#but also to actually describe it on the dash in a way that wouldn't SO instantly go 'um you're reading too much into things!'

[kyeomofhearts]

Back For More | J.WW

+ summary: while adjusting to your new life in college, you couldn't help but attract the attention of wonwoo, someone who you happen to have a history with.

+ pairing: badboy!wonwoo x fem!reader

+ word count: 2.7k

+ content: badboy!wonwoo, college au, mature language, flirting (wonwoo is a menace), jealousy. [pls let me know if i missed anything!]

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

[ᝰ.ᐟ] i hope you guys enjoy this! it's most likely going to be a two-parter so definitely let me know if you want to be added to my taglist! i would greatly appreciate it if you guys reblogged (maybe with comments too ^^) since i thrive on your guys' validation :)

You were tired, very tired.

Granted, this was your own doing. Maybe if you hadn't pushed your responsibilities to the side last night you wouldn't have had to wake up so early to study for an exam, but what's done is done. This whole college thing was not going so well, to say the least. Sure, it's only the beginning of the second semester, but you already feel exhausted by all of your class workloads.

Just ten more minutes of this boring lecture and you could finally go home and crawl into bed. But… that's only if you avoid him today. Which now that you’re thinking about it, you hope he isn’t waiting for you outside, again. That would be the last thing you needed today.

With that being said, things have felt a little weird if you were being honest. Of course, this was your first year of university, so things were bound to feel new and different. But there was something, or rather someone that was making you feel strange.

Around two weeks ago you noticed that Wonwoo, an old classmate of yours, had recently started to become a bit friendly towards you. While that normally wouldn’t be considered weird, you couldn’t help but feel skeptical about his intentions. You knew the kind of people he surrounded himself with, and especially the girls he would go after; which was the exact opposite of you. So what exactly did he want from you?

What also makes this situation more odd is that you’ve basically known Wonwoo for your whole life. Of course, you don’t actually know him, you just happened to go to the same elementary, middle, and high school (which is insane if you think about it). Acquaintance is a perfect word to describe your relationship with him, nothing more nothing less. So yeah… it’s a little weird when the guy you have been around for (almost) your whole life is suddenly trying to befriend you, there definitely had to be something wrong with him.

All you knew about Wonwoo was that he was on the more reserved and quiet side; mainly keeping to himself most of the time. His group of friends was quite the opposite of him, which always made you wonder how he even became friends with them in the first place.

Seeing how the lecture was ending soon, you started to pack your stuff; you were more than ready to dash straight out of the classroom. Having finished all of your assignments for today, you had nothing left to worry about. So once the professor had made her goodbyes, you made a straight beeline to the door, nothing was going to hold you back from your long-awaited nap. Your pace was brisk, attempting to avoid the backed-up main exit, you decided to go to the opposite door. The walk back to your apartment wasn’t too bad either, most of the time you saw it as a way to daydream and listen to music. So while you scrolled through your various playlists, you happened to miss the (very obvious) figure following you.

Wonwoo called out your name a few times until it finally dawned on him that you had your headphones on. He took a few long strides to catch up to you; he was very adamant on getting your attention this morning. With ease, he quickly plucked your headphones off of your head.

“What are we listening to today?” He said while adjusting the headphones on his head. It took you a second to fully process what he was doing. You knew he was doing it to provoke you, but you were determined to not let that happen today. So to his surprise, you simply kept walking. You figured that he would continue with his antics if you gave him the reaction that he wanted so you did the opposite, you ignored him.

What shocked him the most was seeing you pull out an old pair of earbuds and plugging them into your phone. He was dumbfounded to say the least, how were you so prepared and why were you ignoring him?

And again, he quickly caught up with a few simple steps. He took your headphones off of his head and tapped them against your shoulder.

With a tired sigh, you turned around to face him but couldn’t help but admire his face. You really didn't want to lose that ‘expressionless’ look you were going for (to help you ignore him of course), but that small smile of his was enough to crack you down. It's like he knew that it was your one weakness when it came to him. This was the most annoying part of it all. Anytime he smiled or looked at you, a tiny part inside you secretly liked it, making you crave his attention at times.

Objectively speaking, Wonwoo was very handsome. That was something you could never deny, you would even go as far as to say that he was your type but you didn't particularly like the people he called his ‘friends’ so you were stuck in a weird limbo.

“Is there something on my face, birdy?”

You scoffed at the nickname. “I told you not to call me that.”

Wonwoo’s eyes were looking straight into yours, a smirk slowly creeping up to his lips. It didn't help that he was looking really good today either, his messy hair combined with the whole biker fit did wonders for your eyes. He was about to say something before you heard your ringtone go off, evidently cutting him off.

Oh.

It was Hyunwoo. That's odd... you finished your shared project with him rather early, what could he be calling you about? Either way, you answered the random call in front of a rather annoyed Wonwoo.

"Hello?"

"Heyyy yn, I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch later today?" You couldn't help but feel your eyes widen at his sudden question. Since when did he want to hang out with you? Last time you checked he had a plethora of girls that he was talking to... maybe he was interested in you? No, you shouldn't get too ahead of yourself...

"Um... let me check if I have anything to do first. Can I call you back?" You knew that you sounded nervous but how else were you supposed to feel when the cute guy from your physics class was literally asking you to eat lunch with him?

As soon as you ended the call, you felt Wonwoo's arm snake its way down to your waist. You couldn’t help but yelp at the sudden intimate contact. Chuckling at your reaction, he leaned down, closer to your ear. “Who was that?”

"No one." You stated simply, it wasn't his business anyway.

"Hm, okay," Wonwoo rested his head on your shoulder, continuing to speak lowly in your ear. "I'll remember that birdy."

Before you could even come up with something to counter him, he decided to speak up once again.

"Well, I do have something rather important to tell you." His voice was so calm and soothing, you could honestly listen to it for hours on end if you had the chance.

"What is it?" You hoped he couldn't sense your rather, embarrassing, curiosity.

"Heard you used to have a little crush on me," his voice was evidently smug, knowing that this would surely get a rise out of you.

Which it did.

Your face burned at the memories of when you used to have a crush on Wonwoo. But, that had to be in fourth grade… so how could he have known about that? Nonetheless, you scoffed at his statement, not wanting to know that you were a little embarrassed by the sudden reminder.

“Key word, had,” you rolled your eyes at him. This did make you curious though, who could have possibly told him that? So you asked him exactly that.

“How do you even know about that?” His smile never faltered even as you lightly pushed his hand away from your waist. If anything, this made him want to touch you even more.

“I have my ways,” he stated simply. Of course, he does. You hated when he would shrug things off, now this was going to bother you for the entire week!

One thing about Wonwoo was that he has always been curious about you, this interest stemming back all the way to your elementary days. This curiosity eventually intensified in junior year of high school when you began to show your blatant distaste towards him. He just had to get to know you.

He looked down at you, his face was unreadable like always. You never knew what was going on in that mind of his.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be hanging out with your actual friends?" Sometimes you couldn't help but blurt out your thoughts to him even if they sounded a bit rude. His face faltered for a split second, probably caught off guard by the random question. Shoot, you really didn’t mean to say that out loud. Although, it looks like Wonwoo didn’t take any offense to your sudden question. If anything, it made him... smile?

“I am hanging out with my friend,” he stopped you to face him, “which is you.” You rolled your eyes at him. That had to be the corniest thing he has ever said to you if you were being honest. You just hated that giddy feeling he would give you any time he said something remotely cheesy.

"Ugh, you're so dumb," you groaned while checking the time on your phone. It was getting close to noon and you hadn't responded to Hyunwoo's question from earlier. Maybe it was best if you didn't go... who knows what he wanted from you. If you were being completely honest, you didn't know if you had it in you to see other people at the moment, aside from Wonwoo of course.

"Have somewhere to be?" Wonwoo asked, a hint of concern peeking through his voice.

"No, thank god, but I do have a scheduled nap to get to so if you don't mind-" you were cut off by the sound of an engine revving, making your body jump at the unexpected noise. You turned to see where the source of the commotion was coming from but then realized it was coming from a group of bikers nearby; most likely Wonwoo's friends.

Or so you thought?

Wonwoo didn't seem too pleased with the group that was getting closer to where the two of you were. On the contrary, Wonwoo looked pissed. His jaw was visibly clenched, the gentle grip he had on your waist tightened, and his eyes lost that playful spark he had earlier. You couldn't help but feel guilty for thinking about how hot Wonwoo looked when he was angry. Of course, you would never want to be on the receiving end of his anger but seeing it on the sidelines was quite... interesting.

Wait. This might actually be serious, so it's best if you leave before anything crazy happens.

"I think I'm going to head out now..." you said quietly as you tried to slip away from Wonwoo's (awfully) strong grasp.

He turned to look at you, his eyes softening once they landed on your figure. Why did they have to come and bother him at this exact moment? He knew that whatever was going to happen was not going to be pretty, but he found himself reluctant to let you go.

Before truly letting you go, he quietly asked, "Are you sure? I can take you home if you want me to." As soft as his voice was, he still managed to sound composed which was comforting considering the situation.

You nodded in response, "I don't live that far from here so it's fine, thank you for the offer though." You managed to flash him a small, awkward smile before turning away from him and heading toward the direction of your apartment. You didn't know what exactly was going on between those guys and Wonwoo but it for sure wasn't friendly. Although it wasn't exactly your issue, you couldn't help but feel worried about Wonwoo, even if he was a pain in the ass sometimes.

Much to your dismay, that scheduled nap never came your way that day.

You blame Wonwoo, how were you supposed to sleep peacefully knowing he was probably getting jumped? Okay, you might be jumping to conclusions but what else were you supposed to think about when he was visibly angry at the mere sight of those guys?

Realistically speaking, it's only been two days since that whole incident happened. Granted, you haven't seen Wonwoo since then but that could mean a lot of things.

[...]

While you were in line to get a smoothie from one of the pop-up shops near the campus, you felt a sudden tap on your shoulder.

"Did my little birdy miss me?" You felt Wonwoo say right next to your ear, his breath fanning across your earlobe. It sent a wave of tingles down your spine, making you shudder in turn. Though you weren't a fan of his spontaneous appearance.

"God, you need to stop doing that! I almost slapped you I swear-" You stopped mid-way once you turned around and saw his face. He had a few cuts on his lips and eyebrows and one big bruise across his cheek. Those guys really did a number on him.

Your eyebrows furrowed in concern, "are you okay?"

He tried to wave it off but you could tell he was bothered by your question, "It's fine, really, don't worry about it." Was he insane? How were you not going to worry when he was visibly injured?

"Were these from the guys on Tuesday?" You couldn't help but ask, where else would he get these cuts and bruises if it didn't come from them?

His demeanor immediately switched and he pushed himself away from you.

"It's none of your business so stay out of it."

"Okay." That was the only thing you said before grabbing your smoothie from the worker and quickly walking away from the shop. If he wanted to be like that then so be it. You most definitely were not going to wait for him to 'open up' by all means, he could throw himself a pity party for all you care.

"Wait-" He tried reaching for your arm but you were too quick for him. Your steps were swift, helping you create a reasonable distance between you and Wonwoo. He called out your name a few times before giving up, he didn't want to gather any unwanted attention from the people nearby. Reaching your pace, Wonwoo was finally close enough to grab your wrist and make you look at him.

"Are you seriously ignoring me?" His voice was a bit jagged, no doubt coming from the unexpected cardio you made him do to catch up to you.

Unfortunately for him, you were petty. "You said it wasn't my business, so please do not talk to me because I really do not care." You brushed past him once again this time making sure he could not grab your arms or wrists.

He exhaled in annoyance, "Look I'm sorry-" Wonwoo was mid-apology before being abruptly cut off by the voice of a guy yelling your name out loud.

Speaking of the devil, what immaculate timing.

"Hey yn! Did you still want to get food after class?" Hyunwoo jogged to where you were standing but saw how Wonwoo was still trying to talk to you.

"Sorry, were you busy with him?"

You instantly responded to Hyunwoo, "No, he was just asking for directions, but yeah I'm down for food." Like before, you made your way towards Hyunwoo, making sure to bump into Wonwoo. He couldn't help but stay frozen in place as he watched you walk to class with some random guy, jealousy slowly invading his mind.

Directions? Did she really...?

As much as Wonwoo wanted to be mad at you, he really had no one to blame but himself. The whole situation with his old group of 'friends' was really getting to him so once you popped that question it just seemed to send him over the edge. He just didn't know how far you would go to express your annoyance towards him. Now all he had to do was find a way to properly apologize to you before that Hyunwoo guy got to you first.

The only thing stopping him? He didn't have your number or any of your socials...

Part Two: II

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

So...I was wondering if you had a post on information concerning Ace's older brother? Purely for research purposes of course...😅

Ask, and you shall receive!

This is a compilation of all the canon information I could find on Ace’s older brother. He has yet to be named, so 😅 errrr… I'll be referring to him as “Anippola" (as in “Trappola aniki”) in this post.

Anippola is older than Ace by 7 years.

According to Ace, his brother was even more excited about Ace getting into NRC than their parents were.

Before Ace was accepted into NRC, his older brother would take him along with him to various places.

He is an alumnus of NRC and was previously in Heartslabyul dorm; this is why Ace is not surprised when he, too, is sorted into Heartslabyul.

Ace talks with his older brother over the phone. Sometimes they talk late into the night, which occasionally makes Ace late in the mornings.

He “built up a whole repertoire of magic tricks” from his days as a NRC student. Ace learned them by playing watching, memorizing, and then finally replicating those magic tricks, since Anippola refused to tell him how to do them. It is through these kinds of experiences that Ace has become quite adaptable.

He learned some sleight of hand tricks from their magicless father too.

Whenever the Trappola men are together, they will challenge each other to pull off various tricks.

Ace reports that his older brother told him "the most convincing lies are sprinkled with a dash of the truth". This implies that Ace may have learned how to lie so cleverly from Anippola, or at the very least was inspired by his advice.

Ace's brother bought a luxury watch with his first paycheck. He framed it as though it was Ace's birthday gift, but then revealed the item was actually for himself and gave Ace an empty box instead.

Anippola later apologized and gave Ace a box of candy, which annoyed his little brother (because Ace says he's not a little kid, of course he wouldn't be happy about receiving candy!)

Another time, Anippola purposefully snuffed out the candles on Ace's birthday cake. This resulted in a fight between the brothers.

From these stories, we can deduce that Anippola s a prankster.

He did his 4th year NRC internship at a theme park management company designing shows and attractions. (The dialogue could also be interpreted as generally working in the entertainment industry, not specifically for the theme park company.) Anippola currently works for that same place.

There is supposedly a picture of Ace's brother hung up in the hallway by the teacher's lounge. The photo is from when Anippola led the card solider parade for a Magical Shift/Spelldrive opening ceremony.

Ace says his brother is not the type to make sweets for him.

Anippola wasn't all too interested in dorm life.

He told Ace about various ways to kill time at his dorm.

Ace describes Anippola as someone who is light-hearted, casual, and easy to get along with.

Ace also admits that it can be advantageous to have an older brother, as they are an example to follow and could support him in that way. He specifically mentions school life and job hunting as examples.

[sherwees]

piano lessons

cw: dubcon, more angsty idk, reader and kun are implied to have a LEGAL age gap, riding, maybe a sir kink, kun uses “sweetie” “sweetheart” etc etc on reader, lots of praising coming from kun too.

side note : I think I made kun praise the reader more than they actually fucked so urm.. uhhhhhhhh 👁👁

extra : I remember when my elementary music teacher told me I had long hands and I would be a great piano player.

extra extra : I used the word fucking and eyes too much for my liking.

apart of the nct corny porn plots series!

“how about you play this?”

once you hummed at kun's recommendation, he grabbed the music packet and set it in front of you. intently watching him place his finger on the cnote then drag it to the rest of the notes then stop it right at the dash.

“see this,” he tapped at d in between the a and f. “this is where you get really..” kun tries to express it with his hands but he places his hand on his thick thighs in defeat. “overwhelmed..” he finished with a sigh, he met eyes with you but you really met eyes with a key on the far end.

you simply nodded with a short-lived smile, his eyes narrowed in confusion before he tilted his head and nudged your shoulder. “come on, give me a real answer..” kun kept on nudging it until you grinned, he suspects that you're distant and jittery because of the death of your previous instructor but it's really because of how fucking sexy he was omg you wanted a slice of THAT.

“also, keep your wrists forward..” HE FUCKING GRABBED YOUR WRIST AND AND AND AND AND FUCKING POINTED IT FORWARD but lightly and hesitantly as if he was scared to break you, his hands were coarse but comfortably soft. “don't hunch,–” he mocked your stature right before you realized and straightened it.

“don't worry, you're doing much better than usual..” kun muttered, giving you a coy smile to somehow pay off his passive aggressive comment.

you started to play the familiar tune of the sonata, your mind trying to drift from the lingering touch on your waist. one part of your mind focused on moving away from his intruding hands; your spine angling uncomfortably to the left. the other on your frolicking fingers on the arrays of keys, you felt yourself starting to panic but for which reason?

him or that certain section of notes coming up??

maybe you could take your mind off of it?

think about the ache of your fingers but what about the fingers creeping around & across your waist

man fuck it.

you slammed the keys with a huff before covering your face, “I can't get this if you're rubbing all over me!” you said with an irritated tone, it was more embarrassing that you described it that way.. but you still got your point out visibly based off kun's offended look.

“a real pianist w–”

“WOULDN'T BE DISTURBED BY LITTLE THINGS LIKE THAT, OKAY I GET IT!” you snapped, standing up from the ottoman then slapping your hands to your sides; your fist balling together slowly. kun stared at your stiff figure with a sigh, but his eyes mused at your pouty lips; he yearned to finally kiss them.. but that's a little.. weird, isn't it?

“my apologies, maybe we need a break?” he suggested in a murmur, trying to hide his smile as he tapped a key lightly but the piano never emitted a sound. the tension was palpable and kun was sure that he'll make it boil over but.. to his liking. no matter what he had to do.

you took a breather, were you more overwhelmed about his absolute SEXINESS OMG YOU WANTED TO FUCK OMFGGGGG or about the piano piece? it was–

“now let's try that again, yeah?” his head peaked out of your peripherals, his eyes filled with some sort of mysterious enthusiasm. as if you were in some sort of illusion, you sat back down. “that's more like it..” kun whispered, his shoulder nudged against yours unintentionally. you didn't notice how the side of your knees were touching, your forearms nearly touched with every movement. freaky ass bitch...

once you were calm, you started playing again. his eyes intently watching your concentrated expression; how your eyes squinted at some points, your jaw clenching once you got to that one sixteenth note that bothered you two weeks prior.

“you're doing really well..” kun reassured, his breath was caught in his throat once he felt a tension at the base of his length with every move of your fingers.

man.. that third note kinda hit different this time..

after finishing, you haven't realized that you were sweating until you pulled your hands from the board. goddamn bitch, you were out of breath?!

kun stood up adruptly with a contempt sigh, brushing your sweaty forehead once you looked at him. you felt kun's hand quiver against your hairline before it felt to his waist, the silence was heavy and ominous. you couldn't even bother to make eye contact with him because of the goosebumps that tingled on the side of your neck. he literally wouldn't stop staring; he probably wasn't even blinking oh my fucking god.

after the sequence of silence, he finally said, “you did great today, sweetheart..” he complimented, hoisting you up by your arms into a hug. kun relished in the feeling of your warm skin against his cold own. “m’ so proud of you..” he whispered the praise into your ear, his lips grazed your lobe.

“I think you deserve an award, hmm?” kun seducted you, the familiar warmth and prickle of goosebumps followed up your neck.

“urm, what?!” you accidentally yelled, turning the tension cold. “huh?” kun said before pulling back, his face contorted in confusion as if he didn't do all that and a bag of chips. he quickly composed himself with a deep breath and clearing of his throat once he noticed your expression still remained angered, frustrated and overall fucking CONFUSED? I MEAN LIKE?!!

he totally got lost in the moment, kun needed to realize that he was your instructor and nothing more. not a lover. it hurt that you didn't see him like that and that you'll never understand how bad he wanted to embrace your warmth and revel in the feeling of the succulent plumpness of your lips. but he couldn't and he shouldn't.

“don't fucking act stupid!” your pent-up irritation scorched kun's frangible heart. “I know, I know, I fucking know!” his hand slammed an array of keys before he rubbed his forehead with a sigh. kun's hand perched on his hip before he looked back up at you, his deep brown eyes teary with hurt.

“I've tried so hard to keep us two platonic in some sort but I just can't do it! you're too much..” his forehead lines frowned in distress whilst his index and thumb met the inner corner of his eyes.

“I mean, I really wanna help you but at the same time, I-I just can't help myself.” he concluded with a restraint tone, his hand unintentionally slamming against the keys again but he found leverage on the top of the piano.

kun let out a throaty sigh once your eyebrows finally rested, “l-let's just continue,okay?” his eyes fell to the ground before he sat back down and you only followed; you didn't want to hurt him further.

once your fingers settled on the keys, your eyes managed to zone in on his heavy ass erection.

just look away, not at his jawline.. look away, maybe at his nose?! maybe at the outline of his maybe soft lips.. MAYBE AT THAT ONE MOLE UNDER HIS EYE?!! MAYBE THE MOLE THAT'S PEEKING OUT OF HIS OPEN BUTTON UP SHIRT?!!! MAYBE OR MAYBEEEE—

“okay- I—” you stood up with your hand on your forehead but immediately moved it away once it reminded you of him. nearly regurgitating the smoothie you chugged 12 hours ago that kun COINCIDENTALLY bought you, you managed to keep your stern authority.

but it completely faltered once he stood up too.

your hand surprisingly caught you, using the side of the piano. “just give me another chan–” he paused his soon series of pleads once he noticed that you shook your head, “it's fine, I'm just..” you trailed off, eyeing kun's erection for a second before looking back up at his eyes; they held some sort of.. weird.. erotic.. vibe to it..

“at this point, it's whatever you decide.”

“decide what?”

“if you wanna go home or to continue our lesson.” he said simply. “I'm just going to teach you.. nothing more.” kun suggested with some sort of grudge behind his words.

“I mean.. you're fine–I'm fine.. I mean– fuck, I'm so over this!” you cowered into your quaking palms before kun's hands (which you now noticed were abnormally larger than yours) pulled them away with a reassuring smile, it was like he was taunting you.. along with his dimples that poked inward.

“how about we just finish our lesson?” he sounded like a fucking robot, you hated it.. hated the fact that he was fucking ignoring that he was messing with you in the beginning of this bitchass lesson, the “sweethearts” “sweeties” that you had to deal with, his touches, his smile, his dimples, his lips, his hands,

just fucking everything, you hated him.

it wasn't a hate, you loathed him.

“stop acting like everything's okay! it's not.”

“well fine then!” he snapped, causing you to jolt lightly. “you have driven me insane since the first week I've even taught you.. I always tried to keep my feelings at bay just so I could fulfill your dream or whatever the hell and help you get over the death of your first instructor.. it hurt so bad when I saw you crying after our first day together.. I tried so fucking hard to be there for you.. provide for you and you just don't meet me in the middle, you've never even thought or bothered to even meet me in the middle either. and it's the bare minimum.” kun's tone died down towards the end, veins sprawled up his forearm as his hand clenched and unclenched with every word that seemed to be forced out of his throat, his eyes filled with some sort of animosity and longing at the same time.

“your naïvety makes my heart hurt so bad.. you just don't understand.” kun's voice strained, his arms flailed to his sides in distress, “you're just so irresistible— it feels weird that I even think about you like that but it's just..” he trailed but the rest of his sentence died in his throat, kun's distraught eyes stayed on the piano; his unshed tears bordered at his waterline shining from the warm lamp.

“I just want the best for you, and I believe that the best is with me.” kun came forward, your eyes followed his hand grasping your fingers quite awkwardly. you look up at him, your eyes were lost, confused and honestly baffled like that whole speech just for him to finally get pussy like hello?!

kun suddenly reached for his zipper simultaneously, his ample cock finally being freed from the suffocating confines of his trousers. but your conscience told you that you'll regret this and that something was off and that this was weird and wro— “sweetheart, be good for me alright..” the cool brass of his rings tingled your face once he gripped your jawline, a sardonic smile splayed on his face.

“kun, seriously–” he ignored your concern as he harshly yanked and tore the waistband of your pants to your knees. your heart raced anxiously, but for what? something about him just intimidated you towards borderline fear.

“just tell me what you want.” kun gripped your waist urgently, his fingernails digging into your skin causing you to wince. “come on now, just give in.” he allured you further, his eyes searching yours for any sort of deceit before his hungry lips practically swallowed yours. yes, his lips were actually soft but he gave too much tongue and it made you nearly recoil everytime he would nudge your tonsil.

kun quite literally tackled you to the ottoman, the warmth of his crotch swept through the butterflies in your stomach and straight towards your cewchie. without any effort, he placed your legs around his hips before pushing down his boxers. the heat emanating from his cock along with the weight of his tip on your clit alone was terrifying, “I don't think I could–” you wept, your imploring orbs meeting his deep-set ones.

“I think you could, I believe you could.. be brave for me, alright?” kun coaxed you while yanking your panties down, overstretching the hem a bit. kun groaned at the sight of your slick that glistened in the light, his tip slipped in between your folds; causing a full body shock to rack through him. “so fucking wet for me, hmm?” kun chimed, that same smile that made you nauseous appeared once more.

“you're s’ pretty, you know that?” you moaned when his pointer tugged at your clit playfully, a warm blob of precum slid to your hole. the head of his cock circled your sopping hole before he slid in easily with the aid of your arousal. your back arched at the unbearable stretch, your hands clawed and tore at his back as he tried to not simply cum over the unsteady pulsating of your walls.

“I fucking swear– just– fuck..” kun huffed, his dark brows furrowed in reluctance and concentration. agonizingly slow, he steadied his thrusts to be short; his tip nudging at your cervix. “you feel so fucking good–” kun said breathlessly, you winced once he slid out with an arousing pop before he sat up. “need you to ride me, alright? I don't think I'll control myself..” he shook his head with defeat, his collar bones sheened with sweat.

“sir– I don't–” he lazily smiled with a sigh and Pat to your thigh, “come on now..” he leaned back, his length twitching against his belly button like an invitation. you nodded hesitantly before straddling his lap, looking down at his length; your stomach dropped but once you took a deep breath, you were probably fine.. for now.

“breathe, princess..” he murmured against your jawline, your lips contorting in an attempt to take his wide tip but your hole only fluttered it out. “fuck– seriously I–” you screeched when kun suddenly shoved you down, tears jumping from your eyes in heavy blotches. you couldn't even bother to make eye contact with him, his eyes were hazed over with full lust.

his big hands grasped your hips as he maneuvered you on his cock, breathy gasps leaving him and whimpers leaving yours. “taking me so well, doll..” he praised you before leaving kisses upon your neck, suckling at some point as the taste of salt from sweat and tang of perfume mingled on his tongue.

the pace you set was obnoxiously slow for kun.. he knew that you were holding back or just not putting your all into it.. he scrutinized you again, your plush but yet tense thighs, your shut eyes unleashing bits of tears.

fuck you were going to be the death of him.

with every bounce on his lap, both of your pre-releases smacked around between you two. your inner thighs were uncomfortably sticky and irritated but the pleasure that coursed through your lower region aided a bit. kun's hips suddenly thrust upward, his hips now meeting yours in sync; causing you to squeal into your hand.

“baby, you could go a bit faster.. come on now..” he really only said that because his release was practically around the corner, he was sure that you could tell from his tensing thighs and twitches of his aching length stealthed in your warmth. kun's eyes rolled back to his skull once you clenched around him again, his hips stuttering additionally with a slap to your ass.

“don't do that baby..” kun heaved, looking down at the mess under you then up at you with eastern european gay porn sadness in his eyes. his clammy hands slide to your thighs whilst you rest your hands on the hook of his shoulders, he suddenly reached a relentless pace; the ottoman squeaking ever so lightly under you both.

“m’ gonna cum...” you mustered a murmur, mixed with a sob. there was only a squelching and smacking that resounded throughout the room, your abdomen caved before you yelped and fell lax into kun's arms with a heave.

“with me, okay?–” his doe eyes pleaded with you, his cock shooting rounds of precum that made your clit swirl. “with me, fuck you're so–..” he shut himself up with another peck to your lips. coincidentally, his thumb applied pressure right at your clit; your fingers tapped at his back once the pressure started to sting.

he suddenly released, his cum combining with the leaking trail of all sorts of releases down your thighs. his chest raising up and down in a tired rhythm against your cheek, his cock releasing wave after wave of his essence until it became droplets. kun eventually pulled out of you and pulled you off of him effortlessly, your head banged on the piano keys though.

cursing to himself, he pulled your head onto his chest and wrapped his arms around your waist. you looked up at him and giggled, kun stared in confusion at your hysterical laughter before you suddenly bit the tip of his nose. it was just something you always wanted to do.

kun immediately covered his nose with a hiss and you weirdly tasted chocolate and then there was a crunch.. “uncover your nose..?” you asked, he shook his head aggressively before you simply just pulled his hands away.

you gasped, he was made of white chocolate..? there was also bits of oreos you tasted also.. that's why his cum had a weird consistency..

“you're made of white chocolate, ew..” kun pouted at your comment before biting your shoulder, you were caramel flavoured. biting his ear lobe, kun pushed you away with an honestly cute angry face. kun then bit you and then you bit him and you ended up eating the top half of his head to his eyes and he ate one of your titties and a bit of your shoulder.

both of you had to go into hiding until you were able to go back into society, kun was blind and you were lopsided. you felt bad that he always had to grip the walls to find his way around the house, always having to touch your missing tittie to make sure it was you.

so you decided to push that whole “I'll love you for all of you even the missing parts” standard away and started venturing out everyday throughout the coco woods and choco lakes, you came back with tubs of the cocoa confection just so you could perfectly sculpt your lover's face back.

taglist: @teasteeper @haechansbbg

[hollowed-theory-hall]

yeah i definitely think the animagus form is supposed to symbolize what you are inside. sirius is a powerful and dangerous dog - for loyalty and protection. im really curious to hear more about your thoughts about him actually turning into a Grim specifically because I LOVE that.

Thank you, yeah, anon is referring to this post. I just always kinda thought everyone was right to mistake him for a grim, and really, his description in dog form just makes it seem very likely actually:

But Harry continued to stare at the front cover of the book; it showed a black dog large as a bear, with gleaming eyes. It looked oddly familiar. . . .

(PoA, 54)

Harry outright says the grim on the cover of Unfoging the Future looks like Sirius' Animagus form.

Harry saw something that distracted him completely — the silhouette of an enormous shaggy black dog, clearly imprinted against the sky, motionless in the topmost, empty row of seats.

(PoA, 178)

Sirius when he comes to watch Harry's quidditch match, again he isn't described like any regular stray dog. and all the descriptions of Sirius I looked from PoA I looked up have him described as incredibly large and off looking for a dog:

And just then, it emerged — a gigantic, shaggy black dog, moving stealthily across the lawn, Crookshanks trotting at its side.

(PoA, 304)

Something was bounding toward them, quiet as a shadow — an enormous, pale-eyed, jet-black dog. Harry reached for his wand, but too late — the dog had made an enormous leap and the front paws hit him on the chest; he keeled over backward in a whirl of hair; he felt its hot breath, saw inch-long teeth —

(PoA, 334)

“Lumos,” Harry muttered, and a light appeared at the end of his wand, almost dazzling him. He held it high over his head, and the pebble-dashed walls of number two suddenly sparkled; the garage door gleamed, and between them Harry saw, quite distinctly, the hulking outline of something very big, with wide, gleaming eyes. [...] “There was a big black thing,” said Harry, pointing uncertainly into the gap. “Like a dog . . . but massive . . .”

(PoA, 33-34)

Harry tells Stan, "Like a dog but massive" Why would he say that about a regular-sized, semi-normal dog?

That being said, there are some very large dog breeds out there that Harry probably isn't the most aware of that Sirius could be. But, Sirius being a grim just makes sense to me, idk.

Like, he grew up in Grimmauld Place so it connects him to his family in a way another dog breed wouldn't. Sirius is a Black and proud enough to have a rare magical creature as an Animagus form. I also think it's kind of amusing for all that he likes to disregard his family and their ways, he still has a magical Animagus form ("Always pure" whether he wants it or not). The grim connects him with death and therefore with some of what a stag represents as I mentioned here. This connection with death connects him to the Potters in general (the Peverells) and with James, Lily, and Harry, which I like a lot since the main target of his dog-like loyalty are the Potters. James at first and later on, Harry.

And the Grim is an omen of death, when you see it, death follows soon after. And if the stag symbolizes death and a passage to the afterlife, it sorta marks Sirius and James as inseparable, just like they are described as being, "never saw one without the other".

Also, Sirius is a character that has always accepted death. I believe the original plan with the Secret Keeper was for everyone to think Sirius was the Secret Keeper while Pettigrew was the real one. He was the decoy and ready to die at such a young age for the safety of the Potters. And when we meet him later in life he is just as willing to face death. Then add the fact that he died by literally falling into the vail of death, how he was the last Black by name, and all his family died, like, idk, I feel like Sirius has some connection to death (not like Harry, more like a shadow of death following him) and I like the idea of him being the grim, being that shadow that after you see it, death will follow as a symbol of his personal tragedy as well.

(Hope my yapping makes sense...)

[bibibbon]

Ok a question center about Izu, in a way. Hm, ok let me gather my thought:

Mirio is either stupid or naive? I ask this bc well nighteye was a miserable bitch against Izu for no reason but petty. Is Mirio aware Nighteye is a creep or ...nighteye fake around mirio?

Now to Izu...I think I'm the only one who can see this but...Izu getting the quirk, ofa, is now a mean spirit joke. "Huh?what you mean?"

Mirio is the perfect candidate for ofa. He has a good grasp on his quirk, he knows how to act and is a mini am. He could fill the gap right away and AM was in a hurray.

Why pick Izu?

"he saved PoS" which ok...but is that enough to grant him a special quirk? No discussing or get to know Izu? Am doesn't know this kid...for all he knows Izu could have used ofa for evil.

To me, the way I see it. Izu got the quirk bc am is stubborn and nighteye was a mega creep.

Like Mirio was a perfect option for ofa. Why Izu? Not asking this to shit on him (I'm not Hori) but while Izu does work to make this quirk his...AM was putting pressure...he needs Izu to be the symbol of peace in a second.

Mirio already was a symbol or coming closer. Why not him?

What makes Izu special of ofa? It's bc am picked him and it's a good reason if we saw why am picked him. Am picked him way too quick.

One good and frankly suicidal mission was enough to make him his heir. Why? We will never know.

Again, not shitting on Izu. I wanted to see a reason as why Izu is worthy of ofa. But we don't. The relationship of am and Izu is ...no. Existent. Really make me think he picked Izu too quick and if nighteye wasn't himself...the ofa would go to Mirio.

Hi @mikeellee 👋 sorry for not answering this sooner!

Hmm interesting I would say mirio is naive with a dash of biases. Let me explain, what I mean is that Mirio believes that nighteye wouldn't do such a thing especially if it's towards someone he thinks is a friend. Mirio and nighteyes relationship is what I like to describe what nighteye wanted his relationship to be with all might in a way.

I don't think that Mirio is aware of nighteye's creepy behaviour as canon never alludes or implies it at all and Mirio someone who has a strong sense of righteousness and would probably be very irked if he found out about nighteye.

My theory is that due to all mights and nighteye's strained relationship all might didn't trust nighteye's input or decision so he may of left Mirio getting OFA as a last resort type of thing. However, you are right Mirio is basically perfect for the role especially if they wanted another mini all might in a hugely short span of time but I think the message was supposed to be that with society changing that another all might may actually harm society a lot more than do good for it. Now I think that if horikoshi actually allowed Izuku's character to go through proper development that izuku would be perfect in delivering that message however this idea doesn't hold much weight after Izuku's fight with shigaraki that parallels all mights kamino fight.

Also maybe Izuku reminded all might of himself so that's why he picked him. In reality how would all might really know that though??!?! All might and izuku bonding time is basically non existent in the manga or anime their relationship is also non existent. All might doesn't know much about izuku and neither does izuku. All might is a bad mentor and it's never brought up or used as a point to develop him and his relationship with Izuku.

Iam not sure what's so special about izuku for all might to pick him or why all might never picked Mirio. I remember a few years ago I saw a video talking about how in the overhaul arc we never actually got proof as to why izuku is the better candidate for OFA and i have to actually agree. Izuku never ended up differentiating himself from Mirio and frankly we don't even have any logical reasoning from all might as to why it was izuku himself. Or it's how he broke the bystander effect and wanted to help bakugo even though he couldn't do anything that maybe inspired him to help this kids dream of becoming a hero become a reality but oh well I guess we will never know the true answer.

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

I have a couple of question-headcanons-idea thingies about Yves appearance if u don’t mind. So would Yves wear more gold or silver jewelry? Like I can’t decide whether he would have cool undertones or warm undertones. Cool undertones because of his sometimes very icy nature, steely stare and almost vampiric aspects of his nature. But also could be warm because of the motherly warmth and comfort he gives off, he reminds me of a hearth.

Also we gotta talk about how tall this man probably is like legit. Like you always describe him as tall and slender but it didn’t hit me until today that this man is probably a beanstalk. So like he was a model at one point which lets me know that he’s at the very least 6-6’3 naturally, now imagine the heels along with it, I dunno I personally think with heels he may be taller than Monty which adds to the intimidation factor.

Omg and his HAIRRR!! I always wondered what his natural hair texture is like whenever he doesn’t do blowouts. Like does he have naturally straight, wavy or even curly hair, I personally think he would have straight or slightly wavy naturally but I dunno, what r ur thoughts (if you have any, it’s okay to keep these things vague if u want)

(One day I will draw him Omg as u can see I have completely hyper fixated on him if I was reader I would be in his walls fr 😔)

Ou shid i am the opposite of minding, PLEASE DO SEND MOARR it also feeds my brain rot

anyways,

Yves only wears jewelry if it completes his look or it can aid him in manipulating people somehow.

When it comes to his outfits, he would wear silver if his clothes that day have cool undertones, and gold if it's warm and deep-toned. Yves could be your thermometer, if he knew that you're most likely to overheat that day, he would stick to cool neutrals. If it's chilly, he would don warm colors. Likewise with his choices in jewelry. Numerous other factors will determine his fashion, but the strongest influence is the weather and how he could use it to his advantage, making him much more appealing to you.

Yves's fingers are generally free of rings unless you and he were married. Then the wedding band will only leave his finger during certain situations such as performing surgery on you or cooking your meals. When he was younger, one of his favorite rings to wear was the brass knuckle. It would be a determining factor whether he beats his opponent into a bloody pulp, or he becomes one. As he grew older, he swapped that out with a quieter, secret compartment ring. A dash of whatever poison he decided to fill up that day does wonders without the mess and effort of throwing repeated punches. Perhaps you're particularly rowdy that day and wouldn't listen to reason, a little sedative would do the trick.

He does wear earrings though, mostly Diamond studded earrings because large or hanging ones would be more likely to snag on his hair and something else. He learned the existence of earlobe reattachment surgery through the hard way when he forgot to remove his hoops before a fight. But it doesn't mean he would never rock bolder styles, just rarely. During periods when he would wear his hair up, you would most likely see him wear pendant earrings that elongate the appearance of his elegant neck. Yves's extensive collection of jewelry he collected over the decade means you never see him wear the same set twice.

His height was kept vague because it would give me a lot of freedom to play with how he holds you. But just remember that he could carry you with one arm under your rear, on his hip, like a child. And to get to your eye level, he has to kneel. The height of his heels definitely depends on his goal and your personality, perhaps you're intimidated by his height. So he wears kitten pumps around you. However, to everyone else? Stilettos with red bottoms all the way.

Yves can wear flats or shoes, but why should he have to? He has worn heels for so long that it's actually much more comfortable to move in those torture devices. If you handed him a 20-inch lobster heel, Yves would walk or even run around in it as if he were wearing a pair of comfortable sneakers. His footwear must have at least a minimum of 2 inches on its heels.

If you pay close attention when he's barefoot, he's walking on his toes; he would be completely silent when moving around. But he's barely seen without some sort of footwear, even his home slippers have some height to it. This is mostly to alert you of his presence, so you won't have a heart attack whenever he greets you with a kiss on the back of your head.

His hair is implied to be naturally straight; he needed to sleep in silk curlers to look effortlessly gorgeous the next day. For the longest time, he hated his hair for not maintaining shape whenever he tried heat curling it. He wore extensions and wigs, and Yves tried shaving it all off to 'reset' his hair- that was one of the rougher patches in life he went through, he has experienced it all. Yves spent a good fortune on hairspray back then, he probably contributed greatly to the puncturing of the ozone layer. He wanted volume, he wanted structure, but he either didn't have the knowledge or the means to achieve that. Eventually, though, he learned through trial and error, through endless magazines and even research projects on how to care for his hair to look like his ideal. It's much thicker, healthier, and shinier than that of his past.

You wouldn't need to be in his walls, it's dusty there and you would get electrocuted with all the wiring in it. Yves wants you to come out so you would be in his lap, while he types away on his laptop. It's much more comfortable there, he wouldn't mind staying in the same position for hours and hours on end.

Just as long as you're fed, cleaned, using the toilet enough, and sleeping well. Yves will let you hyper-fixate on him as much as he hyperfixates on you.

But he knew that you wouldn't be able to even come close to his level of obsession towards you. And that's fine with him.

[mae-i-scribble]

Since I am entirely too unwell about Ancient Magus Bride at all times of the day I have decided to break down the latest opening because I cannot do so for the friend I am watching season 2 with since she hasn't read the manga. Hands down this latest opening, Nemurasareta Lineage by Junna, is the best in the series to me. And I don't make that claim lightly, the first opening is iconic on so many levels from the visual to the lyrics, we ignore the 2nd opening bc it sucked (sorry to the fans out there I just do my best to pretend this one doesn't exist, no i have not moved on from my bitterness at its reused animation since 2016 next question), and season 2's first opening is also incredible.

However, what this latest opening brings to the table is some of the most spectacular visuals I've seen in a hot minute- and I don't mean from purely visual, I mean thematically, this opening is fucking spectacular. Every single moment has purpose and meaning behind it.

I will be putting the rest under a read more as to not clog anyone's dash bc this is gonna be l o n g

Starting off from the very first shot we already have so much thematic meaning crammed into this.

Firstly, the shot of Elias opening the book has many connotations, alluding to how he has read the Testament of Carnamagos while also alluding to the fact that him reading that book is ultimately what lead to this story happening at all. If Elias had never read it to try and transfer Chise's curse, Chise would not have done what she did and Elias wouldn't have learned how to let Chise be independent, and then Chise never would have gone to the college. In that respect it's a perfect opener for this "play," as it was the prelude to this act.

Then we have the next shot of Elias hanging like a puppet, showing us an empty vessel-like appearance before being pulled upwards. There are a lot of different ways to interpret this, personally it drew me back to how the Wil O' Wisp described a magus as "someone bound to their fate." Elias, a tried and true magus, is bound to his fate like a puppet on a string while Chise, someone who is not yet fully a magus is free to walk around the stage as herself. Elias' removal from the set, and subsequently the way he claps to bring forth the next "acts" in the show, I think speaks to the way he is largely removed from this arc. Of course he is there, watching over Chise and pushing her along as best he can, but he has very much taken more of a spectator role in this arc. He guides his pupil the best he can but lets her make her own choices.

Now, onto Chise's entrance.

With the college/the sorcerer's society as our stage, the protagonist enters. Chise walks in and looks around confused, just as she did when first entering the college and when she first learned of the dark politics lying underneath it. She is the only one not a part of the performance, the one factor that ultimately destroys the narrative the Sargent and the Rickenbacker families were trying to create.

At first, I thought these cardboard figures were a representation of the 7 powerful sorcerer families we are introduced to, but then I realized there were actually 8 figures so that theory is thrown out the window. This is something I'm not actually that confident in so if anyone else has interpretations I am so down to hear it. Obviously the woman in red holding the spider alludes to Lucy. The wolf next to her is most likely then the werewolf mother. The hooded man with the hammer I think can reasonably represent Isaac. While the knight beside him I honestly see as Rian (his sort of knight in shining armor attitude when it comes to Philomela, his very straight-laced straightforward view of things). The nun-like figure with the owl is mostly likely representing Philomela/Lizabeth Sargent. I can see the jester with the snake wrapped around him to be Zoey. For the last two figures though, I am absolutely stumped. The two women with the songbird remind me of Veronica, from the way she was raised up by her family to be a bird in a cage while simultaneously holding Philomela in an even smaller cage. For the family on the far right though I have absolutely nothing. However, I know there is some meaning behidn it, this opening is too packed with symbolism for it not to.

Speaking of symbolism, the sequence that follows is chalked full of it.

Elias ushers in the entrance of Philomela, trapped in her cage. The design of the cage and the flowers around it make it seem extravagant, exactly what Philomela's life might look like to someone not aware of what's really going on. But a cage is still a cage, and this one comes with a guardian owl, keeping watch over Philomela in place of actually showing Lizabeth. The toys lining the bottom are representative of one of the key moments that made Philomela realize just how tight the bars around her were- that she would never have her grandmother's love, no matter what she did.

Then we cut to moments of Philomela's childhood, again deceptively happy with what we know of Veronica and how she treated Philomela. The baby bird hatching from the egg, Philomela when she was still young and innocent and far too fragile. This association of the baby bird with Philomela also comes back later in a heartbreaking way so :')

Then Chise reaches out with the potpourri, and Philomela becomes alive. It's so fitting, in that Chise's kindness to Philomela, the understanding she has to exactly the pain Philomela is going through, is what touches Philomela so deeply, reminds her of the time where her life was not structured in this way. Chise gives her hope that it doesn't have to be, Chise pulls her out of it and gives her a perch to stand on, and it all began with one fateful meeting.

The shot we get of Chise smiling and swaying in the breeze is all too perfect, in showing that this desire for connection is mutual.

Fittingly, we then see Chise reach out to her friends one by one. Lucy and Zoe's each have a bit more meaning behind them, as we're still somewhat in the dark when it comes to Rian and Isaac's histories, but it still examplifies the ways in which Chise tries to help those around her as best she can. It also makes it abundantly clear why Philomela, and subsequently everyone else, are presented as children in this sequence: a direct reference to chapters 86-87 in which they all are mixed up due to Chise's influence and Chise goes around helping them regain themselves. It marks the turning point in which Philomela tries to take a stand against her grandmother and start believing in the people who have come to try and save her.

There is one gaping hole in this in that Zoey is in fact, not present at all in the whole mind melding thing, but I'm taking that as the animators/directors wanting to include him in this sequence as another main player. Plus the shot we get of him is very cheeking in showing a broken shell- in the way Chise figurative helped him break out of his shell and very literally revealed him to be a gorgon/human mix by accident.

In that interpretation it is also crucial to think about why Chise was kept as her teenage self and not also scaled down to baby form as in the original chapter. But overall keeping her as a teenager flows with the story of the opening itself better while still keeping those same allusions and thematics.

The next big shot to talk about is this one right here.

Many have already pointed out how it is an homage to the classical painting "The School in Athens." Which is very fitting for the college setting of this arc. More so than the reference itself, the way in which the characters are placed is so meaningful.

We have Chise in the center of it all as the catalyst of course. But we once more get that repetition of Elias as a bystander, observing the situation while remaining more in the background when it comes to Chise. Parallel to him is Lizabeth, who is similarly an outsider but with none of Elias' good nature, she is an outsider in that she wants to watch this scene burn to the ground (and probably why the choice was to then introduce a werewolf who leaps forwards on the attack, still under Lizabeth's control.)

Ruth and Alcyone are also parallel to one another, highlighted in a shot mirroring the two of them. This is interesting in that Alcyone is far more often paired with Elias when being given a point of comparison. While she is quite literally an artificial familiar, her presence is what sparks the idea that Elias might be something similar to her, and yet here she is paired with Ruth. They do have their similarities in the way they would do anything for the person they live for. A thought that struck me was in this mirroring there is also a contrast, Ruth shares his life with Chise, if he dies she is to die as well. However Alcyone's death was meant to be a way for Philomela to live- it was crucial in ensuring Philomela's freedom from her grandmother.

Also notably, Veronica is given a long, lingering shot. As a child, she is far more innocent looking, but the shot stays just a moment too long, as if trying to confirm the suspicions surrounding her (which manga readers will know are true). We also have Jasmine and Violet prominently featured, a very interesting choice considering how little a role they play in this arc, but I feel that current suspicions about how they will have a large role in the upcoming arc might be supported by their presence here. There actually isn't much to say about the shots with the werewolf and our first glimpse of how the show portrays the Testament as it gains a physical form.

While gorgeous there's just not much to say about them from an analytical standpoint. Besides for the way in which everyone is turned back into their play forms upon being killed, as if that was their original fate before Chise's interference with the story.

We then see Chise look devastated, the carnage of her dead friends behind her on the stage. It truly captures just how terrified she is of losing people she cares for. But then she looks at the thorn rune- plot relevant in the way her rune charms protected her friends from being killed. But it's also Elias' symbol, and yet another reminder of how he is still watching over and protecting her throughout all of this. It's only after she activates the magic that she looks up, determined to carry on and change this fate.

The start of our final action sequence for this opening is a bang, giving us this chaotic shot.

We see both bits of the classical painting and of our original stage figures being tossed around in the background referencing how the Testament literally rips its way through both the college itself and the students/teachers there. It also, notably, is not contained within the story, instead existing on the same plane as Chise. It's a being far too powerful to be contained in such a way, so it makes perfect sense for it not to be confined to the theatrical setting of this opening.

The next flash of shots is perhaps one of the most hearbreaking ones in this entire opening. First we're shown Philomela and her grandmother, then we cut to this:

Y'all the layers to this, the l a y e r s. We've already seen this bird represent Philomela in the opening itself as a hatchling. However the adult form of this bird is exactly the same as what Alcyone's base is, it is the only thing remaining once Alcyone dies. However we see all 3 stages of life here, lying dead on the ground. The Sargent family is a family of abusive cycles. Lizabeth passes down her abuse to her son, having been doomed to this path from the moment she was born. It's Adam who tries to break the cycle but ultimately fails, choosing to end his own life rather than return. This dooms his baby daughter to the same fate, nearly killing her as well. It's Alcyone, the last remaining gift Philomela has from her father and the one way he thought of to keep her safe even if he was gone. It's both about the cycles and about how they are broken and how Philomela will never truly escape the violence of the family she was born into, even after her grandmother is gone. This is then followed by the 1 picture of her parents that Philomela tries so hard to remember but cannot. Anyways I am going to be physically ill, next.

While the last sequence is just a build up to the final fight (cool as fuck but again, not much to say analytically), I do want to point out that when the Testament pulls in all the surrounding settings, it pulls in both the theatrical characters and the actual representations of Chise's friends with them. Which is such a cool little detail my jaw in on the fucking floor.

And after a brilliantly animated scene of Chise running to try and save Philomela from the jaws of this monster, everything abruptly comes to a close. Leaving us unsure of whether or not Philomela was truly saved, as the last set piece to fall away is that gilded cage, the angle making it unclear if Philomela is still inside before our title card appears. The quiet, peaceful shot of the classroom the title lingers over in favor of the chilling set pieces of the opening before it is an excellent place to end, leaving that sense of urgency and notions of the sinister lying in wait at the college.

All of this, and I haven't even touched on the lyrics- which I won't do so here. I am not a qualified translator and frankly this post is long enough as it is. It isn't as if this opening needs anything else to explain how fucking fantastic it is- the visuals themselves are stunning on a level few openings are these days. Not only does it tie into already existing thematics of the show, not only does it go through plot points we have seen and those yet to come in unique and engaging ways, the opening *itself* brings forth its own thematic reading of the college arc and Chise's place in it while telling its own story of events. Truly a masterclass piece of animation all around.

[sprinklenoodles]

They're here! Hopes Peak's Troublesome Trio

My bad if the image quality's a bit wonky. As for some little image-y blabbering, I tried my best to combine their actual outfits with a dash of Heathers in there. It's not very clear in the sketch by the way, but they are all wearing plaid somewhere in their designs. It's mostly the bottom half such as the shorts for Chihiro, the pants for Byakuya, and the skirt for Junko. Wanted them all to match to show "Yeah! These three scoundrel's are clearly hanging out with each other while gossiping about their classmates at the lunch table" Additionally, I gave them the little overcoat thingies the Heathers got but I have no clue what they're called. Are they overcoats? Just weird button up blazers? No clue! I'm so bad with names too but yeah. They have them. Junko is extra though so hers is undone cus she's just like that I guess. Another thing is that, initially, I was going to draw Makoto here too. His big head was blocking Chihiro's shorts though so he got axed unfortunately. I wanted to make it EXTRA clear that Chihiro was wearing these goofy looking shorts with the suspenders. He's gasping in spirit at the trio though! Wish I was able to put Kyoko in here as well baring her teeth or something but my brain got too excited when I drew Junko and was happy with how she looked so whoops O-O I dunno. The way I drew her just makes me happy. Still dunno about the knee socks though or if I should give her leggings. Also dunno if I should just read everything there and THEN draw or if doing it chapter by chapter's fine. For now though, I did it!! Hope this is good!! The designs are also still up for some tweaks and even more when I eventually draw more rendered pics of them with their respective colors. Dunno if I'll give them the colors of the Heathers or just what I feel works for them. It's mostly a question for Byakuya and Chihiro though since red just works with Junko though I think reading more might help hehe!

This is AWESOME!!!! Really love how they look, especially Chihiro with his silly suspensers.

And it's not like I have described their outfits a lot (other than Junko trying on an outfit in the latest chapter) so technically you can't even go wrong. I really love them though!!

As for colours... Well, Byakuya always goes well with green. I've always seen that as his colour. But it doesn't really matter. Like you said, Junko and red go well together, but they don't need to match up. Byakuya's the leader of the group (though, there isn't a real leader. He just kinda makes the final decisions if the others can't choose) but I would go with green for him.

But also, there are multiple characters where I would say green- Makoto especially but Chihiro a wee bit too. Though, something like brown or yellow (maybe blue, not sure) also goes well with him.

But I don't think that their outfits would just be one colour. That wouldn't look that good, so there's no way Junko would allow it lol.

But really love these outfits!!! Thank you!!!

[andytr-dream]

Hi it's me again!!

So SPOILERS AND THOERYYYYY

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So if we go with the theory that lilia dreams is not 100% memory like we suspect because of the time inconsistency and some things that he wouldn't obviously know ( because he wasn't there).

Like a normal dream ( a dream sometimes or most times is.compose.by elements that are from our memory that the brain re-arranges in weird ways and other are fabrocations or filling the gap of imagination juice of your brain creation)

And we also go with the theory that he actually never saw the knight of dawn face ( maybe just Leah Silvers mom because of the ring and his unique magic, but that can also apply with any other object, so there might be a possibility that he could actually somehow also could have seen the face of dawn, but .... anyway that's not the theory of today) and that's why he has Silver face like carbon copy ( I made my rant already don't make start again I am mad ) because he imagines that's how he would look, Silver being his son and only reference ( ..... even though he saw like I said his mom soooooooooooooo???? But whatever I guess )

The THINGG is , and I want to clarify, the rute i want to go is not angs rute in this post ( that is implied because you know Yada Yada the face of the person that killed my loved one Yada Yada is the fave of my son yada yad pushshshshsh bhaa) NAH not going that rute shit twisted already has enough angst.

THE THINGG IS that he did hear rumors of the night of dawn or might have heard rumors of him .....

So He knows that the knight of that must be beautiful and blessed human a really dashing and handsome one like shit really pretty ........

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SO WHO DOES THIS MOTHER GRANDPA FATHER SIMP CONSIDER TO BE o so beautiful that he just put a face on it EVEN THOUGHT HE NEVER SAW HIS FACE BUT CONSIDER THAT FITS ALL DOES CRITERIA

THATS RIGHT

HIS MOTHER FU*#&$£IK SON

To him his son unconsciously or consciously is the most beautifully and blessed human that earth has, pretty, handsome literally blessed with beauty he just put him there like he was like " a yes mi SON FACE IS JUST THAT YOU DESCRIBE PERFECTION" his og dad was said to be beautifully...... that mean it's a carbon copy of MY BEUTIFFULLL SON

LIKE WHTA THE ...£#*$

..... IAM DONE WITH THIS FATHER SIMP COME ON, I EVEN BET MALLEUS HAD A HAND ON THIS

like omgg lilia just tell him you love him and is your baby son like LIKE !?!?!?!?!?

You don't need too gush about him in your dream just tell him like...... really ... in front of my salad ( in al honestly is hilarious to think this is like lilia just prasing silver beauty like in dream 😅)

This is me hoping THIS is the reson that Silver og dad.had such a lazy design PLEASE PLEASE LET IT BE JUST A SIMPING DAD AND BIG BROTHER MALLEUS THAT WANTED THEIR BABY TO BE THE PRETTIEST GIRL.OF THE WORLD.

[level2janitor]

whenever someone complaints abt a ttrpg being 'gamey' the standard response is "well what did you expect?? you're playing a game, dipshit". but i think by 'gamey' the actual criticism being made is that it feels artificial

5e's always felt gamey to me because of the annoying obligation to balance encounters and an adventuring day. you need to have enough encounters to drain the wizard's resources, they need to walk a tightrope between challenging the PCs and not TPK-ing them, etc etc.

and everyone talks about how hard this is on the GM with the limited tools 5e gives you (which it is) but it also has the unrelated effect of feeling extremely forced from a player-side. the illusion of a consistent world starts to slip because what the PCs encounter has to revolve around the PCs for the game to work.

also i've been seeing a lot of 4e defending on my dash lately and like, yes it's a good game that's very good at the thing it chooses to do. but the criticism that 4e feels gamey (read: artificial) is extremely valid; the strict separation between combat and non-combat results in all flavor basically being only flavor

there's a 4e paragon path you can take called the Entrancing Mystic, whose powers have flavor text describing how you bewitch and ensnare the minds of your enemies. what do the powers actually do? some forced movement in the combat boardgame. what happens if you use them out of combat? who knows! they certainly weren't designed to be used that way, because their actual effect is measured only in terms of the combat boardgame

obviously there's a lot of aspects of non-4e D&D and similar games that are unrealistic. hit points are not how being stabbed works. but certain gamisms bother me more bc they create a clear disconnect between the fiction and the mechanics in a more tangible way.

like, 13th age's resting system (great game but i wanna pick on it here) has you fully heal every 3 or 4 encounters. only had one encounter? no full heal-up, even if you're resting. you have had four encounters? you get a full heal-up. there's a halfhearted sidebar about how the GM should contrive a reason for the heal-up to happen.

as a game balance mechanic, it's great! but i despise it because it's so disconnected from the reality of the game world. HP and fully healing on a rest isn't realistic, but it's an abstract representation of something that happens in the fiction. take a rest -> fully heal is unrealistic but internally consistent with the game world. 13th age healing is not - the in-universe characters can never acknowledge it as it makes no in-world sense.

anyway the reason i'm grumpy abt this lately is the MCDM game has a taunt mechanic that's just straight-up called taunting and it irks me so so bad. again, great game, super fun, but taunting leads to so many situations where an NPC does stuff they wouldn't do

y'know, like a videogame! where the dialogue and personality is just a skin over a set of game mechanics. and when NPCs start behaving out of character with no in-world justification (cause taunts aren't mind control ofc, it's just a guy... taunting you) they feel gamey. artificial.

i like all of the games i brought up (except probably 5e) but i had to get that out of my system thanks for coming to my ted talk

[iniziare]

FILL IN WITH DETAILS ABOUT YOUR MUSE AS IF THEY WERE A CHARACTER IN A DATING SIM. (🤭)

NAME — Yelan PROFESSION — (Intelligence officer tied to a certain logical governing body) Mistress of the Yanshang Teahouse, after having fully cleaned it up and turned its reputation around. And it may function as something else after hours, but shh, you wouldn't know.

WHERE THEY CAN BE FOUND — In Chenyu Village (or Fontaine), seated among its locals, engaging in casual discussions surrounding its teas, that year's harvest, tales of days gone by, or perhaps she'll be in Liyue Harbor where she could be doing similar things, much to Ganyu's eternal confusion as to how easily she indulges in such social things, despite not being an extrovert by nature. If she's been too stagnant and repetitive, or threatens to be, she'll flip a dice and possibly find herself in Inazuma. And if we're speaking work (and even outside of what's 'required' of her, then it is, of course, the Chasm.

FAVORITE FOOD TYPE — Cuisine of the... 'piquant' variety, or as some would likely describe it: food that feels like 'your stomach has descended into the deepest pits of hell'. It's not out of any sort of 'enjoys pain' or 'masochistic' type of reasoning, but simply that she grows bored of food as she does of other things. Once you try something even slightly spicy, food that isn't simply... loses more and more flavor.

FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK — Alcohol is not exactly her thing. She could indulge in it, but she's not the greatest fan of how it affects a person mentally. But, in some situations, I could see her reaching for cocktails like a kir, or a martini (simple red, or we're going fruity, like a blueberry martini to also match the aesthetic), I could also see her reaching for a vesper actually (don't sigh at me), or something more refreshing and unique like a Blueberry Lavender Fizz. Now, if we apply the same logic to her with drinks as we do with food, that she gets 'bored' because she's veered into spicy. Then we need to look at unique and bolder drinks with twists (I had to research a bit): a Blackberry Jalapeño Smash is an option, although tequila doesn't scream Yelan... hmm, perhaps a Boulevardier if we're not adding traditional spice to it, the Blood and Sand is another option when I look at the mashup of ingredients, though the dash of absinthe, while certainly daring, could be as much of a firm 'no' as it could be an intrigue. Any way, I've rambled on this more than enough.

WHERE THEY WOULD GO ON A DATE — Something simple, actually. A walk in the open air would already be nice. She's not a 'thrill seeker', she simply seeks to find something different from her usual, which something as simple as a walk when it's dark overhead, or even specifically out in the bright sun, would already be.

IDEAL GIFT — Yelan is not materialistic whatsoever, and finds the strongest appreciation in those who pique her interest. So this, I guess she has in common with Serval: your time. But outside of that, if insistent, she's quite curious by trade and nature, and comes from a nation deeply rooted in old traditions and thorough history, which is something that's very firmly rooted in her. In that light, if she gets to be exposed to something that she doesn't know, especially in presence of one she enjoys the company of? Perfect.

HOW MANY DATES UNTIL THEY KISS — Considering that she doesn't really "date", or hold desire to really 'find someone', this isn't really applicable. The one time that I have it set for her that it happened (hi hello, the ship main verse), it was on the first, but the date followed a fair bit of time in which interest kind of... simmered and grew. So it wasn't one's usual 'first date'. If we're talking physical altercations, it is definitely quite fast.

Tagged by: @resolutepath 💙 (Do you wanna do it for Ning, by chance?) Tagging: @delusionaid (Wriothesley) @daybreakrising (Blade) @avaere (it'd be comical for Veritas, but only if you wanted to do it again) @aventvrina and anyone else who'd like to do it, feel free to say I tagged you. I'd love to read it.

[maya-matlin]

I love seeing Degrassi on my dash! I feel like I never got a great handle on Zigs personality and would love to hear your thoughts. Like I can’t even really say if he’s an introvert or an extrovert. I get that he was sort of supposed to be a bad boy who’s not all that bad, sort of like Sean except smoother and with better social skills, but a lot of times Zig just seemed kind of bland? I hope it doesn’t sound like I dislike him - I just don’t have a handle on his personality! And I’m with your anon who’s first watching in how much I hate that Zaya’s first time was while they were on drugs. Ugh.

First of all, I am angry. I had a whole response typed up, but then I accidentally refreshed the page.

Anyways, I'm glad you're loving seeing Degrassi on your dash!

As for Zig, I think he's an ambivert. He seems to enjoy social interaction and likes being around others, but he's also surprisingly quiet at times. As often as Zig is the one to lead the conversation and vocalize his thoughts, just as often he keeps to himself, sometimes practically disappearing from the scene depending on his scene partners. When Zig is around more extroverted, dominant people with bigger personalities such as Tori and Esme, he allows them to lead the conversations, hardly weighing in as the couples (Zig/Tori, Zig/Esme) interact with others. But when Zig is around someone like Maya, Tiny or even Grace (who is much more introverted), he's more talkative. The times where Zig is desperate not to be alone, it's more about his abandonment issues than it is Zig needing the social interaction itself to be content.

The thing about Zig is that the writers had different ideas about who they wanted his character to be. Season 11 was kind of Zig's blank slate era. He had zero personality traits beyond the love triangle with Maya and Tori other than being a skateboarder. In season 12, we got to know Zig a lot better. That's when it becomes clear that though Zig can be charming, he's actually a deeply insecure person, not wanting others to know he comes from a poor background. Though he makes a lot of mistakes, he always means well and will do what he can to make things right. Season 13 kind of flipped the script a bit. We missed out on seeing the transition from more innocent skateboarder/band member Zig to "bad boy", gang member Zig. It was as much out of the convenience of doing the bad boy vs good boy/poor boy vs rich boy dynamic for Maya's heart (Zig vs Miles) as it was creating intrigue about what had transpired in Zig's life while we were forced to watch most of the characters in fake Paris. This reset allowed Zig to be written and framed as a more rebellious character, something that mostly follows him through the next six seasons. But ultimately, I don't think Zig ever changed all that much or was lacking in personality. I mean, I would have loved to have known the details and seen the major beats of Zig getting recruited into the gang, dealing drugs, literally being kicked out of his home after his mother and brother were almost killed due to their association with him, and then being homeless for a while before finding the abandoned house. But Degrassi hates poor people TBH, and they wanted to show off their fancy, Hollingsworth set so there could be pool parties during all four seasons of the year. I'm clearly not still bothered by this, though. Anyways, Zig's core insecurities and sensitivity remained. His bad boy image was a façade. But at the same time, the months of his life the audience missed turned Zig into.. a darker character? I wouldn't say that's the best way to describe it, but I think Zig grew up a lot during that time and witnessed a lot of things he shouldn't have. He found a way to cope with being a literal teenage gang member and adjusted his behavior accordingly. At the same time though, Zig has obvious tells when he's "faking" it. When he's being more loud and over the top, insisting that he doesn't care, that means he probably cares about that person or thing above everything. Season 13 Zig was basically a wannabe. He was desperate to fit in, so he molded himself into being the type of person who looked the part so that he could get the validation he needed and feel more confident in himself. This aspect of Zig fades away fairly quickly once his friendship with Maya is back on solid ground, but there are still remnants of it later. Towards the end of season 14, Tiny, Zig's own best friend, is under the impression he isn't a virgin. Tiny isn't an idiot and Zig spent a lot of time being invested in and pining for Maya, so he must have gotten that impression from somewhere. But by season 14, I feel like Zig has undergone a lot of character growth and become more responsible, sensitive and selfless than he ever was before.

Next Class did yet another reset with Zig. By that point, the show had fewer episodes, resulting in many characters being driven by plot more so than characterization. Zig's character got kind of muddled because they wanted to subvert expectations about Maya cheating on Zig with Jonah only for Zig to do this with Zoe. He's yet again deeply insecure which isn't out of character in the slightest, but the reasoning behind why Zig loses faith in Maya and the timeline for how this plays out just.. doesn't add up? It's clear it was something that needed to happen by the end of the first ten episodes, so they awkwardly fit it in seven episodes in to tie the bullshit arc together. And also, Zig was dumbed down. The Degrassi writers are very comfortable dealing with the same archetypes. They love a good goofy, clueless, himbo type. They originally had Spinner for this, then gradually turned Drew into this type after season 10 Drew had been much more ambitious and cutthroat. As a result, the rest of Zig's time on the show following his breakup with Maya mostly involves him fumbling everything and making the worst possible decisions at any given moment only for him to learn his lesson at the end of the episode. Until season 4 where he mostly got his previous character development back just in time to put him back together with Maya for good.

Wow, I don't think I answered your question at all. I went on multiple tangents. But even though I criticized the writing and accused the writers of switching up on Zig based on the new eras (season 13, Next Class), the truth is that I don't think his personality went through that much of an overhaul. I always felt that he was the same insecure, well meaning, loving, silly guy during all of his seasons. He deeply loved and was loyal to those closest to him. There were plenty of instances where he could be surprisingly intuitive, able to give the perfect advice for the situation literally just by being empathetic. But at the same time, Zig was also a hot mess. He had a lot of problems that the writers basically never acknowledged or downplayed (abandonment issues over his parents basically disowning him when he was 15, chronic self worth problems that he never properly dealt with). His positive qualities could easily become negative qualities depending on the situation. He could be thoughtless and unnecessarily aggressive in the name of protecting himself or others. But at the end of day, Zig was just.. good. I can't help it. I always loved him, and I think there were far more good moments for him than bad.

As for Zaya's first time, I weirdly liked it? My logic is probably skewed, but I always loved that Zig and Maya's relationship was imperfect. It made them feel more real. They suffered from bad timing and made questionable decisions, but ultimately loved each other enough to overcome all that. What was important is that they were able to have a conversation about their regrets and come to an understanding, bringing them even closer. Plus, their second time went much more smoothly. ;) Also, my take on this is probably because the Eli/Clare relationship had dominated seasons 10-14. That particular couple was romanticized to a ridiculous degree even though Eli and Eclare were never anything but toxic waste.

[nonbinary-sticks-the-badger]

the OFFICIAL sonatchet propaganda post from the REAL ceo of sonatchet

are you a fan of sonic the hedgehog? perhaps ratchet and clank is more your style? or maybe you like both? well, have I got the ship for you.

now, why should YOU ship sonatchet? it's simple: the franchises have so much in common. now, sonic fans, when i say, an anthropomorphic creature has to stop the evil capitalist baddie from taking over the world with his little buddy, smart as a whistle. along the way, he grinds rails, he follows his own path, not exactly good, but certainly heroic. he does this all with an absolutely brilliant soundtrack. and yeah, maybe the more recent games haven't been so good, writing and gameplay-wise, but hey, we're getting back on track.

what i have just described to you is ratchet and clank. initially created a year after everyone's golden child of sonic games, sa2, by ex-members of sonic team, ratchet and clank has been a vital part of my upbringing, more so than sonic has. for me, sonic is a more recent thing. i've been a fan since i was 5. when did i become a fan of r&c, you may ask? well, my first memory is my dad playing it in front of me, to give you an idea. i couldn't walk or speak properly, sat in a high chair, presumably eating soggy toast, one half marmite and the other of bovril. but, by that point, i was used to the experience - i can't even remember the first time i watched him play.

for any sonic fans who havent yet got the gist, imagine shadow the hedgehog (2005) with good writing that sounds like how actual people speak and less goofy weapons. edginess for the sake of humour rather than for edginess. oh also there is actual genocide in r&c1 quick heads up.

so, r&c fans, with it being far more mainstream, you're probably well aware of the overlap between the two franchises. hell, most of you reading probably are sonic fans. so, of course, i probably wont have to explain sonic in ratchet and clank terms. i want to but i wont. at the end of the day, all you need to know is that sonic is a hedgehog who runs fast and is kinda like ratchet.

THE SIMILARITIES

quickfire round! if it's in blue, it's headcanon, if it's plain text, it's canon!

transmasc and bi

somewhat morally grey, however definitely on the good side and classes themself as a hero

has a younger brother-figure/best friend who's good with electronics and can let him fly

has to fight robots

the biggest baddie is usually capitalism or actual cosmic horrors

space is vaguely related

sci fi

both quite calm and laid back but can get very serious and angry if you let them

adventurous travellers

fairly flirty but never seem to settle down (aroace reference?)

from what ive heard stc sonic is basically slightly angrier 2002 ratchet (i havent read stc though)

both almost the exact same age, with ratchet being 14-16, depending on which game, and sonic being 15

THE DIFFERENCES

ratchet LOVES weapons, with the vast arsenal being one of the main selling points of r&c1/sonic is known for spin dash

ratchet canonically has negative rizz (though i believe has had canon love interests iirc?)/sonic is attractive to almost everyone

ratchet has explored multiple galaxies/sonic has only explored a single planet and the odd space station

sonic is probably more likely to do the right thing

sonic is a giant environmentalist, literally has befriended nature/ratchet cares more about saving people than planets, unless it's an actual planet blowing up. like, the planet will cease to exist from quark's super laser piss or something

all of this ties together to create the wonderful ship we call sonatchet, a real and true yearning across franchises. truly, god made them in different game studios because he knew they would be unstoppable as canon lovers.

for any sonic fans wanting a really good comparison, id say the best i can give you is sonadow with a sonknux dynamic? though, not entirely. obviously, if there were a comparable ship, i wouldn't bother tagging in another guy from a completely seperate franchise, so please, please, understand the joys of sonatchet.

[anghraine]

firinnish replied to this post [a poll about headcanons for the in-story reasons that the Stewards were not in Gondor's line of succession despite being descendants of Elendil]:

for practical reasons. Gondor's late kings were BAD KINGS. That is a vital part of the text. There is even a part of the history where a 100% legitimate claimant comes along and Gondor is just like "nah". These are people who hold kings to a high fucking standard because they want their noble fantasy kings of old back & don't want to risk another shitty king It is explicit in the text that Aragorn is the rightful heir to everything, like, five ways from Sunday, but he does NOT just stroll in and be like "what's up yall take orders from me now". He first wins a battle for Gondor, goes among them as a stranger with healing hands (fulfilling a prophecy/legend), and rides to battle against Sauron before he dares actually assert that these people should ACCEPT HIM AS ABSOLUTE DICTATOR. His lineage isn't the thing that matters [...]

You left a ... lot of replies on my poll, so for the convenience of my dash, I'm putting the rest of your response below my reply, in italics, so people can see it and/or respond if they want.

I disagree at some level with almost everything you said. I'm not going to go into exhaustive detail about every point of disagreement, but Arvedui is very much not a 100% legitimate claimant in my view.

His argument that his wife Fíriel's birthright would make him king of Gondor under Númenórean law is simply false (Fíriel herself would have been ruling queen under Númenórean law and Arvedui no more than her consort; the only men who ruled Númenor through the birthrights of their wives were usurpers of those wives and/or of their children). The claim of the heirs of Isildur is debatable, in-story—the characters cannot know Isildur's intentions when "he forsook the South Kingdom", as The Silmarillion describes it—but Arvedui was not even heir of Isildur at the time that he made the claim. His father was still alive; Arvedui made the claim at the time he did simply because his wife's father and brothers had just died and he saw the chance (if a low chance) to seize power in Gondor.

Gondor's late kings made significant mistakes (as did many of the kings in Arnor and Arthedain) but were not, IMO, as bad as you're representing them. Eärnil especially seems to have been quite a solid character. In any case, I'm unsure what this, or your personal willingness to accept Aragorn over Denethor as absolute dictator has to do with my poll. I do prefer Denethor to Aragorn in general and think the Stewards historically have been better rulers than the kings of either Arnor/Arthedain or Gondor, so we're basically at "I would kneel to Aragorn and not Denethor" "well I wouldn't", which leads nowhere. But again, I actually don't know what Aragorn has to do with my post.

I also don't know why you're quoting movie Boromir in the course of lecturing me about Tolkien. This is all just kind of puzzling on my end.

The rest of the replies:

His lineage is what makes HIM certain that that is his destiny & causes people around him to react to him but they are also reacting to the obvious training/care/investment that has been made in him by people like FUCKING ELROND, his NOT SIGNIFICANT foster father, and to his deeds. any time he claims his lineage Tolkien writes about how he almost shines with confidence and the glory of the old days. He is the myth of a good king reawakened

You could be a completely legit ancestor of the most legit proven heritage & the people of Gondor could STILL JUST SAY NO. Heck Boromir reacts like that at first - "Gondor doesn't need a king". The people do not WANT a shitty king with a famous dad, they want to believe again, they want to be made to hope again, they want someone who inspires them to believe in the IDEA of a king again. Otherwise they could literally just say no lol

And this ties in a vitally important way into Tolkien's politics. Man was a monarchist and an anarchist at the same time. You can't put him in either box. The hereditary kingship in Tolkien's politics is only acceptable BECAUSE it is the freely chosen will of the people to be ruled by an absolute dictator who, for the most part, leaves them alone. The king gets his hereditary power from familiarity & belonging, just as much as from tradition

*not insignificant. Elrond is very significant

It really hinges on this idea that a good king can exist - like, a good family can raise some good kids and everyone in the area will be happy to accept them as the new rulers because they've known that family for generations and they know they're a good family and they are happy with the way things are and don't want to rock the boat & they really believe in these ideals of nobility and loyalty. That's part of the fantasy. The idea that that can work if you're good.

The return of the king isn't "the return of the guy with the right genes", it's "the return of the guy who can make us believe again in the idea that a good king can work, that the world can be as noble and loyal as it was in the elder days of myth and glory, that we could swear loyalty to someone who is absolutely worth it"

You cannot extricate the inability of the Stewards to be Kings from the decline of Gondor's self-image, the crumbling ruins of Tolkien's world, the rising threat of Mordor and the end of the Third Age. The stewards cannot be kings because Gondor cannot be a kingdom. Aragorn can be King because he is the man that made Gondor a Kingdom again. He freaking REUNITED THE KINGDOM AND USHERED IN THE AGE OF MEN.

I'd kneel before Aragorn. I'd fucking walk away if Denethor asked me to kneel before him. It has nothing to do with these strict legalistic ideas of who inherited what and much more to do with who actually has power. Same as in the real world - people got overthrown all the time by others who could command more troops/money. But in Tolkien's world it's about who deserves it more, rather than about who has money/force, and that's the fantasy he is selling us

The part of this fantasy that is deeply problematic is that Tolkien just doesn't really reflect on his ideas about how coming from a noble lineage and a good family makes you better, more deserving, or more honourable. It's a natural idea to him, and it isn't to us and that's why it's harder to understand. He thinks goodness is heritable, like height or intelligence or sporting ability is heritable, because he can't disconnect those things

To him, "Aragorn is descended from xyz" is saying the same things as "well Aragorn just deserves the crown more because he's a better person". Aragorn inherited more strength, grace, wisdom etc. And the modern world does NOT like talking about the idea that any of those things could be heritable because, well, that's usually used to defend racism and horrible inexcusable shit

But I think you CANNOT engage with Tolkien without grappling with that (except on a very shallow level)

I may have written too much in the replies but I got carried away. Sorry I like over analysing Aragorn

If Tolkien was ever actually asked "do you believe some races are better than others" he would have told you to fuck off. He was vehemently against the Nazis. But then he writes this book in which elves are very clearly better than orcs. ie. you cannot simplify him to a liberal icon or to an evil racist. He's fucking complicated. I think on some level he WANTS there to be this fantasy world in which race is that simple but he understands that in the real world it isn't

In Tolkien's head, it's NEITHER "Aragorn was entitled to the kingship due to his descent and didn't need to do good deeds" NOR "Aragorn earned the kingship thru good deeds and his lineage didn't matter". He proved his heritage through good deeds because only someone who INHERITED tons of awesome qualities would be able to do the stuff Aragorn did

The modern reader simply does not consider the idea that awesomeness is heritable so we don't engage with the idea that you could prove you're descended from kings simply by being really really awesome

He uses the ideas of the blood of old kings running strong in some people and being weaker in others to talk about the amount of awesomeness you inherited. The technical legality of the stewards' family tree does not matter. The stewards did not inherit enough awesomeness and are therefore insufficiently awesome to defeat Mordor and restore the kingdom

It is not a simple or a coherent ideology either. Compare how Tolkien's hobbits are "small unimportant people who can become heroes" yet we do NOT see small unimportant Men becoming kings. It's like a special exemption is carved out for hobbits, for a modern "anyone can achieve anything" philosophy, and the rest of the world runs on the older rules of "you can't rise above your destined station"

It's very comparable to works in the 90s which were trying to be feminist by showing a super awesome badass female heroine…. yet every background character beyond Token Badass Woman was still running on the old rules of "men are default characters, women only exist to be wives or damsels in distress" because they had not actually gotten to the point of questioning that underlying background ideology yet

like the half elves. He's trying to be a progressive person by being like "oh biracial characters exist and are awesome" but everyone ELSE in his world still fits neatly into the boxes of "you're either x or y". We have heroic half elves. We do not have masses of half dwarf quarter orc quarter elf characters chilling in diverse multiracial cities.

someday people will see us this way btw. at least I hope so. they will see our bravest progressive statements as the stumbling half steps towards truths that have become obvious to them, while in the background of our stories they can still see our limiting old ideologies showing through. I am not yelling at Tolkien I have so much empathy for this man who tried so hard in such a darker world

[anitalianfrie]

i'm curious about any commentary you have about this is a love story 👀

beside the like,literal hours i spent trying to code that fucking thing, i realized after the first article and maybe, three posts that i needed a plot. or at least, a resemblance of a plot. a sequence of events that would happen and that then had to be filtered through the social media lens and through the eyes of the characters. I had to build the reconciliation organically, i couldn't just write ten posts on them and call it a day because then it wouldn't have worked.

Luckily our community was of great aid in this, and a lot of the posts i put in it, like reblogs or quotes, were directly taken from my dash around the days i wrote that specific section of the story. Like, when we where having the collective leatherboys breakdown, i decided to put it in the story. or the motogpconfession one, i think i wrote it the day after adora unearthed those posts.

i had a piece of paper on which i wrote down all the events i wanted to happen and then i assigned a race/time period to it. I ended up sending vale to like, eight or nine races in the process but i think i was able to cut it down to seven in the fic. Also i refused to check any of the wec races because it could have ruined everything (and it would have, because i'm pretty sure he will race the same weekend as sepang). i was already going crazy reworking the instagram skin, the wec schedule was not going to be my problem.

one of the most difficult things to write was the rockstar au (that now i love very dearly) because. i didn't know what to write about. I knew i needed to put an au in the story, simply because our community is so profilic in writing them, but i had literally zero ideas. i swear to god, i went on an alternate universe generator site and cliked generate about a thousand times before i got this idea.

the non-text most difficult thing i did was enea's gifs because i used my phone and the app sucked majorly. 0/10 do not recommend that's the reason he's the only one i giffed and then simply reblogged repsol-ariel.

also, all the posts i took from tumblr, so reblogs and such, are actually from the blog with the username i wrote in the fic. in some cases their pfp is also the one of their blogs (this ended pretty soon tho because i was about to kill myself so i simply got random pictures on pinterest)

the easiest article to write was gogue's, even if it was the longest and more complex, because i'll be honest i'm really not made for dry sport journalism. I'm quite proud of it, actually. Describing him talking about Valentino was one of my favourite things, but also I loved the possibility to write glimps of his relationship with Alex.

also: i wrote vale's interview for skyITA after marc and bez's incident in italian and then translated it. i started writing it in english, but then i realized it wouldn't have worked, because i was thinking with the english sentence structure. So i thought: what could valentino say? and wrote it as if he was talking, pauses and not-ended sentences. then i took that and translated it the same way i do when i translate proper interviews or videos, changing the phrasing as little as possible. It was quite fun to do.

(also: cuntress-supreme's username was actually inspired by your username :)) )

[killingsboys]

20, 40, 59, 60, 72, 74! have a whole load!

omg hi bestie!!!! thank you sm for asking omg 💛💛

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

oh boy SO many patterns. i have a habit of rereading my own fics almost obsessively after posting them to try and think like what could be better, what do i wanna use again, etc and i pick up on a lot of things i almost wish i didn't </3 i write a LOT about craving intimacy but shying away from it, even fighting it, so that's cool. i also seem to describe directions three times. like "down, down, down" or "away, away, away." absolutely no idea what that is about but i can't stop.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

oooooooh this is such a good question. maybe the face painting scene from you can handle me! although honestly if anyone ever made a fanwork of any scene from anything i've written, ever, i would probably cry forever and ever

59. Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

no they do not! i probably wouldn't tell anyone honestly because i keep fandom very separate from my personal life i guess? which for the record has very little to do with fandom in general and much more to do with me not liking people to know things about me

60. Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

well yes of course, you comment on my fics and it always makes me smile!! like genuinely makes my whole entire week <3 you are always so kind and you always manage to pick out a line i was really proud of :')

72. What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

in a oneshot i will write chronologically but in a multi-chapter it's.... very different. like for deep end i wrote the first chapter and then a lot of the later scenes and now i'm going back in and zero drafting (mostly) chronologically now that i know vaguely where i'm going. when i get a scene idea for later though i write it immediately or else i WILL forget and i will be sooooo angry with myself. once i get to work on the first/second draft though i will only go in chronological order so that i can start really ironing out continuity errors/metaphors/motifs etc.

74. You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

i honestly think coco would be able to guess just based off straight vibes. as for anyone else..... see this is a hard one because i do think i have a vaguely distinct style of writing but it's hard to actually describe it, and a lot of the things i associate with my own writing (excessive em dash usage, too many commas, an alarming amount of adverbs) are really not that unique, especially not in fic. i don't mean this in a self-deprecating way btw i do actually like my style of writing but it's not what i would consider particularly Unique. maybe i would give myself away because i seem to be completely incapable of not making jokes about murder in my exr fics? that's genuinely all that comes to mind which is a bit alarming but here we are <3

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