#feel free to say your opinions

[cobaltswift]

thoughts on lunnelly trilogy?

so i'm currently reading Nobody Like Us and i'm not sure i'm liking it... i fear i've grown out of this series (i hope not bc they've been my favs for YEARS)

but i just feel like i'm getting tired of KBR's style/writing. the second-hand embarrassment scenes are just too much for me at this point.

unlucky like us spoilers ahead!!

maybe it's just the amnesia plot. i hate it so much. also was not into the kidnapping thing, this is not a freaking mafia romance. i also have to admit i don't like the alien stuff... *gun shots*

but i'm just 10% through NLU, i'll keep you guys updated.

[spideypoolsupremacy]

(Asking as someone who can't stop cringing at my attempts of smut and will probably never write it)

Also kissing doesn't count as smut. You can argue about it BUT IT'S NOT

Also ALSO I know the answer might depend on the fandom u are reading so let's just answer in general alrighty

Reblog for larger sample size blah blah blah (but like really plz)

[thekittyokat]

you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah

[osamusriceballs]

Kinktober Day 31 <3

Kageyama's & Hinata's special day!

Warnings: NSFW, fem reader

Words: ~ 2,4 k

A/n: That's it for this year's Kinktober! I hope you enjoyed it, thank you so much for reading all/some of it! <3

Kinktober Masterlist

"Y/n, I got us-"

He stops in his tracks, the handles of two brown paper bags with steaming hot food clutched hard into his fingers as he watches the scene in front of him. The door behind him falls shut, a soft "click" signaling that it automatically locked. His dark blue eyes focus on the pair on the couch, who quickly separate when they notice his glare.

"Tobio! You're already- Shoyo just helped me with... with... that thing, right?" The orange-haired spiker still has his hands on your hips, his lips pink and swollen from all the kisses you shared, his cheeks reddened as his chest rises heavily under the red Olympics uniform. "Hmm, yes, that- uh... that thing. In your mouth. We totally weren't celebrating already. Absolutely not."

A pout appears on the setter's face when he wordlessly places the bags on the small couch table and plants himself next to you on the couch, still keeping so much distance that neither of you could touch him.

"Tobio? Come here, please?" You lift your hand from Hinata's shoulder and reach for Kageyama, but he simply crosses his arms over his equally red uniform and shakes his head silently.

"Come on, Kageyama. No silent treatment, please." Hinata pouts too now, a sight so adorable that you press one last kiss against his puckered lips before you climb out of his lap and crawl to Kageyama. Hinata reluctantly lets you go, one of his hands rubbing his face while he watches how you settle on Kageyama's lap, not caring that he turns his head to the side and ignores you.

"Tobio," you call his name, your hands roaming from his shoulders to his broad chest, feeling the smooth fabric of his shirt under your fingers while you repeat that movement in a soothing way. "Tobio, look at me, please." You bring one hand to his cheek and gently turn his face, and he surprisingly quickly gives in and allows you to move his face. He leans into the warmth of your hand, his cold blue eyes turning warmer the longer he looks at you. "We would never forget about you. We love you, you know that." You both keep eye contact for a few moments, and after a while he unfolds his arms to place his hands on your hips, effectively allowing you to reduce the distance between the two of you.

"I want what he had. Every kiss, every touch. Or else I'll leave with the food," he demands, his firm tone sending shivers down your spine and making your cheeks heat up.

Hinata protests on your left, but you already hum approvingly, happy that he's finally talking to you, and you don't even hesitate before you lean forward and connect your lips softly. His lips move slowly against yours, savoring every taste, probably even tasting Hinata on your lips as you deepen the kiss. You rest your hands on his shoulders, similar to the way you sat on Hinata's lap before, and you reposition yourself until you press your core against his crotch, grinding slowly on him while you keep your lips connected.

You feel the couch dip next to you and a hand on your bare thigh suddenly that sends tingles through your body. A groan leaves Kageyama's lips and you feel soft hair tickling your neck, realizing that Hinata has started to kiss down Kageyama's throat, probably leaving a few possessive marks on him, like he often does.

"Stop it, dumbass," you feel Kageyama weakly whisper against your lips, the words clearly directed to Hinata, but he stays unbothered by his words. You feel Kageyama getting hard under you, the bulge pressing against your core and making you feel even more excited. You grind against him just a tad bit faster, your tongue now grazing against his lips to invite him to reciprocate the action and he quickly opens his mouth while his hands tighten their grip around your hips. His initial stiffness has faded into longing breathless kisses as he focuses on tasting you thoroughly. "All good again, Kageyama?

Hinata pulls away from Kageyama, who simply groans as response, now settling himself behind you, effectively sandwiching you between the two of them. You moan against Kageyama's lips when Hinata's hands roam under your red Olympics fanshirt, the special customized version that you bought for this game with Hinata's number on the front and Kageyama's on the back. Hinata quickly tugs on the material until Kageyama loosens his grip enough for the material to ride up on our body. Kageyama's hands are warm against your skin, but not as warm as Hinata's. Hinata feels like an furnace behind you, and your body jolts when his fingertips caress your exposed stomach, sending tingles all over your body.

Your thighs cage Kageyama's hips, your legs trying to close when your arousal keeps growing with every stroke of Kageyama's tongue and every single caress of Hinata's hands. You moan loudly when Hinata's hands cup your breasts, his hands squeezing the bare flesh while his thumbs rub over your hardened nipples.

Kageyama pulls back when he notices how you barely manage to kiss him back, too distracted by the way Hinata eagerly plays with your tits and sucks on your neck. "You- Y/n, you didn't wear underwear during the game?" The dark-haired's breath stocks for a second and without any warning, he brings his hand under your skirt only to feel your bare ass under his fingers. "Y/n!" his jaw drops and you feel heat raise to your cheeks at the way his blue eyes seem to look into your soul. "I though we wanted to celebrate after the game anyways," you try to argue, and he takes a deep breath through his nose.

"I think it's hot," Hinata's lips curl into a grin and you feel your pussy throb at the way Hinata moans against your skin and pinches your nipples. Kageyama's eyes shoot towards the spiker at his words, clearly focused on the way he kisses you with need in his eyes. "Tobio," you rock your body on his cock, eager to get more friction when your body grows more sensitive with every passing moment that you're squeezed between the two attractive men.

"Hmm? What is it, love?" He rips his gaze off Hinata who seemingly can't stop himself from sucking a trail of hickeys on your neck similar to the one on Kageyama's neck. "Can you... pull down your shorts a bit?" you have a hard time bringing out the words when Hinata bites down on your shoulder, the fabric of the shirt thankfully stretchy enough to withstand the way the orange-haired man uses to bend it to his liking.

"Already? Hell, what has that idiot been been doing to you to get you so worked up?" Hinata chuckles at Kageyama's words, finally raising his face to kiss your cheek before he turns your face to kiss your lips too. He is quick to insert his tongue into your mouth, a soft caress against your own while his hands now fully wrap around you and hold you close.

You get lost in Hinata's kiss, your hands tightly wrapping into Kageyama's shirt while you hump against him, every bit of friction feeling so damn good against your clit. "Just let me-" Kageyama grabs your thighs now, slightly lifting your body and urging you to stay like this while he quickly pulls down his shorts and boxers until his cock springs free. He guides you back onto his lap, his cock now pressed against your stomach, making you clench around nothing while you needily whine against Hinata's lips.

"Need it," you bring your hands to Kageyama's face, feeling his smooth, clean shaved cheeks under your fingers, and he is quick to move your body again until you hover over his cock. You feel his tip prodding at your entrance and the next thing you realize is that his cock is slowly sinking into you, stretching you out and filling you up. One of your hands comes to Hinata's hair and grabs his strands, a groan leaving his lips when you slightly pull on them. It takes Kageyama just a few moments until he's buried fully inside of you, and you have to pull away from the kiss when you get overwhelmed by the sensation.

"Oy, Kageyama, that's not fair." Hinata whines at the lack of attention and Kageyama takes a deep breath to focus again before he leans forward to connect his lips with the orange haired's. You clench around Kageyama's cock inside of you, the messy sound of their kiss making your body grow even hotter while your bare nipples brush against Kageyama's shirt.

"You know that she can take us both, idiot." Kageyama pulls back with a groan and leans back on the couch, his hands loosely resting on your hips while you hear Hinata rustling with his clothes behind you, with no doubt freeing himself of his clothes. It only takes him a few moments to position himself behind you again, and then you suddenly feel his cock between your legs. "Shoyo-" you gasp when he presses against Kagyama's cock and prods at your entrance. "Oh, baby, we'll make you feel good. You're gonna feel so full." Hinata nuzzles his nose against your neck and grips his cock with his hand, sweetly cooing when you whine against at the sudden intrusion.

"Slow down, we haven't properly prepped her," Kageyama groans, the feeling of Hinata's fat cock pressing against the base of his cock surely driving him almost insane. "I can take it- please, please fuck me," you gasp and then Hinata finally starts to push inside. The stretch is almost too much for you to take, but the pleasure of having them both inside makes you forget about everything else.

Your head falls back to Hinata's shoulder and you moan loudly when you feel half of him inside of you, your body so sensitive at this point. "Fuck," Kageyama groans, feeling Hinata's cock rub against his own, and he closes his eyes for a few second to calm down. It only takes a few more moments until Hinata is fully buried inside of you, and all three of you remain still for a while, adjusting to the unusual position and the feeling. "Can we move, love?" Kageyama deeply exhales and leans forward to press his face against your neck, a strained breath leaving his lips when you clench around both of them. Hinata is no better, always being the most vocal out of the three of you, and his noises echo loudly through the room.

"Yes- yes, please-" you nod frantically, your arousal making it easy for them to thrust in and out of you again. They both support your body, basically moving you up and down like a doll, making you take them again and again. "Fuck-" "Baby-" they both groan, and you moan loudly as a response, both their names leaving your lips ever so lewdly.

They start with a slow and steady rhythm, their years of training together and learning each other's habits showing while you allow them to fuck you into ecstasy. When they feel you repeatedly clench and hear you beg for more, that's when they pick up their pace, their cocks twitching inside of you adding to your sensitivity.

"Can't- hold it much longer-" you hear Hinata whine next to your ear, knowing that he is ever so sensitive, but you're also close, so so close. "Wait until she cums, you know that she always comes first." Kageyama's fingers dig almost painfully in your waist while he bounces your body on their cocks, a clear sign that he is not far from finishing too.

"I know, I know," Hinata groans through gritted teeth, and one of his hands suddenly leaves your hip, leaving it to Kageyama to set the rhythm while his fingers move down to your clit. His fingers rub against the sensitive nub, and you almost scream as a response, too overwhelmed by all the feelings. "Gonna-" you gasp, your eyes falling shut when your whole body shakes, succumbing into the pleasure that both men bring to you.

"It's okay, cum for us, make a mess, show us how good we make you feel." Hinata's words and Kageyama's desperate thrusts make you see stars, and you hold onto him when you cum, when your pussy clenches around their cocks while Hinata presses down on your clit, relentless in his urge to make you cum. You barely realize that they both follow you suit, not even a few moments after your pleasure overwhelms you. Hinata moans your name loudly and Kageyama groans a few curses when his head falls back and his hands hold you so close to his body as if he was never going to let you go.

They cum a lot. You felt full before, but now, your pussy is overflowing with their white and creamy cum, your walls fluttering while your legs try to close. You all try to catch your breath, your body limply laying on Kaygama's now, while Hinata presses his forehead against your back. Hinata deeply inhales your scent, his eyes closing while he is ever so sensitive to every single touch. "Slowly," you mumble when you feel Hinata pulling out first, a groan leaving your lips when he slides out, his cock now soft and warm. Kageyama takes a deep breath before he lifts you just enough until you're not sitting on his cock anymore, their cum instantly starting to drip down, but none of you cares about that.

Hinata gently guides you to lay down on the couch, Kageyama following suit until you all three rest on it, your limbs entangled while you share kisses and sweet words. "Taking us so good always. Such a pretty doll for us," Kegayama mumbles and kisses the shell of your ear, eliciting a content hum from you while his hands start to work on your sore thighs, kneading the tense muscles until they feel soft again. "Hmm, that's my baby, the prettiest, sexiest, most perfect girl," Hinata smiles while his lips connect with yours in a slow and sensual kiss, and you smile back happily, feeling content and satisfied between the both of them.

The rumble of a stomach interrupts the post-orgasm haze though, and Hinata is quick to mumble an apology with reddened ears when you both look at him. Kageyama just sighs and shakes his head, a content grin still evident on his face.

"Come on. Let's eat something and then we'll properly celebrate."

[roomba-mangga]

thoughts on thistle and yaad's dynamic that i vomited in the tags of another post but will now try to articulate here: they're not actually family, or at least they shouldn't be. not in a conventional sense anyway. framing them as uncle and nephew (even in a non-literal, silly fantasy world way) rides more on technicality than anything concrete.

what i mean by this is yaad calls thistle by name and says he and delgal were raised "like" brothers. he talks about thistle like he's an outsider imposing himself into the melinis' space, and it's clear that thistle was never legitimized as a member of the family. for thistle's part, though we don't know how he would treat yaad pre-demon brainrot, it's safe to assume based on the way he punishes him—turning him into a doll—and how little is shown in the way of any sort of relationship between them that thistle only cares* about yaad as an extension of delgal (otherwise i'd expect something like kabru and milsiril, because it's not like another complicated interspecies family dynamic would be out of place, yet there's next to nothing on them even in bonus content, just their scant interactions in the main story).

in essence, they're strangers to one another. thistle's desperation to preserve the illusion of a family, a model where he doesn't even fit, was the snare they were caught in for the past thousand years of stasis. yaad-as-nephew is a prop to uphold that illusion, and thistle is playing a role he's unfit to play. in the context of post-canon interactions, attempting to reconstruct that facade would only be a reenactment of trauma for them both (in a deeply compelling way i'd love to watch unfold, tbh), as that "uncle and nephew" framing places thistle in an implicit position of power over someone he's already traumatized through misuse of authority in the past, a role which also perpetuates his adultification and yaad's infantilization in turn. it'd mostly be an obstacle to any real connection.

best to burn the melini family bridge, i think, and if there's still anything salvageable left in the rubble, let something different supplant it.

[fear-ne]

personal bells hells character meta pt 1, imogen & laudna

what fascinates me personally abt laudna & imogens relationship is that truthfully, imogen’s story is way more about laudna than laudna’s is about imogen

now hear me out this is not to say in any way that laudna loves her less or that her love matters less or that imogen is less important to her than she is to imogen or anything like that

what I mean is that imogens story is about being left by her mother and being witness to her fathers abandonment. it’s about losing her faith in humanity via hearing everyone thoughts. it’s about following her mothers path but also rejecting it. and laudna is key to those things, because it is through laudna that she no longer heard the world as just noise, through laudna that she left the oppressive claustrophobia of her hometown, through laudna that she got the courage and support to untangle the mystery of her mothers disappearance and of her own powers. and then by falling in love with laudna, and watching laudna go through a similar struggle with a power that chips away at her, she is not just following in her mothers path but suddenly in a role that parallels her fathers so many years ago. so much of what pulls and tugs and creates conflict for imogen loops right back into her relationship with laudna (and her relationships with other people)

and it makes sense!! she is so young!!!

whereas sweet laudna has 30 years of traveling the world, of experiencing it, of dealing with the monster in her head. and while yes, through her relationship with imogen she is given something that is crucial to unpacking and addressing her years of trauma and isolation she never had the privilege of before (someone who loves her exactly as she is & a family to boot!!!)…so much of that struggle is innately personal. and just about laudna herself, by herself. marisha has touched on how the root of laudnas struggle is one of self worth, which is not a conflict that is solved externally or relationally with others. she will have to discover her self worth alone, intrinsically.

which is why it’s so juicy and hard to watch!! because they love each other, desperately, but being loved doesn’t make you love yourself. that’s a fight you fight almost entirely alone

vs a story that is somewhat about learning to love again and learning how to love and reconciling that and yourself with the world at large. which is much more about other people

idk not to boil this down to laudna man vs self and imogen man vs man/society/fate and other basic lit nonsense but it is just so fun to have so many fully fledged protagonists to rotate in your head both as individuals and as relationships between each other. orym next I think

[m-for-now]

Headcanon that Leo has the song "Honey, i'm good" in his distraction working playlist and whenever it comes on, he refers to Festus as the "somebody at home" when that line comes on and him and Festus just have a nice little time enjoying a silly little song

[bambistan]

Sometimes I feel like I'm the most chill person in this fandom when it comes to ships and characters. Like I can find reasons as to why each ship would work and wouldn't.

Pandalily? Academic rivals FOR SURE.

Jegulus? HELLO??? Bestfriends brother? Grumpy x Sunshine?

Partyvan? Peter deserves ALL that love.

Marylene? Not friends, not lovers, but something. It's so heartbreakingly cute.

I can even find stuff for ships I don't even ship.

Jeverus? After he saves his life? Hell yeah!

Dramoine? ENEMIES TO LOVERS! REDEMPTION ARCS!

Prongsfoot? Best friends to lover? Sure, man, go for it!

Regulus x Sirius?.......... You... You do you bro???

Snily? That "always" line was cute, I gotta admit.

I genuinely won't judge like if you ship them - if you see them working out; GO. FOR. IT. THEYRE FICTIONAL!! Have your own opinions, it's okay!

AND THE CHARACTERS!!!

Yes, they all have their flaws. Yes, James bullied Severus. Yes, James repeatedly asked Lily even though she'd already turned her down. Yes, he changed!!

Yes, Severus called the love of his life a slur. Yes, he bullied children. Yes he cared for Harry to some extent! Even if it's only as a tribute to Lily, that's better than nothing.

Yes, Dumblewh*re raise Harry for slaughter.... That's it... I have nothing more to add for him.... Bitch.

Yes, Regulus is a death eater. Yes, Regulus was obsessed with the dark lord since childhood. Yes, he stole the horcrux!!

Sorry for the rant but like I'm seeing so much hate for so many characters and ships and I don't understand it. There's as much to love as there is to hate. It wouldn't be fair if they were perfect flawless characters. They're designed to be insufferable and loving and idiotic and a little crazy.

[satellite-starss]

Been thinking about making a return to tumblr hehe so have my current blorbos,,,

[james-p-sullivan]

I’ve seen arguments being made for both and I’d like to know where the fandom lies in this debate

[itsdefinitely]

🍀🥳

🍀 favorite song? 🥳 least favorite song?

evil..........

my favorite song from tgwdlm is let it out. look joey richter's version of confrontation did something to my brain. join us and die comes in second because of jaime's vocals

from black friday is feast or famine. consumerist mob song?? frank pricely??? curt's shopper?? pLEASE

from nmt1 is snoozle town. i also really like jane's a car, but snoozle town is just too funny to me

from nmt2 is virginity rocks! very predictable i'm aware. but did you know that the day that sally met her boy she told everyone? everyone, yeah. neither played shy or even coy, too. and, uh, they told everyone. they sat on the beach. it was real cute, man. then sally removed the sequined dress from on top of her suit. uh, the boy leaned in, but sally crooned "leave room!" did you know that? did you? crazy, right? well just you wait until i tell you about tayl

from npmd it's either the summoning or just for once. i'm so tired of people ranking just for once so low on their tier lists i know it was probably a tough choice but it's just for once!! do you not see the tragedy in a severely bullied high school girl with raging self image issues singing (on an empty stage, because she's too scared in front of other people) through the disguise of a character in a play about how she wants to live a good enough life to have a mid-life crisis??? i know it's a change in tone but we also do have the whiplash of as cool as i think i am (reprise) right after the summoning. why don't you care about her pouring her heart out as you do pete :( she's not even asking for that much. pete wants to be cool, but all she wants is to live

least favorite song.... uh.. young at heart probably. icky vibes

[bladesmitten]

i also think some people's portrayal of act 3 shadowheart is making her too nice, uwu smol bean who loves animals or whatever. like yes, that's part of her "new" self, but that is also not all of it. and it's so boring when people make that her entire personality. her act 3 romance scene has her still being playful and teasing like in her act 1 romance scene. some parts of her act 1 self is still in act 3, and even if you say that her "meanness" or "snark" is because of her upbringing in shar's doctrine, you don't just unlearn that behaviour overnight.

[masezace]

little off topic for my blog, but i started watching a new show since a friend mentioned it was good and i'd heard positive things about it, so i just wanted to talk about it a little bit (probably never again after this since this isn't a fandom blog, but it's the only one i have rn so idc it's going here)

the show is Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous, and just going on looks alone, despite my love for dinosaurs and the Jurassic Park franchise i never would have considered it. it appears to be very much for kids, and as i'm in my late twenties now i'm not particularly interested in especially kiddy media. however a friend my age enjoyed it and mentioned it has a canon lgbtq+ couple in it among the main characters, so of course i just had to watch it. i had already been hearing that despite its initial appearance and premise, it was surprisingly good for a kids' show, so i had already been curious, but i was even more keen after knowing there were queer characters, and not even the adults, the kids themselves (in a kid's show?!! what a time to be alive), so i finally sat down and watched it.

[spoiler warning, both minor and major, for the rest of this post btw, so continue reading at your own risk if you haven't seen it yet/are still watching]

the show overall

okay so firstly, i am coming at all of this from the perspective of a writer, so my observations are from a technical standpoint more so than just as a fan of the show. and honestly, it really is a well-written show as a whole. is it geared towards kids? definitely. there are plenty of jokes/gags in it that just don't appeal to me as an adult, but beyond that, there was plenty to appreciate as an adult.

the writing is actually phenomenal? there were several points in the series where i just sat back and mulled over the way a scene went, what the thought process behind writing it was like, how well it was executed, and how important it was to the characters and overall plot.

the suspense is spot on, nothing gets dragged out too long, and i will admit there have been a few scenes throughout that actually got me; i jumped! it's actually scarier than i expected a kid show to be, but i'm so glad they went where they did because it really elevated the experience.

the pacing overall is very good, adequately engaging for kids' short attention spans (and us adhd adults 🥲) but not too short either to a point where things felt abrupt or unfinished. plot arcs are well developed and tied up nicely. also, as a bit of a dinosaur nerd, the array of dinosaurs in the show is super broad and satisfying! very fun stuff.

character element

imo the real gem of this show is the character development. honestly it's just *chefs kiss*

the characters grow and change so much and so realistically over the course of the show, it's honestly so much better and more satisfying than the character growth in most adult fiction/media recently.

the growth in ben (who btw was def my favorite character by the end of s1) and kenji in particular were my favorites and, in my personal opinion, the most interesting. the way ben started out anxious, cowardly, and rule abiding to a fault, then grew into a brave, confident, adventurous little pyromaniac gremlin, then had that stint later in the series where he regressed a bit-questioning himself-until eventually ultimately striking a great balance and really coming into himself was just... peak character writing.

kenji started out overconfident, lazy, and overly concerned with money/status. but that arrogant overconfidence and laziness slowly turned into responsibility, and a desire to protect his found family, and the realization that it's the people in your life that really matter most.

honestly what i mentioned only scratches the surface in terms of those two characters, there's certainly more that can be said about them (as well as all the others) but i'm not really in the mood for a deep dive character analysis atm. just trust me tho when i say these characters are so well done and each one of them have arcs that are super satisfying to watch play out.

queer representation

and as for the queer couple? yasmina and sammy are PERFECT. it was so beautiful watching their relationship grow from one-sided to mutual friendship, to loyal devotion, then to love. they were set up incredibly well and incredibly naturally. i have like, no complaints when it comes to them. i don't even know if there's anything i can say that would add to things, they were just a really awesome couple to watch become canon, they're the beautiful and painfully needed representation we all beg for in tv and movies.

shipping, chemistry, and intent

but oh goodness... probably my only real complaint about the entire show would be how benji (ben x kenji) and kenji x brooklyn (kenlyn? brookji? idk and idrc) were handled. because for all that this show did SO much beautifully right, they really screwed the pooch here, sadly.

i'm gonna start by saying that the writing in this show, as with most, is deliberate. what i mean by this is that despite having no clue who it would be because my friend thankfully did not even spoil me as far as the genders of the queer couple, i clocked yas and sammy as the would-be queer couple as early as season one (actually it was between them and benji, but more on that later). i could already see the chemistry, because it was deliberately written in.

shipping is subjective. anyone can ship any character, and in most cases it's pretty easy to see how there could be (romantic) chemistry between fan pairings based on their personalities, their arcs, etc. and that's okay! ships don't even have to have any canon support to be valid, because shipping is for the fandom, and it's for fun (i have a few rarepairs and crack ships across different media that i just love).

but onscreen/written romantic chemistry is a lot less subjective (to clarify, it is subjective whether or not the chemistry is good, but it's not subjective about whether or not it exists). there are literally scenes written with the sole purpose of building the romantic tension and/or chemistry between planned couples (some of which even have absolutely zero plot relevance, which usually is not advised tbh, and most of which are the cliches/tropes you see in literally any romance ever written, some are just disguised a little better than others. but make no mistake, it's all the same set of cliches. there is nothing new under the sun), as well as intentional, key moments within scenes that have other purposes. they are essential to establish romantic pairings.

and typically, the foundations for these couples are laid VERY early on. always within the first or second season (well, at least they are when the writer actually knows what they're doing and has at least a rough plan/outline for the entire series & characters. this is usually a large part of what separates the good chemistry from the poor chemistry. an author who knows who the couples are going to be and has a plan from the beginning to build them up is going to be more successful in creating a believable relationship with good chemistry. one who does not plan, or makes last minute plans will almost certainly fail, and the couple is just going to suck). when the set of characters you're working with are going to stay the same for most or all of the story, you start immediately.

i don't mean to toot my own horn, because i think it's because i'm a writer so i just pick up on narrative patterns very easily, and pretty much always clock the planned couples within the first few episodes of any series, and by the end i am right like 9 times out of 10.

that being said, do you know whose deliberately written chemistry i also clocked in jwcc? ben and kenji's.

kenji and... brooklyn?

no offense to people who like/enjoy kenji and brooklyn, you are free to love them, but the way their romance was written is... quite possibly the weakest point of the show. it felt like they were just trying to appease the upsetto heteros in charge, because there was definitely another het pairing that had a lot more potential than kenji and brooklyn (hello darius x brooklyn aka darilyn, you would have actually made sense because your relationship had amazing buildup and multiple standout scenes from s1 on. dgmw, i love that we got a m/f strong, supportive, purely platonic friendship out of them, i live for those and we really need more of them. but we could have had that with kenji and brooklyn, or darius and sammy, or ben and yas, literally any other pair instead).

kenji and brooklyn as a couple came out of absolutely nowhere. i honestly think they decided to shove them together last minute, and had no actual plan for them until they were working on s4. because their development barely started at the VERY end of s3 (the abruptness of him caring about her being held hostage so much more than literally anyone else in their group despite them having like zero buildup to that point gave me whiplash), but honestly didn't really even become "meaningful" development until s4, over halfway through the series. the two spend the first 3 seasons basically not particularly gaf about each other individually, only as part of the whole group and on an equal level with everyone else. they otherwise have no deliberate narrative foundation. it just starts in s4 with no prior hinting. which makes their development rocky and difficult to believe. the funny thing is their characters literally have dialogue (in s4) trying to draw comparisons/parallels between them to say that they especially have a lot in common and like??? no? they really don't? not any more so than any other two kids in the group. their relationship just, really falls flat.

it was disappointing to see it take such a massive spotlight in the series for almost all of seasons 4 and 5, overshadowing the friendships that have been the focus of the show and should have remained so, to the point where at times it just felt like i was watching some stereotypical het highschool romance. genuinely, it made s4 & 5 more of a drag to get through. yasammy and ben and yas' growing bond (which by the way was so sweet, it had the strongest queer solidarity vibes good lord, i sure wonder why yas chose ben out of everyone to come out to first, hmmm) were some of the few things that kept me invested, otherwise i would have dropped it if it had leaned much farther into becoming the kenlyn show than it already was. especially when it was that pair so much of the focus was given to, even though we had so readily and perfectly available, the pair that could have, should have been: benji. which finally brings me to:

ben and kenji

benji's foundation was laid in s1. their interactions, the situations they found themselves in, were deliberate (on the writers' part). i'm even gonna go out on a limb here and say the pairings were fully established in s1e3, even with parallels between yasammy and benji (sammy clinging to yas and ben clinging to kenji throughout the episode), and darilyn gets the beginning of their development too.

even though they bicker a lot in the beginning, they clearly care about each other? kenji protects/helps ben multiple times, and there are definitely some looks ben gives kenji at times. at the end of s1, the one who seems the most deeply effected over ben's "death," other than darius (understandably since he's the one who failed to save him), was kenji! immediately after it happens, we get two close up shots, darius and brooklyn then yasmina and sammy. after which, we go back to the whole group with kenji in center frame, the focus is intentionally on him. it is only kenji who drops to his knees at the loss, and then we get a close up of just kenji. he was saved for last, and he was alone in frame (tbf bumpy was in frame too, but i'm talking humans here), which implies his feelings are especially important in this moment. that is the reason for solo close ups.

after ben's "death," kenji takes to always wearing ben's fanny pack, and up until bumpy--who ben cares VERY much about--got separated from them, kenji was the one who (however briefly) took over her care, ensuring she got off the monorail with them, and he's extremely distraught, more than pretty much all of them, when they can't find her, and he's last to leave when they decide to accept that ben's gone. even when they do leave, he's distant and distracted and his mind is clearly still on ben.

other than darius, kenji is the only one (if i'm remembering correctly) to mention ben/say his name after they lost him, upset because he was actually trying not to think about him. he has clearly thought about ben, probably a lot, because it's hard not to be reminded constantly when you wear something that belonged to a deceased loved one. and frankly, he appears to be the only one who dwells on him that much.

when ben reappears alive (which btw he found the group again because of kenji's butter knife, hello), the frames literally purposely focus on kenji's reaction. he's the one in the foreground every time they show him and brooklyn in that scene. he is the first one to say ben's name, the first one to go to him and hug him, and the scene takes special care to highlight kenji's strong emotions at ben's reappearance, lingering on his teary face as the focus for a bit even after brooklyn enters the frame to hug ben (because she is not at all an important element in the scene at that moment). just like when ben "died," the way this scene is written and shot HEAVILY suggests that ben holds significant importance to kenji, specifically. because again, the focus here is on kenji and ben almost exclusively, with brooklyn as only an afterthought lol. and quite frankly literally everyone else's reaction to him being alive was pretty lackluster compared to the special attention they gave to kenji on this.

and then in s3 we have the infamous hat scene, where darius and ben are in the limo and ben sees and mentions kenji's sailor hat, looking sad and sounding like... longing?? then directly after we switch to kenji realizing he forgot his hat?? the scene has no real significance tbh other than to draw a connection between ben and kenji. like, it acts as a transition to switch to the pov of the group on the boat, but it was entirely unnecessary? why not just have darius say something about the others and then show them on the boat? if there were no special relationship between ben and kenji, it would have made far more sense if they really wanted it to be ben to say something, that he sees the hat, and sadly says something along the lines of "i hope the others are okay/doing better than we are right now/etc" which implies that the hat made him think of everyone, their whole group. rather than what we got... which very much implies that he was mostly just thinking about kenji 💀 and then kenji thinking about the hat at the same time ben's looking at it and thinking of kenji. like, this is.... a very blatant connection being made by the writing/directing here.

all of that. so many deliberate connections made between ben and kenji, they had a very solid foundation laid for a romance to develop, and by all intents and purposes one already WAS developing according to the show's own subtext. which was why up until s4 obliterated the idea, i was positive the queer couple in the show was either going to be yasammy or benji. it was extremely obvious imo. but as soon we started getting the typical, loud, cliche "we are going to pair off these characters" scenes for kenji and brooklyn, i knew we were getting yasammy and not benji (to be clear, i'm not at all upset about yasammy, they're beautiful and i love how their relationship was done, i wouldn't have had it end any other way for them. but i do personally prefer benji, i just like their personalities and dynamic more. and i feel they had so much potential that got wasted to make way for a far less interesting pairing between kenji and brooklyn. why can't we have 2 queer couples, huh? and if we really needed a minimum of one hetero pairing to appease whoever needed appeasing, darilyn was right there).

but then??? their like entire bond just gets dropped (honestly ben himself gets pretty heavily sidelined for almost all of the last two seasons, which is criminal imo). mostly so that a rushed kenji x brooklyn can be established. like there are still a few small moments here and there in early s4, and one episode in s5 (ep 10), but from early s4 till pretty much the end of the series we hardly see them have any meaningful conversations or interactions, meanwhile literally every other combo in the group does.

it's so weird? why build up benji so deliberately over the course of multiple seasons just to like, fully discard it for a pairing with far less chemistry, even after the chemistry-building scenes they shared, some of which literally had no other purpose than to affirm their connection? even though they were very sparse, the moments benji had were just so blatant (kenji leaps into the rock crevice right onto the back of a saber tooth to save ben?!!?? like he literally was just willing to exchange his life for him like that?? he basically says that he wasn't really thinking, he just did it. so he moved out of what, emotional instinct, that's what we're meant to intuit from that series of events? implying that he specifically has strong emotion and doesn't think things through when it comes to ben? because he doesn't do that kinda stuff for any of the others in the group! even better, this parallels when sammy jumped on the nothosaurus to save yasmina. and then the way benji look at each other after it's over??? hello??? and then how kenji pulls both brooklyn and ben in for that hug a couple minutes later... side eyeing the writers for that choice. they knew what they were doing there and they were evil for it). i just can't see any reason to have dropped them like they were, after all the development they shared for 3 seasons. confounding. biggest disappointment of the series.

i know this probably reads to some as just "wahh, my ship didn't become canon" nonsense. but that's not why i'm bugged. this wasn't just a ship i liked and wanted canon despite no actual narrative support, as most ships tend to be. this ship did have narrative support. there was intent behind many of their scenes together, lingering looks and little things that matter narratively and are always used to signify a stronger/special connection. and it led nowhere, for no good reason. that bothers me. writing that implies and promises something, but never delivers on it. like a person who never finishes their sentences (think Dr McPhee from Night at the Museum). ultimately it's not a HUGE deal or anything, at the end of the day it's just a ship and just a kids' show. but as a writer, it's just irritating to see something like that be done. what can i say 🤷

conclusion

even despite the wasted potential between certain pairings, and even though i do think the first three seasons were superior to the last two, overall i really enjoyed the show, and for what it was, it was really well-made. the overarching focus was of course on found family and friendship before anything else, which i absolutely love, and it was masterfully done. out of 6 kids, all of them had at least one or two meaningful bonding moments one-on-one with another in the group, so every possible combination had their moment to build strong, believable friendships with each other. i'm just so surprised by how good it was as a whole honestly, good enough to binge over the course of a week. i will happily recommend jwcc to anyone willing to give it a watch regardless of age, because i definitely think there's no age limit for a good story, no matter the medium it's told in. :)

[deoidesign]

just wanted to say that I absolutely LOVE your comic I am so inspired by it and it’s so lovely and I wanna buy the physical books (I’ve never done that before) I just AUGGHHH EVERYTHING ABOUT IT IS SO 💙💙💙

do you allow fanart? And is there anything not allowed? I wanna draw adam and steve so bad 😭

Of course it's allowed! Fanart fanfic fan music fan dubs whatever!

I like to think I'm sort of "building a playground" when I make a story, have fun on it! I made it for you!

In my general opinion, it's not my business what my "fandom" does... It's on you and also me to curate our own spaces! If you're inspired by my work in any way, that's the greatest honor I could imagine and I want you to feel fully free to explore that. If someone is being weird, I know where the block button is haha

Just don't like... sell it... it's messy legally with webtoon and I'm one person making the story and it's my whole income so the few sales I get are kind of huge for me ;_;

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

my 1 (one) stardew opinion is shane should not have won the bachelor poll

[dennisboobs]

i think everyone on sunnytwt needs to be sat down so i can explain to them what basic human empathy is. and then maybe i put them in a blender until they agree to write meta about the characters instead of whether or not charlie day got facial reconstruction surgery.