#anyway yeah no wonder she has Control Issues lmao

[midnightsslut]

thinking about how the desperate attempt to cling to her childhood with speak now elicited mixed responses (scott telling her she couldn’t have a fairytale-inspired title like enchanted, romantic relationships with older men who took advantage of her inexperience vs the need to be america’s sweetheart), which led to a pivot to try to slowly grow up (hence a noticeable aesthetic change, more mature themes and sounds in her music, etc), only for that to be confronted with even more criticism (sit-downs over leaving the cursive fonts of her early albums behind, constraints to her sonic experimentation, scott generally doubling down on his control of her music because, in her own words, her success in pop with IKYWT/WANEGBT made him see her as a woman which felt threatening, a global slut-shaming campaign, the paula of it all). no wonder it led to the feeling that she had to double down on her maturation arc with 1989 to truly feel in control for the first time, which, in turn, tainted her memory of her previous two albums because they both felt constraining and slightly embarrassing compared to her newfound sense of liberation.

[cbk1000]

HIII my god I am a huge fan of all your fics, I have gone through just about every one of them besides the book of merthur (still trudging through that one I fear.........) and the way you encapsulate arthur's horrible mommy issues is the best I have seen of it. Sometimes I try my best to find some merthur fics and I don't recall seeing that part of Arthur EVER explored (to be a little more fair the show was shit at doing that too..... but come on if you truly love arthur you're obligated to fuck his life over some more ☝️.) Making Hunith essentially adopt him is so endearing to me as well I really just love what you're doing.

This is just out of curiosity because I've seen with most of your fics you've kept balinor out of the picture, and I'd really love to know your thoughts about him (bad thoughts and/or good thoughts I am all for toxicity and hate 🙏). I think I like the concept of him more than the shows portrayal of him, I have in the past found deleted scenes and concepts that kept more references to him???? And that was for Arthur too with his mother???? That is quite up there for me for some of the worst things the show has done to me. Anyway. Again I like the idea of him, haven't personally found fics that portray him that caught my eye (how do you make the title 'dragonlord' so lame. it has DRAGONS to it. I should've immediately been all for him) I'd love to have your thoughts :)))

'(to be a little more fair the show was shit at doing that too..... but come on if you truly love arthur you're obligated to fuck his life over some more ☝️.)' The show was shit at most things characterisation, to be fair. lmao But, yeah, I agree, I think Arthur's parental issues are central to who he is. He has a mother he never got to meet and therefore idolizes because a dead mother is a perfect mother; and then his only remaining parental figure has never been a source of warmth or comfort to him.

Balinor I don't think is as huge a presence in Merlin's life. Merlin always had a parent who loved him; his dad was just somebody who was gone before he ever knew him, and I don't think that's haunted him to the same degree as Arthur because Hunith was a loving, stable constant in Merlin's life. He also has a father figure in Gaius. The show really just brought Balinor into the picture as a deus ex machina to enable Merlin to control dragons; the emotional impact of his appearance falls short because we never really see Merlin wondering who his dad was or lamenting the fact that he grew up without one.

I'm actually more interested in Balinor from Hunith's perspective. Was this some tragic romance? Was he the love of her life who had to flee unexpectedly when Uther sent people after him? He's still talking about Hunith decades later. Does he just sit around in his cave sadly thinking about her and she's in Ealdor like, "Balinor who? Oh, yeah, that guy who knocked me up." Or is that why when we see her, she's single and seems to have raised Merlin by herself and never took (a? another? I can't remember if the show says for sure, but I had the impression she and Balinor were never married) husband?

In the OG medieval versions of the legend, Merlin was fathered by an incubus, making him half-demon. I think exploring that would have been more interesting than a cranky hermit who shows up for half a second just to be killed off for some cheap angst. It also would explain why Merlin's father is never really talked about; if I were Hunith, and I had been impregnated by some sexy male demon that showed up at night while I was half-asleep, I wouldn't tell my kid about it either. And that would be a pretty huge revelation for Merlin, who in the very first episode asks Gaius if he's some kind of monster. It would explain why he's so powerful and create a huge source of turmoil for him because the answer to whether or not he's a monster is actually, "Well, yeah, kind of. Half, anyway." I have actually toyed with the idea of doing something with this, so I might read up some more on those origin stories and do a one-shot at some point exploring this concept. Balinor as a dragonlord, tbh, doesn't really do it for me; Balinor as an incubus, on the other hand. *chef's kiss*

Balinor, for me, is really just one more in a long line of 'Well I wish they had done THAT differently.' The show is riffing on a body of myths that has many different versions of many different stories; there is no concrete canon, like with any folklore. So I don't take issue with them putting their own spin on so many of the stories that are central to Arthuriana: I just think the specific spin they put on many of the main aspects of the legends were lazily executed, and not worth changing if they weren't even going to bother laying the groundwork for their own individual take on a story that has been told and retold and tweaked for centuries. Balinor is just one more victim to the BBC's propensity for prioritising fart jokes and bad bald caps over silly things like consistent characterisation and narrative coherency. Not that I'm bitter, says woman 662,372 words into her second show rewrite.

[distort-opia]

Did joker ever try to make batman jealous? i think that would be so funny actually, imagine him not giving batman attention and somehow giving more validation for some other herói and bruce getting so mad lmao

The only example i can think of is injustice when he messes with supes but i wish there were more

Well, Joker has gone to different cities and has fought a lot of different heroes, over time. More often than not, he goes to Metropolis, though the thing is, to my knowledge, Joker hasn’t ever done this with the express purpose of making Batman jealous. Not even his actions during Injustice: Gods Among Us were for this reason, but rather (as Injustice: Year Zero shows), it was to prove to Bruce that Clark was not the incorruptible, all-good person Bruce believed him to be. It wasn’t to make Batman jealous, it was because Joker was jealous himself.

However, this ask did make me revisit some great interactions between Joker and other heroes, and there are a couple of interesting conclusions to draw from them, regarding this subject. Bruce doesn’t always show up outside of Gotham when Joker himself does; for instance, Joker goes to Metropolis because some businessmen are ripping off his clown brand to sell toys, in Action Comics #714. But Batman doesn’t appear, and Clark deals with Joker on his own. In a similar vein, after No Man’s Land, Joker goes to Metropolis to piss off Lex Luthor (in Action Comics #765), but Bruce is once again absent. Hell, in Wonder Woman (1987) #96-97, Joker goes to Boston because there’s an ongoing gang war and he wants to make the chaos worse, fighting and getting defeated by Diana in the process... because he gets out-crazied by her. She communes with Pan, the Greek God, who teaches her how to dance the dance of chaos, and then she’s just as crazy as Joker, and able to defeat him. (God, I love comics.) Anyway, Batman doesn’t show up here either. You can either chalk it up to him not even knowing Joker changed locations, him not having the time to travel to where Joker is, or him trusting the respective hero to handle Joker themselves. Or, sometimes it’s Bruce being an asshole and knowingly letting Joker go to Metropolis to test Clark’s mettle (like in Adventures of Superman #14). 

But, when Bruce does show up, it’s “I know how Joker works, you don’t. Fuck off.” And it’s kinda funny. I’m putting the rest of these instances under the cut, as always.

Alright, Bruce doesn’t show up in person to this particular caper, but I love the fact that Clark called Alfred to make sure Bruce does not find out Joker is in Metropolis. They both freaking conspire to keep Bruce in the dark, because they know Bruce would instantly go after Joker, and he needs the rest :))

Oh yeah, this is also the issue Joker gets saved by Clark and calls himself a “fruitcake”... All-around delightful. I also recommend DC Comics Presents #72 for Clark kidnapping Joker so him and Phantom Stranger can weaponize his insanity. They team up and have crazy multi-dimensional shenanigans, it’s fun.

-- DC Comics Presents #41

Now, this next one is a story written by Morrison, in which Joker goes to the fictional Vanity City and tries to enact his mad plans there (using dancing crickets for mind control), under the hero Aztek’s nose. However, Bruce shows up this time.

-- Aztek: The Ultimate Man #6

-- Aztek: The Ultimate Man #7

Besides Bruce going “I’m gonna deal with Joker myself!”, I love the explanation he gives Aztek at the end. “He’s playing a game with me, and it goes way back.” This is why I honestly think it’d take quite a bit to make Bruce genuinely jealous. Even when Joker goes somewhere else and fights other heroes, Bruce still assumes the game Joker plays is with him (and he’s usually right).

Aaand lastly, here’s a classic instance you might’ve seen floating around, but the context of the whole thing is honestly so funny. Joker... kind of gains control of Atlantis by talking? After falling into the ocean on accident? And then Aquaman has to get his kingdom back, with Bruce hearing about all of it and managing to find him:

Again, Bruce tries to take Joker down alone and bring him back to Gotham (“Joker’s been mine for quite some time!”), but the funny part is that he does let Arthur deal with Joker first after they fight about it for a bit -- in exchange for Atlantis’ location.

-- Legends of the DC Universe #27

(Worth noting that at the end, when Joker is presumed dead, Bruce is still the one to investigate what happened with him, and discovers that Joker survived.)

Even in Adventures of Superman #14, Bruce treats Joker going to Metropolis as an ongoing game; he turns it into an opportunity to test Superman. It doesn’t occur to him that Joker might genuinely like Metropolis, or Superman, and not come back. 

-- Adventures of Superman (2013) #14

So, to sum it up... understandably, Bruce consistently assumes the things Joker does are about him, at all times. Even when Joker goes away or fights someone else, so him expressing jealousy would require some extreme actions on Joker’s part. Kind of like Injustice: Gods Among Us, although even then... personally I read “This has always been about us. Why did you do this to him?” as despair, not jealousy. It’s Bruce saying “I’ve always been the one to sacrifice myself to contain your madness, why would you go and destroy someone else? Why wasn’t it enough? Why did you ruin him, someone good, someone entirely unlike me?” (Bruce does not believe the best of himself, that has to be kept in mind, I feel.)

Anyway, hope the rant was enjoyable, Anon! I entirely agree it’d be such an interesting story -- having Joker genuinely try to focus on someone else, break away from Batman and Gotham... Sadly it hasn’t been attempted, at least not to my knowledge. I am very curious how Bruce would react.

[arcplaysgames]

Anyway I will sum up: the current theory is that by taking people's Desires (the heart gem thing), Alice can control those people and it's probably bad, since when stuff happens to your Shadow it will effect your real self too.

Seems like Alice is trying to lure more people into her Jail so she can alter their cognition. Which given she kinda started as an influencer is so much I wanna die a bit.

also holy crap the textures in this game are sometimes Really Bad lmao. I wonder how P5R looks on the Switch, I might google that later out of curiosity.

Now it's time to investigate Alice herself and turns out Ann has admired her for a while and asked her agency if she could meet Alice, so she's got seats at a TV appearance.

thanks dad-- what the fuck, chaz is here. why does EVERYONE in japanese government hang at Sojiro's place?

Reverie has a full-body flashback to that time about a year and change ago when he sat in this same TV studio (but back when it wasn't made of Mario 64 textures) and shook hands with the love of his life and his star-crossed kismesis. For a moment, the entire dayglo set fades to a single color. Beige. jfc he was sooooo beige.

ANYWAY uh.

Alice tells the story about how she was extremely shy growing up and struggled to overcome it despite how much she wanted to. Then, she saw a beautiful dress in a shop window, and upon putting it on, she felt like a totally different person, like a ray of light had fallen right on her.

And HONESTLY this is the first moment that Ann's entire thing has made sense to me, how becoming a model could inspire people. I think there is more than a few issues with looking at an extremely thing, extremely carefully produced person and going "oh, this is aspirational" but at least the concept makes a little more sense now.

BUUUUUUUUT turns out Alice is not just a victim of her Jail like I proposed, she's a baddie.

Oh okay so she knows what's going on and is doing it on purpose, okay.

That's disappointing.

I'm sorry, Ann. It does suck. Her whole speech about wanting to inspire people like she was, yeah, it sounded like Ann, and Ann's disappointment is even stronger than mine.

I was kinda sad that Jails apparently work pretty similarly to Palaces but also things get SO FUCKING WILD HERE I'm kinda cool with it.

While Reverie is comforting Ann and thinking about it was in this very hallway where he met a beige boy he almost changed the universe to have a second chance with, Alice just SHOWS UP AND

oh my god

THIS GAME IS OFF IT'S FUCKING SHITS

a fucking pastel pink ultra-cosplayer keeps stepping on people, this game. oh my god. i'm crying its so good.

I think we can fix Alice without stealing her heart, all we gotta do is introduce her to the Domme lifestyle and teach her about scenes, boundaries, and consent. There is a historic top shortage going on and she could really find her niche.

this is clearly not a negotiated scene, so Ann and Reverie run in to break it up. take it to the kink dungeon, girly, this ain't the venue. SSC or RACK, pick one.

Alice actively tries to get Ann and Reverie under her mind control shit?????

OKAY SO she is like fully aware of the cognitive world? It feels like she's pretty in-tune with her Shadow. Which usually means the Shadow doesn't stay a separate being but becomes a persona instead.

Instead, with the Jail system, they seem to be keeping separate even as they both work towards the same goals. That's new and strange.

This is definitely setting up some core questions like who made EMMA, how did Alice figure out how it worked, has she been inside the cognitive world or did she just figure out if she friended ppl with EMMA she could control them, and what's going on with the shadow vs real self here?

Regardless, Alice is a delight. I for one am thrilled to have her, but I also fear that Persona 5 Strikers might peak with its first main villain here because where the fuck do you go after evil pastel princess dominatrix? I have no idea.

[simpjaes]

i just finished player rank: platinum. like literally two seconds ago and omg…god your mind 😫😫😫

first of all, i know it sounds contradictory cause it took me forever to finish reading, but god it was so entertaining from the first word. your writing is so good i felt like i could visualize everything (especially the smut)!!!!

speaking of the smut, that was so nasty…ik he’s an asshole loser but i’d also like my turn with heeseung. like slut me out like that in front of your friends too please!!!! it’s 11:30 am as im typing this, and i should really NOT be feeling this way so early in my saturday 😭😭😭

ngl if i were yn id fuck the whole friend group no hesitation, especially jay. but that’s the jay whore in me speaking oopsies.

plotwise, the whole story went 0-100 from the pillow scene in onwards imo. i was SEATED. felt like a whole will they won’t they type of situation even tho we knew they would. fuck heeseung fr tho (both literally and not) 🙄🙄

also the way you made me wanna punch and fuck heeseung at the same time…god i know i already praised you for how you write characters but goddamn u did it again!!! he’s such an ass omg but the way he fucks…🤭

and yn with her whole wanting to be better than her sister. why did that actually kinda hurt my heart even though i do not have a sister LMAO.

also i loved your little jokes…like the joke about sunghoon finding the perfect video on page 86 of his search. i actually laughed, perfect placement of the joke tbh.

last…yn’s sister using a condom AND plan B?!?! she mad paranoid and also her period cycle probably mad fucked up. also plan B is at least like $35 (off brand) and like $50 if u get the usual brand. no wonder she working so much, has to pay for all that fucking plan B. 😳

anyways gonna go scroll though all the asks related to this fic 🫶🏽🫶🏽 and then maybe…get started on frenzy (i’ve never read a fic like frenzy so im scared 😳)

- 💗

alright lemme dip into this and answer you properly <3

it's not contradictory!!! it takes people different amounts of time to read so that doesn't bother me at all! i promise im not forcing you to read everything RIGHT NOW!!! though, of course, i love your feedback and would love if you did make it through my fics :D

as for heeseung, i def wrote him to be an asshole but like...one that you could fuck anyway. some of us just wanna have fun with a red flag, and it's fictional so i see no issue with it :D as for fucking the friend group, since the fic was a gift for my favorite oomfie i didn't want to self indulge too much. it was heeseung centered both in mind and spirit, however i will definitely delve into fucking all of hyung line in a fic someday c:

yeeeeeeeeah the pillow scene was the instance in my head where heeseung was 100% certain he had her in the palm of his hand, so parading around like a sex magnet would come naturally for him rather than needing to put effort in. it was fucking play time for him, so yes, 0-100 is a perfect way to describe that point in the fic. he really switched it up from being blatantly interested to what the fuck does he want with me?????

i also do tend to add some jokes and comedic relief in my fics solely because it's who i am as a person. a lot of my humor is very dry and read as a narrator voice but i feel like it comes across well :D at least in MY head it does.

as for the birth control AND plan B. we all know it's unhealthy and not viable at all. it's actually quite cringe that she'd be so paranoid and do such a thing. it's also very much not realistic, so i don't quite enjoy when people come at it like "i just know her body is blahblahblah"

like.....yeah, but the point of that was to show how like.....there's a question there regarding how she feels about her relationship. reader's sister very clearly works hard and barely has time for a relationship, hence why she does just about everything to keep heeseung, but like......hee wants a kid and a family........and she adds EXTRA protection simply bc she probably suspects heeseung to poke holes or some shit.

it's not meant to be seen as "she's so uptight!!!" it's more like "now why would she feel the need to do that?!"

its bc heeseung is a manipulator through and through :D so im a lil sad that the instance flew over people's heads, but, it is what it is and it's just a small moment in the fic so i aint that annoyed.

[saviourkingslut]

Okay I'm glad I'm not the only one who has an issue with how Constance treated Ferdinand in their support. When I first saw their C support I was seriously wondering if there was a voice acting or translation difference at play because I felt like Constance's reaction to Ferdinand was way too aggressive of a response for what he said. I guess technically you can say she apologizes with their B support but it doesn't help that the B supports stars Constance's "rock bottom self confidence" mode.

heads up if you're a constance fan id uhm not read this rant lol

the way she reacts to him is in the c-support is absolutely wilding to me. literally all he says is that he's glad that despite what happened to her house, she is still there, and he acknowledges that it was a difficult time for her and that he offers his support and all she does is slam down on him. she literally immediately gets mad at him for calling "the single-most-humiliating event of [her] life", 'difficult'. on the grounds that obviously he could never know what it was like, so who is he to speak of it, and how dare he call it something as trivial as 'difficult'. and how dare he speak of it and remind her of it! which is bonkers on multiple levels, bc, yeah, "my family, my home, my friends, my people, everything. i am all that remains." sure! that sucks ass! that hurts! but there is literally multiple people at the monastery who went through the exact same thing who make less of a ruckus about it, and also, i just cannot get over how the thing that she seems to have issues with the most (and not just in this support) is that she is "a newly-minted peasant" and she wants her noble status back. which really says something abt the way she views the world, so, way to make me not care abt her entitled ass. anyway the fact that she gets mad at him for 'reminding her of it' is dumb as hell bc she herself does nothing else for half the game @ other people bc clearly no one else has had it worse than she has

anyway lmao and even if you think that ferdinand is implying that her house and status are permanently lost to her (which... maybe if you look for it? but imo it's a reach and he never meant his words to land that way) he deadass 1) apologises and says that he made a grave misstep, 2) says that he did not mean to be condescending and was being careless with his words, 3) acknowledges that he has "never endured pain of such staggering magnitude" and that he cannot imagine the pain constance has endured. and all this for a perceived slight. and she just goes, yeah you couldn't, and you shouldn't try, and i hate you for reminding me of it, and your arrogance is a discredit to house aegir GIRL???? what else should he have done, go down on his knees and beg for forgiveness bc you're jealous that he still has his house and status or whatever this is? yeah it makes me homicidal. honestly, if she'd just been like, hey, i know you mean well but you cannot imagine what it was like for me and your words are having the opposite effect of what you're trying to achieve, that would've worked miles better in my opinion. she even could've been a little mad about it for all i care, that's understandable. not... this.

the b support doesn't make up for it precisely because it is when she is outside and i don't think that anything she says then is truly... sincere? oh, it might be what she really thinks at that moment, but i think it would truly be sincere when she is inside, fully confident and in control of herself, and then get over her pride and bluster and admit that she overreacted.

tl;dr: i think ferdinand comes to her with good intentions and that she turns the meaning of his words completely upside down and overreacts, and that when he apologises profusely and she still does not let it go, that that is truly behaviour not befitting a noble.

[signetviolet]

🥩🎵🤍 Nightshroud

😻♈️ Barracudafin

🏉👔 Shadowdash

🐱☀️ Breezeburr

Nightshroud:

🥩 - what’s your character’s diet like? what are their favorite and least favorite foods?

She's not a big eater, likes the unique stuff the best. Her favorite is lizard, she's more inclined toward desert prey ;D

🎵- what kind of music would your character listen to? do you have any playlists for them?

She'd probably listen to hip hop and pop. She does have a playlist I need to update but I'll share it eventually ~ for context the first song in there was On The Loose - Niall Horan lmao

🤍- what does perfect happiness look like to your character?

I don't think she knows the answer to that question actually. She'd probably tell you it's what she has, having her friends and flirt buddies and others there whenever she wants to see them... but I wouldn't say she's super happy, even if she doesn't acknowledge that. Perfect happiness for her would probably be allowing herself to let someone actually get to know her, dropping some walls, and addressing some issues she avoids lol. Learning how to properly love someone would do wonders for her, too, and let someone really love her (in any form, not just romantic). Maybe something with her family and origins would be nice to figure out for her happiness, namely with Ivy

Barracudafin:

😻 - is your character insecure about their appearance or are they confident?

Confident babyyyy, he doesn't brag or think he's the hottest stuff by any means but he definitely isn't insecure about his appearance! He's too busy trying to seem cool anyway, he already looks cool

♈️ - what zodiac sign would your character be? (and, if you wanna get crazy, what would their birth chart be like?)

HHhhhMmM Sagittarius? Independent, emotionally intelligent, but adventurous, playful, and seeking out knowledge seems fitting!

Shadowdash:

🏉 - is your character athletic? do they train in their spare time or go for long walks?

She goes for runs pretty frequently! Loves to run ~ so yeah I'd say she's moderately athletic? Might spar on occasion too but that's not as fun

👔  - what would your character look like as a human? what sense of style would they have?

Very pale with long, straight dark hair. Slender and narrow, but strong legs. Probably wears whatever her mom buys her lmao, but her own style I'm not sure! Definitely sweaters and non-revealing clothing - probably likes turtlenecks and/or scarves and monotone colors

Breeze:

🐱 - how does your character feel about kits? do they want any? do they have any? are they a good parent?

Not on the forefront of her immediate desires for sure lmao, she could be convinced given a lot of time but the idea is weird to her. She can't picture herself as a mom. Definitely not interested in carrying kits. But she'd probably be the best parent out of all my CotS characters, actually - loving, a good listener, but objective when needed

☀️ - what are your character’s goals and what would they do to achieve them?

Right now? Making friends and working on changing her reputation/image, and upholding the one she's been building. Controlling her emotions and being a calmer, more healthy cat overall :) and making some cats happy too ~

[mellow-worlds]

older rants

I kind of want to feel the same way it felt that day my aunt and uncle wouldn't leave me alone and forced me to eat. I don't want that part, but before eating anything, I was probably as close to fainting as ever. I want to faint. Do I? Well, I want people to know I'm unwell. I suppose fainting would be very dramatic. But it would make my issue seem real. It honestly feels a little wring to be so whiny when in reality, nothing much has happened. I'm not being that whiny, but I'm pretending to be super anorexic or whatever, when I'm not. I just don't eat all that much and do intermittent fasting overkill but hahsjs ksjsjbshs I'm fine. I do still have some anorexic traits and thought patterns but that doesn't mean I am anorexic. I havent even been doing this for all that long, maybe 3 weeks?? And honestly, feeling weak is awful. But it'd be real? I just hope the pain doesn't come back. Anorexia is super painful. I hope it doesn't sneak behind my eyelids while I try to sleep and I hope it doesn't make me moan in pain.I'm so jealous of the people who are naturally skinny. I'm so jealous of K. I should eat healthily. Ofc I'm not losing weight if I only eat sugar. And I'll try to exercise at least a little. Hhh. I guess it's a start. And I eat so unhealthily, anything would be an improvement.

I think I have so many toxic traits because of my abysmal self esteem. For example my constant need for validation and attention and in the past my need of some sort of control and wanting to be seen as good and being marvelled at which never happened lmao. But then again, sometimes I do think I'm pretty smart? Evidence says otherwise but sometimes I do feel a little smart. And sometimes I think my face shape is pretty. So maybe my self esteem isn't as bad as I'm claiming it is? Maybe it's not to blame for me being a terrible person?Talking with P today was so nice. It was only short but very very nice. L was also there and we laughed a lot and gosh I like this man so much. I think I'll really just "keep trying". It's fine. We can be friends. Rn I'm not as willing anymore to kms because I talked to G at uni again and it was a lot of fun, but honestly...... yeah no. It's the right thing to do.

Anyway, P looks so good. :) I really do get obsessed too easily. Is it obsession though? I just write about him a lot, I don't necessarily think about him incessantly. He does look very good, especially with his glasses. Today in the lecture, our arms touched just a little bit. And he smells sooooo good. Even his tobacco smells nice somehow. But he also has this other scent that's just so nice. Idk I think I could gush about him for the rest of time. Maybe. I think he's awesome.I really, really enjoyed talking to him and L. And I hope to talk more with L in the future in general. And ofc I wish I never stopped talking to P. I wish he liked me. Istg I'm trying. I'm trying to be better and prettier. I wish I was good enough for like literally anything. I'm not really anything and not good enough yo be anything. I wish I was skinny so P could have half a reason to like me.I saw that there's scars on L's arm. They looked artificial, but also well healed and I couldn't really get a good look. I don't really know what to make of this. She doesn't seem like the type of person to hurt herself, she's too sweet. But I suppose I shouldn't try to deny it? And I guess that ultimately, it doesn't affect me. She seems really happy now, I don't think I have to be worried. Makes me wonder what people would think about my scars. Luckily, so far no one really seems to have noticed. Maybe this one girl from my old class. Or A and J. Definitely no one from uni :). Sucks enough that my sisters know. I also wonder how people will react when I kms. I suppose I also don't seem like the type of person to do so. Momentarily, I'm super happy. Yk, when I get to talk to friends. It turn to shit the minute I'm left to myself. And this morning, thinking about P, it really made me sad. He'll never like me. It's fine. Just sad. I shouldn't be sad about things i could expect. Still am. Oh well.

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: May 15th Part 1

It’s been longer than usual since our last answer session, so I’m answering a ton of questions today! It’s so big I split it into two parts. Thank you for the patience on getting a response to these.

Thanks for reaching out to us with your questions and kind words ^^!

Sorry if this has been asked before or isn't something you can say but is there anyway for Cove to confess in step 4? I wanted him to confess in step 3 and followed all the steps to make him do it but ended up texting my family instead of Cove at the end.

Yeah, Cove can confess in Step 4!

Hello! I heard that Cove is on the spectrum, albeit undiagnosed. As someone who is ND, this makes me UNBELIEVABLY happy. I literally was brought to tears! Thank you for that!

Out of curiosity, will Cove be diagnosed in Step 4? I have a strong feeling y’all won’t make it a HUGE deal/make it out to be negative, so I’m not worried about that whatsoever! I’m just curious just he’ll off handedly mention it? Or will it just not be touched upon at all (which is ok!)?

Either way is ok, I’m just curious!

I’m happy it made you happy! Admittedly, Cove simply being someone with autism that grew up not being diagnosed was something I included for myself. I didn’t really think anyone would notice or ask about it, aha. But players did start to have questions about his traits, so I started to talk about it outside of the game. It’s great to see it get such a positive response and now I do feel like having it be a non-topic may have been the wrong choice and bringing it up would’ve been good in terms of having positive representation for that. I don’t know if I’ll find a way to mention it in Step 4 now, with how far along the game is, but I am at least thinking about it when originally it wasn’t something I really even considered.

Hey!  Just wanted to say thank you for Our Life.  It's been a bright spot and a needed escape in what's otherwise been a crummy year.  I know you just did a Q&A post but I figured I'd ask anyway.  Was just curious about Step 4.  Will it be similar to the other Steps in that it consists of several different moments or will it just be one long sequence?

Step 4 is shorter than the prior Steps because it’s just an epilogue rather than a full arc of a story. It’ll consist of scenes that all happen in a set row one after the other. There won’t be a collection of Moments to choose from. But it’ll still be very sweet and fun.

¡hola!, you see, first I want to say that I love Our Life! (°◡°♡) and I have 2 important questions, would Cove cry watching titanic? and what is the saddest part according to him? (sorry for my english) 

Titanic would make him cry. He’d probably think the parts showing people who aren’t able to make it to the life boats/are choosing to stay and go down with the ship were the saddest.

Hello, I wanted to ask how much you earn with creating games? Like is it possible to make a living? Thank you >< <3 

How much I earn varies a lot month to month based on Steam sales, Patreon backers, and how many projects are in full production at the time. It’s also hard to say how much I make historically, since that also changes dramatically year by year. But I do earn enough to work on these games full time! I really appreciate all the support that allows me to do that.

Hey!! I was wondering for the 18+ Our Life moment, will there be an emphasis on safety/comfort for all involved? I feel like there  would be just going off of what the rest of the game is like, but I wanted to ask 

Yes! Cove is a nervous boy himself and also super cautious about doing anything the MC doesn’t like, so clear consent from both is absolutely needed for anything to happen. It’s a conversational sexy times Moment with stops/starts so the two can talk about how they’re feeling, rather than a heat of the moment just going for it kind of thing.

Hey!! I was wondering how long the wedding dlc would be? Will it be broken up into moments, or just one big event? 

It’s one long series of scenes all in a row rather than a collection of Moments to pick from. It’s the shortest and the least expensive of all the DLCs. It’s not super crucial to get and those who aren’t into big weddings can totally skip it without worry.

HELLO AMAZING DEVS 👋 i am hopelessly in love with the worst guy ever (jeremy king) and because of this i have a really stupid question: does he really hate people who are nice to him? TvT he’s too cute to be mean to istg it’s a miracle JB held the urge to be consistently nice to him bc just look at his FACE he is so cute! thank you for jeremy’s route it’s so lovely (and awful bc he’s scum 11/10) it gave me so much laughs LMAO i hope you guys have a good day!! 

Haha, thank you. He doesn’t hate them but he’s certainly not pleased with them. Jeremy is either uncomfortable with or annoyed by people being sweet on him, depending on how they approach it. He’s far more comfortable with jerkiness. It lets him relax and he can be himself without it being a problem, since he’s also a jerk. He feels a level of guilt being such a little punk to kind people, not enough to be a better person but still.

Has Cove dated or been interested in someone other than MC? 

Nope! He stays single over the course of the game if he’s not with the MC.

Is Step 4 more mature? Or it's gonna be set in similar atmosphere as Step 3? 

Step 4 is a similar atmosphere as Step 3. Though, it’s actually kind of less mature-topic heavy than Step 3 since it’s just a ‘hey, let’s check in on the gang to see what they’re up to’ style epilogue rather than a story arc with serious issues.

will there be new music for now and forever?? or will the old our life music be reused? 

It’s gonna be a brand new soundtrack. We’ll be opening up a job position for that soon.

Hi, is it okay if we use the assets in Our Life (like the sprites) for fanworks or fan content content, like edits? 

Sure! Just as long as you don’t use the assets made by those artists to make money.

Quick clarification on Step 3 choices: I hope I didn't come off rude (because I LOVE the game, really!!), I was just curious because the intro threw me off at times. For example, you could choose how you felt about Elizabeth in Step 2 (Dinner), but during the Step 3 intro, it says that you got closer to Liz and I didn't get a choice in it. 

For the example, it can’t be helped that you’re closer to Liz in Step 3 than you were in Step 2 because she’s inherently closer to the MC regardless of whether you liked her or not in Step 2. Her feelings are out of your control and the game isn’t so dramatic that you can push her affection away and not let her bond with you, haha. But ‘being closer’ can still be relative. For some people maybe that means you’re best buds now and for others it might just mean you’re not fighting all the time any more. If there’s other parts you want to mention, feel free to let us know.

Did the illustrator for Our Life change? 

We have many OL artists! The main artists who set the game’s style haven’t changed, but there’s multiple other artists who help finish assets.

So Miranda's type is confident and outgoing, huh? So...does that mean Terri's her type?? 👀 

Haha, sorry for the late reply on this. As you might’ve seen in our post yesterday- yeah that is her type.

Hey! First, I just want to say I've really enjoyed how detailed OL got with gender identity and sexuality and how respectful the topics were handled! It's been so wonderful to play since the experiences could be close to my own (I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up at parts). Second, I was wondering, would future games explore the topic of polyamory? I'd love to see more visual novels allow room for that and I saw you've explored the topic before.

Keep up the amazing work! ♡

Thank you! We do want to include polyamory in at least some of our future projects. Floret Bond, which might be what you’re referring to when mentioning how we’ve explored the topic before, is on hold unfortunately. So right now I’m not sure when something might release or what will be the first game of ours to come out with poly relationships (we might do something else before FB is done). We’ll have see how things ends up coming together.

Hey um. I feel like im not allowed to ask this on the private discord cuz people will yell at me but why is there so much focus on OL2 and not finishing OL1 stuff? I like the new people but i kind of want to finish cove's story and get derek and baxter stuff first. didn't people pay for it? 

I’m sorry, I don’t understand entirely what’s making that situation a concern. There’s a channel in the discord for critique where no one is allowed to comment back. People can voice things they’re worried about without any way for others to push back on it. And the two teams working on the OL games are different. We try to post pretty often about how we’re hiring brand new people to start on Our Life: Now & Forever. The OL1 team is all still working on OL1 like normal. There’s only more updates on the Patreon for OL2 because the expansions to the first game are mostly script-based at this point while OL2 is just starting to get all its art, which means there’s a lot more to show off as previews.

Also, there was a Kickstarter for the first Our Life, if that’s what you mean by people paying for it. But one of the stretch goals was to start Our Life 2 early, before fully completing Our Life 1, so that the new game could be out sooner. It wouldn’t make sense to stop doing OL2 work because that would be going against what backers were promised. Maybe you didn’t get the full story before and hopefully this clears it up!

Hello! I know it's up to every player but.. What is your recommendation for playing order? Did you ever had any timeline  events planned? 

I didn’t make the events with a planned timeline. The events got made simply as I had ideas for them and then I just kind of organized them from left to right on the screen in an order to space out more dramatic ones between more lighthearted ones. Any order the player wants to go with is totally valid!

Hi! It's Step 4 a paid dlc or update? And how long it's planned to be? Ps. Love the game! 

The Step 4 epilogue is free! The Cove Wedding DLC does cost money, though. Those are planned to be shorter than the usual Steps/DLCs.

Will we have options for what sort of job the MC might have by the time step 4 takes place? 

Yeah, you can. It’s not super exact or detailed, but there are options about it.

Is there a pandemic in Our Life world, or is it just in a better timeline with no pestilence? 

Our Life is pandemic-free! That didn’t exist when we began working on the project and it’s not something we’d like to feature in this story now that it has unfortunately come along, aha.

Hi, you said that you can play tic-tac-toe or hangman with Cove in Boating if you're sick/scared but I keep getting tic-tac-toe. Am I doing something wrong?

After being sick/scared you have to continue to be upset/unwell. If you calm down and decide to just chill you’ll end up playing tic-tac-toe.

Hi, GB Patch! Since Lee was initially commissioned to only appear in two Steps does this mean she won't appear in the Wedding DLC? I really like her character so it'll be a little weird to not have our cousin at our wedding, aha.

She is gonna be in Step 4/the wedding DLC after all! We’re still working with her creator to make sure it fits with what they wanted.

Is Sunset Bird based on a real place? Asking for a friend, not trying to move there or anything. 👀

It’s based on small beach towns in So-Cal, but not one specific town you could go see in real life, I’m afraid. It’d be nice if it was real, though.

—– —– —– —–

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

[miserabull]

A very long meta-analysis on P2 Bad Grief

So, I've gone over every dialogue with this guy a few times, and there is some stuff I've never seen addressed before. This is a mix of analyzing and theory that have been in my head for a while, and I’d love to know if it all also makes sense to other people

The thing about Classic and P2 Grief, is that they are very different characters playing the same role. Who is Bad Grief? A thief, a kingpin of the town's criminal underbelly, and a smuggler working for Big Vlad. In P1, he's also a dangerous murderer who kills people for fun, but denies it, even claims that he kicks people out of his gang for daring to take up knives. Dude lies a lot. In fact, he maintains the lie up until the last route, the Changeling's, and then tries that on her too but ends up confessing. This is my very wordy way of saying that while I kinda agree with people who are like "he's not a violent murderer like P1 Grief", P1 Grief also claimed to not be one up to the last minute. I don't think they are making him a sadistic killer this time, yeah, but I'm pretty sure he's a liar, and that there's a darker secret. The game implies Grief keeps his cards close to his chest and there is more to him several times, like here, when you talk with Lara's reflection

Lara's Reflection: You see, she puts her stock in deeds and not in words. So Stakh was always close to her; for he would hear his heart, and act. A trait you share, Burakh.

Haruspex: And the most taciturn of us all, Bad Grief.

Lara's Reflection: He speaks so much yet does so much more.

or when Artemy confronts him at Aspity's Hospice:

Bad Grief: You heard about Rubin? Know why the Kin wants him dead? He's walkin' around all downcast, doesn't sleep. Says not to ask. Says it's safer like that. What's he done, I wonder? I wanted to ask Sahba, but maybe you know?

Haruspex: You're lying. That's not what you wanted to ask. I can tell.

Bad Grief: If I did lie, I wouldn't tell you the truth now anyway, would I? So back off. 

I'm not gonna go over the blowing-the-train tracks quest now, though I have some thoughts on it/what I think might be his plan there. For now it suffices to say that that whole thing is very odd, that his plan doesn't make sense(yeah, blowing up the tracks is a bad idea for his business. kinda meaningless though if the alternative is being hanged). That is to say, I'm pretty sure there's a hidden agenda there that we're probably only finding out in Changeling route.

So, what I mean is, if you think P2 Grief is harmless, or just a clown, or became a gang leader by accident, then, well. I think honey, you got a big storm comin'

A few more notes on Grief's character, and what I think of what we got so far:

-I believe the reflection(I have some thoughts about the nature of those too, actually lmao) is telling the truth, mostly. He is terrified, he doesn't want Artemy to think badly of him, he never wanted violence. P2 Grief is younger, more sympathetic, and very obviously more scared than his P1 counterpart. I don't think he's out there killing for fun. Still, I think he has a lot of blood on his hands anyway.

-I think his loyalty to his friends is sincere. He's kind of really big on companionship and loyalty, which fits, as a gang member. I really think that he wants to belong, to a gang, to a friend group, somewhere. Artemy mentions he's "always been weird" a couple of times, or stuff like "I knew you'd end up like this." and that thing with Lara's reflection... I think Grief was always a little bit on the margins, even in his own friend group, and that's why he made a place for himself as the leader of the misfits, of the people who don't fit what the town considers to be good society. I gotta get on with this because this is gonna be long enough without me rambling about every single thought and feeling I have about this bastard though

-He doesn't give away Stakh's hideout accidentally because he's goofy and dumb. He mentions more or less where it is like, three times. I think it's obvious that he's practically asking Artemy to go check on him, but he doesn't want to be a snitch, so he plays the fool like "Oooh no I gave you a hint, I sure hope you don't go looking for him now, don't ask me because I’d never tell!!". He's playing the clown, he's not that stupid

Okay, now we're getting to the heart of things. In P1, along with the reveal that he's actually a violent murderer who played another violent murderer(Barley) into taking the fall for his crimes, we get something else: he's working under the patronage and protection of Vlad Olgimsky. In P2, they put a lot more emphasis on that, Grief will tell you about it in the first AND second conversation you have. There is even a certain imagery associated with it... actually, allow me a quick digression here, I wanna go over some motifs around Grief. 

Grief is pretty into clockwork and gears, going by his choice of decoration for his Lair. The town itself is compared to a machine several times, by himself, by Big Vlad, and regarding how the Kains view it. I risk to say that the way Grief sees it is rather different from the Kains, at least at first.  For him it seems to be more of a blunt factory machine, while to the Kains...it means something else, more complex. Grief seems to have glimpsed what that is inside the Cathedral, near the end. That reminds me of something else, in the Diurnal End when Grief talks about how he used to be a clocksmith before, and now he's going to be "another kind of clocksmith", I don't think he's necessarily being literal in either case. Curiously, there's also a Clocksmith inside the Cathedral in Marble Nest...but I'm going off topic again

Bad Grief: Not a keeper of stores, but stories. This town, this great machine, the gears don't turn on their own, no, not till they're slick with secrets. 

But so, webs and puppets. We return to Vlad Olgimsky(old), who uses the metaphor of his “web”. There's also an important character in Grief's journey that is strongly associated with (spider)webs and strings, and that's Aglaya. The most notable time Grief himself refers to it though, I think, it's in the Theatre of Death, if you let him die:

“My path was not called 'The Spider'. No, think wider. It was 'The Silkworm'! The end of a railroad, I pulled strings firm; unaware someone more cunning pulled mine upstairs.”

So about that. He’s referring to the PTB right? Probably, but not only. A theme in Patho is like...these layers of manipulation. I’m gonna pass the mic to P1 Clara and Saburov for a second:

Alexander Saburov: Begin with the Olgimskys. That is the most important sin for me, and the least for him, for it is not his fault. So did Olgimsky protect his illicit trade? Did he benefit from it?

Changeling: He didn't just benefit; he presided over it. Grief was his stooge.

Alexander Saburov: Now then, we shall skip the issue of the barber gang, since it's clear now who their true mastermind was... thanks to your courage, my brave girl.

Changeling: Don't skip it just yet. Barley was as much of a puppet in Grief's hands as Grief himself was for Olgimsky. Everyone has their toys.”

Grief is a puppet in Vlad’s hands both in P1 and P2, as there he says he’s Vlads “eyes and ears” in the warehouses. In the Cathedral, he seems to more or less realize the extent of it, and how it goes against what he always wanted in the first place: to not be trapped by anything. 

Bad Grief: I used to be a thief, yet they made me a storekeeper. And what a perfect fit I made! I got my Warehouse kingdom, and with it, the insides of the Town's great machine. I kept Vlad's riches while havin' all I could dream of. Can't imagine a sweeter life.

Funnily enough, by that time he’s trapped in someone else’s web: Aglaya’s. That seems to be his thing, he thought he was in control and playing everyone, knowing all the secrets and pulling strings. In the end, he’s a Silkworm in the web of bigger fish. I mean, spiders.

Bad Grief: ...Yet they, too, are controlled by someone. Insane to think what kind of teeth you need for that.

But okay. Back to the start, I believe Grief has a lot of blood in his hands even before shit breaks loose. The things he seems to be most afraid of are also… interesting. This ties to his connection to Big Vlad, and the Kin.

Grief’s role in the payroll seems to be as a stool pigeon. He knows where everyone goes, what people are talking about, what they don’t want to become public. And he responds to Big Vlad. What I think is, hm, you know, even after Victoria passed it seems like the Kin and the Bull Enterprise never really defied Olgimsky, or had a leader in any way. Grief, too, seems to enjoy a pretty comfortable life for a gang leader. As an important piece to Vlad, he really doesn’t have that much to fear, since the guy “owns everything” and is very explicit to Artemy about how he can destroy anyone who doesn’t obey him. And probably has done that before. My guess is, Grief kept the machine working right by tattling, so no leadership or enemy to Vlad’s Enterprise could rise. I’d speculate that Vlad possibly paid the favor not only financially, but by maintaining Grief in that position. Basically, I think with Grief’s info, Vlad could eliminate any potential problem. That would mean that maybe without even having to shed blood himself there might be a lot of deaths Grief is responsible for, not to speak of the maintenance of that horrible system in the town. I think the route they are going for here is that Grief is a class traitor.

Why do I say that? Well, first let’s look at Grief’s relationship with the Kin: he’s remarkably close to them for a townie. Geographically, obviously, and also in the sense of living on the margins of society, but he also shares many of their superstitions, and seems to hold Aspity’s opinion in high regard(even calls her Sahba). I find it easy to believe that many of his men are part of the community as well, due to not being welcome in the town. At that time we see him in the Hospice though, and talking with the Kin people there, it’s pretty clear that they are planning some sort of uprising. That it’s imminent. Grief seems to know it. Seems to be absolutely terrified of that too, and to feel betrayed by Vlad.

Bad Grief: It's too late for me, Cub. I've only got one road ahead of me now. Perhaps the outbreak is for the best... Plagues are like fires, people forget old scores. And all hell will break loose here soon.

Haruspex: Any dark prophecies to share? You're the criminal mastermind here, after all.

Bad Grief: No need to prophesize. People fear hunger. Even honest workers will turn their hatchets and hammers to crime. Burglin' houses, lootin' corpses, guttin' each other. They will. Oh, they will.

Haruspex: Not all of them, Grief. Not all.

Bad Grief: The turf's so dry, you don't even need a match-a glare would start a fire. And when the Kin bares its teeth, that's when we'll all dance! They're slow on the start, but oh so fast on the draw! The Master likes them mute and obedient, but apathy makes them that way, not stupidity. They're only obedient till the time comes. And here it comes.

And the people who lose their jobs? They won't be too fond of staying home. They'll find new hobbies, like looking for food, or venting their anger. ...And Fat Vlad shut his facilities down the day before yesterday, didn't he? Crafty... Didn't whisper so much as a single word to me. Do you think he knew?

At the same time he seems to think that he deserves this, and it’s inevitable. “We reap what we sow”, paraphrasing him. He talks a few times about how there’s a vile beast inside each person in the town, about how they are all wretched and everything, including him, which I think might just be a way of coping like “yeah, I sold out, but anyone would do the same if they were in my place”. 

So, yeah. What I think is that Grief was a guy that had no power and money, with absolutely no perspective, who due to his very particular skills had an opportunity to climb up and took it(all while still getting to pretend he’s an outlaw, free from the chains of society!). And it’s...very bad. And he knows it’s very bad, and he’s not evil or sadistic, but he’s immature, cowardly, and desperately wants to be in control of his own destiny, and to not be alone, and all that. He’s still Artemy’s childhood buddy, a loyal friend, and someone who never really wanted to cause that much damage. He also knows that what he did is unjustifiable, and that no matter what he truly feels, the damage is done and he’s guilty of horrible shit.

[everything-laito]

hey,,, i've seen this controversial opinion about laito not being sexually assaulted by cordelia. . .as the only opinion of laito that matters, what are your thoughts on it? i know you've made some posts in the past about cordelia and laito's relationship, but i think that now would be a good time to i guess, remake a post or clarify your thoughts so people could follow along?? i hope you enjoy your day.

*proceeds to crack all my knuckles at once*

This isn't really my own "response" cuz oh boy I'm sick of this petty ass drama lmao. To begin, SKLDJF I'm very flattered that you hold my opinion in that high of regard! I'd say there's others that have interesting interpretations of him too though :) but again, thank you :') glad you enjoy what I have to say!

I know I've already kinda responded to this via a screenshot here, just to hold you––and others reading this––over. As much as this is a great time to talk about a how-to-analysis, I’ll still put that as a separate post eventually, but I still will go over the philosophy of truth and writings etc. But anyways, to answer your initial questions, they’re under the cut!

And no, I’m not specifically calling anyone out here. These are just issues with the fandom that I find as a whole, along with some extremists. Thus, I’m not going to be putting tags for people to easily find this post because I don’t want to be wound up in this drama––once again this is just more commentary on the fandom as a whole, which hopefully you can apply to people you find!

I have a lot of my own thoughts about Cordelia and Laito’s relationship here (just in case if people need it):

1. Goes over potential grooming of Laito, facts about Cordelia and what happened before she did stuff to Laito, and when did she rape Laito for the first time?

2. Stuff about incest and how any relationship out of a parental/child relationship is abuse even if it’s not penetrative sex, more incest stuff, and just more thoughts on their relationship

3. Neuroplasticity, trauma, Karlheinz, and isolation

4. What does sexual trauma look like? And some stuff on Laito’s facade

5. More stuff on his facade, and projection on Yui

6. My thoughts on Laito’s dark fate vampire ending + Conclusion

7. Answering some inbox stuff relating to Cordelia

Sure I realize I might be missing some stuff but that’s just my whole analysis on them. I’ll probably make some follow up posts eventually but I’m not sure when that will be.

But as for this analysis/ramble, I’ll divide it up into sections:

The issue of hypocrisy in the Dialovers fandom:

I- oh dear god. Ok, just saying, there’s a lot of people being like “oh I hate Cordelia because she was abusive” then ??? yo??? Why do you like the boys?? They’re abusive and we see more of them than Cordelia??? I just personally hate hypocrisy. However, it’s okay to hate Cordelia! It’s okay to love Cordelia! It’s okay to hate the boys and it’s okay to love the boys too. But recognizing that you don’t like one or the other just because “they’re abusive” is a fallacy at that point.

The reason why so many people hate Karlheinz/Cordelia/Beatrix/Christa/Richter (or at least start off hating them) is because they are written as the villains of the story! Karl’s the main villain, and the rest (including the diaboys and Yui) are kinda just tragically wound up in his plans. You sympathize more with the boys because you spend more time with them and watch them grow! It’s a whole “us vs them” situation. Since those people were awful to the boys/the boys hate them, you’re like “yeah they’re bad!” But the issue with the whole “us vs them” situation (as in real life) is that people tend to excuse the actions done by the “us” party.

Same thing goes with extreme Karl/Cordelia/Richter fans (I’ve never seen a hardcore Beatrix/Christa fan but they’re probably out there). Some hate the diaboys but love the people in that party. They’ve also done some shitty stuff too! Bro, even Yui has done some terrible stuff! But that’s because she was a product of the events she was thrown into––and same with everyone else.

Karl has been the mastermind of all this, and for me I don’t have any sympathy for him, mainly because we’re not shown anything to sympathize with (except that he just is tired of living but idk why he wants to create a whole new race like lmao science nerd ig, I feel that king). A lot of people like him for his looks, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing––he’s a fictional character, objectify these characters however you want. This is more of a personal opinion of mine though. And maybe people do just sympathize with his outlook on life, that’s totally fine.

But since these characters are all attractive in their own regard, they all get the treatment of “pretty-boy” syndrome (Idek if that’s the exact name for it). Which is just the privilege pretty people get. But again, this is fictional, so it’s not necessarily important in this case. Bro I got into DL cuz of “ooga booga hot vampires” and stayed for the complex lore and characters (especially one complex character, wonder who that could be). I imagine most people got into DL because of that, or out of sheer curiosity.

Ok, I’m throwing out a lot of points but not really connecting them. Lemme give you an example: I don’t like Reiji. His character doesn’t vibe with me most of the time aside from the fact that he’s hilarious. But I just am very neutral/neutral-negative on his character. But I’m not like “oh cuz he’s mean/abusive” cuz LOL EVERYONES MEAN IN THIS GAME. Sure you can still say that, it’s just not a very strong claim. Hypocritical claims tend to be like that. Same with a lot of Yui haters. In this case, they’re more jealous that she’s there and not them, which I’ve explained a lot in this post about toxic femininity and Yui in the fandom etc. But it’s ok to just not like a character! It’s alright! I know someone who just doesn’t vibe with Subaru. She doesn’t know why, she just doesn’t vibe with him. There’s no need to defend it either. But the use of hypocrisy is my main issue, and I’ll get to that in the next section.

(There’s a really good post explaining this too but I cannot find it for the life of me. I think it was made by @/abottleofkarlheinz or @/the-madame21)

How opinions of fictional universes left unchecked can effect real life:

I’ve said this a little bit in that Dialover PSA post I’ve made about Yui that I linked a couple paragraphs ago. But the reasons why people say they hate Yui is concerning. If you don’t like Yui, that’s totally fine! Again you don’t need reasons to hate on a character or defend it. But if you do choose to defend those characters, make sure what you’re saying isn’t out of some other place in your heart. Let me explain.

In that “Yui PSA” post I made, I say how your attitudes in being critical of a fictional universe usually does reflect on who you are as a person, at least when you’re making certain claims. In that Yui post, I say that the hatred on Yui is a result of the “other girl” mentality. On top of that, it erases her experience as a survivor. Yes, this is a fictional character, but bringing that into real life can have some dire consequences if you don’t differentiate them. If you have the same attitude of Yui with other survivors if the “abuser is hot” then thaaaaaat’s so fucked up.

For example, there’s people who have crushes on real life serial killers! That- that’s absolutely disgusting! Those real people killed living people and effected so many lives and families. Dude I have fictional crushes on fictional serial killers, and that’s different, because it is a removed universe. It’s why I can still call myself a lesbian but still have crushes on fictional male characters, for a further example (and vice versa! I have straight friends who crush on fictional characters of their same gender! But that doesn’t make them any less straight. And no, I’m not erasing bi people here either, just clarifying in case if you needed that).

Not being able to differentiate your opinions of a fictional universe can get very toxic. Like I love Laito, but I’m not like “omg I wish he was real so he could do that stuff to me uwu” like no!!! UH!!! I wouldn’t want to date anyone like him in real life! That’s literal abuse! And if Laito was here in real life it’s not a controlled environment, he’d literally be able to do anything with you, etc. That’s what makes a fantasy, a fantasy. They’re controlled.

Also vice versa, some people get really triggered by Dialovers, specifically Laito’s route. A lot of non-consensual acts that he does have been experienced by people in real life in any extent, myself included. For me, it’s a personal escape from that, because it is an environment where I am prepared for those events and can control my exposure to it. For some, they are reminded of the reality they had to experience. Fictional universes are inspired by real life, no matter what way you look at it. Real life people are making it, after all.

I feel like I’m going in so many circles, but trust me, I’m getting to the point.

I- I can’t explain this enough but it is most definitely implied that Cordelia had raped and sexually abused Laito. If it was explicit, DL would be an 18+ game, but they cannot do that in Japan. I’m not going to like defend this point because so many people (myself included) have defended this point. It’s implications carry over into Laito’s character and why he’s like this. He’s a textbook sexual abuse survivor. I just,,,, cannot explain this enough. Same thing with overwriting the abuse of Yui. They get jealous of Yui. Sure I’d say a good chunk of people have ravishment fantasies here. At least the 18+ people in the fandom who are into that stuff. But oh my dear god, ravishment fantasies are super super dangerous to enact in real life. It’s possible to do them, but it would take years of building up to that point in kink. That’s a whole other discussion though and I’m not incredibly comfortable talking about it knowing that minors read my blog (I’ll also have to say here: no minors in kink--its alright to educate yourself but pleaaaaaaaaaase don’t enact on any of those activities until you are of age, and even so that still can be dangerous right as you turn 18).

But anyways, saying that Yui should enjoy this because she’s experienced the ravishment fantasy you’ve dreamed of? Oh fucking hell, if you leave that opinion and mentality unchecked and it goes into real life, that’s incredibly awful. Abuse apologists are absolutely terrible people, almost as much as the abusers themselves.

If you twist the narrative that Laito loves Cordelia or Yui loves the boys at the end of the first game, that’s still––ughhhhhhhh. Especially when it’s so obvious that Laito has so many mental issues with Cordelia. His whole monologue and breakdown at the end of Dark Fate definitely tells us that he has had such an issue with Cordelia. And MB+ Laito is still Laito. As for Yui, dude she literally goes through stockholm syndrome in the first game like it is so goddamn apparent idek how to explain this at this point.

Ok dear god lmao wow, uh I think that’s answering the first couple of questions?

The philosophy of truth:

“Truth” has been an incredibly debated topic in philosophy for years. Truth is more of a subjective item rather than objective. Sure you can have personal objective truths, but they may not be the same truths for others. For example, a tomato is red. However, that tomato is red to me, because I am not color blind. A red-green color blind person may see the tomato as being brown or more muted in color. That’s their truth. They can’t really imagine what red is (ok depending on severity of their color blindness), considering they have not experienced the color red in the same way people who don’t have color blindness do. God uh, here’s a whole ass essay about truth, I’m cherry picking some of the things in there that are relevant to this.

Basically what I’m saying is, truth is very subjective. However, there are philosophers arguing a more objective truth. But that’s a whole other discussion. Also, this isn’t to support any political opinion, but I can use that as an example. Let’s go for well... The death penalty. I’m in America, we have the death penalty in some states. Yes, this is a very controversial topic, and no I’m not arguing the ethics of it here. Just hear me out.

If you live in Europe for example (except in Belarus and Russia––ok when I looked it up they consider Russia in Europe and technically it is but also there’s the whole chunk that is not- lmao even the truth of geography can be subjective), you might be like “yeah what the fuck are Americans doing?” (a common sentiment that I also share lmao). But yeah, what the fuck are we doing? Why is the death penalty still in existence? Yes, there’s statistics that prove that it doesn’t deter crime, but even crime rates is caused by a lot of different things too. Even statistics aren’t always accurate, because of many different factors. They’re not objective either, although good statisticians try their best to get good results and not skew the data. (please try to see where your data is coming from and who it is sponsored by––it matters a TON)

I’d say the closest thing we have as an objective truth to argue the death penalty or not is money. Money, although the concept is subjective, is a very objective currency. It’s why artists hate “exposure” compared to “money” as sole currency. The death penalty is very expensive, and not even used that often.

So, although money is currency made by us, and is technically 75% linen and 25% cotton (in America at least) with some funky dudes n numbers printed on it, it doesn’t sound that special. However, it would be considered as a baseline of some type of “objective truth” in ~society~ because people are typically on the same page of what money’s worth. Even so, this baseline of truth is still subjective! If Bill Gates accidentally has a $20 bill fall out of his pocket, that’s nothing to him! But if someone who’s working very hard to make ends meet loses that same amount of money, it could deal a lot of financial damage to that person.

Ok, hopefully you guys kind of get my drift. There are a lot of theories of truth, I’m just explaining one (honestly I forget the name of this theory) because it is the closest to the types of truth we are dealing with. And in this case, it’s called “canon.”

What the fuck is analysis:

The concept of “canon” is the objective truth that we have when analyzing universes. They’re our bread and butter of interpretation and extrapolation. The art of analysis clings to this notion of an objective truth. It needs a baseline. I’m going off of Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle, because that type of analysis I have the most experience with.

This is called rhetorical analysis. Rhetoric is the use of words in a persuasive fashion, and the analysis part is a breakdown of how words are used in order to achieve persuasiveness. I don’t typically use a lot of explicit rhetorical analysis in my personal writings, but I guess a version of it. Which typically has to deal with intention and execution. A lot of analysis on language has to do with this. Language is incredibly subjective. Certain words carry individual meanings to people. I have gone over the difference between real and lexical definitions before, and I’ll do it again.

I’ll just copy and paste what I’ve said before here from this analysis:

To put it simply, lexical definitions are the definitions you find in the dictionary. This is an “official” and “agreed upon” definition. Real definitions (quite a misleading name in my opinion) is the definition that’s more kind of “felt” in a way and how you internally interpret the word in context (these can be through individuals or any niche group). What I mean by this is that when you say a word (for example) to convey a feeling, you usually won’t know the dictionary definition off the top of your head. You say that something’s “savage” for example when you want to describe something violent or gruesomely awesome (it depends if it’s in a slang context or not) but there’s many lexical definitions (and outdated lexical definitions) of the term. But the first definition that usually comes up is “adj (of an animal or force of nature) fierce, violent, and uncontrolled.”

But people typically don’t think of the lexical definition when they learn what a word means; they usually learn the context of it and apply it as such. And that’s what a “real” definition is. Laito has a differing definition of what affection and love is, and that’s his own meaning and what it means to him.

I’ll even add another example to that too. The word “cunt” in english refers to a vagina. That’s just it. It’s lexically synonymous with “vagina,” “pussy,” etc. However, “cunt” has a subjective meaning to it. This is where “real” definitions also come into play. Many people view the word as vulgar and dirty. And that’s cuz we live in a ~society~ lmao. Our use of language has shaped what this word means in a context outside of the dictionary. I’ll do you one more. The Japanese word マンコ (manko) is also vulgar slang that’s kind of like our word “cunt/pussy.” Sometimes I say “cunt” for jokes, but I don’t use it that often to begin with since it’s just a very strong word to most (albeit it’s not that strong of a word for me). However, マンコ is a strong word to many Japanese people, but if I hear it even though I’ve been learning Japanese, it doesn’t have that same effect as hearing “cunt” for me is (which still, idc if I really hear it depending on context) because I haven’t been shaped in a culture that uses Japanese.

Even so, tone, intention, and context is HUGE in this. If someone called me a “useless fucking cunt” when they’re angry at me, I’d be close to crying. If someone told that to me as a joke, I’d be like “lol yeah you right, bitchass” and if someone said that in a consensual sexual context, it would certainly tickle my masochistic heart.

DSLKFJ also sorry if you don’t like hearing that word, I just had to utilize a strong example for this. But anyways, now let’s change the lens to Dialovers.

No, it never explicitly says that Cordelia rapes Laito. It doesn’t. However, there’s this WACKY thing called being able to infer, reading between the lines, and identifying implications. Those are kind of all the same things. However, indirect exposition is used a lot in effective creative writing. The utilization of this type of exposition is more preferred when writing a story, because direct exposition is kind of referred to as “info-dumping” when used excessively. Forgive my jargon: this is just showing vs telling as we’re taught in every writing class. I’m personally very bad at it, which is why I stick to writing these, and stick to reading creative fiction. (NOT SAYING IF YOU’RE NOT GOOD AT THIS TO NOT CONTINUE TO PRACTICE CREATIVE FICTION, I JUST DONT HAVE THE CURRENT MOTIVATION TO GET GOOD AT IT)

Dialovers uses a LOOOOOT of showing. And even so, its “showing” ability is very minimal considering the Japanese language can be vague on its own, it’s medium (visual novel) does not show a lot of things explicitly most of the time (and even when it is shown it doesn’t convey a lot). There’s several CGs of Laito and Yui where it doesn’t show the amount of pain or the dire situation Yui’s in, compared to what she’s saying she’s going through.

When I made my whole breakdown on Laito’s HDB route from Yui’s perspective, I got several comments about how they didn’t realize how bad his route really was. That’s either because people might not have experience with verbal abuse themselves, can’t exactly see Yui’s body language except her head (and even so, her expressions are limited), or don’t know a lot of gaslighting/verbal abuse techniques/have done research into it. Honestly verbal abuse is kind of hard to realize, so I’m not calling anyone dumb here. Despite me knowing a lot of the signs, I didn’t know I went through it––and even so I’ve denied it. And that’s what is so effective about this game though! Especially Laito’s route! Because you’re also sucked in with limited knowledge because you’re seeing this through Yui’s perspective, and on top of that it’s isolating. You can only make so many choices, and I feel like Dialovers is perfect as a visual novel. You get caught up with a lot of shock value things that Laito says, which serves as a perfect distraction for your first time through. But anyways, I’m getting off track.

For example, many people found his Maniac 07 chapter to be very confusing. I broke that one down here as well, and even so I was confused at first (also I was like 14/15, dear god). It tells you SO little, but you know that Laito’s incredibly upset at Richter for some reason, and even so, Yui comments on it a little too. Laito is shown to still hate Richter in DF, but he talks about it a tad more.

Here’s a further example from my writings in that first part of the Cordelia/Laito analysis series but I have bolded the terms I use to convey this rhetoric:

There hasn’t been any flashbacks that specifically show us the first time that happened. However, I believe that there was a flashback in HDB that shows one of the first times. Here’s a scene from Laito’s Dark Epilogue:

Cordelia: ー Laito…Laito… Laito: …Hm? Is something the matter? Cordelia: I have a favor to ask. It just isn’t enough. You can do it, right Laito? Laito: You really are something…So that’s why you came to me again? Cordelia: Fufufu…That’s right, Laito. Come on, quickly… Laito: …Guess it can’t be helped. I’ll love you plenty. Cordelia: Aah…My cute Laito~ I love you. I really do. Laito: I can do it…right? Cordelia: Of course, Laito. Now, quickly…

First of all, ew. Second of all, Laito’s diction implies that this was maybe the second or third time this occurred. He asks a question, and ends it with “again.” We know by this that it is not the first time, but the question also means that Laito might not have expected to occur again. His tone also implies some surprise to it, at least in my ears. His other question, “I can do it, right?” screams hesitance to me. If this scene took place down the line, or after many times he did this with Cordelia, I don’t believe he’d be some level of surprised or hesitance.

That’s what rhetorical analysis is. You take the contextual meaning of the words, the tone they use, and extrapolate what they imply. On top of this, we know that the term “love” here is sexual, implying that they did something sexual. We are not given the details of this, but considering we know that Laito uses “love” before he rapes Yui in the game, we can infer that’s what happened (or something similar) to himself with Cordelia, considering he projects on Yui quite a bit.

I was going to go over what is good/bad analysis, but I think I’ve implied it anyways here. Utilizing separate information from different sources of canon in order to make sense of something is good analysis. That’s our objective truth: canon. I’m not saying I’m the best at analysis, but I am fairly confident in it. It’s how I’m able to attempt to answer some of your “how would Laito react” questions without it being specifically hinted in the game. You cannot cherry pick specific sentences and go off of that alone for analysis. It’s context. It’s reading tone. It’s knowing the characters attitudes towards things, how they speak, etc. There’s a lot going into analysis in general. I know I didn’t elaborate on Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle right now, but that’s for another date I suppose.

Oh dear god I hope I didn’t lose you guys, I know this is a lot of information, but if you have any questions/comments/clarifications, as always, please let me know!

Hope you enjoyed! -Corn

[seijorhi]

asks :))

what i have learned today is that y’all wanna get fucked by some monsters...

What does nostos mean? What language is it in? 🤔 also I of course loved it, mind blown as usual queen

it’s ancient greek! it means homecoming, the idea of a triumphant return home for the hero after a long journey. i found it through looking at the root of nostalgia. in this fic of course it’s kind of a grim tongue in cheek play on it. the reader’s coming back to the mountains, but she’s running away after a bad breakup, and the welcome she gets is... shall we say less than ideal haha

Just read nostos-

First of all as a person who reads monster shit- hell ya. Mhm. That’s some good shit right there. That was DELICIOUS horror. It actually had me a bit nervous and afraid to read what was gonna happen next 😳

Secondly- omg I wanna know what happened next (at the end) 👀 know what I mean??? 😼

ANYWAY AS ALWAYS you never disappoint and your writing is fantastic (if/when you write horror yandere stuff again I’ll be there- frothing at the mouth. A+++++ work ILY💖)

you want me to write the monster porn, just say it bby ghfjdkshgfjkd but ty

Omfg that fic was so good!

Did the readers mom know about monster kuroo?? Or was she just worried because of the previous murder? And did Kuroo somehow manipulate reader into coming back to the forest or was it just a big coincidence? (👁👄👁 there's no such thing as a coincidence)

Looking forward to your future work <3

ty nonnie!! i didn’t have the right space for it, but after kohsuke was ripped apart and eaten kuroo stayed by the reader’s side until late in the night, only disappearing when he heard the reader’s parents/search party approaching. they found her lying in pools of blood (and scattered half eaten body parts), shaking and unresponsive – they knew no animal could’ve done something like that. so they knew something lurked in those woods, but considering the reader had repressed the memories, her mom couldn’t just come out and say it <33

You are an AMAZING horror writer!!!

The uneasiness I got from the conversations with the mom is just *chefs kiss*

A+++++

ahh thank you!! horror is such a hard genre to write because i’m never sure if the suspense and everything’s gonna hit right haha

I read Nostos before going to sleep last night and at the time I was like “sure hope this doesn’t give me nightmares” and thankfully it didn’t lol. But I think I’m willing to take that chance again because it’s so GOOD and I think I’m just going to have to relive it – @ohno-otome

fhdjgbfhjkdfn i’m glad it didn’t give you nightmares bby!! but i also appreciate that haha, i’m an absolute wimp with scary movies and stuff but i just can’t stop watching them haha

I just wanna say that I was listening to "You're a psychotic villain playlist" on youtube while reading Kuroo's oneshot and I can't explain the emotions I felt, but I'd let Kuroo do things to me asdfghjkl – @itishebihime-samaforyou

ooh nice! sometimes the right playlist makes things doubly as fun haha

OH MY GOD!?!?! Nostos was soooo GOOD?!?!? Like it was so creepy (but in a good way), and scary and suspenseful!! And the ending!?!? Omggg honestly one my fav fics from you!! You did my mans Kuroo justice 🥺💖💕

TYYYYYYY i was genuinely concerned i was gonna scare everybody off haha

Ah! The new fic! Chiefs kiss! Magnificent! Bravo!🧚‍♀️✨🧞‍♀️🦖🦭🌹💫

tysm nonnie!!! <33

i’m pretty sure i’m in the same/similar timezone as you? and i do be staying up late to be one of the first to read your fics (i usually stay up late anyways). so imagine my surprise when i see you post in the afternoon. in conclusion, whether you post to align with your european and american readers’ timezone, my gmt+10 arse will still be one of the first to read your fics. also nostos sjdufigyyjf i have to admit, i recently just found out about monster fucking and nostos scratched the itch😫 i feel bad for kohsuke though

bby i always post at like 2-4 in the morning please get some sleep!! the fics will be there in the morning lmao. i kinda low key forget about my aussie/gmt+10 followers because i think there’s like... 3 of you haha

Honestly if i could give u a dollar everytime i got off to your fics, you'd probably be rich by now

lmao the idea that people find my fics hot enough to get off to still blows my mind lol

your newest kuroo fic was so SO good!! its totally okay if you dont want to answer this so you can keep things ambiguous but is monster kuroo planning on killing the reader after he's...done with them

thank you, bby!! but no, monster kuroo isn’t gonna eat her – he’s had plenty of chances to do that if that’s what he wanted, but he has other plans for the poor reader

RHI, I WANT TO STATE FOR THE RECORD THAT I AM OKAY WITH MORE MONSTER FUCKING IN THE FUTURE. i also want to say im not a monster fucker, but that just feels like a lie at this point. okay, now that that's off my chest, i love it. the mystery, the connections of kuroo to a cat. kuroo's probably gonna go and batter around his prey once they're under his grip like my cat does. hopefully the reader will come out somewhat unscathed, if they are ever allowed to leave 😌 love this, love how different it is, the way kuroo just tries to weasel in. very monster and yandere vibes, very you. have i said i love this yet?? id willingly let him get me drunk on his cock, maybe never leave the peace of the mountains again

‘i want to say that i’m not a monster fucker’ bby the denial will get you nowhere haha. just lean in and embrace it hgfjkdlkfgjnkdl ahh but thank you this is such a sweet ask ILY!!!

Omg omg the monster thing kuroo was in ur latest fic is so familiar to me abdhdmfnjfjf. I remember being told abt a monster with VERY SIMILAR characteristics to it (aka the not being able to go inside a house unless invited and using fire to lure ppl out) AND JFC IT TERRIFIED ME. Esp how when i told ppl around me and they didnt recognize what it was, but it was somehow known to the kid that told me abt it.

(Some ppl thought it was familiar but still didnt know what it was)

Do u know what im talking abt? Hopefully u do

-🥚

GHFJDK so the monster in this is kind of based off the nekomata spirit in japanese folklore - they can appear like people, torment victims by reanimating the corpses of their loved ones, they’ve been blamed for forest fires, so it was just fun to use that as a basis and then go buck wild haha. anyway thanks for the ask bby!

Rest In Peace Kohsuke, you would’ve loved Haikyuu season 5😔✊– @joyvstheworld

poor kohsuke deserved better, i’m just mean to the oc’s i throw into fics haha

Monsterfucking ❤❤❤❤❤❤ a little annoyed you're making me simp for yan Kuroo though (a vibe tho tbh). You're so extremely talented!!!! &

This is probably a stupid question, but how did Kageyama react when he couldn't find y/n? How is life with yan Suga? I imagine probably awful BUT yknow maybe the stockholm syndrome set in fast lmao. Sorry, I'm going on a binge reading your stuff. - @oracleofdin

i will not apologise for making you simp for kuroo he deserves it the man’s a snacc. and as far as your second question, suga’s a very caring, very smothering kinda yandere, so i guess in some ways it’s better than what the reader had with kageyama but... pick your poison haha

That was so good. I’m so shook rn I can’t comprehend anything but how good that was and how good a writer you are

TYSM NONNIE!!! <33

Ok, so, I just read Final Girl and the lil' ticket addition to it and just---

Well, ok I've been playing Dead by Daylight a lot lately? And I'm just picturing Tetsu as the newest killer "The Trickster" and I'm positively RANDY.

Your writing is ALREADY thirst inducing and just as satisfying, but this has SENT ME- If you're not familiar, please...

https://youtu.be/iowkiPobYYQ

Understand my thirst. (I'd also like to clarify, I use a different skin for him that gives him black hair and he looks like Kuroo with an undercut.)

~ @the-casual-hedonist 🌸

i love how feral y’all got for final girl kuroo. like bo and akaashi had his fans, but i put a spiked bat in kuroo’s hands and y’all lost your goddamn minds and i love to see it. fghdjkvhfjdkls thanks for the ask bby

idk why but I love preggo reader as long as I don't pretend it's me 😢✋ I hate babies n pregnancy anywhere else other than horny haikyuu fics

i think that’s a valid thing for a lot of fans. the idea of breeding is sexy, the actual getting pregnant and having a kid thing... not so much. but especially with non-con scenario’s, it’s more about the aspect on control than the actual desire to have kids. but yeah, i feel you

Sorry to bother but uh was just wondering in fracture did Osamu kill his wife or was it actually an “unfortunate event” ? Love your work btw!!

he most certainly did :))

LMFAO RHI i totally get not liking cheating/infidelity fics (towards reader) bc IT HIRTS ME SO BAD I CANNOT HANDLE THOSE.

id be reading fics those fics like: tf you mean my yandere aimt gonna baby me and only want me??🤨🤨🤨⁉️‼️

EXACTLY! listen i get that it’s a fucked up fantasy, but in my fucked up fantasy you damn well better have the decency to be loyal smh

Finders keepers is the most beautiful thing I've read by you: I read it twice like I normally do and here's what I figured out the second time (that's when I analyze it and find the little tidbits of things that are much darker than they appear (: )

To start I LOVE THE DETAILS OF THEM NEVER TEACHING READER ANYTHING- at first I assumed "oh they might see her as a little sister or child or something" but realized thAT WAS THE ISSUE!! they infantilize her and isolate her from everyone but her group. the small details like that are what make the story amazing 😎💅

ahh thank you so much, nonnie!! pls this is making me soft 🥺

I just wanted to stop by and say that I love your writing and I hope you're doing well!!! Drink plenty of water and keep up the amazing work :) but seriously you're one of the best fanfic writers I've seen on tumblr! I read your "Imitation" piece about kuroo and i keep coming back to it, it's so good! I did want to ask if you think it'd be possible for the reader to ever escape with the baby (or at least attempt to). Or if Kenma would "help" at all just to put an end to kuroo's antics lmao

kenma would in no way help the reader, and tbh by that point if kuroo did get her pregnant, she’d be far too emotionally dependant on him to actually even want to leave, but thanks for the ask!

You know who I think would be a perfect Yandere in the JJK world? Choso.

🚨Spoilers Ahead🚨

After being locked in a glass jar for however long he was, and all that happened with his brothers, I feel like he would absolutely never let his darling out of his sight. He would be possessive. Obsessive. And Oh So delusional. Sure he’d be your anything - he truly is a softy - but to what end?🤤

choso would make an excellent yandere, ngl 😌

what au/troupe of your fav character(s) that you have written do you like the most?

(rlly hope this makes sense🙏)

i am always a slut for soulmate au’s :))

[amnxsia]

right now, right here, with me (3)

pairing: eren x reader

inspired by my life :)

content: fluff & crack (just for this chapter)

tw: none

word count: 658

a/n: send me feedback!! & im so sorry for taking long with this chapter i really wanted it to be nice since next chapter is eren and readers first interaction.

chapter summary: “when he first laid eyes on you his first thought “who is she? she’s gorgeous”.

taglist: @callmepromise​, @namischild, @erens-piss-cleaner​ (please let me know if you want to be in the taglist)

                                                    eren’s pov

while I was eating and arguing talking with jean about my nonexistent anger issues just because I got upset that Armin took his hands off the table. “I don't know man, he went overboard on Armin just because he took his hands off the table.” exhaling and putting my hand on my head in frustration “Jean i already went over this i told him sorry a thousand times and that I didn't mean it”. Jean being the cocky bastard person he is “even though you said sorry to Armin, i still think that you went overboard just because he did that, the point still stands you have anger issues”. smirking I crossed my legs ad sat up straight “and why would I care about what a horse face has to say or think?” it became dead quiet and jean stared daggers at Eren. getting up with a smirk Jean walked away and then turned right back around now with a half-filled soda bottle yeeting throwing  it right at Eren. 

Eren now drenched in soda looks at himself to see where the soda landed, top of shirt is drenched while his hair is also drenched in soda, Eren sighs and starts walking towards Jean, Eren jumps on top of him and starts to try and definitely doesn't succeed punch Jean but ends just rolling around on the dirty cafeteria. Everyone just stares to busy with eating, texting or reading to tell or to break the two up, but thank god for Mikasa who comes up and breaks the two up and smacks both of them on the head “get up, clean yourselves, I’m introducing you both to one of my friends”. looking confused ���who are they?” “her name is y/n, can you both not act like idiots in front of her?” getting up “sure why not, what is she like?” Jean getting a bunch of napkins smirking “woah isn’t someone interested?” blushing “Jean shut up she’s seems interesting unlike you I have to stare at your face every time and everyday”. “you wanna go again Jaeger? 🥶😈” “whatever Jaeger”. “okay now that you two have stopped being stupid, please go get cleaned and meet back up here with the others”.

                               back to when eren was staring you

“who is she? she’s gorgeous”. I thought trying to keep my blushing under control. Knowing how Jean is he won’t every let me live this down and he’ll always say something about me around her. Playing with the rings on my fingers thinking about the most logical and the least weirdest way to approach you, I feel a tap on my shoulder turning around “Hey Eren” “Hey Armin, what’s up?” “I saw you staring at y/n, what’s up with that?” “Oh so you noticed, there’s nothing going on between us I just think she’s cool & pretty and I wanna get to know her better, I wonder if she thought about me that way when she first saw me.” “Wow Eren I’ve never seen you this down bad way for a girl before, maybe you should ask her to study with you in the library tomorrow if you guys have any classes together get to know each other better and then when that time come ask her out on a ~romantic date~. 

“That makes a lot of sense Armin thank you, what are you going to do about Annie I see the way you guys look at each other?” “HUH WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? HE’S LOWKEY SAYING ALL OF THIS WHILE BLUSHING HE’S SO CUTE ANYWAYS “LMAO NEVERMIND YOU GUYS ARE CUTE TOGETHER” “WHATEVER EREN” Armin getting up and leaving Eren with his thoughts. Looking at you while your phone scrolling mindlessly Eren thinks to himself “Yeah like Armin said take things nice and slow there’s no need to rush and mess up things, we have all the time in the world we have now, right here, with me.

[gamerwoo]

[The Pack Next Door] Mingi: Friends With Benefits (Part Five)

(photo edit courtesy of @songmingki​​)

Characters: Mingi x female reader

Genre/warnings: werewolf au, friends to lovers au, fluff, a little bit of smut (pretty vanilla other than the biting/marking lmao), a tad angsty, a little crack too

Word count: 2,534

Summary: Growing up, you and Mingi were inseparable. You’d been friends your entire life and, as far as you knew, things were never any different. But what you don’t know is that Mingi imprinted on you when he was 15 and first turned into a werewolf, and he had been trying to keep it a secret ever since. And with the awful timing of mating season, he’s hoping he can somehow keep the facade up.

Tags: @sakura-uji​​​​ @xummie​​​​ @peachy-hoon​​​​ @psshwa​​​​ @uglyratlmao​​​​ @uwu-yifan​​ @kesmonster​ 

Unable to tag: @reading1011

Previous | Next | Friends With Benefits Masterlist

You somehow spent the entire week at Mingi’s house, and the entire time, he acted...weird. It wasn’t even just the fact that the two of you basically spent the entire time in his room while he fucked your brains out, he just acted really off even in between that. He didn’t look at you, he kept the blinds closed, and he never made eye contact with you or anything during sex. You were either turned around or he kept his head down or his mouth busy. It wasn’t like Mingi always just blatantly stared at you -- that you knew of -- but you realized he kinda seemed to be avoiding looking you in the eye.

That worried you. Had you ruined your friendship? Could he not look you in the eyes anymore? Did something change? Would the two of you be okay? He always acted fine afterwards, so what was it?

It was about the sixth day that you were there. Mingi was initiating sex less often -- you kept joking that he was so excited to finally get laid and he just blushed and told you to shut up -- but he was still getting you worked up whenever he felt like it. You really didn’t know why he kept getting boners all the time, but when you seriously asked, he just kind of brushed over it by pulling you onto his face and eating you out like he was a starved man. That effectively ended the conversation.

You did see his friends, obviously. Whenever you did leave Mingi’s room -- admittedly, it wasn’t often because he was usually either fucking you or you were sleeping after being fucked so much -- the others were quick to ask how you were doing. They didn’t seem weirded out by the whole situation because you were sure there was no way they didn’t know what was happening. You expected them to make jokes or wonder what was going on, but they just asked how you were doing and how Mingi was doing and things like that.

There was one point when you were in the kitchen with Seonghwa though while you were eating an apple and he was making himself breakfast that you asked, “Hwa, what’s going on with Mingi?”

He turned his head to look at you as you leaned back against the counter beside him, “What do you mean?”

“Is it TMI to tell you about like...what we’re doing?” you wondered.

He chuckled, “At this point, no.”

“Okay, well like, he’s...almost constantly hard. I’m not a dude so I don’t know if that’s normal, but it seems kinda weird.”

Seonghwa only smirked to himself as he continued to cook his food on the stove, “Maybe he just has a really big crush on you so he can’t control himself.”

“So has that happened to you, then?”

“No. I’m a man who can control himself, not a child.”

You figured you weren’t getting anywhere with that, so you’d just have to accept that as the answer. For now.

You didn’t start to get answers until the night of the morning of the seventh day when you woke up to Mingi’s hard cock pressed against your ass, and his lips making even more marks on your neck. Thing heated up from there until he was on top of you and thrusting into you at a pace so fast that you were definitely moaning loud enough to wake up everyone in the house.

His head was hung as he toyed with your clit, holding himself above you with his other arm. He felt you cumming and he completely forgot what he was supposed to be doing because you felt so good and his werewolf instincts were completely taking over and he somehow forgot he was supposed to be suppressing them. He looked up at you to see your face being taken over with absolute bliss, with bright crimson eyes that you didn’t even properly register because your eyes were about to roll back as your back arched off the bed. And with Mingi’s orgasm hitting and your neck exposed to him the way it was, he dipped his head down and let his fangs sink into your neck.

But it didn’t hurt. Something about it, just made the shock of your orgasm ten times greater, and you were screaming out his name that at this point, even the neighbors probably heard you. And it seemed to take you even longer to recover from this orgasm.

Mingi slowly removed his fangs, swiping his tongue over the mark he made. But it wasn’t until he was cleaning you up and saw the mark he’d made where your shoulder met your neck that what he had done finally hit him. And he was going to be in big trouble. You didn’t know what he was, and you didn’t know you were his mate. And yet, he marked you as his anyway. He didn’t know what came over him or why he neglected to do what he was supposed to do. All he knew was that Hongjoong was going to be pissed.

Meanwhile, you were laying there as red eyes filled your thoughts. You couldn’t have imagined that, right? Mingi had blood red eyes, right? But why? How? That made no sense to you no matter how hard you tried to make sense of it.

You managed to sit yourself up after Mingi finished cleaning you up, getting up from the bed and yawning that you were going to use the bathroom. Mingi watched you leave with wide eyes, knowing you were going to see the marks his fangs had left. But what was he supposed to do, tell you that you couldn’t use the bathroom? He’d fucked up really bad and he wasn’t sure what to do to fix it.

You left the bedroom and walked down the hall toward the bathroom, almost running into Yeosang as he left the bathroom.

He offered you a warm smile, “Good morni...”

His sentence trailed off as his nose scrunched up. He usually smelled a lot of sex and a lot of Mingi on you, but this time was different. He strongly smelled Mingi; like, more than usual. And that’s when his brown eyes zeroed in on the mark on your neck that was almost completely hidden by the bit of hair that fell over your shoulder.

“Are you good?” you chuckled.

Yeosang quickly shook his head, “Yeah, yeah, fine. Just, it’s early and school and yeah. Uh...I’ll see you later, _____.”

And then he turned and started going down the stairs.

“Well, that was weird,” you whispered to yourself as you entered the bathroom.

You did the usual morning routine of using the bathroom and brushing your teeth, but you noticed something that Yeosang also had noticed. You brushed the hair away to see two small marks on your neck that looked like something had bit you, but it had already healed. And then you recalled the sharpness you felt in that area that only seemed to make you cum harder.

First the red eyes, and now this? What the hell was going on? You didn’t even have any ideas. So you decided to leave the bathroom and go back to Mingi’s room to talk to him.

“Hey Mingi?” you asked when you pushed the cracked door open to enter.

He figured you were about to ask him about biting you. He wasn’t stupid, he knew you probably saw it. He’d have to come clean to you now, and that was terrifying to him.

But someone far more scary had called his name from downstairs.

“Mingi!” Hongjoong’s voice traveled up the stairs and to the bedroom, making Mingi wince. “Get down here!”

“What’s that about?” you mumbled as Mingi hung his head and went to walk past you out the door.

“I’ll explain later,” he sighed.

After hearing what Yeosang had told him, Hongjoong was furious. He knew Mingi didn’t tell you because the only time he could’ve was in the middle of fucking you, and that was definitely a bad time to do that. So that meant he marked you without you knowing about it, and that was a big issue. Mingi basically claimed you without your permission, and that was something that didn’t sit well with Hongjoong at all.

The entire pack was gathered in the kitchen while they made breakfast, did last minute homework that they left out, and got ready to leave for the day. But they stayed there now just to see Mingi get scolded by their alpha. 

The wolf in question made his way into the kitchen, already preparing for whatever Hongjoong was about to throw at him.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?!” Hongjoon shouted.

“I didn’t mean to!” Mingi insisted with a whine.

“You basically did the equivalent of stealing something you didn’t pay for,” San told him.

Seonghwa rolled his eyes, “That’s a dumb analogy.”

“Mingi, you claimed someone that you didn’t even check with first. You never even asked if it was okay. Hell, you didn’t even tell her what you are!” Hongjoong ranted.

Seonghwa looked at San, pointing at Hongjoong, “That’s better.”

“I. Didn’t. Mean. To,” Mingi stated. “It just happened.”

“If you couldn’t control yourself, you shouldn’t have set up this weird friends with benefits deal with her,” Hongjoong told him, glaring up at the younger boy. “No matter how you spin it, it’s your fault. You didn’t tell her. You didn’t resist your urges. This is on you, Mingi.”

Mingi sighed, hanging his head again, “Yeah, I know...”

“And now, you’re going to go upstairs and tell her.”

Mingi’s head snapped up, eyes wide with fear, “But what if she hates me?”

“You did it to yourself,” Jongho shrugged.

Mingi took a deep breath before he let it out and retreated to go back upstairs. He knew that Hongjoong wasn’t done with him by any means -- especially if Mingi ended up upsetting you in any way -- but the important thing now was for Mingi to come clean to you. So he walked into the bedroom where you were sitting up with your back against the headboard and your phone in hand, scrolling like nothing had happened.

He cautiously walked over to the free side of the bed that had become ‘his side’ over the last week. He sat on the blankets and stared straight across the room at the wall, wondering how to go about this.

“Mingi?” you asked.

He only replied in a hum. He could feel your eyes on him, and he knew he didn’t have brown contacts in like the others did. His eyes were gold, and he wasn’t sure if you could see them, but it didn’t matter now.

“Why were your eyes red?”

His automatic reply was to turn his head to face you and blurt out, “You saw that?”

“Yeah,” you nodded before gripping his chin and squinting against the dim light to look into his eyes now, “and now they’re...kinda gold? I thought you had brown eyes.”

He chuckled a little, “You’re not worried about that mark on your neck?”

“I’m getting to that, alright?”

“Okay, so..._____,” he grabbed your wrist and pulled your hand away from his face, but he kept your wrist gently in his grasp. “You probably will laugh at me and say I’m crazy, but...I’m a werewolf.”

You blinked at him a few times, not saying anything. But then you finally said, “Are you doing drugs?”

“What? _____, no,” he sighed, shaking his head as he squeezed his eyes closed. He paused and tried to gather his thoughts, unsure how to go about explaining this. “Listen, I can prove it.”

“Okay,” you shrugged with a small, amused smirk, “I’d love to see that.”

-

The pack watched as Mingi led you through the kitchen to the back door. They all silently lifted their heads, watching as the two of you walked straight through like nothing had happened earlier that morning. You were dressed but Mingi was just in some boxers with some extra clothes bunched up in his fist. You were laughing about something, and Mingi had a light smile on his face.

After the door had closed, Yeosang asked, “What the fuck are they doing?”

Yunho closed the fridge door, looking around at his brothers, “We’re going to spy on them, right?”

Wooyoung scoffed, “Oh, absolutely.”

The pack hurried over to the windows to look through the curtains at the two of you. Mingi stood out in the middle of the fenced off yard, turning to face you as he tossed his clothes off to the side. You crossed your arms over your chest, quirking an eyebrow at him, your back to the window the wolves were looking out of.

“Alright, Mingi,” you gestured for him to do whatever it was he planned on doing, “prove this furry nonsense to me.”

He groaned, “For the last time, I’m not a--”

“I know, I know, just do it.”

Maybe it was the fact you were watching expectantly, or maybe it was because you seemed to be taking this surprisingly well, but Mingi was kind of nervous to shift in front of you. It was like getting stage fright. It took him a moment, taking a deep breath and letting it out as he shook out his hands.

And then he did it.

Before your eyes, Mingi turned from the boy you’d grown up with your whole life, to a giant wolf with the same golden eyes he had that morning. You slowly took one step back as you took in the dark brown wolf that would’ve probably looked black had he not been in the sun -- he looked like he had almost a reddish tint to his fur.

“Should we--”

“Wait a sec,” Hongjoong put a hand on Seonghwa’s chest, keeping his eyes and ears on your reaction.

“Whoa...” you breathed.

Instead of walking any closer to you, Mingi laid himself in the grass with a huff, looking up at you with his yellow eyes. He seemed to be waiting to see what you were going to do first.

What were you going to do first? You didn’t even know how to react. You didn’t necessarily feel afraid, it was just...a lot to take in.

“So...where do your clothes go?” you decided to ask.

Mingi let out some sort of chuckle -- at least that’s what you assumed it to be -- as you started to walk toward him. Hongjoong and the rest of the pack watched this from the window, and they all visibly got less tense as they watched you crouch down and ask if you could pet him.

“He got so lucky,” Wooyoung nodded. “He’s lucky _____’s so chill.”

“Probably not luck,” Hongjoong admitted. “She’s known him her whole life. I don’t think she could be afraid of him even if she tried.”

And as he watched you literally crawl onto Mingi’s back like you were about to ride him like a horse, and then giggle loudly how he’s a giant dog, Hongjoong was absolutely sure of his statement.

[mevekagvain]

Chapter 93 - Fancy chair, love it.

- So my theory is that Raizel just never learnt how to write in Lukedonian either.

- Tbh the janitor is suspicious. Like how hard was he googling M-21?

Chapter 94 - SUYIIIIIIIIIIII

- Ah geez the first of the racistly depicted characters.

Chapter 96 - Suyi getting mad at the kids for complaining about Hansu is so funny like when she first appears you think she's perhaps a stuck up celebrity or a pushover but it turns out she's just a really sweet friend.

- Suyi being stunned by Rai's looks but not falling for him (same with Yuna) is one of the things I always liked about Noblesse. Like sure in the first meeting they get blushy but I'll just jot that down to the inherent beauty of nobles since I can't relate to it at all.

Chapter 97 - Frankenstein's house always being stocked with so much food because the kids just started coming over daily is hilarious. Even funnier since Frankenstein obviously thinks it's overkill but is the one stocking up anyway.

Chapter 98 - Regis and Seira 🥺 Seira's og outfit was the best one she had like it only goes downhill from here folks.

Chapter 99 - It would have been so funny if Frankenstein went "they must be cosplayers" instead of realising the two were nobles.

- Regis taking all the initiative shows how it's his roadtrip coming of age journey which is pretty clever. Also Seira's just like that but still.

- Shinwoo stop exercising in class bro. Do not flex on the rest of us this is so rude 😭😭😭

- Regis confidently saying he's a noble in class to humans he doesn't plan on mind controlling... Baby boy why are you so dumb? How is this hiding your identity??? And Seira just lets him,,, good for her.

Chapter 100 - Ah yes their elegance boner at seeing Raizel... nobles are so fucking weird.

- M-21 thinking he won't get any information because of his time at the Union and thus being surprised at how open Frankenstein is is actually really sweet. Like yeah I still think Frankenstein is an unethical and questionable person but he is kind to most humans (werewolves and nobles can go fuck themselves I guess lmao).

Chapter 101 - The second hand embarrassment I felt when M-21 called the two noblesse... how do I even consume content?

- Yeah 100% most union members don't know the difference between nobles and vampires. I bet they'd classify jiangshi as either mutants or werewolves. Or to be more specific, that would be the classification given to low leveled members. On one hand I think it's dumb that the Union gives members twisted information because how would they even use it? But on the other hand it makes sense since it prevents said members from seeking nobles for help. After all, if they believe even the 'noblesse' are vampires that drink blood, than obviously they won't see them as possible escape routes.

- 'Noblesse only applies to one person'. Yeah because Rai's brother is fucking dead. And so is whoever was his predecessor/parent.

Chapter 102 - Those bullies got backup so fucking fast like Shinwoo literally just asked Regis and Seira if they were okay then boom! They're back.

Chapter 103- Regis going ??? essentially when Shinwoo tells him to take care of Seira is so funny like yes ofc he's confused she's literally a clan leader + noble females aren't physically weaker + noble women work out just like the men.

- Rude, Regis. You can't just ask someone why they're mingling among humans. You're doing that too. Who doesn't mingle among humans smh. Even cats and pigeons mingle with us.

Chapter 105 - Love how everyone else in the household is so sick of ramyeon like Raizel stop please you're being selfish.

Chapter 106 - Frankenstein is the definition of the 'right in front of my salad?' meme at Regis and M-21 arguing at the dinner table. Then there's Seira and Raizel just waiting for the noodles to get soggy so he can't even eat. Wish Urokai could see him getting tortured like this.

- The soldier rejecting backup because he knows the enemy is the Union hurts my heart. Wanting to prevent casualties... iwi

Chapter 107 - Shark how tf do you not know about South Korea? That's one of the asian countries people actually know about. I guess maybe it's because this is from around a decade back? K-pop is more recent and made the country more visible I guess.

- Ah yes Takeo. Forever known as "the first time I read Noblesse and he appeared I thought he was Marie's sister since they had the same hairstyle". Like I thought that before even learning about the Aris Taivra fiasco. My power 😔

- Oh don't worry M-21, Frankenstein stopped experimenting on people 830 years ago. You know, as one does.

Chapter 108 - Shark has like no general knowledge. Geography? History? Tf is that I guess.

- Tao saying they're the worst possible people for the job is so funny like yeah he's right. "All we do is massacre people in warzones why are we in Seoul?"

- The rest of the squad complain or are confused about the peace meanwhile Takeo is vibing. He's the normal guy TM of the group.

- Ah yes noble lore. If you take canon at face value than the fact that nobles were around when humans first emerged and there being about 2-3 clan leaders before the current generation means you can estimate their lifespan. Ofc it differs wildly depending on how you interpret the 'first humans' part. I'll assume there were 3 generations before the current generation (mvp lord being the third generation) and won't be adding the current generation since a 0.5-2k years is kinda meaningless. I'll also be assuming that mvp lord entered eternal sleep at around the same age as his predecessors and that he would have died soon from old age anyway (since canonically they do have limited lifespans). If we assume it's just the first human ancestors (7 million years ago) than the average pureblood lifespan is 2.33 million years. If we assume it's when homo sapiens started to emerge (300k years ago) than it's 100k years. If it's about modern humans (130k years ago) than it's 43.3k years. Regardless I'll ignore it since my hcs are that nobles are effectively immortal unless killed and that the 2-3 clan leaders is a misconception due to a mix of Gechutel just straight up lying, because there are clans that have had fewer clan leaders, because I have nobles settling on Lukedonia only 30k years ago, and because Gechutel is factoring in his own age of 10.2k so it's more like 'There have been 2-3 Ru clan leaders before the Ru clan leader 10k years ago since after we settled in Lukedonia'. There's also the possibility that nobles didn't have lords or clan leaders until a few thousand years ago in canon but the species has existed for much longer.

- 'Nobles are individualistic... They don't despise humans but don't love them either.' Humans w/ ants. Now if the ants were capable of speaking with us it'd be exactly the same situation.

Chapter 109 - "What were they researching here?" Since when does the Union research anything aside from human modifications Kranz? Why do you even need to ask? More seriously this means that the Union doesn't actually only do human experimentation and weapons lmao. The other shit just isn't relevant I guess. It's a shame, I'd have loved to see how a lab focused on like, fixing up polluted waters, would be fit into the story.

- The fact that Tao beat Jake up is never mentioned enough. Also confirms that Jake was lying out of his ass about being the strongest.

- Marie being the weakest assassination squad member is interesting like I know why Crombel doesn't need bodyguards as the reader but you'd think the Union would be suspicious of him not having a stronger bodyguard. Also I still can't believe the Union doesn't bother learning who the members are aside from the ones Crombel tells them about like. Bro???

- Shark calling Takeo uptight is hilarious because the guy literally just shot the falling ceiling light which is the opposite of uptight. Either he was preventing them from getting hurt/being caught or he wanted that to happen considering the fact that he shot it and it shattered. And then he just goes back to leaning against the wall. Takeo please 🤣

Chapter 110 - And Shinwoo's still staying over at Ikhans place. Wonder when he's gonna move back. I really love their dynamic like yeah I beg my sister to get me food all the time too. Also love the apron and skeleton hoodie.

- Shinwoo went through the five stages of grief pretty quick huh? Like yeah it's his own misunderstanding that Ikhan is dating someone but still. Homophobia is annoying as always though.

Chapter 111 - Suyi paying for their food is so sweet of her and also I relate so much like yeah mood that's me and no I don't want to be paid back.

- Takeo,,, the fact that he just hands his wallet over because he doesn't like violence and doesn't want to beat them up,,, my heart. Otoh... how did he even get cornered in an dark shady alleyway lmao.

- Aris managing to make herself look like a teenager as Taivra is interesting since Takeo says he wants her to be able to go to school like Yuna and Shinwoo when he's treating them. I guess she looks younger without makeup.

- Takeo just straight up pointing his gun at Shark in public because he mentioned Taivra... anger issues much? I understand why but taking your gun out is an overreaction.

[iamnmbr3]

thorki or frostmaster

Ooh! Both good ships! Hm. Let’s go with thorki. 

1) What made you ship it?

It’s a bit of a funny story actually. So of course I knew about thorki looooong before I ended up in Loki fandom, just bc it’s such a massive ship. Then recently I somehow randomly came across an excellent post-Ragnarok Loki fic by Lise (not a thorki fic) and then fell into the Loki fandom and started devouring fics and meta at a prodigious rate. I had ALL the feels but I wasn’t especially interested in thorki as a ship. Honestly, I was kind of surprised it was so popular. I mean, I wasn’t against it because I think people should be able to ship whatever they want; I’ve read all the GoT books - I just want my fictional characters to be interesting, not models for real life. However, I just couldn’t understand why SO many people shipped it. Everything gets shipped so I could understand the ship existing, but I wouldn’t have expected it to be so mainstream and I wondered where that came from. I just kinda figured it was because they are the 2 main characters of all the movies and have a lot of interactions and a complex relationship and development and so that was why.

Then, since I was now having all the Loki and Thor feels I decided to watch the Thor movies. I only vaguely remembered seeing Thor 2011 once, when it originally came out. And I wasn’t AT ALL involved in fandom then. Anyway I watched it, got to the scene where Loki straight up starts crying and shaking because Thor has a girlfriend and I was like. “oh. ok. I get why a lot of people started shipping this.” 

Thor 2011 legit kind of reads like Loki has repressed forbidden feelings for Thor, especially because the movie has such the feel of a Shakespearean tragedy with some Greek Tragedy undertones and that sort of ‘forbidden repressed desire’ theme is common in those kinds of works. 

I mean when Loki and Thor are fighting in the end Loki starts airing all these long-term, deep simmering hurts and resentments. But then the thing that seems to enrage him the most (and honestly it feels very much like a jealous rage) is the idea that Thor might care about Jane and that she might have been able to change him because of how deeply he loves her. Given that everything else they are talking about are issues that have been brewing for centuries, Loki’s reaction to Thor maybe having a girlfriend seems really disproportionate. The way he spits “that women” and the the way that revelation is what truly seems to make him just lose control of himself in a way we never really see again is certainly interesting. 

Now you could certainly just read it as Loki feeling rejected and unloved in a general sense and being hurt that Thor would listen to a mortal that he’s known a few days, and not to him. But you could also definitely read it as Loki having a repressed romantic love for Thor and that adding to the complex swirl of issues between them in a way that is super interesting to explore and creates a lot of room for complex characterization and relationship dynamics. So yeah. That’s what got me interested in the ship. (And that was before I knew about the “give us a kiss” scene lmao). 

2) What are your favorite things about the ship?

Just the complexity of their relationship, and how their identities are so intertwined, and how versatile the ship is - there are so many AUs you can explore with interesting divergence points in canon.

3) Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don’t think so? Maybe once I’ve been in the fandom longer lol.