#but he admitted about all his past mistakes and seems to have changed genuinely

[guinevereslancelot]

crush's red flags coming at woman faster than she can rationalize them

[heliads]

Ink Stains

Moving from Amity to Dauntless was quite the lifestyle change. Still, nothing rocks your boat more than meeting Eric Coulter for the first time, especially when he seems to like you more than he should.

masterlist

Creativity does not flourish much in Dauntless, nor art for that matter. It is strange, then, that you, so fully borne of both, would choose this bloody faction as opposed to any other. Your birth faction, Amity, is better suited to your temperament and interests, but you had hardly realized that when you underwent the Choosing Ceremony. All of us must leave our homes when we grow up, and only very few can return.

Dauntless seemed like the furthest place you could run, so of course that was the one you chose. You missed it later, only after loathing it, blaming it for your troubles, and finally admitting that it might have been a good home to you, but only after far too long.

Sometimes, you think that’s why the city decided to force its inhabitants to choose their home faction when they’re so young. At that age, all you want to do is escape, so you pick something strange and foreign, a faction that your family would hate so you could fight back against them. When the dust clears and you realize that the past was not so terrible after all, you are in the middle of a strange place with no way of returning, so you have no choice but to fight to stay there.

It would instill a truly fascinating sense of dedication in its transfers, to say the least. Or perhaps no one is like that at all, and it is just that you have made a mistake with no way to fix it. Maybe you should have stayed in Amity after all, been content with familiar nothingness and learned to fake your smiles at least as well as your mother, or save your anger for when no one can see it, like your father.

You don’t think you were meant for Amity, though, not really. It vexed you to no end, the simplicity of it all. You did enjoy the painting, the artists that sprung up in every corner, common as dandelions, but that wasn’t the end of it. The rules were chafing yet vague, the expectations ever-changing. It should have come as no surprise that you would leave.

Besides, you did well in Dauntless initiation, to the great surprise of just about everyone there. They saw your brightly colored clothes when you leapt from the roof, but soon enough you blended in with the lot of them and people would double take when you told them you hadn’t been born in Dauntless proper. The thought that you could be from Amity of all places was insane, and had it not been for the fact that you still remember the waving gold of the fields, the high flying birds that soared above your head, you would have believed it as little as your new friends.

Despite your best attempts to immediately separate yourself from your former faction, you couldn’t shake the memories completely. That’s why you didn’t shoot for one of the top jobs or security positions. Those were snapped up by the really good kids, the ones who aren’t just not carefree but genuinely heartless.

You ended up taking a position among the ranks of tattoo artists and quickly soared to the top. Amity had taught you clarity and control in your art, and soon you were known for your original designs. More often than not, Dauntless looking for a new pattern would ask you to draw something directly as opposed to just using one of the countless templates already printed out.

It gives them a sense of originality, for one thing. No one tattoo is ever the same when it comes to your works. It saves members of the faction from the embarrassing experience of showing off a new tattoo just to see the guy across from you roll up his sleeve to reveal the exact same thing.

Soon enough, your name has spread far and wide across Dauntless, and you get more and more customers by the day. That’s how you know that you ended up choosing the right faction and way of life after all, and it’s also how you meet Eric Coulter for the first time.

Eric is somewhat of a mixed bag. He only graduated from initiation a year or so before you, so he didn’t lead your training when you first joined the faction. You’ve heard he’s a total killer, both in the fighting ring and at every other moment of the day, so you were more than a little uneasy when he first darkened the door of your shop.

You’re not really sure what you expected when he showed up in the beginning. That he’d yell at you, maybe, like you’d heard in whispers. Apparently he’d go off on anyone if he felt the need– someone taking the wrong water glass in the mess hall, or an idiot trainee who didn’t get ready in time– or he could have just been there to complain about some failed regulation you didn’t know about.

Instead, he was nice, actually, which was somehow even more unsettling than if he’d just been the harsh training leader he is to everyone else. He’d spent a lot of time admiring your works, even offering up a rare compliment here and there. At last, he’d decided on an initial design, and taken a seat on your chair.

Most clients talk at least a little while you’re tattooing them. New initiates usually rattle off their difficulties, grateful for an ear that won’t judge them or try to use their weaknesses to gain a position or two in the rankings. Experienced Dauntless sometimes swap gossip or discuss various pieces of information they’ve heard from contacts in other factions. Others just stay silent the whole time, thinking through ideas they’ll barely even hint at to you.

One of your friends has tattooed Eric before, and they told you he’d been absolutely icy the whole appointment, hardly even saying a word except to point out which tattoo he wanted. Maybe he’d just had a bad day then, because you and Eric actually end up talking the entire time. 

He complains about the initiates being unable to so much as tie their shoes without needing his directions, and laughs when you counter his stories with what you’ve seen outside of the scheduled training hours. Eric asks you about how you started tattooing and seems genuinely stunned that you grew up in Amity.

“It doesn’t seem possible,” he tells you over the hum of the tattoo needle, “you’re, like, normal.”

You laugh at that. “The Amity are normal, Coulter.”

He narrows his eyes. “They’re weird. Happy-go-lucky strangers. Not you, though,” he adds quickly, “you’re tough. A real Dauntless.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t take offense if you insult the Amity,” you grin, “I left for a reason, believe me on that.”

Eric frowns. “What was the reason, if you don’t mind me asking?”

You sigh, staring at the design you’re working through for a moment before getting up the strength to continue. “I clashed with the higher-ups a lot. If you weren’t totally happy and living life all the time, you felt like you were disappointing them. Everyone there claims that they’re only ever nice to them, but the faction leaders told me I was a screwup more times than I could count. Even my own parents.”

When you risk a glance up, you notice that Eric’s expression has twisted down into something colder, something almost like rage. “They were wrong. They shouldn’t have said that.”

“I know,” you laugh to yourself, “I did well in initiation, obviously they should have guessed that.”

After a while, Eric is convinced to laugh a little alongside you, but the anger doesn’t erase itself from his features for some time. “Yes,” he mumbles almost to himself, “they should have.”

The rest of the session passes without incident. The next day, you find yourself waiting at your empty station. He was supposed to come back to finish the piece, but he’s a few minutes late, and you can’t help but wonder if it’s on purpose, that you said or did something to chase him off. It could be nothing, of course, but you never know.

He ends up hurrying in soon enough, the slightly quickened beat of his walk the only sign that something is on his mind. You look up when he arrives, allowing yourself a small smile. He did come back, then. You were not too much.

“Glad to see you,” you say, “I was worried I scared you off with my inherent Amity-ness. I’ve heard it’s bad for Dauntless. Ruins the whole stoic demeanor if we smile too much.”

His lips twitch upwards briefly, but whatever had been bothering him before tamps that forbidden emotion down soon enough. “No, not your fault in the slightest. Some initiate was using the wrong kind of gun during today’s drills, nearly put another kid’s eye out. I don’t even know where he got the thing, but it happened anyway.”

“Ah,” you say with a knowing look, “Initiates.”

“Always initiates,” Eric grumbles, but he allows his smile to stick this time, and you think that maybe he isn’t as bad as the rumors allow.

The rest of the session is just as good, if not better. Eric is kind to you, says things that grow increasingly apparent to be jokes. It’s funny, you’d always heard that he was this terribly cold guy, but everyone else must have gotten him at a bad time. Either that, or that’s the Amity in you seeing the best of everyone. Still, you’re certain that his good attitude whenever you’re around isn’t faked. It can’t be.

There’s silence from him for a while. You don’t take it personally, or you shouldn’t, anyway– Eric’s a busy guy, you know that from his words alone if not from always seeing him rush around the compound. He’s a Dauntless leader, he’s not going to be hanging around a tattoo shop unless he’s actively getting new ink.

Then, about a week or so later, he comes back in. Busies himself with looking at the patterns for a while even though you both know he’s not going to get something anyone else could have. This time, he talks to you, asks what you wish you got to draw more often. When you answer, he has you put that in his latest design. It makes your stomach tie itself in tight knots, more intense than even when you’d thrown yourself off the roof on your first day on Dauntless earth.

Confusingly, Eric stops you when you’re about halfway through, says that’s all the time he’s got and that he’d like to continue tomorrow, if that’s alright with you. You ask him if he minds having an incomplete tattoo on his arm and he just laughs, tells you he’ll pull his sleeves down or something. It’s a terrible excuse, but it’s what he wants and so that must be what you want, too. It’s good business. You can tell yourself that when you’re lying awake at night, wondering just what you’ve gotten yourself into.

Eric comes in almost every day, demanding increasing progress on his tattoos. You don’t know why he insists on doing them piecewise– it’s not pain tolerance, he’s got more of that than anyone around and it’s not like Dauntless Leader Eric Coulter would ever admit to something pathetic like pain. It must be something else, then. It must be.

The tattoos spiral and change as they spread across his skin. They’re a mess, to be honest, no cohesive pattern, like he’s picking the templates with his eyes closed and only the goal of covering as much flesh as possible. 

You tell him his tattoo sleeves aren’t as coherent as they could be; he laughs, asks you to use your Amity artistry to make some sense of them. He seems unruffled by your accusations of poor taste. Later that same day, Eric punches someone’s nose in because some drunk fellow stumbling out of a party made the mistake of questioning the inked patterns. The idiot said the same things you did, more or less. One of you received a rare smile, the other, a broken bone. It makes no sense.

At some point, he’s going to run out of skin to tattoo. You warn him of this and he grins, flashing dagger-sharp teeth at you. Says that’s why he’s asking you to go so slowly with it. Inch by inch, he cedes control to you. You want to question what that means, but some part of you is scared to ask, scared that he’ll change his mind and leave, or worse, ask someone else to do it.

The last day comes, and this time you know it’ll be the end with certainty. Eric asks you to ink his throat in thick stripes, almost like you can see the angles of his spine through the skin. You sit there, trying to focus on your needle, finishing the design, instead of anything foolish like his head in your hands, his eyes resting quietly on you. He can’t talk while you’re working on his neck like this, but the weight of his gaze says enough anyway.

You finish the last stroke and allow yourself to sit there for one final moment, waiting for it all to be over. Your fingers rest on the smooth expanse of his cheekbone, and Eric raises his hand to cover yours.

“Well,” you say at last, trying to keep your voice light, “it’s been an honor to tattoo you, Eric.”

He smiles. The brief, unwelcome thought that this might be the last time you see him do that flashes through your head, and you banish it just as quickly. That’s not something you want to think about right now, if ever.

“I’d say I’m the one who’s been honored,” he returns, “you’ve got the best work in the faction and everyone knows it.”

You feel some small surge of pride in your chest when he says it, hot and bright like the Dauntless flames. “Thank you.”

“You can thank me in a different way,” he offers, “Drinks tomorrow night, maybe? On me?”

You smile back at him. “I think I’d like that.”

“Good,” he grins, standing so he can look down at you. “I’ll pick you up then. It’ll be fun. Maybe you can teach me some of that Amity optimism.”

You can’t help but laugh at that. It would suit him, you think, smiling more, trusting you so he can let down his guard. Looking at him, at how his eyes brighten when he laughs, you think it already does.

divergent tag list: @dindjarinneedsahug, @poisonmenegan, @ozyynka, @rogueanschel, @with-inked-solace, @gods-fools-heroes, @23victoria, @manyfandomsfanvergent, @imwaysthelastchoice, @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed, @crazyhearttragedy, @alex-1967s-blog

[spitdrunken]

I’ve been thinking about winter king a lot… all of this is essentially an excuse to ramble about some thoughts ive had about him, so don’t think too hard about how reader/you ended up in his universe, there's no reason haha notes: manipulative behaviour, unhealthy relationship.

A person can only withstand so much time with only the company of creatures they made themselves. Winter King is no different. He hadn't noticed it at first, the fact that every word out of his subjects' mouths is predictable, and that their one personality traits was dedication. Back then, he'd been caught up in the thrill of a life without madness, too lost in the mind that could hold coherent thoughts. (The price that had been paid for that change had not been his to pay.)

But, with time, a loneliness- Well, not a loneliness. No, that is a pathetic word, that belongs with the pathetic past self of his that he's shed by now. Let's call it a boredom that settled over him. One that made him allow Candy Queen to kidnap him over and over again, despite the fact he could easily defeat her. At least around her, there was unpredictability, and a semblance of a conversation to be had. As incoherent as it was, it was close to a human conversation. An odd thing it is, for that word to pop into his mind now. She has never been human, and he has long ceased to be one.

What use is it being this charming, this handsome, when there's nobody around with enough brain cells to admire it? He'd never been popular as the Ice King, understandably so, he'll admit, but nothing has changed since. Not even now that he is the ruler of a prosperous kingdom of his own, one that he has spent countless years meticulously perfecting. It really is a pity. With the Winter Kingdom avoided by everyone except by its inhabitants, he might as well just start kissing himself at this point. By the time that thought starts to seem viable, he is lucky enough that a change does occur.

Imagine his surprise, his utter delight, when someone new wanders into his kingdom! Entirely unfamiliar with him or his story, even this world, and oh-so completely lost. It's perfect! Whatever he tells you, you'll just have to believe, with nothing else to compare it to. You're so clearly human, too. It's been forever since he last saw one up close. ...Well, an adult, at least. He can't deny the fact that the scientist inside him is curious about how in God's name you'd ended up here, but that is of lesser importance to him. He's gotten exactly what he wanted: a companion! He'll put his charms to the test, and ensure that the thought of leaving his Winter Kingdom never crosses your mind again. How could your home ever be better than his?

With the promise of trying to find you a way home, he offers you a place to stay. The world out there is dangerous, you know! But even if he had genuinely wanted to help you out, crossing dimensions is, as of now, outside the realm of his abilities. Winter King quickly comes to the conclusion that you're just plain cute. It's delightful how easily impressed you are, and it's clear that whatever world you're from, magic is not a part of it. Things that, to him, are as simple as breathing, pull a response from you.

The first time he showed his powers in front of you, creating ice by freezing the moisture in the air, and moulding it together into a chair for you to sit on, you'd responded with awe. He couldn't possibly keep himself from laughing at that! Ah, sorry, dear, he really means no harm- But why did you think he was called the Winter King, hm? He loves it, though, really. You are perhaps stroking his ego a bit too much through all of this. It makes him stand just a bit straighter, puff his chest out a bit more, and thinks: yes, taking you in really was no mistake at all.

He puts the charm on thick. Now that has the opportunity, he wants to try his best to really swoop someone off of their feet. He'll compliment your personality and appearance any chance he gets, and especially enjoys it if you are easily flustered. (Though if you aren't, a part of him would enjoy more of a challenge as well.) As soon as he knows you're embarrassed, he'd put his hands on your cheeks to help you 'cool off.' ("Ha, ha! Oh, dear, you're going to melt my hands off at this rate!)

He'll order his servants to obey your every desire. As long as it doesn't conflict with his own, that is. There's a lot of things to get used to in the Winter Kingdom, and he'll even linger around you as you get the hang out of skating around the palace. With a snap of his fingers, he'll create ridges and bumps on the floors, only to catch you as you inevitably fall. Winter King is not above some... Well, lying sounds a lot worse than it is. Twisting of the truth? In his attempts to woo you. As long as you don't find out, there'd be no harm in it.

This aspect of him becomes most obvious in the way he handles the subject of the Candy Queen. She becomes merely another actress on the stage for him to use in the process of courting you. He'll warn you, of course, that there is an utterly mad woman, a nuisance, who is completely obsessed with him. As she's constantly following him around, she'll likely find out about your presence soon, too. And, against his will, he knows her well enough at this point to know that she won't be happy, ha! You'd best stay close to him, so he can keep you safe. With the type of special relationship the two of you have, she is bound to get jealous, dear! He doesn’t mind if he were to kidnap him, it has happened before, but if she were to hurt you, oh…!

He really thinks that was a wonderful performance of this. Oh, of course there were grains of truth in there! If you'd actually gotten hurt, if you were actually taken away from him, he doesn't know what he'd do- But he knows Candy Queen's whims and shenanigans well enough to know to avoid such a thing. He will keep you safe, he promised, but what better way to heighten your opinion of him even further, than through saving you from the clutches of danger? So, yes, he will let you get kidnapped once or twice by her on purpose, knowing full and well that Candy Queen was only doing so in order to draw him out. In achieving that goal, it would always be successful. As long as he always ensures he gets you back safe and sound, where's the harm in it? When you inevitably fall for him, and you can spend a happy life together, was anything he's done truly bad?

[rayroseu]

This line is making me sad akjdkakdks its making me imagine that once Malleus sees that his overblot causes pain rather than making the people of his life happy... he'll realize that "he is no good as a king at all since he harmed his people"😭😭

"Seeing you all worry helped me calm down..." ARGHH IT MAKES ME THINK OF THE SCENE WHERE HE SAW HOW ANGUISHED SILVER WAS ABOUT LILIA'S DEPARTURE... Like... I CANT??😭😭 HE'S SO CARING ABOUT THE HAPPINESS OF OTHERS BECAUSE THATS AN EMOTION HE RARELY FELT SO HE VIEWS IT AS THE MOST PRECIOUS FEELING ??

but sadness and partings and goodbyes..."harms happiness", thats why he just created a world where it never exists... He's not just doing it for his own desires KSJAKDJWKD plus if "all dreams come true" none of the previous overblots wouldve occured and they'll live a peaceful life... but living that way would stagnate their growth... they'll be living the same life repeatedly without any improvements towards themselves

that's why even if Malleus' overblot stems from a good intention, his vision is not applicable to a human life as we all require growing up, overcoming hardships, admitting our mistakes and developing out from that... Those painful feelings are what makes a human life more meaningful and allows a person to give themselves a genuine good life. 🥲🥲🥲

But Malleus who's still in the state of "learning to be human", he cannot naturally perceive that kind of moral.

I just hope that after Book 7 there's no narrative implication that Malleus' coping was flat out purely wrong lol Bcs as Yuu said, everyone wishes they won't lose anyone important to them either...

Going back to the fact that he feels responsible for the happiness of others... I think Malleus lives his life very literally...

I think it was Lilia who said this...(?) That Malleus' power (or the Draconia's power in general) gives happiness to the people of Briar Valley (as their power can protect the dark faes) 🥲✨

Maybe this is the reason why he's "so desperate" in keeping the happiness of others and also giving them blessings that'll surely make them happy...

Okay separate theory... Maybe I'm just overthinking lol But the occurence of "falling" in TWST is so fascinating to me since thats a heavy reference to "Alice Falling In Wonderland" yk

Book 6 we already had Idia falling to the Underworld because he wants to follow Ortho, There's this implication that Overblots "falling to a deep sleep/darkness" thats why all overblotees "wakes up after their own overblot... I wonder if Overblot Malleus will take a fall as well??? His overblot title is "The King of Abyss" but I doubt that the "timeless Sage Island" is the abyss yk? What if we actually learn about the origin of Overblots through Malleus Overblot?

Because in the trailer we can see him snapping out in awareness(waking up) before he's trapped in thorns in what seems to be an Abyss--- So maybe, we won't defeat Malleus Overblot bcs he'll wake up from it (presumeably once he realizes that his overblot caused Lilia and the others pain???) but him breaking his overblot wont be possible bcs the "darkness" will engulf him of smth

I'm thinking of this because the existence of Overblot is so weird. General Lilia should've recognized the blot when it was taking Silver because of his despair since before Leona's overblot, he knew the vibes of whats occuring yk and same thing with Malleus with how he knew that he's planning to overblot, plus he knows the existence of STYX whos focused on overblot too

But strangely, the mages of the past (Meleanor and Knight of Dawn even Lilia and Baul) dont seem to possess any magic limitations concerning blot accumulation, additionally they dont even have magestones (that they use to gauge their blot consumption like NRC pens). Which makes me think that "blot or overblot" was not a "trait" that existed naturally in mages???

Since TWST world's history is implied to be changed... I wonder if blot existence was something that "a being" made up/cursed upon all mages lol

Idk where Im going with this tbhhhh ajsjaj but I just think its suspicious that only human magicians is heavily concerned with blot accumulation... whereas Malleus and Lilia never worries about using magic too much...

So wild guess, maybe Maleficia (since shes the only powerful person here lol) cursed "magic in general" so humans will never be on par with fae's magical abilities no matter how hard they develop it

Ig its to never repeat the "occurence of another Knight of Dawn" who's magic is even stronger than faes since he has no limitation so she created blot to curse humans to limit their magic else they'll fall into "darkness" idk

[peppertaemint]

Let's talk about Taemin and Key of SHINee wearing the Scottish fashion house Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, an openly queer unisex brand. There’s a lot of talk about whether idols know who they are wearing and, when relevant, do they understand the meaning of what they are wearing. We know there are clear examples of artists not understanding what they’re wearing. Indeed, 23-year-old, non-English-speaking Taemin admitted in 2021 that he had no idea the fly of his pants read “Open Here” during View era. Yet, a lot has changed this 2015/16. Taemin’s English is quite proficient. And what about Key, who has studied English since he was a child? I think we can consider understanding the words and understanding the context or broader meaning behind words or, as the case may be, symbols, which can be universal.

Taemin in the Advice album photobook, 2021.

The Charles Jeffrey Loverboy brand is no ordinary brand. It’s a spunky, fun and edgy unisex brand with genuine British flavour. From London Fashion Week's write up:

"Looking back to look forward, the collections re-render historical references as intrinsically modern while paying respect to an ancestral line-up of costumiers, performance artists and queer icons. Jeffrey’s nightlife-influenced thirst for experimentation, and belief in the validity of mistakes, result in a colourful tension between control and chaos.

"LOVERBOY’s roots are fixed in London’s queer nightlife scene, having been born in 2014 as both a fashion label and a cult club night. The LOVERBOY parties, first staged while Jeffrey was studying for his Masters in fashion design at Central St Martins in London, were attended by the city’s up-and-coming artists, performers, musicians, drag queens and poets, many of whom became Jeffrey’s future muses and creative collaborators."

Live performance of Advice, 2021.

The tartan in these looks is known as the loverboy tartan. In the current collection, they have an “odorable” loverboy tartan raincoat with giant floppy bunny ears. I’m too lazy to link it, but do look it up and peruse the punk-meets-whimsy items on the website.

Taemin’s stylist for Advice was Kim Wook. You can read an interview with Kim Wook in translation here. Wook talks about he and Taemin wanting to do something impactful before Taemin entered the military, and they settled on working with silhouettes that are usually seen on female dancers. I could do a whole post on Taemin’s styling for Advice (maybe I will!), but to connect things back to the brand at hand, the flamboyantly unisex Loverboy brand seems to be at home with the goal of Advice’s styling. Advice was Taemin’s way of saying “I will go my own way and trust myself over others,” and I don’t think the androgynous or even gender-fluid looks he presented are a coincidence; Wook’s interview shows that it isn’t. These looks feel like a push forward for Taemin, and he’s been clear in saying Advice was a breakaway from his past. Act I and Act II were leading to this moment.

Taemin has been wearing Charles Jeffery Loverboy upon in return in 2023. I think the most significant choice is the non-binary shirt he wore a fan meeting during Hard era. The t-shirt is a jab at conservatives’ obsession with the love lives and indeed, bathroom usage, of LGBT+, saying, “They’re happy and satisfied. Are you?” There is a also a good-sized, unmistakable non-binary symbol on the shirt. I hadn’t seen this symbol before but it was still easy for me to comprehend. As an artist who is increasingly wearing gender-fluid outfits, it is likely a conscious choice to wear a shirt that supports non-binary rights.

Now, we can’t forget fashion-forward, English king Key in all of this. Key has always had a love and fascination with fashion; we saw in One Fine Day his interaction with a local London fashion brands. He’s a man who knows his fashion houses, so it seems unlikely he wouldn’t know about the Loverboy brand or its ethos as a unisex brand.

Key primarily wore Charles Jeffrey Loverboy accessories for his Gasoline promotions in 2022. The adorable hat with ears is statement wrapped in cuteness, that speaks to the camp motif present in both Key’s body of work and the Loverboy label’s. It’s cute, but not too cute. It’s loud but soft, and the Loverboy stamp is there for all to see. I think that Key embodies what LSF wrote about the Lovery label as “a colourful tension between control and chaos.” Key is never afraid to experiment, and he can go from creating iconic androgynous silhouettes reminiscent of ancient gods and Beyoncé to the retro-camp shown below that almost looks like it could be at home in a Ghostbusters film. Almost.

There are contexts where, like the above, it is more than reasonable to assume that the artists understand what they are wearing and that the choices made are conscious and in some cases made with the goal of the comeback in mind. And there are situations where it’s possible or even confirmed by the artist that they didn’t know what they were wearing or what it meant. I think it can become an obsession for some to want the styling to be conveying a secret code. With the case of Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, there’s no code and it’s not secret. It’s simply known and recognised by those who know, which is enough.

[yuikomorii]

i think i can forgive yui for anything even toxic simply because she suffered the most because of those guys and deserves to get her lick back. they put her through so much in earlier games, it's insane

// PARDON?? 😀😀

I understand that the Diaboys were bitchy at first and they all treated others as less (which is bad), but other than Laito, Kanato and Carla, nobody made Yui suffer that bad to the point of breaking her. Kou was pretty nasty too at first, but the rest weren’t that horrible route based for characters supposed to be monsters. At the very least, I can name some human LIs who were way worse than most Diaboys, yet nobody seems to hate on them for that. I understand that it must be tiring being pushed around and being treated as “prey”, yet we’re talking about vampires here. They are predators and don’t have the same set of morals as humans do, for this reason humans are a mere food source for them. They can’t live without blood, even if this means having to sacrifice humans to satisfy their hunger. We love cats despite the fact that they like torturing mice before killing them, and that’s because we understand that it’s just how the predator instinct works. The Diaboys might look humanized, but they are a whole difference existence and you shouldn’t hold them at human standards. It’s good that DL showed how vampires were truly supposed to act, instead of making them romantic and flirty from the start.

Even the whole Adam’s apple plan focuses on Eve, a human, making Adam, a vampire, learn about human feelings. One thing about the Diaboys is that they all had growth. If someone is shown regretting their behavior and is genuinely changing into a better person just for you, it’s very insensitive to remind them about what they did a long time ago. They are aware of their actions and they are aware they were in the wrong, therefore bringing up their past mistakes won’t make you a better person than them. A Diaboy could sacrifice everything for Yui and put his life on the verge each and every time she’s in danger, but some of you guys would still only see him as “bad”, which would be a huge insult to his character, given that it would erase all the development he went through.

I’m not going to count the bad endings here, but saying that you forgive all of Yui’s toxic actions is very toxic itself. She is an abuse apologist herself, who tried to convince Ayato that his mother secretly cared for him (despite knowing the full story), Subaru that Karlheinz loved him and the Mukamis that Karlheinz, after he committed a whole genocide, saved them to redeem himself. These are all very wrong. Karlheinz always used everyone for his plans, just like Cordelia used her children for her selfish desires. Neither of them were ever shown regretting their actions. This is just one example of Yui’s toxic actions and I’m not saying that she did them with ill will, but stupidity can make one problematic too. It gives off the same vibes as “but they’re your parents”, after hearing someone talk about how much their parents hurt them.

It’s not that hard to admit that all DL characters have red flags. Nobody in this franchise is meant to be a role model and it’s okay if you don’t like certain actions. I’m a Yui stan, but I get why several people from the otoge community don’t really like her. However, I’m surprised that they see her as really that bad. I mean, she still is mostly kind and sweet, therefore I don’t think her bitchy moments are more significant. Yet, I suppose this has more to do with how they perceive things.

[lemotmo]

❤️

Q. What I'm truly confused by is why they want people to hate Ryan and Oliver so much. Like they aren't attacking Eddie and Buck nearly as much as they're attacking Ryan and Oliver. I'm so confused by that.

A. Everything we are seeing is because they know, in spite of everything they are saying, that Tommy's existence on this show relies entirely on his relationship with Buck. The minute that relationship runs it course story wise he is gone, and they know it. Because of that Eddie became their enemy. Oliver wants Buck with Eddie. A significant portion of their audience wants Buck with Eddie. In their minds they needed the audience to turn on Eddie to make the case for Tommy. But their campaign didn't accomplish anything so they shifted gears and decided to go after Ryan personally. Unfortunately for Ryan, and the rest of us, in the middle of their hate campaign towards Ryan, Lou said some things during his cameo videos, and his Twitter past came to light, and people's reaction to those two things caused his fans campaign against Ryan to become even uglier. What they are attempting to do to Ryan is disgusting. He was completely out of line when he said what he said a few years ago, but he owned it. He acknowledged that he needed to work on some things and better educate himself on things he really didn't seem to understand. And he did it. He went away and genuinely educated himself, and made changes in his life that allowed him to grow and better himself as a human being. Which is all we can ever ask of one another. I will never understand how he could have said it, but that's not the point. What I can see and understand is the work he has clearly put into growing and learning from his mistakes. They don't get to erase Ryan's personal growth because it hurts their already weak defense of Lou. And that's what they are trying to do. And they're trying to do it all in the name of a temporary plot device on a television show. And that's too immature and disgusting to be allowed to happen. So we aren't allowing it to happen. And that angers them.

Their entire problem with Oliver is that he doesn't appear to be friends with Lou, and he isn't promoting their preferred ship. He promotes and talks about his preferred ship, which is what Oliver has always done. Oliver isn't doing anything he hasn't always done. What he has with Ryan is what they're trying to demand he have with Lou. They are completely dependent on Buck, and Oliver is making it pretty clear they're fighting a losing battle. Somewhere along the way someone convinced them that even though there aren't that many of them if they are nasty enough, and loud enough they can bully Ryan, Oliver and Tim into submission. It was an absurd plan and is of course a complete failure, but they're going to be as horrible as possible on their way out. We're nearing their end though, and Oliver and Ryan completely ignoring them is causing them more anger than we ever could. Our boys will be just fine. 💗

Thank you Nonny! :) Again much appreciated!

I admit that my brain has been fried by that deleted Eddie and Christopher scene we just got. So you won't get anything interesting out of me at the moment. xD LOL!

I also don't have the same insight in fandom dynamics that Ali does, so I'm just going to let her do her thing and answer this question as only she can. :)

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[thinkofmehoney]

The city of my heart

Chapter one.

Pairing: Satoru Gojo x Suguru Geto

Summary: In the bustling city, Satoru and Suguru's paths cross again after so many years, intertwining their lives in unexpected ways. As single parents navigating the complexities of raising kids and confronting personal demons, they find solace in each other's company. Unbeknownst to them, a long-buried flame rekindles, and their journey becomes a delicate dance between friendship, love, and the challenges that come with second chances.

Or

Where Satoru sees Suguru at his kids’ school after twelve years without seeing each other. Oh and Suguru has twin daughters, just to add up to Satoru’s shock.

(click for Ao3 version)

Warnings: None for now, but I’ll treat sensitive topics later on, probably after chapter 5 or so.

Contents: Non Sorcerer AU, single dad Satoru x Single dad Suguru, friends to strangers to lovers (kinda)

Notes: (I almost forgot to mention, Satoru comes from a wealthy family in this au) I’m blindly trusting my past self who wrote this and made all the calculations, but if there’s any mistakes in dates or characters ages and etcetcetc, please forgive me 😭. I’ll add more notes at the end, my brain is empty rn.

(3.1k words)

Satoru's house was a mess, It was like a earthquake just destroyed everything in sight, there was empty boxes of school supplies on the floor, clean clothes scattered on the sofa and chairs, a bag of hair ties that seemed to have exploded... in reality, it was something way less tragic than a natural disaster. Satoru and his kids were getting ready before school.

He was just as nervous as Megumi and Tsumiki for their first day of school, if not more. He changed clothes almost four times before deciding that a white button down and black pants will do.

In record time, he had the frozen waffles ready to eat on the table, along with hot chocolate for him and Megumi and a cup of tea for Tsumiki, because she thought that Satoru’s breakfasts were way too sweet.

Satoru was fixing the tie of a grumpy Megumi. "Leave it! I don't wanna wear this stupid tie anyways." After some fixing on his uniform, Satoru finally let him free to eat his waffles.

"But you look fancy, Meg!" He sat down with them and looked at the watch on his wrist, they still had 10 minutes to eat their breakfast. "It's only for the first days though, after that you can take it off, they won't care."

When Satoru was about to get up and get more chocolate syrup, he noticed Tsumiki, only ate about 1/4 of her plate. He softly stroked her hair. "What's wrong princess? is it too sweet? We still have time to make toast." She denied with her head.

"It's not that, the waffles are great." She smiled politely. "I'm just nervous… What if I don't make any friends?" Satoru’s heart squeezed, Tsumiki seemed genuinely worried looking down and fidgeting with her fingers.

"You will, baby, I can promise you that." While he spoke, he picked Tsumiki's knife and fork to cut the waffles in smaller pieces. "Everyone is gonna be nervous, it's the first day after all, so you are all gonna be on the same page. Maybe the first day you won't have a best friend or something like that right away, but by the end of the week i'm sure you'll have your group."

He smiled reassuringly at her, who now felt more confident. He picked one small waffle with the fork and put his other hand under it in case it fell, "Now, eat this waffle I made with love for you." She smiled and ate it happily.

"But you didn't make them, you just put them in the toaster and they're not even defrosted all the way," Megumi said with a grumpy expression on his face as usual, but Satoru knew that picking on him was his unique humor and also his way to show affection, even though the kid wouldn't admit it. "It had some ice inside from the freezer."

Satoru got up and walked towards Megumi and his empty and almost squeaky clean plate. With ice or not, Megumi liked the frozen waffles. "Damn relax, no one was going to take the waffles away from you Meg." He joked as he brought the plate and empty mug to the kitchen.

He left the dishes on the sink and looked at his watch again, his eyes widened when he noticed that the ten minute breakfast turned out to be fifteen. He sprinted to the main entrance, "Kids, go wash your teeth quickly, I'll start the car!"

𓈒 ݁ ₊

Satoru drove his car through the busy morning traffic, glancing in the rearview mirror at his two children sitting in the backseat, a mix of excitement and nervousness on their faces as they anticipated their first day at their new school.

Satoru grinned and began chatting enthusiastically, his words flowing to reassure them, even if they didn't respond much. "You two are going to do great! Just calm down, and remember, it's a fresh start with new friends and new adventures. You're both very smart children, this year will be great!"

Even though Megumi had slightly frown eyebrows, inside he felt at ease after Satoru’s words. And Tsumiki's face lit up with a smile. When they arrived, Satoru carried their backpacks until the entrance, but Megumi thought something was off when he noticed that Satoru walked with them inside the school.

"Why are you coming with us?" Megumi looked at Satoru with a raised eyebrow, and he was checking his phone, reading something.

"There's a welcoming act at the school’s auditorium for parents and students, the principal will give a speech and blah blah blah." after reading some texts, Satoru smiled at the screen. "But Nanami told me that there will be a table with snacks." Megumi snorted and Tsumiki looked at Satoru with a side eye. "With how expensive this school is, the least they can do is offer me a cup of tea." He said in between his teeth.

"Don't do anything embarrassing, please." He walked ahead of his sister and Satoru, already feeling embarrassed that his dad was walking with him inside the school like he was a little kid that could get lost.

"And don't flirt with Nanami, he's gonna be our teacher now." Tsumiki added seriously.

Satoru was flabbergasted at both of his children, but still a little bit entertained. "Wha- I'm not gonna embarrass you or flirt with anyone! You guys think too little of me!". They finally got to the school’s auditorium, the teachers were guiding the kids to their sits by grade, so Satoru would go sit behind where the parents were. "Okay go to your seats and listen to your teachers, I'll go grab a cup of tea." he ruffled their hair one last time to then go to the snack table.

When he got there he saw Nanami, just like they said on text messages. The speech and Welcome Act hadn't started yet so the majority of the kids were sitting while the parents grabbed a coffee and talked with each other.

"Nanami! How are you?" He greeted his friend with a brief hug and backslap, looking at him up and down when they separated. "Lookin' good." He said flirtatiously, enjoying the playful banter that often annoyed Nanami.

The blond man just rolled his eyes and sighed, "I'm good, thank you. How are you? it's Tsumiki's last year before high school isn't it?"

Satoru sighed with a proud smile, glancing in her direction for a moment. "It is, my little girl is all grown up now." He looked down at his cup of tea with a hint of nostalgia. "I hope her high school years will be the best years of her life." Nanami's gaze softened at his words.

"I'm sure she'll have a great time, she's the sweetest kid ever; you've done a great job." Satoru chuckled, moved by his friend’s words, and playfully hit his arm.

"C'mon Nanami, you're gonna make me cry and Megumi already told me not to embarrass him." Satory wiped a fake tear from his face and Nanami laughed tenderly at Megumi’s words.

"Megumi is the best, he's the only one that keeps you humble." They kept chatting about the kids and their jobs, discussing on which students were more difficult to deal with: the college students, because Satoru was a professor, or the little noisy kids that Nanami taught. But suddenly something, or rather, someone familiar caught Nanami's attention.

A few meters away from them, he recognized a tall man with black straight hair tied in a half bun, who also wore black ear gauges. He haven’t seen that man in ages, so he could be wrong, maybe it was a mistake, his eyes were probably deceiving him, but no, it really was...

"Isn't that Suguru Geto?" Nanami abruptly interrupted their conversation while squinting his eyes.

After hearing that name, Satoru's blood froze automatically on his veins, and Nanami could tell by his mortified expression.

Satoru hasn't heard his name coming from anyone in a really long time. At first thought he didn’t heard Nanami correctly, because there was just no way. Was his sugar addiction finally getting to him? Has he finally started hallucinating?

He decided to slowly turn around to see where was Nanami looking at, and he didn't knew what to expect, the most realistic thing that could happen is that when he turned around he'd see someone that looked like him, and nothing more.

But oh there he was.

And he wasn't alone, he was with two little girls about the same age as Megumi, and they wore the same uniform as Tsumiki. Satoru couldn't believe this, being realistic, he never imagined that he would be seeing him again, specially there and with two kids.

His one and only best friend, whom he considered him to be the person he has been the closest to, the person he trusted the most, and that still felt like someone important to him even though the last time they saw each other they were about seventeen years old.

Things didn’t stop there, he felt his heart dropping to the floor when those violet eyes caught a glance of his own, completely defenseless. They both stood there, looking at each other like a bucket of cold water just fell over their heads, this had to be a sick joke of some kind.

Satoru felt the need to get closer, to say something, anything. It felt like he was bewitched, but just when he was thinking about breaking the distance and take the first step, Tsumiki appeared in front of him with a hair tie on her hand.

"Dad, can you put my hair on a ponytail? the speech is about to start and they'll take pictures." Satoru seemed to be on a trance, so Tsumiki tugged on his shirt. "Dad! hurry up!"

Satoru looked at her and chuckled nervously, "Sorry love... there you go, now go to your seat." His daughter thanked him and walked back where she came from. But when he looked up he couldn't find him anymore.

Nanami could only imagine how this moment felt for Satoru. After all, he just saw his best friend after twelve years. He put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "Hey, are you alright?" His friend sighed distressed, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Can I go to your place this evening? I just... need to talk about this."

"Of course, you're welcome whenever you need it." Satoru smiled, he felt so glad to have a friend like Nanami.

"Okay but don't get too excited, we're just going to talk, that's all." Nanami rolled his eyes and slapped the back of Satoru's head.

"How can you still make your perverted jokes in a moment like this?" Satoru just laughed, and sighed hopeless.

"I don't know, I think i'm going insane."

𓈒 ݁ ₊

Satoru arrived at Nanami's apartment at 7:30 PM, they both had to work the day after so they decided to meet early, that way Satoru could be back home and sleeping at 10:00 PM. They had to admit that they felt old for calculating the time to get home and sleep, they weren’t the same boys from college.

Nanami got himself a whisky on the rocks and a glass of sweet wine for his friend as they sat down on the balcony. Satoru and Nanami met in high school, but became good friends after graduation, and after all those years they've known each other, he has never seen Satoru as stressed as he was right now, not even once.

"Nanami, what should I do?" His leg bounced up and down and his fingers ran through his white hair, then he rested his forehead on his hand. "Should I talk to him or should I just pretend like I didn't see him?"

"I don't think that's going to work, you'll see him pretty often, you know?" He took a sip from his cold glass, "His daughters are Megumi's classmates." Satoru’s eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh shit, I forgot that he has two daughters." Nanami wanted to laugh at Satoru’s comment and the expression on his face.

"So? You literally have two kids yourself."

"But what if he's married or something?" Nanami raised an eyebrow, and Satoru just chugged his wine like it was a shot, probably not wanting to taste the liquor since he wasn't used to drink.

"Would that... be a problem?" The blue eyed man just sighed, frustrated with his own confusing mix of feelings.

"No... yes. Ugh, I don't know, maybe?" his hands rubbed his face, trying to dissipate his exhaustion and stress. And now Nanami was truly confused, he wasn’t expecting such an ambiguous answer from him.

"Wait a second, are you telling me... that you feel something for Geto?" Nanami couldn't believe it, did Satoru really felt something for that man? Even after all those years had passed? Satoru’s face told him all he needed to know but didn't want to hear.

"I don't think I've ever stopped having some sorta feelings for him." It was something crazy, but Satoru seemed sincere about it. Still, Nanami couldn't wrap his head around it. “I really liked him back then, at the time I could even say that I loved him but, I was too young and realized too late.” He smiled with nostalgia at the bittersweet memories.

"But it's been twelve years!" Nanami was shocked, but Satoru seemed just so certain about it, even though it’s been a decade without even talking to him. The blond man suddenly felt like he was the only sane person in that apartment.

"Believe me, I'm well aware that it's been twelve years... I think about it more often than I should." Melancholy slowly filled his eyes. "We had a fight before he left, that's the last time we said something to each other." Nanami tilted his head slightly.

"So you guys broke up in bad terms?" Satoru looked at him confused at first, but then he understood, he could just chuckle nervously.

"Oh we weren't together, I never even got to tell him that I had a crush on him." He had to be joking, Nanami thought.

"What? You guys were just friends?" Satoru nodded with a sheepish smile, "But- I remember you two were like an old married couple. And what was the fight even about? Can't you just tell me the whole story?" Nanami simply couldn't understand them, but he didn't knew if asking was a good idea after seeing Gojo with a melancholic glaze on his eyes as he thought about his past.

"I remember when we were around sixteen or seventeen, I think that's when I noticed that Suguru started to act different... He seemed more tired and distant, he started to get thinner and his hair was tangled and undone instead of in a bun like he always had it." He swallowed the lump on his throat that wanted to break his voice, the memories of a young Suguru just slowly shutting down was something that made him want to cry.

Satoru continued. "I didn't know for certain what was happening to him, but I could tell that he wasn't in a good place, so I always tried to cheer him up and make him feel better, but I guess it wasn't enough." A treacherous tear rolled down his cheek, he wiped it quickly pretending it didn't happen. Nanami, witnessing this vulnerable side of him, was taken aback. "And when he left I felt lonelier than ever, it reminded me of when I was a kid... Suguru was the only person that truly understood me, unlike everyone else I've ever met. With him, everything seemed just so bright, so comforting. He saw beyond my last name and status, he appreciated me for who I actually was." Another shaky breath escaped him, revealing the depth of their connection.

Seeing him crying was something difficult, Satoru was someone strong, someone you could hardly ever see being sad or vulnerable, but he was always there for anyone that needed him. Nanami immediately offered him a tissue and tried to comfort him, whispering "It's okay."

"When I realized that his decision was already taken and that he was leaving the city... I told him that he was just, running away from his problems instead of facing them, and that he- he didn't care about our future or our plans and... I think what hurt him the most was when I said that he didn't cared about us, I can't get the look on his face off my mind." His hand ran through his hair, and he finally turned to look at Nanami, "I think that… Suguru was my first love, I've never had anything like what I had with him, and I never will again."

There was a silence, Satoru tried to steady his breaths while Nanami just processed everything that he said. He knew those two were close, but he didn't knew they were that important to each other, even though he thought that they were dating, he imagined that it was just a high school sweetheart.

"I think this is your chance to talk to him." After meditating it, he thought that it was the best option for him, but Satoru looked at him with wide and teary eyes, like he was asking for more advice. "If you two are in this situation right now, where your kids go to the same school and that you'll see each other again often... I think that you should try and at least keep things peaceful with your so called «first love»." Satoru looked down and laughed softly.

"Easier said than done..." His phone buzzed on his pocket, he checked it and it was a picture from Choso, his babysitter and also his student. It was a picture of Tsumiki sitting on the couch and doing a peace sign with her hand, next to her Megumi covered his face with a drawing he made of an animal that seemed like a magic wolf.

He dried his remaining tears with his sleeve and put his phone back in his pocket. "I better get going, Choso has to study for an exam."

"You better give that kid extra credit." Satoru chuckled. They walked to the main entrance and before his friend left, he stopped him to talk "Satoru, if you need to talk, or if you need advice or even if you need someone to take care of your kids, don't doubt asking, I'll always be here okay?" Satoru felt really moved by his words, but he couldn't resist to pick on Nanami.

"I will. Thank you, seriously." He smiled. "Oh, and don't call me Satoru, I get flashbacks from college." Nanami almost laughed when Satoru winked at him.

"If nine years ago I knew that you would still bother me 'til this day, I would've thought about it twice before sleeping with you."

Notes: I thought Nanago hooking up in college would be funny teehehe. Ahh I’ve been wanting to post this fic for so long, but now it’s finally here!! Feedback is greatly appreciated <3

[anangelwhodidntfall]

Distance: Dad!Quaritch

Avatar Masterlist 

word count: 1.2K

Request:  I can imagine a lot of conflicted feelings coming from the reader, so maybe she's getting closer to Quaritch and she's not sure how she feels about that so she distances herself from him. And since everyone seems accepting of this when she's not, she just distances herself from everyone and nobody knows why.

A/N: This can be read as a continuation of Changed Man or it can be read separately

Taglist: @luz09 @uselessbutinteresting​

You and your dad....god that word felt foreign on your tongue still even almost six months after building a pretty healthy relationship with him. You still found it hard at times to trust him or believe he's changed after everything he's done especially when you saw him talking to Na'vi people and treating them actually like people and not trying to kill them since the RDA was still around. You couldn't really talk to anyone especially your twin about how you were feeling because it seemed like they all forgave him for his past mistakes and what he did but something in you couldn't.

So you started to pull away and put some distance between you and him not wanting to start a fight with him or anyone about how you were feeling, knowing that they would all call you crazy or say that you were being unreasonable with him. Your dad was the first to notice the distance you started to put up against him, leaving him wondering what he did to deserve that. He sat there trying to think of if you two had fought, argued, or if he did something to you, but he couldn't think of anything.

"What's going on Miles? You seem like something is troubling you." Jake said as they walked back to the village with today's hunt.

"It's Y/N. She's been distant with me lately and I can't figure out what I did." He admitted and immediately Jake understood.

"She gets like that sometimes, something triggers her old wounds and makes her want to retreat to her old self. I'm not trying to overstep but I could try to talk to her and see what's going on if you would like?" Jake said because you two have a pretty good relationship.

"I would appreciate that, thank you." Miles said as they reached camp.

All during dinner Jake noticed how quiet and closed off you were with not only Miles but as well everyone and usually you loved to talk to everyone, so he now he knew for sure that something was going on with you. After dinner, you were about to leave, and go sit by the pond just to be away from your dad for a bit when a hand stopped you.

"Hey, can we talk? I feel like we haven't talked in a while." Jake said as you nodded your head following him so you could talk.

"Are you okay? Is anything bothering you? I couldn't help but notice at dinner how quiet you were." He asked you making you sigh.

"Actually.......nothing it doesn't matter, you'll think I'm crazy." You said.

"Hey, I have never thought you were crazy, what's going on? You know that I'm always here." He said to you.

"It's my dad." You said.

"What's going on did something happen?" He asked you.

"No, it's more old fears that are preventing me from getting closer to him than I already am. I still feel like his getting close to me and spider, to learning about the Na'vi is all some big trap to hurt us, especially with the RDA lurking around. I know I sound crazy..." You said.

"No, you don't sound crazy, you have every right to feel this way, I still have those fears as well. But I can say that surprisingly your dad keeps showing us that he is genuinely  in wanting to be a part of the Na'vi and having a relationship with you and your brother, but I think you should talk to your dad about how you are feeling, instead of closing him out because he is trying." Jake said as you nodded your head.

"Thank you, Jake." You said hugging him.

"Of course sweetheart, I'm always here if you need it. Now go talk to your dad." He said as you pulled away and headed home to find your dad.

You made your way home and saw your dad sitting there sharpening his knives until he heard your footsteps making him look up at you.

"Hey sweetheart, everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah um do you think we could talk? About how I've been acting lately?" You said to him nervously.

"Sure. What's been going on with you? I couldn't help but notice that you've been pulling away from me and I'm sorry but I can't figure out what I did." He said.

"I know you didn't. It's just that with the RDA still hanging around, you getting to know us and the Na'vi still feels like some kind of trap and I know I shouldn't be thinking that when you've proven that you aren't with them anymore...but I can't help it and it scares me..I'm sorry."  You said to him as you felt the tears leak down your face.

"Oh, sweetheart." He said standing up and making his way towards you and wrapping his arms around you, feeling his heart break at seeing your tears.

"I'm sorry I know it's totally unfair to you, given everything you've done to prove yourself to us." You said as he rubbed a hand up and down your back.

"Hey hey look at me." He said kneeling in front of you so he could properly look at you.

"You don't have to apologize for feeling this way...I don't have the best track record with Pandora and the Na'vi people so I totally understand how you are feeling...but I promise that now that I have you and your brother back in my life I will never do anything in this world to mess that up... and I will continue working for your trust if it takes the rest of my life. I love you sweetheart and don't want to ever lose either of you again." He said hugging you.

"I love you too dad." You said.

Jake came back the tent to make sure you didn't kill your dad and actually talked to him, he took a peak in and smiled when he saw you and Quaritch hugging.

"Thank you." Quaritch mouthed to him as Jake smiled at the sight.

[warmerstranger]

THE FRUIT'S FALL TO ABYSS

feat. yandere angel x gn admirer demon reader

°°``Marked as and not excluding: Yandere (condescending emotional abuse, abuse of power, gaslight, murder towards others), religious -faintly- and metaphorical themes going on, guilt-trip, angel falling convertion stuffs

Recommended to read for those 16+, please proceed with caution.

One misstep bring about another's corrupted soul painted in sinful indulgence that smoothen the fall of your shattered pieces.

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱ A high-rank angel, bored from the stiff environment that doesn't take kindly to any surfacing traits of imperfection taken only as the signs to hell's descent, they don't let any mistakes and weaknesses slide off their sharp judgement.

Armaros' harmless curiousity grew the more days passed, wondering if things could've gone different when he goes out of line a step bit closer to new revelation and foreign enlightenment.

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱ The Angel who·········met you in line of his assignment, you—a demon that shouldn't have to do it—offered to help him after freely admitting that you were his secret admirer.

Armaros' consideration didn't run that long before he accepted it, with the condition that you will have to answer every of his incoming questions honestly, otherwise he would've known when you lie. You would suffice as a fun little entertainment for now... to how far you could be taken for granted and toyed with?—the question lingered in the back of his mind.

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱ The Angel who·········were baffled at your attempts of redeeming yourself with a recklessly optimistic mindset, doing helpful and kind acts that could benefit either the humanity or angels. You seemed to be all the more motivated whenever you would show your hard work and sloppy-most-failed results.

Armaros' amused interest in you deepened still. Your daily interactions with him would make his day, he have come to enjoy your various expressions and reactions. Like, of course your attempts wouldn't work, with him telling you to give it up and mock your silly efforts as he knows the best for you, he relishes in your hesitation and downhearted spirit which he didn't keep it that way as he still wanted to test you.

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱ The Angel who·········somehow cared for you? No, he simply didn't want to be found out that he have been involved with you all along by the others.

Armaros' exasperation amplified all the more if you get hurt in your stupid shenanigans. You would be hopeless if he weren't around to watch out for you and heal you of your wounds, he you were really lucky he was the one being there and doing these things for you.

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱ The Angel who·········went easy on you, eased off his sharp demeaning critics intended to dash your hopes.

Armaros' attitude somehow changed to be more lighthearted, settling on playful teasing that still maintain an air of pride to prevent you from pointing it out should it become more clearer that you were important after all, no, he wouldn't let you off the hook that easily.

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱ The Angel who·········caught feelings for you. He began to realize how much he wanted you around him, he became sick, sick, sick of the duties and responsibilities he had since they got in the way of him being together with you.

Armaros' heart rate increased along with a sense of warmth spreading through his body made him more alive than ever anytime the slightest of your touch brush past his skin or when you express your appreciation, genuine joy and care for him despite everything.

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱ The Angel·········seeked the most of your presence. Anything you do that proves how much your honest true feelings amount to and bared towards him, anything could do. As long as he was positive you still liked him to some extent. He always silently compared your behavior and demeanor to him with how you would usually act with others, if those others gained more of your favor... Well, he could always use some of his authority privilege to burden them with the unforgiving heavy chains of punishment from hell or straight up wipe out their existence. He was confident—too much so—that he already scored a permanent spot in your heart or maybe he will occupy the whole heart.

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱ Armaros yearned for you, for the day he could be free from the heaven's restraints, for the time he could openly show closed off heart to you, for the future he could be together with you—

𓆩♡𓆪𓆩♡𓆪𓆩♡𓆪𓆩♡𓆪

Dumbfounded, his eyes widened in surprise. “What?! You were intentionally growing ugly or even poisonous plants? And... you were thinking of giving some to me?...” He blinks with disbelief, staring at you. Give them to me then, what are you waiting for; was what he would've wanted to reply, he already collected some of your belongings anyway... But before he could say more, you soon interjected.

“They aren't ugly..! And they aren't that dangerous too. I'm sure even plants like these could be useful in some ways for the angels or you too. Like how you always give me a chance to keep at it... I'm sure in no time, I could be a great angel like you someday.”

You noticed a slight reddening blush on his fair skin as he scoffs and lightly pushes you away. “Hah! You sure know how to flatter me... Don't ever compare yourself to me, we're on a whole different level. But I guess I do acknowledge that you already have the potential to be strong, at least in the hardheaded childish department. Go ahead and keep growing weird plants, then. I want to see how long you can keep them alive without accidentally killing them or anyone else.” Armaros smirked, shaking his head.

“Though, I'm sorry to burst your bubble when you're already living comfortably in your deluded reality but I have to say and convinced that you'll never become an angel, there's no way I'll allow you to become an angel, that's the last thing I want...” He narrowed his eyes at you seriously. It was already enough for him to be the one with heavy burden like that.

You soon sighed, looking at him dejectedly in hopes he would take back his words or say anything opposite to them. “You know, I've heard of demons working their way up to be an angel and many have succeeded... A-and.. I was thinking if we could.. you could.. be with me if I do end up as an angel anyway!” you gave your best sweet puppy eyes for your silent plea to be heard and granted, perhaps slipping off your charm unintentionally to him.

He was speechless for a moment, frowning at you as if he didn't know what to do with you. “God, you're so—” he mumbled, sucking in a breath through his gritted teeth. He could just kiss you right then and there as he was in an isolated place with you anyway if only he didn't hold back. “Who told you that...? You're wrong, demons can't ascend into angels.” He pauses to look away before adding to ease up your disappointment.

“Look, it doesn't matter how much you improve yourself. You're a demon from the very beginning so you would always be a demon in the eyes of angels. Even if theoretically you can ascend into an angel or if there comes a day demons and angels can coexist, I don't have any such intention. You're just a demon that I had fun toying around in some cases, nothing more.” He explained harshly.

Gasping lightly at his words, you reply with a feigned hurt expression. “St-still! What about you? Do you still like me even as I am now? Even if you only think so of me...” I blinked slowly, waiting in anticipation and expectations of your answer.

He remained silent for a few seconds. He was struggling to speak without making you sad in some way as he felt guilty. “Oh, you're so naive I'm surprised you have lasted this long... You, you... as a demon... You're alright, I must say.” Armaros sighed, his eyes avoided looking straight to your gaze. What a lame thing to say, yet he had no choice when he didn't want to tell you the truth. He refused to acknowledge it, or else it would materialize to a whole different new truth he couldn't keep under control.

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱ It was killing him inside, like a little persistent nagging feeling that was only a bud at first, he felt his heart clenched painfully he almost couldn't breathe sometimes from how he had to keep his own feelings and thoughts about you under wraps. He was aware corruption already rooted in his core and would spread to take over his whole being, he could imaagine his nearing descent. But if he could still prevent it...

♡੯ᵕू ໒꒱·········

He shouldn't have. He regretted not confessing to you sooner or else you didn't have to almost die in their hands under a merciless treatment; the angels, they were surrounding you and him while they looked down to the both of you. There were no signs of you struggling or fighting back against them, even though it was deserved to do in your defense and he knew you had the capability.

Armaros stayed silent and didn't pay the angels' words any mind, his arms clutching your unconcious form tightly to him as his discolored wings wrapped around you, shielded from their view and isolating you for his sole sight. “You can't die, I will only allow you to live by my side.” he leaned to slot in your lips between his, your taste and scent filling up his heightened senses like a irresistible drug.

He used up the rest of his power as his halo melted, fading off to enrich the horns protruding beneath. His tranquil mind focused on your recovery, his eager heart bursting at the seams on your whole being while he shed off his divine feathers and old skin.

The other angels having been swallowed and impaled by the spikes from the heaven's ground. He have been dreaming of and wanting you badly—a forbidden desire for a love he had never known. He pulled back from his kiss when you slowly woke up, then he rested his forehead on yours.

“You're fine now, until the end of time and beyond, we will always stay together.”

[kpopsexstories]

The Return of NCT/WayV Lucas (The "Freeze" Documentary)

Like many of you, I assume, I jumped when I saw the Lucas documentary pop up on my YouTube feed earlier today. It came out 13 hours ago as I write this, and already has over 700,000 views!

The first thing I want to say about that, and the overwhelmingly wonderful comments the documentary has received, is that Lucas has certainly not lost his fan base.

I'm not going to comment on the scandal of three years ago, but will say that I was sad when Lucas suddenly disappeared from public view. WayV in particular hasn't been the same since. Whether he has himself or society to blame for how things went down has been debated ever since.

Having watched the documentary, I have a few thoughts I want to share:

Though it's only done indirectly, I love that Lucas admits to his mistakes. We didn't really get much info three years ago, and the documentary doesn't reveal anything at all about the scandal itself, but today, this is a man who (today) doesn't put blame on anything or anyone other than himself. At least that's the public image the documentary shows. I'm sure he has blamed external factors in the time since the scandal, but he genuinely seems to be a different person now. More than anything, I respect Lucas for how he has matured, how he reflects on past mistakes, and how open and honest he is about how he's been (both before and after the scandal).

As a publicity move, I think this documentary is absolutely brilliant. Many celebrities – particularly in China but also Korea – have fallen victim to public opinion following their mistakes, and never recovered from it. I think internationally Lucas could have made a comeback sooner and survived, but to break through on his home turf, this documentary is probably a crucial first step. I'd go as far as to say that this move could help change idol life culture for the next generation, in the same way Jennifer Lawrence changed things the way she handled the leak of her nudes (compare the damage control of that incident to how Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) was forced to handle a very similar situation just a few years prior to Jennifer).

Of course it remains to be seen what Lucas will do from here, but I'm glad that the true end of his hiatus is signaled by the release of a documentary designed to shape public opinion, rather than his potential suicide (mentioned in the video). This documentary surely dictates the direction Lucas will go from here for years to come, and I think it's a great step to his return.

I need to completely rethink the story I was going to write about Lucas. It's a great coincidence that the documentary came out the day after my post yesterday, which was specifically about Lucas. The idea I had was indirectly about the scandal. It didn't take sides but told a story, one that at the end of the day didn't paint Lucas in the best of light (to put it lightly). Now, having seen the vulnerable man in the documentary, I can't in good conscience publish what I was going to publish.

I'm curious, what did you think of Freeze pt. 1?

EDIT: I realized now that I didn't include an option for not supporting Lucas/anyone who might think what he did is unforgiveable, but it's not possible to change polls after publishing 😕 I guess use the "Who's Lucas?" option if that's your opinion 🙂

[inkdemonapologist]

BatDR: Joey's Final Scene is Weird (+ Ink Demon Audrey AU I Guess)

I'm sure I'm not the first person to have this thought but I keep thinking about it, so, some thoughts!! Grain of salt as always since I've mostly osmose'd the game through friends and cutscenes, so there may well be significant things I've missed.

In BatDR, the initial vibe is that Joey Drew has turned over a new leaf, and finally found a better person in himself as a father. It's a good direction for Joey -- rather than trying to be accepted by people who do not owe him forgiveness, instead moving forward and being better for someone new.

But... there's a lot of evidence that isn't quite true. Joey's response to letting go of his hatred for Henry wasn't to admit what he'd done or to end the cycle or even apologise, it was just.... to put an invented Allison Angel in there -- because of the existence of Allison, we know the hellish experience we see in BatIM is what Joey figured it was probably fine to leave Henry looping through after his supposed change of heart. And his imperfect attempts at creating a child apparently only get to see him as an uncle -- only his perfect, special Audrey is Good enough to call him "dad." Maybe Joey genuinely is a little better (it's a pretty low bar) and loves her with a sincerity and humility he wasn't able to find before, but... a decent part of that seems to be because she came out right, because she made him happy.

Thren described it as the "authentic Joey Drew experience" and I love that framing; we all KNOW everything he did in BatIM, everything he's responsible for -- but he's charming, and he loves the player character so much, and it seems like... he must be better! When Joey Drew likes you, Buddy tells us in DCTL, it's the best feeling in the world. And.... I don't think Joey's lying, it's just that loving Audrey (just Audrey) doesn't actually make him a kinder or better person.

One of the places that stands out to me the MOST is his final scene.

This scene is DELIGHTFUL on its own but becomes EXTREMELY WEIRD ONCE YOU PONDER ANY CONTEXT AT ALL -- Joey stands before the Ink Demon, his greatest failure to be kind to a "grinning thing" that once wandered Thomas Connor's office before being locked away in the infirmary, and refers to it as an "evil face" before telling Audrey that she's special, more special than those cartoons he once brought to life, that she's his greatest creation and his family whom he loves, and that they shouldn't dwell on the past. NO WONDER THE INK DEMON MURDERS HIM??? What must it be like to hear your creator tell someone else that they got all the love you were denied, that they were better, more important, and you're still a monster? JOEY YOUR SON IS RIGHT THERE HE CAN HEAR YOU

Part of me thinks this is REALLY GOOD. I'm honestly into the idea of Joey believing himself to be a changed man when he's still falling into old habits, and the idea of a narrative that seems on the surface to be a redemption, when closer inspection reveals it to be just, seeing Joey's biased story, is such an interesting idea? But, since the story itself doesn't really acknowledge it, just glossing over every point to the contrary with a more sincere-seeming emotional beat, it ends up feeling kinda discordant with the story we DO see. As if it were an accident. No one, not even the villains, calls Joey's change of heart into question -- when the Ink Demon pushes back, it's not with justified anger at being openly dissed, but just because the demon's Evil and Audrey has to fight back against it. The idea of Joey as an unreliable narrator of every one of his scenes in BatDR is conceptually cool, but emotionally jarring; I feel like I need an entire extra fic of Audrey coming to terms with the idea that her father really did love her, but maybe he wasn't actually a better or kinder person in the end (and what if Memory Joey could actually face his mistakes in a way her IRL father never managed to....).

But I wanna focus in on one odd other odd thing Joey says to Audrey.

This doesn't quite feel like it goes with what's happening to Audrey -- she has no real reason to be genuinely tempted by the Ink Demon or to believe that her past dooms her to this (Joey Maybe You're Projecting); she's just reasonably freaked out that a big monster subsumed her into himself. It sounds like it's a line from some other scene in a different story, one where Audrey has always been the ink demon and this statement would have some emotional weight.

AND MAN LIKE........ ACTUALLY THAT SURE WOULD SHIFT THE TONE OF THIS SCENE, HUH. Maybe that would actually be really good in a different way???? lets think about this

Joey regretted his actions and, just as Allison had seen the good in him, he sought the good in the Ink Demon -- no longer trying to force his perfect Bendy, but just to give it a choice to be something else. And after many many tries, he was able to give the demon a piece of his own soul, make the demon something almost human. That's Audrey. the ink demon can be trans as a treat

aUDREY HAS EVEN BETTER REASON TO BE ANGRY ABOUT THE REVEAL THAT SHE'S THE DEMON

The demon that exists in the cycle is, like Joey, a memory. It's literally a representation of the past, it speaks to Audrey because it's her own memories, and it starts to take over Audrey as a resurgence of her grudges and anger from when she WAS that creature. She has a reason to have conflicted feelings here.

All of Joey's exhortations to not let the past define you, telling Audrey "you don't have to be this" when she becomes one with the demon -- these suddenly actually apply to her instead of just Joey projecting his own baggage onto her. When he says that she's his family and that he loves her, in this version, it wouldn't be just because she's better than his other creations; it's reaffirming that a love he'd failed to show for a long, long time still applies even when she's big and weird and angry. That family is more important than perfection. It's a resolution, finally, to one of his biggest failures in BatIM.

It would change the scene tremendously; Joey could say a lot of the same things and it would have more genuine emotional weight because it's no longer him ignoring and dissing the ink demon in favour of this shiny new person who makes him feel a lot better about himself, but him specifically refuting how he'd felt before, and saying "I love you so very much" to someone who maybe... really needed to hear that, actually.

The struggle between Audrey and the Demon also becomes emotionally relevant -- it's her grappling with whether she's willing to reset things, or to fall into the same cycle of mistreatment.

Other potential benefits to this change:

Baby Bendy showing up at the end has weird vibes when you know that it's a form the Ink Demon was forced into as a prison, actively doesn't want to be in, and escapes whenever possible... but if the Ink Demon is a representation of Audrey's past resentment, it seems a little less troubling that he could become the cute cartoon once Audrey is at peace with who she is and how she came to be.

If Audrey explicitly has a piece of THE SOUL OF JOEY DREW within her, then there is an immediately intuitive reason why Wilson would need her in order to control the Ink Realm -- and also why she realises that it's hers to influence in the end. I think you could already sorta headcanon this with what we got, but with how important souls were in BatIM and DCTL, it'd be nice to have them come up again.

Anyway I think that's.... enough for this post. Some Joey thoughts and AN AUDREY AU I GUESS!!!

[theflyindutchwoman]

Hi. I'm back for your integration). This time to an episode from the first season when Tim visits Isabel on Valentine's Day.

Why do you think Tim was the first to talk about divorce?

I remember when I first viewed it, it surprised me. He waited for her, fought for her, endured this nightmare and it seems he still loved her. Isabelle apologized, talked about the past. She tried to understand herself and explain to him why it happened. I don't think she's thought about the future yet. And then he offers to divorce. Does he no longer see a future together?

I can only explain this by the fact that Tim, having heard how Isabel felt his pressure on her, that she did not meet his expectations, decides to rid her of herself. (I wonder, by the way, if this is objective or just her feelings, interpretation or just excuses)

Sorry for the mistakes and hopefully not too confusing, English is not my native language.

This is a delicate (and complicated) subject so I hope I'm not saying anything wrong or offensive here. And as always, this is only my interpretation.

The way I see it, when Tim went to the rehab facility to see Isabel, he didn't know what to expect, what her state of mind would be. Hence why he admitted almost turning away twice. What he did know was that he wanted his wife back, that he loved her… But as he had learned the hard way, that might not be sufficient. Still, I don't think he was envisaging divorcing her. It's only once she opened up about the pressure she felt when they were married that he considered it.

At first, Isabel was simply trying to make amends, apologise for all the things she did. It's actually part of the 12-steps program, which supports recovery from substance disorders. Step 09 is about making direct amends to the people you've harmed. Now, I don't know if she was at that stage already but her wording was very similar. Here's what she says : "I don't want to talk about it, either, but it's part of my recovery. […] The whole point is to make amends with the people that I've hurt. And I hurt you most of all". She wanted to acknowledge all the hurt she inflicted… But he wasn't really listening. From what we saw, Tim had a major blindspot regarding Isabel's addiction, where he blamed everything on the drugs. That was his coping mechanism. But it skewed his perspective as well, as Lucy tried to tell him, calling him out on this several times. In his mind, Isabel didn't do the lying, the cheating… It was the drugs. He was compartmentalising. And now that she was in recovery, he thought everything would go back to normal.

Unfortunately, this isn't as black and white. She was under the influence, but she also did those things. And most importantly : she may be in recovery, but addiction can last a lifetime. This is a disease, it doesn't go away just like that. So while she might no longer be using drugs, she was still an addict. He needed to accept that if he wanted them to move forward. But instead, he was unintentionally dismissing what she was saying - something he tends to do when he gets uncomfortable. He wasn't ready to address any of that and she got frustrated, unloading on him, telling him how she used to feel this pressure to live up to his standards. So once he understood there were deeper issues in their marriage that might have contributed to her addiction, his blinders came off. He felt he was at least partially responsible for her addiction.

Now, I don't really think she was trying to blame him at first. She genuinely wanted to apologise and was not skirting responsibility, even when Tim was offering her an easy way out. This tells me that she was sincere in her approach. I also doubt she wanted to divorce him. Addicts are usually asked to refrain from making life-altering decisions like this in their first year, to avoid any major change that could trigger a relapse (and I'm glad the show didn't go there by the way). The problem was that Tim got caught off-guard. He had no idea what he was walking into and as a result, didn't have time to prepare himself. You can't force someone to talk about something so sensitive or accept your apologies. The other person has a right to know first and to choose whether they are ready to discuss this.

Like I said earlier, Isabel got frustrated when he was deflecting and she vented out. And whether that was her intent or not, she did place some of the blame for her addiction on Tim. Deserved or not. In 5.20, she implied there were things from her past she was running away from, developing unhealthy coping mechanisms in the process... So there were clearly other factors at the very least. But regardless, this whole conversation really highlighted the dissonance and the breakdown of communication in their marriage. Because he was never aware of how she felt while they were together. She never told him how she was always afraid of disappointing him. Anyhow, Tim internalised what she said and took on the blame placed on him. Hence why he decided to divorce her. If he could be a potential trigger for her, then staying married would do her more harm than good. He would always be a reminder to that low point. So he did what he thought was best for Isabel's well-being. It wasn't for him. It was for her.

(Don't you worry or apologise about your English - I'm not a native speaker either!)

[bubski-mcboo]

I'm polyamorous and I ship both lokius and sylki.

However, right now, I favour lokius, because Mobius has not betrayed Loki in any way that he hasn't since made up for, and Sylvie has. Mobius helped Loki see a part of himself that he didn't think he had. Mobius and Loki are 100% on each other's wavelength, they keep supporting each other. They are so. Freaking. Cute. Also, even though he knows that Sylvie is not a good influence on Loki right now, and shows signs that he might be a bit jealous, (maybe in a confused way cos it's a weird self-love thing), Mobius does not discourage him from interacting with her and lets them work out their conflict from a safe distance. He's simply there as support for when it inevitably goes wrong. Which leads me to how Mobius does a damn good job of grounding Loki. Not only has Mobius encouraged Loki to shed his mask of grandiosity and be his genuine self, but I'm also convinced that the moral compass Loki grew during the course of S1 is very Mobius-shaped. (Mobius consensually supervises Loki's violence in S2.) I cannot deny that, selfcest morals aside, Sylvie and Loki had great chemistry in S1. Sylvie, like Mobius, also helped Loki discover more about himself - specifically how his past shaped him, just as it shaped her. He learned that if he can love another version of himself, then maybe he really is worthy of love (But also maybe he's a supernarc because only he can love himself. Mobius did smack him with that one, but jealousy gonna jealous.) In any case, as of S2, Sylvie and Loki walk opposite paths. They are in opposition to one another, which does not a good relationship make. Admittedly, those paths have moved closer in tandem thanks to the events in Ep5, but we have yet to see Sylvie, justified or not, admit that it was her mistake that caused what seems to be the breakdown of all existence at they know it. We have yet to see her apologise and make amends for steamrollering over Loki's suggestion to stop and think before killing HWR. So yeah, I ship them both, but lokius at this point is ready. The oven timer has dinged, and the skewer has come out clean. Sylki is still at that point where one of them is waiting for the other to change. The recipe isn't quite right.

[gritsandbrits]

We joke about how Lightyear buzz looks like a human version of sentinel from tfa but i can't help but think about other similarities

Both attach their identity on materialistic things.

What i mean by that is they define themselves by their jobs, their mistakes, things that don't make up the whole sum of their characters. They were so focused on one petty goal they became self centered in different ways. In Buzz's case going back in time to reverse marooning his crew on an alien planet.

Buzz wants to be this perfect space ranger and attaches his identity to impossibly high standards so in the case that he fails, he ends up feeling worthless. He attaches himself to his mistake. Even after other people moved on and found happiness, he can't see himself enjoying happiness because now he's found himself a new thing to latch on. He wants to change his mistake, not learn from it. He didn't ask what others would feel, even as they tell him that they don't think He's a failure. But he doesn't trust that not at first anyways. He's Buzz Lightyear the perfect space ranger if he fails then who is he?

The answer: he's still Buzz Lightyear!

Buzz was able to think about his mistakes through a clearer lens. He saw Alisha and their group living happy lives. His interactions with Izzy and her team also made him realize that you can move on. You are not just a space ranger, or a mistake and you can't just latch yourself on to these shallow things. By letting his mistake go he is able to let others think and live for themselves and find a life for himself too!

Buzz doesn't go with his plan after all because he learn from the past and it doesn't form his true shape.

Sentinel defines himself based on how loyal he is to the autobot guard, to the law.

He can't let go of on Archa 7. Because of his painful feelings he looks to attach himself to work, to seeking power and status as a coping mechanism. Sentinel pours all his focus on being the perfect Guardsman because he broke the rule once and resulted in catastrophe. He's afraid and it's that fear that led him down a dark path. He doesn't reach out to people; in fact he lashes out at them if things don't go his way.

We see him lash out at Optimus and other characters. He bullies people for not being perfect and calls out their flaws, while downplaying his own. In reality it's Sentinel projecting the grief of his failures onto people. He doesn't seem to trust that people are more than just their mistakes bc he still defining himself on his. Just like Buzz, except the latter doesn't lash out he internalizes things and was wary to reach out. He thinks any flaw or negative trait means disloyalty and uses his status to get over on people. The extreme self centred type.

These two similar may be alike but solved their problems differently.

When Buzz confronted his older self, he refuses to help him knowing thay doing so would ruin millions of lives. He also realized he is more than just a space ranger or his mistakes. He deserves to have a life and rest outside those things. He's learned to trust others and himself again.

When confronted with Wasp and Blackarachnia, Sentinel seems to shift blame or try to downplay it. He lashes out at Blackarachnia. He tried to arrest the Autobots when presented with evidence of Wasp's innocence cuz he doesn't want to admit his role in ruining that bot's life. . Because he never learned to detach himself from shallow labels he lost the ability to trust his own judgement and trust others. He thinks Optimus is just a rival ready to hurt him at any chance, when in reality Optimus is genuinely trying to help him and reach out to him.

At the end of Predacon Rising he says this: it's too late for apologies too late for all of us.

That phrase shows that Sentinel gave up on himself and others. Well I failed, I've become a jerk it's too late for me to change! Most of his choices tie back to that one tragedy. Instead of looking at things through a clear objective view, he tricked himself into thinking that's it. No moving on, no letting it go, No change. He thinks admitting to mistakes means his life is going to be over. Ironically Optimus did end up living a satisfying life and finding his identity outside of failure and status.

Had Sentinel opened his spark he would've seen Optimus having moved on and be happy. But Sentinel doesn't trust that that he doesn't believe people can move on and enjoy life and change for the better. It doesn't help in S4 he actually gets worse because he trapped himself in a toxic cycle of self loathing and poor understanding of accountability.

In contrast Buzz opening up to his honest feelings helped him gain clarify on his situation, and gain the tools needed to stop Zurg. He learn to accept and appreciate his team flaws and all. He learned to see himself as himself not buzz the space ranger not buzz the failure. A much more positive end vs. Sentinel's gradual descent.

In short Buzz & Sentinel are alike but end up in very different places and why it's important to build your identity and self worth beyond basic titles and the past.

[a-champion-of-stars]

(Cw for a brief bit of violence)

[Lumiose City]

With the beginning of a sigh Hilda leaned back against the building. Two was still inside waiting for the stone to be properly fixed, and she had gotten oddly restless, taking it upon herself to step outside to get some fresh air for a moment.

The city was loud, quite loud compared to places she preferred to be, but somehow it wasn’t all that bad to be around.

The sounds of cars speeding down the road and people walking past all blended together into a cacophony of noise that fell into the back of her mind.

Somehow this was nearly calming, and she was just about to tune out the world entirely when something inside her jumped. It was like an instinct, warning her something was nearby. But what could it-

“Am I mistaking you for someone or-?”

It barely took a second for everything to click, and Hilda didn’t even stop to think as she realized who was speaking right behind her, swinging around and within a moment her fist had connected with the jaw of the man standing behind her.

She shook her hand out after, a buzzing pain ringing through it from the force of the punch she had just inflicted. The man had stumbled backwards, clearly in shock from both the hit and the force behind it.

“…should I take that as it is you?”

She didn’t respond to him, instead stretching her somewhat aching hand for a bit more.

“Hilda, right?”

Finally looking right at him, she lifted her left hand to respond.

“N.” She held the word as she stared right at him. The amount of things she was feeling at the moment was messy, and she wasn’t even sure how to describe it all, yet she couldn’t help but say something else before he had a chance to even respond.

“Sorry.” Hilda signed, slowly enough for him to catch it, but quick enough to drop her hand back to her side before he spoke.

“Well I can’t exactly say it was entirely unexpected.” N sighed, one hand still clutching the side of his jaw. “You never particularly liked me, and I can’t imagine that changed much considering…” His words trailed off, as though he didn’t quite want to fully bring up the past.

“Anyway…” The sentence faded out as quickly as it had started, and an awkward silence settled between the two for more than just a moment.

“What did you want to say to me?” Hilda asked slowly, seeming unsure of each word as she went, her gaze showing a genuine curiosity as she stared at N.

“What?”

“You approached me, clearly ready to speak before-”

“Before you punched me?”

“Yeah, before I punched you. What did you want to say?”

Another silence settled over the two of them, although this one a bit more brief.

“I’m not entirely sure.” He admitted in a somewhat diffident tone. “It’s just…I guess after everything it would've been weirder if I hadn’t said anything? It’s not exactly like I ever expected to run into you again or anything but still…”

“Do you want to talk?” She asked, mentally running through the nearest the routes the city led out to. If they were to have a conversation the middle of this busy city was possibly the worst place to get into things, for a multitude of reasons.

“Route 14 would be the best place to head if you do, a lot less people and there’s some forested areas for any needed cover, they wouldn’t mind talking to you either.” Hilda couldn’t help but be shocked by her own willingness to have a conversation with this man. She had spent so long harboring nothing but contempt for him, and yet here she was, more open to him than she’d ever thought possible.

“Really?” N sounded about as surprised as she felt about the whole thing. She just nodded in response.

“Since you’ve offered I see no reason not to, there’s plenty to discuss if you’re open to it.”

“One moment and we can get to it then.” She replied, taking her phone out of her pocket the moment she finished signing to send a quick text. While she wasn’t planning on going too far outside the city, leaving Two in the dark on where she was was not an incident she wanted to repeat.

When her phone was back in her pocket she began walking towards the nearest gateway, N following her out.

There was a lot to be said.