#but for the exterior i was thinking atla honestly

[keiphoria]

i cant wait to decorate my car 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

[helena-and-helena-meta]

Kiss

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For all my fellow Ironwood stans who think he deserved way better. Sorry if this is a bit ooc and very cheesy, hehe. I couldn't really think of an ending so it's up to interpretation. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

General James Ironwood is a busy man, someone who is constantly working, and you haven't seen him in three months. Today is the day you went to him. Look your dear general directly in the eyes.

James looks up as he hears someone enter; he goes to say a normal greeting but stops when he sees it's you; instead, he approaches you quickly, taking your hands in his.

"It's... how long has it been?"

He asks, looking directly at you, softly gripping your smaller hands in his.

"Three months, though, to me, it doesn't feel like it's been that long."

Ironwood's grip is indeed firm, matching your strength while at the same time remaining gentle and reassuring. His expression is one of concern; there are a few dark rings underneath his eyes. James looks as if he hasn't slept properly in quite a while.

"Well, it's a long time for me."

His voice is quiet and soft, barely above a whisper.

"I know,"

You whisper, and your eyes fill with concern for Ironwood.

"When have you last slept properly, I mean?"

"I.."

Ironwood thinks back, unable to remember—his lips purse and frown.

"Honestly? I don't think I've had a good sleep since, well since you left. I've tried, but it's like I lose myself to nightmares. Terrible dreams and nightmares of..."

He clenches his fists and shakes slightly. He looks down at the floor.

"I'll explain later; it's nothing important."

"James.."

You whisper his name as you softly press your forehead against his as you carefully cup his cheek.

"It's important when it's you."

His cheeks flush as he tries to look away. His fingers gently hold onto the backs of your hands as your palms interlock; his gaze is downcast, and his breath is heavy. He finally turns his face to you, and your eyes lock.

"You're not mad that I'm like this? That I haven't slept?"

"I'm not mad; I'm worried."

You softly caress his cheek.

"I'm so worried about you, and I know it's because of this whole situation. The world wants you to be a pillar, someone to protect them, but I... It sounds selfish, but I just want you to be James Ironwood, not the pillar."

Ironwood seems conflicted; he wants to be both the man protecting the innocent and the leader protecting the world—and yet you're appealingly correct in saying he wants also just to be himself: James. The way you caress his cheek—there's warmth to your words.

He opens his mouth to speak, and yet he remains speechless. Your gentle yet soothing touch; the way that you speak to him—it's as if everything seems to finally calm down inside of him at last. He swallows lightly.

"But I also know you want to protect Atlas,"

You softly smile at him.

"It's home, and that's what makes it so important, just like the people. I know some don't see you in a good light, but I see someone working himself to the bone every day to ensure those around you can sleep soundly, I guess. Seeing you work so much harder than anyone else in your position would be... I know I already said it, but I'm worried."

Ironwood sighs as your words touch his heart. Despite his hard exterior and the cold demeanor he usually has, your words reach him.

"I.."

He pauses; the words he says are slow and considered. He meets your eyes again, and his expression is both tired and yet gentle.

"You're right. I work every single day to defend people, to ensure that everyone sleeps soundly, and to do my best to improve the world. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm doing enough."

"James,"

You softly whisper Ironwood's name.

"In my eyes, you're doing more than enough; you're going above and beyond with what you do."

Ironwood smiles softly, the corners of his mouth raising up; his fatigue, his worry, and his stress seem to melt away for a time.

"You believe that? You aren't just saying that?"

"I truly do,"

You lean slightly closer to him.

"I'm so proud of you."

His heart beats like thunder inside of him. His breath catches, and his eyes are wide. Your words touch him on a level he's not ready for; this is the only person who has ever made him feel this way.

He can't seem to believe it; your words are so sweet and genuine. After a bit of a short pause, he leans his head in even slightly so that your faces are even closer to one another.

Before you even realize what you're doing, you softly kiss Ironwood's lips. Your cheeks flush as you close your eyes.

Your kiss is like flames—hot, sudden, beautiful fire, like an explosion within his heart. You're so close, even just a few inches away. Your gentle breath, your gentle words, the softness of your voice—it all led to this.

You close your eyes as you two kiss, and so does he, for this is everything they were both waiting for. Everything felt so right. He wraps his metallic arm around your back and his human arm around your waist to bring you closer to him.

[astraskylark]

i am going FERAL over winter & ironwoods fight, do you have any ideas for how it will play out??

Oooo I mean this fight is gonna be huge. Mainly because these two have worked together for years. They probably know their fighting styles really really well. Atleast Winter will know Ironwood's. Winter has always used her glyphs minimally (a fact that's slowly changing) so we're probably gonna get a sword+surprise bitches it's the glyph Vs bullet fight and if I get to see Winter dodge a bullet by a hair's breadth in slow motion I will be in the hospital for the next week. Oo no Winter slicing a bullet in half. Yes that's what will knock me out.

The spilt up could go anyway I guess? The bombs locked and loaded so I'm assuming Marrow and Elm are gonna take down Watts. Robyn, Qrow + Vine(?) Vs Harriet will probably have an amazing airborne battle.

Or we could have Marrow and Elm help fight Ironwood in the Vault and one person from team airship might have to pull a suicide mission where they take the payload+ship far far away before it explodes(them dying in the process) and I don't want to say who's gonna volunteer for that.

I'm also curious about what the Schnee ship is doing? We could literally get Klein and Robyn doing an airshow in the sky(it says fuck you Ironwood)

I think Winter and Ironwood will end up falling down the hole in the vault and an airship will fly to save them(here's hoping it's Whitley reaching out to pull Winter up) and Winter and Whitley will see the general and will extend their hands to save him. And the Ironwood will see Whitley who has been known to look similar to Jacques(the man who although was an absolute piece of shit did not deserve to die by Ironwood's hands) and he'll see Winter. His protégé that outgrew him in strength and humanity. He might even see Willow, the woman he didn't even consider a player but it's her that set the series of events into mission with those video cameras. Maybe Robyn's there. The woman he constantly thought was a thorn on his side when all she wanted was fair treatment for everybody. He'll see all these people who he thinks are so weak individually but they're stronger than Salem herself when together.

And at that moment he'll realise that he does know what's best for Atlas. And it's him not being there. And he'll pull an Admiral Zhao and let go. Falling along with his ideals for Atlas and Atlas itself. Because he knows what's best for Atlas. It's Atlas itself not existing. Okay maybe I'm giving IW too much credit here.

What takes him out is the thread of kindness that's been going on for ages. From Penny to Emerald to Oscar. From Weiss to Whitley to Willow to Winter. From Ruby choosing to trust Oz to everyone trusting Ruby. It's trust and kindness and love-- all things Ironwood has always considered a weakness. I don't think Winter will kill him. If it's one thing we know it's that the Schnees are kind. Unabashedly kind under their cold exteriors.

Maybe Ironwood will get locked up in prison like Zaheer from Korra and we might see him again in the future.

Honestly anything goes at this point

[kitkatopinions]

The baby boy himself, Whitley!

(for the ask meme)

Whitley is so my baby, I love my child so much. I’m realizing I say ‘I’m really excited for this one’ for like every character I get for this ask game, but it’s because I’m having so much fun! These take a bit to write, but they are honestly so interesting to me, so as an fyi, if anyone does have any character they want to ask my about, but thinks they might be too late, or I might be uninterested, I’m still totally interested! It just might take me a bit to answer. :)

My top three ships for the character

Whitley/Oscar is my top ship for this in canon currently. It works best if Ozpin could somehow be separated from Oscar (which is theoretically possible I guess,) but yeah. Farm boy vs rich boy, they look cute together, their personalities could vibe, and they’re both snarky, but at heart caring and compassionate. Whitley/Mercury. I mentioned this in my Mercury ask, but I was writing a fic with @why-i-hate-rwby-now where Whitley and Mercury were thrown together and had to work together to escape their abusers, and I just kind of started shipping them while writing it. O.O Also Whitley/Penny is cute as heck and I could totally see her grounding him and also making him loosen up, while Penny thinks he’s funny and interesting.

My three least favorite ships for the character

Whitley/Blake. I don’t understand this ship, Blake just feels like more of an adult atm compared to Whitley - a literal child. (Yes, I realize I ship Whit with Merc, but A. I thought Merc was sixteen while I was writing that fanfiction and he acts kind of on the young side, while Blake has been acting ‘as an adult’ and being treated ‘as an adult’ for two seasons at least while directly talking to Whitley, and has always been more of a mature character for her age anyway.) But on top of that, Blake seems to treat Whitley like an in the way child and is kinda judgey to him, while Whitley barely seems to notice her. Whitley/Henry Marigold just feels bad. And Whitley/Yang. Again, Yang has been written as a nineteen year old demanding to be treated as an adult (though I wanna say she’s less mature than Blake) but also Yang is a hotheaded character and has been acting pushy lately, and that’s fine as a character flaw, but I feel like it just puts me off her for Whitley especially.

My biggest criticism for the character

He’s treated like he’s not a victim??? Like, his abuse and neglect and even his struggles are just... Not really gone into or acknowledged very much, Weiss acts like he has to prove himself before she can show him the slightest bit of sympathy or affection when she’s his big sister, his relationship with Jacques is glossed over and he isn’t given closure there, Willow’s neglect isn’t really acknowledged seriously, Winter seeming totally disinterested in him doesn’t feel like it even matters, Weiss is treated as blameless in her and Whitley’s problems. And the writing kind of frames Whitley as having gotten a redemption, when the worst things he did was be a bit of an asshole while in an abusive situation as like a fourteen-fifteen year old with no aura or glyphs or fighting ability. Emerald and Whitley’s volume 8 arcs should not be comparable! Emerald is a full on murderer and was still willingly working with Cinder to attack people as a nineteen year old woman, and yet she and Whitley are treated very similarly by the narrative (helping one person and then that ‘making up for’ their ‘past mistakes’ and then them just being on the good side and carrying the team’s actions until the pathways arrive and they both go to Vacuo. To be clear, I think this framing was too much for Whitley since he never even needed a redemption at all imo, and not enough for Emerald, the literal murderer of Penny who was just recently willingly helping Cinder try and murder Penny once again.) Whitley should’ve been treated as the child he is, he should’ve been treated as the victim he is.

My favorite thing about the character

His potential dynamics, but specifically with Weiss. He and Weiss both had almost the exact same upbringing, only Weiss actually had more support, but guys... The way the two of them coped had similarities, but were also very different. Weiss hid behind anger and sternness, Whitley hid behind peppiness and smiles. Weiss copied Winter, Whitley copied Jacques. Weiss was always afraid of people putting on acts around her, Whitley was constantly putting on acts as a means of survival. Each of them are plagued by jealousy, pettiness, judgmental behavior, and they both have good qualities that are similar, but they both are too prejudice against each other to see those good qualities and need to learn to understand where the other is coming from. Weiss is a fighter, but a follower, while Whitley seems to have a bit of a ‘fawn’ tendency, but plans and enacts schemes under the table (even if it doesn’t have to be, like with Nora! Whitley’s instincts were to just figure out how to help Nora and then go off and do it alone without telling any of the obviously antsy people with guns what he was doing - after he was spying on them lol.) I just love the possibilities that exist with two characters that are so similar, but so fundamentally different. Also I’d love to see him resentful of Winter and snarky and passive aggressive with her, and Winter not really getting the problem, and Weiss having to mediate between them. Idk, there are so many possibilities of amazing interactions and connections Whitley could have with the others, and he could be a really new, good viewpoint if he was allowed to flourish. And maybe became kind of a ‘guy in the chair’ more permanent part of the team. Like, I know we don’t need more character bloat, but let me dream!

A headcanon I have about them

Before Weiss lost her inheritance, Whitley was sort of tasked with learning everything but being head of the company, like he was learning the financial side of things, the technological side of things, ordering, inventory, scheduling, all about Dust and mine operations... And Whitley’s naturally academic and a fast learner, so he absorbed a lot of it. But yeah, I think Jacques was trying to train Whitley up to be a sort of always available PA of Weiss’s that could handle anything she didn’t want to do / was too busy to do, and that was something Whitley really resented too. His skillset was essentially being crafted around helping Weiss, but never learning how to actually manage the company itself and severely lacking in the social side of things, like he’d never be able to make a proper speech. Also, like pretty much everyone I think he plays piano and writes his own music compositions (which in my headcanons he subconsciously writes to include vocals only for him to then get bothered that even his music seems influenced by Weiss. XD) Also I know this is three headcanons, but if he had been trained to fight, he would’ve used duel pistols and would’ve eventually developed a ‘born out of trauma’ semblance.

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

I’d just allow his status as a victim to be recognized and for him to have the sympathy I feel his character deserves. I’d have him and Weiss both framed as having contributed to their bad relationship, but Weiss - as the sister four to five years older than him - would be the one who makes the first moves towards repairing it, proving she has changed enough to put aside her pettiness and be there for the brother she does truly love. I’d also get Willow away from him, or at least let Whitley be angry and distant and not have their relationship fixed over the course of an in-universe day. This is why I say there should’ve been another Atlas season, which I think is what I’d do when it boils down to it. With every plot point coming fast and then being pushed on the back burner for the next plot point, there’s no time to focus on any of it or to give the character’s sufficient growth from it. So then things like Willow having her hand glued to Whitley’s shoulder feels very ingenuine, because their ‘growth’ was so rushed. So yeah, I’d really just add an extra season and let Weiss recognize that Whitley is also an abuse victim, make her be the one to start making steps to be there for him, and let things like his relationship with his mother come slower and not be an easy fix. Also I’d have Winter acknowledge that she has a brother more regularly and have her actually care about him, even if she hasn’t shown it well at all.

What I I think of their character allusion and what (if anything) I would change about it

Whitley has no assigned character allusion and his name doesn’t offer very many hints, since it literally just means white meadow/field snow, but it’s easy enough to assume that like Weiss and Jacques - Snow White and Jack Frost - Whitley’s character allusion has something to do with the cold. I agree with the general opinion that he’s connected to ‘the Snow Queen,’ and is likely meant to be Kai, a once kind hearted boy who gets a piece of a magic mirror in his eye that only lets him see the bad in people and gets kidnapped by the snow queen. His best friend Gerda goes on a quest to save him - encountering a land of eternal summer and a talking crow amongst other things - and temporarily forgets him due to an enchantment, but then finds him almost frozen over and saves him by crying on him and through the power of her love that literally makes people and nature bend to her will, Gerda rescues Kai and dislodges the mirror piece from his eye so that he can be cheerful again. Pretty in tune with how the writers wrote things. I don’t mind this, but if Whitley is meant to be Kai and Weiss is meant to be his Gerda, there were two missed opportunities here that could’ve been great. One, Gerda is reminded of her love for Kai whenever she sees red roses, and Ruby and Whitley have a few similar mannerisms and kind of similar coping through their ‘cheery exterior’s’ even f Ruby’s lost all her sass and Whitley’s never had her spazzy, dorky, rough around the edges traits. I think it would’ve been cute and make for a more interesting dynamic if Weiss had mentioned to Ruby in volumes 1-3 that Ruby reminds her of her brother, and if it had made Weiss both harder on Ruby (since she and Whitley are estranged and he does drive her crazy a lot lol) but it also made Ruby all the more endearing to her and is one of the reasons they could be friends fairly fast despite Weiss’s early animosity (since she loves her brother and the traits he shares with Ruby compliment hers.) The next missed opportunity I can think of is that everyone thinks Kai is dead in the Snow Queen for a bit, but Gerda doesn’t believe it and goes looking for him instead. You could easily fit this into a narrative where everyone else has given up Whitley as a lost cause, but Weiss won’t believe that and is determined to help and to get close to Whitley again, which is what I think I’d want to go with. But also, a Whitley death fake out? That could be very good and very emotional. And it’d be easy omg. Weiss could think the Hound has killed him sometime during the fight (even if just for a moment,) but also if Whitley had been the first one to fall in the void instead of going through to Vacuo O.O 

Idk if we’ll ever get his character allusion confirmed, but if it isn’t someone from the Snow Queen, I feel like the whole fandom will say “What?!” at the exact same time. XD 

[arnieb95]

For the character asks: Weiss?

Starting with my favorite character I see... This is going to be long. 

My top three ships for the character

Whiterose is my number 1 RWBY ship!!! Frosensteel is pretty cute too. Other than that, I could honestly see Weiss as just staying single and dedicating her life to her work as a huntress and being with her friends. 

My three least favorite ships for the character

No offense to anyone, but I just don't like Whiteknight, Iceberg, or really any other Weiss ship. 

My biggest criticism for the character

I wish she had been more involved in the Atlas arc. I mean, she's the only main character from Atlas, so it would have been nice to see her doing more with and for her people. (Plus, it just would have been nice to have more screen time of her these last two volumes, especially more interactions with Ruby. V6 Whiterose, I miss you!) I understand that with limited runtime and the fact that V8 took place over like 2-3 days that other characters had to get the screen time they got, but I just miss seeing her. 

My favorite thing about the character

She LOVES her friends, or should I say, as she does to her own father (rest in pieces), "Not friends, family." I mean, just look at what she did in the V8 finale! Picking up Gambol Shroud and fighting against impossible odds, through her tears, to honor her friends who she thinks she has lost, and save those she still can.

She's just grown so much since V1, where she was just mean and very full of herself, though to be fair, she had a terrible childhood and lots of trauma from her family. Underneath that icy exterior though, she has a heart of gold and I just love her so much. 

Plus, I just love her character design. She's a short princess who will kick your butt into next week if you touch her friends, all while wearing heels and a "combat skirt."

A headcanon I have about them

She started singing because Winter once complimented her voice when she was a little girl, so did everything she could to improve so her big sister would be proud of her. Which is why she worked so hard at fighting too. 

Also, she definitely cried a lot when Winter left for the military, essentially leaving her completely alone due to Jacques's manipulations and abuse. 

Another one (what do you mean the prompt only asks for one?!?), I feel when she becomes a mother (I so want her to for this very reason), she's going to be super anxious about not wanting her little ones to feel unloved, so she'll just be the most affectionate mother ever. Despite this, her partner (please be Ruby), will have to very often reassure her she is doing a good job. 

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

I'd say I'd give her a more supportive family because I just want her to be happy, but I think it's honestly because of what she went through that makes her so loving and protective of her found family. 

What I I think of their character allusion and what (if anything) I would change about it

This is a tricky one for me, as I haven't thought too much about the fact she is Snow White (Weiss Schnee is literally German for it). Honestly, now that I am thinking about it, I see her father as the witch who poisoned her, making her cold and icy to everyone around her so he could manipulate her for his own ends,  and her friends, especially Ruby, as "waking her through true love's kiss" by their genuine care and affection towards her. Her friends also function as the dwarves, of course, though if anyone deserves the name Grumpy at times, it's Weiss. 

[brilliantlyyours]

Fair Game Week Day 3: Family/Weapons

When he and Qrow first started dating, he honestly didn’t know what to expect from Qrow’s nieces.

He had guesses, of course. Clover considered himself a fairly observant man; he had to be, after all, to get where he was today. The Captain of the Ace Ops had to be observant, had to be able to assess any and all situations and enemies present to devise the best outcome. Clover was also top of his class in the Academy, but he wasn’t one to boast, no matter how much Qrow claimed he was a show-off.

Clover never bothered to tell him that he was only really a show-off around him. Qrow would no doubt make a joke about him peacocking or something.

He figured Yang would be the overprotective one. The one that would pull him aside and give him some sort of threatening talk so he wouldn’t hurt her Uncle. It didn’t take an extremely observant person to see how much they cared about Qrow. He was glad that they did, but he fully expected a shovel talk of some sort from the brawler.

Ruby, he thought, would be confused. Skilled huntress though he knew her to be, he figured she would still be innocent in terms of romance and love. She was only 17, two years younger than the rest of her team, and he figured she didn’t really have an opportunity for awkward crushes and teenage flirtations after being thrown into the thick of the war at 15.

Of course, all of his expectations were shot from the moment the kids found out about him and Qrow. Honestly, he should have expected as much from this group. They tended to do exactly the opposite of what was expected of them.

His first surprise didn’t come from either of Qrow’s blood-related nieces. No, it came in the form of one Weiss Schnee.

He had never met the former heiress before, despite being reasonably acquainted with her sister and the both of them living in Atlas in somewhat intersecting social circles. He met her at the same time as all the others and, while Clover liked to think he was open-minded and non-judgmental, he expected her to act like...well, a Schnee. Maybe not the cruel and cold caliber of her father, but at least the disciplined and shrewd perfection of her sister. But after knowing her for a few weeks, Clover realized that the title of ‘black sheep’ of the Schnee family didn’t go to Winter, as he previously thought, but wholeheartedly went to Weiss.

Despite her icy exterior and structured battle tactics, Weiss was the opposite of cold.

She showed her affection freely with her teammates, whether that be in compliments after a battle or a fond smile after Ruby or Yang made a stupid joke. She trained with her partner and had tea with Blake and went shopping with Yang and generally treated her team as her family, and the other four of their ragtag group as well. It didn’t take him long to realize that her radical love was her own form of defiance; she shook off the cruelty of her past with the exact opposite: care, warmth, laughter, and acceptance.

So when she cornered him at 7pm, just outside the training rooms, he was a bit embarrassed to say he didn’t have a clue of what to expect.

At first, she didn’t say anything. Her arctic gaze practically pinned him to the spot. He could almost feel the sweat on the back of his neck freeze with the force of it. She seemed to be deliberating something, and just as he opened his mouth to clear the air, she spoke.

“You care for Qrow, don’t you?”

Whatever he was thought she was going to say, it wasn’t that. “I...yes. I do.”

She let out a soft ‘hmm’ and her eyes began to appraise him. He felt like he was being examined by one of his former Professors after a spar; like she was trying to assess if he was good enough. A buzz went down his spine that he belatedly realized was nerves. He was nervous, no, he was downright a little afraid of the 19-year-old, newly minted Huntress in front of him.

“So do we. All of us.” She took a steady breath, eyes darting around as if searching for something malevolent hiding in the shadows. For a second, Clover’s mind flickered back to their first mission together, right before the kids got their licenses and the sudden appearance of Jacques Schnee at the Amity site. He thought Jacques might have been a bit less of an asshole to see his wayward daughter, to know that she was at least alive. He was wrong. Their reunion was nothing short of antagonistic and manipulative, and the breath Weiss let out as soon as her father was out of sight spoke volumes of their relationship. He wondered if she was looking for him in the shadows; if she had a bit of lingering fear that he was going to drag her away from everything important to her.

“Qrow was there for us when no one else was. He wasn’t perfect at it,” She let out a small chuckle. “But he was always there to defend us. From Grimm, from Salem, even from our own demons.” Her hand came up to rub at the opposite elbow. “He’s been through a lot, and the last thing he needs is someone to break his heart.” She took a step closer, and all traces of the slightly unsure teenager left her face, leaving behind nothing short of steel.

“So don’t.”

Her gaze was unwavering, and Clover found himself nodding before he even realized he was doing it. “I have no intention of breaking his heart, Weiss.” She had him pinned to the spot for another moment as if trying to figure out if he was lying or not, before she leaned back, a smile on her face, and Clover felt the slight tension in the air bleed away.

“Good.” She said, before turning on her heel primly and walking away.

The next morning at breakfast, Jaune slid him a cup of coffee with a smile before carrying his and Marrow’s off. Ren asked to train with him the next time he was free, and just as he was agreeing Nora walked by, giving him a slap on the back so hard that it almost made him spill his coffee, and asked if she could join for a 2v1 with a grin. Yang snickered when he let out a rare yawn, asking if he had had a tiring night before Blake could stop her, even though he caught a wicked grin on the faunus’s own face. Ruby, to his surprise, snickered along with them, asking if he’d had a long night of using his rod, which did make him spill his coffee and had the rest of his own team, the traitors, break into guffaws.

The laughing cut off abruptly as Qrow entered, rubbing his eyes with a grumble as he stole a sip of Clover’s coffee and dropped a kiss on his cheek, and this time Clover caught the small, happy, smiles that all the kids sent their way when they didn’t think him and Qrow were paying attention.

[valensfm]

❛                     WHAT  A  WICKED  GAME  TO  PLAY  .

okay  so  like  –  listen  ,,  i  am  an  apogeehq  stan  first  &  human  being  second  .  that  being  said  ,  hello  !  i’m  cc  &  i’m  testing  out  valens  because  in  theory  ,  i  like  the  idea  of  him  .  anyway  :

( wong kunhang + twenty-one + muse 01 ) isn’t that valens lau over there? i heard he joined faction one after they got back to west ham. it’s funny, ‘cause they were only on the service trip because he helped organize the event. hopefully they fit in there – they’re virtuous, but also obstinate. oh, i’m sure they’ll be fine. 

───  𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙨

full  name  :  valens  lau

nickname(s) /  alias(es)  :  golden  boy  ,  

age  /  dob  :  twenty  one  /  september  14  ‘99

hometown  :  west  ham  ,  kansas

current  location :  new  ham

ethnicity :  chinese  (  macaunese  )

nationality  :  american

gender  :  cis  male

pronouns  :  he  /  him

orientation  :  bisexual  ,  biromantic

religion :  atheistic

faction : one

muse # : one

label  :  golden  boy  

tropes  :  good  is  not  soft  ,  i  was  just  passing  through  ,  

face  claim  :  wong  kun  hang  /  hendery

language(s)  spoken  :  english

speech :  very  well  spoken  ,  polite  &  overall  charming  .  he’s  got  a  way  with  words  that  makes  people  just  want  to  listen  to  him ,  whether  he’s  talking  about  the  clean  up  trip  out  of  town  or  what  he  wants  to  eat  for  dinner  .  either  way  ,  he’s  got  a  certain  charm  about  him  &  it’s  unknown  where  it  comes  from  (  since  both  of  his  parents  are  ,  how  you  say  ,  not  the  most  well  spoken  people  )  .

hair  :  dark  brown  –  almost  black  ,  but  he  keeps  it  natural  without  styling  it  too  much  .  it  falls  naturally  in  curls  ,  but  it’ll  very  quickly  will  straighten  itself  out  &  nobody  knows  how  it  happen  .  either  way  ,  he  gets  away  with  not  combing  it  or  styling  it  cause  he  sometimes  looks  like  a  prince  .

eyes :  big  ,  brown  puppy  eyes  that  honestly  –  showcase  every  single  emotion  he  has  .  it’s  because  of  them  that  he  can’t  hide  any  of  his  feelings  ,  since  they  really  are  the  windows  to  the  soul  .

height  :  five  feet  ,  eleven  inches

build  :  more  lean  than  broad  ,  but  still  athletic  from  years  of  playing  soccer  –  played  collegiately  as  well  .

tattoos  :  none  .

piercings :  none  .

scars  :  a  small  ,  barely  visible  scar  on  the  pad  of  his  right  thumb  .

clothing  style  :  very  boring  ,  comfort  over  style  ,  basically  .  he  cleans  up  well  when  he  has  to  ,  but  prefers  sweatpants  (  grey  ,  adidas  ,  track  pants  )  paired  with  whatever  shirt  he  grabs  first  in  the  morning  .  as  leader  ,  he’s  tried  to  dress  better  (  i  .  e  .  khakis  ,  button  ups  ,  whatever  )  but  will  still  often  be  found  around  town  looking  like  the  college  jock  who  will  walk  you  home  at  night  .

usual  expression  :  awestruck  puppy  who  can’t  quite  believe  the  world  he  lives  in  .  he’s  endearing  ,  with  a  face  that  tells  people  they  can  approach  because  he  just  looks  like  the  kind  of  guy  that’ll  listen  &  help  you  out  as  best  as  he  can  .

distinguishing  characteristics  :  high  cheekbones  ,  a  nose  that  scrunches  up  whenever  he  laughs  .

───  𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨

exterior   :   wants  to  make  up  for  everything  his  parents  did  in  their  lives  –  valens  is  pure  good  .  he  is  sweetness  &  morality  mixed  up  into  a  child  that  should’ve  been  wicked  ,  but  he’s  looked  evil  in  the  eye  ,  shook  hands  with  unfortunate  circumstance  &  still  chose  to  be  good  .  it’s  been  seen  in  west  ham  ,  valens  helping  the  old  women  cross  the  street  &  laughing  at  their  stories  ,  letting  them  fix  his  hair  &  collars  before  he  climbs  a  tree  to  retrieve  a  stubborn  cat  .  that  lau  boy  is  good  ,  you’ve  heard  before  .  he  walks  his  friends  home  in  the  dark  &  gets  his  fists  bloody  for  the  underdog  –  the  town  of  west  ham  thinks  of  good  &  they  think  of  valens  lau  ,  golden  boy  who  shows  up  early  to  church  to  help  open  doors  &  wipe  down  pews  .  a  people  person  ,  has  a  natural  gift  for  making  everyone  feel  loved  &  special  .

i  .  e  .  cool  jock  that’s  friends  with  everyone  ,  thor  odinson  in  thor  :  ragnorak  ,  good  guy  with  a  heart  of  gold  ,  golden  retriever  but  make  it  boy  ,  boys  will  be  boys  but  wholesome  version  .

interior   :   wrangles  with  a  lot  of  pressure  &  weight  –  because  he  knows  what’s  expected  of  him  .  one  slip  up  ,  &  he’s  just  the  lau  boy  ,  what  everyone  expected  .  but  he’s  not  ,  he’s  worked  hard  to  shed  what  people  think  of  him  &  embrace  something  else  .  he  is  good  above  all  else  ,  to  the  point  that  he  puts  everybody  else  before  himself  (  &  those  closest  to  him  )  –  he  loses  himself  in   making  sure  that  everyone  else  is  okay  &  taken  care  of  ,  nights  where  he  doesn’t  sleep  to  make  sure  everyone  has  a  locker  dec  ,  or  days  where  he  forgets  to  drink  water  because  he’s  babying  his  team  .  slow  to  anger  or  frustration  ,  he  rarely  shows  signs  of  wear  &  tear  ,  opting  to  keep  all  of  his  negative  emotions  in  anyway  to  avoid  worrying  everyone  else  .

i  .  e  .  “my  people  come  first  ,  everyone  else  before  me”  ,  self  -  sacrificial  ,  dangerously  loyal  &  moral  ,  self  sacrificial  atlas  –  holding  the  weight  of  the  world  solely  on  his  own  shoulders

───  𝙘𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚

TRIGGER  WARNINGS  :  tbd

the  lau  family  lives  on  the  outskirts  of  west  ham  –  a  small  house  that  can  be  more  considered  shack  than  home  .  nobody’s  around  when  valens  is  born  ,  his  cry  loud  enough  to  send  a  flock  of  ravens  flying  from  the  overgrown  lawn  .  innocent  life  ,  baby  blessed  by  goodness  –  he  doesn’t  know  how  corrupt  his  parents  are  or  how  hard  they’ve  had  to  fight  to  have  the  life  they  have  .  the  things  they’ve  done  &  the  people  they’ve  wronged  is  one  long  list  that’s  unknowingly  passed  down  to  a  child  that  the  townspeople  look  down  on  .  they  turn  their  noses  up  at  a  baby  born  in  the  dirt  &  expect  the  worst  from  him  –  if  he’s  anything  like  his  parents  ,  they’d  better  lock  their  doors  &  keep  their  purses  close  ,  the  lau  family  is  rotten  –  it  only  makes  sense  that  their  only  child  will  be  as  well  .

but  he  grows  wild  &  good  ,  a  sunflower  trapped  in  a  field  of  weeds  .  valens  comes  to  church  on  his  own  ,  arrives  at  school  in  rags  &  at  first  ,  the  townspeople  tell  their  children  to  stay  away  from  the  lau  boy  .  but  he  does  things  that  a  boy  like  him  shouldn’t  do  –  he  holds  hands  with  the  new  widow  her  first  sunday  back  at  church  ,  he  wipes  her  tears  &  lets  her  hold  him  .  he  dives  into  the  street  to  pull  back  a  wandering  toddler  ,  saving  her  life  &  disappearing  before  her  parents  can  thank  him  .  they  know  he’s  hungry  ,  but  gives  the  sandwich  he  got  from  wiping  down  counters  at  the  diner  to  the  old  man  who  lost  his  son  .  valens  is  good  –  the  whispers  start  ,  but  he  is  blind  to  them  as  he  is  blind  to  parents  who  steal  for  dinner  .

eventually  ,  school  gets  easy  for  him  .  his  teacher  gets  him  into  soccer  &  pays  all  his  fees  so  he  can  play  with  the  other  boys  ,  &  he  has  his  first  kiss  in  third  grade  with  a  girl  who  sits  next  to  him  during  reading  .  valens  gains  popularity  simply  for  being  good  –  he’s  friends  with  everyone  ,  the  richest  ,  the  poorest  ,  nobody  ever  sits  alone  if  he’s  there  .  for  some  reason  ,  people  tend  to  like  that  on  him  ,  but  he  doesn’t  do  it  because  he  wants  people  to  like  him  ,  he  does  it  because  he  knows  what  it’s  like  –  going  hungry  ,  sitting  alone  ,  everyone’s  eyes  on  him  for  something  he  didn’t  do  .  what  a  shitty  feeling  ,  he  hopes  nobody  else  has  to  suffer  the  way  he  has  .

a  full  ride  to  west  ham  on  a  soccer  scholarship  ,  valens  makes  sure  to  thank  his  second  grade  teacher  for  getting  him  in  in  the  first  place  .  by  the  time  he’s  eighteen  ,  he’s  the  golden  boy  around  town  ,  known  for  working  in  the  greenhouses  &  bringing  flowers  to  the  elderly  women  who  sit  in  the  square  on  saturday  mornings  .  the  lau  boy  is  different  from  his  parents  –  he’s  kind  &  good  ;  the  kind  of  boy  people  wish  their  daughters  would  marry  &  the  good  kind  of  hero  that  is  humble  enough  to  deny  the  accusations  .

he  wins  sga  president  for  his  senior  year  ,  thanks  to  both  his  charm  &  influence  on  the  student  body  .  college  has  been  a  ride  for  him  as  he  shoulders  all  the  weight  on  his  shoulders  to  pretend  that  everything  is  peachy  ,  ignoring  any  cracks  that  might  be  starting  to  form  in  his  perfect  marble  form  .  he  organizes  the  trip  ,  invites  as  many  people  as  he  can  &  expects  it  to  go  business  as  usual  ,  only  for  things  to  of  course  go  horribly  wrong  .

people  look  to  him  for  leadership  ,  as  they  should  –  he’s  the  only  one  around  who  technically  ran  for  president  &  won  ,  but  it’s  barely  starting  &  he  can  feel  the  cracks  starting  to  get  bigger  .  there’s  a  lot  of  concern  that  he  has  in  his  heart  for  everyone  ,  not  just  the  people  who’ve  fallen  under  his  command  .  at  the  end  of  the  day  ,  valens  want  everyone  alive  ,  happy  &  thriving  &  he’ll  do  almost  anything  to  ensure  it  .

[perpetuallyfive]

the Winter Schnee post I’ve been contemplating for a while now

In the beginning, Winter is established as morally grey. That's where she starts, and it’s pretty indisputable. 

The first time we hear about her, Weiss is avoiding talking with her big sister just as much as she’s avoiding her father. It's pretty natural to assume at this point that Jacques and Winter might be aligned in some way or that both are equally negative influences in Weiss’s life. When we first see Winter, she hits Weiss. I don't think many people saw that interaction and didn’t come away with at least some concern for their relationship.

Again, this is the baseline. We all have this information to draw from.

Beyond this there is the obvious anime role that Winter slots into. The cold aloof woman -- often an accomplished swordsman as well -- being corrupt and evil is done to death. What else are emotionally distance women good for but vilifying? If she isn't kind and doesn't connect to her feelings in a healthy way, then she must be bad.

But even all the way back in volume 3 that original impression of her is challenged and given nuance. The woman Winter is when the rest of the Atlas soldiers are around is completely different from who she is when she’s alone with Weiss. She is still urgently concerned about her sister, but in a much gentler way. We are shown, right away, that the way Winter has learned to navigate a lifetime of abuse is by constructing a performed public persona and that this skill is something she's trying to teach Weiss to perfect because she truly believes her sister is going to need these tools in order to survive and even thrive.

The woman Winter has always been is complex and she has always been on the course we see her on now. Her turn toward authoritarianism -- calm exterior as self-preservation -- has been telegraphed from outer space, which is why I believe emphatically that it's not where we're going to be at the end of her story. Winter's position is going to be something Weiss has to question or overcome, clearly, but she is established here as more of an Ilia style obstacle -- or similarly Qrow's alcoholism -- rather than an Adam or even a Raven. 

I just don't know how someone we see beginning in darkness -- whose primary motivation we have witnessed is to escape from that past and its influence on her life --  only sinking further into the same patterns of violence is a satisfying narrative conclusion. I understand that many would say we saw the victim turned abuser narrative in Adam and so they believe the same will happen here with Winter, but frankly the fact that it would be a near retread is why I don’t think it’s likely to happen that way. (It also conflates the narrative of a man who abused his partner with the narrative of a woman abused by a family member in a position of authority over her and pretends that those hold the same narrative function and weight, and I think that really massively misreads how patterns of abuse tend to play out in our real world. Not all narrative choices have the same impact and nothing exists in a contextless void where it doesn’t have implications about our reality. The narrative treating Winter and Adam as functionally the same would honestly be pretty irresponsible.)

This is all to say in way too many words that Winter Schnee’s moral code, such as it exists now, is obviously going to be a challenge Weiss will have to overcome and face, but it seems just as obvious to me that Winter is going to be challenging things inside herself and, I think, seems incredibly likely to overcome her own demons since the alternative of just another woman with a type A personality who surrenders to some innate coldness we’re meant to read into her demeanor and goes “bad,” which would be obvious, trite, and incredibly boring; I have more faith in the writers than that.

[im-the-king-of-the-ocean]

Punch in the gut prompts, Whiterose 17 “I want you to say anything! Scream! Yell at me! Just something to show you fucking care.”

So I sort of messed up in that I didn’t use the dialogue line exactly.  I intended to, had it in, but then I went back and wrote a beginning to build up things a little more and the tone shifted a bit.  Parts of it are still sort of there, just altered.

(tho it’s still hurt/comfort feat. Whiterose)

.

Together, We Blossom

The fire flickers low.  Weiss fidgets.  She wants to put another log on.  To make things warmer, but the tenseness in the air keeps her in her seat.  She’s not certain she wants to be the first to move.  To draw attention to herself.

“I…”  Ruby speaks.  All eyes gathered turn to her.

Weiss watches Ruby’s face scrunch up with emotion.  She doesn’t have a chance to see which one.  A flurry of rose petals bursts from where Ruby sits.  It flies out of the room.  Ruby is gone.

“I got this.”  Weiss stands.  She hadn’t been adding too much to the conversation anyway.  She can’t bear the thought of leaving Ruby be when she’s hurting.  She won’t.

When Weiss walks by her, Yang grabs her wrist.  They make eye contact.  Their conversation is brief and entirely done through silent facial expressions.  Weiss nods.  Yang releases her and sits back.  Unbeknownst to the others, a promise has passed between them.

Weiss leaves the room.  The hallways of the Atlas house General Ironwood gifted them are silent and dark.  The night sky through the windows provides little in terms of light.

The echo of her own footsteps unnerve Weiss.  The emptiness here reminds her so much of the Schnee family manor.  It’s hard not to imagine that she’s back there.  Weiss never wanted to return to Atlas.  She sighs.  When she gets to Ruby’s closed door, Weiss buries the feeling.  She knocks.

No response.

Weiss knocks again, a little more firmly.  She tries to slow her breathing.  If Ruby isn’t here…

Again, no vocal response, but Weiss hears something shift inside the room and a telltale ‘owwie’.  She takes hold of the doorknob, twists, and opens the door.

Ruby’s room somehow manages to be darker than the hallway.  The only light, the gleam from the distant moon outside the window.  It takes Weiss’s eyes a moment to adjust, but, when they do, she notices a person-sized lump on the bed.

“What do you want, Weiss?”  Ruby’s voice is uncharacteristically toneless.

Weiss’s resolve to stay calm and collected almost dissipates.  “I wanted to see if you were alright.  You sort of ran out.  I know this is hard and—”

“I’m okay.  Thanks for checking on me.  You can go now.”

“Ruby.”  Weiss steps into the room.

“I said I’m fine, Weiss.”

“Look, it’s okay if you’re not.”  Weiss advances another step.  “This is hard on everyone.  We all need support every once in a while.”

“I said GO AWAY!”  Ruby slams her fists into the bed.  The movement causes her to jerk forward, so her face is in the light from the hallway.  She recoils back, but not before Weiss sees the trails her tears left.

Weiss purses her lips.  “I’m not going to do that.  At least, not before you tell me what I can do to help.”

No response.  Weiss waits.

“I—I want you to say…” Ruby trails off.  “I don’t know.”  The second statement is barely more than a whisper.  Her voice abruptly rises,  “Scream!  Yell at me!”

Weiss sees Ruby’s hands clench back into fists.  Her nails digging into the palms of her hands.  Weiss winces.  That looks like it hurts.  It is wrong.  So wrong.  She wants to run to Ruby, to stop her.  But she doesn’t want to push Ruby further away.  She’s never seen her hurting.  Not like this.  Not this badly.

Weiss can’t, she can’t lose Ruby.  It’s selfish.  It’s juvenile.  But, she can’t.  Not after everything.  Not while knowing they have so far left to go.  Not like this.

Weiss doesn’t truly know where she stands in the fight against Salem.  She’s not Blake, with her convictions to change the world for the better.  Or Yang, with her dedication to protect her family.  She’s here because, well, because seeing Yang in Raven Branwen’s camp had been a huge relief.

Without Winter in Mistral, Weiss had been uncertain, scared.  She knew she couldn’t stay and let the bandits send her back to Father.  Yet, she didn’t know where she would go next either.  Yang had given her a sense of direction, of purpose.  Yang was heading to Ruby, so Weiss would too.  And honestly?  There was no better place for her to be.

Learning everything, though, about the truth of the world, made Weiss feel small, insignificant.  Grimm aren’t just mindless beasts of destruction.  They have a mistress, and a true purpose.  There is a being who hates humanity so much that she won’t rest until she sees them wiped from the face of the planet.  Salem will destroy anything and everyone, regardless of whether or not they stand in her way.

In the face of all that, Weiss can’t lose Ruby.  Not when Ruby makes her feel less alone.  Less isolated.  Less cold.  Less like an ice queen.

The nickname is, and always has been, a joke, sure.  But there’s always been some truth to it.  Before Beacon, Weiss pushed the world away.  She’d shut everything out.  Nothing wanted her.  Not as she truly was.  Only what they wanted her as, which was so far from the truth that the facade could have been another person entirely.  Weiss had built her walls to protect herself.  To be herself.

Until Ruby.  Ruby with her warmth, her smiles, her laughs and her jokes.  Ruby who could melt the icy exterior Weiss armored herself in, but in such a gentle way that it never felt like her safeguards were being destroyed.  Ruby who she missed, and longed for dearly, every day back before they reunited.

Salem would destroy Ruby, just because of the eye color Ruby happened to be born with.

More than anything else, that’s what keeps Weiss up at night.

“I care so much.”  Ruby’s voice is quiet.  Much quieter than it usually is.  Somehow that’s worse.  “But, don’t you see, Weiss?  That’s the problem!”  She hiccups.  Weiss can’t see her new tears, but she can hear the sobs Ruby fails to muffle.  “That’s why I have to go!  To keep you safe! I can’t let you—I can’t let anyone else—”  The cry escapes.  Ruby gives up trying to hide it.  Tears stream.  Their trails glitter in the moonlight.  “Don’t you get it, Weiss?!  They’ll always hunt me!  Because of my eyes!  Of what I can do!”  She wails.  “And they don’t care who they hurt to get to me.”  She pulls her blanket up over her head and cocoons herself.

Weiss sits down next to Ruby.  She inhales.  Exhales.  Pulls the blanket down off her partner’s head.  With her thumb, Weiss wipes the tears away from Ruby’s eyes.  She pulls her sleeve over her hand and uses it to dry Ruby’s face.

“I know.  We all know.  And none of us are going anywhere.  That’s our choice to make.”

“But, I—”

“Ruby, do you know what would break my heart?”  Weiss interrupts.  “If you were attacked and I, or Yang or Blake, weren’t there.  We’re a team.  That means we stick together.”

A spark of Ruby’s normal self returns.  She lets out the quietest of laughs.  “Isn’t that what the team leader is supposed to say?”

“Well.  I think even our fearless leader needs reminding every now and then.”

Weiss wraps her arms around Ruby, who doesn’t hesitate to snuggle into her embrace.  She presses her lips to the top of Ruby’s head.  A soft kiss.  A reminder of love freely given.  Weiss listens to Ruby’s breathing ease.  She places a hand on Ruby’s back as it rises and falls.  A reassurance to herself.  Ruby is still here.  Still breathing.  She hasn’t lost her.  She won’t loose her.

“Would you like me to stay?”  Weiss whispers.  She feels Ruby nod against her in reply.

Weiss settles against the pillows.  Ruby reaches for one of Weiss’s hands, which she intertwines with her own.  With her free hand, Weiss strokes Ruby’s hair until she eventually drifts off to sleep.

[bombshellsandbluebells]

1, 2, 3 and 5 for the female characters top fives?

Thank you!! Okay, listed in no particular order and with short rant included because I couldn’t help myself. So this is long, prepare yourself!

1 - Protagonists

Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of the Caribbean) - 

I love her so much. She’s so stubborn and won’t put up with anyone’s shit and is ruthless and is more of a pirate than Jack Sparrow. I love that she longed for the sea and learned about pirates in secret as a kid and then got her own ship and crew and became Pirate King!! And that her story was always about freedom and she got it in the end. I love that Elizabeth doesn’t wait around for Will to save her, but goes out and saves herself and makes her own destiny.

Tohru Honda (Fruits Basket) - 

Tohru’s proof that kind/compassionate characters are not boring or less complex. Tohru feels so real; the way she ignores her trauma and grief and hides her issues to try to always appear perfectly selfless and happy is so human and relatable and her journey is really, really interesting. She’s so kind but still has so much room to grow and I honestly see a lot of myself in her.

Emori (The 100) - 

I mean most of you already know how much I love Emori, but I LOVE EMORI. She’s such a fun, interesting, unique character with a really interesting backstory and unique challenges to face. I love how smart and manipulative and conniving she is. I love how she doesn’t know how to trust people and has to slowly learn how to be part of a group. I love how insanely loyal she is once she’s found that group. I love that being one part of a romance story didn’t fix all her issues, but finding community and acceptance helped her grow even further. I love that she still loves herself despite what society says about her. I love her look even if the shape and size of her tattoo keeps magically changing.

Annie Edison (Community) -

I love how Annie is ruthless, and I love how that contrasts with the sweet/innocent/naive stereotype she appears to be at first. The more you see of her the more you realize that Annie Edison will steamroller over literally anyone in her path to get what she wants, Jeff included. The hints we get about her backstory and family life are also really intersting, even if the show never really goes into it - probably because it wouldn’t really stay comedic. 

Lucretia (The Adventure Zone: Balance) - 

It is my mission to get more people to give TAZ a try. It has so many great characters and Lucretia is one of the best. She’s so complicated. Your outlook on her constantly changes. She goes from being a mentor archetype to possibly the antagonist to a tragic hero. She did something terrible to the main characters for good reason and you see the awful affects of it but it’s also made clear why she did it and just how awful she feels about it. She’s such a tragic character and every time I relisten my heart breaks for her more and I just love her. 

Also she has some amazing lines like “Hot diggity dog, that is a baller cookie” so how could you not love her.

2 - Villains

A.L.I.E. (The 100) - 

She’s probably my favorite villain ever. Every season I want them to bring her back. I’m still bummed s5 didn’t take the PERFECT opportunity they were given. She would be my one weakness to start watching the show again.

Azula (ATLA) - 

Azula’s far more threatening than Ozai ever is, and she’s so flawed in such interesting ways. One of my favorite moments of her is the scene where she says, “Are the tides the captain of this ship?” because at first it seems like such a badass, in-control moment, but it honestly reveals just how much Azula’s pride and arrogance hinder her. That’s such a foolish, reckless thing to think, that what you want is above the forces of nature, but Azula is foolish, prideful, and arrogant, even if she is incredibly talented and smart. I think it’s also really interesting how they parallel her decline with Zuko overcoming his trauma, because for most of the series it seemed that Azula only benefited from their upbringing, and then you realize she’s just as messed up from it, just in different ways.

Bellatrix LeStrange (Harry Potter) -

I don’t have a rant for her, she’s really not that complex, she’s just such a fun, terrifying villain and Helena Bohamn Carter plays her to perfection.

Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter) -

I mean I don’t like her at ALL but we all collectively DESPISED her and that’s just proof of what a great villain she is. When she showed up again in Deathly Hollows I remember just feeling rage as I read it. I was like, her??? AGAIN???

Last one below the cut because major spoilers for Fruits Basket!!!

3 - Superheroes

Nebula (MCU) -

I really love her journey in the MCU from villain to hero. The best parts of Endgame were getting to see her find a group of her own that supported her and learn to have fun and smile.

Natasha Romanoff (MCU) - 

I don’t always love how the MCU handled her, but I do like the character the MCU ultimately created, if that makes sense. She’s snarky and kind of dorky and it’s such a contrast from the shallow femme fatale cliche she started as and is usually portrayed as. I love that we get to see some of her weaknesses and fears over the series. I think they screwed up with her narrative a LOT, but I still enjoy the character they ultimately created.

Pepper Potts (MCU) -

Badass business lady turned occasional badass superhero when her husband’s in trouble. I really love her visceral fear of the superhero business and her hatred of it for most of the movies. It makes sense and makes her human that she doesn’t just go along with it. 

Raven (Teen Titans) -

Raven was one of my favorite characters as a kid. Apparently I like characters who are isolated but crave community and slowly learn to love others and let that love and acceptance in, because that’s part of what I love about her. 

Carol Danvers (616) -

I don’t like Carol in the MCU because of writing/directing reasons, but I love Carol in the comics. I love her “fuck you” attitude that is so at odds with most superheroes and her stubborness and her tendency to punch first, talk later, even when it gets her into trouble. I love that she named her cat after Star Wars and makes really corny jokes.

5 - Queens/Empresses/Royalty

Apparently I don’t watch a lot of shows with queens/royalty, so I’m going to do a grab bag of five other great female characters that come to mind.

Aqua (Kingdom Hearts) -

KH isn’t great at handling it’s female characters, but she’s the one exception. She’s a keyblade master who tried to keep her friends safe and stop the main villain, and she failed! She sacrificed herself trying to save one of her friends, letting herself get trapped in the Realm of Darkness, and the tragic part is that she didn’t even save him. So then she wanders the RoD for 10+ years, alone, being haunted by her fears and doubts and regrets, slowly losing herself. She eventually gets saved and gets a happy ending, but the part of the series exploring her endless wandering is so interesting. She’s a protagonist of a series aimed for kids, but she fails, and she has flaws and doubts and she has parts of herself she doesn’t want to face, and she’s just cool.

Echo (The 100) -

Because I didn’t list her in protagonists. I really fell in love with Echo in s4 when we saw her internal struggle between what was right/just and what was required to protect her clan. She was a great antagonist because we still saw so much of her humanity and now she’s a great protagonist with flaws and desires and self-doubt. And she’s a badass.

Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist) -

Another really interesting, flawed, complex lady. Riza is a soldier who fought in war and her actions during it still haunt her and drive her to push for a better world and country, even if she fully expects and accepts that a better world will punish her for her actions. She’s so interesting.

Judy & Jen (Dead to Me) - 

They’re by no means favorite characters of all time, but I do really love both of these characters. They’re just well written and interesting and the conflict between them is really interesting and I just want to include them for being cool female characters.

Furiosa (Mad Max: Fury Road) - 

What an awesome character. Her design is cool. Her actress is amazing. Her risking her life to get the wives to safety is fantastic. The way the movie slowly humanizes her more and chips away at her harsh exterior to show the emotions underneath is so good. She’s got a disability and fights around it. She’s great.

Villains (Cont.) below the cut ; spoilers for Fruits Basket

Akito (Fruits Basket) -

I put this under the cut because people are just starting to get into Fruits Basket for the first time and the fact that Akito is even a woman is a major spoiler, because she was raised as male her entire life because she was head of the family. Akito is so unlikeable at first and so awful and manipulative. She takes joy in hurting other people. She has a hand in most of the other characters’ trauma. And then you start learning more and more about her and realize she’s a traumatized, lonely, hurt person and is lashing out. It doesn’t forgive what she’s done, but it humanizes her. She’s a great parallel of Tohru in that they went through very similar trauma and experiences but Tohru had a loving mother who taught her the importance of love and kindness and Akito’s mother was awful and abusive and she learned that the only thing that mattered was power and control. She’s a really interesting character and I honestly still don’t know to feel about her most of the time.

[ashadeofpemberley]

Tag Game!

I was tagged by @maplesyrupao3 

Rules: pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. don’t cheat. tag some people.

Avatar the Last Airbender

North and South

Santa Clarita Diet

The Office

Teen Titans

who is your favourite character in 2?

Margaret Hale, hands down.

who is your least favourite character in 1?

Ozai- there is literally nothing redeemable about this man and I was not sad to see him get his ass kicked by a 13 year old.

what is your favourite episode of 4?

Probably the Safety Training episode (S3E19) but honestly I have so many favorites.

what is your favourite season of 5?

Season 4- It’s the one with the arc about Raven and her backstory and I just love it!

who is your favourite couple in 3?

Sheila and Joel Hammond- there is no purer love than standing by your wife when she turns into a member of the undead.

who is your favourite couple in 2?

Margaret and John (classic)

what is your favourite episode of 1?

There is literally not a bad episode of AtLA so this is really hard, but I think The Library (S2E10) stuck with me the most. It has a really striking scene where the spirit of the library talks about war and the way people will justify their actions in the context of war.

what is your favourite episode of 5?

Date with Destiny (S2E6) It’s hilarious!

what is your favourite season of 2?

There’s only one season of it so I guess the first one?

how long have you watched 1?

For over a decade... and it’s still awesome.

how did you become interested in 3?

It was recommended on Netflix for me and after watching the preview I was hooked!

who is your favourite actor in 4?

John Krasinski

which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

Avatar the Last Airbender all the way. It is the best.

which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3?

I’ve watched every episode of each but AtLA has more episodes.

if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

Angela- she’s kind of a bitch for the whole thing but she still somehow has friends and a guy who’s crazy in love with her.

would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

YES and it would be hilarious!!!!

pair two characters in 1. who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple?

Azula and Ty Lee- Azula in canon is too selfish to be in a relationship but if there was anyone who could see past her exterior it would be Ty Lee, who is the living embodiment of the color pink.

overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

Teen Titans- I think it hits a lot more serious topics and handles them really well and in new ways.

which has better theme music, 2 or 4?

North And South!! The soundtrack for this show is beyond words amazing!!!!

[overanalyzingelswordiswhatido]

In Defense of Doom Bringer

Since I noticed a similar argument about Dominator and Doom Bringer that I did to Nova Imperator and Rage Hearts, I'm doing another analysis to explain why I think the canon path was the one that was picked to be it. I'm gonna do a similar kind of set up that I did comparing Nova Imperator and Rage Hearts. I'll first analyze and identify the problems with Dominator that make him... less "qualified" for the position of being canon based on the trends I noticed for both the canon and alternate (which I usually just call "alt") routes.

But first! Story time!!

I am an Add main. The thing that makes Add different than the other three characters I main though, is I ended up maining him completely on accident. See, my older sibling mains Battle Seraph Eve. And I made the mistake of partnering my Lunatic Psyker, who I was unceremoniously terrible at, with my older sibling's Battle Seraph. I googled him multiple times and just COULD NOT figure it out (my older sibling did the same and couldn't figure him out either) and I'm pretty sure it's because of all the fancy lengthy terminology cuz my eyes crossed at "Dynamo configuration mode". My older sibling ADORES Battle Seraph and wanted to play her every. Single. Day. And having partnered my Add with their Eve, I reluctantly played a character I was terrible at every. Single. Day. My older sibling carried me until... it was either late Lanox or early Atlas and I can't remember which exactly. THAT was when I finally managed to figure Lusa out. I came to really like playing Add once I finally figured him out. So yeah. I accidentally main Add.

ANYWAY, on to the proper analysis now. First and foremost. I've identified three problems?? Again?? Is that just gonna be the format for these??

Thing the first is Dominator's obsession with perfection.

I googled perfectionism for this analysis, just to be sure I knew what I was talking about. So enjoy this mini essay (paraphrased mostly from wikipedia) on that. Perfectionism, in its toxic form, drives the perfectionist to attempt to achieve unrealistic goals or unattainable ideals. It's also often accompanied with depression and low self-esteem (amongst other things those two are just the most common and I didn't want to list out every last thing). Perfectionists tend to dissociate themselves from their flaws and can not be very critical of themselves while simultaneously being overly critical of others in their attempts to achieve their idea(s) of virtue (or more accurately the illusion thereof) while hiding their flaws. "According to [Allan] Mallinger and [Jeanette] DeWyze, perfectionists are obsessives who need to feel in control at all times to protect themselves and ensure their own safety. By always being vigilant and trying extremely hard, they can ensure they not only fail to disappoint or are beyond reproach but that they can protect [themselves] against unforeseen issues caused by their environment."

The first part about seeking unrealistic goals or unattainable ideals is just a general Add thing tbh. They all do it and I'd be a fuckin hypocrite to claim otherwise in a character analysis. But the rest of that is all very specific to Dominator. He does not take criticism. He believes himself to be perfect while the world is what is wrong. And he hyper controls his environment to make it something he can feel safe in. And that kinda leads right into my second problem.

Thing the second is Dominator's need for a bubble. He literally creates his own virtual world just so that he can function. That virtual world changes to his whims. It is everything he needs it to be whenever he needs it. And he created it after the real world failed to accommodate him. After the real world failed to be what he needed when he needed it. I really get the feeling Dominator is trying to make a world he understands and can predict. He's trying to make the world he's ended up in through no choice of his own, one that he can be comfortable in.

Thing the third is the edge he's teetering on the verge of dropping off of. I really do get the impression that Dominator's entire route is scared and hiding behind confidence and a pretty face. As long as he's confident and seems like he's got his shit together, then he'll be taken seriously instead of being taken advantage of. But because of his bubble and his inability to take any sort of not positive comments about himself, he is probably the most severe case of character stagnation I've observed despite it being a trend in the paths I've put together into the alt routes. And a big trend with the canon routes is character growth. That kinda knocks Dominator off the possible list. On top of that, pulling him out of the bubble that causes his stagnation is more likely to result in a path to self-destruction that he won't be able to get off of before it reaches its end.

Now comes Doom Bringer. But first. I need to acknowledge a few things about him. He has also stagnated. The difference is in severity. Doom Bringer is more aware of the world and his place in it simply because he hasn't closed himself off to it (yet he might and I wouldn't be surprised). I think he'll also require being set on a path of self-destruction to get out of that stagnation. The difference there is, based on my analysis, I think Doom Bringer is more equipped to get off that ride so to speak and I'll be talking about that more a little later on in this. Doom Bringer also doesn't have nearly anywhere near Dominator's sense of responsibility and self-preservation or impulse control. Almost all of Doom Bringer's inhibition comes from something outside of himself, whether it's someone else or the situation he finds himself in (it's usually someone else probably). It also says a lot in Dominator's favor that he is the only Add that hasn't merged himself with something yet. Cuz I get the feeling that shit is REALLY dangerous. Also the fact that Doom Bringer merged himself with his Nasod Armor simply because he essentially got tired of it's upkeep says a lot about how well he thinks of possible consequences before taking an action (I'm pretty sure he just fucking doesn't). That being said, you can be completely irresponsible (comparatively speaking) and completely lack self control (again comparatively speaking) and still be farther along in your development than someone who has more control than you. And since Dominator is VERY focused on image while the only one who cares less than Doom Bringer is Mad Paradox, it makes sense that it would be like that.

The big thing Doom Bringer has going for him is his connections to the El Search Party. I'm gonna be honest. That's the only BIG difference between him and Dominator that I think makes him more "qualified" to be a canon route. I have no doubt Doom Bringer never intended to build connections with the search party (and I'll be doing an analysis later about those connections and how strong I actually think they are). He just wasn't as good as Dominator in closing himself off to them. The reason I've come to believe this is because I've noticed that in the Doom Bringer job path Add's face is very expressive, much more so than the other two. That in turn makes him easier to read whether he tries to hide things or not. People that are easily read tend to subconsciously drop their walls faster than they originally intend to and I don't think he was an exception to this. I think Doom Bringer accidentally got attached to the El Search Party and I'm not even sure he's FULLY realized it yet. But its that attachment and that relative openness (compared to Dominator we are still talking about Add after all) that puts Doom Bringer as the Add that is on the road to starting a recovery from all of his trauma. I think it's going to take slamming face first into the brick wall of failure and dealing with the resulting emotional turmoil but as I've said. Doom Bringer is the most equipped to be able to do that and come out the other side okay. Even if it is only because he has less reason to be apathetically accepting of it than the other two Add paths.

Anyway it was actually in trying to convince my younger sibling that Dominator was just as worthy of compassion as Doom Bringer and Mad Paradox that made it so I figured all of this out at all. And I honestly struggled with it a bit because while the canon paths are often the healthiest it was difficult to put into words why I think Doom Bringer fits that bill better because the two paths are so similar once you actually look past their exteriors. That and Dominator being the more responsible of the two made it harder for me to feel like I could adequately explain my thoughts on it without it sounding like I was just making excuses for Doom Bringer and/or hating on Dominator.

One last thing. I haven't really seen any other debates between character job paths that I think will prompt me to make another post like this one??? Like I saw something about Catastrophe deserving to be canon but it was just one person and it wasn't prevalent enough in the wider community that I feel the need to make a whole long winded analysis on it. So unless something new comes up or someone asks specifically I won't do another post like this. I'll be posting the path organizations I made based on the trends I've referenced both in this post and the Raven post in a bit. Once I finish detailing it out.

[asian-hero]

yoooo what about an imagine where shiro is talking about how must he likes the reader to Keith in Japanese or Korean and he doesn’t realise she speaks it and he gets really flustered when she talks back to him in whatever language haha

yes. this is cute. peak cuteness 

also, italics are when someone is speaking japanese okay? (can’t read/write/speak japanese and i’m not testing google translate but if someone reads this and wants to help and give me the translations for the italic speaking parts then that’d be very helpful)

There were very few things in life that made Shiro flustered. He considered himself like a stoic statue, never really showing his emotions outwardly. Of course, his friends knew that he cared about them, as his exterior occasionally cracked and you could see the sliver of unrelenting kindness and warmth. There was also times when Slav would show up, and his stoic face would be replaced by red cheeks and imaginary steam coming out of his ears. But for the most part, Shiro never truly showed his emotions.

That’s why when you showed up, in all of your gorgeous glory, with that stupid, charming smile that made his heart lit up like those carnival games, he wasn’t sure how to handle his emotions. Honestly, the first time that you actually came up and talked to him, introducing yourself as one of his Atlas crew, he could officially say that he was tongue-tied. It didn’t help that Keith was also with him at that time, and as soon as you left, he teased Shiro relentlessly. Each and every day he would come up to Shiro and tell him about how sweet you were or how hot you looked while training with the others. 

From the many months that Shiro knew you, he got better when talking to you. Instead of stuttering and stumbling over his words, he could actually get out a sentence without looking like a tomato. There were perks to it, as now he could talk to you like a friend, but that also meant that, as a friend, he could make you laugh, and he swore on Allura’s right hand that the first time he heard you laugh he saw God. Getting to know you better didn’t help in quelling his tiny crush on you, in fact, it only made it worse with every new aspect he saw of you. 

So now here he was, draped across the couch in the break room, with Keith rubbing his back soothingly, trying to calm the disaster of a man beside him.

“Shiro, you’re a grown man. This is embarrassing.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Shiro questioned, his voice muffled by the couch.

Keith sighed, smacking his friend’s back. “I don’t know, but stop moping.”

Shiro sat up, glaring at the other man. Crossing his arms, he huffed. “I am the captain of the Atlas. I am not ‘moping’.” 

When his friend didn’t respond, he groaned, falling back into the couch. After a few seconds of silence, Shiro rested his chin on the couch cushion, as to not muffle his voice.

“It’s just, how can someone be so perfect?”

Keith smiled, rolling his eyes at his dumb friend. “Well, I moisturize and exfoliate my skin—“

“You know I’m not talking about you,” 

He held a hand up to his chest, gasping in offense. Once he saw the lovestruck look on Shiro’s face, however, he went back to rubbing his back.

“Well, why don’t you just tell them?”

“Because, they’re literally perfect in every way while I’m just,” Shiro gestured towards himself, seemingly defeated, “Me.”

For the second time that day, Keith slapped his back, this time harder than the last. Before he could say anything, the sound of the break room door opening interrupted him. As you walked in, smiling and waving at the both of them, Keith could see Shiro’s soul leave his body. When you went over to grab a drink, Shiro looked over at his friend.

“See? Extremely gorgeous,”

Keith snorted. “All I can see is how dumb you look.”

“Don’t argue with me. They’re too hot for their own good.”

“Sure, Shiro, whatever you say.”

“Do you think I’m not hot, Keith?”

Shiro looked at Keith for a second, confusion covering his face. Keith looked over at you, an amused look on your face. When Keith finally understood the situation, he tilted his head back and cackled. It took Shiro almost a full minute to process what was happening, and once he realized that you could understand them, he shrunk back into the couch, wishing that it would eat him alive. Keith shoved his shoulder, pointing at you and laughing.

“Oh my go— hahaha— she could understand everything you said,” He took in a deep breath, trying to calm his laughing fit, “And you—pff— you’re face!”

Shiro tried to swat the younger man away, attempting to hit him with a pillow. You stood there, watching in amusement as Shiro threw a pillow at Keith who was currently trying to run away. Thankfully, there were too occupied with their argument to notice you and your flustered appearance. You could feel the heat rush to your cheeks when Shiro called you gorgeous. A few more minutes passed by until Keith could finally calm his laughing fit. He wiped the tears away from his eyes as he turned to you, a smirk still on his face. You shook your head, walking over to the two men. Leaning over the couch, you looked at Shiro, who was currently looking at anywhere but you. You smiled softly, pressing a kiss to his forehead. When he looked up, you shrugged your shoulders, heading towards the door.

“Well, I’d love to stay and tease you a little more, but I have a class to teach,” You turned your head, winking at the poor man, “I’ll see you later, Shiro.”

The last thing you could hear was Keith’s laughter and Shiro’s embarrassed groaning.

keith has dumb friend energy™ and i’m here for it

[squidproquoclarice]

So who are your favs on Critical Role?

Caleb, obviously (love me a Dramatic depressed anxious traumatized self-loathing person who secretly wants To Be Good). I loved Nott for her humor, but then her backstory as Veth adds so many layers to her character that make a lot of sense out of the whole. Jester’s just a sweetheart but also a badass, a cinnamon roll who can kill you, and I love that her excitable exterior hides both a heart of gold and a lot of growth about discovering the world. Beau–the snark, the sass, the insecurity, the resolve to be better, the badassery (though I admit her char design still makes me think of Sokka from ATLA too much). Molly–fantastically Dramatic AF, and gone too soon, especially with that tease about his past, but the arc of his death and the reactions to it was some amazing storytelling nonetheless, so that tells you the quality of his char even in 25 episodes. Clay’s great as the super chill fish ex-hermit learning about the world, and provides a voice of calm and reason the party sorely needed, plus he’s just quirky and awesome.

Honestly, Caleb, Nott, and Jester are likely my favorites, but about the only ones I haven’t really connected to are Fjord and Yasha. Fjord, I’m just not sure why. Nothing to do with Travis’ acting, because he’s fun to listen to, but the char of Fjord just doesn’t hit (yet?) for me to really be invested in him and his journey. Yasha’s got some really intriguing stuff, and episode 69 is heavily implying a really good char arc coming up for her, but when Ashley’s commitments make her unable to attend and Yasha’s gone half the time, it’s been a lot harder to feel like she’s had a char arc and have her feel a natural part of the Nein. I already like Yasha, mind, I’m just frustrated because there’s so much char potential that’s getting short shrift because she’s gone so often.

[hwaarang]

[ 5, 8, 18, 19 ]

munday styles & preferences .

5. what is your least favourite thing about your muse ?? what makes them difficult to write, or interact with ??

my fucking god. this bitch is so fucking confrontational & rude, like it's genuinely exhausting. i'm not of the mind that hwoa is the kind of person who makes a scene for no reason or is just flat out mean to everyone (it really depends on like what mood he's in honestly; like if he's already in a bad mood then he's more likely to just be an asshole because he likes projecting his problems onto other people lmao but if he's of a normal or good temperament, he can actually be like . slightly pleasant lmfao) but the moment someone does something he doesn't like or interacts with him in a way he perceives as aggressive or ill-intentioned, he does not hesitate to escalate the situation & as someone who is kind of shy & prefers to do what i can to keep the peace, i just. i don't understand that & honestly it makes me kind of anxious sometimes. like what is wrong with him djvfhbjfhyddcs why is he like this (it's trauma. but still ,)

also, it’s the emotional constipation for me. the reluctance & even flat out inability to be vulnerable for me. the way that even if he's madly in love with someone or (platonically) values them with every fiber of his being, getting him to explicitly say 'i love you' (especially for the first time) is like pulling teeth. there is just so much wrong with him & like yeah i love him so much, he is my son & i would die for him right now without question, but he has a lot of maturing & growing to do & desperately needs some goddamn therapy lmao.

8. what is the strangest muse you have ever picked up to write , or the most difficult ??

hmm ... this is a bit difficult to answer because i think, especially in hindsight, i tend to gravitate toward characters that are similar in a lot of ways, even if writing them makes for completely different experiences altogether. 

i think maybe the most difficult muse i ever wrote was actually jack atlas from ygo 5d's. he is a very complex character (or at least i made him into one for some reason but i genuinely believe he is), & depending when in the timeline i was writing him, he could honestly be a completely different person & respond to the same type of situation very differently. also, similar to hwoa, he would go into rage fits at the drop of a hat & that was difficult for me to approach at times because i refuse to woobify or dilute my characters in any way, but at the same time sometimes i just don't have the damn energy to write someone going on a rampage for literally no reason hddchbhhdjfv

another difficult muse i picked up for a short time was risotto nero from jjba p5. i loved writing him honestly, but he was an intimidating character to approach because he has this stoic, calculating & violent exterior, but he's deeper than that too; which i'd argue you can see in how deeply he cares for & honestly repects the other members of la squadra. plus, he's like objectively not a good person & sometimes people in rp don't understand that like . a villain is a villain jkdchbchdvf

18. what draws you to roleplaying as a hobby ?? what do you find fun ??

answered here !!

19. what kind of writing partners do you tend to merge well with ?? do you like people who communicate , or more impulsive personalities ??

honestly, i've been rping for so long, i think i can vibe well with almost any type of writer. i like communication, of course; i think it's convenient for someone like me (read: riddled with anxiety) to have a clear idea of what to expect or where something is going, especially with certain types of threads or plots, but it's also fun to just dive in sometimes & see what happens. you can get really wonderful interactions either way, i've found. now that i think of it, i’m pretty much a mix of the two, myself. maybe that's why i'm just cool with whatever most of the time lmao.

[libralita]

Title: The Thousandth Floor

Author: Katharine McGee

Summary:

New York City as you’ve never seen it before.

A thousand-story tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible—if you want it enough.

Welcome to Manhattan, 2118.

A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. But people never change: everyone here wants something…and everyone has something to lose.

Leda Cole’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched.

Eris Dodd-Radson’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart.

Rylin Myers’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will her new life cost Rylin her old one?

Watt Bakradi is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy by an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.

And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

Amid breathtaking advancement and high-tech luxury, five teenagers struggle to find their place at the top of the world. But when you’re this high up, there’s nowhere to go but down…

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review:

Futuristic Gossip Girl! I think genre is a little hard for me to get into because I found some of the drama annoying. I wanted to slap all the characters at least once. And I wanted to stab a certain character. However, I found myself enjoying this book and getting invested in the characters. I liked the world McGee built and I’m interested to find out what happens in the next book.

I only imagine Eris looking like Eris from the Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. I also find it hilarious that Eris likes Cord. Y’know Eris, the goddess of discord.

So far Watt is my favorite character but Eris’s story is interesting.

“Eris unscrewed the right earring and held it out on her palm. It was so beautiful; a glass sphere glowing with whorls of color, like the eye of a coming storm.”—Page 72

A Sphere full of Stormlight.

Wait…take the train to Paris…from New York?

“I need to know where he’s been this whole time, and why he came home, the person requested.”—Page 85

So it’s either Avery and Leda. Leda. Desperate.

Avery is being super selfish. This group date is not going to end well.

Rylin, you’re going to steal from Cord? Well, you just became a shitty person.

Well, at least Eris is telling Avery the truth.

“Because I’m cheaper than a bot,”—Page 184

Good to know the robots won’t steal all our jobs in the future.

“Because in ninety seconds this train will be deep under the Atlantic, heading to Europe at twelve hundred kilometers per hour.”—Page 187

I…well…that’s interesting.

Despite Rylin stealing from Cord, I still ship them.

Well, Atlas and Avery just kissed each other.

Well, Hiral is being arrested and he’s being an awful dick.

“Surprise! You’re meeting your biological father!” Without any warning or preparing? You’re just going to spring this on your daughter?

Oh, shit for a second I thought it was Avery’s dad because I couldn’t remember which dad had lied but it’s Leda’s dad. Daaaaaamn.

I’m glad that Watt told Avery some of the truth, I think I ship them.

Leda’s dad is going to give Eris the scarf and Leda is going to think that her dad is having sex with Eris.

“I should feel terrible too, Avery thought, but even though Leda was her best friend, it was hard right now to think of her as anything but the obstacle that had kept her from Atlas.”—Page 336

God, Avery is such an asshole sometimes.

Ugh, now Rylin has to break up with Cord. If I were her, I’d tell Cord the truth. Ooooh, poor Cord…. I love him so much.

And now Mariel and Eris are breaking up.

Leda fucking drugged Watt? My god these characters are so awful. Oh fuck now Leda knows that Watt had Nadia.

Please, for the love of god, don’t let Eris and Cord be hooking up. Let Rylin and Cord get back together for Cord’s sake.

Honestly Eris is the best character, she’s the one who’s gotten the most character development. I swear to god if Eris fucking dies….

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!

FUCK LEDA! FUCK LEDA TO HELL AND BACK!

I hope Mariel gets her revenge for Eris.