's not going to break them permenantly because they tried that and it was horrible and they both kind of have ptsd about it at this point.

Thanks for the ask!

[redxx95]

Thoughts on the VR game scene in ep 8 of the cherry magic radio drama

that is one long ass title

Hello dear friends, this will only really interest like 5 of you but I shall ramble about this surprisingly thought out scene nonetheless.

For the uninitiated: There's a (in my opinion) fantastic chinese radio drama adaptation of cherry magic, which you can find right here. The person translating this adds a new episode every wednesday and it's currently at 8 episodes (out of 13). If you enjoyed the manga, you will really enjoy this adaptiation, I promise.

On to my rambling now tho.

Disclaimer: I haven't watched the whole rd yet, so I might be mischaracterizing them a little bit (maybe). Also some of the things I'm saying might be a bit of a stretch but oh well 😌

So the scene I'm talking about is actually made up of two parts: the wait for the VR game and the actual game.

Pre-VR game, they're both standing in line and immediately we're met with a deviation from the manga: Kurosawa gets a number and suggests to play this rhythm game while they wait. Adachi doesn't end up playing but he does put the headphones for the game on Kurosawa, who points out how loud they are. I thought it's kinda weird that Adachi's the one putting them on him (cuz like, couldn't he just do that himself?) but if you see it in a more symbolic way it makes a lot of sense. Adachi's line "Now you can sing all you want" while Kurosawa's happily humming to himself, coupled with the fact he's blissfully unaware of the mean girls chattering about them in the background, makes me think this is symbolism for Adachi "shielding" him from the outside world and giving him a space to be himself, free of judgement and harsh words. The rest of the scene plays out pretty much the same as in the manga, with Adachi getting into his head and subsequently slapping Kurosawa's hand away.

So then they both get ready to play the VR game, which is actually just one big metaphor for their relationship. They both get told they'll first have to "adjust to the VR vision" -> adjust to their new relationship Kurosawa: "We'll fight side by side" "Don't shoot me before the round starts" -> "We're finally together!" "Don't write me off before I've even had a chance to prove myself a worthy boyfriend" The game starts and they both can't see each other, tapping around in the dark. -> This relationship is new to both of them, for Adachi because he's never been in one, and for Kurosawa because it's the first genuine loving relationship he's ever been in. Adachi gets really in his head about how the date is going, same as in the manga. While he does that, Kurosawa is repeatedly calling out for him in the real world. -> They're both trying to make this work and stumbling, Kurosawa not getting through to Adachi with his spoken words, yet so desperate to reach him. Kurosawa: "Adachi, say something back" -> Kurosawa craves acknowledgement, pre- and post-getting together. Then finally Kurosawa touches him and that's when Adachi finally responds, Kurosawa going "Found you" in his thoughts. -> Adachi is touched, literally and metaphorically, by Kurosawa and his thoughts, his positive influence pulling him (here only briefly) away from his negative thoughts. The staff instructs them to stand apart, while Kurosawa's surprised at this. ("Aren't we on the same team?") -> I think the staff is supposed to represent the judging eyes of society in this metaphor, telling them they're meant to be apart, as they don't fit together (just like the gossiping girls at the beginning said). (This might be a stretch but it also gives heteronormativity vibes, as in, you're supposed to be apart, you're both "on the same team" (same gender)) Staff: "But if you two get too close during the fight, you might accidentally hurt each other." -> If we drop the staff=society metaphor here, this sentence really just represents their entire early relationship dynamic of trying to do what they think is best for the other, but ending up hurting each other instead, without meaning to. The closer they get, the more friction their differences create. Kurosawa being the one who acts first: "Is this much distance alright?" -> Of course he would be the first to try to accomodate these new restrictions, always trying to take up as less space as possible to not be a source of trouble for Adachi. Eventually the actual game starts up and they play, Kurosawa telling Adachi that he'll "cover for him", but ultimately failing at this ("I said I'd cover for you but I only ended up slowing us down") -> Kurosawa trying to do more than he's capable of and messing things up for both of them is kind of a running theme with him. (shameless plug to my essay about this here lol) Adachi performs poorly in the game because he couldn't focus. Kurosawa immediately asks if they want to go again, but he doesn't feel like he can do it, ending the scene there. -> Adachi worrying too much about how others see him/them is not only how he loses the game but also how he "fails" the date, losing all hope that him and Kurosawa are meant to be together at all, even though Kurosawa is very willing to try and make it work.

The rest of the episode plays out very differently from the manga, so I can only really analyze that when I finally get to watch the next episode. 👍

Hope yall enjoyed this long ass read 🫶