#but it's lovely to see how much the ccs care about each other <3

[jahanmp4]

“I'm not a quitter, I received 3 messages on WhatsApp from Forever, Quackity, Bagi, Fit, I talked with Cellbit, Phil, alright it's time to stop behaving like a child”

My Green Gay Ninjas team 💚 :'(

[aphrogeneias]

kickstart my heart — one-shot

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: the first time eddie sees your bare chest isn't the way he imagined it would be, and he'd imagined plenty of times.

word count: 1.6k

warnings: smut (+18), dirty thoughts, suggestive dialogue, for the purpose of this story, eddie is a boobs man (but we all know he enjoys the whole package), allusions to sex but no graphic descriptions. jeff is implied to be gay because in my heart all of cc are somewhere in the alphabet mafia.

author's note: elaborating on this. i want to remind you that this is a silly piece and i hope you take It as such <3 also i am incredibly rusty when it comes to writing, i'm sorry if this isn't great.

There were thousands of people around him, including the band on the stage in front of them, but Eddie couldn't look anywhere else but at you, eyes wide with a weird mix of emotions.

As cold sweat made his previously hot skin shiver, all he could think was "this wasn't how I thought it would go". Believe him, he'd thought about it a million times. When he needed to stay awake in class, when you wore low cut tops and tight shirts, in the blessed days you decided to opt out of a bra, late at night with his hand gripping his hard length, leaking all over his mattress. He thought about it an embarrassing amount.

In his daydreams, though, the first time he saw them was very much different. He had visions of you sprawled out on his bed, him undressing you slowing, showing your bare chest little by little until it was revealed in the low light of his bedroom, or dragging you to the ever dirty man's bathroom at The Hideout and ripping your clothes off your body in a rush to worship it.

No matter how much he thought about it, nothing prepared him for the fact that the first time he saw your tits was at a Mötley Crüe concert, in the middle of a crowd of thousands of other people.

Eddie hadn't even wanted to go in the first place — he's not very fond of metal of the glam persuasion, but you and Gareth had convinced him and the other boys to go. Jeff and Grant never passed on an opportunity to watch a good concert, and Eddie just wanted to be near you, any excuse was good enough.

He had spent the night happy, hands tucked in the pockets of his leather jacket, enjoying the feeling of the music coursing through his body, running through his veins like an adrenaline high. The bass and drums beating in sync with his heartbeat, feeling it deep within his ribcage. It felt good, like it always had. It also felt good watching you in your element, hair a mess after headbanging all night, skin glowing from sweat and the glitter in your makeup, dancing without a care in the world. The way he thinks you always should be.

It was funny at first. When the band made a pause and the members started addressing the audience, he was about to turn to you when the drummer made some particular lewd comments about the "beautiful ladies" in the crowd, expecting you to laugh with him. The whole rockstar shtick doesn't work on you, he knew that much — whenever he tried pulling something like that you'd just roll your eyes, which only spurred him on because he loved watching your beautiful eyes roll up, though he'd like to do that in other ways. What he saw instead was you whispering in Jeff's ear, the pair of you cackling at each other, too conspiratorially for Eddie's taste. 

With his brows joined together in confusion, he watched you lift yourself on Jeff's shoulders, and after that everything happened in slow motion. The drummer had gone and asked to see some tits from the girls in the crowd, and as ridiculous as that sounded, a lot of girls obliged. You included, for his shock.

Gareth blushed and looked down, Grant closed his hands over his eyes, Jeff was laughing — the bastard was the only one unaffected when you lifted your top up to your head for no more than a second, but it was enough to torture him for the rest of the night. He watches you get down to stand on the ground once again, still laughing, and Eddie could tell you were a little flustered, but mostly you looked like you were having a good time.

He couldn't blame you, wouldn't blame you. He had no right to tell you what to do or not to show your body, you could do whatever you wanted. But, as the band proceeded with their setlist, and your eyes met with his, a playful look and a tentative smile on your face, Eddie couldn't reciprocate. He felt jealous, jealous of everyone who got to see you like that too, and frustrated for being able to look but probably never being able to touch the way he wants to, he felt protective over you, afraid that some other guy would feel entitled to look at you or touch you disrespectfully after that. His mind started reeling, and he could barely distinguish the music anymore.

In his brooding, his fists clenching where they still rested in his pockets, he missed the way you looked down, eyes turning sad, unsure about what your best friend's strange expression meant.

"Are you mad at me?"

Your question caught him by surprise, because you'd barely talked during the whole trip back home. The guys were rowdy as usual, sitting in the backseat of his van, talking about the highlights of their night, making fun of you for your little groupie moment, which had you brushing them off with a laugh and smile that didn't quite reach your eyes.

Eddie felt guilty. He didn't mean to make you feel like that, but he couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to that moment, and he couldn't stop the blood from flowing downwards, his pants uncomfortably tight at that point. If you noticed his erection, he was ready to throw himself out of the car in shame.

It didn't help that you were right there beside him, thighs looking delectable sitting in his passenger seat, his hand itching to take place on your knee like it always did whenever he drove you places. He could feel the faint smell of your perfume, and see the way you crossed your arms in front of your chest, not helping with his problem at all.

You had only approached him when he'd stopped the van in front of your house, after he had dropped all the others at theirs. 

"What? No, I'm not…"

You interrupted when he was about to start stammering. "Because if you are, I really don't understand why, and if it's about what I did earlier, you have no right to. You're not my dad, you're not my boyfriend…"

A bitter laugh escaped him before he could help it. "I'm well aware, sweetheart."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Still frustrated, he pinches his nose between his fingers. "I'm not mad at you, I'm not judging you", he looks at you then, pointing a ringed finger in your general direction, "I'll have you know I'm a feminist, 'kay?"

You snort. "Okay, Mr. Feminist. What is it, then?"

"I just…", he sighs, "It wasn't supposed to be like that."

Maybe it was the couple of joints you all shared on the way home that had his lips loose like that. Maybe he was tired of holding it all in, his feelings spilling out of him like a dam breaking. Either way, it was out there.

"What wasn't supposed to be like that?" You asked slowly, testing the waters after feeling a shift in the conversation.

"I wasn't supposed to see you like that, I thought the first time I'd see you naked would be different."

Eddie couldn't meet your eyes. He could tell you thought it was funny, with the way you looked like you were holding back a smile. He was never bashful around you, that was the first time you saw him like that.

A lot of firsts for one night, it seemed.

"You think about seeing me naked?" You raised your brow, spurring him on. 

"Yes." He says, simply. Swallowing loudly, the tension grows inside the van. "And I never planned to tell you that, but now is as good a time as ever, I guess."

You scoot a little closer, putting an arm on the back of his seat. "Can I tell you a secret too, just to make us even?"

Eddie just nods, unconsciously getting closer to you as well. You can feel the heat of each other's bodies, an electric current running between you. You draw your mouth near his ear, and whisper "I think about you too."

"Yeah?" Eddie feels his confidence slowly return, his dream coming true right before his eyes. His pretty best friend reciprocating what he thought was his most perverted secret? Couldn't be real — but it was. "We should do something about that, shouldn't we? Gotta give you something other than your imagination to work with."

He wasn't able to resist tucking a fallen piece of your hair back behind your ear. You shifted on your seat, rubbing your thighs together. Eddie took that as encouragement, drawing even closer, hand finally moving to touch the soft skin of your thigh.

"Gonna do you one better, Ed." Your voice lowered, filled with promise. "You can look, and you can touch. How does that sound?"

"Sounds like we've waited long enough."

Later that night, after you were done riding him in the backseat of his van and he'd fucked you on the floor of your bedroom as you desperately tried not to wake the other people in your house, after his hands and mouth explored your body and mapped every inch of your chest, leaving his mark all over it, you'd joked, with a soft giggle at the memory, that you would do the same thing you did that night at the next gig he'd have at local bar.

The only answer you had was an unnecessarily long drag of his cigarette as he laid beside you on the purple comforter of your bed. "If you want me to not last through the set without dragging you out of there early, go ahead."

You'd just kept laughing.

[hetaherr]

playing video games with them | anemo boys <3

: kazuha, xiao, venti, wanderer

:mostly crack, a little suggestive but no warnings

well anyway this is another reupload!! added kuni’s part also got lazy to proof read its just a headcanon anyway!!! i play wayy to much video games and id love to share my hobbies with these sweet babies <3

kazuha

i think this baby is a really chill gamer, he enjoys the cozy aspect of video games. thats why i think games like minecraft, stardew valley, animal crossing and the sims!! cozy video game dates are a norm for you guys when its too hot outside or too rainy.

imagine playing stardew valley with him, curled up under the covers with your MATCHING SWITCH CONSOLES. you guys working through the first few years of the game as little farm people doing little farm things. he’d even find some helpful guides online so you guys can maximise your finances in the game. honestly i can see how he gets a little petty at the fact that you MARRIED some npc in the game and he had to watch the whole cutscene while you joked around that he hadn’t given you enough attention and this was all his fault. now kazuha hates that particular npc, and he’s definitely pouting the whole night. give him lots of smooches, tell him that no video game code can replace your pookie wookie baby boy <3

but there, of course are other ways you can make up for it, like asking him to marry you- in animal crossing duh!! he’d take this whole thing very seriously obviously, its a wedding silly. he’d prepare a little wedding venue in his world by the beach, even going as far to design a cute little tux. it’s adorable, also don’t think for a second that he wouldn’t give you a kiss (giggling after) when the wedding officiant says you may now kiss. i also can picture kazuha buying you a promise ring irl , with a maple leaf engraved onto it. yes it was a animal crossing wedding, but it was YOUR WEDDING non the less.

another thing i can imagine is while you were playing the sims kazuha would 100% ask to create a little family with you. he’d even help to go “shopping” online for CC that would fit your characters or homes. kazuha DIES A LITTLE inside as you carefully curate each of the characters, spending hours deciding on the perfect outfits, hairs and personalities. coming up with mini fantasy stories about the mini yous and giggling along with him when they get a little too absurd. your cute family consists of you, kazuha and a little white cat. kazuha likes watching you get a little flustered whenever his character flirts with yours, sending a romantic haiku your way. not to mention the first time your character’s woohoo’ed he teasingly said:

“its honestly a shame that they’re the only ones that get to woohoo you know?”

anyway kazuha is 100% down to try as many games as he can with you, playing games with him is 10 bells out of 10 bells hehe

xiao

gamer xiao… yea he kinda scares me. xiao plays shooter games for sure, like obviously he’s had an eboy valorant phase but lets skip past that for now. its definitely more than normal to hear him grumbling how “dogshit” some of his teammates are. he’s definitely muted from chat on several games, also banned from league most of the time from being toxic in the chats.

playing competitive games with xiao is definitely an experience, and it definitely does not feel like the stereotypical pocket sage and hyper-carry jett. so please proceed with caution. the first time you and him played together, he may have gotten a little TOO HEATED and may have cussed you out on accident forgetting it was his loving, doting and caring partner who just wanted to participate in one of his hobbies. xiao doesn’t mean to get angry at you, please bare with him when the words “how is this person so fucking bad, how are they SO USELESS JUST GET OFF THE GAME DUDE” slip out. and oh boy… xiao immediately regrets his words, he feels so bad. he was actually overjoyed when you asked to play with him, even if he doesn’t actually show it, now he definitely assumes that you won’t ever want to play games with him EVER, hell maybe you want to break up. he’s spiralling. he apologises so much and he’s so awkward and so fidgety. its hard to stay mad at him, when he’s like this you have to admit he’s a little cutie. the next few days he’s definitely cautious and on edge around you, he finds it weird that you let go of the situation so easily and just moved on. he cant believe he let such vulgar words be thrown towards you. so after a conversation about his behaviour, you both decide maybe its best you just be an observer. you’re more than happy to straddle him, chin on his shoulder when he plays at his pc. and xiao LOVES IT, there is honestly nothing more comforting than you give him a little kiss when he starts to get a little too tense. occasionally when you face the screen and watch his games, he gets so nervous to play well. and xiao absolutely DIES when you compliment his abilities. bro needs the praise please, in that moment he thinks you’re so sexy and you have such a caring soul and his ears are tinted so red. don’t tease him though, he won’t be able to play the game properly.

another thing xiao is so weirdly good at is arcade games. i can picture arcade dates and xiao is just godly at them, claw machines, those basketball ones, car racing- you name it sweetheart and he’s earning those tickets like he needs to feed his 20 kids as a single dad. xiao acts so nonchalant about it, shrugging his shoulders as if this talent of his isn’t a big deal, but inside he’s so proud that he’s managed to get you that plushie he knows you’d been eyeing the whole day. he loves the way you grip onto his biceps pulling him to another machine to test his abilities, he may grumble about you overreacting but he’s so happy just to see you smile. and having you cheer him on the side is such an added bonus, you’re such a cute cheerleader. anyway i rate xiao a “please dont scold me baby im trying my best” out of “FUCK YOU FUCKING SUCK”

venti

horror games. literally venti HATES THEM but he cant get enough of it. playing phasmophobia would be so incredibly fun, but also a total shitshow. like im talking him making you do all the work while he intentionally provokes the ghost. at the same time he’s too scared to do anything so, he’s always really close to you. so if anything ever happens, you’d be a total idiot to think he’d try to help you, venti would be the first one out the door and running away. venti is also so horrendously LOUD, literally half the time instead of getting spooked by the game, your having a heart attack inducing jump scare from his random screaming. don’t even get me started on roblox horror games, every week there’s some new game he discovered on tiktok, and you are playing it with him, you have to.

another game venti loves to play is sims, but he’s about 100 times more chaotic compared to kazuha. he loves those ridiculous challenges and he wants to have like 10 babies with you, and then proceeds to cry when they are taken away from the sims version of cps. for some reason he has all the packs and likes to screw around with everything. he makes silly little bets with you in any game, for example in the sims he’d bet with you whether your 23rd child is going to be a boy or girl, most bets are harmless like a kiss or cuddles, unless he’s in the mood.

speaking of intimacy, venti needs to be holding you while playing games. arms linked, lying on your lap or you in his, honestly you just let him because he’s so cheeky about it anyway. venti also loves playing music related games with you, duh!! karaoke, guess the song, finish the lyric. ANYTHING!! whether you can sing or not, he just loves to hear your voice, definitely teases you if you cant though hehe. karaoke is so fun, if your shy he definitely eases you into letting lose and breaking out of your comfort zone, duetting with you is something he loves because music is his passion and honestly it hits so close to home for him. you’d often find him squeezing your hand as a form of encouragement.

im rating venti a solid 8 red bulls out of “i’ve already had 15”.

wanderer

this little emo baby is 100% only ever playing single player games, things that are extremely grindy and super lore heavy (bro is on subreddits looking at game theories and conspiracies, he would love to talk to you about them if you ever asked)!! im talking about bloodborne, doom, assassin’s creed and dark souls. he hates online multiplayer games because he doesn’t want to interact with “idiots” as he’s mentioned numerous times. so unfortunately its not often that you have a chance to play any type of multiplayer games with him.

however when it comes to his gaming sessions, he’d subtly invite you to come watch him because you’re like his own little streaming audience, and he loves it. the way you comment about how cool his character looks, or ask questions about gameplay mechanics. he loves how you involve yourself in his hobbies, it turns him to mush. he also loves how you play with his hair while peeking over his shoulder to look at the tv screen as he taps away at the controller. sometimes when the game gets a little boring he notices how your breath bounces off his neck, needless to say, those nights end up a bit more differently than how you originally imagined.

also if your ever interested in the game, kuni would “hesitantly” offer you to play on a new save file. but he’s actually elated that you’re going to try his FAVOURITE video game ever. you take your place in his lap as he explains to you the basics, not many would notice but you can ever so slightly hear the excitement in his voice. kuni complains about you being so lost but he’s so careful with explaining certain things, he’s also so patient as you take hours designing your character, well he’s okay being patient since its you. kuni absolutely DISSOLVES when facing a difficult boss, puzzle or obstacle, you kinda go into a slump against his chest and beg him to help you get past it. he snickers that your so weak, but somehow he manages to get through so swiftly- i guess he needs to show off a little to you. he also may complain a lot but thats just how this baby boy is, dont get discouraged he actually thinks you’re so cute.

also if you ever find yourself playing overcooked, moving out, gang beasts or any of those party games with kuni… good luck, just because he doesn’t like competitive games like valorant, DOES NOT MEAN HE ISNT COMPETITIVE. he gets so worked up and its honestly a little cute if you can look past the crusty white dog behaviour. if you do end up getting into an argument over these games, dont be surprised. im lazy to give a rating so im giving him 10/10, again minus the crusty white dog.

edit: if you saw “anyway wanderer is a straight” HAHA i apologise maybe thats why i should straight proof reading oops hehe

[desperate-gay]

Can you write a kyra cc sickfic about Kyra catching a stomach bug and reader + auswnt look after her, she’s at first stubborn to admit she’s ill but when she maybe throws up after eating or smth she admits defeat?

Just a request, don’t HAVE to do it. Xx

Stomach Bug

Kyra Cooney-Cross x fem!reader

You should have made her stay home. You knew she wasn’t feeling good from the middle of the night when she was kicking and pulling up the blankets constantly from her temperature rising and falling. Then, when you woke up, you noticed how pale her usual tan skin was. She insisted that she was just fine even if you didn’t believe her, but she was stubborn as always and wanted to head to practice.

After a few minutes of bickering back and forth, you eventually gave up and got ready to head to training together. When you arrived, many of your teammates picked up on how sick Kyra looked and asked if she should head back home. Once again she continued to assure that she was okay and began to warm up.

So here you are now, practicing with several mini-games while keeping a close eye across the field at your girlfriend. You notice her stumbling a little bit and pausing to take deep breaths. Tony blows the whistle and shouts it's time for sprints, worrying you that Kyra will feel even worse if she keeps up her I’m fine front.

After 3 or 4 sprints, you see the girl run off the pitch and to the nearest garbage. You jog your way over to her and rub her back as she continues to empty her stomach into the bin.

“Hey, coach-“ You begin but Tony nods his head, knowing that both of you need to leave.

“Feel better, Kyra,” Tony says as he waves you both off.

“Yeah feel better, Cooney!”

“We love you!”

“Take care!”

Kyra smiles while nodding at the team as you guide her back into the locker room with your hand on her back. Before leaving, she rinses out her mouth at the best of her ability to get the horrid taste out while you gather up each other’s stuff.

“I can carry my stuff, y’know.” Your girlfriend says, noticing you carrying both your and hers bag on your shoulders.

“I am aware, but you’re sick and I can take care of you.”

She smiles when you peck her cheek and continues to walk to the car. Her smile soon drops at the sight of you holding the keys and heading to the driver's side.

“What are you doing?”

You turn around and look at her with a confused expression, seeing her standing still in the middle of the lot. “What do you mean what am I doing? I’m driving us home.” The small frown on her face shows you exactly what is wrong. “Kyra, you’re sick! You can live with me driving you once in your lifetime.” You laugh at her nonsense and nod your head at the car, waving for her to get in.

With a huff, she finally sits in the passenger seat with a frown still plastered on her face. “Don’t get used to this.”

“I won’t, baby. Do you need a bag or anything, or do you think you’ll be fine the rest of the way?”

“I’m okay, I think it was just a one-time thing. I just need to rest in bed for some time.”

You nod your head in understanding and start to drive home. The whole time Kyra stares at the buildings passing, pressing her head against the cold glass of the window to soothe her burning skin.

Once you pull up to your destination, you keep your kit bags in the car and quickly take the brunette into the house.

“Go lay down, pick a movie, and I’ll make some soup for you, okay?” Kyra doesn’t put up much of a fight, exhausted and slightly queasy, she heads into your shared bedroom and rips off her top so she remains in her sports bra and shorts.

Luckily for the both of you, she doesn’t get sick again, but she becomes such a baby when even slightly sick.

“Baby! Where are you? I’m supposed to have my cuddles!” She shouts into the air, not even bothering to look for you.

You shake your head with a small laugh and finish up what you’re doing. She hears a door open and sees you step out of the bathroom. “I had to pee, I told you that before I got up, dummy.”

You move the blankets and get comfortable on the bed before Kyra latches onto you, nuzzling her face into your neck.

“You’re supposed to love me, not call me a dummy.” She grumbles against your skin.

“You’re such a baby when sick, but I love you anyway, even when you’re insufferable.” She lightly smacks your leg, making you giggle and kiss her warm cheek.

“I love you too.”

[memyselfandmya]

CHAOS THEORY S1 REVIEW

So after a day to process the show, I think I am more than ready to finally talk about it and give a full on review. [HINDSIGHT: This review took two days to put together, having to rewatch the show for evidence and to strengthen my ideas, and then having to organize it into something that makes sense. Just know that this is essentially my messy love letter to the show] I will be taking on a more objective perspective and focusing more on the writing aspect rather than my personal feelings, especially as a writer and hopefully future screenwriter. So let's get into it, heavy spoilers below the cut. Like as in I pick out little details that alone might not be a spoiler but I make them into a spoiler.

For starters, the show exceeded my expectations and the writing was phenomenal. Even when choices were made that I personally might not agree with or necessarily want, the execution of them was incredible so I couldn't really care to hate them. Overall, I have no heavy qualms with the show and I loved every moment of it.

It was complex and it was messy and I thoroughly enjoyed that. There's so much going on action-wise, character-wise, and mystery-wise and it's amazing how well balanced it is. What we get is real and raw and largely uncensored. We get conflict between two brothers, conflict between two girlfriends, moments where trust is lacking, and so so much more. It all feels very natural and realistic because that's how real people truly are: complex and messy. Also, even when these characters are going through all of these conflicts, you can still tell that they're family and they love each other.

The creators don't shy away from the trauma either, we get flashbacks, explicit mentions of PTSD and mental health issues, and we actually see Kenji having a panic attack, too. When I tell you, the way these characters were brought to life was so amazing. For all of this to still be considered a kids show is incredible and rarely ever seen. I'm gonna go more in depth with the complexity stuff later on, probably when I get more to the character analysis part of this review.

I like how we get to see more dynamics between groups that we didn't see much of in CC: Ben and Brooklynn, Sammy and Ben, Brooklynn and Yaz, etc.

The humor in this show is top-tier and very much natural. Hardly any of it feels forced and it's very much in-character. Just in general, all of the feelings in this show were amazing. It was a rollercoaster of emotions watching this. I felt happy, I was devastated, I laughed a lot, I felt bad for the characters, I was upset and mad, I was scared (oh boy was I scared), and I was tense with anticipation.

Going off of these feelings, the overall tone of the show was incredible. They said that it'd be darker and it was. There were so many times where I myself was scared and wondered how this show was still TV-Y7. There were so many ominous moments and here are some that I noted:

The moment that black car on the road actually does start following them. You can hear the whistle in the background of ep.3 before the raptors actually come in. Carl’s dead body in the car, and the view of his limp hand. In general the scene where they’re being hunted at the ranch, it’s reminds me of playing hide and seek with my cousins but 10x more darker and with higher stakes. “I don’t hear anything.” “Exactly.” Ugh these moments always hit well. The shoes of the dead police guard. Microbang lady whistling and then stepping out of the car The DPW aiming for the van The allosaurus being released from the vehicle. The dinosaurs watching the dude get eaten.  The garage door opening, revealing micro bangs and then all of the dinosaurs falling silent. The moment where she picks up her whistle because we all know what happens next.  When the atrocirapotor picks up the camper’s scent. You can see the small smile on Microbangs' face when she realizes the kids are there.

I love the rearview/sideview mirror shots, it really symbolizes the constantly looking over your shoulder because you’re being hunted aspect of the show. It adds suspense and questioning which is perfect for a conspiracy show.  

I love the use of Chekhov's Gun and foreshadowing. All of my examples may be exaggerations or unintentional but I'm going to stick with it anyways. In ep.2 when the boys are at the gas station, there are signs that say "Report All Spills!" (maybe these are typically at gas stations, idk) which makes sense because you don't want gas on the ground especially because it's so flammable and then I saw the gas pump fall and gas spill out and I had a feeling about what was going to happen next. Sure enough, a fire started. Also in ep.3, when Sammy steps on the creepy floorboard and she's trying to remember where her pitchfork is, and then when they're being hunted, Sammy knowing to avoid stepping on that board only to stumble into the pitchfork that she had been looking for. Also, the King Dino billboard at the beginning of ep.4.

The animation was stunning and the cinematography(?) was breathtaking. We got so many wonderful views.

The pacing is so good. I’m not going to go over it because that’d be a lot but basically everything felt in the right moment. 

I like in ep.2 how we’re introduced into the very first scene with Brooklynn’s new VA. We have Ben being woken up by a mysterious phone call and a mysterious voice on the other line that we don’t recognize. Who is this mysterious, unknown woman? It’s Brooklynn!

There are people who don't like the fact that Darius and Kenji are arguing again and who think that it's a reused plotline that shouldn't be and I understand the feeling of wanting something different but I also have to disagree. While it is the same thing we have in CC, I genuinely can't think of a different way this could have gone that wasn't more in-character than this. The reason why it's being reused is because that part about Kenji hasn't changed. While he's gone through some amazing emotional development, he still deeply cares about his friends and also about trust. Him not liking it when people play with their lives can still be an important value to him, even with his growth. And I personally feel like in this scenario Kenji's anger and his hurt was especially more justified than in CC because in this case, Brooklynn actually "died" instead of just getting kidnapped. And while I don't blame Darius or hate him for not being there, it makes sense why Kenji does.

This time around, it's going to be a lot harder for them to get on good terms. I also like how this time, it's not as subtle and they are actively jabbing at one another. I also like how it's more mutual. Like with CC I was like, "leave my baby alone, kenji, he's just a little innocent kid." and now I'm like "oh shit, Darius you ate with that." Even when they're arguing, they do still care for each other and there are moments where they still support the other. Then there are the little things that causes Kenji's anger to resurface like the password thing so more fuel is constantly being added. And then the "you and me, we're brothers right?" is absolutely gut wrenching.

One thing I appreciate is how Kenji isn’t even really mad at Darius anymore. Not for him liking Brooklynn, anyways. To me this shows a heightened emotional maturity. Especially since in CC we saw him be petty with his anger towards Darius and even in the early episodes of CT but now he’s bypassing all of his personal qualms and getting to what matters most to him without the extra pettiness: why wasn’t he there for Brooklynn? Why wasn’t he there for the people he loves. Kenji’s relationship with Brooklynn isn’t important. The fact that Darius fell for his ex doesn’t matter. What matters to him is that Brooklynn, someone they both (all) deeply cared about died, and the guy who loved her wasn’t there when she needed him. The tenderness and the softness of this scene was way more impactful and sorrowful than had Kenji angrily went after Darius. This makes the conflict still feel different from the one we saw in CC. All in all, I think their conflict adds to the complexity and (realistic) messiness of it all.

Even though I’m not the biggest Brookenji/Kenlynn fan, seeing them drift apart was so disheartening to watch because you can tell that Kenji really cared about Brooklynn and he was putting so much effort into the relationship when Brooklynn was distracted. I like how even though I’m not a big fan of the ship, I’m still convinced to root for them which shows compelling writing. But the baby talk fucking ruined it. I’m back to not liking it. The whole breakup situation very much reminded me of the episode of CC where Brooklynn is late to the date because they were out investigating. Again, I’m glad that Kenji is sticking up for himself though, and distancing people when they need to be distanced. I also love the little detail of Kenji calling Darius’ mom every week. Just emphasizes that he’s still a family man and doesn’t forget the people who helped him.

“I’m in a really good place now, and I got here by myself.” This line is so impactful to me because in early CC we know Kenji to be lazy and somebody who expects everything to go his way without putting in the effort so this is, one, very symbolic of his development as a character, and two, explains why he’s so proud of where he is now and his business that he’s got going on--even if it doesn’t look to be as successful. It makes sense why he’d be so protective over what he’s made for himself. I really respect him for putting up that boundary because he’s so right; Daniel doesn’t deserve him much less to speak to him, and Kenji doesn’t deserve to put himself through that emotional turmoil when he’s finally reached a good place. I think it makes it even more impactful when he does choose to go especially because it’d be totally valid if he didn’t. And then not only being subject to more of his dad’s manipulation but also having to witness him die.

I’m actually surprised and very happy that Dreamworks didn’t go the redeeming Daniel route. I would have expected this kind of show to make Daniel forgivable but he’s still a bad person and a manipulative father who hasn’t changed much. To me it seems more realistic because Daniel doesn’t seem like a character who learns his lesson and it furthers the plot with the whole Brooklynn thing. Also, Daniel's sacrifice is not a redemption. He's still a bad character. I don't know if any of you are familiar with Dreamworks' other show, She-ra Princess of Power, but there's an abusive mother figure in it, Shadow Weaver, who also sacrifices herself for the characters she abused, but before that she was still manipulative the same way Daniel was. They both died before they could truly change their ways and atone for their actions which is why it's not a redemption. Daniel Kon did not redeem himself by saving Kenji.

I also actually like Daniel’s death, and no, not just because I hate him as a character. In season 5, he’s the big bad antagonist that the kids have to go up against, and he’s a real threat, right? Do the raptors care about Daniel’s villain era? Do they care that he was a big character in the OG show? No. And that shows that the writers don’t care either (but in a good way). Because we don’t have any of the main Nublar Six dying (except for Brooklynn sorta ig??), there’s a lot of opportunity to call plot armor and stuff and say that the writers are pulling their punches. But they’re willing to kill one of the big antagonists from CC in a random episode, so, to some extent, there is minimum plot armor. You can be a great big villain and still these dinosaurs will kill you.

Also, this gives us so much opportunity with Kenji’s character. We get to see what it looks like having to grieve the life of somebody who you hated and who abused you and yet still be devastated over his death. Showing Kenji breakdown over Daniel’s death adds an entirely new layer of complexity to the story line. It’s so much more impactful than having Kenji be apathetic towards his death or be like, “good riddance.” The detail of Kenji speaking at the end really gave all the more impact to the entire episode.

Kenji’s panic attack in ep.7 is really powerful. First, the wonderful cinematography (the watering of Kenji’s eyes, omg) and the 1st person pov segments. Then we have the voice acting, chef’s kiss. Just the flat out impact of this scene all together: Kenji balling his eyes out after the death of someone who doesn’t even deserve his mourning is heart wrenching. I hate Daniel and I’m glad he’s dead, but also seeing Kenji break down over it almost makes me wish he wasn’t. By far one of the saddest scenes in the show.  Again the cinematography of it. Darius hugging a sobbing Kenji in the middle of a field with the car’s red lights beaming on them. Then Mateo just standing there awkwardly. LMFAO.

It’s cool because we have this gut wrenching moment and then we’re immediately brought into a feeling of awkwardness with this random new character there and it’s so jarring but fitting because you have these two moments where Kenji’s grief but also the need to keep moving coexist and one needs to take priority over the other but the other one is still important. I’m just saying we are feeling what the characters in the show feel, which is good. Then we have Kenji going ballistic on Mateo’s ass and man the emotions packed into the scene.

Also Mateo. I want to trust him, and I do. But there’s also a suspiciousness to him. I love him though. But, it felt oddly convenient that he was able to locate them so many times. He says that his daughter helped him track them but how does his daughter of all people track them when they’re moving all over the place and also the way he talks about her, “I’ve got a little girl back home,” and the pan over to the crayon drawing made me picture a young child. His story is interesting though, too, and complex for a side character. Just feels a bit like a suspicious deus ex machina.

I love how the others are so in tune with one another and then Mateo says something and they all jump, forgetting he’s there. They are all very much close with each other and oblivious to the people around them. He's definitely out of the loop. Darker thought, what if at some point (or now, even) his daughter gets kidnapped/held hostage by the hunters so he’s forced to mislead the camp fam in order to keep her safe?

The opening scene of ep.6 is top tier and I love how we’re getting right down deep into the good stuff, and by good stuff I mean the trauma. The portrayal of Yasmina’s PTSD is so incredible to see and all of the flashes of dinosaurs really put us in Yaz’s mind. Also the heartbeats sounds just make this an even more intense scene. What’s also amazing is that we see Yaz making progress with handling her trauma but she’s still struggling with it too. Complexity. What I also love is how Yaz’s PTSD has allowed her to become more equipped to manage her trauma more than the other campers have, and because she’s able to grasp a hold of it so well, she’s able to help Sammy manage her own anxiety, too. 

I feel as if Ben is almost reverting back into his pre-Nublar self and also like the Ben we saw in CC’s “At Least…”. He’s become a lot more paranoid and on edge which is very interesting to see. Ben being completely wary of the gas station attendant and being unwilling to stop is a major display of Ben’s anxiousness. Could the fire in ep.2 be symbolism for Ben’s paranoia in that episode? I may be looking too deep into it, but think about it. The spilled gas is all of Ben’s conspiracies and theories; alone, it’s not much of an obvious problem but when paired with the right ignition, a spark or being hunted by raptors, for example, it turns into an uncontrollable problem. Ben’s paranoia causes him to be irrational and unconsolable just like that fire and needs to be be extinguished so it doesn't destroy anything. I also like the little detail of Darius noticing the car on the side of the road in ep.2 and becoming suspicious about it. But then Ben thanks Darius for keeping him grounded so Darius doesn’t mention anything about the car in order to not send him back to the state of paranoia he was in earlier.

Then we also see Ben’s anxiousness in the beginning of ep.4 about Bumpy. Seeing him so concerned about her really tugs on those heart strings because you can tell the love between them runs deep. The passion in ep.9 is so incredibly palpable especially when he’s panicking and crying at the sound of Bumpy being abused. I really felt that scene because I know that watching someone you love get abused and not being able to stop it is so emotionally overwhelming The emotion packed into that scene, holy shit. 

I also just love how we’re allowing men to cry. It’s so normalized in media to have the guys always being tough and masculine men who never sheds a tear but we are really knocking down the toxic masculinity in this show and normalizing men displaying emotion (beyond anger). We see all of the boys in this show break down: Kenji, Ben, Darius, and never once does them crying make them embarrassed or emasculated. Even in CC, the boys were allowed to show feelings and it didn’t weaken their masculinity at all. It’s really powerful and I’m glad we’re stepping away from the “boys don’t cry” narrative.

Back to Ben’s character, I was a little bit disappointed with his character arc, or lack thereof, in the middle episodes. Sometimes it felt as if he was only there for comedic relief and was emotionally detached from Brooklynn’s death. Maybe there’s intent behind this but I’m not sure. 

I don’t know what to think about the whole girlfriend thing. Maybe Ben just made up the girlfriend thing to get Sammy to get rid of her phone lmao but ended up running with it. I do love how everyone’s surprised about Ben having a girlfriend because me too guys, me too. And it’s not because he eats out of a boot and pees in a jar (it is) but because I thought he was gay. Like with the whole rejecting Yaz scene in CC always gave me that implication. Now, he could still always be bi or pan which would be just as cool, but still just the fact that he has a random ass girlfriend. But also how is he maintaining a long-distance relationship when he’’s completely cut off from the grid. A part of me wants to believe that Ben has a girlfriend especially when he questions why everyone is surprised but also… idk. Ben does seem to understand how Yaz is feeling with relationship stuff to a degree. But I don’t know. I like some of the theories I’ve seen: that Ben is being catfished by Brooklynn, in particular. In theory I giggle a bit but in practice that’d low-key be a fucked up thing to do to Ben’s emotions. I find it harder to believe that Ben is doing the girlfriend to cover up that he’s gay because he knows that his friends will be accepting (although doesn’t change that coming out to them could still be hard) but also because I feel like he would at least tell Yaz because in S5 of CC they had that deep talk about Yaz’s sexuality. A part of me believes that the cargo ship is going somewhere to Europe and when they get there Ben will call on his girlfriend for help. If she is real, I hope she's badass and pretty so she can contribute to the plot and I can fall in love with her. Wait, what? Maybe down the line when I have more theories about Ben and his supposed girlfriend I’ll make a separate post. 

“Don’t you dare throw my phone out the window, Benjamin.” Sammy’s so much of a powerful force now. I love her fierceness and sassiness, it’s definitely a different look from her character in CC. But also, she’s still in character, just matured, changed, and acquired that “tough love” attitude. Paired with how a little later in the episode when she goes to save the dinosaurs, it shows how Sammy (and the rest of the characters) might have changed since CC but are still the same at their core. Very much getting flashbacks to the Art of Chill episode. Sammy still has the passionate sense of righteousness but with more attitude and I’m 100% here for it.

I also want to talk about the whole Sammy as a suspect thing. I love Ben and I’m glad they made up at the end but also can you imagine how hurtful it must be for Sammy? Like it sucks for her that a decision she made years ago (and was cleared up) in order to protect her family comes back to bite her, from one of her closest friends too. For one of her besties to not trust her must hurt a lot, especially after everything they’ve gone through together. Trust in general is an interesting motif in this show. We have Darius having to learn to trust Ben and his theories, the whole Darius and Kenji trust conflict thing, Ben being untrusting of Sammy at first, and Yaz and Sammy having to learn to trust each other again. 

Back to Sammy’s character, I want to take a moment to talk about Sammy’s mental health; like she’s really not doing well and I’m genuinely worried about her. From CC we know her to be a very social person who’s rarely ever alone and we even have the episode in S5 of CC where her entire arc is learning to do stuff on her own. So in CT, seeing Sammy living all alone in Texas with nobody (nice) around is so jarring and worrying to me. That scene where she reunites with the boys is really sweet, especially knowing that it’s probably one of the first few moments where she’s not isolated from any of the people she loves. It’s also probably another reason why she’s even more “Sammy” than usual. Then you have Sammy saying, “Just busy. It’s only me around here with Yaz up north finishing school, and my parents…we just don’t talk much anymore, but that’s okay! I’m keeping busy.” We can definitely notice that Sammy is not handling this isolation thing well and her coping mechanism is very much busying herself. What I really want to know though is why Sammy isn’t talking with her family.

But back to the main point, it’s also the way that Sammy’s character naturally influences the plot and pacing of episode three. Ben and Darius have something urgent they need to tell Sammy but her inability to stay still is preventing them from doing so which creates a natural conflict.

Additionally, in retrospect Sammy's coping mechanism was obvious: the mock interviews we got where it’s said, “Back at home, Sammy Gutierrez maintained that positive attitude by staying busy. ‘I have my own ranch, now. And my girlfriend Yaz. And tons of pies to bake! We don’t have time to keep worrying about all that running for our lives stuff!’” Even before this, she’s fallen into that heavy positivity that’s borderline unhealthy by trying to shove everything under the rug. All of the positive sayings on her wall also feel symbolic of her trying to maintain a positive outlook on her life. Her line “I’m so sick of making pies,” while possibly just for humor and a throwaway line, it could represent how this false positive narrative that Sammy has going where she’s keeping busy around the house and baking pies isn’t satisfactory and is also crumbling. Maybe even the first pie burning could be symbolic of her positive life failing (or maybe I’m looking too deep into it). Also that scene where she straight up hallucinates and sees Brooklynn for a second? That scene is so haunting and utterly heartbreaking. This is sort of the nail in the coffin that Sammy is not doing well mentally at all. In this scene too, her sadness is also heavily emphasized. Her eyes watering is such a sad detail and also you can kind of notice that her under-eye area is dark and red too. This might just be the lighting, but I feel that it really emphasizes that Sammy is really struggling and all of this business and fake positivity is getting to her. And then immediately after, she deflects and continues what she’s doing. Darius begging Sammy to stop and Sammy’s response being, “Stop and think about Brooklynn dying, or my family not speaking to me, or Yaz pulling away from me? No… I can’t stop. I won’t.” There is a lot to unpack there. First, we have another mention that Sammy and her family aren’t talking and I want to know why. Secondly, she is definitely struggling with growing isolated from the people she loves and with Sammy’s character valuing her connections with her loved-ones it makes it all the more impactful. I wish we got to see more on this but then we get interrupted by the action just as Darius is about to say something. It's a really sad scene though. In ep.4 we see Sammy being more anxious, especially with Yaz not answering her calls. In that one scene after the parasaurolophuses, Sammy is completely distraught and it’s sad to see. I don’t even think she herself even fully realizes her mental health issues. The anxiety Sammy is experiencing is also highlighted in ep.7. Granted, they are in a sinking, soggy van and I’d be panicking too but damn. She’s also panicking in the beginning of ep.9, but now, instead of Sammy keeping her body busy from her mind, her mind is keeping her busy from her body and making her forget how to breathe.

“I know she doesn’t always answer, but at least she texts back or maybe just gives a thumbs up, even though she knows I hate those. Cause they give me passive-aggressive vibes, but I know she doesn’t mean it that way. But I got that girlfriend intuition that something ain’t right.” Poor Sammy, she is very clearly anxious about this whole thing and it especially shows with how she bounces her phone around. I like how this conflict between Yaz and Sammy is building up before they even see each other, starting with Yaz not answering the phone call and Sammy getting anxious. The split up thing also gave me a mini heart attack too Ben, don’t worry. “Why, did she say something?” Sammy, please. You’re not okay. In ep.6 with the “I’m working really hard to get my anxiety in check, but Sammy still treats me like a fragile flower,” again, I appreciate how we see the cracks in Yaz and Sammy’s relationship beginning to form even before the events of CT. The buildup is really strong in the show. Quick break but I have to say I just love Sammy’s profile picture they are so cute. Also, Yaz’s uncertainty about answering the phone call, too. The tension between them is clear as day on that phone call. And then we have Sammy coddling Yasmina by trying to hide the truth from her and it’s all in good intention, really sweet how Sammy wants to protect her, but is that what Yaz needs or wants? “Her PTSD is still affecting her that badly?" “Well, to tell you the truth, we really haven’t talked much lately. She’s so busy and when we do catch each other, she acts like everything’s good, but…” The conflict is so interesting because you have Yaz pulling away because of Sammy’s overbearingness and then when Yaz pulls away, Sammy gets anxious and therefore more overbearing so it just creates this cycle that could be put to a stop by communication but they’re both scared. Both of their coping mechanisms are doing damage to each other and so they fall back on these coping mechanisms even more. “Call it a hunch, or girlfriend’s intuition,” call it anxiety, Sammy. At this point everything she says or does is a subconscious cry for help. Back to the relationship conflict, it’s nice knowing that even if they are fighting, their fight is based off of wanting the best for the other and love. Also both of their feelings in this fight are valid, Yaz wanting Sammy to not treat her like she’s fragile and Sammy not wanting Yaz to pull away from her. Again with the cycle. Oof, the pain in her voice when Yaz says “you still treat me like a child instead of your girlfriend!” Kausar really ate with that. Anyways, we have that scene where they almost down and Yaz calms Sammy proving to her that she’s not as fragile as Sammy thinks she is. Then when they get out we have a resolution moment where Yaz says, “I guess we need each other, huh?” Showing that, instead of that unbalance of overbearingness, they can equally need the other to ground them and keep them calm. 

When Sammy and Yaz reunite, they’re really happy but also out of sync a bit, when they go in to kiss but end up bumping heads. Then after they resurface after nearly drowning, they’ve reached a better understanding of each other, and then they kiss a lot more smoothly, showing that they’re back in sync.

For the Benrius shippers out there, this also parallels how Darius and Ben were a bit out of sync and a little rocky, but at the beginning of ep.3 we see Ben and Darius have fallen back into their natural rhythm: Ben says “chip me” and Darius effortlessly tosses it and Ben catches it in his mouth. I just appreciate these little details and moments of closeness and also the parallels.

Can we talk about how we have alternating arcs/paths with Sammy and Yaz? Like, we see Yaz becoming more confident in how she handles and reacts to her trauma and making significant progress with her PTSD. Then we have Sammy who’s slowly slipping into a poorer mental state when she was known for being better able to manage her trauma from Nublar. Then along with this, we have Yaz stepping into the more “caretaker” role when Sammy was the one who usually has control over the situation. The van sinking scene in ep.7 is a perfect example. Sammy's panicking when her seatbelt gets stuck and Yaz is the one to ground her. I just want to take a closer look at this scene because it’s so sweet, too. The way Yaz first takes Sammy’s hands but then after realizing how much Sammy’s panicking, she cups her face and gets her to focus. It’s just such a tender moment. (And then parallel with that, the scene where Kenji has a panic attack and Darius is the one to support him in the midst of their argument. I just love a good parallel.) (Another parallel, Darius grounding Ben when he was paranoid in ep.2) But there’s also that scene early in ep.9 where it’s Sammy who’s completely freaking out and Yaz being the level-headed one. 

Going back to the conflict between them, we see a moment of growth in that scene. After Sammy’s anxiousness causes her to be reckless, she apologizes which opens the floor for a well needed discussion about how they need to work as a team and trust one another. While the main discussion about how their coping mechanism end up hurting each other hasn’t happened yet, we still get to see them repairing the cracks in their relationship. Instead of Yaz pulling away when Sammy becomes anxious and overbearing, we see her acknowledge Sammy’s anxiety and comfort her instead, so that Sammy doesn’t go farther into that anxious state and the cycle is interrupted. It’s cool how they made their mental health issues cause problems in their relationship. Not in a “oh I can’t handle my girlfriend’s PTSD and she’s too much for me,” but in the way of “My girlfriend really cares for me in relation to my PTSD and it’s sweet but it also feels like she’s babying me” and “my girlfriend is going through a really tough time right now and I want to be there for her but she keeps pulling away from me.” Although, in a way, Sammy’s anxiety does become overbearing for Yaz, but even then it’s not in a she’s being too much but rather her anxiety is only causing her to be treated in a way she doesn't want to be treated. While scary and uncomfortable, I’m really glad that Yaz and Sammy had that conflict because it shows that couples can argue and still love each other. Just because there’s a problem in the relationship doesn’t mean the relationship has to end there, it just means that you have to come together and acknowledge the issue and then work together to fix it. 

Darius’s reaction to Brooklynn’s death, my god. And hearing Darius’ voice calls that he left Brooklynn…devastating. Him hiding in the bath tub after giving the phone and sinking down in it; he really is ashamed of his feelings and it’s sad. But also the tenderness in Kenji’s voice when he confronts him? He’s no longer angry with Darius, just wants to understand. And the way that he doesn’t even get mad when Darius tells him he was in love with B… (maybe he understands how B is a very lovable character.)

But back to the grief, the moment where they’re all looking at the allosaurus that supposedly killed Brooklynn is devastating. They are finally united in their grief over Brooklynn. Boy, at least one of them is going to be pissed when her survival is revealed. And then also how they all worry over Bumpy too, it just really symbolizes how they’re still a family after everything. I love how Ben and Sammy are basically co-parents now. And remember that episode where Sammy was trying to get Bumpy to like her? Oh how far we’ve come. I flat out believed that she was dead, the writers definitely got me with that one. Well played, Bumpy. Well played.

I will say that Darius’s confrontation with Cabrera didn’t feel fully earned. We only saw him in one other scene and only heard about him in another scene so Darius’ moment of realization fell a little short on me. I think it could have been better had we saw an earlier interaction with him and Darius that may give us more conflicting opinions on whether or not he’s good. Because when we first saw him with Sammy, Yaz, and Ben, I was 90% sure that he was bad because of the three’s unbiased narrative. But had we gotten an interaction with Darius where he seemed a lot less questionable as a character it would have brought my doubt to more of a 50%. It also would have made Darius’ almost betrayal feeling in ep.10 more warranted because we saw them personally interact so it’d make Darius’s “You’re the one behind this? You’re selling Dinosaurs? DPW is supposed to protect people from dinosaurs.” hit harder. 

The micro bang lady reads the raptor’s body language so well. She’s also compassionate towards them which is a heavy difference from this other dinosaur corruption we’ve got going on where they are carelessly abusing dinosaurs. She sees the raptors absolutely wiped out and retreats which is an absolute power move and shows she cares. It’s a choice that humanizes her along with the cuddling of a fucking raptor, which is interesting since most of what we’ve seen so far has been very uncanny with her robotic movements and unblinking eyes. She scares the shit out of me but lowkey...

she looks really badass and hot in this scene. I see what some of yall are talking about.

The action sequence in ep.10? Amazing. 10/10. The parallel with Jurassic World? Heart stopping. The dead silence except for the footsteps and dinosaur breathing? Immaculate. Best scene in the entire show, maybe in animated history. 

At the end, we also have a shift from the characters being forced to react to all of the stuff thrown at them, like a defensive, but then we see them make the decision to go on the cargo ship and now they get to take a more “offensive” approach. Then we also have Darius stepping back into that leader role. 

I just hope that since the characters are no longer stranded on a deserted island that they can finally get a change of outfits if they happen to get dirty. Please don’t let them walk around in the same dirty clothes again, please. 

Now, probably one of the more controversial parts. Dinostar… Now, I’m a multi shipper and I’ve never had a problem with the ship itself but even then I was skeptical of this creative choice. 

I feel like it’d be more impactful if they kept dinosaur platonic showing that Darius doesn’t need to be in a romantic relationship with his friend in order to feel a significant amount of grief for her. Now, I know that even if Darius wasn’t in love with Brooklynn, he probably still would have had the same reaction but still, the interpretation of his feelings has still changed. How necessary was this?

But also the power in the unrequited dinostar. Having Darius only realize his feelings for Brooklynn, especially after her staying at his place, it's natural. It adds to the very real complexity of human feelings. “I never meant for it to happen. It just…happened.” Darius’s feelings are still natural and organic and he’s still kind of ashamed of them. Darius’s “I didn’t even think I could feel that way,” was what really got to me. If it was because he always saw Brooklynn as a friend it shows how these sort of feelings can sneak up on you, but I also see it as, “I didn’t think I was able to have crushes on people” which speaks to me a lot. It feels very aligned with the demi-aroace experience and as someone who’s demi-aroace I care about this a lot. It’s such a confusing and difficult experience, worrying about if you’re even capable of falling in love with someone, trying to disect the difference between platonic connections and romantic ones, and the shame you feel when you think you might be interested in someone who’s supposed to be your friend. It’s messy and real and seeing Darius possibly experiencing that makes me feel less alone. Anyways, I like how even in both directions Darius can still be on the aroace spectrum.

“If I was really in love with Brooklynn, I should have been there.” This line makes me wonder if he’s still doubting his feelings for Brooklynn. The “I couldn’t face her after that. I was too embarrassed. So I didn’t show up that night.” Darius being embarrassed is so real. I once confessed to a girl I thought I liked and was rejected, albeit gently for the most part, and I still can’t look at her the same way. This was with someone I wasn’t close with so I can only imagine what it was like for Darius, the embarrassment. It’s such an impactful thing too. Darius's natural and realistic reaction to getting rejected and not being able to face her having drastic consequences in this new world of dinosaurs and being hunted by them. It’s just the complexity of the story that’s what really makes this work.

“She tried to be nice about it, but it was clear she didn’t feel the same.” I wonder if this is what really happened or just what Darius interpreted it as. I’m hoping that it remains unrequited. Seeing the guy not get the girl would be something new and interesting. I could also get behind dinostar but only if it’s done right and to be done right it’d need a lot of time. But I also don’t think I want to see any of them in a relationship just yet. Especially Brooklynn and especially now. I think that she’s way too deep into this conspiracy and should focus on that instead of a relationship. That’s definitely where her mind has been at lately, anyways. I also worry that this might turn into a love triangle which I’m never a big fan of. I’ve also seen some people say that this love triangle/Darius’ feelings will probably weaken the integrity of Brooklynn’s character and reduce her to a love interest, and, for a while, I agreed. But now my opinion has shifted. So far from what we’ve seen, Brooklynn’s character seems to be going on an interesting arc and I have faith that the writers won’t weaken that in favor of focusing on her romantic interests. The writing for this season has been amazing and if they keep it up in season two it can probably be successfully pulled off. And already with the way it’s been written, I don’t think Brooklynn is ready for a relationship at the moment. 

Now Brooklynn...

I was one of the people who was convinced Brooklynn was alive but while watching the show I actually began to doubt that theory and there was a moment where I was sure she was actually dead. I know there are a couple of people unhappy about the fact that Brooklynn isn’t actually dead, and I get that. Especially coupled with the Darius vs Kenji conflict it may feel like CT is copying too much from CC with Ben’s fake death instead of being original and committing to it. And that’s totally valid, especially for a serious plot line like a character death. I do, however, have faith that the writers of CT will execute her fake death well though. Because that’s the thing with CC/CT. Most of the time, even the not so strong ideas are well executed and integrated into the plot smoothly. With Ben’s fake death, it gave the opportunity to strongly develop Ben’s character more than it could if he had ended up on the island with the campers. His solo experience after his “death” molded him into a very different character from the boy we saw in the early episodes. It changed him drastically and that was the redeeming factor. So, I have hope with Brooklynn. It already seems like she’s on a strong path of character development and it seems like she’s going completely undercover to unbox this international dinosaur corruption scheme. Not to mention, she’s missing part of her arm, so that’s also a drastic change. Brooklynn being alive opens up a lot of opportunities, especially to delve into her trauma that she might have acquired from losing a hand. Not only that, but the others still think she’s dead so we won’t lose that mourning aspect, in fact it might make it even more impactful knowing that she is alive and that Brooklynn’s fake death is causing this much pain to her friends.

This could also introduce some conflict within the group once it is revealed to them that Brooklynn is alive because they spent all of this time mourning her and suffering from some severe mental health issues only for her to actually be alive without telling them. Me personally, I’d be upset going through all of this emotional turmoil for a dead friend only for her to pop up knowing she could have prevented all of it. We can also see different reactions from the 5 of them. Maybe someone will be angry at her and some might just be really happy she’s alive and some might not even believe she’s actually alive. I’m just gonna say that it is fucked up that Brooklynn is just allowing her friends to suffer from mourning her and that I’d totally understand if any of the camp fam were mad at her. In fact I need to see that. Then there’s all of the secrets she’s keeping from them, too. I wonder if we might see a sort of negative character arc because Brooklynn has been neglectful towards her friends, especially Kenji which caused the whole breakup in the first place, and then multiple times Brooklynn’s true intentions have been unclear and shady. I wonder if there’s any symbolism we can pick up from her hair which is always changing.

Overall, I’m excited to see what they do with Brooklynn’s character and how her fake death affects the others. I’m always willing to compromise with my feelings and the decisions made so long as they well execute their unfavorable choices. 

As for the reveal, I feel like it could have been dragged out a little bit longer. I think a perfect place to stop would be right at Ronnie receives the text. Because in my mind at that moment, there were two ideas that I had. One, Ronnie could have been one of the corrupt DPW workers, or she could have been working with Brooklynn. I think that that confliction would have been a great place to end especially because either way, it leaves you question that entire interaction she has with Darius in the first episode. Is Ronnie going to be bad and betray Darius? Or is she good and helping Brooklynn who's alive. I understand in the grander schemes of things why they did it; showing Brooklynn alive (and handless) at the very end will make viewers want to come back and see what happened with her. I just hope they keep her being alive unknown to the rest of the campers for a while longer for that added tension or whatever. I feel like if anything they might reveal her to the camp fam at the end of season 2.

Now let’s talk about that hairstyle. When I first saw it at a distance paired with the whole ensemble, it looked really badass. But up close? I don’t like it. 

At first I was going to say that Sammy carried the plot, because she did. Then I was like, “well, Ben also carried the plot too.” Then it was “If Sammy carried the plot then so did Yasmina.” That “boo” did a lot for me. But then I was thinking of the discourse between Darius and Kenji and they also both carried the plot. So, long story short, they all carried which is amazing. It means that it was well balanced and every character had a significant role in the story. 

In short, there’s a lot of things that were phenomenal in this show, however, there were a few things that can only become/remain great if they’re addressed in season 2. There were a lot of throwaway lines in the show that was loaded with context we didn’t have and hinted to a separate conflict. 

Twice we hear Sammy say how she’s not in contact with her family and then it’s never brought up again. I want to know why this is, even If it doesn’t have a drastic effect on the overall plot. Then we see Sammy hallucinate Brooklynn but then that’s the only time it happens. Is it bad that I want to see more of that? I just really want to see Sammy’s trauma unloaded in season 2. In ep.6, Sammy says “Remember how [Yaz] got when the dinosaurs made it to the mainland?” It seems really heavy and I want to see this. I want to know what the groups initial reactions to one, the dinosaurs back on the mainland, and two, Brooklynn’s death. We also hear Darius sort of allude in ep.1 that Ben might have had a harder time adjusting to being back on the mainland, especially with the “don’t patronize me, Darius!”

I’m hoping that some of these lines are just seeds being planted early on so that we can see them grow in season 2. One thing I hope we get is more flashbacks, seeing what all of these lines are referring to. Sammy’s family issues. Yaz’s (and the other's) initial reaction the dinosaurs back on mainland. Also, seeing flashbacks to Brooklynn with Darius in the cabin. We got flashbacks for everyone else except him so it’d be nice to see, and also give us something more substantial for Darius’s feelings. My guess is that there won’t be as many action scenes when they’re hiding away on the ship so we can get more flashbacks and have some more downtime to explore the groups trauma, regain some more of that “full” group dynamic, and just in general put more focus into the characters rather than plot. 

The writing in this was amazing, especially for a kids show, and I hope we get to see more of this amazing writing carried on to season 2 soon. If you stuck with me this long, I appreciate you.

[sarcastictissy]

Hola :D I just wanted to thank you for being so positive lately and looking at things regarding the qstudio situation with nuance. It feels like people have been so stressed and angry after all of the admin stuff came that they began to take every bit of news we hear as some sign that bad things are to come . I think a lot of people underestimated just how long this process can take, there a lot of factors to be considered here, including: q's lack of experience, the union, the laws, the admins. And unfortunately there is no way to satisfy everyone when it comes to stuff like this. This was never going to take a week or two, I feel like people didn't fully understand that.

Some admins are going to be pushed out of the project due to the lack of funds and the fact that this is a legal issue first and for most. It's unfair but it's the law. Not everyone understands that and because of that people are going to say things without understanding the situation. Not every thing is black and white and sometimes things aren't going to work out the way we want them to. Nobody is perfect and we shouldn't expect people involved in this situation to act like that. Which is why you should always look at the situation from multiple perspectives before forming an opinion.

It makes me feel tired to see the same takes over and over agian with no nuance. So your post have really helped me feel better :) I've seen people from both qsmpblr and qsmptwt act like every ccs involved in this is a war criminal or like this is a admins vs quackity or french/brazil vs quackity. It's kinda drove me off most social sites and forced me to only watch YouTube and stuff (on the good side of things, I've been watching quackity's discord videos and some dsmp vods :D it's been fun)

What I am trying to say is that, scrolling through your blog feels like a breath of fresh air and has made me feel 8× more calm about this situation. I don't think doomposting is necessarily bad but after seeing so much of it, sometimes you just need to distance yourself and look at the good parts of life. No matter how much I complain, I am never changing the course that qstudio is headed and neither can any one else, The only one who can do that is quackity. I hope that he does the right thing and the studio gets better. I love the characters that qsmp has brought us and the community it has formed, qsmp is a beautiful project that I want to see thrive. For now the only thing I can do as a viewer is hope for the best <3

I'm sorry if this came off as a trauma dump, I just really wanted to thank you.

So, this has been in my askbox for a while because I was so grateful and happy to hear I've helped someone!! Thank you sm anon that means a lot to me and knowing I'm keeping others optimistic, helps me feel optimistic too! :D

This is a very complex situation with so many moral grey areas mixed with black and white. It's not simple, it's not easy. These things cannot be fixed in a matter of weeks, you're absolutely right about that.

I also agree doomposting isn't necessarily bad! It's a good way to get off some steam and vent/ rant for a bit. There's nothing wrong with that. We all need it at times. For me, personally, it becomes toxic when that's ALL I'm seeing in social media. When I go on my phone and all I see is negativity, that's when I need to call it quits and start blocking people or start taking time away (which is why I deleted twt off my phone) everyone's tolerance levels are different ofc, so, not everyone is affected by that negativity, but I certainly was. This is why I want my blog to be positive and uplifting and you know what? Each and every time I get a ask or a message thanking me for that, I gain faith in humanity and it just encourages me to keep being positive! I'm so thankful for your ask and dw it wasn't trauma dumping at all!! :D I hope you're doing well anon! Take care of yourself. You matter

[lazyofficer]

HERE IS WHY SHIRLULU IS LEGITIMATE SHIP -PART 8

Warning: I'm not a writer and English is not my native language. So kindly bare it or DM me about it. Criticism is welcomed not hate.

Continuation

BY GOLDEN ANIME STANDARDS FOR A COUPLE -

1. Being Shipped and teased by everyone

The golden standard for canon couples is when side characters ship and tease the potential couple, like how Shirley and Lelouch are shipped by almost every character

And it's because of their behaviour with each other.

A. Ashford Academy

Literally, the whole Ashford Academy assumes that Lelouch and Shirley are "thing"  and that's why the result seemed "predictable" to them.

Whenever there is a student council scene, they surely talk about Shirlulu

B. Milly

Milly goes ahead and even assumes they will get married one day. 

C. Mao

Mao totally thinks that Lelouch"s lover is Shirley.

D. Kallen

When Rivalz revealed that Shirley and Lelouch had fought, Kallen labels it as typical "lovers spat" (despite not coming regularly for the council).

E. CC

CC keeps bringing up Shirlulu kiss, and taunt-tease him about it, and even calls him a lover boy.

F. Suzaku

Suzaku gets disappointed to see Lelouch with another girl (it was CC). Suzaku never shipped Lelouch with CC or Kallen.

G. Rivalz

Rivalz is so concerned about their "fight" and keeps asking Lelouch to patch up with Shirley at every chance he gets.

H. Rolo

Rolo got insecure and jealous, seeing how much Lelouch cares for Shirley. He was afraid that she would steal Lelouch from him.

And when Shirley recovered her memories and talked about staying beside Lelouch, she when mentioned Nunnally, he went mad with insecurity.

I. Sayoko

Not sure about her because even after knowing Lelouch for years and she thought he was playboy, but she was right about Milly's feelings.

She kissed Shirley, thinking Lelouch would have done the same in that situation. 

2. Lover's quarrel

According to anime standards, couples who argue often are closer to each other.

R1 stage 15

I wonder how often do Lelouch and Shirley fight for their friends to buy " pretending to be strangers" excuse.

Even though it was stated that ShirLulu argue often, it's sad that we never got to see them arguing and patching up later.

My guess is that their fight is more like Shirley getting mad at him (being dense and insensitive) and Lelouch trying to pacify her.

3. They have own love song

Shirlulu has their own love song called "Masquerade," and the lyrics do suit them. The line "You are my destiny" is appropriate because Lelouch died after Shirley's death.

4. Going on a Date

Among all ships only Shirley and Lelouch went on date (R2 epi 3) and Lelouch was planning another date for them (mentioned in outro of R2 epi 12 ) but the tragedy happened.

Apart from them Suzaku and Euphie went on a date even it's not a proper date.

_________________________________________

8 parts already, I didn't even add all Shirlulu content ( Tumblr allows only 10 pics per post)

Fun fact - After watching Shirley's death on YouTube, I decided to watch Code Geass. 

I thought I would be a CcLulu shipper (Cclulu and Kalulu being popular) and would find Shirley annoying like everyone else, but as I kept watching, my thoughts changed.

I ship because ShirLulu because they seem so obvious to me. In fact I like Shirley because of ShirLulu.

[sirwow]

Hi wally!

Since you asked me about paian, let me ask you about loghail! What parts of them in canon did you like and how did you end up with your interpretation of them in rdcc :0?

Also as a bonus you can also use this as an opportunity to ramble about hinode and lucia because idr if you've rambled abt them on tumblr much :]

Ooh loghail… Iv got a lot of thoughts about them after reading way too much into how they act. Get ready for autism blast

First Logan. One of the main things that I kinda stuck to when it came to giving him more personality then just “boyfail” is the fact despite us seeing him fail at least 3 times in game and like another 2 in the Middlesea comics, he never gives up. He’s very determined to do something even if it takes him a lot longer then others to do it. It’s why I like to imagine in the baseball arc he was far far from the best player but still stuck to it because his star Lucky was giving him a chance and who was he to turn that down?

Logan also is very much the stereotypical boy character on purpose so I kinda ended up embracing that fact. He’s made special by the fact he’s just a normal dude stuck in a hospital with way weirder things and has to figure out how to navigate that. Makes friends with a random samurai, sneaks into the cafe to vent to the other most normal person, talks to birds. He’s trying his bestest and I love him for that.

Now as for Hailey due to how Iv written her in CC there’s a lot more to say and dig into. First thing that most people might disagree with but what makes CC Hailey well CC Hailey is she is. Really apathetic n aloof and she is probably subconsciously aware of that fact. She can’t wrap her head around why Logan is so wishy washy (it’s called 14yr crippling anxiety sweetie), ditches him with no other words in 3-1n, doesn’t really catch onto Cole having a crush himself, tells Logan to go outside more and get off his phone as a passing joke. There’s probably a few I’m forgetting but yeah. But it’s clear she does care even if she can’t show it in the subtle ways. She makes the baseball team outfits, stitches bears for everyone in the comics, is very patient for Logan despite the wishy washyness.

Though this aloof nature also plays into her being A hypocrite and unintentionally a jerk. Again with all the Logan stuff above n the fact she doesn’t wanna confess just because she feels entitled to Logan doing it as we can tell from the pre-4-4 dialogue. All of this together combined with the blatant “why is there a teenager alone on a train” moment kinda is why I gave her the rough home she has in CC. Her behavior is indicative of normalizing toxic behavior, fear of losing stuff again, and having extreme independence for a 13-15yr. Going alone across the desert in a train at that age is not normal behavior nor is just talking to random strangers. lovingly. So alas she’s got the bad home life that’s forced her to be dependent on herself- giving her sass and a bit of a high horse but low empathy and unfamiliarity with normal social ques. Also probably some autism in there lol

As for them as a couple there’s not too much else then me wanting to see them improve for the better. Logan growing a spine for himself at the mistreatment and Hailey stopping being so flippant with everything in their relationship. They’re still working off each other through the unknown and strange situations they’re thrown in and love each other more for sticking by.

Now then I’m probably just going to do Lucia alone because while I love you Hino there’s still a lot of writing that needs to happen in that area hehe. Consider this the kid trio explaining.

So Lucia, she’s only got one level to work with and there’s really not much we get from it other then she’s a talented artist for her age (same range as Logan n Hailey) and she’s into video games because of the end text. Therefore I made everything about her up based off vibes alone.

As a result Lucia in CC is an overachiever, straight A student with very well off hardworking parents. Her father a famous Middlesea architect and her mother a entomologist (bug scientist). Lucia however is also generally the victim of her own made stress and why she’s in the hospital sometimes for both anxiety and a racing heart. (And why she’s got both SVT type beats and overlapping classics). Was always a loner kid more interested in the recess bugs and books then ever playing but still kept a keen eye on all the drama going on. One day when Logan hid behind her from bullies during recess she scared them off with a handful of bugs. He didn’t seem too scared of them and he was quiet so Lucia let him stick around till Logan n Lucia became a bit attached to each other’s sides as the weird lonely kid best friends.

Opinion on Hailey is a nice friendly surface level but at the core their personalities clash hard. Lucia doesn’t get how she can be so apathetic and unaware sometimes when she herself notices every little social cue she can almost obsessively. Her not being the greatest to Logan also makes Lucia iffy but remains cordial and friendly to try and understand her better. Though being again, 14 there’s some things she just doesn’t know enough about to notice.

So yeah that’s the basic tldr on these three and Hinode will have to wait another day for if someone asks about all the characters families sob. Thank you so much for the ask the brain rot sure is rotting <33

[modelbus]

Are you still taking requests?? And if so do you do angst? If yes to both could you maybe do a cc!tommy x reader where it's like, one-sided? Tommy is like, completely infatuated with someone else and reader is entirely in love with him and just kind of has to live with it cause they've been best friends for like, 4yrs at that point. Reader can be a streamer or not, but Tommy's fans know about them regardless from storytimes or them being in his videos. But I've had this idea in my head for like a week at this point and I need it out of my system😭

I'm sorry it took me forever to get to this! But It's finally done!

Pairing: CC!Tommy x Gn!Reader

Only one

This was worryingly easy. Unfairly easy, even. It always was, no matter what changes.

Vlogs with Tommy. Videos with Tommy. A stream with Tommy. Anything with Tommy.

It's so easy to blame it on being best friends. The symmetry between the two of you coupled with how you were both always grinning around each other was evident to anyone who spent any time with the two of you.

You and Tommy, best friends.

It's so easy to blame it on that.

How long has it been that you've been in love with him? Counting the days would be pathetic (isn't that what you are?) so you haven't. Yet. 

One-sided love might be the worst thing to ever happen to you. Worse than when you scraped your knee tripping on pavement, or when Tommy "accidentally" pushed you into the water at the fountain. 

There were three definite facts in your life:

1. You were hopelessly in love with Tommyinnit, and have been for nearly the entire time you've known him.

2. He, most certainly, did not feel the same way.

3. No matter how infatuated you were, you'd be his best friend for as long as he'd have you.

Of course, there were always the less certain things too. The ones that kept you up at night, worries filled in your head.

Normally when that happened, you got into a call with Tommy and played some mindless game for too long.

For example: you think Wilbur Knows. Knows, with a capital "K" because it was simply that important. On the other hand, you also think he won't tell Tommy. A small miracle.

Between the way you were always around him, attracted to him like he's the goddamn sun, and the way you're always donning the stupidest smile, it probably was obvious.

Lucky for you, Tommy was completely oblivious. And, hopefully, he'd stay that way forever.

Unlucky for you, Tommy was completely oblivious. And hopelessly obsessed with someone else.

"She's perfect, I fucking swear." He had groaned, throwing himself onto the bed next to you.

"No one's perfect, Tom." Was the cliche but true response you had come up with.

"She is."

Welcome to hell.

You were a good friend though, and you cared too much about him for your own good, so you subjected yourself to it. The torture of listening to him talk about someone else, just so you could see his smile.

And so it went.

"The fact she's even talking to me is..." He shakes his hands in the air dramatically, making you laugh even as it feels like you're breaking.

"Is she funny?" You asked one day. 

"Not funnier than me." He joked, grinning. "But she's perfect, so of course she is."

He got a date with her. Of course he did, he's Tommy. How anyone wouldn't like him is beyond you.

"I gave her my jacket." He whispered over a call to you at night, after his date. "That got me good points, right? People like that shit?"

"Yeah, people like that shit. She'll be head over heels for you in no time." You had assured him. 

She will be head over heels for him, eventually. But you already were.

"What if I fucked it up though?" He had groaned.

"You didn't. And if she doesn't want you, then fuck her." You might've said that with a bit too much passion. "You're awesome. Millions of people see that, so her loss."

"...Thanks. Oh fuck she's texting me!"

You'd do this forever. Let pieces of you break, until they're all broken, just to see him happy. 

He was your best friend, and you were his.

And that?

That came first, over whatever feelings you had for him.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Glowing around you - Sasuhina Month Day 22

So I got the idea from seeing the prompt. Oddly, despite this show being one of my absolute favourites, it never accured to me to do a CCS SasuHina AU. I thought about it when I first started watching it, but not much ever came of it. But here we are. To make the ages a bit more clear, Sasuke, Hinata, Ino, Temari, Gaara and Naruto (last 3 are in here for like 1/4 of the story) are in middle school, specifically their last year. Kakashi and Iruka are in their first year of college. There is still age difference but a lot less weird if they were their standard ages. Kakashi's father adopted Hinata when she was a child, which is kinda mentioned but not fully dived into. Who knows, maybe I'll do another fic for this au. Enjoy. Neat & Messy | Ordenado y Desordenado

Capture & Release | Capturar y Liberar

@sasuhinamonth

The sounds of a sword cutting through the air was mainly heard when you walked through the door of the Uchiha apartment. Sasuke was sure anyone else would be very concerned at the sight of him practising with his sword in the middle of the living room but thankfully Itachi was more than used to it. his brother dropped the bags he held onto the kitchen island before grabbing the water pitcher from the fridge. Sasuke let the sword switch back into its sealed form when his brother handed him a glass of water.

“I’m telling you now, I’m not cooking.” Itachi said after his own sip. “It’s too hot to do anything.”

Summer was almost near an end and the second semester would start soon for the middle school students, including Sasuke. Not that he felt like he got that much of a break. Summer homework took what felt like ages to finish, not to mention all the Namikaze Cards.

Months ago, Sasuke moved from his home in Shanghai to Konoha, Japan for one reason. Powerful cards, filled with personalized magic created by the most powerful wizard of all time had been scattered all over Konoha by a seemingly normal girl. One who had no magic but managed to unlock the book keeping the cards contained and summon a card with no issue whatsoever. Sasuke was here to try and get the rest of the cards that were created by Namikaze Minato and become the new master. But he had competition, the seemingly normal girl. Hyuuga Hinata.

Sasuke didn’t care for the story of how the book came to be in her family’s possession, just that she got the affection of the guardian of the cards Kurama – the same one who fell asleep on the job which caused Hinata to accidently scatter them – who gave her the means to capture the cards. She could do what he couldn’t, return the card’s physical form back into a card and she was proving to be just as stubborn as he was in being the one the card choose to follow. But even competing against each other, Hinata went out of her way to be nice to him and as much as he wanted to ignore it, she was making increasingly hard. Most of the time he was helping her rather than trying to get ahead of her.

“Mm, before I forget,” Itachi said, putting his glass down and flopping on the couch, “there was a flyer for a festival at the Tsukimine Shrine. You should go. Also, put the groceries away.” He ordered.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke did as he was ordered while complaining. “Why would I go to a festival?”

“Because you rarely ever do anything? If it’s not school or involving the Namikaze Cards, you’re at home training, studying or reading. Just, be a normal 15-year-old for once and go have fun. Who knows, maybe the delightful Hinata will be there.”

After an incident involving the Move Card, Hinata came to his house to get dry clothes and met his brother, who was completely taken with her. He thought her delightful and a breath of fresh air. Sasuke was sure his eyes had never rolled so much in one afternoon. Not to mention, Itachi kept trying to poke at him, telling him to be nicer and how good it was that he wasn’t being such a bully to her anymore and oh, how their mother would love her. Not to mention asking about certain things, like what Sasuke thought of Hinata, did she suit whatever costume she was given by her friend and partner in crime Ino gave her, how was she? He had zero clue what his brother was trying to pull, though, that feeling was most of the time.

“If you don’t go,” Itachi warned when Sasuke still scoffed at the idea, “I’m going to tell mom.”

Their mother might be the one related to Namikaze and the reason her children knew magic but she was also the one who wanted them to have a normal childhood.

So, he went. he was only planning on it for an hour to make his brother happy enough for him to not call their mother but he got sucked into a shooting game and was winning, a lot, when Hinata found him.

“Uchiha-kun!” Hinata waved at him from where she was with her friends and their classmates, including Ino with her ever-present camera. Her yukata was lavender with pink and yellow flowers on it, a wicker purse hanging off her wrist. “You’re here too?”

“Woah, nice haul.” Temari noted, looking at all the prizes he’d won, mainly food and a few small plushes. Her younger brother Gaara wouldn’t take his eyes off the raccoon plushes he managed to get.

“That’s very impressive.” Sasuke felt everything still at that voice. Turning, he spotted Iruka smiling down at him. Sasuke didn’t even think, he just grabbed some of the food he managed to win and handed it over. “Is it ok if I have it?” Sasuke didn’t speak, so much as nod in answer. “Thank you very much. You’re pretty amazing Uchiha.”

When Itachi came out as gay, in childlike curiosity, Sasuke thought he might be too but quickly dismissed it. he thought his mother was the most perfect woman in the world and wanted to marry her when he got older. After he was usually too focused on studying and practising magic to focus on girls, but he was still pretty sure of his sexuality, at least until he came to Konoha. His first meeting with Hinata had involved his attempt at stealing the cards back only for Hinata’s brother to spot him. He was ready to fight a college student when Iruka found his best friend and hopped the fence. He hadn’t read the room, gushing about the amount of steamed buns he’d gotten. Sasuke took one look and he was pretty sure he was bi. No one had ever flustered him that much, to the point of running away.

Hinata and Sasuke weren’t only fighting for the Cards, they were fighting for Iruka’s attention. If Hinata having a guardian and the ability to seal the cards didn’t frustrate him, it was her luck that Iruka’s best friend was her older brother Kakashi. It felt even worse when she wouldn’t lord these achievements over his head. oddly enough, even though Sasuke had mentioned Iruka to his brother constantly, he was always more interested in Hinata and what she would do whenever they’d compete for attention.

“Oh, Hinata, look!” Ino said, distracting them from Hinata trying to wave away her water yoyo Iruka won for her. The blonde photographer pointed at a bunny plush wearing overalls. “Isn’t he cute? You like bunnies right?”

Hinata’s face lit up. “Yeah. He’s adorable!”

“He looks very soft. That fox plush you have, maybe he wants a friend?” Iruka said, opening one of the food packages and tilting it towards Kakashi.

He hadn’t been focusing on Kurama, just that Iruka noticed something about it. he had to get it for him. He wasn’t sure why Kakashi followed him but they glared at each other as they slammed their money down for the ring toss. By the time the stall attendant took pity on them and gave them both a plush, Ino was standing there by herself filming them. Temari and Gaara were also still there, the younger boy stealing the raccoon items he’d won.

“Where’s Hinata?” Kakashi asked.

“She and Iruka went to go explore.” Ino explained.

Sasuke took off at that, Kakashi after him. They found the two near the back of the shrine, far away from the festival. While Kakashi embarrassingly handed his plush to his sister, Sasuke silently handed the one he got to Iruka.

“I can have this too?” Sasuke nodded. “Thank you.”

“We were gonna grab snow cones. Did you wanna come with or are we splitting up again?” Temari asked.

“Do you want one?” how was Sasuke supposed to answer? He nodded regardless but was stopped when Hinata grabbed his arm. “Are you guys coming?”

“We’ll be right there.” Hinata promised, letting the others walk ahead.

Ino turned to them, eyebrow raised. “Ok, what’s going on?”

Sasuke asked the same as he pulled his arm away. When Hinata shushed him, he was ready to snap when glowing green orbs started to fall out of a tree. Sasuke looked up, taking in the lights as they floated down like snowflakes.

“I can’t even sense it.” Sasuke noted.

“I can’t either, but I had a dream about this. Kurama scolded me for not remembering it but when it started falling, that’s when I knew.”

Hinata was staring at the lights as well as Sasuke stared at her. She was constantly surprising him, reminding him how strong she actually was, even with no training. Cards were constantly coming to her because they knew about her and most had decided they liked her. It was easy to compete with her for Cards and Iruka’s attention, to be slightly jealous how easy this seemed to be for her, but it was hard to ignore how kind and friendly she was. It didn’t matter they were opponents, to her, he was a friend and someone she could trust. It was starting to be hard to see her as just an opponent.

“Release!” Hinata called, unlocking her Sealing Staff from its key form. “Return to the guise you once held, Namikaze Card!” the glowing lights all converged to her staff until it took the shape of a card and it floated into Hinata’s hand. “GLOW. That’s what it’s called. I wonder if Minato created it like he did FLOWER, just wanting to bring a smile to people’s face.”

The bright one on her face made the answer very clear. It was no surprise the Cards liked her.

                                           __________________

Hinata felt her body wake up as she opened her eyes and stared at the dim sunlight shinning in through the window. She could hear Kurama snoring on the pillow behind her and when she got up, he was hiding behind his tails, all curled up. She started to flatten her hair, the curls that came from sleeping getting a mind of its own when she looked at the handkerchief sitting on her desk.

Had that only been a week ago?

Hinata thought her life was crazy, being an adopted girl of a single father and his son and having magic, enough to unlock a book of powerful cards and use them. she thought that’s all it was, just her hiding what she could do, even when Ino found her out after a day and when Sasuke came into her life. Except her brother had powers, his ability to see ghosts and maybe more – she knew MIRROR definitely knew something was up with her brother. These powers he’d recently handed over to his best friend, Hinata’s crush for the longest time and the hidden vessel of the other Guardian of the Cards, Toneri. The name Hinata knew him by, Umino Iruka. Iruka’s whole disguise had been supported by Namikaze Minato’s magic, mainly from the cards under Toneri’s rule. Hinata had enough magic to support Kurama��s hidden vessel but not enough for both. Iruka was going to fade away and depending on how bad it got, Toneri would have disappeared as well. So Kakashi gave his magic to him, had been trying since Hinata started changing the Cards into Hinata Cards. Hinata felt guilty that she wasn’t strong enough, that her brother had to put himself in harm’s way to save her, again. Like she said, MIRROR definitely knew her brother beyond keeping him busy.

After she found out her brother knew, about Iruka and no doubt about her, and she realized how close she’d been to losing Iruka, she knew she had to tell him how she felt. She did, still feeling guilty for almost losing him. She knew, she wasn’t stupid, that her feelings wouldn’t be returned. But as foolishly as she used to hope that her birth father would come back for her, she hoped he’d say yes to the little middle school girl who’d loved him since the first day she met him. He let her down so gently and it clicked for her when he told her he had feelings for someone else. It was Kakashi, Kakashi was the one Iruka loved. She was happy for them, really, but she felt her heart breaking that someone wanted her sibling more than her. She had it happen with her birth family, having it happen with the family who took her in and loved and cared for her made her heart break more.

Sasuke was walking her home when she burst into tears. She talked about how her birth father blamed her for her mother’s death and gave her away, how she thought she wasn’t worth his love no matter how much she begged and how even though Iruka knew she’d find love someday, she was sure it would never happen.

“It will.” Sasuke said, handing her the same handkerchief she held now. “Iruka does love you, not in the way you wanted, but he does. So does your brother and your dad, not to mention Ino. Your birth father didn’t know the type of person he was turning his back on but not once have you let that stop how much love you give. The person who earns your heart, they’re going to be incredibly lucky.”

Sasuke was awkward with words, normally scolding her for not thinking things through but he was so soft and kind, she felt safe and comforted. He was right, her feelings might not have been returned but she still had so much in return. Letting go of her feelings for Iruka was, easy, once she remembered she wouldn’t lose him and that he wouldn’t stop caring for her. He’d been someone other than her family who liked her and she was sure it was possible that she’d latched onto that tighter than necessary. Sasuke’s words helped bring her back to earth and ground her, much like he helped do so many times in her quest to change the Namikaze Cards and figure out what was causing the odd situations where she’d sense his magic. She wanted to do something to thank him.

She got the idea when she left for school. There was a flyer for the winter festival at Tsukimine Shrine. Sasuke seemed to enjoy the other festivals they’d done, clearing out the game stalls like it was no big deal. But she knew from when they got the FREEZE Card, he wasn’t a fan of the cold. And that’s when it hit her. She started planning as she rushed to school and found Sasuke in the classroom doing morning chores.

“Sasuke-kun!”

Wrapping the old flowers in tissue paper, Sasuke looked up, his cheeks dusting red. It was slightly cold in the classroom. “Morning.”

“What are you doing this Sunday?”

Looking confused, Sasuke answered, “Nothing? Unless Itachi decides I’m slacking on magic studies and demands I study more.”

They both knew his brother insisted he get out of the house more, away from studying.

“There’s a festival at the shrine. Come with me.” She stilled for a moment, noting how rude it sounded to demand he go with her but he nodded regardless.

“Sure. what time?”

“6 pm. We’ll meet at the shrine?” when Sasuke agreed, she felt her smile get larger. her plan might actually work. “Here, I’ll go throw the flowers out. you can hand me the vase too.”

Sasuke slid the closed package of dying flowers to Hinata and turned to take the vase off where they kept their winter jackets. “Hinata? I’m glad you’re smiling again.”

Hinata felt herself get slightly red. “I’m fine, really. But thank you. I’ll be right back.”

She greeted Naruto as she passed him out the door, thinking of how to ask Ino to help. It was a slightly ambitious plan, but she wanted to do it, wanted it to be perfect as her way of saying thank you. the relationship she had with Sasuke could have easily never changed from rivals or he could have headed back to Shanghai after she became the new master. She couldn’t be more grateful he was still here. She just hoped he understood that with her gift.

Her father was a godsend, giving her an easy pattern to follow and Ino was able to answer questions she had. Poor Sasuke though, he sat behind her and he worried over her looking more and more tired as Sunday got closer. It was on Saturday, on their half day, that he finally snapped.

“What is going on? you told me you don’t even feel tired anymore whenever you change cards so unless you’re changing them in massive batches again, you shouldn’t look so exhausted.” He demanded to know when they were finally let go. Hinata was still trying to wake up as Sasuke stood over her, begging for an answer.

“It’s fine.”

“Stop saying that!” it had been her answer whenever people mentioned she seemed happier.

“but I am. really.”

“Sorry,” Ino interrupted, “but I’m stealing her. We’re supposed to go shopping. I’ll see you tomorrow Uchiha.”

“6 pm, don’t forget.” Hinata reminded as Ino collected both their jackets and led them to the door. Once they were a good deal away and Sasuke didn’t seem to be following, Hinata let out a sigh. “Thank you Ino.”

“Of course.” Ino said nonchalantly. “do you think you’ll finish in time? He wasn’t wrong, you’ve stayed up so much trying to finish it.”

“I think if I stay up tonight I can get it done. Kakashi caught up with all the chores since dad has been calling him out of school to recover from transferring her powers, so I’ll also be free before 6 pm. Do you think he’ll like it?”

Ino gave him this smile, one that said she knew more than Hinata did. “Trust me, he’ll love it.”

She held onto that, using it to help her finish. Flopping back and listening to Kurama talk about how happy it was over, Hinata took a deep breath and slipped her thumbs into the holes on her turtle necked shirt. She checked the time; glad she was still set for time when the doorbell rang. Assuming it might have been Ino decided to be nice, she was surprised to see Sasuke on the other side of the door.

“What are you doing here?”

Sasuke looked embarrassed, digging his hands deeper into the bomber jacket he wore. “You were so exhausted yesterday that…”

“You came to check on me?” Hinata asked, smiling softly when Sasuke nodded. “Thank you. we can walk over to the shrine together, let me just go get my things.”

She locked the door behind her and followed him as they started walking to the shrine that had so many ties to the Cards and Minato.

“Kurama isn’t coming?” Sasuke asked.

“No, he’s been staying up with me. I’ve been instructed to bring back modern-yaki, rice crackers and at least one sweet item. Itachi ask you to bring anything back?”

“A smile.” Sasuke answered seriously. He kept glancing at the bag she brought, more of a gift bag than any of her standard ones.

“I have something for you.” she said when she clipped the top button on her jacket together. she moved to stand in front of him and pulled out the muffler she’d been working on plus the handkerchief she’d washed. “It’s a thank you, for listening to me that day. And for what you said.” Sasuke stared at it before looking at her and she started to feel self-conscious. “Unless you don’t want it?”

“No!” he yelled, swiping the items from her hand, wrapping the scarf around his neck before turning to her, this incredibly soft smile on his face. It wasn’t the same one he’d given her at the park, but it was close. “Thank you.”

“I should be thanking you, but I know if I start, we’ll go in a circle over and over.” she wasn’t wrong. “Ino said she’d meet us at the shrine,” she said instead, continuing to walk to the shrine. “I also invited Kakashi and Iruka, but I haven’t seen Iruka since that day so who knows if he’ll be there.”

“Don’t you think it’s possible he’s avoided meeting you because he’s scared of how you’ll feel. You feel bad for not noticing his power was vanishing and he feels bad for rejecting you for your brother.”

“But I’m not mad at him! Really I’m not.”

“Hinata, I don’t know if you realise just how much people don’t want to hurt you, even if it’s just a little.”

Sasuke sounded so sure of the fact that Hinata didn’t know how to respond. Iruka did arrive with her brother, looking awkward and out of place and she grabbed his hand to drag him with her. Normally she would have waited for him to do that to her but she realised it was better to treat him like she did Kakashi. Obviously she was nicer to him and made her actual brother pay for everything. She realised when she wasn’t pressured to try and impress him or stare at him through love hazed glasses, it was easy to hang out with him.

She sent Kakashi off to get them juice, Iruka following to help him carry everything and what was supposed to be a quiet break where she showed Ino and Sasuke the Moon Mirror Pond, turned into another fight with a creature reeking of Minato’s magical signature. Thanks to Sasuke’s attempt at stopping it, she got the idea to use the Pond and the THUNDER Card to fully electrocute the creature. It worked, but with a downside. Electrical wires had been pulled off during the fight, leaving the whole Shrine in darkness.

“They might have to cancel the whole thing.” Iruka said out loud when he and Kakashi rushed over to see if they were ok. “It’s not like they have a way to light the place up again.”

She and Sasuke shared a look. The Shrine staff didn’t, but she did.

“I’ll be right back!” she said, grabbing Sasuke’s arm and dragging him with her, Ino following.

“Where are you guys going?” Kakashi yelled after them.

With her Star Wand out again, Hinata pulled the GLOW Card from one of the pockets inside her jacket, tossing it out in front of her. “Shed your old form and become anew, under our contract, I beseech you. GLOW!”

the yellow and blue Card turned into the pale lavender of the Hinata Cards as GLOW was released and the little fairy flew up into the sky and released the lights. Just like when she caught the card, the sky was full of the glowing lights gently falling like snow. Hinata held her hands out to catch the lights, her Staff tucked into her arm. She gently blew the lights out of her hands, giggling as they swirled in circles before floated down. she noticed Sasuke was staring at her, his own small handful of lights in hand. She barely noticed Ino taking pictures of them both.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m…I’m just really glad you’re happy again.”

Ino texted her pictures later that night. they were of them all at the festival, including the action pictures from during the fight of Sasuke using his thunder and wind talismans, jumping on the tree, defending Hinata while she changed the WOOD and THUNDER Cards and when they were within GLOW’s lights. There was also another picture within the batch, an older one. It was one where she’d caught GLOW originally, but it was just before then, when she’d been staring up at the falling lights. The picture was of behind them, Sasuke staring at her as she stared at the lights. There was a similar picture from today, plus one of the two of them looking at each other.

It's crazy how things can change and yet be so similar. Sometimes, things are feeling the same, but a person just doesn’t know it yet.

[rinadragomir]

Lucie Herondale's lawyer's response or why she's 1) not a bad parabatai 2) not too immature 3) not a "nepotism baby" who gets away with everything🔍 let's analyse

Defender mode activated since Lucie's haters' powers are growing🤺I also noticed you like my analysing posts, so let's get into it! Btw you can check my Matthew/Daisy post, I'm very proud of it☺️💅🏻If you don't wanna change your opinion - there's nothing I can do, it's your choice. But if you just interpreted some things/ character's motivation in a wrong way or you don't understand why this character is the way she is - I'll help you understand!😌✨

So! Today we'll defend my daughter and discuss some statements, that are quite popular here and on Twitter, which include her!🕵️

1) "I can't see her and Daisy being great parabatai, they don't even care about each other that much. And it seems like Lucie needs her more than Daisy needs Lucie."

Before I start my research I must admit that they didn't spend too much time together so it'd make sense if they become parabatai a bit later, so they have time to reveal all their secrets and discuss all they went through. And I believe that what's going to happen since CC announced the short story of their parabatai ceremony and it seems like it'll happen a bit after the end of CHOT😌

Don't you dare! Not after:

"Cordelia cares less than—" HELLO? Cordelia's absolutely terrified to lose her. Terrified. Same with Lulu. Btw @lekawi is the first Daisy/Lucie fan and half of these arguments are hers!!!! Giving credits 💅🏻🙇🏼‍♀️

Lucie's always there for Daisy, every time Daisy needs her, she's there. Except those times when she keeps a secret that she's hurt. But this trilogy is all about how secrets ruin your life😒

They keep secrets from each other and that's what makes it hard for them to become closer. Secrets are the biggest evil of these books but they still have time to fight them! These two loved each other almost their whole lives.

And about Lucie's Beautiful Cordelia which some people consider "unhealthy obsession"🤨 If you read the same books as I, you know that Lucie's writing that book not because "she's too obsessed", but because Cordelia's biggest fear is being alone. She didn't have any friends and even trained alone most of the time. This book gave Daisy that feeling like you're sitting next to your friend and listening to all these funny stories.

2) "She's just so naive and acts so immature, it's annoying. She's like a loud baby"

She's like the first (maybe the 2) person who openly talks with Matthew about his alcoholism, while all his friends prefer to ignore it, which is much easier. She did it kinda dirty, she wasn't too careful with her words, but she said the truth.

She didn't try to lie or hide her true feelings after Jesse found her book. She said what she really felt that moment. Lucie🤝Thomas being those 2 people who actually know how healthy relationship works like

She was ready to kill Jesse when she found out he's being controlled by Belial. She was wise and strong enough to understand that people's lives are more important than her young love.

She was the first person who saw that Matthew actually likes Cordelia👀

She's actually the only person who acknowledged the fact that her parents and friends don't see that Matthew is far from being okay because they don't actually wanna see it.

The only "immature" thing about her is that she doesn't know what goes after the kisses. But if that's your only criteria.... What's actually wrong with you? And what do you have against loud people?😑

3) "She lies to everyone, she does necromancy and then screams "Papa😣!" and her parents are already on their way and it seems like she doesn't know what consequences are. Everyone's suffering and she's just chilling"

I—

"Poor Alastair, he had such a shitty father, he deserves to have the best dad in the world, why does he have to go through all this shit all by himself?😓"

----------------------------------

"That dumb bitch Lucie's so annoying, like why her father is always there for her, trying to help her with everything, to give her the opportunity to live her best life, like???? She's so spoiled and her father just supports her? Ugh that's weird, why would he want her to be happy that's kinda stupid 🫤"

And the funniest thing is that it's said by the same people. I— I don't know how to explain it but: if your parents support you, help you with your problems and try to make your life as easy and happy as possible.... it's actually a good thing!👍

And idk where they found this "if the character doesn't suffer enough - it's not an interesting character" rule. But apparently they did. Listen, characters don't have to suffer but they have to go through struggles. Some characters, especially the main ones, usually suffer more. Some less. The main thing is not "who suffers more" it's not a competition, the main thing is the plot, the adventure, the growth of these characters.

Lucie knows, and she says about it at least twice in the second book☝🏻, that necromancy has a price. She knows about the consequences and she knows that raising Jesse has nothing to do with dark magic. That's why she did what she did. But unfortunately, we know that she'll have to pay the price anyway🙂. She'll face the consequences no matter what, there's still the whole book for her to suffer.

⚠️Light spoilers from the first 4 chapters of Chot, pls skip it if you don't wanna know anything ⚠️

She's even warning Malcolm about the price of necromancy in the chapter 2 or 3. It's not like she's considering it a game or a funny adventure. When Magnus/Will/James arrive and she wants to return to London with Jesse and explain everything to Clave - it's not because she's stupid but because as Magnus said "her heart is in the right place". She's mature enough to consider all the facts and try to be open-minded about things she doesn't clearly understand. But lots of people in Clave.... they're dumb and anything that is more complicated than 2+4 is a danger for them.

⚠️Spoilers ended ⚠️

In conclusion: Lucie's a brave strong girl who lives in a loving healthy family. She knows which things are right and which are wrong. She's not afraid to say what's really on her mind even tho sometimes she says before she thinks. She has a strong sense of justice and a kind soul🌼 (Remember when Malcolm says Grace uses her helplessness so men help her with anything she wants, and Lucie thought that men built such a world where women often have no choice but to ask men for help). She's always there for her friends and is really trying to be "that positive person"🥹She's not really experienced and sometimes she's not sure how to act in certain situations, but she's still so young and has lots of time to learn.

#JUSTICE_FOR_LUCIE #HOME_GIRLS_ARE_NOT_BORING 😡

[linktoo-doodles]

As someone who was absolutely devouring the "Your Obedient Servant" video on youtube I just had to come over here and compliment you personally (Even if this is anonymous...)

I absolutely adore your style, it is so effectual and impactful and in the youtube video you can just genuinely feel Wilbur's fruration with Quackity and it's so, I can't find the right words... Scrumptious to look at. Like you can just feel in your core how frustrated Wilbur is and it is somehow so satisfying. Also the subtle flirty undertones..? Eating it up.

BUT TO ASK A QUESTION NOW, which of the eggs in the QSMP is your favorite and WHY? I want a detailed answer with tear stains and blood stains over it. Thank you, your art is so aspiring to a smaller artist and I just adore you and your work.

THANK YOU!!!!!!! obedient servant is seriously suchhh a big project I worked on and off for a month and the visceral feelings really ended up translating to the animation. I'm still very fond of it tbh :3

now ok with qsmp it's been hard bc I've been enjoying it massively but very differently to dsmp if that makes sense. it's not as emotionally complicated in terms of relationships just simply bc it's a new server with new people meeting each other for the first time. so it's not gonna be as deep and fun as I have been with dsmp. I haven't been watching a lot of the streams BUT i've been keeping up as much as I could through word of mouth. you know. the usual smp way

in terms of eggs I know Tallulah is the server sweetheart but from what I've been seeing about Bobby is so sweet. I love his idgaf energy. I love that he and Roier hang out off stream. I love (and lose my mind over) Jaiden crying when she thought she lost Bobby. I love that the admin had to play Tallulah for a bit. I love that Tallulah has abandonment issues stemming from being found later than everyone else. I love that the cc's have switched to "it takes a village" mindset to take care of ALL of the eggs, not just their own.

Leonarda's so cute and lovely and Chayanne's warrior spirit being compared to Techno several times including Phil telling his stories with Techno ruling the world.... wtf is wrong with them it makes my heart ache it's so so sweet...

Bad and Dapper have been hanging out off stream too AGHH seriously it gets to me so bad.. the admins are real people with real rp personalities and you can tell how much it gets a lot of the cc's attached and truly it's just been really endearing to see. I hope that covers what you wanted to hear from me ^w^

[silver-wield]

So many CA's under that Tifa's bikini strap post are so salty and trying to defend her😭 Like, it's not the fact that she can't move on, because people can. It’s the fact that she clearly hasn't and was just using Cloud to pretend he was Zack. Then she realized how shitty that was, realized she didn't even know the real Cloud, and decided to try and get to know him but died a few days later. How can she be madly in love with someone she never truly knew vs someone she dated for 2 years? Even calling Cloud her lover and beloved🥴? Someone who literally told her(in the correct translations) it's one sided, you are weird, we're friends. That's some stalker behavior right there. Their also saying Aerith didn't know Zack died. LIES!! it's canon that she knows when people die and at the end of CC she sensed when Zack died. She just decided to be in denial and picture him as a cheater instead. If she didn't keep bringing up Zack or forcing herself on Cloud so much. Then maybe I could see how she moved on but nope! She needs as much mental health care as Cloud does.

Honestly, she treats this whole quest of stopping Sephiroth/Jenova like it's a fun field trip. She hardly takes anything seriously and disregards anyone's feelings if it messes with her fun. She's just here to have fun and date because she never had a life. Why is she even here? We see that after she dies the group can finish things without her fine. Also, the planet does all the heavy lifting not her. She just literally watches from the lifestream. I think a lot of people besides the CA, are going to find it hard to like her after this game. The way she treats Tifa, Zack, and even cloud. Toxic🤢 They better go all out with the lifestream scene in part 3 with no Aerith anywhere!

She's literally the most selfish, two faced back stabbing hypocritical POS excuse for a heroine I've ever seen in an FF game.

I can't think of a worse character on the good side than her. All she cares about is how many dicks she can collect and when one refuses her she gets all pissy because nobody has ever told her selfish immature ass no.

And how dare she claim to be Tifa's friend when she does that to her? That's literally the worst thing about her. She has no right to act nice to Tifa and then try to fuck Cloud while knowing he and Tifa like each other.

She's a skank.

[factorialsotherfandoms]

blip bloop bitching below. keeping this out of the tags as I need to scream but don't want it to travel.

I hate so much that I genuinely dread days when Philza and Tubbo interact. Because they're friends and should be able to just hang and stuff! And it can be fun to watch! But it seems every time they even go near each other the Philza tag becomes full of crap, then people kicking back, and its /worst/ now Sunny is here (I love her, mostly, but it makes it so much worse). The post about Sunny being scared of Philza with the screenshots was at the top of the Philza Tag (by how I access them at least) for 3 days. It always defaults to top before I flip it to most recent. It wasn't tagged as discourse or neg or anything - it was just screenshots after all - but the bitching which came out of that was so much, and every time I saw them it bought the bitching to mind, and half of that wasn't tagged either (on the original posts, in the tags, where I like looking for fic and meta and fanart and check my top 4 tags each morning).

And, yeah, a 30-off year old streamer probably not even on tumblr doesn't need defending online. BUT the shit and the way those posts talk and the things they shit on him for... a) its very much cc!Phil not q!Phil no matter what people say, because he talks in the same way even on the fucking pumpkin carving stream and more importantly b) mirrors very real bullying, discrimination and hate I and a lot of other English people have experienced. (yes of course its worse if you're an ethnic minority or have a Scottish accent or any number of other things, but just because other people have it worse doesn't mean it isn't a genuine axis of discrimination).

And sometimes I need to fucking defend not him but myself, because I feel like I'm going mad.

You might not see it, you might not even know about the north-south divide and English class politics, but its embedded into near every fantasy movie you've watched, accent wise at least!

Just personal shit... I have a southern parent and a northern parent. I grew up in the south-east. As a kid I could switch accents at will. Using my mother's northern accent (slightly more natural to me, as she was home more often) I would get marked down in class for being aggressive and argumentative and other kids would think I was angry with them. My father genuinely suggested I switch which I spoke with, and it was effort but doable, and guess what? My marks went up and I was seen as friendlier than the other children. It still wasn't the accent for the region - where I grew up has a very distinct one even for the south - and yet I was treated better for it.

Which. Could have seriously messed up my future if my grades kept being marked down and I kept getting into trouble for behaviour over stuff in another accent nobody bat an eyelid to.

[I had a section here too about different treatment while getting bra fittings, but given it involved members of staff literally hurting me as a literal child only when speaking one of the two accents, I removed it. Minor hurt, but hurt.]

And that was just personal experience! Of being read as aggressive or scary or like I didn't care for sounding northern.

And of fucking course this is only ever about fucking Tubbo, the southern who logs in regularly, this shit always starts. The southerner, whose accent is on the respectable side of this not-quite-a-class-divide.

And you know how deeply routed the north-south divide is? Sociologists generally date it back to /1066/ and the north being massacred for causing trouble for the new king. Economically and in terms of reputation, the north has never actually recovered from that. Even when it was major industry, even when major ports, its /always/ been behind the south.

Not just in terms of money going around, but things like life expectancy and education expectations. Rich northerners still have a harder time than their southern peers.

(Honestly, Sunny having 'verbalised' being scared of him for his tone of voice and not other adults who treat them older than they are [because yk its impossible to tell with an egg model] also kinda rubs me the wrong way, because of that sort of treatment of me as a kid. If I was aware of more fear towards other adults she doesn't know as well it'd be easier. Yeah he's a bit intense, and he should maybe be more delicate with a kid, but heaven knows he's not the only character that is. Maybe as more people drift back we'll see it more, I don't know, the admin probably isn't English either, but dear god. The daughter of a southerner telling her daddy that the northerner is scary is such a fucking classist trope. And a really offensive one at that. And shit which actually happens irl, which sometimes leads to the police getting involved.)

[ashtoberr]

ASHUTA IS SO COOL OHHH MYYY GODDD •□•!!!!!

Hi hi I loveeee your csm oc / insert ♡♡ THEYRE SO COOL Her lore is so interesting 💭💭 At least. The lore that I've seen so far is so interesting. AND HER DESIGN IS SO CUTE I ADORE IT SM 🏂🏾🏂🏾🏂🏾

I always love it when ocs break the "norm" of their universe (idk if that makes sense but her being a vampire when most, if not all of the supernatural entities are devils/Devil adjacent is so swag and cool and based I LOVE SEEING CHARACTERS LIKE THAT 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽)

Her and Aki seem so cute too :3cc I don't think you understand how STOKED I was to see them in the selfship tag. Saw it and ran around my room screaming (in spirit not in action) because YES !!! FINALLY!!! IM STARTING TO SEE MORE PEOPLE W/ CSM SELF SHIPS / OC X CC SHIPS !!!!

I wanna know all ur thoughts about Ashuta 💭💭 She genuinely seems like such a cool character they're so epic and awesome n cool n swag ((o(^∇^)o))

OMG HI!!!! IM SORRY I JUST SAW THIS Ahhh thank you so much!!! It's super exciting to met another CSM selfshipper!!!! :DDD I'd love to hear abt ur self insert omg I'm so glad you like her!!!!!!! It actually means a lot, she makes me really happy to work on :D

And trust me I will provide on Ashuta lore >:3 Here is The Food For Today. I didn't include art this time bc I have been eepy. I have ideas for long after this, but this is the general gist. I plan to eventually draw a lot (if not all) of this out. Here's her concept for her first appearance and mission (Chapters 14 to 20, or up to episode 7 in the anime):

So, after being found by Makima:

She is added to the team briefly after Denji and Power. I'm currently undecided at which point she should enter the story; I'm thinking about prior to Chapter 14.

Makima helps her find a place (up until this point, she's been homeless since becoming a vampire) near Aki's apartment, encouraging her to make friends. She suggests Denji could use a friend since he's similar to her (not fully human, rough background).

Ashuta believes that since she'll be on a team of devils and humans, she would be more likely to make friends since they should be more accepting, right? She shows up to the Hayakawa apartment with some food, trying to introduce herself as a new member of the team (and not disclosing herself as a vampire yet- Power can tell, but doesn't care enough to point it out).

Denji thinks at first she's friendly, but a bit too polite and wonders how someone like her got chosen by Makima. Power doesn't initially feel strongly about her either way, though she's delighted to meet Meowy.

Aki thinks she's polite (and finally someone easy for him to get along with on his squad), but questions why she became a devil hunter after a couple hours of them hanging out. She briefly explains that she's a vampire, and that her life was ruined by the Vampire Devil. Aki's tone quickly changes knowing she's not human, and the night is sort of abruptly ended.

CHAPTER 14:

She's integrated into the group with Chapter 14's mission in the hotel being her first (could be retconned later.)

She's a bit hurt with the talk of Aki and Arai not trusting "non-humans" and saying they don't have human rights, so she's quick to become very quiet since she assumed Makima's team of devils and humans meant she was more likely to be accepted.

Himeno can quickly tell that she looks upset and comes over to strike up a conversation, and the two make small talk throughout the mission. She tells her to not mind Aki, that he's just had bad experiences with devils. Ashuta protests that she's not a devil, but a devil makes an appearance before Himeno can respond.

Himeno discusses with Aki later in the mission that she's surprised Ashuta is so conscientious for a vampire- Aki shrugs and believes it's her being deceptive. Himeno goes to suggest he give Ashuta a chance.

CHAPTER 15:

Ashuta does bond a bit with Denji over the mission, both of them asking each other questions about their respective species ("So are you allergic to garlic?" and "Does it hurt when your chainsaws come out?")

CHAPTER 16:

In hopes of winning Aki's approval, Ashuta offers to help Aki hunt for the devil. She explains that since vampires don't really need to sleep much, she could help him all he wants.

Aki, unimpressed, asks why she's so hellbent on trying to please him when he doesn't care about wether she lives or dies as a non-human.

CHAPTER 18:

In the hysteria of facing the eternity devil, Ashuta finally snaps at Kobeni after trying to keep everyone calm the entire mission, telling her she's going to be a shit devil hunter if she freaks out at the slightest inconvenience. Kobeni yells back that it was easy for her to say, that she'd been calm and collected the entire mission because she can't die. Ashuta yells at her that pussying out and turning on her teammates made it more likely for all of them to die, and to shut the fuck up and help if she was going to stay a devil hunter. It certainly doesn't make Kobeni like her, but it shuts her up.

CHAPTER 20:

Ashuta joins the newbie welcome party. Denji questions how she can eat if she's a vampire, and she shrugs and explains that it's the same way devils eat- the only difference is human food isn't of nutritional substance to her and she doesn't retain any energy from it, she eats it for nostalgia purposes and the taste.

Ashuta lightens up when Makima joins the party, glad to see someone familiar- she considers Makima a friend, being the first person who was nice to her.

During the party, Makima asks Aki how Ashuta's first mission was, and wether she had done satisfactory. Aki admits that she did well, and Ashuta can't help but be a little happy at his approval.

As the night progresses, she gets drunk enough where she feels less afraid to approach Aki again. The two actually end up talking some. While drunk, Aki apologizes for the way that he had regarded her earlier in the night, and that she handled her first mission well, remaining composed in such a stressful situation .

Ashuta shrugs, and says it's fine- when she was turned into a vampire, she'd been shunned by everyone she once knew. She explains she still considers herself the same person she was before, but she fears rejection from humans more than she fears injuries from devils. He suggests she come stop by their apartment again sometime (more out of drunken guilt than actual like for her, but it's a start to them becoming friends).

[lissbutnobliss]

Okay, can we have a talk.

This ending was… questionable. But very logical. I mean, everything was foreshadowing to that, we should’ve known and I am not surprised.

I have very mixed feelings about it and I don’t really know how to explain all of them, but let’s start with that:

1. I am proud of Tommy for writing this. No matter how some aspects of these are srewed and how some are not good in the message, he still did a great job. I mean, imagine being responsible for ending ALL of this? The server that was so big and gave so much to millions of people, and you are the one to write an ending of the story.

Endings are hard to write. I am sure, everyone who’s every written a story will agree with me. Happy endings are even harder, because if you have a long and complicated story, with so much angst in it, it’s almost always troubling to find a satisfying happy ending. And successfully lead everything to that.

And the fact that Tommy took the responsibility to finish this MASSIVE story is admirable. I know I wouldn’t do that on his place, wouldn’t have the guts. I am proud of him.

2. Being proud of Tommy though doesn’t make me less irritated with the last confrontation he and Dream had. I feel like everybody here already mentioned how the fact that his character said sorry to his abuser is… not great. Awful honestly.

And it annoys me. As an always inniter and c!Tommy enjoyer, I can’t be less angry with that. Because it’s not right. Dream did too much fucked up shot to earn that apology. Even if Tommy hurt him too, it’s not something you can redeem.

3. But I understand. I completely understand why cc!Tommy wrote it that way.

Hear me out.

c!Tommy is one of the most compassionate and emotionally smart characters on that server. He was always the one to see good in others no matter what. Even if he didn’t always act that way. I mean, just remember his conversation with c!Foolish: ‘I believe everyone have a little bit of good in them’, ‘I think Wilbur is a good person, but he’s been playing a bad guy for a long time’, ‘It’s not about giving him a second chance, it’s not about giving him a third chance, it’s not about chances! It’s about not giving up on people you care about’.

If there was a character on a server to understand (not forgive, c!Tommy didn’t forgive him or joined him, he understood c!Dream) the monster, it’s Tommy.

It makes so much sense for his character to realize the part of the picture he hasn’t seen before and accept his flaws and mistakes. Apologizing to c!Dream is a bad message. But it makes so much sense that c!Tommy did that. It’s about not giving up on people, eh?

4. Which makes me a little bit happy. Not a lot, but just a smidge. Just knowing that if they survived, c!Tommy would heal. After all, sometimes to heal from something awful like an abuse you need to understand what exactly happened.

And don’t take it as me saying that ‘Tommy should’ve realized that he is in fault for everything that happened’, because fuck no. He isn’t, and he is still a victim in this situation.

I mean it as the understanding and coming to terms with it would give him the closure he needed.

He would’ve healed, if they survived.

5. And of course I am devastated. I understand why people think of this finale as an awful one. I am in shambles. It’s so hard to take in the fact that everything just got erased.

I am a big c!clingy duo enjoyer. I loved a lot of other characters too, but they were the best for me. They were the ones who I would always love, no matter what. Hell, I even watched those streams despite Dream being in them just because I would never not watch an ending of c!clingy duo.

I wont repeat what others said about why this finale is sad and awful and devastated. I will only say the thing that makes it the worst for me.

Tommy and Tubbo didn’t get to meet that end together. They were so close to each other, a few more minutes, and Tubbo would’ve be there. But they didn’t, and I am just. I just. I hope people will write c!clingy duo fix its. I don’t even really need the rewriting of that particular stuff. Just maybe them going to the Moon and being happy and raising Michael together on stories about all the friends they had. Please.

That’s kind of the mix of my feelings.

——

I also wanted to talk about messages in general.

The Dream SMP story as cc!Wilbur once said is always not characters influencing the plot, but plot influencing the characters. And that’s what was best about it in my opinion. There was no meta gaming, it was a raw reaction of people in the situation, not from the distance.

So sometimes it’s not about writing the tight message. It’s about how that character would act right there and right now.

And all of this ‘i know *blank* better than *cc blank*’ is fun and all, I also post stuff like that, and it helps to say fuck you to canon to feel better. But no, we don’t know those characters better than ccs who play them. At least because it’s not our characters. We know their fanon versions better, sure. We know our versions of those characters better. And that’s cool! That’s how fandom works! But just imagine someone read a story about your own OC and said that they understand them better than you.

Why I am writing is: we can all be pissed off at the I am sorry to c!Dream thing. We should, honestly, it’s a bad message. But the thing is, it’s not about the writing, it’s about the person (in form of c!Tommy) and what this person feel and thinks after living through everything they did. That what was making Dream SMP so beautiful. The story was the driving force, not the characters. And I kind of appreciate that cc!Tommy didn’t metagame it till the end, but just went along with what it would lead his character too.