#especially when he has the option to instead spend time with people who have never tortured anyone suspected of doing some vague bad thing

[llycaons]

im finally feeling awake now so @pharahsgf this is the post I was talking about

foolish. reductive. immature. disrespectful. willfully ignorant. WRONG

[thatstonedwriter]

No Words? No Problem

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Feat; Blitz, Stolas, Fizzaroli x Ozzie

Content; selectively mute reader, polyam fizz/ozz/reader, no pronouns, gender neutral

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

If you are selectively mute,

Blitz would be shocked that you opened up to him. He has a pretty low opinion of himself and assumed you didn't talk to anyone because you didn't like them. Despite his initial reservations, once he understands, he enjoys being able to sit with you and not feel pressured to make conversation. He'll literally growl at people who try to force you to speak, especially if it makes you uncomfortable. See also: biting. However, Blitz is already prone to communication issues, so early relationship is probably pretty rocky. Once he's more comfortable and can.. yknow, communicate with people, things get much easier.

Stolas completely understands. While, of course, he's a public figure and regularly has to speak in public, he would love to have the option of just.. not doing that. Very much enjoys quiet quality time with you. No matter what you're doing, as long as you're doing it together (though, most of the time, he'll be reading). Speaking of that, he would actually love reading to you- it's one of his favorite ways to share something he loves with the person he loves. Similar to Blitz, there are some communication issues, but he does his best not to take your silence personally, and instead, appreciate the calmness you provide.

Fizz and Ozzie, the healthiest ones, have never taken your silence personally. In fact, it's just something they've come to get used to when spending time together. So it did come as a small surprise when you opened up about the reason for your quiet nature. Regardless, once you're all together, your quietness does not make you any less included. These two sweethearts will go out of their way to make sure you feel included, respected, and understood. Even in the beginning of the relationship, it wasn't a problem. The immediate acceptance and accommodation is part of what makes this thruple so strong.

If you are selectively mute, they will love you unconditionally.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

An interesting thing about Kaz is the way he views a hierarchy within everyone he meets, an attitude probably defined in him by the Kerch culture of trade and the environment of Ketterdam. Kerch is a country that in many ways is designed to reflect the American Dream as it is portrayed in classic literature such as The Great Gatsby: as an ultimately unattainable and useless lie, designed to control and quell the masses in the danger of extreme capitalism. The social hierarchy in Ketterdam is well-established and discussed throughout the novels, though mostly in Crooked Kingdom since the plot stays almost entirely within city limits, and the attitude of viewing a miniature hierarchy amongst those around you as part of the overall societal structure is evidenced in Kaz, and possibly reflected in Wylan; a link both to their different upbringings within the Ketterdam social structure, and their position as literary foils. (I wrote a whole long thing about how Kaz and Wylan had/have the potential to become each other, so feel free to check that out for more detail if you want it). The city’s hierarchy and the unattainability of joining the rich upper echelon of society is cleverly hinted at from the very beginning of Six of Crows, when Kaz is jumped and then wakes up in what he expects to be the deb of a rival gang. He instead finds himself in Councilman Hoede’s Manor House, which I believe is on the Geldstradt, and the way he makes the distinction is by realising that the decor in the room he’s in “takes real money”. We know that people like Pekka Rollins or Tante Heleen have become truly rich from what they do in the Barrel, and so it’s strange to suggest that you’d need “real money” for this since we would generally use that phrase to refer to a large amount of money. What Kaz actually means here is “old money” or “family money”; you need the kind of money that the Merchant Council have been hoarding for generations, making supposedly risky trades when they have millions of savings to cushion the blow if things go wrong, not the kind of money that comes from the popular gambling dens and brothels of the Barrel. He means the kind of money that Daisy and Tom have in Great Gatsby, people who’ve never worked a day in their lives and yet like to think of themselves as very successful at life when all they’re truly succeeding in is spending their parents money, not the kind of money that Gatsby scraped and saved and began to chase through undisclosed illicit means. Even when men like Gatsby and Rollins make their money, and their name, they are never equal in the social hierarchy to people with old money. (To be clear, not that this is a defence of either character, I have criticisms of both, especially Rollins).

But the hierarchy Kaz places upon himself and upon the others is slightly more subtle, and arguably subversive. He looks down on Matthias because he “stinks of decency” and because he supposedly hasn’t struggled, arguably gaining slightly more respect for him when he learns of him losing his parents and baby sister but still maintaining the idea of ‘everyone has a sob story and you were clearly more lucky in your options to deal with it than I was, it’s not my fault if you made the wrong choice’. We as readers obviously know that Matthias had no options but to go with Jarl Brum and spent the next 6 years of his life (I think that’s the right amount of time, please correct me if I’m wrong) being emotionally manipulated and abused by him, but Kaz simply refuses to accept has suffered because it would be psychologically damaging to him to admit that Matthias was able to go through that and still come out a good person, when Kaz sees himself as having become truly demonic. Matthias looks down on Kaz for the exact same reason, unable to understand - especially since he knows far less detail about Kaz’s trauma - how someone who ever had a core of decency couldn’t maintain it through their pain, he assumes Kaz was never a good person, or never had the potential to be one. Kaz also looks down on Wylan, arguably far less for his attempt to maintain a core decency but because he views Wylan as having had the option to do so. Kaz seems to have more respect for Wylan in Crooked Kingdom than in Six of Crows, when he knows more about (but never, it should be noted, the full extent of) Jan Van Eck’s abuse to his son, once again showcasing that he struggles to accept the idea of someone feeling bad when they have supposedly suffered less than him. His trauma has clearly warped him in many ways, and one of them is losing the ability to see relative pain and how different things can affect different people in different ways; he effectively views everything in the manner of ‘I had it worse, and I’m fine so you need to get over yourself’. He labels Nina “a snob” for staying away from the Crow Club and the Slat despite being a Dregs member, and her response is “she didn’t much care what Kaz Brekker thought”. I think that Nina is possible the person Kaz holds the most respect for in his platonic relationships, and that is mostly because she simply couldn’t care less whether he respects her or not.

His relationship with Jesper is more complex; he judges Jesper for his addiction and yet continually eggs him on, giving him a line of credit to play cards at the start of Six of Crows and having the first step of his planning in Crooked Kingdom to make Jesper play all night, although it’s unclear whether Jesper has ever shared anything about his mother if anyone knows then the most likely parties are Kaz or Inej and yet Kaz forces Jesper to give up his revolvers in Crooked Kingdom, his most treasured possession and his constant connection to his late mother, he consistently infantilises Jesper, but mostly in his head and this is possibly an interesting link to the final nail in the coffin of their relationship; Kaz sees Jesper as a substitute to Jordie. I think it’s possible that he likes to see him as younger because that’s how he remembers Jordie - it’s also important to remember that Kaz is now several years older than his elder brother ever was so seeing him in someone his own age is possibly even more painful because that’s a point Jordie never reached (he was only 13 when he died). Jesper is someone that Kaz feels the need to keep at arms length, not because he doesn’t respect him but because he fears having a close relationship with someone who could so easily slip away from him like Jordie did. I think we can also arguably see aspects of Jordie within Jesper, the naïveté of thinking you can make it Ketterdam followed by the city swallowing you whole, killing Jordie and driving Jesper to his slow self-destruction - “I’m dying anyway, Da. I’m just doing it slow”. (If y’all have read many of my analytical posts you may have begun to notice that’s one of my favourite quotes)

Then we have Inej. Kaz places Inej on a pedestal whatever she does. I’ve spoken before about how she claims to be bad at picking locks whilst he claims to have done “a shoddy job at teaching her to pick locks” because he’s incapable of accepting that she is incapable of something; if there are flaws, they must be his because she cannot have any. In a lot of situations this can be harmful, going back to the romance of Daisy and Gatsby where Daisy is placed on a pedestal and idealised so much that she become more of an image than a person, so when she does not live up to his every high expectation Gatsby is destroyed by it. But with kanej this seems only to elevate their position, possibly because Kaz isn’t claiming that Inej is flawless, but rather that she is capable of working on her flaws in a way that he isn’t; it is almost a form of envy. For example, Inej also has a fear of touch and human contact, but she purposely forced herself to cope with small amounts of it, such as allowing Nina and Jesper to hug her even though it makes her flinch, because she fears it becoming a debilitating condition, as it has done for Kaz (not that she knows that initially when it’s first implied that she too fears contact). In the bathroom scene when she admits to him that she also struggles with touch, it has such a massive effect on Kaz not because he refuses to accept that she has flaws but because he sees her as so much stronger than himself and wishes that he could be more like her. Although both of them are ultimately unable to go any further than a few light brushes of contact, it’s suggested that what trigger Inej more than the touch itself is the sexual implications of those touches based on everything she went through at the Menagerie. Kaz doesn’t see Inej aligned with with himself or the other gang members, but as above them - and not in the way he labels Nina as a snob, but in a genuine manner he refuses to acknowledge her as low in society because he sees her as deserving of so much more. He notably never refers to her as “a canal rat” and he never even comes close to defining her by her time at the Menagerie, a start contrast between him, the supposed low of the hierarchy, and Van Eck, the supposed upper, he yells at her “you little skiv! You little whore!”. However, there is one way in which Kaz arguably looks down on Inej and it’s in a similar way that he looks down in Matthias: how dare she still try so hard to remain truly good, and decent, and to find her Saints and to politely ask them for forgiveness, when it would be so much easier to let the world beat that out of her? Arguably, it’s not that he judges either of them for their faith, but it’s that he fears them judging him for losing his, be that in religion or in the world at all. (I don’t think we know if Kaz was raised in a religious household or not, but based on societal structure in Ketterdam and the way most of the population in most of the countries are religious I think it’s safe to assume he at least grew up with an understanding of Ghezen). Kaz fears that they’ll judge him for failing to maintain his core of decency, which is exactly what Matthias does, and so he aims to offend or challenge them before they can him.

Ok I’m not gonna lie to you guys it’s like quarter past one in the morning as I’m writing this, and oh my god it just got so long out of nowhere… I might have lost my point somewhere in there, I don’t even know, this came from one quote I was thinking about and I’m not sure I even wrote that quote in there so, yeah, I guess. If you bothered to read this far the tysm I hope it made sense

[kingkatsuki]

R-roman gladiator Bakugo 👉👈

I wish I was talented enough to write this, just know same.

You’re married to a powerful Roman emperor, and it’s a loveless pitiful existence. And he’s practically a tyrant.

The people he captures from battle are held as slaves as given the option of becoming gladiators or death— not really much of an option when both paths usually have the same bleak end.

Until one day you’re roaming the halls to see Bakugou training in one of the many alcoves of your home, shirtless as he jabs forward at a target with precision. From your place hiding behind a pillar you can make out the deep, embedded cuts and scars in his broad back. Rivulets of sweat cling to his skin and glisten in the harsh midday sun as you find yourself lingering, noticing the faded scar that marks the centre of his face as his voice catches you off guard.

“Ain’t no one told you it’s rude to stare, sweetheart.” And you’re frozen in place, his head didn’t even glance back and yet he knew you were there— watching.

You begin sneaking out to meet with him each day, watching him train or following him down to the cells where he’s held. Ensuring that he can’t escape before the battles, that he’s made his choice. Begging him to reconsider, to run away with you instead because now you know him you can’t imagine spending life without him.

He holds you so tenderly when he makes love to you, a stark contrast to your husband as he focuses on your pleasure. His thrusts rough, but his gaze is tender— seizing you as though he never wants to let go.

The day the billboard goes up for his battle you’re petrified. He’s been given someone twice his size, and certainly someone looking for blood. A man that’s won his last four battles, and the bets are placed that he’ll win the next too.

And the night before his battle it’s his “last meal”, the table laid with more food than Bakugou has had since being held captive by the emperor. A feast laid out of anything he could ever desire, as to most people at the table he’d probably not come back. But all he desires this night is you— the sun slowly sets over the horizon as he seeks you out.

You’re propped against the same pillar you hid behind the first time you’d met, your flowing skirt bunched around your hips as he takes you brutally. Bakugou had told you time and time again that he won’t lose, he never loses. But the thought of never having you like this again is too much as he loses control of himself. His grip bruising as rough fingers dip into the plush of your thighs, clinging to you like it’s the last time. He leaves you dripping with his seed, walking back to his quarters for the night. He knows it’s too much to expect you to lay with him, especially as he’s reminded who you belong to. It almost makes him wonder if a victory would really be worth it, especially if it meant living another day without being able to call you his.

And that night you fall asleep with his cum still buried deep inside you, wondering whether he’ll make it to see another sunset.

[mmurkoff]

hihi not sure how fond myrielle and aerion are of each other (would love to know more about their dynamic if you are willing to share <3) but they remind me of the “who tf is burning down my kitchen” “making breakfast for my beautiful wife” twitter meme

anon ... i giggled .

as for marriage dynamics well .. i feel like by default any relationship with a guy everyone hates for good reason is going to be a bit strained . but somehow they're both kind of deranged enough to make it work (er.. well... somewhat...).

ive talked very briefly about it in my little myrielle post already but it kind of had to grow into anything beyond hating each other . right when myrielle gets to court she holds a lot of resentment toward him, mainly because he's the second son of a fourth son - not really heir to anything, and even when she's young she wants to aim higher than that with her betrothal. she spends a lot of time pining after the concept of another man that she deems 'better' (valarr, matarys, even daeron etc - the actual people matter less than the fact that they're further up in the succession than aerion) just because she's decided to herself that she deserves more. a little girl playing into the idea of being a wife and centering her whole worldview about that ala really twisted westerosi expectations and societal structures

it's kind of what you'd expect from two very willful very spoiled preteens; a lot of petty squabbles and little disagreements that have them bickering and squabbling and it's a bit of a mess . in time though it breezes over kind of because they both grow up and 'mature' in the sense that they aren't calling each other stupid and pushing each other over in the yard anymore LOL

by the time they're married ... well . it's .... . myrielle is fond of him and finds him handsome and dashing while they're in public and in private he at least treats her well a couple days a week which is enough . i think it's very shallow in the sense that ... i'm not sure if they ever truly know each other fully . myrielle projects her ambitions onto him and steadily heads down her path to making sure he becomes king (after the tourney at ashford meadow and the great spring sickness when things get a little crazy in how many targs are dying off) and aerion projects some idea of the wife he'd imagined himself to want onto her . in my mind he's kind of giving targ man too caught up in the idea of his ancestry and his family traditions given his whole deal with the dragon delusions etc so its lots of hey what if you pretend like you're (targ woman of his choosing) and ill be (her evil husband) and then we'll be a Proper Couple instead of a Fake Arrangement between me (perfect prince) and a lesser non-targ woman . you can see that there might be some issues here .

definitely not good . they hold resentment for each other mutually for a variety of reasons but theres also some deep seated dedication there especially from myrielle . she gets so deep into the thought of the both of them rising further than they're expected to that she in turn essentially drops everything for him and makes a lot of questionable choices and does a lot of questionable things to keep him happy and to assist him in whatever way she thinks he needs . i feel like she gets very caught up in the idea of really feeding into the idea aerion has of their marriage . tries to play into the thought of being more of a targaryen and tries to shift and change herself which never really works because she does treasure her own family and her identity but also because things just don't go the way she wants .

errr. ride or die i guess but it's weirrddddddd . which is funny to say because in practice they both cheat on each other and lie to each other and fight and bicker but they keep going back for more . why...? well.. maybe duty maybe genuine care maybe a third more evil option. me when i go out and cheat on my wife but its okay because i come back and bring her nice gifts and we do our historical targ roleplay which isn't weird at all guys i promise please guys listen its not weird its not w

rubs my chin. a lot of thoughts but i'm bad at putting them into words. i hope this is anything . probably not. one day you'll get something better from me .... .... <3

[sageistrii]

"Kpop stans love when idols are visibly affected by the hate."

When I read this, it's as if a light bulb went off in my head. This is the essence of the problem. Throughout the years, Jimin has had moments where he expresses vulnerability, insecurity, and regret. And instead of admiring his humility or sincerity, they hate him for it. Because they think they can.

I think they are just looking for a chance to be a bully... because that option isn't available to them in their real life.

Sorry to bring up politics here, but these are the kind of people who admire Trump. He's a bully, yet they don't find that a bad thing. Because they'd like to be a bully, too.

As for the "he needs support." They're simply parroting what they've heard elsewhere, and really have no conception of what "support" means or how one acquires it. And you can have great "support" for your voice and still steuggle to find the correct key if you can't hear the music.

You may be correct that Jimin is best known as a dancer, but after Chapter Two and going forward, he will increasingly be known for his beautiful and unique voice and as an outstanding musical storyteller.

The thing is Jimin never acknowledges the hate. He never talks about it, he's insinuated that he knows about it and his personality change over the years proves that, but that's about it. The times when he's expressed those things you listed was never him reacting to the hate he gets online. It was about himself and how he never wants to let himself down.

If anything pjms are the ones who present him a certain. They spend all day painting him as someone who should be pitied because he gets hated on. While everyone loves to claim that their own fave gets the most hate like it's some competition and while I do agree that Jimin is at the top when it comes to idols who get a ton of hate, he still isn't the only Idol who gets hated on. Stop asking other pjms especially the blogs on here everyday about "why" he gets hate. Stop fixating on the hate he gets because you think you're his saviour. Stop saying stuff like "he's so sweet how can you hate him", stop telling us about how you're emotionally affected by the hate or how you cried because of it. Someone will say the vilest thing about him and some pjm or army will quote with something like "let's talk about how y'all are always hateful to someone like Jimin who's never hurt a soul" like just give the same energy to their fave or stfu, report and move on. Jimin doesn't come online to cry about being hated on, y'all are the ones making him vulnerable. Y'all show that the hate gets to you and you can't actually defend him and it automatically makes it seem like the hate affects Jimin and kpop Stans love it.

No one is going to see y'all's tweets about how Jimin is a good person who doesn't deserve hate and feel remorseful, it actually does the opposite because it makes them feel like they have some some kind of power.

Pjms don't even remember that jk got dragged a lot on local twtr because jjks made sure to ignore it and act like everyone loves him and he never gets any hate. But part of the reason why the hate Jimin gets is used against him is because pjms will never let you forget that he gets hated on. Hoping for sympathy and remorse from kpop stans only makes things worse. These people only respond to equal energy.

[sapphire-weapon]

Seeing as how I just got two asks back to back trying to claim that I'm being unfair to Leon and that his behavior towards Ada in RE4make is "justified," I figured I'd just make an independent post about it instead of answering two questions that'll have overlapping answers. (And a third one came in as I was writing, even.)

No, I'm not being unfair to Leon, and no, his behavior isn't justified. Leon's being immature in RE4make, straight up.

The way that people talk about this, and the way that Leon acts towards her -- you would think that Ada had been a childhood friend that Leon had known for years, and that she betrayed him at the zero hour and destroyed a lifetime of trust between them.

Ada is some chick that Leon knew for a total of, like, six hours, years ago. And in Remake canon, she makes it very clear to him at the end of RE2make that her lying to him wasn't personal; it was just business.

He's had six years to think about this and compartmentalize it, but he's still taking it so intensely personally that he's being petty. He spends all of RE4make trying to ensure that Ada knows how personal it is, and he digs at her in such a way that it's like he wants her to feel personally hurt in return.

He's being fucking childish.

Especially when you consider that, even if Ada had wanted to reach out to him and let him know she's not dead -- how, exactly, do you propose she do that? Just saunter right on through CIA security and surveillance? Call Leon on a phone that's definitely being tapped and traced? Come the fuck on, man.

It's also not an either/or situation. It's not like the only two options for his attitude towards her are "overtly romantic" or "total cunt." OG RE4 had him be wary of her intentions and suspicious of her motives without being a complete and total asshole about it.

Think about this honestly. If the "she's like a part of me I can't let go" line didn't exist in OG, would you think that his feelings towards her were romantic at all in that game? Because I wouldn't. Half of their interactions are him questioning her or blowing her off.

And this was done with OG Leon knowing that Ada was explicitly working for Wesker. He knows that she's working for Albert Fucking Wesker, and he's still able to pull off being suspicious without being a cunt.

Remake Leon has no idea who she's working for and never, ever has. For all he knows, she could be working for someone who's in the fight against bioterrorism. The last thing he knew about her was that she was a fellow adversary of Umbrella who was getting shot at by Annette Birkin. He has no reason to treat her like a villain outside of his own personal butthurt.

He's just being petty because she hurt his feelings six years ago, and he's refused to grow up and move on since then and, at the very least, treat her with the bare minimum of cold professionalism that she actually deserves. They both establish in their first conversation that they're both here for work. They're doing a job. And he can't get over his personal butthurt enough to be a professional about it.

She makes him look terrible by comparison, because she very clearly does still have feelings for him in RE4make, but she's able to still be an adult and recognize the reality of the situation they're in.

I'm so tired of these takes where people treat Leon like he's a perfect innocent angel baby who did nothing wrong and is right to be mean to the bad lady who hurt him. Leon was a dumbass who got played and hasn't been able to gracefully take the L and move forward in life. That's what actually happened.

Like, damn, man. I know we all love Leon, but he's not always right. He has flaws. And this is one of them. Let him be flawed. And maybe examine things a bit further the next time you want to fully lay the blame for a male character being butthurt at a female character's feet.

[wednesdayfunnys]

Tell us more about the twins' superhero/sot personas:)

GASPS SO LOUD okay so wherever douchebag and her brother moved to south park from did not play like this. like these were some repressed indoors kids. didn't have a lot of toys, basically just sat around being bored and annoying the piss out of each other attached at the hip.

so when douchebag gets sucked into this game by butters and cartman she's all in. this is the funnest thing she has ever done in her life and she thinks cartman is genuinely hilarious. i say this to say in stick of truth she's basically just along for the ride persona-wise. she ties one of her dad's long polo shirts around her neck for a cape, takes a wood sword and the fighter class headthing from cartman and calls it a goddamn day.

she's more interested in the game itself than creating a character- this is true of her in tfw too. she just wants to play the game. she knows that the guys have assumed she's a boy but just doesn't really care and if them assuming she's a boy means she gets to play the fun games and her brother can't come then she's here for it all day long. she did not ever expect to be king douchebag but once she's king douchebag can't nobody tell her nothing.

NEW GIRL IS DIFFERENT. he wants to play but hes really interested in all the character building stuff. he wants a cool costume and a cool character more than he wants to beat people up (although he definitely wants to do that as well. he’s more cheap shots and misusing fire based than his sister. she just hits really hard. he goes out of his way to fight dirty and with spectacle.) he starts seeing douchebag come home all roughed up and in costume and he wants to fucking play goddamn it he was not aware this was an option. douchebag tells him he can't play and he is so mad. kyle kidnaps him instead of douchebag to try and get douchebag to switch sides (because they are uncannily identical) and new girl is IN AWE. First thing he does is enthusiastically agree to all of kyle's terms (confusing everyone) and spend hours making his sick persona.

she's an arcane human girl who was born under the fire moon which comes only once every century and is the harbinger of deep and powerful magic. she was banished into the elvish woods when she was born because of this prophecy, and raised by wolves who taught her the magic of family that her evil asshole twin never did. now she swears revenge on all humans and especially her asshole twin. (kyle and the boys are kind of in the dark on this backstory they just see him make this little red riding hood looking getup from an old halloween costume and some of his mother's fake cherry blossom decorations and say “okay well thats. he kind of looks like a fairy in that. he actually kind of looks like a girl. wait shit is he a girl?? does anybody—has anybody but cartman confirmed that this kid is a boy???" and confusion ensues. he also doesn’t really have allegiances (except that he thinks kyle is cute). he just wants to be the drama. doesn’t care that much about the overarching story like douchebag does.

in tfbw

douchebag is mostly pissed off that cartman is trying to leave her out of the game. again she's not really worried about character creation, which means cartman and everyone else has to force her hand to make a character and the kryptonite and the " your dad fucked your mom" backstory and she just goes with it because she could not care less she just wants to play. she mostly wants to play with cartman and kenny and butters because those are her homeboys she picked favorites right out the gate. she does NOT want to play with kyle Imao she's still mad at him for letting her brother play stick of truth. she basically just swipes whatever superhero esq stuff cartman has laying around the base and makes another super basic costume and just really wants to brawl all the time thats one thing about her she just really wants to throw hands at all times.

NEW GIRL however. well they're not gonna let him play again because after they "figured it out" in stick of truth ("ohhh douchebag's not a girl he just has this weirdo twin sister got it") and cartman and douchebag both teamed up and threw a fit, they made an agreement that new girl absolutely could not play with them. banished from time and space. not in the game. go home.

which means he’s absolutely not invited to play superheroes. you know who else is absolutely not invited to play superheroes?

[pochqmqri]

Some other people found out from the teaser that Saki has a ring on one of her fingers, likely a wedding one. It doesn't seem like any of the other girls have rings, so she might be the only one in this sequel that is married, initially at least.

My hope is that she's married to Mai, or Michiru, I'm not picky, but it's most likely to a man.

Off the top of my head, there are two possibilities from the original Splash Star. The first is Mai's older brother, Kazuya, who Saki is very clearly crushing on throughout the season, but it seemed more like an unrequited love a young girl might have for an older boy the same way in Cardcaptor Sakura where Sakura has a crush on Yukito.

The other option is Kenta, the boy that Saki occasionally banters with, and he also seems to crush on her a few times early on, but as the season progressed, their "romance" didn't really develop, like Saki never really saw him as anything more than a friend. I wouldn't be that opposed to him being her husband, since he's not bad compared to some of the other guy love interests in this franchise later on.

They could also just make up a man for Saki to be married too, and it's not like that's unrealistic, you don't always end up marrying your childhood friends/first love. In my opinion, that would feel a bit odd, because OtonaPre has about a 10-20 year timeskip from when we last saw these women, so to start off with Saki married to someone we know basically nothing about, feels a bit cheap, unless there is enough backstory to make it work. Even so, it's still up in the air how many episodes OtonaPre has, so I'm not sure they'd want to spend too much time laying the groundwork for that potential new character.

Moving onto Mai, it would be really sad if Saki was the only one of the two who got married. Like, for better or worse, in Splash Star, Saki is shown to be crushing on guys, while Mai didn't get as much development regarding romance, other than acting like a third wheel for Saki's endeavors. I don't recall Mai ever falling in love with a guy, in fact, you could say she was in love with Saki instead.

Similarly, in the original Futari wa, Nagisa was the one who got most of the romantic development. Hell, in Max Heart, Honoka barely got episodes focused on her while Nagisa had several where she tried to vie for Fuji-P. Should they be in OtonaPre, and although I don't want it to happen, Nagisa would probably end up with Fuji-P. It would be such a shame, because one of her traits in the original anime is that she's popular with the girls, even getting love letters from them. She exclaims how she'd rather be popular with the boys than girls, but in a later episode, she says that if Honoka was a boy, she'd be in love with her, which I think does a good job at hinting towards her closeted feelings. I really detest the trope where romance between girls is seen as a thing to "grow out of," like it's just a schoolgirl fad.

Regarding Honoka, they don't really give her much in hetero romance. There are like, three guys that I can think of that only maybe could be paired with her, barring another new man they invent. The first is Fuji-P's friend/teammate, Kimata, but he barely interacts with Honoka at all, and I would hate that, because it would feel like a "consolation prize" if Nagisa ended up with Fuji-P. The second is Kiriya, the former Dotsuku Zone denizen who infiltrated their school to try and defeat them, only to end up developing a strong bond with the sisterly Honoka, but I never really saw this as a budding romance, especially on Honoka's end. Plus, Kiriya basically dipped by the end of the original Futari wa, and didn't even show up in Max Heart, so it would just feel like an afterthought if they paired them together with that missing development. The third option is Nagisa's younger brother, Ryouta, who has a crush on Honoka, but, lmao, that's really just played as a joke.

In fact, I think the anime actually portrays Honoka as being mostly uninterested in boys, despite being popular with them. She rejects all of their advances, says that if she were to go out with a boy, there'd need to be mutual respect, which implies that she doesn't feel respected by them and thus doesn't even consider them. There's also the fact that she admires Nagisa's popularity with the girls, which I feel hints at something a bit more about her romantic desires. I could go on here, but I hope this gets my point across.

To sum it up, Saki ending up with a family while Mai doesn't would create such a disappointing incongruity for these two women who were very intertwined in the anime we watched them in. The same is true of Nagisa and Honoka should they also appear. I would rather none of them end up with any romantic conclusion (thus leaving it up to interpretation) whatsoever than only some of them having it.

[mdhwrites]

Do you agree with the idea that Luz is a people pleaser? Or is it just something the fandom made up to make her seem more likable/relateble/interesting with no real basis in canon?

GOD NO! But that's not necessarily a bad thing as the protagonist archtype she's hailing from normally isn't. The problem comes from the fact that she is so ANTI people pleasing that it clashes with her backstory, rare moments in the show and she also just NEVER LEARNS ANYTHING.

This is also a problem for Randy Cunningham: Ninth Grade Ninja. Him and his best friend make a declaration at the start of the year to be popular. They don't care if they're liked or disliked, the goal is for EVERYONE to know their name. This fuels a bunch of teenage shenanigans that are meant to impress people or make them look cool by the definitions they have in their brains rather than what reality is.

Cookie from Ned's Declassified did stuff like this a lot, Danny and Tucker from Danny Phantom are also prime examples of it. It is just a teenage protagonist archtype for them to be trying to live out a fantasy of being special when the reality is that they're just nice nerds who should be happy being who they are. This is Luz. Period.

And there's two sides of this archtype. The first is the FIRST THING WE KNOW ABOUT HER. They will do things to stand out from a crowd because they think it's cool regardless of if it's right. We are literally shown FOUR instances of this back to back from her book report to the montage of her fuck ups. Each time, she is actively looking at what others are doing and going "Nah. Hold my beer and watch this." I mean... She brought fucking SPIDERS to school and looked at best confused as to why everyone ran off screaming and that's not talking about the play she RUINED.

This is then reinforced in Episode 2 when she tells King and Eda to go suck eggs because she is totes a chosen one. She does save them at the end which brings the other half of this archtype when it comes to their fuck ups. When they fuck up, they fix it, commonly so as to not get people killed but also to make sure that either people in general or those closest to them don't HATE THEM. Now, that might sound like a people pleaser... But it's not. It's seeking forgiveness, not permission. I mean in S1 alone you have her explicitly ignoring Willow's wishes in both Understanding Willow and Wing it Like Witches so that she can have her fun before then someone gets hurt or upset and fixing it in someway.

As a note: The moment you realize that SO MUCH of Luz's character is motivated by tropes she likes or be special, a lot of actions she takes take on way worse connotations. A perfect example of this is when she declares in Lost in Language that she'll be friends with Amity come hell or high water... A minute later she's fucking around with Amity's siblings who Amity has shown clear disdain for. Or you can go with Adventure in the Elements where despite her trying to get along with Amity and impress her, she STEALS FROM HER so that she can get the instant gratification of casting magic. And this sort of recontextualization is ALL over the first season especially of Luz just doing bat shit crazy things because it lets her be cool and she never really learns to stop, even PROUDLY stating in Reaching Out that she'll always choose the option that leads to the most chaos. The most adventure, the most tropes. A season and a half in and instead of growing at all, she is still defiantly against reality.

This is also all inherently AGAINST being a people pleaser. A people pleaser wants everyone to LIKE them. Sprig spends half an episode being a people pleaser like this, even if I don't think it's quite who he is. What Luz is after is just to make sure people don't hate her. At best, she doesn't want people to actively dislike her but she mostly cares about if you remember her name. If she left an impression bigger than anyone else.

But I don't blame the fandom for making her a people pleaser. All of what I've said is based on her actions. By her words, she's meant to be someone who has had to hold back who she is. Who has hid from the world so as to be liked by society. Being a people pleaser IS a part of that archtype and that's where we get "Oh no teenagers" and "I'm gonna get made fun of again" and... That's about it. It's actually why those lines annoy me so much because they happen over a season into the show and she has NEVER held back on who she is for even half a second during that ENTIRE TIME. Even Adventure in Elements isn't about pleasing others, it's about not being embarrassed. Being brought low.

But those are literally the ONLY moments in the entire series where she gives a fuck. The Collector and Belos angst? It's not about how no one will like her anymore, it's that they'll hate her because it needs to be that drastic for her to care. It also makes her less of the paragon hero that she sees herself as. And that's laughable because she only has like TWO moments in the entire series where she actively seeks out a way to help someone without them asking. The cure for Eda's curse at the end of S1, where she's trying not to have Eda die in return for watching over her which is just kind of basic kindness and going after King's stuffed rabbit in Titan Where Art Thou. At that point though, the show claims they're siblings so it's just being kind to your family... You know, right before she effectively tells Eda to go rot because she won't let her go fight Belos.

All the while, she is learning NOTHING. The teenage dumbass archtype is GREAT as a main character because it allows so much room for growth. It's part of why Anne is such a good protagonist because while she embraces the lazy side of it more than trying to appear special, she is still a teenage dumbass. As such, S1 spends time teaching her morals and making her grow up so she can be better.

Luz never grows up. Then again, she'd either have to actually face consequences for her actions or care more deeply about others for that to happen. That isn't going to happen though, not when she, and everyone around her, are solely focused on letting her live the isekai fantasy that she's always wanted.

=========

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[rosekisspeach]

TAROT READING//Bummie's view on mingkey relationship

Date: 16/Jan/2024 Marker: Selca, Music Deck of Cards: Trungles' Star Spinner Tarot (Inclusive, Diverse, LGBTQ Theme)

Notes Upfront:

I don't ask my cards questions that I already have answers;

I don't prey on information I should not know;

I respect their personal lives and;

This is for FUN ONLY.

ʕ•̫͡• ʔ stream Minho's Stay For A Night!! -ㅂ-

This time, the song I recommend listening to while reading is Bummie's Ain't Gonna Dance

"But let me break it down for ya honey I ain't gon' dance for your loving"

Now...Ready to glimpse into Bummie's view??

Base Card: 10 of Coins Past: King of Cups R Now: 10 of Cups Future: 6 of Swords Past to Now: The Lovers Reverse Now to Future: 8 of Coins Reverse Result Card: 7 of Wands

Please take time looking at the cards before proceeding to read the readings, thanks. . . . . . Readings:

If ming's cards manifest honesty, bummie gives me a very strong sense of rationality. Despite so many cups here (family ties, romantic love, and self-love), bummie is a very goal-orientated individual who doesn't let the floats of emotion impact his career and personal life. He has become a little control freak, hehe. But it is totally understandable. After losing his grandma, jjong and ming (++ refer to the romantic section for elaboration) , bummie is trying to re-gain control through being a workaholic, so to express his heartbroken sadness in work and art. Good news is, he feels very content about his career, financial status, relationships, and where he and ming at. However, one might argue that he is a bit cruel and possibly, selfish - maintaining the status quo because he is one who has more say in their relationship.

Let's look at the past. The reversed king of cups immediately brings that shy bummie back to my mind. He was delicate, sensitive, on-the-edge in the debut times, but full of dreams and determined to make a career out of himself as a multi-talented idol. He didn't hesitant much at the decision of leaving Daegu to Seoul for his dream, even that meant completely new environment, living alone, and not being able to spend more time with his family. Especially his grandmother, the one raised him, and understood him (as I am typing, I still sense the warmness in bummie's heart whenever he thinks of her. He never stops missing her). And that is rationality v.s. emotions from day 1. Kibum has been really hard on himself since the beginning and loneliness, the feeling of out-of-place & isolation had consumed him. But he could handle those...then he met Choi Minho. A bit dramatic? No. Ming made bummie doubting whether the industry (and fans) would welcome someone like him. Worse. He hurt bummie in ways that reminded bummie his wronged times back in Daegu. A less developed city where you see more discrimination and bully against people who want to be themselves instead of being others. That is why bummie got all work up and self-protective when he is around ming. And bummie is as stubborn as ming, he overcomes the side-eyes like breathing fine air.

He didn't know how to overcome ming tho.

It is getting very hard not to analyze it in romantic ways because the lovers dropped, yes, but also because the lovers card is the only major arcana appeared in the result - meaning it is very IMPORTANT. (ming has both the world and the lovers, emphasizing how much he wants to make things right between them, and romantic love could be a good option) However, I will try to give a platonic reading first.

Bummie has been rational dealing with emotions, yet ming is his exception. The frictions, the fights, and the upsets slipped into his heart & left a void that bummie learnt to distance himself from ming and from getting hurt. It doesn't mean bummie doesn't care about ming. He does, deeply. And seeing ming happy makes bummie so happy that he is willing to sacrifice his own desires. Don't forget how sensitive, loving and caring bummie is. He is just too good at choosing rationality instead of his own wants. Taking the left-on-read messages as an example, bummie needed his own space/time to grieve, so he prioritized healing his own heart before ming's enthusiasm to bond. Even if that means hurting ming, means his heart ached at the realization he is hurting ming, and giving away the chance to be closer with ming. Bummie was resolved on the idea of not allowing anything ANYTHING to hurt his precious precious heart.

And looking at the base card, the king of coins, bummie is pretty satisfied with his decision. He enjoys ming being around (in the distance he sets for them), and he wasn't lying when he compares ming to commedes and garçons in the LG Object Collection show. Ming is loyal and bummie knows he can count on that - he loves ming supporting him (both his career and personal life), accompanying him, and comforting him. Ming is not just a good friend, he is family that stays in bummie's softest part. And well, also occasionally way too often gifts bummie. Gifting luxury gifts really isn't ming's love language but serving is, so when ming realized how much bummie loves getting gifts from him he nods yes. This little agreement is very sweet (remember I said ming is always READY to become a good boy for bummie?). In this way, their friendship will grow and profound like evergreen.

Before continuing on, I want to throw a harmless joke here...we have a "clown" in ming's reading, and a "simp" here again. Poor boy. But bummie is just trying to be careful and protective.

!!skip this part if you only see them as platonic friends/co-workers and resume when you see exclamation mark again!!

Oh, come on! Look at the cards here, I bet your reading is more straightforward than mine. A lovers at the reverse signifies difficult communication, one-sided love, and the awareness of impossible love. In this case, I believe all of them are present. Bummie will never say that word if he knows all he gets is rejection. What is even sadder is he never stops loving ming (flowers continue blooming) while he believes so stubbornly that his feeling is unrequited. That he believes one day in the future, ming will fall in love (and get married) like those happy endings in the fairytales. But not with him. When that happens, bummie will stay in the little castle he build himself, enjoy aglass of wine and the cuddles of commedes & garçons, and gives his sincere good wishes. He will continue focus on his works and avoids to even think about the possibility between ming and him because of what he learnt through the years. Bummie is sensitive, and many times a cry baby.

But he doesn't want to cry anymore.

!!resume here!!

Bummie will continue focusing on work>relationship. However, I can see this attitude sets him back sometimes, because the emptiness in his heart withholds him from some deep connections. He dates/interacts with others, of course, but those love are not enough to fill the hole in his heart. In the end, we have the 6 of swords, carrying sorrow and unsatisfied feelings to the future. Bummie is hurt because of their seemingly-ok-but-not-balanced relationship, he is even more hurt because he now realizes that ming is hurt. Payback...almost, but bummie really does not want a sad face on ming. That is why I eagerly pulled up a result card, since 6 of swords can also mean good fruit after growing up from sad lessons. And I am pleased to see the seven of wands here. This card means the difficulties we face to continue to have success. And I believe they will figure things out, in the best way possible to nurture their relationship and career development.

-over-

Feel free to chat or find me on twitter @rosekisspeach

[inchidentally]

(screencapped to stay out of the tags)

I'm going to be bundling my other tricky asks as always in one post under a cut but this one as actually a learning curve for me as someone who doesn't really follow Max stuff.

I genuinely hadn't realized just how much time Lando had spent with Max privately and non-F1 weekend related. I'm not esp a Max fan which would explain me missing a lot but I did know they had a pretty solid friendship that dated more closely to his friendship with George and Alex - but damn that's way more time spent with Max than any other driver this season!

what's funny too is that Max is actually super happy to be physically affectionate in a flirty way with other guys similar to how Lando is. Carlos is only like that with certain guys, namely Charles and guys his own age that he deems as "pretty". but as someone who pulled shippy shit from any car|ando interaction I can honestly say that the "ooh they touched in a sexy way!" stuff was just how Lando is with guys. Carlos firmly has Lando in the little brother/friend space and literally says he thinks Lando is "cute" and that it's weird when people ask them to kiss. and yes, they have dinner sometimes and travel on the same plane sometimes to the next race - but just this season Lando did that with Daniel and Oscar and Max as well.

so surely Max including Lando in all this personal life stuff and spending time together online and in Monaco during the winter break is a HUGE threat to car|ando? I genuinely can't and don't want to try and understand the larry mentality of RPF but if I had to guess then it's something as wild as them considering Max as already part of a major RPF ship (|estappen or maxtie|) that's supposedly ALSO taking place under cover of all these "fake" girlfriends? man I wish I could remove the terms "beard" and "escort" from these people's vocabulary.

I've also got an ask that apparently charlos causes rage for both |estappen and car|ando bc they have an agenda that Charles and Carlos hate each other but then keep getting infuriated when Charles mounts Carlos or Carlos won't stop touching Charles' thighs or they try to kiss for the millionth time. akgfsakfgaf how exhausting must it be keeping these theories going I caaaan't

but returning to your ask yea fact is that Lando is way closer and more of a friend outside F1 with Max than Carlos. they meet up probably the same amount during the drivers parades as car|ando and sometimes even get handsy. but I guess somehow that's different ?? even when Lando has teased that RB would be his only temptation away from McLaren and Christian Horner wants to en plein air fuck Lando ???

from what I can tell, Daniel was never considered a threat to car|ando which continues to be bizarre bc purely objectively again, I would say he's more of a friend outside F1 to Lando than Carlos. not by a whole lot but Daniel and Lando share road trips and private flights and Lando fits into Daniel's friend group really well. I guess maybe since Daniel's just widely loved in fandom in general there was less motive to try and tear down his relationship with Lando?

that's true, I also seem to recall starting to see this anti-landoscar BS starting around Japan/Oscar's contract extension. I suppose if I were trying to look at it through their angle then the Japan and Qatar double McLaren podiums coming right after Singapore - including Oscar's extension - would be seen as some kind of "insult" ? I guess Oscar went from being cute and non-threatening to suddenly cockblocking the Carlos back to McLaren pipe dream (that Carlos would literally only do as a fifth or sixth option and only if Ferrari gave him the boot lol). especially since Lando insisted on being crazy happy about the double podiums instead of I guess wistfully thinking of how much he wishes he could play second fiddle to Carlos getting the only non-RB win of the season instead of trying to idk help his team and himself in the standings.

then there was the crazy mood swing when Lando and Carlos went to dinner after Mexico and flew to Brazil together (with Rebecca) - to the rage when it turned out that Lando hanging out in Brazil for a day or two after the race wasn't car|ando bc Lando went to Cali almost immediately for sponsors meetings while Carlos and Rebecca both posted pics and video of their private holiday together that went right up until the day before the Vegas race. I definitely saw the uptick in car|ando agit prop after that whole shebang bc then Carlos wanted Rebecca at the "car|ando cup" and kept checking in on her. the hatred towards her truly took on a whole ugly and dark turn after that.

it is still so damn weird that Oscar/landoscar is the target that it is for them though. I have another ask where in some F1 group Christmas art the artist depicts Lando interacting with Carlos and not Oscar and ??? it's a drawing??? and I'm assuming they don't rate Lily's existence as security for car|ando since apparently any woman can be conveniently written off as a fake gf. but Oscar doesn't play gay with Lando and he didn't push for a bromance and generally keeps himself to himself unless Lando wants him around! he's a Lando fanboy but he's not even hardcore pushing content of him and Lando on his sm! the poor guy is literally just standing there catching strays bc of a mainstream bromance that has nothing to do with him

I'm sorry anon this went so wide of what you were saying but genuinely I used to spend so much of my time on car|ando accounts and it's slowly turning into a larry "they are looking to each other" edit type fandom ;__;

but fr why does Oscar get put in the "we hate the real life girlfriends" category ?????? I genuinely laugh bc it's so insane why isn't he like Max or Daniel why is he That Fake Bitch Standing In Our Ship's Way and they aren't is it bc he's prettier and serves natural cunt afglajfgalgfslafg

[tangerinethecat]

King and Rouxls NOT in a Relationship Masterpost

The spiritual successor to my King and Queen Divorce Masterpost. Similarly to that post, this will all probably be common knowledge to most of the fandom. But apparently, some people still exist out there who think King and Rouxls are a couple (or in some interpretations, that they used to be one, making them exes now), so I guess I gotta make this post to explain to you all why that is incorrect and they were never a thing together in the first place.

(Once again, apologies for the not-so-great screenshot quality. It's easier to grab it from YouTube videos rather than having to play the whole chapters over again for the dialogue, lol...)

Starting off with some shop dialogue from Chapter 1...

Rouxls is very insistent on not being related to Lancer. If he and King were romantically involved, that would make Lancer his stepson (or soon to be one), and therefore related. Then, the line "I placate you for your Father's sake!" refers to the fact that the King makes his subjects take care of Lancer. This makes Rouxls much more like a babysitter than anything, specifically one that Lancer latched onto as a secondary father figure because Spade King can't spend enough time with his son himself. In a way, you could see it as Lancer "adopting" Rouxls as a new dad, rather than the other way around!

And to clarify, the fact that King makes his subjects care for Lancer is established a bit earlier on, with this leaf-fanning Rudinn NPC.

Notice the use of the word "obligatory" here... The original definition of this word is "required by a legal, moral, or other rule; compulsory." So in other words, it seems that they are (quite literally) legally required to take care of the King's son, whether they want to or not.

And then, this last line from the Rudinn about Lancer is actually rather sad... But, looking at Rouxls Kaard's full dialogue about Lancer, we can see that he does genuinely care about the kid deep down. (The following screenshot is taken from the wiki.)

Perhaps this could be at least partially why Lancer latched onto Rouxls in particular over any other subjects.

Now, my next point... In-universe, Rouxls has some fans.

This specific Rudinn NPC, as well as Clover (or at least her friendly middle head), both appear to have crushes on Rouxls, referring to him as a "hunk". If Rouxls was already taken, I'd imagine that they would have mentioned this in their dialogue, since dating the King would probably be hard to keep a secret (especially when Rouxls seems like the type to brag about dating someone in power)... So, to me, this dialogue seems to imply that Rouxls is single.

Bonus fact: Clover's fondness of Rouxls is referenced in Chapter 2 as well, with "Rouxls" being one of the correct answers for choosing a thing she likes during her rematch challenge in the Party Dojo. (Screenshot taken from the wiki again, with Rouxls highlighted for clarity since, uh, there's a lot of options listed, hahaha)

And on the topic of Chapter 2, it also has its own evidence to share.

Throughout Chapter 2, Rouxls is shown to be very fixated on becoming Queen's minion. A post of mine compiling all of these moments can be found here. While it's not entirely confirmed yet to be with romantic intentions, it really seems to me like it is implied as such. Especially with Rouxls thrusting a flower vase bouquet onto Tasque Manager because he thought she was Queen. If this is the case, then it should be safe to say that he is not already in romantic relationship with anyone else canonically when he is going after someone else in this manner.

Now, time to address some potential counterarguments...

A small number of people seemed to have interpreted this line as King and Rouxls being exes as well, instead of just King and Queen. However, I believe Rouxls Kaard's choice of words here is only meant to be in reference to King and Queen's divorce, rather than implying that he had a past relationship with King himself (aside from simply working for him). Describing himself as Queen's "nyew (new) Man about Towne (town)" implies that King was her "old" one. And although Rouxls apparently never met Queen back when she was still a part of Card Castle (since he mistook Tasque Manager for Queen as mentioned before, and Queen certainly doesn't recognize Rouxls either), I imagine it wouldn't be difficult for him to figure out on his own that King and Queen are exes, assuming he was eavesdropping on their conversation before butting in during this scene.

Then, King telling Queen that Rouxls is Lancer's "Lesser Father"... This implies that Lancer has referred to Rouxls as Lesser Dad in front of King. I can only imagine how awkward and embarrassing that must have been for King to hear his son let that nickname slip. And he certainly does not look happy about it here, most likely annoyed by the fact and by Rouxls Kaard's antics in general. So, why would he introduce Rouxls this way to Queen? Well, the answer is simple. If Lancer let the nickname slip in front of King, then it is very possible he could refer to Rouxls as Lesser Dad in front of Queen, too. Remember, Queen came here in the first place to tell Spade King that she is going to take care of his son from now on. So this explanation by King provides her with context in case Lancer starts talking about "Lesser Dad" to her.

Now, I'm almost done here, but I'd like to go over one more thing: Why King and Rouxls are simply not compatible with each other.

Starting with Rouxls, he is not a very loyal person. He constantly switches sides throughout the game so far. From King, to the player, to Queen, to the player again (when all the NPCs help you create the giant mech to fight Giga Queen), then back to Queen in Castle Town.

His shop dialogue is a great example of this. After completing the second K. Round fight, he starts sucking up to you, brags about always being on "the winning side" (gee, I wonder why /s), and even claims that he planned to overthrow the King all along. And even before the K. Round fight, Rouxls's dialogue about King isn't exactly respectful, calling King "cruel and terrifying" and noting how he only got to become the Duke of Puzzles because every other option was fired and/or imprisoned.

Now, moving onto Spade King... He has some pretty bad trust and abandonment issues, to say the least.

His entire reason for hating the Lightners in the first place is because they abandoned him and his kingdom, and when he is overthrown by his own subjects at the end of Chapter 1, he gets very upset and even starts shouting death threats at them.

Although King is much calmer in Chapter 2 (at least towards the Lightners, ironically enough, as he still loses his temper at Queen), he still isn't exactly fond of you. So it's safe to say that he would still not take kindly to traitors, either, even if he might not react as extremely as he did in Chapter 1's ending.

So, considering both characters' details here, I can only conclude that they would make a terrible match for each other. Rouxls is the exact type of person that King is known to despise, and trying to claim otherwise would require stripping away some very significant traits of both King and Rouxls in order to make this disaster pairing "work". It would either be an extremely unhealthy relationship, or an extremely out of character one. And in cases of the latter, at that point I think you should just make your own OCs instead. This ship is not canon, it never was canon, and it never will be canon.

Thanks for coming to my second TED Talk.

[ladylooch]

Ahhhh, I’m not the original anon who sent that they want angst for Lio and Sav but I do want it as well! Maybe Lio liking girls bikini pics or even just pics in general on instagram cause he doesn't see anything wrong with it. Maybe they argue because Sav wants kids but Lio doesn’t really want kids? 

Maybe they have a pregnancy scare… 

We all know that new man Lio would never cheat but he probably at first doesn’t understand how liking other women’s pics can upset Sav

The people want angst! And I am here to deliver the angst! Channeling some of this blurb and your thoughts above for this one 🥰

Savannah does not consider herself a snoop. She trusts Lio. She respects that he has a past from before her, just as she does before him. But she also has eyes. Blue ones that can’t help but wander over his shoulder as he scrolls through Instagram. 

Model after model sprints across his screen as he scrolls with his thumb. 

“Wow, more boobs than a swimsuit edition of SI.” She mumbles under her breath. 

“Hm?” Lio asks, looking over at her. She flips the page in her boring magazine, scanning the newest living room decor trends from Pottery Barn. 

“Nice couch.” She diverts the conversation. She points to a brown leather one. “Would look good in here.” 

“Yeah I like it.” Lio nods in agreement. “Should I get it?”

“You should ask Kendall if she would like it too before you make any decisions.” She flips the next page. 

“Who’s Kendall?”

“The girl whose tits you are engrossed with.” A wrinkle appears between Lio’s eyebrows. He takes in his girlfriend’s set jaw, then realizes she means Kendall, his ex fling, who he just scrolled by.

“Sav…” Lio chuckles. “I didn’t even notice. She’s an old friend.”

“I bet she is.” She responds, slapping the magazine shut. “What time are we meeting Lucie and Connor?” Lio stills, watching her cross her arms tightly across her chest. She rolls her foot in annoyance where one leg is folded over the other. 

“About an hour.” Sav uncrosses her arms, scratching distractedly at an itch in her hair, then stands up.

“I’m going to go read my book.” She announces over her shoulder, not even turning to look at him. She heads down the hallway to his bedroom, closing the door with a soft click. 

Lio sighs, then pulls up his Instagram. He may be new at this, but he knows whats bugging her. It’s not like she hasn’t brought it up off handedly, especially when she is drunk.

“I’m a cool girlfriend! I don’t even care that he follows over 100 models on Instagram.” 

Lio gets it. But he wishes she would talk to him instead of being so passive aggressive about it. He thinks about Lucie, wondering what she would say if it came up tonight at dinner.

Unfollow them you asshole!, probably.

So that is what Lio spends the next hour doing, unfollowing all the girls he doesn’t know, hasn’t spoken to in years, and especially the girls he has hooked up with. 

He wants Savannah to know she is the only one on his mind. He is willing to do whatever necessary to make her feel comfortable in their relationship. He knows he hurt her before. He doesn’t ever want that to happen again.

Lio raps his knuckles on the bedroom door once he is done.

“I'll be out in a second.” She calls to him. He frowns, hearing the tears in her voice. Shit, he should of come to talk to her earlier. He rubs at his hair in frustration.  Fuck, why is he so bad at this?

“Hey, time to go?” She asks brightly, sniffing discreetly when she opens the door. She tries to step around him, not waiting for an answer.

“Babe.” Lio takes a hold of her arm softly. Sav purses her lips, keeping her eyes down the hallway. “Will you talk to me?” 

“Do I really have to, Lio?” She pushes back.

“Would be nice if you did.” He shrugs. “I’m new at this.” His reminder is delicate, pleading even.

“I hate it. It makes me feel like shit that you have all these options at your fingertips.” 

“Sav, you know I’m in love with you?”

“Yes, but-“

“That is the beginning and end of it all.” He cuts her off, leaning down to smooch her lips. While he is kissing her, he slides his unlocked phone into her hands. “Look at whatever you want. Unfollow whomever you want me to. I’m yours.”

Then he slides her hips to the side to go into the closet to change for dinner.

[dragontamer05]

Man despite technically being a kids/ younger audience aimed series it is wild the stuff Darren Shan got away with especially in the later books with the Vampire's Assistant series.

Now when I say kid I do mean older kid, minimum I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone under 10 maybe even 12 (which works as that is the age our protagonist starts as) because it does touch on more kinda mature themes as the books go.

While not as extreme as the Demonata books Darren Shan still gets decently descriptive about things including the more violent scenes plus there is a lot of death. Which might come off as obvious being a book about Vampires / supernatural stuff but he still manages to surprise cause there's no real line between characters who might die and those that are safe from death. Especially as it gets closer to the end and get the feeling maybe not even our dear protagonist is safe.

Like off the cuff only in the second book and a character winds up dead- and they aren't just some rando either. We get to spend time with them and get to know them and okay sure you might get some vibes that this character may not get to stick around with our protagonist having to say goodbye and go their separate ways by the end but I'd say it's also not perfectly clear cut if that will be the case. (Bonus is that the death itself ends up serving multiple purposes even during a part later on)

I would personally be shocked at anyone who could even guess the ending of the book- in a good way. Cause Darren Shan does a great job of sprinkling bread crumbs and foreshadowing here and there so at no point does anything feel like it was just pulled out of thin air but quite often neither is it something blatantly obvious

And even then on the off chance you do figure something out and no the reveal before it happens personally I still find it well written enough that you could believe the characters not having realized X thing yet as well as just the anticipation of when and how will they know.

This series also has an extensive cast of characters and while some are obviously going to end up more developed then others - especially with a lot of those at the Cirque at the same time none of them feel flat or there just because. Sure okay if you really wanted to name a problem there aren't a lot of female characters but personally (as a woman/girl myself) I was never bothered by it. The ladies we do get in the series are fun and decently well written as it is.

Darren Shan also has some of the more interesting takes and ideas on Vampires that I really like.

I love the concept of being able to make someone only half a vampire and that the easiest way to blood someone is by doing it through cuts on your fingers and pressing them together.

Vampires aren't immortal but do age vert slowly thus living incredibly long lives. And while hardly anything new (especially now) I do love them even bringing up and making fun of the idea that obviously a stake to the heart would kill a vampire because that would kill anyone/thing.

Going out in the sun isn't an immediate death sentence but there are limits for how long they can be out.

Being able to use their saliva to heal over cuts if needed.

Even bringing up how while animal blood is an option and they do drink from them but 1) They can not live and sustain themselves only off animal blood thus the need to occasionally drink a humans but 2) not needing to drain a human dry - which is how they've stayed mostly undetected although it does seem pretty implied there are some people here and there who are in the know

There are also some animals of which they cannot drink and is essentially poison.

Which leads into the 3rd point Vampaneze, a group who choose instead to follow you could almost say the old ways and drain people dry and when they feed. And for as twisted and vile most Vampaneze are even they still have their own codes and rules they follow (as you can guess our antagonist group of the series)

The other thing I love is compared to somethings I've watched/ read where a character just ends up going of somewhere and we don't get much on what's going on back home or even just a characters thoughts about all this we frequently get to hear/see Darren thinking about his friends and family, that while he may not regret his choice he does still miss his home, still thinks about them. (Also the way they handle having him leave is great )

Heck to a degree they even become a motivating factor for him in multiple instances from what I recall.

We get a decent enough time line of events - if there's a time skip they make sure to acknowledge it was X amount of days/weeks/months.. ect

But back on the main point is despite having a slightly younger target age range it gets hella dark sometimes, the writing is just so good as well that even as an adult be it in Novel or Graphic Novel form I still very much enjoy it and find myself rereading it.

The author even wrote a sort of prequel series of 4 books following the mentor character of our protagonist- as well as various other characters that appear within that series also making appearances which is cool and it's so good. My favourite part being the way he ties it in right at the end, ending where the Vampire's Assistant books pick up with his introduction.

It should be noted they are written in first person, basically supposed to be MC's like diary / journal that he wrote into like book sorta thing. I was personally never bothered by it but I know it's not everyones cup of tea for writing styles.

[togrowoldinv]

Surprise Birthday

Natasha Romanoff x Platonic Female Reader, Wanda Maximoff x Platonic Female Reader, Tony Stark x Platonic Female Reader

You don’t typically like your birthday or even celebrate it, but your teammates make it very special this year

Note: I accidentally deleted the request is based on this on. But thank you to the anon that sent this in! It’s fluff and comfort with all platonic relationships. I hope you enjoy it!

Main Masterlist

When you woke up this morning, it was just another day. As usual, you got up before everyone else and quietly made your way to the kitchen to make breakfast for yourself. A lot of times you run into Natasha, who is also an early riser, but today you were in and out with no one seeing you.

You never really speak much to your teammates. It’s not that you’re being rude, they know that you’re not, it’s just that you have a hard time letting people in. Especially if there is any way they might leave you or betray you. And you’re just naturally shy as well.

You didn’t even remember it was your birthday until you saw the date on your phone. Perhaps you had purposefully tried to erase the day from your memory. It’s not like it’s ever been an important day in your life. It’s just another day except for the looming sadness you feel. Early on you decide to spend the rest of your day in your room. You figure it’s better this way.

Across the compound, the rest of the team is just finishing up training. You weren’t required to show up today, but typically you are always at optional training.

“Has anyone seen y/n today? She doesn’t usually miss training,” Natasha asks the group.

“No, I haven’t even seen her door open today,” Wanda says. Her room is across from yours and with her powers she can sense when you’re in your room.

“Should we check on the kid?” Tony suggests. With a few nods from the remaining Avengers, he calls on F.R.I.D.A.Y.. “Anything we should know about y/n today?” he asks the AI system.

“It’s y/n’s birthday today, boss,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. responds.

“Well, there we have it,” Tony says. “Why wouldn’t she want to celebrate her birthday?”

“Birthdays are hard for some people,” Wanda says, knowing that it’s often true for herself.

“Well, what if we make it special for her? Maybe we can have a little surprise party,” Nat suggests.

“That’s a good idea,” Tony agrees.

“Wanda, can you get y/n to the common room by 5pm?” Nat asks her.

“I can try,” she replies.

Natasha nods and everyone breaks off in teams to prepare for the party. They spend the whole day getting the party ready and as they suspected you never once left your room.

You hear a knock on your door a little before 5pm. You’re laying in bed and simply mumble for the person to come in. It’s Wanda with a soft smile on her face.

“Hey y/n, can you come with me for a minute?” she asks you, offering her hand for you to take. You reach for it shyly and she pulls you out into the hallway.

When you reach the common room, all of your teammates are standing there with party hats on. There are streamers hanging from the ceiling and food and desserts line the kitchen counters.

“Surprise!” everyone shouts, and you look at them confusedly.

“Happy birthday, y/n!” Wanda says from by your side.

“Oh, this is for me?” you ask her.

“All for you, kid,” Tony answers instead. He walks over to you and puts his hand on your shoulder softly.

You feel yourself become overwhelmed with emotion and you suddenly hug Tony. You wrap your arms around him tightly and he rubs your back gently. You start to cry into his shoulder, and he is a little shocked at your show of affection.

When you pull away from him, you hug Wanda next, and she whispers sweet things to you about wanting to celebrate you. You step back and look at the team.

“This is very nice. I can’t- I just- thank you,” you tell everyone.

“You’re welcome, y/n. We’re so glad you’re on the team,” Natasha replies. You walk to her and hug her too. She is also shocked by your affection, but she hugs you back just as tight as you hug her. It’s an extremely comforting hug.

“Can we get this party started?” Tony asks while you’re still in Natasha’s arms.

You laugh as you let her go and everyone shares a happy glance with each other at seeing you let loose even just a little bit.

Natasha and Wanda Tag Lists: @gracebutnotgraceful @i-wished-for-you-too @be-missed @likefirenrain @hehehehannahthings @mythosphere-x @readings-stuff @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @madamevirgo @milfloverslut @mrswidowjohansson @alotofpockets @wandassitcom @ggrangerdanger @marvelwomen-simp @maia-lightwoood @mortallytremendoussandwich @xxromanoffxx @peanutbutterprincess @karmasgxrl @picnicmic @wandaslittlewhore @exhaustedfangirl @when-wolves-howl @natashalovers @marie45019 @inluvwithfictionalwomen @sammi1642 @itsyourgirlmalise @jujuu23 @the-night-owl-blr @strangegardentaco @avatarsnips @romanoffswoman @natashasilverfox @imthenatynat @natasha-danvers @sayah13 @harleysincairo @rach2602 @cordyandbilliehavemyheart @lovelyy-moonlight @thenazwife @wandanatvoid @ba-romanoff @franfineashell @wandzsstuff @chloe7076 @kacka84 @olsensnpm