#and it’s hard to see so many fans just gloss over it

[harryhandstan]

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[mrsdarkandyandere7]

❤ Yandere Actor ❤

▶ This is a yandere/dark work and it may contain triggering content so please READ THE WARNINGS before. Do not read if minor.

More at Masterlist

Female reader

WARNINGS: Obsession; Manipulation.

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◾ Yandere! Actor who feels like he’s been hit and runned over by a truck when he meets you for the first time at the script reading for his latest movie. The moment he encounters your eyes, gosh, boy is a goner.

Whipped.

In love.

Bamboozled.

Out of his mind.

The way his stomach whirls in a lovely storm should be illegal.  

◾ Yandere! Actor that falls for you fast and hard, hardly believing that destiny has landed you on his lap as you are his co-star, the female lead of his rom-com - his romantic interest - both in the movie as in real life.

You’re so cute and precious. Not as smoking hot or pretty as many of his plastic-fake co-stars but he’s drawn to you, like a bee to honey. 

◾ Yandere! Actor who is not shy when it comes to showing his heavy interest for you.

A part of you realizes how much of a red flag he is and you just hope he doesn’t turn out to be those superstars that take advantage of younger actresses. 

But strangely enough, he appears to be fully content in just listening to you, asking you a million questions about your life and about your interests, hobbies,...

You feel a tinge of awkwardness as he inches closer to you, devotedly drinking up each word that comes out of your glossed lips as if he’s enamored with your voice. 

◾ Yandere! Actor who shows up at your trailer for more private script readings or to practice your lines for a particular scene. Lots of ramblings about how pretty you are, how you’re going to be the next Hollywood star and that he can definitely help you out with that.

You smile and accept his compliments, trying your best to be polite even though he makes you uncomfortable. 

◾ Yandere! Actor who is incredibly annoying and inconsiderate of other people - that’s what you discover when the shooting process begins.

He completely disregards your feelings and oversteps boundaries, frequently making you extremely uncomfortable when he yells at the staff because your morning coffee was slightly cold or because someone didn’t put your trailer right next to his.

Despite feeling so bad for the low-ranking staff members, you feel grateful enough that you’re not on the receiving end of his anger. 

◾ Yandere! Actor that acts like you’re both in a committed relation when the promotions start. During interviews, you’re stunned in the realization that he is very much invested in acting like there is something secret going on between you.

The intimate placement of his hand on your thigh, those intense looks he gives you, the way he incessantly compliments and overates your acting skills. Draping his arm around your shoulder, being a sweetheart to you.

It shouldn’t even be a surprise as fans start to ship you, the two of you becoming the new hot topic of the internet and much to your surprise, your movie is a commercial hit.

All because everyone wants to see your chemistry on the big screen. 

◾ Yandere! Actor who one night, during a red carpet, takes the chance to confide to you that he loves you. And right there, in front of all the cameras, he gets down on one knee and pulls the prettiest diamond ring.

Barely even waits for your stumbling answer, before pushing the tight ring down your finger, making you his. 

And if you try to deny him, trust me, he can show a side of him that you won’t like.

[intrulogical]

🍊: The Semantics of The Orange Side

Explaining his function, understanding his role in the narrative, and debunking/dissecting common notions about the Orange Side.

To be honest, this essay was inevitable. I've had thoughts about Orange brewing since 2020, but only recently has it developed into something more concrete. For the longest time, most meta surrounding Orange began with theories about his role as a side, then extended towards narrative and side mechanics later on. I, for one, have been a victim of this pattern. 

Then, I realized that asking who Orange is is a terrible opener for theories.

There are many important questions glossed over if we start that way. For example, what is Orange's role in the overarching theme of combating black-and-white thinking? What does it mean for Orange to be a side? Who is he in the context of the Dark Sides? There are many crucial things to consider when it comes to predicting who Orange is, and I feel like concrete theories can only be made if we can establish the semantics of how Orange works.

This essay definitely won't be perfect— this is literally my second draft— but I will try my best making it in a way that flows, somehow. Some sections will discuss general ideas I have, some will try to dissec popular preconceived notions to reorient our logic surrounding Orange. As always, I'm open to discussion! My words aren't gospel.

Important notes: All mentions of Thomas refer to him as a character. Moreover, I acknowledge that Remus is a flawed depiction of intrusive thoughts. Technically, he acts more of a mix of intrusive thoughts, forbidden creativity, and impulsive thoughts. Because of this, when I talk about Remus in the context of his role, please be assured that I am talking about all his functions at once, not just intrusive thoughts. 

(Full essay under the cut! I worked hard on this, so I'd definitely appreciate the read. <3)

i. Orange as a Dark Side

The ways fans have characterized and defined Orange has always seemed to be rooted in their perception of what being a “Dark” Side is. That is— they are edgy, and somewhat suppressed. They are more “morally questionable” compared to the rest. More fics would even go as far as depicting Orange as morally black, in that he has no role in the narrative other than being a stirring force of conflict; a villain that needs to be defeated.

It is unfortunate to see such a surface level perspective on who the “Dark” Sides are and what they mean as an oppositional force to the “Light” Sides.

My stance on the “Dark” and “Light” sides has always been the same (if you read my past essays, you'll know). Like what Logan said in CLBG, the labels are arbitrary because no side can be argued to be “good” or “bad”. Although, it would be a complete lie for me to say there's no distinction. Rather, Thomas’ black-and-white thinking literally created one. But the distinction does not lie within the sides’ morals, rather it lies in how big their influence is on Thomas. Because the “Light” Sides are welcomed, Thomas will entertain their contributions more than the sides Thomas considers as “bad” or “taboo”.

In my opinion, Orange being morally black makes no sense in a series that is a.) thematically focused on dismantling black-and-white thinking, and b.) a man vs. self conflict. The villain is the problem of Thomas not being able to cope with his mental struggles properly. It would be odd to blame a portion of his brain as the evil of all evils. Although, I'd like to clarify that while Orange most likely wouldn't be morally black, it wouldn't be a surprise to me if he is just as dubious and mischievous as the other “Dark” Sides. After all, if they are the most suppressed sides, they would have to stick to unconventional tactics (aka looking scary) to get Thomas’ attention.

I'll explain more later when I get into what I think Orange actually does as a side. For now, I want to focus on Orange in the context of the “Dark” Sides, because I genuinely think it's an overlooked idea! While nothing is explicitly confirmed, the “Dark” Sides are implied to know something the other characters and we, the audience, don't know about. 

Janus and Remus share this sense of meticulousness. They always feel like they're scheming something. Janus, for example, took his time from CLBG to SVS.R to successfully impart to Thomas that acting out of self-interest isn't the worst thing in the world, especially if your mental health is crumbling. Remus is even in on this plan, although his motivations for assisting Janus aren’t actually explicitly expressed yet. Even if Remus wanted to challenge Logan's self-restraint in WTIT to prove how much it was harming Thomas’ long-term mental health, we still don't know if Remus is doing it out of care for Thomas, or just… ‘cus. Either way, it's important to know that whatever Remus is doing seems to point to the same direction Janus is going, which is to break Thomas’ black-and-white thinking.

Assuming Orange is another “Dark” Side, it feels crucial to understand who Orange is in the context of this undisclosed plan. More than anything, because the “Dark” Sides want to be heard, it would make sense if they unionize to achieve that goal together. If they dismantle Thomas’ horrid perception of them, then all three of them would benefit. Thus, it would make no sense for Orange, if he were not morally black, to act solely out of individual interest. Yes, the “Dark” Sides seem to be introducing themselves one by one, but I feel like that's because a.) narratively, it's to pace, b.) it would scare Thomas for three strangers to pop up to him only for them to be shunned as a collective by the “Light” Sides, and c.) Janus and Remus seem to be performing specific roles in this overarching plan, so while they work separately, it's mostly for the same cause.

So, what does that mean, exactly? Like I said, the “Dark” Sides have an overall goal of being heard, strengthening Thomas’ mental wellbeing, and breaking his black-and-white thinking. If my theory is correct in assuming each “Dark” Side has a specific role for this plan, then pinpointing Janus and Remus’ roles may help us factor out Orange's role.

Here's what I deduced: Janus is there as some kind of soft launch, to set the principle. Janus mirrors Patton in that sense, although in the opposite direction. He breaks apart Thomas’ preconceived notions of the world and bandages it with better, more nuanced foundations. On the other hand, Remus somewhat acts like an alarm clock. While not all his contributions are worthwhile, his mere presence is a reminder that something has to be done. In the series, it's to cater to his deteriorating mental health. He checks if the principles Janus provides aren't being followed, and makes a good fucking clamor about it if it doesn't.

Orange, I'd argue, serves as a means for Thomas to externalize these principles. It would make sense that the last thing Thomas would need to do is to put everything into action. Janus points out how one can be disenfranchised, Remus points out when he is being disenfranchised, and Orange ensures Thomas can express his discomfort when he is disenfranchised. Makes sense, right?

Speaking of externalization.

ii. Personal and Narrative Purpose

If you’re a fan that pre-dates the release of WTIT, you're well-acquainted with the idea that Orange represents Rage or Wrath. This theory came about in cahoots with an old notion that each “Dark” Side needs to have a “Light” Side counterpart, especially if you share complementary colors. Thus, many people assumed that Orange is Logan’s foil. Consequently, most interpretations of Orange depict him as emotion-centric, specifically Rage, as that’s what most people assume is an oppositional force against logic. Moreover, because a portion of Logan’s arc revolves around accepting one’s emotions, it would make sense if Orange, as an emotion-centric side, would be part of that. We’ve gotten two hints from the series itself that confirms this: 1.) a fight sequence in SVS.R showing “Blinding Rage” as one of Thomas’ attacking options, and 2.) the infamous orange eyes in WTIT that appeared when both Thomas and Logan felt angry simultaneously. 

What’s funny is, if you really think about it, we literally only have two pieces of evidence that point to this widely accepted fan theory. Although, unlike the previous section, I’m more inclined to actually believe these theories because it… does make sense! Especially narrative-wise. At the moment, miscommunication amongst the sides are at an all-time high. This is mostly because each side refuses to express their thoughts, especially since they’re at the midst of a complete paradigm shift in terms of morality and principles. Everything’s just a little too fragile, and it does not help that Thomas’ mental health is also at the brink. After SVS.R, the sides have acknowledged Thomas is on edge, but they’re still doing nothing concrete to actually fix it.

WTIT is my favorite episode of the series because it encapsulates the entire conflict so well. While Logan isn’t perfect, much of the useful suggestions he provided since DWIT never last past the moment he suggested them. Did Thomas ever see a therapist? Not really. Did Thomas find someone to talk about his issues with? Doesn't seem like it. Is Thomas taking his time with his mental health recovery? Nope. More than anything, the “Light” Sides and Thomas are very reactionary towards their problems. It’s even worse when you consider that Thomas is opting to pursue a relationship in the middle of this mess. WTIT showing us Thomas getting irrationally angry at Nico for not replying to his texts is… an interesting Chekhov’s Gun for future episodes, lemme tell you that.

Now, why am I relaying all this? It’s mostly to prove that something, or someone, needs to snap. There are grievances between the sides and Thomas that they are consciously suppressing that need out. Roman, Logan, and Thomas, specifically, need some sort of outlet for their frustrations— a way to justify them, in a sense. Logan’s eyes glowing orange while he snapped at Remus speaks so loudly of what Orange may offer. Externalization, justice, “cathartic release,” as my friend Orb (@orbmanson7) put it. Presently, Orange as an externalizing force is needed so they can actually do something about this damn issue! 

And if not, I also see Orange’s role similarly to Remus’. As I’ve explained earlier, Remus’ presence acts as an alarm clock for Thomas to be aware of his deteriorating mental health. If Orange isn’t there to assist in an all-encompassing externalization of a side or Thomas’ deepest grievances, the mere presence of Orange as an emotional force can act as another kind of alarm clock. What I mean is, if we’re feeling mentally low, for example, we don’t need to express our grievances in the most eloquent way possible. Sometimes we just need to get angry. To cry, to shout nonsense. And that alone would be enough to prove that we need help. We need to do something about this. 

To summarize, I think most depictions connecting Orange to emotional externalization are not off. There’s a lot of objectivity surrounding it, both when it comes to the narrative and his semantics as a side. We need a driving force that can topple the sides and Thomas over the edge to fully process the depth of Thomas’ mental health issues. 

But, how does he, a supposedly, emotion-centric side, differ from Patton?

iii. Orange’s True Identity

Now that we laid our foundations, I think it would be a good time to entertain the question of: well, who is Orange?

Truth is, I have my own guess on what I believe Orange to be, but I cannot say my opinion is conclusive. My theories on Orange literally change every two months. So what I'll do, I suppose, is first, explain what makes a side a side. Then, I'll explain my own current predictions about Orange. Lastly, I'll list some popular fan theories I've heard about Orange and give you my thoughts.

a. What is a Side?

First— what constitutes a side? To me, there is no real basis in the conception of a side. Like what my friend Orb once explained to me, the interactions between sides are mental processes personified. This doesn't mean we should simply view the sides as metaphors, by the way. They're a hundred percent characters in their own right. But what I mean by “process personified” is that if we view one of Thomas' conflicts on its own— as in, without the sides— can we imagine the mental processes he's undergoing? To make it clearer, let's use an example. In WTIT, we see Remus and Logan battle out on who gets to influence Thomas more. If we saw this without the sides, we can think of it like— imagine you're having a bad mental health day. You wanted to do a list of chores but your mind is in the gutters right now. You feel guilty because of your demotivation. You try doing what you planned, but you still suck at it, and now you're spiraling, thinking about every insecurity you have, but you're also trying to combat that by rationalizing it.

I'm not gonna say that this definition solves who Orange truly is, but it does help when it comes to understanding how the sides work. Another characteristic of a side would be their multifacetedness. No side embodies one thing alone. They can have roles that are adjacent to each other, but not the same thing. For example, Roman embodies both the ego and creativity. Not the same thing, but it works in tandem in Thomas’ context. Same goes for Remus with intrusive thoughts and dark creativity. It is important to entertain the idea that Orange can encompass more than one role. 

The last thing to consider would be the technical difference between a “Light” Side and a “Dark” Side. The division was created for Thomas to compartmentalize and suppress sides of himself that his Catholic upbringing taught him to believe is bad. If we assume Orange is a “Dark” Side, he must be embodying something typically thought of as taboo. 

b. Who is Orange?

This brings us to our earlier question of, how does Patton differ from Orange if they both embody emotions? In DWIT, Logan confirms Remus was born from the categorization of certain thoughts as good or bad. I think it wouldn't be farfetched to suggest the same happened to Orange if he did embody emotions at a certain capacity. One of the biggest arguments I hear against this suggestion would be, if Patton already represents Thomas’ emotions, why do we need another side who does? The answer, again, lies in the themes of black-and-white thinking and compartmentalization. If Remus embodies the thought of committing a “sin”, Orange could possibly embody the actual emotions of wanting to do so. Anger is merely one possibility in Orange's roster of emotions. There are other emotions as well deemed “sinful” by Catholicism— pride, jealousy, hatred, greed, grief, etc. It would make sense that Patton would try omitting these out of himself when he was younger because he viewed them lowly.

So, what is my actual guess on who Orange is meant to embody? Well, I mean, I think my stance is pretty clear from the past 2500 words written literally before this. Simply put, if Remus is meant to embody forbidden thoughts, then Orange embodies forbidden emotions. Anger is merely one of many. He aids both Thomas and the other sides in externalizing strong emotions that seep past their efforts of suppression.

This is, of course, under the assumption that Orange is his own separate entity. I'm more inclined to believe this because Virgil confirms in CLBG that Janus has “Dark” Side friends (as in, plural). It also just feels more balanced this way if we consider the forbidden thoughts vis-a-vis forbidden emotions parallel to be true.

c. How could Logan be Orange?

But, of course, I've also considered the possibility of Logan being Orange. It's not my theory of choice but as someone who was balls deep in this theory a few months ago, there's definitely some merit to it. Here's the link to the post if you want to read my theory in full. It's pretty lengthy, but to summarize: This theory operates under the assumption that Thomas’ suppression of certain sides (ie. making them a “Dark” Side) makes them develop an additional role— the role Thomas perceives them as. 

To explain better, let's use Remus as an example. Logan explained that, originally, Remus separated from Roman as Dark Creativity. Because Thomas refuses to entertain any creative thought he deemed bad, any suggestion provided by Remus was immediately labeled as intrusive. Thus, he became intrusive thoughts via Thomas’ low perception of him. Same goes for Janus, but to a lesser degree. As a side, he mostly acts out of the interest of Thomas, somewhat like self-preservation. But, because Catholic upbringing teaches that selfishness equates to evil, Thomas perceives Janus’ role of keeping things hidden as deceitful.

Thus, if Logan is Orange, then that means Logan’s role as logic is warping due to Thomas’ low perception of him. It’s no secret that Thomas views Logan as a “strict” side. In this scenario, I wouldn’t exactly say his additional role has something to do with externalization. Moreso, it has to do something with assertion or strict discipline. Think of an authoritative figure, like a teacher. Usually, when an authoritative teacher isn’t being respected in a class, they resort to meaner tactics like passive aggression, manipulation, etc. to impose their power. Logan doesn’t really transform into anything opposite to who he is as Logic. Rather, he has an additional role that coincides with Thomas’ perverted perception of logic. I’m not actually sure what this role is, but if I were to guess, it has something to do with restriction, discipline, or conformity. 

Narratively, Logan becoming a “Dark” Side makes sense when you realize that his entire character arc is about him losing his sense of self-assertion. I made an essay last year that explores this if you want something to read later. To explain, WDWGOOBITM establishes how it’s important for Thomas to balance his practicality (needs) and aspirational desires (wants) for him to function as a human being. At the same time, we get LNTAO where Logan realizes that he failed to contribute to the discussion as usefully as the other sides. This creates a scenario where Logan concedes a lot of the decision-making to Patton and Roman’s hands. The result: Logan’s presence is minimized. Even in the episodes where he “saves the day” (DWIT and the Frozen episode), Thomas refused to consider his suggestions until the latter halves of the episodes. WTIT emphasizes this even more when we see Thomas prioritize his date with Nico to keep himself happy instead of focusing on the chores he promised to do. Even if we don’t know if Roman had anything to do with this, it’s obvious Thomas is naturally more inclined to do things Patton and Roman would prefer than something Logan does.

Thus, it makes sense that Logan becomes a “Dark” Side. But, and this is an important but, I don’t really agree with depictions of Logan suspending his role as logic to become a “Dark” Side. Logic is such an integral part of who we are as people, that even if you’re an intuition-focused person, you’d still have logical facilities in your head that connect one thing to another. Basic knowledge and all that. I can only see Logan be a completely new role if someone takes his place as Logic. Personally, I don’t like that idea, but you can make your own takeaways on this.

How “Dark” Sides are conceived would still be a mystery. The closest we’ve gotten to an explanation is Remus’ origin story, where he and Roman originally started as one creativity until they separated. In this sense, becoming a “Dark” Side didn’t really uproot Remus’ original role. He just changed a little. I’d like to assume the same for Logan, because if he is literally born as Thomas’ Logic, then he as a “Dark” Side would still have similar roles, just with minor changes.

d. Other Theories

Now with the main theories out of the way, let me speedrun through other theories I’ve heard and give my thoughts on it:

Procrastination: I feel like this is too surface-level for a side. As in, hHow would Procrastination justify itself to Thomas as a side that wants to help? Yes, Procrastination would be a good foil to Thomas, but Thomas’ inability to work doesn’t stem from Procrastination. It stems from bad solutions to his mental health crisis. Anyway, too cheap.

ADHD: This feels like… it’s prone to problematic territory. For real, ADHD is so multifaceted in itself, and is literally a disability? I think it makes more sense to have ADHD traits sprinkled amongst the sides rather than one character representing it as a whole. To make it its own guy is like suggesting the other six sides are divorced from Thomas’ ADHD characteristics, which feels wrong to me.

Hatred and any other suggestion that relates to “taboo” emotions: See my argument on Orange encapsulating forbidden emotions as a whole instead of Rage/Wrath on its own.

Justice: I actually liked this idea and sort of incorporated it with my idea of Orange as a means of externalization! To enact justice means to externalize your deepest desires— cathartic release. 

Regret: See: the last two points, since it’s very similar.

Repression: Your heart’s in the right place, but most theories that subscribe to this literally just describe Janus. Keeping things secret because you think it’s unbeneficial? That’s one of Janus’ roles. 

Insecurity: That is literally Remus’ role. While intrusive thoughts shouldn’t be viewed as meritable, intrusive thoughts base itself on a person’s sensitivities and insecurities. I also have an essay detailing how Remus is incredibly perceptive about everyone’s insecurities here.

That's about all the other theories I can recall, but if anyone else has other suggestions, send it to my inbox and I'll give you my thoughts. 

Now that we understand Orange's fundamentals and who he is as a side, the question to ask next is what is he capable of as a side?

iv. Powers and Influences

Now we get to the part where I am! The most unsure about! As of the time I'm writing this, I literally just had a conversation with Orb trying to understand how Orange “possesses” Thomas and the sides, and nothing conclusive came out of it. Even if we are shown one instance of how Orange influences the others (ie. Logan's orange eyes), we actually do not know how that works at all. 

I suppose we can start by asking ourselves how Orange embodies forbidden emotions. I see his insistence for Thomas to perform a certain emotion similar to how Patton would do it. It's impulsive, reactionary. They undergo a situation, then they make Thomas feel an emotion they deem apt for that situation. The only reason Orange isn't utilized as much as Patton is because, of course, Patton is who Thomas is more familiar with. I'd also like to argue that the emotions Orange would possibly encapsulate aren't ones that are constantly expressed. Most of the time, we are in a state of happiness or contentment, emotions covered by Patton. If not, we experience sadness, another common emotion covered by Patton. I would imagine Orange's roster of emotions are only experienced rarely, or if put in a continuous dire situation. Immense anger, for example, would pop up if you feel continuously disenfranchised by something. See: Thomas’ mental health crisis.

Ergo, Orange allows Thomas to feel “taboo” emotions when the situation calls for it. Pretty straightforward. But we're not done yet, because we have to consider what it means that Orange also assists other sides in externalizing their own emotions. We can't use the same argument we gave to Thomas because the sides… aren't each others’ sides. They're Thomas’. If Orange assists in the externalization of the other sides’ repressed emotions, then it has to work differently.

A widely accepted theory or headcanon I see in the fandom is that Orange “possessed” Logan to make him get angry. Or, Logan made a deal with Orange, and now he has angry spurts he doesn't understand. While I appreciate the efforts to make juicy angst, I'm not fond of the idea that these theories basically imply that Logan's anger in WTIT was not his own. In reality, it was. Logan suppressed his frustrations about everyone ignoring his suggestions, and now he snaps. Making it seem like he can't achieve these emotions on his own volition implies he has no frustrations about his predicament to begin with.

The real question is, then, why did Logan's eyes glow orange if his emotions at that moment were genuine? Well, like other segments of this essay, it's hard for me to say something conclusively. We literally have nothing else to work on, guys, pardon me if I can't be a hundred percent certain on my assertions. But if I were to guess, I'm inclined to believe that Orange cannot make the sides feel emotions that they don't already have. Rather, he's responsible for enhancing it. In Logan's situation, for example, his frustration is completely his own. But when you submit to something like, let's say, blinding rage, sometimes you lose your sense of control and simply act. In this case, Orange possibly assists the flow of emotions the side in question would be experiencing.

I'll admit though, I literally have no clue how Orange does that, how he assists the other sides to feel their repressed emotions better. Again, we are working with practically nothing here. Although, one thing we can entertain is the idea that Orange has something to do with a side's state of being. Just like how Janus causes the sides to cover their mouths when expressing a lie, the sides’ eyes could possibly glow orange just because they're feeling an intense, “taboo” emotion. If you don't want to imagine Orange as its own side, you can also factor in the popular fan theory that Orange is simply a state of being the sides experience, no additional side required. Either way, while we cannot dive deep on the semantics of the glowy eyes thing, we can at least confirm there is a link between a side externalizing repressed or “taboo” emotions and Orange himself.

v. Relationships With The Sides (Especially Logan)

Another thing I wanted to discuss is the relationships Orange shares with the other sides. The most accepted depiction of Orange shows him distanced from the “Dark” Sides, while also having a crude fascination with Logan. We've discussed enough of how I view Orange in the context of the “Dark” Sides, so I'd like to focus more on what it means for Orange to assimilate with the “Light” Sides, especially Logan.

Because Logan's first to be seen with these orange eyes, many are quick to assume this is an isolated case. Fair enough— we don't have other examples to compare this with. At the same time, I think a lot of people aren't considering the idea that, if we go by the assumption that Orange is connected to states of being, then any other side can also experience the orange eyes. I won't even be surprised if it happens to Roman in this coming season finale.

But is the much entertained idea of Logan being specifically targeted by Orange unfounded? I would say no, not necessarily. The “Dark” Sides and Logan have always had an interesting relationship. Logan in particular is shown to be the side most unbothered their presence. Again, he's the side who argued that no side can actually be categorized as “good” or “bad”. He's the most sympathetic to the “Dark” Sides, but also… isn’t. 

There's an explainable contradiction here. Even if Logan is nicer to the “Dark” Sides compared to the others, he also has the reputation of being able to easily and successfully shut down their suggestions. He completely opposed Janus’ side in SVS out of Thomas’ interest. He shut down Remus not once, but twice, to protect Thomas. But that's the thing— he does not shut down the “Dark” Sides’ contributions because he disagrees with them. Moreso, he does it because he thinks that's what Thomas’ wants. For example, he admitted in SVS that even if he wanted Thomas to attend the callback, he still preferred if Thomas attended the wedding instead because he thought that was what Thomas would have wanted.

And, well, we saw how Janus responded to Logan's decision— he was confused. It's like he had trust Logan would vouch for his side. Let's remember the main goal of the “Dark” Sides: to be respected, to break Thomas’ black-and-white thinking, and to get him out of his mental slump. This goal can only be achieved if they restore the balance of want and need lost partially due to Logan's diminishing self-assertion. They know Logan can do something if he lets himself loose. That's why Remus and Janus teased him in the Secret Santa gift exchange about wanting to express his frustrations. That's why, after Logan's outburst in WTIT, Remus says, “Gee, Logan, now you're speaking my language.” 

They want Logan in on their plan. For that to begin, they need to make Logan in tune with his own emotional wants and needs, to make him more assertive. Thus, Orange would have to step in. There is merit when fans joke about the “Dark” Sides wanting Logan to go apeshit— it's because it's true. It's because it benefits them.

I can only provide things to consider when it comes to the other sides:

With Patton, think of the point I made earlier about Orange being “bad” emotions divorced from Patton, in a similar way Remus and Roman were created. The main difference between them would be that Patton has more faculty over principles, since Janus has that covered for the “Dark” Sides. While Patton, influenced by Catholic morality, thinks emotions and morals are intertwined, it would make sense for the more cynical sides to view them as separate.

Roman, as aforementioned, may also be susceptible to Orange's influence as the other side tends to hide his emotions from the others. With how the narrative is building up, I won't be surprised if Roman's frustrations with the whole debacle about morals heightens in the finale, especially if something Interesting happens between Thomas and Nico. You can't use Nico as a distraction forever, Thomas. Remember Thomas’ anger at Nico not responding to his messages, remember Chekhov's Gun.

Virgil is an interesting case because he would be more familiar with Orange compared to the others. That begs the question of, is he aware of the “Dark” Sides current goals and plans? My idea is, yes, but only to a certain extent. This can go down many paths. There's the possibility that Virgil was the first part of the plan, but accidentally grew closer with the “Light” Sides before he fully completed it. This explains why he hasn't disclosed the plans to the others, especially since it may incriminate him as someone who was part of that plan. There's the possibility that he knows nothing of the plan, but is familiar with the “Dark” Sides’ antics. Thus, he can't do much but stay suspicious of the sides. Either way, we still don't know enough to conclude how much Virgil knows, but I doubt he would get along with Orange.

I pondered about Janus a little because, if Orange is meant to embody externalization in some form, what does that mean for him, the embodiment of self-preservation and secrecy? I don't have the answer, but while we know the “Dark” Sides have to work with each other, we don't actually know how close Janus and Remus genuinely are with Orange. To be fair, Janus and Remus are complete opposites and they get along fine. I'd definitely prefer it if all of the “Dark” Sides were actually close because it creates such a perfect juxtaposition to the “Light” Sides’ crumbling family. 

I also thought Orange and Remus would make interesting parallels as two forbidden versions of feeling and thinking respectfully. Like I said earlier, Remus can only suggest, but he never actually embodies the emotions of wanting to do taboo things. Orange, however, could. No other points except for the ones I mentioned about the “Dark” Sides in the previous bullet.

vi. Long-Term Presence

Originally, this essay would end here and already be posted. I even went through at least half of it for beta reading. Then, Orb started a discussion where they asked what I thought Orange's purpose was, especially since most theories (even the one you're reading right now) are more centered on Orange in the context of the current conflict. There was actually a part I wanted to write during the second segment where I disclosed what I thought Orange would contribute in the grander scheme of things, but I omitted it because it felt too out of place.

I replied to Orb what I was going to write; I thought that Orange was going to be the final push for Thomas to go to therapy, and make Thomas stand his ground more instead of asking the sides for advice every time he has an issue. I've always thought this, especially therapy, was one of the ways the series would end as a whole, because it means Thomas would stop talking to his sides. Or at least, in the way we see him do it in the show. That sounds a bit cynical, I know. Why would I suggest that Sanders Sides end by Thomas cutting ties with the sides?

Well, I'm not. Not entirely. I'm not advocating Thomas does. What I mean is, an underlying conflict to the current conflicts we have now is how Thomas internalizes his problems. This is literally how the series functions. Thomas has a problem, then consults himself about it via the sides. Even c!Joan mentions it in CLBG. This issue of the problem aversion Thomas has would be fine in the former parts of the series, as the things he consulted the sides about were small. But as the series progresses, we're facing issues that call for an entire paradigm shift in morality. Of Thomas putting himself and his friends in the infamous Trolley Problem. Of Thomas facing horrible intrusive thoughts he opts to combat alone.

I once called Sanders Sides a psychological horror because we see how a normal dude's mental health crumbles as he deals with life-changing situations alone. To find a solution for this main, underlying conflict means the show has to end— internalization IS the series’ foundation!

And so Orb suggested the most batshit idea— what if Orange was Thomas’ foil? Not in a sense that confirms the Opposite Sides theory. Rather, Orange, if his role is externalization, is literally the antithesis of how the sides work. As Orb put it, Orange is there to “completely wreck the format”, making Thomas realize that consulting the sides for help has its limits. He has to literally go out and touch grass, talk to his friends about his moral dilemmas, consult a damn therapist. That is what I think Orange's true purpose as a side is.

vii. Closing Statements

In the end, I can't say that everything I've stated in this essay is pure fact, but this is the most educated guess I can give considering what we're given and what we can expect to happen in canon. While most theories I've seen easily pinpoint different issues the sides and Thomas are facing in the series, these theories would then guess that Orange would be the cause of these issues. That's where theories like Procrastination, Repression, Regret, etc. come from. More than anything, I want you to see that Orange acts in response to these issues rather than in tandem with it. 

The best advice I can give you when theorizing about Orange is: ask yourself what needs to be seen in the series. Remember, Sanders Sides is a narrative. Episodes will continue to happen past Orange's inevitable reveal. Think of Orange in this context, as his own character with motivations and wants for Thomas. Only then you can make educated guesses about him.

Anyway, thank you for reading my incredibly extensive essay on Orange! Again, my words are not gospel, so if you want to discuss anything further, add onto this post or send me an ask! Please read this post though before you send me anything. And If you enjoyed this, PLEASE reblog, I'd definitely appreciate it! If you want to read more stuff from me, here's a carrd masterlist of Sanders Sides meta I've done. Happy reading!

[prettyrealm]

how do the ive members see wonyoung?

this reading is a paid commision, thank you so much for trusting in me! <3 celebrity commissions • personal commissions

an yujin - she thinks wonyoung is extremely professional and a great idol, she admires that she will try in all aspects of the job (she’s always on “idol-mode”) but she thinks that wonyoung wants to be the it girl, is proud of it, and doesn’t plan on giving that spot up. wonyoung is on yujin’s mind all the time because of this, and I think the reason she sees so many good qualities in wonyoung is because she wants to be more like her. she definitely feels as if she lives in wonyoung’s shadow. she thinks wonyoung is highly attractive.

gaeul - she doesn’t really view wonyoung as a real person. she thinks she’s very distant and that she doesn’t really hang out with the ive members unless she has to (so maybe she’s the first to leave dance practices, or skips out on hanging out with members after work). she thinks wonyoung is really good at being on idol-mode as well. she sees it as not who she really is, not that she thinks she’s a snake or something either, rather it’s more like “no one could really be this way”,’ it’s like she feels she doesn’t and will never know the real wonyoung (as wonyoung doesn’t really open up even behind the scenes). a part of her is even curious to see if wonyoung will ever “break character” one day. she thinks wonyoung is very beautiful.

rei - she thinks wonyoung super attractive, she is actually attracted TO wonyoung (didn’t ask if she acted on it or plans to btw, this is just how she feels). she thinks wonyoung is elite at her job, very beautiful and able to pull everything off, it’s likely that she thinks wonyoung is the best idol in the group. she thinks wonyoung is the ultimate woman. she thinks wonyoung’s kindness is real, she thinks you wouldn’t be able to maintain that type of personality/aura for so long if it wasn’t genuine (she seems to also have the tendency of glossing over possible negative traits or behaviors to interpret them as more positive). she thinks she rarely has a bad day with wonyoung and she can even get butterflies when they’re together. she has a lot of trust in wonyoung and likes her to the point where if wonyoung was ever super mean to her (or betrayed her in some way) she would actually feel heartbroken. she often feels sorry for wonyoung and wishes she could make things easier for her, she sees wonyoung as someone who often has hard times.

liz - she thinks wonyoung is very professional - again, a really good idol. she sees her as a perfectionist and that she’s confident but not arrogant (humble enough that she’s always trying to improve herself and isn’t the type to think she knows everything). she thinks wonyoung’s constant striving for perfection has very harmful consequences though (physically and mentally). she thinks wonyoung is distant and on idol-mode 99.9% of the time so what she sees often isn’t the real wonyoung, but she assumes this is just her being professional rather than fake. she genuinely likes wonyoung and would love to be closer to her and hang out with her more because she thinks she could be a good friend to her, but wonyoung is too distant and simply won’t let that happen.

leeseo - she wants to be wonyoung, there’s a chance that she was even wonyoung’s fan before meeting her. she tries to copy everything wonyoung does, even with how wonyoung acts behind the scenes, she finds herself wanting to be like that (whether she can pull it off or not). this makes her jealous though, she finds herself jealous of how willing people are to help wonyoung because of how loved she is. she understands wonyoung is on “idol-mode” often and this makes her more jealous because she’s like, “yeah i want to be like this too, but I can’t believe everyone is so nice to you when you aren’t even being real!”. i think a part of her even hopes for wonyoung to “crack” and for people to realize she’s not perfect, but overall she basically sees wonyoung as the luckiest girl in the world. she does think wonyoung has a lot of pressure on her though.

[pastrydragon]

Ok but Gale and Rolan

Like Rolan is a pretty popular character, people seem to really like him and write a lot of fan fiction about him. And obviously a lot of people love Gale too he's one of the main companions.

So why do I not see them shipped together?

Like the way Rolan talks about Lorraokan before he actually meets the fuck it feels like he kinda has a crush on him, like a little celebrity crush. So we know that Rolan is partial to what he thought Lorraokan was: A brilliant and ambitious wizard who's generous with his arcane knowledge.

And Gale very much ticks all those boxes. He was enough of a magical prodigy to be Mystra's chosen, he had a solid plan to become a GOD and the very first thing he does to try to romance you is teach you some magic.

You can't tell me Rolan wouldn't be following the party around in the tower after the battle, see Gale being king nerd very casually explaining stuff Lorrakaon didn't even vaguely understand and not go:

"Oh."

And with how many times Gale has proven to be a good person by saving the teiflings over and over, Rolan could absolutely mentally gloss over the whole "What if I used the crown of Karsus to become a god?" thing.

And I mean, Rolan could absolutely pull Gale. We know from playing the game that it is not hard to seduce Gale, to the point it's kind of annoying. Post game Rolan could just invite Gale over to look at "This fascinating new tome some adventurers sold me that was recovered from a shipwreck/ancient temple/dragon's hoard! And we haven't talked in so long, please stay for a glass of wine. Oh you write poetry? Tell me more. <3" And he's fucking genuine about wanting to hear the poetry because of course that nerd would.

Like it's not rocket science, honestly it ain't even algebra. I'd give it like 3 months tops before Rolan is bragging about his "BOYFRIEND who is a professor at BLACKSTAFF ACADEMY and did I mention he's adorable?" And he just keeps finding new things about Gale to gush about to the point Cal and Lia start to consider pushing off the roof of the tower just to get him to shut up.

Gale would also be perfectly happy in the relationship, like he really just wants someone who supports him and is a good person maybe? As a treat? And Rolan has shown to be a little heroic himself, protecting orphans, trying to rescue his family single handed and fighting with you against Lorraokan if his spirit isn't totally broken. He can even bridal carry Gale to safety with his 12 str. No really he has 12 strength, you can google it.

Like it's not the OTP to end all OTPs but it's cute. And I'm just confuzzled on why there's barely anything with these two.

[faunandfloraas]

Aussie question time: when I find out an idol is American/Canadian, their image in my mind completely changes because now it’s like “Oh I know exactly who you are, I grew up with your type around me” there are subtleties that I’m going to understand that others might not. So with all that said, I’ve been curious about what that’s like (if you experience it) w the skz aussies (throw in a lily if you’re feeling it -v-) 🎤

this is wayyyyyy too long so I'm putting it under a read more- also disclaimer: i dont know these guys and these are just my opinions, dont take em too srs <3

Hmmmm... Well I guess I'll start with Felix- I've said it before a bunch but the whole "Felix is a tiny uwuw baby sweet summerchild who is just such a baby" etc. etc. has made me laugh from the get go- because Yep! he is incredibly sensitive and sweet natured and kind and he cries a lot- 100% that is true. Dont think I'm saying it's not. But like. He also grew up in western sydney, he grew up in a area that if you google it one of the first suggestions is "is it safe" but then at the same time he went to private catholic school im pretty sure. and i saw pics from back then that he'd posted back in the day of cool little felix with his gold watch and his fade and all his little homeboys looking rowdy on the train- I know that kid and while that kid can also be sweet and sensitive, he's not incapable and hes not a baby. Good recent example was when he went on that Jewel box show with the gay dudes and people were acting like he was *so uncomfortable* and sooooo out of his element and so this and so that- theres gay dudes all over sydney, there's gay dudes all over australian media- the idea felix couldnt handle that was simply laughable to me- but it kinda shows how many outside perceptions of him still very much fall into that vaguely infantalizing thing. Like when he was the one who was happy to go up to adam levine and dj snake in that skz talker while the other boys were much more shy? that didnt shock me at all. felix went to korea as a whole teenager laregly against his parent wishes- he's actually quite an outgoing and brave guy. Outgoing guys can still be sweeties, though- one doesn't negate the other.

One other aspect of Felix i think a lot of fans just gloss over but is easily noticeable by me is that he can kindaaaaaa be ... a lil bitchy? like he's never ever mean or cruel dont get me wrong- but he has a slight bitchy streak, he rolls his eyes AND he's actually much more sarcastic than people bring up? Again- he does it a lot with Chan and that doesnt shock me- they both are aussie boys, Chan will get it and I think Felix can very much be himself with Chan, he doesn't necessarily feel the need to put up an extra air of like... Sweetie boy-ness? bc when he calls chan a cunt on live chan just laughs and goes OI!! so yuh the main thing with felix is while i do think hes a little sweet guy, ive never from the get go had a hard time seeing him outside of that box, too. Also maybe that's a lil bit aussie humour slipping under the radar here or there 🤔

Chan to me from the get go too was pretty much like. Prototypical overachieving aussie Good Boy. Like, i had a drafted post i never posted bc it was too niche- but it was essentially about how he speaks about sports and the like, and it just said "We get it. You went to zone carnival" which was the sporting event that the kids who got gold or 1st place were sent to. If you went to zone, you were the Successful kid. I think these days most fans perceive him as... a bit of a goofy guy? but I have gone through the archives and i have seen the comments from people talking about how chans such a bad boy- thats shit is so funny to me bc you can show me every iteration of chan and I'd never, ever think he's a bad boy. Like he wishes he was a bad boy, he kinda cosplays a bad boy- even him referencing swearing bc of his australianess and shit over the years makes me giggle a little bc i feel like felix def 100% swears all the time but he doesnt like Smirk about it too much? he doesnt really bring it up? things like that stand out, it to me feels very like Oh yeah I'm this naughty Aussie boy who swears hehe and then all the australians are like ? Girl we all do huh lmao

Otherwise, I dont have as much to say about chan as i do about felix, funnily. Like idk people might perceive differently to me, but nothing too far off? I will say that given Chan's success and the fact he was seemingly a very well achieving kid too (maybe not debuting for such a long time is part of this) he is WAY more humble than I'd expect. Like not to besmirch Australian men but a lot of them can be really loud and cocky, especially the famous successful ones (any sport star) it's almost encouraged to be like that if you're a dude (but only to a certain degree, anything beyond a certain point and you'll be roasted lol) So I have to give credit where it's due and say that Chan *Seemingly does have a very good nature and I appreciate that about him! Its probably why I like him so much bc he actually very much doesn't give off those vibes- he doesn't seem like that overly macho cocky bloke I know very well. So that makes him good fun for me- he's very successful and he's confident and yet he doesn't activate any of my bitch instincts- thats impressive! I don't know him, so I'll never know for sure of course, i feel like i need to make that disclaimer but still I do believe he has a good heart, and he tries so hard! and I appreciate that.

Lily is weirdly like Chan. like she's hilariously like chan tbh- I wonder how they really get along sometimes bc I feel like they might look at each other and be like Hm... we the same............ ? Lmao I will say though, lily is a bit out of pocket and half of that I believe is her personality but half of it is just.... I think she's just australian 😭 like i cant lie you get me as a teenager to early 20 something and put me on a live and I can promise I would be saying as much ?? shit. Like, I do think Australians are a little loud and not necessarily always.... tactful (again Not everyone, but yk.) lily certainly fits that bill to a T. I appreciate that regardless of her idolhood she does still say things that maybe she shouldn't, she shrugs off a shoplifting confession, she says she'd murder someone if she had to, she bought and wore a shirt that fans quickly tracked down and found out all the proceeds were going to Palestine- she would have known what that suggested. she clearly had this goal of being an idol since she was a baby, like literal baby but she hasn't sacrificed her broader personality, even the parts that could potentially be off-putting to those idol fans that expect perfection and nothing else. I appreciate that in her! and I hope she never loses her little weird girl spark bc it does make her very dynamic! Her slightly gruff aussie girlness is very fun for me to see in the idolsphere bc it def feels out of place, but in a refreshing way...

so yeah. Idk if this was sensical, I was making dinner so I put my phone down a bunch and it's probably disjointed but thats my opinion... my thoughts, my ideas! Idk my take on them. Thanks for asking 🫡

[the-kr8tor]

Saw your requests open and decided to pop in real quick!

So, I found this video on tiktok https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMrkqnBQj/ could you write a Hobie x nb!reader oneshot with that, please? 😆🙏

Hope you like it! ❤️

Pairing: Hobie brown x nb! Reader/ Spider-Punk x nb! Reader

Tags: No use of Y/N, no specific physical description of the reader, CW food mentions, FLUFF

ʕ⁠·⁠ᴥ⁠·⁠ʔ

You haul the shopping bags over your shoulder, it's heavy and weighty in your hands. The canned goods and rice weigh you the most down. At least it's cool outside the grocery once the automatic doors open for you. And yet, you stop in your tracks the second your eyes land on Hobie and the kitten you fostered a few weeks ago. You didn't see her at first, but the second she pokes her cute head out, you almost burst into tears.

“Oh,” you can't help but coo from your position.

Hobie has stayed outside on the bench since they didn't allow the cat inside. They're under some shade and accompanied by a mini fan that Hobie brings above his head and towards the kitten laying atop his hair. Crumpet, you've lovingly named her, has situated herself on Hobie's hair, soft fur against his soft hair, tubby orange against dark locks. Her eyes are fully closed, tiny fluffy head resting upon his hairline. She's a picture of someone absolutely spoiled. You swear you could hear Crumpet purr from where you are.

You beam at them, footsteps quick as you get closer to the pair. “H-how? What?!”

Hobie shrugs, finding amusement in your reaction. He wishes he has a camera right now to capture the moment. “She just climbed on my shoulder and screamed in my bloody ear until I lifted her up on my head.”

“She did?” Cuteness overload has taken over your body. Grocery forgotten on the ground, you instinctively take your phone from your jean pocket, and then taking a hundred snapshots of them both in every conceivable angle. “That's the most adorable thing in whole fucking world! I wanna smooch her face off but I don't want to wake her up.” You groan from the cuteness, fists shaking from the sheer volume of adorableness in front of you.

“I'd take those smooches.” Hobie says, neck straight like a statue and frozen ever since Crumpet climbed up on his head. You move in-between his legs, to which he happily lets you in, slim fingers tugging you closer by your belt loop.

You chuckle, ducking your head down to cradle his face, giving him a chaste but a much needed kiss. “There, I'm going to give you and Crumpet so many goddamn kisses you'd beg for respite.”

Hobie realizes that the kitten isn't the only thing that has given you cuteness aggression. He grins up at you, hand slowly reaching for your own without disturbing the relaxed cat on top of him. “You won't hear any beggin’ from me, love.”

“Good,” you smile against another quick kiss. Leaning away, you pick at a stray kitten fur from his cheeks, blowing it away from him while he rubs lovingly at your wrists. “Let me guess, a few people have noticed and have taken pictures.”

Crumpet yawns above him, stirring but continuing to sleep in the coziest bed. Even though at home she likes to sleep inside discarded boxes despite the expensive bed you've bought for her. Her ear twitches, tail curling around herself, and you almost melted from the small movement.

Hobie flicks your side to get your attention, chuckling at how your eyes are practically glossing over from how cute the kitten is. “A few? Try a couple dozen of ‘em.”

You inhale, desperately trying to compose yourself but you still want to coo and and bite something, anything to quell the emotion. Sliding your hands down to his shoulder, you coax him up from the bench. “We gotta go home then.”

“Don't like sharin’?” He teases, standing up but still keeping his neck frozen like a statue, a hard task in itself.

You giggle, “yep! I like my baby and my other baby kept to myself, thank you very much.”

Hobie squeezes your nose, shaking your head. He thinks that he has caught your cuteness aggression, but for you this time. “Let's go home then, or we might end up on Ellen or some shit.”

[missycolorful]

The scene with q!Forever and q!Philza at Global spawn in Pugatory is something that will always kinda sit in the back of my head. Because it truly, truly solidifies the strength in their dynamic, and neither of them will probably realize it lol. Hello, I'm here to be insane about q!philever, so buckle up

Like everyone else, q!Phil was dealing with a lot in Purgatory. He began to lose trust in close friends. He wasn't sure he'd even be able to save his children. While trying to uphold his morality and not kill except in self-defense, he was very much walking a fine, jittery line. All while trying to keep his team organized and motivated. Aside from kind of losing his mind like the others, there was no clear indication that Phil's composure was dangling by a loose thread.

But then he's allowed a moment of peace to exchange information with another team. It's just him and Forever. No kills planned, nothing. Just two people allowed to talk about the absurd situation they've been thrown into. A moment to really take everything in.

During the conversation, Forever doesn't hold judgement toward Phil or anyone else due to the event, even when he comments on Philza's kill on Rivers. Even when Phil tries to justify his actions, Forever doesn't hold it against him. It's hard to say exactly how important this is to what happens next, but I feel like it means something here.

It's when q!Forever says that once they leave Global Spawn, that they become "enemies" again, this is when q!Philza breaks. And I think this moment has been glossed over by many (I want more fan art, dammit >:T) cause it doesn't feel big on the surface. It's not like cc!Philza genuinely sounds heartbroken, his cries sound... a little exaggerated/dramatic, you know? What he cries about isn't anything groundbreaking, it's what many of them feel ("I don't want to be here." "I don't want to kill my friends."), even though Phil fans can sense a deeper meaning here. And after Forever briefly consoles Philza ("Everything is going to be good. This is what we need to go through."), Phil, like a flick of a switch, is right back to his composed, level-headed self. It was like that moment never even happened.

But it did, and it drives me crazy that he did it in front of Forever. cc!Phil made that conscious choice to have his character lose composure, his character that he and his fans knows is an emotionally constipated motherfucker. And the reason it drives me nuts is because how the fuck did we get here?

I can imagine this scenario with lots of characters, and it never plays out like this (i.e. with Tubbo, he'd likely just keep it all in. Et cetra.). I don't see him letting himself be this vulnerable around most others. Hell, before this, I never would've imagined he'd do this in front of Forever, either.

But the more I think about it, it kinda makes sense.

Phil and Forever's relationship is a funny one. Early on, Phil wouldn't trust Forever with a toothpick. He'd never be emotionally open with him. Forever even held a bit of animosity toward Philza after Phil'a final rejection. But that rocky start is honestly a huge part of why it is as strong as it is now. Cause, well, the strength of any relationship comes from accepting all parts of a person. Flaws and all.

Some characters hold Philza up on a pedestal (i.e. q!Missa). They don't really see his flaws. They don't think about his ugly sides. They just see a pillar of a man who is always willing to help, who can do anything and everything, who keeps composed and lighthearted and level-headed in any scenario. q!Forever was kinda like this, at one point.

But Forever realizes that isn't the case eventually. Because Phil's not great at dealing with emotional situations, and Forever learns that the hard way. Phil's not good at talking about feelings, he can be blunt and a bit harsh, because he's a pragmatic sort of guy. But it takes a softer, gentle approach to reject someone, and Phil wasn't ready for that. So, in retaliation to the hurt Phil caused him, Forever had a conflicted relationship with him. It didn't last long, but I digress. This brief shift in their relationship was for the better. By not placing him on this pedestal anymore, Forever began to see Philza in a different light. One that didn't cast Brunim in its shadow.

With Philza, Phil saw Forever at, arguably, his worst in the beginning. Obsessive, threatening, clutching onto a pipe dream with no regard for Phil's feelings. But over time, Phil got to see the much more real sides of Forever. When Tallulah lost her first life, when Forever made NINHO. He saw a passionate and intelligent side to this guy who was obsessed with him, and he respected that person. And with this recognition, he offered his trust to Forever, such as giving one of his presidential votes to Forever.

Both of their perspectives for the other changed throughout the first few months, and I believe they gained some level of appreciation between them because of that. They share this newfound respect and trust. And that is the core to their new relationship. Consistently, Forever and Phil have given each other open and mutual respect and trust. Never is either of these things taken for granted, abused, or manipulated in any way.

When Forever is hooked on the happy pills, he subconsciously seeks out Philza's help, which Phil offers with ease. Before Forever goes to the Nether, Phil expresses his worry and wants to help. But he doesn't push, because he respects Forever's agency, and trusts that Forever is doing what he thinks is best. (also during this scene, when Forever gave him access to the warpstone in that secret part of his base, only Forever and Richas had access to it beforehand, which feels like a big moment according to his fans, so! :D). So when Forever returns to the Nether, while he doesn't believe Fit and Pierre when they say they tried to save him, he absolutely, 100% believes in Philza.

Because he knows Philza by now, and Philza knows Forever. Maybe not on equal levels, but still. After merely a few months, they've slowly begun to understand each other a bit more. So I guess it's only natural that they'd be more open around each other.

I'd even argue that this isn't the first time Philza lets down his walls around Forever. It just didn't happen when Forever was awake.

I wouldn't say that Phil talking to Forever while he was in a coma is the same level of vulnerability as the scene in Purgatory. Because Phil wasn't totally direct with his feelings, he sort of deflected (the story, banging the pots and pans, calling him an idiot, etc). Hell, even when he is expresses how he feels, he's not entirely direct: "We just really care about you. We wanna see you come back. You're making us worry." Like, of course everyone cares, but to say this as we when it's just the two of you obviously feels like a moment of vulnerability but not wanting to admit to it. Cause, hey, under different circumstances, he absolutely would've committed to visiting Forever in the hospital every day. Still, his very open worry did give off a sense that his walls were crumbling.

So with all of this, if Philza can meet with someone alone in practical hell, and that someone, a person he openly trusts and cares about, can look him in the eye and say "I don't judge you" on the things he's has done, maybe that allowed the floodgates to open for a bit. Maybe once Forever said they'd be enemies outside those doors, the situation hit Phil like a truck, and he just couldn't keep it in anymore. And maybe knowing it was just the two of them, Phil knew he could be a person around Forever, not a leader or a mentor or a force to be reckoned with. And Phil really needs someone on equal footing with him like this. He needs someone he can feel safe around. So for him to find this in Forever, of all people, even if it's just for this moment, is extremely important to me.

The way their relationship has progressed, perhaps it would've been simply a matter of time for Philza to be open with Forever. I dunno when Phil will be quite so open around Forever again, but I do say when with a fair enough of certainty (or I could be wrong and I'm simply talking straight outta my ass but who knows). Because to have this moment with Forever was intentional, even if it feels like a blink and you miss moment. It may have been under a minute, it may not feel important to other viewers. BUT to me, it genuinely says so much about their relationship, how far they have come, and where they are now.

[lyramundana]

Ok so hear me out:

Yknow that one tiny crop top hannie wore which showed off the entirety of his slutty jaist and cute lil toned belly in a lalalala stage?

What is reader sees all the horny stays on twt describing just what filthy things they want to do to him? What if she shows them to lino too? What is they both get so painfully turned on and deliciously jealous by it that they decide to teach our quokka a lesson? How, you may ask? By fucking him absolutely brainless and marking every single bit of his gorgeous body, especially his waist and stomach (and lower ofc)

And, the lil cherry on top of the poly!minsung sundae, what if reader makes hanni take a picture to post on his bubble while she's pounding him with her big ass strap, and lino playing with his pretty nipples?

It'll be their dirty secret, they do have quite a possessive streak (poor hannie can't wear crops for a long time after that)

ohoho you dirty anon, i love your brain so much🤭👀

Me personally, if i was the girlfriend, i'll be proud of the chaos he unleashed and join the Stays's excitement, but the idea of marking him and reducing him to a pile of tears and begs sounds far too tempting.

You bet they won't leave a single trace of his skin clean. If there's not cum in it, there's a bruise, if not a bruise, a hickey, and the list goes on. They want to imprint themselves in Hannie's body, make an statement to the world that this beautiful angel is theirs and only theirs. And sweet boy is enjoying it so much, getting punished by both of his loves is his utmost fantasy. Having their greedy hands over him, playing with him, scratching him, slapping him, it makes his cock so hard it hurts. It hurts deliciously.

They can't help it, he looked so damn good and irresistible in that top, and he knew what he was doing. He wanted to push the buttons, delight in their hungry stares on him. He loved it. It thrilled him to no end. Meanwhile, Lino is too busy counting the time until the shooting ends to drag him to the nearest empty room and teach him a lesson. When the door is closed and there's only the two of them, it's on. The only thing preventing him from ripping the damn top off it's knowing that their sweet girl would want to see it first, so he just pulls it up and rips off the jeans instead, forces him on one of the make up tables and slams unto him with a fast pace, not even prepping him. He covers Jisung's mouth with his hand to mute his moans, while the others grips his waist. Minho bites his neck roughly and sucks on it until the familiar purple-redish bruise starts to appear. His handprints are all over Jisung's butt cheeks, still bouncing against his cock helpessly. Minho has to close his eyes and groan lowly when his orgasm hits, thousands of white spots filling his vision. He ruts into Jisung's hips to push his cum deeper, and then drops him like an used toy...without making cum.

"What's the matter, slut? You wanted to cum? Too bad you don't fucking deserve it. We'll see when we get home, wonder what Mommy has to say about this"

Once they arrive, it's obvious "Mommy" isn't happy about it. Not in the slighest. She spent the entire morning seeing Stay's feral reactions to that top, and her blood boils at the idea of so many people seeing and wanting what belongs to her. She sees Jisung's glossed eyes, his trembling lips, the bruises in his pretty skin. "Mommy, please, help me. It hurts so much. Daddy left me hanging li-"

She grabs his jaw and seethes on his lips.

"You should be grateful he actually put his dick inside you, you fucking whore. You really think you deserve anything after that stunt you pulled, letting the entire world see you like this?"

He stutters, eyes wide in fear and excitement. God, he loves this.

"B-but, I didn't want to! It was my job, the stylists said-" Minho scoffs.

"Bullshit, they told me you insisted on wearing that. Said you wanted to cause an impression on our fans.."

A dark, tense silence fills the room.

"So, not only you're showing off without our permission, but you have the nerve to lie to me?" she growls.

His eyes start to get teary again. "Mommy, I.."

Minho places a firm hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, love, it's not his fault. I think we might neglected him a bit, our poor baby. You know how much he hates not being the centre of attention all the time"

"Is that it, baby? Aw, i'm so sorry. Don't worry then, we'll make up for it"

And they do. By the end of it, he's tied on the bed, completely naked except for the top. Blindfolded and Minho thrusting his hips brutally while folds him in half by his legs. His pretty thights covered in teeth marks and bruises, same with this abdomen and cute waist. Minho whispering dirty things in his ear as the boy cries out and tries to free himself from the handcuffs. He lost count how many times he has cum, but he can feel the excess of his cum (or your and minho, he doesn't know at this point) tainting his face and lower body. She's holding a vibrator against his dick, her free hand holding the phone and recording everything.

"C'mon, Sungie, smile at the camera. Wasn't this what you wanted? Leave an impression on Stays? I'm sure they'll love this one"

Minho lets out a breathy chuckle, panting and groaning.

"Too bad they won't ever get to see this"

Jisung is a mess. His cheeks wet with his tears and reminiscence of both of his lovers' cum, drooling with his tongue out and gasping.

Such a pretty picture for Stays.

Tags: @channieandhisgoonsquad @moonlightndaydreams @2chopsticks2eyes @skzms @hyunsvngs @noellllslut @hanjibug @hanjisunglover @queenmea604 @thightswideforhanin @roseykat @minsungisvreal

[bakuhatsufallinlove]

since the general fanbase seems to find calebs translations questionable, is there any translators you'd recommend instead? (if you answered this before i couldnt find it, so sorry if its an FAQ)

The general fanbase does not speak Japanese, so first I would recommend you not take their opinion into account.

I am not trying to be combative, I’m serious. About 85% of the hatred for the official translator stems from things that have absolutely nothing to do with the quality of his work. 10% of the hatred claims to be about the quality of his work, but comes from people who do not actually speak Japanese and therefore have no place judging it. Only 5% of the negativity I've seen has any real merit as translation criticism.

For the record, I’m not going to address the source of that 85%, because the quality of a person’s character is objectively irrelevant to assessing whether their translations are accurate or effective. What you or I think about the official translator is of no importance. Shitty people can be good at their job. That’s just a fact.

The official translations are overall accurate, effective, and of high quality. Viz obviously has in-house standards for tone and aesthetic in translation; they have an existing “shonen” branding adapted for American audiences. It is about marketing. This is evident in all of their published works. Some people find the tone and aesthetic off-putting—this is totally understandable, I’m not particularly a fan myself.

Generally, the worst you tend to get with the official translations is somewhat weird or exaggerated characterizations and the occasional missed thematic callback. The worst you get with the fan translations that are popular is them being factually wrong at times—as in, their translator simply did not know the meaning of the words they tried to translate. It's not that mistakes never happen in the official, but the Viz translator is fluent in Japanese and translates as his full-time occupation. He works with Japanese fluidly and constantly. He knows what he’s doing. When fan translators falter, it is usually because they are clearly not fluent, and this is something they do out of passion or for fun in their free time.

I typically avoid criticizing the fan translations for this reason, despite their issues. I myself translate out of love and enjoyment; I don't want to harsh on anyone's good time or discourage fan activity. I bring this up only because many people put the fan translations on a pedestal while promoting scorn and distrust of the officials.

But you asked me for recommendations.

So, I will tell you what I would do if I were in your shoes: if I loved a series that was written in Spanish, I would read the official English translation. If someone told me some important things are glossed over in the official release, I would surely look into those—but only take the perspectives of Spanish speakers into account, because how are English speakers supposed to know what’s what? I would compare those perspectives (because there is no way everyone will have the same opinion) and see if there are any other translations, while looking to understand what the rationale is for the differences therein.

And then I would come to my own conclusions about the characters and the story, because in the end our relationship to media is personal. What the story means to me and what I think the creator was trying to do is fundamentally up to me to decide.

I grew up in the era of bootleg anime and manga with nigh-incomprehensible translations and official releases with butchered, thoughtless dubbing, released seven years after the series already ended. By comparison, what we have today—cheap or even free releases available simultaneously or within two weeks of the Japanese release—is fucking magnificent. It is the result of many people working incredibly hard all the time. I don't think we should take that for granted.

No translation will ever be perfect. Human beings are not perfect, we all have biases and our own interpretations and reactions to media. Our relationships to stories are personal. This includes translators.

I disagree with the official translator on a few things, particularly in regards to characterization. But I don’t think that ruins the official release, and I don’t think anyone should shun or scorn it on the whole. We should engage curiously and thoughtfully about why it is the way it is, and what else can be gleaned from the original text.

Having said all that, you actually inspired me to do a little series examining the wins and losses of the official release, so please look forward to that.

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

ok I need you to discuss this John is My Son thing because like I also feel that Sometimes I Felt Like His Priest is also really underdischssed!

okay here we go!!!

The quote you're referring to is from the Foreword of The Lyrics. I grabbed some more of it because it's all quite interesting to me.

This was about the same time that I met John Lennon, and it’s pretty clear now that we were a huge influence on each other. Readers might detect duelling emotions in my recollections of John; that’s because my relationship with him was very mixed. Sometimes it was filled with great love and admiration, but other times not, especially around the time The Beatles were breaking up. In the beginning, though, the relationship was a young Liverpool guy looking up to another guy a year and a half older. It was hard not to admire John’s wit and wisdom. But as I came to see him as a person and a human being, there were, of course, arguments, though never anything violent. There’s even a movie out there in which John’s character punches my character, but the truth is that he never punched me. As with many friendships, there were disputes and there were arguments, but not many. Sometimes, though, I certainly thought John was being a complete idiot. Even though I was younger, I would try to explain to him why he was being stupid and why something he’d done was so unlike him. I remember him saying things to me like, ‘You know, Paul, I worry about how people are gonna remember me when I die.’ Thoughts like that shocked me, and I’d reply, ‘Hold on; just hold it right there. People are going to think you were great, and you’ve already done enough work to demonstrate that.’ I often felt like I was his priest and would have to say, ‘My son, you’re great. Just don’t worry about that.’

It's like… there's so much going on here, you know? John is almost paradoxical to Paul: the source of one of the biggest hurts of his life and also one of his great bringers of joy; he's forever petrified as a teenager in Paul's mind and also on some level remains his fairground hero whose shadow Paul cannot escape; a traitor and yet don't you dare depict him being violent towards me; wise and simultaneously stupid.

At its root, I think many of these contradictions exist because Paul is on some level aware that a lot of the pain John dealt him was at least in part due to something John could not help (i.e. mental illness). He can't bring himself to blame John entirely, in a similar way a lot of us fans wrestle with John's behaviour that we know came from a place of great anguish. This has contributed to Paul infantilizing the memory of John; he has an instinct to look after John, and it's exacerbated by the fact that he has aged whilst his conception of John has not (you can see this in the way Paul constantly circles back to the early days of their friendship), which is in great contrast to Paul's memory of, say, Brian:

"I find that one of the interesting aspects of ageing: Brian Epstein never got beyond thirty-two, but I think of him as an older guy even though I’m already twenty years older than he ever got to be." – Many Years From Now.

But there's another element to this… A lot of people on here speculate about why Paul "can't get over John". My answer:

1) John's death was uniquely traumatic to John's loved ones in a way we tend to gloss over.

2) We are not letting Paul get over it! Paul has been asked about John in interview after interview for four decades and his image directly suffered due to the lionization of John post-1980 as well as the way he (Paul) was judged for not grieving correctly. Perhaps he's started bringing John up a lot in interviews in part because he feels he has to, lest he be deemed callous and cold again. (and perhaps he is seeking to nip the Lennon Question in the bud before the questions become, ahem, horribly insensitive) That's not to say Paul isn't weird about John – I think he is! But I think the way he's been made to both carry John's legacy and accept criticism used to build John up and bury his own unresolved anger at John and grieve over a senseless murder publicly and defend John now that his image is being torn down… it accounts for a huge chunk of this weirdness, IMO. Again, I want to reiterate: I think these are generally Paul's genuine feelings and thoughts (and I certainly don't want to imply that all of this only started post-1980... but perhaps there's a reason Paul seemed more measured throughout the '70s) but I think it's naive to act like society didn't help shape the way Paul talks about John and sees him. When you live as publicly as he does and your childhood friendship is one of the most talked about relationships in music history, you are bound to be affected by the general reception.

I also think Paul is often doing reputation damage control. It is very important to him that he and John are remembered first and foremost as friends (hence the offense he takes in the depiction of John punching him in Nowhere Boy) and it seems like, since at least Goldman, he's been trying to emphasize John's softer, more lovable traits. I think this, mixed with the infantilization mentioned above, is where you get stuff like the clip of Paul calling John a little baby or a lovely broth of a boy.

It's all so damn complicated you know? And so fascinating.

[hajihiko]

I’m not any of the anons from before but as a fellow kazuichi fan I’d personally love to hear you talk about why you like him if you feel like it! personally I was first drawn to his character design, I just thought he looked cool, and then the second he opened his mouth and revealed himself as a loser, I loved him like ten times more lol. I know some people think he’s ‘creepy’ but I feel like he keeps enough a distance from Sonia that he’s just a guy with a crush, and also his “don’t you ever just wanna take girls apart and see how their bones work” line lives in my head rent free

Ok well. Sorry dude (genuinely) but I dont think I think of him the way a lotta ppl do. Heres my take sorry if it ruins it

First of all, do I LIKE his character? No. I like what could become of it if handled well, in the future (same with Akane and Sonia and... a lotta characters tbh).

I dont want to gloss over that he was really not cool with Sonia. I DON'T think it was like, a simple silly crush like any other dude would have, I think he WAS inappropriate about it and (most likely completely unbeknownst to him) enforcing things that she genuinely could not stand. He was insecure and took it out on others as well as himself.

These are all character flaws. Every single character has them (some more than others). Fuyuhiko was genuinely a dick (as I have said many times, having anger issues isnt an excuse for the way he talks sometimes), Hiyoko is a bully, Ibuki is insensitive when se gets caught up, Impostor is condescending sometimes, etc. Kazuichi isnt the only one to be a jackass sometimes and t deny it is to deny his character, just as much as reducing him to only that is oversimplifying it.

What I like about Kazuichi is: the design.

(Ok jk but I do enjoy the design a lot)

I like the teenage insecurity. He thinks he wants to be a chick magnet, but gets scared when girls show an interest in him. His ideal woman is basically a barbie doll. He's a little too eager to see his boy bestie naked. He was so excited for a class retreat because he's never had one before. He was so desperate to be cool and tough and not a nerd that he drastically (and no doubt painfully, ow, TEETH) changed his appearance to conform to his Ideal Self, but could not actually change his personality.

He's basically a teenage boy, warts and acne at all, trying so hard to be The That Guy but spectacularly failing. He's actually somewhat of a genius (and the Death Trap stuff hints to him having a lot of repressed turmoil which honestly so true, teenagers whose only outlet is fantasizing about the gory demise of their tormentors, SO TRUE) but he can't SEE that because he wants to be some kind of cool punk frat bro dude. He's so busy living up to some idealized version of himself that he fumbles who he actually is, which if he just took a moment, would be a pretty cool dude. Basically, did you ever discover a cool band and tried to model your entire personality after what you thought those vibes would be? That, but sad.

So yeah, I think he's great at comedic beats, and also has a lot of heart underneath it, but has never been in a place where he can just accept that and let it shine. His last words were basically "here I am, don't forget me!" which like, man, isnt that just relatable teenagerism?

[cutiecusp]

Love to love you, baby.

Reader x Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick.

Childhood friends. Disco. Feelings..

Tw. Pining, smut so MDNI!

Your silver platform heels sink into the carpeted floor, the pink and blue lights echoing off the disco balls hung high in the ceiling, painting everyone in colourful sparkly spots as they dance the night away.

You were in charge of the club, an homage to Studio 54, where the drinks poured all night, and the music played until the early hours.

Waves of people danced the night away, all their worries lifting until the morning after, and you thrived here. This was something you built from the ground up, and you fell in love more and more with the club every day.

Climbing the stairs, you look around the room like a proud mother, you had worked hard to replicate the days of disco, and it was paying off.

You overlook the dance floor, your attention caught by the colourful characters moving to the music, and you can't help but join in.

Swaying your hips to the song, you hold your drink in one hand and fan yourself with the other.

"Hot, love?" You hear a voice behind your ear, as hands wrapped around your waist, pulling you to them.

"Kyle." You greet with a smile, and a kiss on the cheek, leaving peach gloss over his slightly stubbled cheek.

"Who else?" He teases, his body moving with yours as the lights change colour, painting you both in green and yellow. His dark skin is coated with a sheen of sweat and your body glitter.

Kyle 'Gaz' Garrick had been your childhood best friend, and while your paths couldn't be more different, you always kept in contact.

Nights like this was rare though, he was always deployed, or stationed in bases abroad.

You turn in his arms, facing him, studying him for any new injuries. He raises an eyebrow, and lets out a deep laugh.

"I'm in one piece, babe. All good."

You ignore the way your stomach flutters at the endearment, a silly crush had developed Into something very real, but you tampered it down, grateful to see him.

You feel a strong hand take yours, and lead you down the stairs.

"What's the point in owning a club like this and not using the dance floor?" He shouts above the music, his body already moving to the beat of the band.

You finish your drink, passing it to a staff member before raising your arms and singing along to the song, the bass reverberating through the soles of your feet.

You laugh as he pulls some fancy moves, garnering attention from the ladies, but his deep brown eyes are all on you as the light catches the sequins of your dress.

Closing your eyes, you let the music take you over, clapping your hands, and shaking your hips in time to Kyle's.

His hands return to your hips, your bodies flush with each others. You open your eyes and lock gazes with Kyle, who is beaming with a look of pride on his face.

"You been practising without me, babe?" He jokes easily, anchoring your arms around his neck, pulling you closer.

It just feels like you two and the song as you lose yourself to the night.

You throw your head back and laugh, you had been dancing whenever the club was quiet, it was your release of all the hardships of the day.

You lean into Kyle, enjoying being in his arms, he was an incredible dancer, and always managed to make you feel like you were a good partner. His shirt was undone slightly, and you could see the matching chain he wore to your bracelet. A 'going away' gift for his first deployment.

Your eyes flicker down to it, and your gaze hardens a little. Picking up on the cue, Kyle leans into your ear.

"We got a few days love. Let's not ruin tonight."

His voice rumbles, deep within your soul. A few days. Then he's away, again.

You nod, putting on a smile, and dancing to the end of the song.

A slower song came on, and many people took the chance to head to the bar, but Kyle held you close. His hands resting on your lower back as you swayed to the music.

"You know I hate leaving." He admits, holding your gaze.

You nod, blinking away the tears that prickled your eyes.

"Let's not talk about it tonight, Kyle." You plead, breaking eye contact and resting your head on his chest.

"I love you, you know." Kyle admits suddenly.

You pause your movements, looking up at him.

"I think a part of me always has. Leaving you hurts more and more each time, babe."

He lifts a hand, cradling your chin as he raises your face to his.

"All this, the club, the energy, the success. I'm so proud of you babe."

You dare not look away as he speaks to you with such sincerity.

"When I'm away, all I can think of is you, this smile, your laugh.. I take it with me, and it keeps me company when I'm patrolling at night, or taking watch over the guys. You know I still have that picture of us in my tac vest, that summer we went skinny dipping..."

You have the grace to blush when he brings up the memory. One holiday, Kyle had dared you to jump into the lake fully naked after a game of spin the bottle with some friends, and you never backed down from a dare.

"The way the water looked dripping off you, thought I was gonna die on the spot, babe." He admits with a smirk.

"I guess what I'm saying is, I wanna be the one you dance with. The one you hold at night, the one who takes you to heaven and back. If you want me."

You pull his head down, pressing a kiss to his, startling him with your intensity.

He slips his hands around your hips his hands teasing under the hem of your mini dress. His attraction prominent in his jeans.

"VIP room, now." He urges, putting you over his shoulder, ignoring your squeals of protest as you pull your dress down. The patrons of the club cheering and whooping, your face aflame with lust and embarrassment.

Striding back up the stairs to the back rooms, he puts you down with a wolfish grin, allowing you to open the door, his body flush behind yours, he leaves feverish kisses along your neck and collarbone.

Closing the door behind you both, he takes you in fully, eyes during bright. Hair tossed over your shoulder, about to kick your heels off.

"No, leave them on babe." Kyle insists, pushing you down on the sofa before kneeling between your legs, he presses kisses along your skin.

"Waited for too long for this. I should have said something." You confess.

Kyle hums as he reaches your inner thighs, sliding your dress up past your hips.

"Oh, she's gorgeous." He whispers in awe as he pulls the damp fabric to the side, before licking a stripe between your folds. Your back arches in pleasure and he pulls away reluctantly.

"Gonna make you mine, babe. You want that?" He asks softly, his voice filled with need.

You nod, your hands finding his dark, short hair.

"Like you wouldn't believe." You reply, your voice confident, ringing clear in the room

"We have a lot to catch up on." He smiles, pulling your body further down the sofa, and holding your legs apart with his rough hands.

You nod in agreement, your eyes never straying from his as he licks another stripe between your sensitive folds.

"You have no idea how beautiful you are." He croons before he takes your sensitive bud into his mouth, making you gasp and writhe in pleasure.

"So responsive, babe." He teases softly, before hungrily teasing your clit with his tongue again, dipping further down inside you, collecting your nectar and spreading it over your sensitive button, pulling a sultry moan from you that wouldn't be out of place in an adult film.

"Making such pretty noises for me babe." He says softly, pulling away from your body.

Untying the halter on your dress, he pulls the fabric over your head, stilling when realises you've forgone a bra this evening.

"Ffffuck.." he lets out between his clenched teeth.

His jaw slack as he takes your body into his calloused hands, his grip firm but soft as he traces his fingers over your exposed skin.

"Beautiful, babe." He agrees as his fingers tease your pebbled nipples, peaked at the cool temperature of the room, before taking them into his mouth, one after the other.

After what feels like a lifetime of teasing, your body shivering under his expert touch, he pulls away, removing his shirt, exposing the scarred, but gorgeous body underneath.

"Gorgeous, Kyle." You say softly, before pulling him down for a kiss, your lips exploring his.

He kisses his way down your body, worshipping every inch of you as his kisses trail back to between your legs.

You feel his touch along your damp skin, before he presses a finger inside you. You keen, your body adjusting to his finger, as he teases your g spot, rubbing his fingertip over it until you relax a little more.

"Feel so good babe. Your pussy is gonna strangle my fucking cock with how tight you are. Let go, I've got you." He insists.

He adds another finger, scissoring his fingers and bringing you closer to your orgasm.

All you can do is lie there as he plays your body like an instrument, pulling moans and gasps from your body as you discovered Kyle knew you better than you knew yourself.

You feel a pressure build up deep within you as he continues with his touch, your legs starting to shake as you feel close.

Kyle smiles as he makes eye contact with you again, swiping his tongue up to your clit, the addition of his tongue to his fingers had you tipping over the edge, chanting his name as you arrived at your peak.

Covered in a light dusting of sweat, you pull him up, claiming his soft lips in a heated kiss, before trying to undo his belt frantically.

Laughing, he kicks his jeans and boxers off, and settles between your legs.

"You ready for me babe? You've been so good and responsive for me tonight." He asks, waiting for permission.

"Make me yours, Kyle." You beg, as you dig your heeled shoes into his back, allowing the tip of his cock to brush gently against your folds.

You shudder at the thickness of it, your eyes darting down to where your bodies were about to be joined.

"Eyes on me, babe." He commands, sliding home.

Your eyes widen, and water slightly, but you don't look away. You hold his gaze until he's fully seated inside you, stretching you to a point where you'll feel it in the morning.

"Good girl." He praises, placing kisses on your cheeks as he pulls out a little and pushes in again. The pain slightly duller this time, you urge him to go faster.

"Please, Kyle. I need more." You plead, your eyes staring into his.

He quickens the pace of his hips slightly, drawing a gasp from your lips.

"You feel so good babe. I knew you would, you were made for me" He babbles, lost in your body.

You feel him press a finger against your clit, rubbing small circles on your sensitive spot, before leaning over and spitting on it, making you gasp in shock.

Taking your fingers, he presses them against your body, rubbing his spit into your folds.

"Show me babe. Show me how you make yourself feel good." His voice calls out, gruff with need.

Your fingers intertwine with his, as you work your body close to a release, showing him what makes you tick.

He looks down to where you are joined again, his body pistoning in and out of you, his thick cock spreading you open and his brain short circuits as he watches you take him in.

"Gonna come babe. Want to fill you up, make you mine, but I need you to come again first." He insists.

You nod, your fingers playing with your juices as you feel yourself tighten around Kyle.

"Am close, Kyle. Feels... you make me feel.."

"I know babe. I know." He admits, his hips snapping against yours, your bodies connecting the only sound of the room.

You tumble over first, with Kyle chasing you quickly after. He pulls you to his body, shaking with the aftermath of your orgasm.

"Love you too." You say quietly, as you rest your head on his chest.

"Bloody hope so, after that!" He laughs, pressing a kiss into your hair.

...................................

A/N I beat writers block today, this was so FUN to write.

@xoxunhinged @muneca-lemon-steppa @livingoutsidethetardis @gardenof-venus @misshugs @soraya-daydreams @frudoo @renpodz @yesornowaitidontknow @thevoiceinyourheadx @shadowdark00 @rynbeerose @lunamoonbby @incredible-walker @identity2212 @pukbadger @urbimom @corvid007 @wordsfromshona @shadows-empress @m00xy @canyonmooncreations @oniraki @evie-119 @havoc973 @kylies-love-letter @ishipdabands @cmbghost @heckinspooks @midwesternwitchery @eggy-yoke @redzluvvesage

[misfitdollies]

A Tough Love Letter to Monster High G2

When I’m asked about Monster High G2, I will often say I like it, typically to mixed responses. Some people are shocked, while others agree with me. My actual answer isn’t so black and white though, but usually most people don’t want some long, drawn out answer, so I’m left with answering “I like it”. So, how do I feel about generation 2?

If you were asking me strictly from the standpoint of my opinions on the dolls, it would be mixed, but overall I’d tell you I like them. Some of them are just objectively low quality and aren’t worth much note, such as the Budget Cheerleaders. But other lines within G2, such as Shriekwrecked, are honestly very cute and a major highlight of what G2 could offer.

Shriekwrecked & Budget Cheerleader Draculaura

Some people see Shriekwrecked and give it more credit because it was originally intended to be a G1 line, using that as the reasoning behind why it’s such a nice line, but even lines that were strictly intended for G2 had cute moments. The Ghostly Tea Party line comes to mind despite being a cancelled line.

Ghostly Tea Party Clawdeen & Ari

The thing about G2 though, is that no matter how much I like some of the dolls, artwork, etc. there is this heavy feeling of it not being Monster High, a sentiment I feel is shared between a lot of people when they think about G2, only this feeling for me doesn’t stem from the dolls themselves like it does for many others, it doesn’t even stem from the franchise being rebooted and introducing a new story. After all, G3 has done that in an even bigger way and never once has it left me with that same feeling.

That feeling comes from a piece of Monster High history that I feel is often glossed over; how it was introduced. People do talk about it, it’s not like it’s some niche piece of media that only die hard fans know about, but I do think it’s often swept to the side in favor of talking about the quality of Monster High at that time. Not that I can blame anyone for that, it is a major part of G2, but it’s not all of it.

When G2 was introduced, it was introduced via a video Mattel posted themselves. They’ve done a decent job erasing the video from existence, but it does exist.

As shown here, it highlighted many reasons why Monster High was undergoing a change. Despite Mattel’s efforts to make it seem new and exciting by wrapping it in a pun filled, cutesy bow, there was no denying that one thing was painfully obvious; Monster High was changing because of peer pressure.

It was hard not to feel like it was a major slap in the face to people who had grown up with and loved Monster High. I mean, wasn’t that the point of Monster High? To be yourself? The very brand that had spent years making that its image, that had spent years telling people that fitting in was so out, was suddenly turning that completely on its head and acting like it had never promoted that in the first place. Suddenly the message of being yourself felt incredibly inauthentic. Sure, be yourself, until people think you’re too scary or too much, then it’s okay to stop being who you are. After all, you wouldn’t want to upset anyone by being different, right? That’s how it read, anyway.

Even the attempts that Mattel did make at seemingly promoting that same sort of message G1 had with G2 felt empty when you remembered the messaging attached to them and why it existed in the first place. It was nice, but it was empty. The heart of the brand had been sucked from it in favor of giving into the demands of parents.

In the end though, none of that mattered. Mattel, despite their best efforts to, couldn’t keep G2 afloat. It proved many things, but above all proved that sucking the uniqueness from a brand that prided itself on that very factor wouldn’t fix the waning sales or bring in a new audience of people who once thought Monster High was too scary. Because the people who were so harsh on Monster High to begin with never wanted to see it thrive, they never wanted the dolls to cater to them, they just hated the idea of something different being on the shelves. It was the same complaints those very people had in 2001 about Bratz and Barbie in 1959 being repackaged for a new generation of dolls and no amount of sanitizing the brand was ever really going to rope those people in, it would only push even more people away.

Despite this though, I can’t and don’t hate G2. I can see the potential it could have had, I can see that had it not been plagued by low quality dolls and Mattel’s mishandling, that maybe it wouldn’t be remembered as poorly as it is today. Brands have to reboot to stay relevant eventually, Monster High is no exception to that, it’s just a shame that their first attempt at a reboot was handled so poorly and as a result, the bad parts of G2 are typically highlighted over the good parts.

I’m glad with G3 Mattel chose to stick to the roots of what made Monster High so iconic to begin with and I’m glad they were able to show that it’s possible to reboot a brand like Monster High, it just takes handling it with the same amount of love G1 was handled with so many years ago.

[cursedvibes]

I appreciate your response, but I still feel like you’re glossing over the part about Kaori, which is honestly what I feel like most Kenjaku fans gloss over the most. I’ve even seen artists make sexual fanart of Kenjaku in Geto’s body with Gojo as if that’s not Geto’s body. Geto obviously can’t consent to sex. Same with Kaori.

I agree with what you’ve posted about Jin for sure. I don’t think he was unaware that Kaori was possessed like some people like to claim, which obviously also makes him a rapist since he used his dead wife’s body like that. But Kenjaku did too. I get that there are other things to talk about with Kenjaku’s character, but again…it’s hard to see this ignored and downplayed again and again.

I mean, I didn't go that much into Kaori's situation because your ask seemed more focused on points about Kenjaku's character and their fans in general, but that doesn't mean I'm unaware of it or glossing over her? Like the complaint about the backshots meme is, besides the bigoted comments about what sex position Kenjaku chooses, also about how people talk about Kaori's body. I've also talked plenty about her, Kenjaku, Jin and Wasuke in the past. And like half my AO3 account is dedicated to the horror the Itadori family had to go through, including Kaori & her body. I don't expect you to have read all that, but then you also can't make any judgements about me or how I engage with a character based on one post.

Obviously, everything Kenjaku does in someone else's body, including sex, is exploitative and non-consensual because that's not their body. That's a given. Honestly applies to every reincarnated sorcerer, including the likes of Choso and Kashimo. We just found out that their vessels' souls always remain inside, suppressed, they aren't even dead and moved on like in Kenjaku's case (like Geto's body had some instinctual responses, but his soul wasn't submerged inside like in other cases, we see him in the afterlife).

I see Kaori and the way Kenjaku used her brought up a lot more actually, especially since we found out that she had a cursed technique (the first substantial thing we know about her as a person), than for example the Death Painting mother. Despite us knowing more about her than Kaori. People like to talk about what a hard time Choso, Eso and Kechizu had (which of course is also true), but mostly ignore their mother or even the remaining 6 Death Paintings who got eaten to power-up Kenjaku's latest project. Which I partially also blame canon for because Choso had ample time to bring her up in front of Kenjaku, confront them about one of the most horrible experiments they did, focus on the torture she went through, but he didn't. Comparatively, people are a lot more interested to dig into Kaori because of her connection to Yuuji and Kenjaku. So yes, both are Kenjaku's victims like many more, there's a good reason there are headless pregnant bodies in their domain, and both don't get talked about nearly enough unfortunately, but that also has to do with us simply not knowing a lot about them. People have no problem writing novels of angst about possessed Geto, which sure is tragic as well, but that's because we know who he is and we saw him being possessed. There is simply more to dig into. All we know of Kaori's fate or her as a person is contained to two pages at this point. Believe me, I want that to be different, the Itadori family flashback is one of the main reasons I still follow jjk, but I can't speed up Gege's writing process.

It actually bothers me a bit when people call her Yuuji's mother or make any prescriptions about how she feels about Yuuji because we simply don't know her. We don't even know if she ever wanted a child, we just know that Jin wanted one and they couldn't have one for whatever reason while she was alive. Especially with JinKen, I always see Kaori brought into it though, on the basis alone that it's a common interpretation that Jin didn't know who he's talking to or sleeping with. You could say there's slightly more of a focus on Jin being used by Kenjaku than Kaori I guess, but she's rarely completely forgotten. Kenjaku and Jin having sex is in its essence fucked up, just like Yuuji's birth, but that's what draws people in in many cases exactly because it's so disturbing but hidden in a veil of domesticity. Even with art or fics that are "cute" there's often an aspect about how it's a farce, relies on deception and manipulation and that simply by Kaori being possessed any scene between Kenjaku and the Itadori's will be tainted. I like when it gets further explored and focused on how both parties disregard Kaori and what she would've wanted or twist her wishes while she was alive in some way (Wasuke always makes for a good voice of reason in those situations and to give an outside perspective on what is actually happening), but I also don't think that has to be the centre every single time.

While I try to ignore stsg and goken, basically goken's entire dynamic is based on Gojo and Geto's feelings for each other, which is exactly why it doesn't interest me (besides not shipping Gojo in general). So Geto being exploited/raped is like the big topic there. Or Gojo's conflicting feelings about which person he's with. At the very least, the disregard for Geto is there in some way with people leaning into this fucked up aspect. It's dark, but that's what it's supposed to be. Sure, there's smut of them too like with basically every vaguely popular ship. Some of it incorporates what I mentioned, some of it doesn't because people will draw any hot guys making out no matter what kind of or if they have a relationship. Characters will get dumped down, bend out of shape, misunderstood, ignored all together in favour of something else. Fandom is like that and I don't think that's gonna change any time soon and I honestly don't want to police what people draw or what people ship. Again, if you can't stand something, block button is your friend.

[importantdestinydefendor]

Christie Arimura for the ask game :)

Whoo boy, here we go!

How I feel about this character

Christie my queen, my boo, my... very underrated bae. Since she isn't a lot in the game (actually only two cases where she was active in), she is very glossed over - by the devs, fans and by me as well actually. The way she knows her strengths and limits is so admirable. Like when Yashiki asks her to help in the Red Riding Hood case, she just nopes out of there - I respect that so fucking hard. Her spine is very shiny.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Uuh, puh. Very hard for me since I am not a shipper at all. I am more here for the found family and friendship and rarely have a ship in any media I consume. And if I have one it is mostly OC x Canon Character. So no - no romantic ships. Mayheps with Yashiki if you squint reeeaallly reeaally hard and basically look away.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Suzu and her. Mom and daughter or aunt and niece due. Best dynamic. The way she cares so much for Suzu is tugging at my heart strings - HARD! One of my favourite scenes is when she wants to protect Suzu for Eita. Like, yeah she was wrong about him but her intentions came from the right place. And how she immediatly later knows why Yashiki sends Suzu away so the two can talk about the Red Riding Hood case.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I don't think I have one?? Maybe when I watch Gabs or Manlys playthrough again I have one. But right know I don't. Wait, I just scowered her wiki fandom page and saw that she has high spiritual power due to her diverse heritage??? Why does the game give the highest spirit points to the scaredy cats? (I mean it does make sense in a way since people who are scared of spirits tend to be more receptive of the supernatural. But still why??) She is defenitly the mom/aunt of the group. The very exhausted one. Fight me. (Also who would be the dad? Maybe Daimon?)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I NEED MORE OF HEEERRRR. In general. Like. Full stop. I want to know what happened to her that nearly drove her to SUI*IDE (censoring because I don't want to trigger anybody)! She has so much potential (like many female characters in the game have) but it got wasted. But I do see why she wouldn't be in DM 2. Since she, as already said, knows her limits. I think she could have helped Yashiki actually keep his bounderies if she was there.