#bc it makes me fear a romance plot

[mintypsii]

more reijiko cuz if i have to keep this island floating on my own then SO BE IT

[fruityumbrella]

your fav zosan hcs?

hi omg im so sorry i took so long to answer this 😔

honestly confused trying to answer this bc my hcs are so fixed and also i think common w others that they are canon to me 😭

taller sanji!!

theyre both so touch starved they dont know how to handle it. the way they Do handle it is...badly

they remind each other of home!! for zoro its someone who pushes him to be better and is not nice about it at all, giving him smth to strive for on a daily basis (different to his long term plan for mihawk); for sanji ofc the rough and tumble nature of their argumentative dynamic reminds him of the baratie and lets him show his affection in the manner that is most comfortable and familiar to him

are these hcs? i fear im losing the plot...

both of them being entirely inexperienced in romance and sex, and acting like theyre certified experts. sanji quickly discovering that half the things that he's daydreamed wistfully about for years and wanted so bad kind of suck? cuddling is. uncomfortable. too hot and sticky and confining and his arm is dead and his hair is messed up and zoro snores and ugh this is not romantic at all!! but the first time he tries to sleep alone after ages of being with zoro he cant fall asleep for hours

they dont like each other in spite of their weird gross traits but because of them. its not like sanji Tolerates or tries to Fix zoros annoying habits of being unwashed and rude and whatever, unfortunately he finds that shit very hot 😭 and zoro knows sanji is not always as clean and put together as he likes to project, and his favourite thing is how sanji shows him smth truer in ways he rarely does with others. they never have to try and be anything but exactly what they are with each other

cosigning @piratehunted on the modern au car choices: zoro w a beat up jeep that everyone suspects he lived in for an indeterminate period of time, and sanji with an old but impeccably well preserved and well loved classic car courtesy of zeff. yes it takes an insane amount of upkeep and he's considering stockpiling replacement parts bc they are probably 6 months away from being taken entirely out of production, but its zeffs baby and sanji will die before he lets her fall into disrepair

perhaps there should be some kind of mechanic au for this...i loathe making zoro do anything that isnt kendo but i could make an exception for this..

oh speaking of! my "college au" hc is actually never a college au and more just an "early 20s" au bc sanji would never go to college BE SERIOUS the guy dropped out of school at 8 yrs old. hes not even in culinary school hes working shitty line cook jobs and using leftover produce to try and create his own menu for when he has his own spot. zoro is an instructor/trainer to support his dream (i like to think its still kendo or another traditional martial art but go w god. as long as its NEVER american football)

they should have a cat. my fave hc is a lil tuxedo cat named onigiri (named in honour of a cat i met at a cat cafe) but ive seen a fic where theyve got a cat named miso which is SO cute. and the bestie @bobalegsanji has proposed tiramisu as well which is adorable and true

umm ok sorry this got kind of long i think i could shrimply yap about the beautiful fucked up dynamic they have in my mind foreverrrr

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 6/3/2025

happy pride! i think i am bringing the lesbian romance novel project to a close. four and a half months is a pretty good run for a project! i have discovered two new authors i really like and will take a big group shot of all the books + more of a breakdown when i get home this morning. have some phil tummy to tide you over

listening

rec from the bestie, Fame is a Gun by Addison Rae. sad girl aughts pop we are so back. this went on four different character playlists

-

reading

read a bunch of books that aren’t lesbian romances to remind myself i still like reading and absolutely tore through a BUNCH of stuff. first, a trio of unrelated novellas:

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar, one of the authors of This Is How You Lose The Time War which finally came off my holds list. fairytale for linguistics majors with lovely, lively prose, do not know if it will hit you as hard if you are not an eldest sister.

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite, which i read despite it being a cozy mystery bc i love Olivia Waite. i think she really nails the tone and style of a locked manor house mystery except on a generation ship, and it’s a really touching little thing about aging and memory. charming! wish i liked cozy mysteries but i would rather read about horrible bisexual men repeatedly being slammed into dumpsters

The City in Glass by Nghi Vo, who has the same kind of brain problem i do when it comes to loving locations and buildings. a demon rebuilds a human city she watched over for centuries after angels destroy it. in the middle of this i found myself wondering how the fuck it was going to wrap up, bc all i wanted to do was read seven hundred pages of the demon and angel torturing each other. i want to keep rolling around in descriptions of the city like a cat in freshly laundered sheets. the ending of this irritated me wildly but at the same time i don’t fucking know how else it would have ended.

Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed was billed as “for fans of Andor!” and takes place in the weeks after the Republic falls and the Senate becomes the Imperial Senate. mostly about Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Saw Gurrera, who are all in Andor it’s true. however to be like Andor a book must be competently written and interesting. it’s a genuine pity that nearly all Star Wars novels are fucking dogshit. the most important thing (the deep rift between Saw and the Rebellion) happens tangentially and accidentally in the course of the book. do better!!! dream of a more daring narrative and more interesting plot!!!! don’t fucking deus ex “actually this species has a vestigial organ at the base of their throat that holds up to half an hour of air, usually its removed in childhood but i needed this character to survive:)” AAAAAAAAA

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland, despite the title and the cover, was a prince/bodyguard m/m romance i had a great deal of fun with. i think the delicate little twink of a prince ends up killing more people than his giant beefy bodyguard? a book where the inciting incident is coin counterfeiting but also palace intrigue but also learning about what you want and asking for it and accepting it in good grace. this makes it seem very modern kink positive infographic comic but it never annoyed me: the two leads are so highly aware of emotions and moods as a matter of survival that when they have A Breakthrough it’s just them slotting puzzle pieces together in a new way rather than therapyspeak. much like her last book if this went 10-15% in a different direction it would annoy the shit out of me.

very concerned with the nuts and bolts business of running an empire in the way a book about the economics of physical currency and a bodyguard class trained up to be ministers and bureaucrats when they retire from body guarding can be. je sawyer kind of book if he was really into the Ottoman Empire and not medieval Germany.

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watching

thank u to @itsybitsydragon and @teenytinychihuahua for influencing me into watching The Apothecary Diaries. maomao is such a weird little freak i adore her. i have watched the first seven or eight episodes or so, and what a fucking premise. she carefully engineered her outward level of competence too hard and got noticed and accidentally becomes really integral to solving mysteries and crimes inside the palace!!! oh no!!!

genuinely heartbroken they won’t let her finish the poisoned soup in this ep bc she wants to know what the effects and symptoms are. regularly tests stuff on herself Sherlock-Holmes style. she got a beautiful girl makeover for this ep in which we learn she paints freckles on every day in order to look uglier so people leave her alone. girl of all time. put the manga on my holds list, so excited to watch the rest of the season and read it!!!

-

playing

YAYYYYY

within the first nine pulls even so i have a shot at getting skirk in the next patch :)

genshin in is kind of a messy place due to the (continuing) English voice actor strikes. the English voice of the little fairy guide character, who has literally millions of lines, just quit. no idea what hoyoverse is going to do about that! i have not been paying attention to the fandom bc nobody understands how strikes and unions work, and it unfortunately feels like no one is interested in understanding :(

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making

threw this shirt back in the mending basket bc a new hole developed under one armpit. i will not let this shirt die. i thrifted the dress back in early college, set pockets way too low (and pockets in general don’t work with the cut+fabric of this dress), and have been carting it around for almost a decade without wearing it bc i could not be bothered to take the pockets out. no longer! back in rotation!

[angeldeviloshi]

(More AsaYoru and Kiga thoughts compiled from bsky.)

Yoru fully taking in Asa's face and body as her own, acknowledging Asa's youth and beauty as hers and having Denji acknowledge it too. When she used to be skeptical of it.

Back to thinking about Yoru's beauty line again and the fact that horsemen aren't interested in faces both human or devil.

Her face belongs to a human and she also called Denji's face "cute". Especially with Yoru not being shown to have the devil's trademark smell in telling others apart.

More on Yoru's "Am I beautiful" line, I think it's interesting how she's more or less baked into Asa's role as the love interest despite her resistance and distance to it prior to the alley.

And the times she kisses Denji, it's a mark of ownership through the weaponisation of Asa's body. The handjob being carried about by Asa's remaining hand after Yoshida cut off her arm too.

The primary method of them enacting War's power. On a phallic object, the swords made by AsaYoru reflecting Asa's trauma and her past connections. Her teacher and the class prez, the school (stationery), her mother (uniform), Yuko (leg), her apartment and now Denji (the scalpel).

It echoes the context of the aquarium date in turning Denji into a sword by having him fall for Asa due to the belief that Denji wasn't able to turn bc Asa didn't think she had his heart.

Yoru has no understanding of romance or attraction herself and can only reference from Asa and how it relates to possession. Her asking Yoshida to be her boyfriend, her transforming the teacher into the sword, the subject who got Asa killed as a "love rival" of the class prez, because she's "the good girl" who didn't live selfishly enough, making her a target.

Yoru frames her assault on Denji as something she does for Asa and at the same time it places the blame on her because these are Asa's feelings, her attraction. "The other me."

And this is interesting because Yoru sees this not as something she does for herself yet it's also not what Asa wants, she's the one in control yet she believes she's at the mercy of Asa's mind.

The mind she threatened to overtake if Asa stepped out of line. But then she's subject to Asa's retaliation too.

She needed Asa to "blend in" as a human and it resulted in her mind blending with Asa's, the War Devil contorted into the lovestruck teenage girl as the lovestruck teenage girl mutates into a devil.

And true enough, Denji did become a weapon in Pochita's revival. The soap and sushi sword shown in the following chapters highlight the weaponisation of sex too (prostitution, the flesh of the (star)fish)

Denji doesn't know who or what she is other than "Asa". How can she make what they want, what she wants. What is hers. While subject to this romance plot when this is what she's reduced to.

How can she still assert herself as War? In this skin she wears.

(Yoru thoughts during ch.182-ish)

Thinking about Yoru's advancements on Denji being a weaponisation of Asa's desire to connect with him and it's rather apt actually given the nature of AsaYoru's ability as the War Devil and its context with guilt and sentiment. What you Lose for conquest, which is only exemplified by Yoru's absorption of Gun, which she laments as a sacrifice for a greater cause, for the fear of War to be known to the world once more.

The usage of Asa's feelings, hunger and guilt, her body as a tool, as a weapon enacting the violence of forced maturity onto Asa and Denji.

Thinking about Kiga's machinations leading up to the alley and it's interesting comparing Yoru's kiss there compared to the one she enacted in Denji's apartment following the aquarium date, where the border between her and Asa were more distinct, her approach actually framed in a genuinely spooky way.

The kiss as a doomed inevitability for Asa and Denji to turn him into a weapon with Asa's "love".

While the kiss at the alley spells as doomed inevitability for YORU to dissolve into the very romance she was trying to weaponise through Asa's mind and body.

That both instances involve circumstances surrounding hunger and in consuming the flesh of fish.

Yoru clocks Asa's attraction to Denji after he shares the starfish with her. The sharing leading to her biting into the dried fish Denji made despite her aversion to eating fish because it looks too much like a dead body to her.

This framed by Kiga's starvation of her w Eternity. Forcing her into literal hunger through the stasis of her loneliness, her alienation when she messed up in front of Haruka. (His presence there and involvement with the Church adds to this)

Kiga telling her that hunger will push her to abandon her morality. That Asa can't eat fish because she sees the dead in them, but she's able to bite into the fish processed by Denji into food.

Their bodies and meaning altered. Her dream of the chicken carcass alley and inheritance of Yuko's philosophy. To do right by her heart, that this is reinforced to her by Kiga telling her how she can save Denji.

Her appearing in the exact moment Asa and Yoru were swept up in the intensity of Asa's feelings for Chainsaw Man, intensity amplified by Kiga's employment of Falling through Justice in light of Nayuta's erasure of this venue of ownership towards Denji.

It's not enough that Asa had a mild attraction towards Denji because it wasn't enough for her to see him as her own. That Yoru had to take matters into her own hands to mark Denji as hers.

That this is intercepted by Nayuta's ownership of Denji as well as Denji's placement of her above AsaYoru for his love. So Kiga adds fuel to the fire, Nayuta's separation of Asa and Denji just another (unwitting) step in the recipe for the right dish.

Instead of having Asa soak in her hunger through stasis, Falling will draw it out until she is weighed by hunger that Chainsaw Man fulfills. Hollowed out and stuffed with his crapburger as they enter Justice's stomach.

This process targeting Yoru as well in her powerlessness and indignation as her desperation is caught in Asa's affection and determination.

That this is followed by the demolition of Denji's home and family when Denji's hunger doesn't resonate enough w Asa through Barem at the Church due to family. The removal of Nayuta to starve Denji once more.

This cumulating into the containment center where Asa learns that Denji is Chainsaw Man, her ownership of him informed to her by one of Kiga's pawns.

The remains of Denji's home and the loss of Nayuta now the bridge for Asa and Denji's hunger, just as Yoru is starved along with them when what she hungers for is so close, only to trip into the depths she underestimated in humans, sealed in the effigy known as Asa at Kiga's beck and call.

The more AsaYoru's identity converges, the more I think about how it contrasts Miri's dilemma. Given that the horror for Yoru is her dissolving into Asa and the horror for Asa is her melding with Yoru through it.

Miri giving himself a degree of separation w his devilhood but still defines himself through it out of pride as his identity. He is a human who answers to no one but he is also Swordman answering the call of "god".

The horror of this conjoined duality filtered through a romanticised lens of noble purpose as existence.

While AsaYoru is burdened by the need for purpose and existence.

Thinking bout Kiga's summoning of devils via the use of idols/effigies.

Her running the Chainsaw Man CHURCH with the hybrids who are themselves effigies of the devils they embody as weapons.

The iconisation of the CSM as a figure to be worshipped who is then burned with fire as offering and ritual.

Also check out my Horsemen mega analysis thread and Kiga's war on Death through Denji's grief meta analysis lmao.

[autistichalsin]

Gameplay changes I'd make to BG3 if I was in charge:

(Under a read more bc this is an insanely long list)

Ability to make party changes without going back to camp; I.E. "hey Lae'zel, go back to camp and tell Karlach to come here."

Able to see companion approval at all times even if they're not in the party

Able to make checks with any character, not just Tav. You used to be able to do this to an extent by having other characters do conversations, but when they made it so Tav was prioritized back in patch 6, they changed it so that even if you click with another companion, it switches to Tav. Ideally they would fix it so that if the conversation triggers automatically, it prioritizes Tav, and if you deliberately start a conversation with another companion, it recognizes that you wanted that.

Better item sorting. "Most recent" actually sorts by when you acquired the item.

Ability to text search for an item if you know its name.

Ability to mark an item as a favorite so you don't accidentally sell it/drop it/send it back to camp.

Quest items don't count against your weight total.

Quest items that are no longer relevant are no longer marked as quest items.

Either allow for character leveling past 12 (Even if class leveling is limited to 12) or adjust the difficulty across the board so you scale more evenly. Act 1 becomes a bit easier, act 2 remains about the same, act 3 becomes a lot harder. I should not hit the level cap early in act 3.

Alternatively, at least give a reward in lieu of XP when you hit the level cap. Items, gold, a points system that lets you use excess XP to buy additional spell slots/wilshape charges/rage charges/bardic inspiration, something.

Story mode; battles are disabled, allowing you to solely explore and focus on the story elements.

Dark Urge as a companion.

Ability to change who your unfortunate murder victim is, outside of Alfira and Quill. Maybe it's Zevlor, or Rolan, or Kagha.

More recruitable evil companions. Kagha, Wulbren, and Ethel are a good start.

Halsin recruitable in act 1 or at least no later than the start of act 2.

More reactivity for story developments after act 1, particularly in act 3 when it drops to little comments here or there.

More reactivity for Dark Urge story elements in particular, especially everything related to the Orin fight.

Ability to fast travel to quest-related markers.

Ability to hook up your companions. Let me smooch Halsin but hook up Karlach and Wyll, or let me romance Wyll while hooking up Halsin and Astarion!

Change point and click lines for characters to reflect story developments (resist Durge should sound less unhinged, Lae'zel shouldn't reference Vlaakith after turning away from her, etc)

Let your love interest answer questions about you during the love dryad test. You can select the right answers beforehand, and then they'll answer right or wrong depending on a bit of approval and a bit of luck/dice rolling. Halsin, of course, will automatically know you fear krakens.

Fighting Gortash at the coronation is actually an option that doesn't break the bridges and doesn't disable fast travel into Wyrm's Rock once he's defeated.

Give the gnomes the ability to fix Karlach's engine, or at least work on a prototype.

Option to speed up or entirely skip enemy turns, coming back to you and giving you a brief recap of who was hit and for how much damage/what status effects. This would make the courtyard, in particular, less of a slog. I should not be able to finish my turn, take a pee break, and come back to the enemies still attacking.

Ability to make it more clear what your relationship with Halsin is in a polymance- keep it as a one night stand/physical relationship, make it a poly romance with your other partner as your nesting partner, or even make it a throuple. Similarly, if the latter, add scenes of your partners getting to know each other better, kissing, etc.

Don't tie so many plot events to long rests while stressing that the player needs to hurry to avoid ceremorphosis. Either drop the facade that there is a rush, or make these plot developments happen outside of camp.

Consequences for using tadpoles beyond one (possibly two as of patch 7) dice rolls. Make it so using too many will cause you to squid, no matter what.

Ideally, bring back the plot that was teased in act 1, where instead of being the Emperor, you Dream Guardian was your tadpole, trying to seduce you to let it take over.

Better balancing for Rangers at higher levels, as as it is now, you basically have to multiclass them to get any decent use out of them. After level 5 any additional levels spent on Ranger are wasted.

Improve Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster to use the class's standard stat instead of int or wis for their spells.

All wildshape attacks minus three of the four myrmidons should count as unarmed for the purposes of tavern brawler and other similar things that buff unarmed attacks working.

Make the Emperor/Orpheus a fully autonomous party member, allowing you to give them equipment (and allowing them to use potions/spells they didn't already have on hand) during the final battle.

Fix pathfinding for characters you don't control, and especially fix them automatically jumping back to the other side of a gap just because you had to switch to a character who wouldn't make the jump before.

Improve Fly so that it is better than Jump outside of like 2-3 levels.

Some kind of enemy-rush mode where you see how long you can last against all the bosses in the game would be amazing.

Ability to either return to the city and finish up some quests before the epilogue.

New game plus.

Origin Halsin and Minthara.

The game does a better job of remembering that Halsin isn't tadpoled, and also does a better job of not always assuming that if you're in a poly relationship with him, you want the other partner prioritized for literally every scene.

Resist scene for Minthara and Halsin.

Recruitable Aylin and Isobel. Ideally, you can also romance them and become their third.

Dye preview, as well as clothing and armor previews.

Armor scales in weight with your size, so the same armor put on a small character will weigh less than the same armor on a large character, allowing little characters more options.

Druids automatically revert to human form for cutscenes, then return to wildshape after without losing a charge.

Orin can kidnap any character, including your romanced companion, but to compensate, there are less steps needed to access the Temple of Bhaal.

The kidnapped companion is not guaranteed to be unharmed even if you save them; depending on how long you took, they might have been badly tortured and receive a status debuff that lasts several days.

Faith-leap trial is fixed so that you can actually solve it without either a guide or cheesing it.

Let Wyll dump Mizora as a patron, then become an Archfey warlock with Thaniel and Oliver as his patrons. Wyll then becomes a nature defender.

More autonomy for Wyll in his quest. You can't make the pivotal choices of his story arc for him, and instead, your ability to convince him is tied to dice rolls that have a DC scaled to your approval, like for SH.

Able to take Scratch and Owlbear home in the epilogue, instead of only being able to send Owlbear with SH, Halsin, or you if romanced to either.

Let Karlach stay in the House of Hope if Hope lived, allowing her to live in Avernus without having to constantly fight and fear Zariel.

More interesting Speak With Animals conversations. They drop dramatically after act 1, and by act 3 there are very few times I use the spell anymore, just to talk to the kitties.

Able to cast certain spells (I.E. Hero's Feast) on all recruited characters, not just those in the active party.

54. Fix the morality system for Paladin oaths so that it's more clear what actions will break your oath ahead of time.

55. Give players more chances to fix things if a character turns temporarily hostile. I shouldn't lose a vendor, quest, etc for good because of a failed persuasion roll. There should be one more chance to fix it.

56. More deities for players to choose from; if not for Clerics, at least add more at the Stormshore Tabernacle. Ideally, allow even other classes to talk about having a favored deity, as most in the Realms do, and it would be interesting to, for example, be a Ranger, worship Mielikki, and have dialogue with Halsin, Jaheira, and Minsc.

57. Act 3 gets more unique music instead of largely reusing tunes from acts 1 and 2.

58. More companions so that every race and every class has representation.

59. Elves act more elven. Halsin and Astarion can have conversations in Elvish. Arnell is not confused by Shadowheart choosing her own name.

60. Free healing by Halsin. He is a world-renowned healer and would be great to see him use it more. Also, more shown of him researching medical conditions, helping sick/injured civilians in Baldur's Gate, etc.

61. The Shadow Curse breaks as soon as Ketheric dies or Thaniel and Oiver are reunited, whichever comes later, so the player can see the lands not influenced by the curse. Move the cutscene that plays on leaving the lands to this point, just without the bit of the party leaving the land.

62. Ability to save Art Cullagh so he won't die shortly after the game ends.

63. After you defend Halsin's portal, you get to play a side-quest where Halsin fights through the Shadowfell, finds Thaniel, and fights his way back. OR, you can delegate the portal defense to your other party members, and join Halsin in the Shadowfell to help him find Thaniel.

64. Introduce a weather system and a day/night system.

65. When you knock out a character using non-lethal attacks, the character is actually treated as alive, letting it be used outside of Minthara, Minsc, and Alfira.

66. Scene of Withers telling the players who he really is. Dark Urge players can become Withers' Chosen after they reject Bhaal, while Tav and non-Shadowheart Origins can be it from earlier on, maybe a scene early in act 2, and Shadowheart can be it after turning from Shar.

67. The Dark Urge's Urge manifests in battle, causing them to sometimes waste an action torturing a victim who's already been downed, or to turn hostile on allied characters.

68. More references to the Dark Urge being chronically ill as a result of their brain injury- this is brought up periodically in act 1 and then dropped for the most part. This could even lead to scenes of romanced characters comforting them when they have a headache or fainting spells.

69. More intra-party conflicts besides SH and Lae'zel, and the possible Halsin-Minthara ultimatum. Let the evil characters get angry at Gale for wasting magical items and try to kick him out.

70. Implement the Halsin-Minthara ultimatum, but don't make it an ultimatum; instead Halsin simply signals his intention to leave, and if you want him instead of Minthara, you bring up sending her away. Also make it clear that the Absolute still hunts Halsin for what happened in the Grove and for fighting Ketheric 100 years ago, showing that even without a tadpole, he has stakes in this too. Also make it clearer that Minthara is severely triggering his past trauma with all her pro-slavery talk, possibly causing him to gain a status debuff if he's near her. That way people will stop demonizing Halsin there will be more of a feeling of balance in the ultimatum.

71. Ability to rescue children (particularly the orphaned ones in act 3) and bring them back to camp for Halsin and/or Jaheira to mother.

72. When you're in the final battle, the companions who aren't fighting at your side are instead on a sidequest evacuating the city and fighting the mindflayers who are terrorizing the citizens. Alternatively, just for this one battle, you can bring all your recruited companions with you (it would certainly help make that courtyard fight more balanced if you aren't using invisibility potions).

73. Platonic paths get just as much weight as romantic ones. You can become Karlach's best friend forever and go on friendly outings with her. You can train with Lae'zel. Etc.

74. Setting for romance/sexual encoutners/offers to be turned off entirely.

75. Explorer difficulty allows you to multiclass still.

76. More quests for evil players.

77. Every romanceable character has at least one action that will cause them to break up with you, and every companion has one that will cause them to leave the party (outside of sinking approval to -40).

78. Option to turn on a "confirm action" button, so that accidentally clicking on an item in red that's right next to a communal use item doesn't get you aggro'd.

79. Optional choice to add in random encounters.

80. Reintroduce class-specific tadpole powers from Early Access.

81. Ability to help people in the city more; you can offer refugees shelter at your camp, feed or pay all beggars, etc. Telling the rich they suck for not helping is great but I want to be able to do more.

82. Sidequest for that Druid who's trying to save the dying tree in Baldur's Gate, ideally with special Halsin and Jaheira interactions.

83. More conversations like the one with Halsin and Jaheira in act 2, where controlling a character lets you talk to another and unlock special dialogues you don't otherwise get.

84. The circus is now a proper carnival, including magic-fueled rides, treatos, and a tunnel of love. Also, the Bhaalists are trying to interfere with the rides and get people killed, which you have to stop.

85. You have the option to tell owlbear cub that you don't want to give him the potion to make him grow faster because he deserves to stay a cub and grow naturally.

86. You can give companions little gifts, like SH with the night orchid. You can give Halsin his pipe back.

87. You can choose to join a companion in the endgame even if you haven't romanced them. You can move to Halsin's commune or keep Astarion company in the Underdark.

88. Ability to evict companions from your camp at any time, with a corresponding chewing out from the companions who stayed unless you have a really good reason for it.

89. Bring back the datamined bits where companions who left your party would later show up in the courtyard battle, tadpoled (if not already) and under the Absolute's control. (Maybe with a scene showing how it happened, including the tadpoling for Halsin and Jaheira who wouldn't have been infected before).

90. Bring back the datamined scenes from the morphic pool where the netherbrain would make the party have hallucinations corresponding to their insecurities. Including the option to comfort them after, especially your romanced partner.

91. Optional ability to cook meals yourself, maybe with a little cooking minigame like Pokemon has. Different foods can give you different status benefits the next day.

92. Ability to travel back to any act at any time before the final point of no return.

93. Act 1's point of no return is either entering the Underdark or the Mountain Pass, or entering the Shadow-Cursed Lands, but not either entering the Shadow-Cursed Lands from the Underdark or entering the Mountain Pass.

94. A gardening mechanic for edible plants and such would be fun, so you could have a steady supply of camp supplies and certain alchemy ingredients. Especially mushrooms since Minthara literally has her own mushroom farm.

95. Camp library so you can keep all your books, notes, and letters in one space to read without cluttering up your traveller's chest.

96. Alternatively, there are multiple traveller's chests for different items. Armors and weapons in one, scrolls, potions and other magical items in another, food and alchemy supplies in another, etc.

97. Ability to take care of and comfort characters who've been poisoned, infected with contagion, etc.

98. Let Halsin, SH, and the player cuddle more animals.

99. Every class gets a unique camp follower a la the Oathbreaker Knight.

100. Vendor of common things (animal speaking potions, some alchemy ingredients, camp supplies) in camp for the whole game.

[carmenilla]

Honestly, I like byler, but it's never going to happen in my opinion. Mike is just insecure, he has depression and thinks badly about himself, Finn said it, romance was not on his mind when he met El because he thought he was unloveable, that definetly doesn't mean he didn't love her, instead it means that he considered her unapproachable. That is the reason why he is so teary in the monologue, he is telling her everything with the fear that he might lose her because what if, when everything is said, she still leaves him? The "crush on Mike" Will plot is uncomfortable and honestly I don't know how they are going to solve it, probs giving him a bf/ letting him get over Mike, maybe that's the reason the Duffers said Will grows up and he leaves some things behind. I do think Mike and El have a lot of scenes together, Im not saying a lot but at least some, everytime Mike is spotted somewhere that place is near to El.

Now I do not think they will end up together, but Mike loves her and she loves him, she just needs to go. And that would be a tearful ending for them

thanks for the respectful disagreement, unfortunately it's hard to come by nowadays.

"that definetly doesn't mean he didn't love her, instead it means that he considered her unapproachable." first off, i don't believe in love at first sight. i think it's cheap and uninteresting especially in a love story, that happens between twelve-year-olds. i also don't think you can be in love with someone just by looking at them once. you can be infatuated, sure, but that's not real love. you don't know anything about them. we also know that mike didn't love her at first sight because he tried to get rid of her the next morning so that they could keep looking for will. the only reason why he didn’t give her up is because she insisted and also he found out that she has powers. AND when he finds out that she has powers, he tells dustin and lucas that they should stick with her so that they can use her powers to find will. obviously there is a point where mike cares about el BEYOND just her powers and genuinely cares for her as a person, i’m not denying that. i do think they have a very strong bond. but mike did not love her at first sight. there is nothing that even implies that! mike definitely lied in his love confession in season four, but i digress. if you still don’t believe me here, i guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

“The ‘crush on Mike’ Will plot is uncomfortable and honestly I don't know how they are going to solve it, probs giving him a bf/ letting him get over Mike”. OR, they could make byler canon, and it would actually make sense for will’s plot and not just be really god awful writing. yes, it would be awful writing if will doesn’t end up with mike, and would be awful portrayal of a queer character and feel really gross. see my post here about why that would suck: https://www.tumblr.com/carmenilla/769363335461339136/ok-bc-if-byler-isnt-canon-they-really-just?source=share 

“that would be a tearful ending for them” in my opinion, it would be a bad ending for them, but i don’t feel like going into that. we’re just gonna have to agree to disagree on that part

i think byler will be canon because i believe it would be the best writing and make the most sense, and i do have faith in the duffers' writing abilities. if you like byler and want more proof, i recommend this video by our good old Byler Lawyer:

if you don't feel like that though, i guess we'll just have to see what happens in season 5

[ladyloveandjustice]

Someone's been in the Revolutionary Girl Utena rabbit hole for a bit 👀

I don't even know what it's about, I just see it and get happy

Mind telling me a bit on what it's about? I might watch it myself if it sounds like my thing, bc you seem to have great taste in anime and games

I do have good taste thank you! *flips hair* lol just kidding,

Revolutionary Girl Utena is a surreal and wild queer feminist deconstruction of fairy tale romance and shoujo tropes and it has a lot to say about systems of power, cycles of abuse, the ways people cling to an ideal of innocent childhood which may have never existed anyway, the concept of purity, fear of change and loss, and whether becoming an adult inevitably means being corrupted in some way. Lots and lots of gender, lots of queer characters struggling with compulsory heterosexuality... but over all, it's a deeply meaningful story about the human condition and growing up in an imperfect world.

But also people turn into cows sometimes, there are elephants of surfboards at one point, and one character has a very emotive pet monkey in a tie. at least we think it's a monkey. It can be very silly, is what I'm saying.

The basic plot is that a girl named Utena lost her parents at a very age, but a prince came and comforted her, giving her a ring and telling her to never lose her strength and nobility. Rather than taking that as an engagement offer and aiming to be his princess though, Utena actually admires him so much that she decides to become a prince who saves girls in trouble too. She's determined to find the prince who changed her life though, and her search leads her to a very fancy and phallic looking Ohtori Academy.

Then, when this shitty popular guy makes her friend cry, Utena challenges a guy to a duel to make him pay (as you do). ONLY to find out that the student council of her school are all secretly dueling each other to be engaged to "the Rose Bride", a girl who is supposed to give whoever's engaged to her the power to revolutionize the world. As part of the student council, the shitty popular guy assumes Utena wants to "win" the Rose Bride too.

So next thing Utena knows, she's been dragged into a duel to "win" the "Rose Bride" (who is actually just Utena's classmate, Anthy). Utena thinks that fighting to possess a girl like she's an object is pretty screwed up, but on the other hand, she IS devoted to saving girls, and that shitty popular guy IS treating Anthy pretty badly....

Could be that she'll end up engaged to Anthy, whether she likes it or not....

It covers a lot of dark topics, from misogyny to abuse (sexual abuse included) to child predators to incest (never framed as healthy or okay though, in one case it initially comes off as a joke thing for a character, like the typical anime comedic brother/sister complex, but throughout this characters arc it becomes clear that no, it's really not, and it is not good for the character in question). It's not a graphic show by any means, it handles its subject matter tastefully imo, and the way it explores these things is very effective. It takes a while to build up to where it's going, but the journey is worth it.

If you're interested at all in queer anime or like...queer western cartoons even because odd are they'll have a Utena reference-- it's a must see because it was massively influential. It was made more than 20 years ago and really holds up still.

I also did a review series about it here a while back that people found handy!

[izartn]

So, about how I see Link Click's Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi relationship:

As it stands in canon? Queerplatonic partners. And it's convenient for the plot that they're like this.

Because of Chinese censorship it can't be explicitly romantic, yes I know it. Let me tell why it's queerplatonic for me. The way these two have intertwined their lives and futures together?!

Owning a business and living together, that hint in ep2 (comparing them to the subtextually older lesbian couple who also came across as queerplatonic bc censure) where Xiaoshi wonders/fears if years down the line he and Lu Guang will separate/break up implying their partnership is for life as far as he's concerned (the parallel can be taken as a subtext romance too but follow me we're talking text), the way they were already going also on vacancies together three years prev in canon, etc...

Without entering on their complimentary powers and the way the dives need both of them if they want security in not screwing the past, and the inmense trust and vulnerability the dives themselves require?

They're not simply best friends either.

Those aren't the actions of normal, totally not queer friends. Cheng Xiaoshi checks out women on the dives, sure, (and men too when the host is feeling it which I love bc they can't address it directly bc censorship and then it comes across as Xiaoshi being super confident in his own relationship to sexuality/gender) but I don't think he would ever date bc Lu Guang is already there, filling that place in his life minus sex and romance but all that same companionship and intensity of feeling.

These two meet in what, the last year/s of High School and then proceeded to latch onto each other with a commitment reserved for romantic partners.

And I know you want to say, "it's the censorship! they'd be romantic and canon if not for the censorship!"

Are you sure? Are you sure the story would work if there were explicit romance in it? (I mean, if they could I'm pretty sure they would have nailed it anyways but allow me my a-spec delusions) Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang feel so much like an already established pair, they work like one, and Link Click is not about them coming together like many other stories. Are you sure this would work as BL?

There's a distinct difference on the way they start the show already like six years at least since they're best friends and three or two since they live together. That's not usually how it goes. I'm talking not just romances but every buddy or nakama anime/show, where the protag has to learn to work with who will be his best friend or rival. These stories usually have the same kind of plot progression as a romance which is why they work so well when you make the subtext text.

But a story where the main romance is already established and we're following a plot that has nothing to do with it? Much more rare, even stranger to find them well done although there are some very good ones and with the friendships instead of romo they're more common. For example, Soul Eater, which is all about the trials of it and how they hace to truly come to understand each other. That's Link Click a bit, but not even then.

Link Click juggling a budding romance between Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi with all the other stuff is going on?? Messier for sure. I don't know if people would have liked it as much or if the donghua would have been as well done.

As it is, Link Click has the exact level of emotional connection between our protags it needs to have incredibly high stakes emotionally and at the same time not need a detour by romantic scenes/fanservice that would derail the plot or the other charas importance. That it happens to be pretty queer anyways in a platonic way?

Nice for the aroace-spec folks watching the show xD

Btw, I'm pretty sure in season 3 we're going to get more of Lu Guang's PoV, the origins of their powers and the past between him and Xiaoshi. It'll probably dig more into the aspect of "testing their bond and coming stronger bc of it" which is were the romantic subtext usually comes through...

—unless you're very very good at writing like Arakawa in FMA, who nailed the brotherly relationship without tipping into incest subtext which I've seen more than a few writers fumble. or the latest D&D film for the platonic childrearing and partnership for a no familial example between a man and a woman also very very difficult to get right for writers dunno why—

... but until then, for now I'm incredibly satisfied by the canon.

The other read of course it that they're already a couple since well before the start of season 1, and to mentally edit what we saw in canon with that lens (it wouldn't be very difficult honestly) but reading only the text? Queerplatonic partners!

There also how Xiaoshi and Lu Guang don't have that anxiety/insecurity of their bond that makes it so easy to read the want for something, like a romance for shipping purposes. Despite the disagreements on the Dives or the trials of season 2 or Lu Guang keeping secret Cheng Xiaoshi future/past death they read very steady which is fun. I love some good established relationship, you can go to deeper places when the base is already secure and the risk is higher for the characters. Plus I love domesticity! Yes, I do my angsty/Gothic leanings notwithstanding. Don't you know you need a home for the Gothic to be effective?

[darcyolsson]

bestie hi what is wwdits (ik its the show about vampires but not much more than that) and what does it have to do with buddie canon? I've seen you mention it multiple times now, consider my interest piqued

hi bestie, this got long. strap in

you're right, what we do in the shadows is a show about vampires! a comedy to be specific, it aired on fx between 2019-2024 and basically, wwdits was a Very Queer Show. literally the entire main cast was queer in some way. though for most of the series the only couple in the cast was a marriage between a man and a woman, they were both explicitly polyamorous and bi/pan, as were the other two vampires. one of the vampires' human familiar, guillermo, was explicitly confirmed to be gay in later seasons after this was very heavily implied in pretty much every way possible (i was a little bit surprised they still felt the need to explicitly state it, tbh!)

so there was this cast filled with queer characters, and in season 3 it seemed really obvious that they were writing in a romance between guillermo and his vampire master, nandor. from the start of the show there were Obvious Undertones to their relationship but s3 really seemed to be intentionally and obviously be setting up for them to become canon. the official promotional material leaned into it too, and cast members expressed their support of it. i cannot reiterate enough how much it wasn't just wishful shipping, it was literally just the most obvious interpretation of the show if you were watching it with any kind of reading comprehension skills. no one really had any doubts that this was where their relationship was headed in s4. after all, the show has always been completely unapologetic about its queer characters (is any of this starting to sound familiar yet), so why would they have any objections to going through with this gay romance?

well

we never figured that one out i fear but regardless of why it happened, the writers post-s3 started backpedaling. HARD. some viewers will try and convince you nandor/guillermo could have still become canon at any point post-s3 but that simply isn't the truth, it's really obvious that they completely changed their minds and wrote it out of the show as much as they could in the next seasons.

basically the reason why i mention it regarding buddie is bc it was sooooo obvious they were going to go through with this ship and then they still found a way to not do it, even though it undermined the writing of the entire show, even though everyone seemed fully on board with it for YEARS (something that can't even be said about buddie, at least not to this degree).

there was a lot of queerbaiting/ship baiting discourse about it, ofc. witnessing it all did get me thinking about the subject, and my main takeaway from it all has been that the often-heard take of "there's queer characters anyway, so there can't be any objections to adding a main gay romance" is... Blatantly Wrong! of course it's not queerbaiting in the traditional sense, but whatever you want to call it, i do sincerely believe that nandermo being a gay romance is probably the main reason they did not go through with it in the end. even though guillermo is gay, even though he got storylines centered around his sexuality, even though he did briefly get a (non main cast member) boyfriend in later seasons.

the reason being that a front-and-center gay romance would have changed the way wwdits communicated its queerness to its viewers. wwdits, being a comedy, mostly used its characters sexualities for jokes (makes sense, i never had any issues with it, though some people are upset about it in hindsight). guillermo's sexuality was always treated with a a unique sincerity though, and there were several episodes which did focus on it, but it wasn't a massive driving force to the plot the way a canon romance would have been.

i don't think 911 is the same, obviously! it's always, always had a really prominent lesbian marriage at its center, and i don't think a buddie relationship would fundamentally change the way queerness is portrayed in the show the way nandermo would've for wwdits. but i don't think that's the question to be asked here, i think the question is "if the two masculine young men on 911 ended up in a gay relationship together, would this change the way the show is perceived by the bulk of its viewers?" (followed by, "is this change something a network might be hesitant about?")

when buck came out on 911, oliver expressed his surprise that there was backlash against it despite there always having been really prominent queer characters and romances on this show. and i'm with him on that, it is really weird and irrational to be fine with 6 seasons of queer storylines and then get upset when they do it again in a slightly different way, but i also can comprehend how for a certain type of viewer there IS a difference. you've definitely already heard it all before, arguments like "there's already enough gay characters on the show", "buck and eddie are too masculine to be gay", "let men have vulnerable close friendships", etc. etc.

all of this being said i do really Want to believe in buddie canon and i do think it's the most logical interpretation of where the story is headed but like. I've Played These Games Before. on top of that, 911 has a wayyyyy bigger general audience than wwdits ever did, and i would not be entirely surprised if even abc (who have shown themselves to be more accepting than fox, at least) would prefer it if they steered away from what is still a risky decision that will affect the way the show is perceived (while still giving the audience who is rooting for it enough hope to cling to the possibility). i want to believe tim minear returning to the show after (supposedly) leaving it at least partially for buddie-related reasons is a good sign, but unless theyre making out sloppy style on my screen..... i am forced to remain skeptical. and it's all because of the fuckass bisexual vampires.

[helpfandom]

hello!!! could i please request a romantic moe x reader? hc or scenario is fine i really dont mind, fluff is preferred but its really up to you ♥🦌

Are you a new anon? Please please please ask me more about Batwheels too!

For scenarios I need a plot, a simple prompt or just like "M.O.E with a bat!reader" works!

@lonleydweller

I'm not too big a fan of romance so I went neutral/platonic like I usually do.

°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°

°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°⁺⁎⋅❤︎⋅⁎⁺°

M.O.E is certainly clingy, and it plays out the same with the fact that he will definitely try to always be near you when you're in the Batcave, asking you to watch him do mechanical work or tricks to try and impress you as much as he can.

He's certainly going to create little things for you out of spare parts he found, making little tiny animals that resemble your favorites, and tiny little jewelry that doesn't fit but he tries!

Batman obviously knows of this little obsession, but I don't think he knows it's an obsession, He thinks it's more of a "I don't have many friends (BC being the only other one he knows of), and I don't want to lose my friend so I'm going to love-bomb them." And then sort of shrugs it off.

M.O.E will try to be a little manipulative, but it's not in his nature to be like that so more often then not it fails. He doesn't like it that the Legion of Zoom can just... pick you up whenever in Gotham and he can't really do much against that, so he does try to make gadgets that would allow him to go on patrols so he can try and stop that, but Bam can curb his fears a little with the knowledge that you're okay.

But trust that M.O.E will never clear you to become a Bat (or bird), he just cares to much to run the risk of losing you in a patrol.

[greentastico]

Where: discord (but first we talk here!)

Looking for: 18+ writers.

Characters: 21+

Ive been dying to do a more mature/realistic/dark rp set in the ninjago universe, specifically starting season 4.

Hi im Darla! 21, she/her. CET time zone.

In short, what and who I'm looking for:

- Lit to adv-lit, 3rd POV. Think 1000–2000 characters per reply.

- Action, adventure, fantasy, romance, ( i love romance yearning, needing, being so in love )fear, mature themes, gore/violence.

---> im really looking for the dark, the gritty, the hurt for this rp. There could be mention of: underground = illegal buisinesses/human trafficing, prostitutes. Violence = blood, injury, character death. (Ofc not all the time or 24/7 just to make clear these things can be mentioned and that im not shy about these things ^^) just think of Game of Thrones NO ERP/SMUT FOCUSED PLEASE

- i will write side characters, and you will too!

- English isn't my first language! I only check grammar for the actual rp story.

- FC = realistic/art realistic **i find fc on pinterest** warning: if i find something i like, and it's A.I. still gonna use it. So dont come for me if you are against that please.

- i really like to read about your oc, i can really get into it. But i would love the same energy back, as i too, put a lot of effort in my oc and i hope sm, you will love her.

What I'm looking for OOC:

- I'm here for a fun time! With regular chatting about characters, plotting, chit chat. I think communication is key. Please dont reach out if it takes you 3 to 5 business every week bc my motivation will die.

Pairing/Preference Info:

- FxM and FxF are what I'm most familiar with! I especially enjoy when our OCs are friends or have some established connection!

(this is a ocxcc double-up = we both write a oc we both write a cc for the other.)

✨Characters I can write for you:

1. Ask me! F or M it doesnt matter!

✨Characters you can write for me:

1. Kai (pls?) [Lol i have so many headcanons about him its crazy]

2. Cole

If you'd rather write cxc for your side:

- Jay x Nya → I prefer to write Nya

- zane x p.i.x.a.l. --> prefer to write p.i.x.a.l

- Nya x Skylor --> no preference!

- Nya x p.i.x.a.l --> no preference!

Thank you for reading! Send me a DM directly with some basics about you. Please, i will not respond to any form of 'hi wanna rp?' I need more than that. I wont respond to you if you can't introduce yourself.

Or like, and i will reach out to you! Do not like if you are not actually interested in a rp. (Why do people do this?)

Thats it thank you! If you are curious, on my blog i have a post with my writing sample's, then you know what i am expecting of you, and you can expect of me! I would love to start chatting i know i sound kinda harsh here. But i just want to be clear. 💕

i have only seen till season 7. But i am starting to catch up slowly!

[thecourtoflionsandwolvess]

I'm so sorry there were stupid people on the post where you were criticizing xo kitty. I fully agree with you. actually crazy the amount of people saying that we should just be happy with what we got :/ and that the show is a telenovela (... Have these people ever actually watched a telenovela 😭😭 bc this is nothing like one. I'd say it's more like a romance k drama but anyway)

also I just think it's weird how the people making the show know how popular the straight ship is, aka the show has a huge straight viewership and then they basically use the gay ship like that :/ feels weird to say but I feel used (as a woman and as a lesbian, like they gave no respect to the characters that are like me, were literally just a plot device) but I may be a bit dramatic because I'm processing everything but that's also pretty common in fandoms and I wish the rude people could understand that and have a bit of compassion, like they could just keep scrolling instead of saying insensitive shit

Thank you so much for your kind words and I'm so sorry you got disappointed too. I hope you haven't received such messages, but if you have, just remember you can ignore and block them. Protect your inner peace.

I gotta say I'm frustrated, but not surprised. I had the fear that would happen seeing the fandom and general audience. And that even if they did give Kitty x Yuri a chance, that people would be pretty mean about it and ruin the experience anyway. I mean, we always get the shortest end of the stick, so unfortunately we can never afford being completely hopeful about anything.

I just expected to get at least one thing for a little while, you know? I know there are telenovelas tropes, kdramas tropes, love triangles, love webs and a lot of drama... But all f/m and m/m characters/ships got a little something and we weren't even thrown a bone. The message is clear. I saw some people saying they were afraid to get canceled for being too queer or something, but if you really want to honor the queer characters and queer audience, you gotta take some risks. If you're just going to sideline or completely ignore the sapphic storylines, than you're not better than any other bigot out there (I'd even say you're one of them but too coward to admit it).

Anyways, this is a reminder to just do a lot of research about a show, their author, fandom etc before giving it a try. I allowed myself to jump blindly into this because for once I wanted to just watch something and not spend minutes learning every single detail beforehand, you know? Privileged people never have to do that and it just feels exhausting to do it every single time. And I rarely can find something that is a total 10/10 for me, so I still need, for a lack of a better word, tolerate some stuff or I'd never have entertainment in my life. But between that and having to deal with what happened now, I'd rather do that crazy research to avoid this kind of situation. Because this is even worse.

Anyway, I've personally dropped Xo Kitty at least for now. If there's a season 3 and I get the impression they've made up for their mistakes with at least one sapphic character/pairing, maybe I'll try again. Maybe I won't. Or maybe I'll try, but will never be able to trust them again and drop it for good. I guess we'll see, Netflix loves canceling shows and I overall found the season pretty weak besides that as well. Still, I just wish the cast the best because they tried to make the scripts better and they all seem very sweet.

Anywayyyyy, thank you again for being so kind. Hope you're doing okay and feel free to message or even call me on the chat if you need to talk. 💗

[st7arlight]

meet the sims-blackwood family!! this is set post-200 in a new world where the fears are weaker and more hidden in the shadows, but quickly building strength as more avatars and artifacts are born. meet blaire and not-adam, two students in jon’s homeroom and english class!

worldbuilding and brainstorm notes under the cut :D

the student ocs i created here are

-a transfem student who straight up doesnt have a name. you can call her anything but her deadname. its a fun game the class plays. it started as a gag but jon went “yeah okay ive seen weirder and kids deserve a chance to explore” so he comes up with a different name every day during roll call. shes v chaotic and inspired (personality wise, not funky name lore) by an irl friend of mine

-the student she has a crush on and is best friends with, an AP art student who uses they/she pronouns

they both eat lunch in Jon’s classroom, where they eventually notice that he never really eats much? just. reads a book in his free time, maybe has cereal bars occasionally

they form really close bonds with jon and he sponsors their lgbt club,,,, the second student realizes she’s agender when hes explaining the ace spectrum,,,,,, they come across The Horrors that were released when jmart moved on to Somewhere Else and he saves them,,,,,,,,, after they start to understand that “something spooky is here bc of mr sims but he was a victim in it” they sneakily start categorizing what they call “The Horrors” into 9 groups and get into shenanigans. they save jon at some point

their romance follows the plot of jmart’s but jon notices student B treating student A like he did martin at the start of the year and intervenes

so theyre healthier

(maybe jmart adopt student b, as they’re in a rlly unsafe home environment and thats why they started lashing out at their buddy)

at the beginning of the year student A knows shes trans but isnt sure what name to use. her buddy suggests not-adam (as she isnt suuuper uncomfy with her deadname, just that its too masc for her) so they call her that for a good bit and it comes up occasionally until they learn about the fears and the joke kinda. sours.

jon called her anything but that. not-adam thought it was because he didnt want to deadname her (and she insisted she was cool with it and thought it was funny) but she said that he can use a name that isnt adam, just not to stick to one bc she didnt want to feel boxed in

so the joke of her being anything but adam began

!!! WHAT IF NOT ADAM HAS AN ENCOUNTER WITH A STRANGER OBJECT THAT MAKES EVERYONE UNABLE TO SEE OR REMEMBER HER??? AND (character B) IS THE ONLY ONE WHO REMEMBERS HER BUT STILL CANT SEE HER!!!! AND THIS IS HOW JON REVEALS HE KNOWS STUFF ABOUT THE SUPERNATURAL

student b breaks down only a couple days in when she realized something was deeply, truly wrong, earing lunch (seemingly) alone with jon in his classroom. she says something with “not-adam” and “nobody remembers her but me” and jon’s trauma plus eye powers helps break his illusion, even though he doesnt remember her still

WHAT IF THIS IS AROUND WHEN NOT ADAM IS STARTING TO SEE HIM AS A FATHER

he adopts her bc she still legally doesnt exist and her family doesnt remember her , and its not like jmart already have fake identities anyways. they break the curse but everyone but B and Jon are completely wiped of her memory, just can finally see her now. its a mush of stranger, spiral, and lonely bc the horrors work different here

…she eventually settles on a name because she desperately needs to be reminded that they know her, they remember her, and that they remember all of her. (jon doesnt remember *everything* still, but most. every now and then she or B references something and they pause when they realize it was another memory lost to The Horrors)

oh also jon wears combat boots bc of daisy now. unrelated but important

im realizing my plan of them adopting B is a little funky with them adopting not-adam. however, unconventional found family prevails in tma. B just stays at their house most of the time bc she is neglected a lot at home so it usually isnt noticed when she disappears. theyre both 16 so fighting for custody when they can move out so soon is deemed too much stress on the teens. not-adam’s family actually are v loving and great, they just. dont remember NA. they dont remember how to love her, that they ever did

(thats why B needed to remember her. also, the effect intended of the horror was to torture NA until she died unnoticed and she will either be remembered by everyone when her body is found or will rot unseen until shes gone. or become an avatar, if she chose to embrace it. B was an intended victim of the leitner, the fear of nobody believing you and losing someone you love feed the Horrors)

(jon and his funky eye powers are likely the only reason NA didnt die)

in the end A picks the name astrid, but jon still calls her any name he can think of that starts with A when calling her down for food n stuff

anyways jmart unofficially adopting queer teens bc found family is so themcore but i *know* the fates would never allow them to do anything conventionally or fully legal

(all of this copy-pasted from me infodumping in a tma chat in the past couple hours)

[pinkpastels113]

do you read books? if yes, do you have any recs? hope ur having a good week !

yesss and mostly romance books lmfao so look out:

she gets the girl- rachel lippincott and alyson derrick

wlw young adult romance where one helps the other be less awkward and nervous in talking to their crush but ends up falling for her instead while "helping," gasp v cutesy and scandalous and adorably cliche no?!

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo- taylor jenkins reid

need i explain further??! it's a modern staple in the wlw community and i am still losing my mind over the plot twist at the end of book and how she was so in love with celia hhhhhhh and ive only read it once so far!! i think i consumed it in like the span of three or four days lmfao bc it was THAT good. i was HOOKTH. the scenes are starting to fade away in clarity in my mind tho (im a very visual reader as in, i visualize and picture scenes in my mind when i fully immerse myself in a book or fanfic) in contrast with the way the book is collecting dust in my bookshelf/nightstand rn AHHAHHA i will need to reread it again soon (and lose my psyche over it!! again!!)

scrappy little nobody- anna kendrick

reaffirmed my love for anna kendrick bc it was very entertaining, amusing, and revelatory for me to read a memoir that was entirely in her voice; it felt as if she was speaking directly to me, yknow?? she was hilarious in her choice of wording and stories and i didn't even realize that i had finished the book until it was the last page <33 she is one of those actresses that actually make you feel like you are on the same earth as them bc they are human too (unlike taylor for me sometimes adfshjhk)

heartless- marissa meyer

slowly making my way through this book rn (amidst work, writing, reading fanfic, being addicted to tumblr, playing wild rift, etc etc) and so far so good! a spin on how the queen of hearts of wonderland came to be (and yes i bought the book after watching descendants ror lolololol bc i became SUPER obsessed with the qoh and her daughter in that universe <33); how she was supposed to marry the king but wasnt really interested in him bc she just wanted an ordinary life aspiring to be a baker and how she secretly fell in love with someone else instead gasp!! forbidden affairs who??! gregory maguire, the author of wicked, had good things to say ab it too so im confident in my rec!

percy jackson and the olympians series- rick riordan

no words needed; one of the first fandoms i got into and still obsessed with percabeth to this day!! i aspire to find my own annabeth chase one day <33

the divergent triology- veronica roth

even tho i spoiled myself with the ending of allegiant this young adult book series CHANGED MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL I TELL YOU. CHANGED. ALTERED. COMPLETELY DISMANTLED AND RECONFIGURED IT. highly recommend (the movies dont do it justice smh)

after the kiss- lauren layne

ummm so yea im embarrassed to say that i bought the ENTIRE series on kindle as well as the spinoff bc like fuckk i became too engrossed with the characters, the relationships, and their world i fear, a couple years back, and i was lapping up every single morsel of interaction btw them when the author would write them in in other books in the franchise. ever heard of how to lose a guy in 10 days?? wellll this first book in the series is basically exactly like that movie but with the roles reversed, with the guy trying to shake the girl off and the girl desperately clinging onto the relationship bc of/for an article. just with.... smut ADFDJHGHJK (i remember literally trying to search for fanfiction for the franchise bc like how can there not adafhjk. and another thing ab the smut!! it's like... actually really well written?? very emotional and not super duper explicit while still being hot, iirc, at least compared to some of the other stuff that ive read sdfshjk. like there's actually feelings involved separately and bc of the boombayah yknow? i actually wish some of the smut that i come across in fanfic sometimes can incorporate that soft/romantic/angsty aspect too haha)

what else what else hmmm

i never got to finish the fault in our stars but that is a rec too, twilight (if only it's bc it's like a huge cultural phenomenon LOLLLL; from what i have read so far it's... decent?? if a bit cringey), sense and sensibility is decent so far as well; and i just got ahold of my copy of wicked and the wednesday novel soooo yall might (ie definitely will) hear from me regarding those soon tooooo

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 6

THIS EPISODE WAS SO GOOD!!! the fact that it was a musical episode is totally the cherry on top; i love it when series come with their own music (cough cough me @ project sekai). but overall it was also really funny, and had some great character moments, too.

i'll save my thoughts on strategy and where the season might be headed for my next power ranking post (whenever that is :,( ), but were some of my other thoughts/highlights.

specifically the phrase "fuck my life" and Yul saying it made me cackle. seems like Emily ISN'T Yul's manager, but she might still kinda take on that role this season? we'll see. the lack of phones is really having an effect on the plot.

they hate her so fucking bad

okay, i guess i forgot to consider this angle when i was saying it would've made more sense for them to vote out Fiore. however, having started with 18 participants, the merge will probably happen at, what, 10 people? (modern Survivor describes the merge as "at least 11," but obviously this isn't survivor.) sure, Hunter is a bit of a challenge beast, but he can't protect all three of them every episode. if this trio is only 3/10 of the votes, you could literally split the votes on Ally and Tess in a 3-3-4 if you can get everyone else to unite against them. you know what you should be worried about? THE VILLAINS ALLIANCE HAVING 6/"10" VOTES AT THE MERGE!!! sigh. why am i relying on Jake to be smart (/j)

i'm more impressed that there was hot water in the first place. this thing is in the middle of a field, no?

i'm finally starting to see how Yul can be a hilarious "love to hate him" kind of villain. he had some of the best lines this episode hands down.

TREVEK BECOME CANON???

there was absolutely no reason to put the apple on the stick other than to fit in. love this for her.

idk if this is a winner's cut moment or not. glad that the money would go towards schools and NOT the police force, though.

man, now i want to go back and check the other episodes to see if Tess has had the "Cyan Team narrator" role the whole time. in Survivor, that's indicative of a deep run. ...i really need to stop applying Survivor logic to everything.

and why are you thinking about what would make Oliver laugh, Kristal? ',:)

i appreciate the s1 callback, but Trevor doing this dance move gives me so much second hand embarrassment that i keep inadvertently closing my eyes every time i have to "see" it again. anyways, given how most of the episode songs had lyrics related to the Team's emotional state, it's interesting to see that Trevor is singing a romance song. trevek become canon pt 2?

this was an interesting parallel. with Kristal laughing at Derek's joke, it seems like they were trying to show how she's growing closer to Derek, in a way which Trevor might fear is romantic. were there supposed to be romantic undertones to Alec being the only one to laugh at Connor's joke? and, if there were, was that just a fun nod to the aleconnor shippers, or will it actually be canon/relevant to later in the season?

NOT a surprise. i need to see the "i want you died" poetry he wrote about Fiore after last season.

of course you were, you fucking fruit (affectionate)

the anguish: i love my gf :D let's frolick through a field together

"trust me dude i'm the divorce man"

GABBY?????

mood but also damn is Ellie really leaning into the villain thing this season. this doesn't even help her win the season, she JUST wants to see him suffer.

i forgot that the s1 contestants didn't know that Nina was her own separate being yet

they were NOT lying, Aiden's VA is a great singer! Tom's backing vocals and Ellie and Gabby's harmonies(?) were also really nice too, though. this was probably my favorite song of the episode just bc i think Cyan had the strongest singers. all of the rocking, shoulder-moving dances are also impossible not to imitate.

well, there's the thumbnail. their choice of thumbnail made me laugh bc i remember, back when i was watching s1, seeing all the thumbnails of Aiden kissing both James and Hunter and thinking that Aiden was going to be some sort of troublemaking flirty antagonistic character only to be blindsided by his actual characterization. i'm sure the s1 watching me would have only added this to her arsenal of evidence, although hilariously idk if i would have been able to tell the other character was Tom at the time. anyways, i was pretty certain from the start that this must be part of the performance. although, while i'm happy that Aiden seems to think that James will be okay with the performance, i wish we could have cut to James somehow just to confirm that that was true. i don't want the next time we see James, whether in the finale or some other time, to show that he was actually really jealous and upset at Aiden for kissing another man while in a committed relationship. also gabbielle(?) super cute in the bg :D

he's so fucking stupid... (/pos)

bold of you to say this to Ashley, who has been in a two year relationship with the guy who went home in episode 2.

i also really liked this song :D i understand why they made Jake and Ally the main singers, because they best encompassed what the theme of the song was about, but i think i actually liked Ashley's vocals the best. i wish she'd gotten to sing more. also for a moment i thought Marcus had a trans flag on his hat. it's still close enough. trans Marcus canon.

this was probably my least favorite performance of the episode, although idk how much of that was just how much i hate Alec's outfit. glassesless Alec scares me so bad... no hate to the VAs, obviously, i think they have nice voices! it's actually the way that they didn't sound like they had confidence in their singing abilities that made the performance feel a little shakier to me. i do think that this song had the best lyrics in terms of encapsulating each member of their team, though. i really like how Yul and Riya are the ones to sing "i'm going to chase it" as a duo, because they're the ones chasing fame and the limelight, and then Grett sings that she can't ignore it, because eventually she's going to have to realize that her entire relationship with Yul was a result of him clout chasing. Connor only singing "live in the moment until i die" is also very fitting given his placement... in both seasons. L.

really surprised that Riya (or anyone else) didn't even mention Yul's foot injury as part of this equation. Riya just said that she didn't want to lose any more challenges, and Yul's bad foot could totally lead to a loss. maybe i'm just overestimating the extent to which that foot injury will stick around, though.

season 2 characters are REALLY suffering out here.

HELP??????

love to see Alec and Fiore's kinda sorta dual redemptions. i have high hopes for them.

and those were my initial thoughts, which got way longer than i expected. thanks if you wound up reading towards all the way down here. i have no idea who the leakers are, obviously, but i really hope that they stop acting up soon so that the series can continue. i would hate to have the artists have to take a pay hit and/or stop making the series just because of some people's impatience and delusions of power, or have the honest patrons lose out on being able to watch the episodes early to protect from others' immaturity. see ya!

[whoslaurapalmer]

top 5 movies!!

AAAAAAAAAAA it's always so hard. but. but. okay. last time i was asked this i did my top 5 top tier incredible peak movies. this time i am doing, my personal top 5 fav movies that i hold near and dear to my heart at all times and always make me smile. they are all 1) very fun 2) very quotable 3) probably long

-after the thin man (1936) my personal favorite thin man. first one is GREAT, but the second one......i guess bc nick and nora have been established now, we know how they work as a couple, and it's a joy to see them interact with the characters in this one. to get to solve another mystery together. and young james stewart is here!! some incredible dialogue, a really, really fun mystery with a twist, TWO silly musical numbers bc they're at a club, takes place over new years, this is the thin man movie i never get tired of.

-the birdcage (1996) i grew up watching the birdcage bc my mom loved this movie so i just, adore it. i quote "you look tired means you look old. and you look rested means you've had COLLAGEN" more frequently than i should, honestly, and i was able to answer a question on jeopardy the other night bc of the scene with robin williams doing the dance styles so it's just the movie that keeps on giving. i think it's an incredibly precious movie! it's about family and gender and sexuality and fear and the real delight you have to have in being alive and being you and also other people understanding and accepting what your identity means. sometimes that's people you've never met, sometimes it's your family. a lot of times it's not going to go well. but here's one little slice of the world where, somehow, it's gonna be okay. the whole movie just glides from start to finish. and it's so fun!! it's so much fun!!!!!

-the parent trap (1998) what else can i say about the parent trap my beloved.........i've watched this movie my whole entire life. like, it came out when i was three, odds are very high i've been watching it since then because when i think about being a kid the movie is just There. i spent one summer just watching it every single day. any time it comes on tv, It Is Watched. it's got the most bonkers premise of all time (HOW DO YOU JUST......SEPARATE YOUR CHILDREN.................!!) but is so sweet and so fun and so quotable and just, cozy. a comfort. a joy to me, always. slightly bittersweet sometimes at this point in my life but it's still like a big blanket.

-meet me in st. louis (1944) what i love about meet me in st. louis is that it's basically.......a slice of life movie? like, it's one year in the lives of the smith family when the 1904 world's fair is built. it's basically a romance but it's also so much about this family as well and their main adventure in each season as the year goes by (which is why it's not just a christmas movie but an all-purpose movie) and i love that. i love stories like that. there's a peace and comfort and a coziness in them but also an excitement because you get to be so Into a world, and you get GREAT character interactions bc characterization typically takes precedence over plot (although there's usually a throughline of sorts) and therefore just some STELLAR dialogue. ignore the corset scene.

-princess diaries 2 (2004) look. look. just. look. everybody is so on form on this movie. tom poston is there. hector elizondo verbally murders a man. the clothes are GREAT. julie andrews is out to vibe. it's just a movie i never get tired of. and personally i like it better than the first one!! rare case of 'sequel was better'!!