#he acknowledges his selfishness despite not really... doing anything about it

[ineffectualdemon]

I know i said this recently but Airplane's detachment from others and tendency to see people as characters isn't because he's the author and a transmigrator

He's just like that

He doesn't view the readers of PIDW as real. They are caricatures and internet forum stereotypes and a nameless hungry beast he has to feed but they aren't real

Even Peerless Cucumber, both before and after transmigrating, isn't a real person to him. He's a black powder anti fan. He puts just as much of a character role on Shen Yuan as he does on Shen Jiu

It's how he talks about people in general. And it's clearly a protective measure. He makes a living appealing to the masses and farming internet hate. He's detached so it doesn't get to him. So he can read the criticism and laugh

He goes to hate threads about his work and is able to smirk and make jokes because they aren't real to him because they can't be. If he acknowledges the reality it's going to break him

Plus the whole child of divorce who is abandoned by both parents as they build new families without him thing

He's detached because attachment scares him

The only thing he lets himself be attached to is Mobei Jun because he's the only thing he lets himself be truly selfish over and make for himself

And I think it's really important that the system would have let him kill Mobei Jun

That means, unlike everything else that happens to him in SVSSS, everything to do with his relationship with his king is his choice

He could literally kill Mobei Jun at any moment and he doesn't because he's his choice he decision to engage and connect with someone else

He doesn't even have to stay to save Mobei from his Uncle! He can literally just go back his OG life

What makes Mobei different is that it's a relationship he has to actively choose for himself and cultivate on his own. He chooses to attach himself to Mobei and only Mobei

And if that isn't something that is accidentally reflected in both Bingge and Bingmei

Bingge who has no attachment and no fulfillment despite having power. Who is lonely and detached and has no one he truly cares about. That's a reflection of Airplane and a reflection of a Shang Qinghua who chose to kill Mobei in that clearing

Bingmei is a reflection (of sorts) of our Shang Qinghua who took a chance and made an attachment and at the end of the day is willing to do anything to keep it

I just think Shang Qinghua/Airplane is a fascinating guy

[loveywon]

♡𓂃 WAIT FOR ME !

part 2 of break my heart again!

pairing: jungwon x gn!reader x niki

wc: 4.6k+

synopsis: you’ll always be waiting for jungwon to finally reciprocate your feelings, but niki will always be waiting for you.

warnings: angst but its not that bad i promise u (i think), open ending(?), swearing i think, sullyoon (nmixx) mentioned, high school au, not proofread its so bad out here

a/n: this was purely written with no draft no outline no nothing everything came out of my ass so if its a little messy… u know why. and no part 3 sorry!!

It’s been almost a month since Jungwon started dating Sullyoon, and you feel yourself starting to form unhealthy coping mechanisms. Niki, is of course, trying to not indulge in your coping mechanisms because he knows it’s not good in the end for you and that it’s not really coping, but he’s a little selfish because one of your unhealthy coping mechanisms is using him to distract yourself whenever Jungwon chooses to hang out with Sullyoon rather than you. 

He knows he shouldn’t, and he feels a little guilty and sick when you leave his house after crying into his chest for what seemed like the millionth time. But when he gets to touch your soft hair, your sniffles dying out after finding comfort within Niki even if he didn’t really offer anything more than a couple soothing rubs to your back and playing with your hair, how can he not give in to you? 

He also knows that he’d rather be the one you cry yourself to sleep with than any other guy, and just the thought of it makes him hold you tighter to his chest. 

You, on the other hand, feel a little guilty as well. You’re sure that Niki is tired of your crying and having to wash his shirts every time you leave because by the time you’re done, his shirt is wet and stained with your tears. You can’t help it, because as much as you try to hate Sullyoon for being the one that Jungwon chose, she’s too nice to you. Always giving you the warmest welcome hugs when you first greet her and Jungwon at their lockers, offering you her strawberry milk because she remembered that Jungwon said you liked strawberry milk, or brushing your hair for you when you walked into school looking like a trainwreck (you cried the night before and knocked out at Niki’s). 

You want to hate her so bad, it’s almost eating you inside over the fact that you simply can’t, because she didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not her fault that Jungwon chose her over you, and you start to understand why he picked Sullyoon. You voice this one night to Niki on one of your walks back to your home, and Niki is actually angry at the fact that you think Sullyoon is any better than you. 

He didn't say anything, he always listened. You think that’s why it makes it so easy to talk to Niki about your feelings because you feel like he’s not judging you, despite his narrow eyes that many people think otherwise. You honestly hesitated helping him in ceramics two years ago because he always carried an intimidating aura, but you’re glad that you did. You wouldn’t trade Niki for the world, he’s always there for you, and you acknowledge that. 

“Wonie!” Sullyoon calls out to him after catching up with him in the hallways, stopping by his side as she tries to catch her breath. 

Jungwon stops and turns to look at her after just walking you to your class, and he smiles upon seeing his girlfriend. “Hey! What’s up? Why’re you late?” He asks while grabbing her by the shoulders, chuckling at her because she's just oh so cute.

Sullyoon stands back up straight, putting her hair behind her ear. “I lost track of time and had to run to make it! My mom refused to drive me,” she feigns a frown before linking arms with Jungwon and starting to walk to her class. “Did you just walk Y/n to their class just now? They have physics, right?”

Jungwon nods, “yeah, I did. Y/n hates physics, though,” he laughs, reminiscing about the time you two had science together last year and you caused the fire alarm to go off because of the smoke that you accidentally also caused. “Y/n suck at any science, but it’s fine. I’m sure they’ll pass anyway, I’m helping them study for the test next week too.” 

It’s not that Sullyoon dislikes it when Jungwon talks about you, it’s more of a bitter feeling, especially seeing his eyes light up differently when he talks to you versus herself. She thinks that maybe it’s just because she can’t see it for herself because her friends all reassured her that her and Jungwon are so cute together. She convinces herself it’s just because you and Jungwon have been friends for forever, and that anyone would talk about their best friend like that. Plus, she could never think badly of you, ever. You two became closer after Jungwon asked her out, and she sees you as a close friend more than ever, and she trusts you around Jungwon.

She just doesn’t know if she trusts Jungwon around you, though. 

“Ah,” she simply says, looking down at the floor. It’s a little awkward for two minutes until they reach Sullyoon’s class. “See you at lunch?” She asks with a smile on her face, and Jungwon nods with a grin before waving her goodbye and heading his way to his own class. 

As Sullyoon walks inside the cafeteria, she immediately spots Jungwon, Niki, and you sitting at your usual table, and a smile makes her way onto her face as she quickly grabs her lunch and makes her way to the table. 

“Hi!” You beam upon seeing Sullyoon take her seat next to Jungwon. You’re seated next to Niki and you sit across from Jungwon. Niki and Jungwon greet Sullyoon as well, and she says her hello’s in return. 

“How was class?” Jungwon asks, his head turning to Sullyoon, completely forgetting about the previous ongoing conversation you and him were having before Sullyoon arrived. Completely normal, you think. You eat your lunch in silence as the couple carry out a conversation on their own, while Niki is typing away at his phone. 

You peer over, being the nosy person that you are. You see that he’s scrolling through Tiktok, and he’s stuck on a funny video that he’s been giggling at for a while now. You find yourself laughing a little too, and Jungwon turns his attention to the two of you giggling, your cheek pressed up against Niki’s shoulder. 

Jungwon’s not aware, but Sullyoon takes notice on how his hold on his chopsticks tighten slightly upon seeing you and Niki. She frowns a little, but she’s quick with grabbing Jungwon’s attention back onto her again. His attention only lasts every minute or so as he’s stealing quick glances at you and Niki laughing at Tiktok’s together. 

He’s barely paying any attention to anything that Sullyoon is saying as she rambles about homework that her teacher assigned in her math class, and he only gives slight hums as a reply. Desperate to get your attention back on Jungwon, he calls out your name and you lift your head up from Niki’s shoulder and tilt your head, “Yeah?” 

“We’re still studying tomorrow for your physics test, right?” He asks, even though he already confirmed last night, he felt like he was getting queasy from seeing you and Niki laugh about something together that didn’t include him. 

“Oh! Yeah, of course. Thanks for helping me again, I don’t know what I would do without you!” You grin before engaging in a conversation with Sullyoon and Jungwon again. 

Jungwon thinks he succeeded upon getting your attention again, and Niki merely rolls his eyes and continues to scroll through Tiktok because he knows Jungwon’s motives but he can’t say anything to you because he knows you’re not going to take it well. 

Niki only wants to see you happy, and even if you end up with Jungwon, he thinks he’ll be okay because you’re no longer having puffy eyes every morning with a red nose from crying all night. 

“So…how’re things going with you and Sullyoon?” You ask Jungwon as the two of you make your way into your home, and suddenly Jungwon is hit with the memory of seeing you with Niki on the couch last month. This was the first time he stepped into your home after that time, and he feels sick to the stomach. 

“It’s going good! She’s super pretty and sweet, I couldn’t ask for more,” he said, but his words sound almost empty if you didn’t know any better, and you don’t because you tune out his answer. You don’t want to know, you think any answer he gives you would make you cry on the spot. 

So you just nod and take a seat on the couch, the same couch Jungwon saw you sleeping on Niki’s shoulder. His stomach churns, and he gulps, reluctantly making his way to the couch and taking his seat where Niki previously sat a month ago. Why is he so caught up with what he saw a whole month ago, Jungwon thinks to himself, and he can’t find an answer, so instead, he pushes it to the back of his mind and focuses on helping you study for your physics test. 

A few hours pass, and you start to doze off, head nodding off as Jungwon reads something off of the textbook. He sighs, patting your head to get your attention and you immediately blink up at him, straightening your back. He chuckles at your action, and he gives you a dimpled smile. “I can get you some water, maybe it’ll help keep you up. I’ll be right back,” he offers and gets up from his seat, making his way to your kitchen to pour you a glass of water. When he comes back, your head is downwards, hair shielding your face and you’re clearly asleep. He smiles softly. It’s been a while since he’s hung out with you like this, even if it is just studying, and it’s refreshing to see you relaxed and asleep because he knows that you struggle under stress and can’t handle it when you have a test coming up, especially when it’s a science related test.

He sits back down, placing the glass of water on the coffee table and he gently takes your head, guiding it to his shoulder. You only stir slightly, but you’re still asleep. Jungwon thinks this is only fair. If Niki gets to feel you sleep on his shoulder, then he should too. You always insist so strongly that you and Niki are only friends after Jungwon constantly pries you with questions about you and Niki, so this was normal, right? This is what friends do. 

But Sullyoon is his girlfriend, and yet he’s never let Sullyoon lean her head on his shoulder. He doesn’t think much about it, he convinces himself that the time will come soon, and that it’s because you and him are comfortable after knowing each other for so long, right? Right, so he simply admires your sleeping state and plays with the ends of your hair, knowing that you like it whenever he does it because you told him two years ago when you two were studying one day. 

There’s a slight, guilty feeling stirring in his gut, and no matter how hard he tries to not think about it, his mind crosses to Sullyoon. Sullyoon would be fine with this, right? She never had any issue with you, in fact, he’s ecstatic that you and Sullyoon got so close. His two favorite people bonding together; what more could he ask for? But he can’t help but let himself indulge in this little moment with you, because it’s been so long since he’s spent time with you like this, and soon he finds himself in a slumber with you on the couch. 

The next morning you see Jungwon at school, you try to avoid him. You had awoken before him, and you almost yelped upon realizing that you were laying on his shoulder. You don’t remember how you got there, but you feel extremely guilty because you would never interfere in between Jungwon and Sullyoon, ruining their relationship even though you are in love with Jungwon. 

You dig through your locker, not daring to look around since you’re scared of meeting eye contact with either Jungwon or Sullyoon, so you stall, pretending to look for something as you bury your head in your locker. 

“What’re ya looking for?” Niki asks, shoulder leaning against the locker beside yours. “The bell is about to ring. You should quickly find what you’re looking for.” You jump a bit at the sound of his voice, and you release a breath you didn’t realize you were holding in. 

“Sorry, I’m not looking for anything,” You reply, shutting your locker and clicking the lock. Niki raises a brow at your weird behavior, arms crossing against his chest like he’s about to interrogate you. 

“What happened last night?” He asks, and it catches you off guard because you forgot that Jungwon asked about you two studying yesterday during lunch, but also because how did he know? 

You blink at him and then quickly look around the hallway for any sign of Jungwon. You spot him talking to Sullyoon, and you turn back to Niki, hands pushing his chest to guide him further down the hall. “Woah! What’s the rush…” He grumbles, following your lead before you halt to a stop, next to your class. 

“I fell asleep on Jungwon’s shoulder…” you mumble quietly, and Niki almost misses it. He stares at you, brows furrowing together. He doesn’t understand. He knows you wouldn’t purposefully fall asleep on his shoulder, right? You’re not that type of person, he thinks. You’re never the one to sabotage someone else because of something that you’ve wanted, so why is he denying that you fell asleep on his shoulder? 

“What?” Is all he asks, because he wants clarification. 

“It was an accident!” You clear up, waving your hands in the air, “But I don’t really remember how I did…because I was just falling asleep while studying and Jungwon wasn’t even sitting next to me when I fell asleep.” You say, eyes glancing around the hallway in case Jungwon or Sullyoon are walking around. 

He slowly nods, starting to understand. He rolls his eyes, putting together the pieces before you even could. Sometimes, he wishes that you weren’t so blindly in love with Jungwon so then you could see that he put your head on his shoulder. Well, and also so you can realize that he’s been waiting for you to see him all along. 

You acknowledge him, and that’s enough for Niki. Or at least, it used to be. He understands what you’re going through, and he dares to even say he’s in the same position as you and knows first-hand what you’re feeling. But, he feels almost exhausted, having to sit and watch you cry over someone who seems to not realize that you’re everything that any person could wish for. Niki would never say that he’s the patient type, but he’s always patient for you, and he thinks he’ll wait for an entire lifetime for you. Now, he’s thinking that you’re starting to test his patience. 

He grits his teeth, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by you. “I don’t know– maybe I’m overthinking it. Sorry, let’s go inside,” you gesture to the classroom that you two share, and he can barely fight off a roll of his eyes before letting him get dragged by you inside the classroom.

During class, you’re aware that Niki’s been glancing at you, and you would say occasionally glancing, but it definitely is more than occasionally. You also are aware that it’s not the good kind of glancing, and more of a this conversation is not over glancing. You bite on your bottom lip, trying to avoid any eye contact with Niki as class passes on. By the time the bell rings, you’re quickly packing up your stuff but Niki’s already hovering by your desk, waiting for you. 

“He obviously put your head there.” He bluntly states, and you’re relieved that most of the students have already filed out of the class and just a few remain so not many hear what he’s saying.

You sigh, grabbing your backpack and swinging it over your shoulder. “I don’t know, it’s really not that big of a deal…I guess it just freaked me out a little. But it’s not that weird, right? I sleep on your shoulders sometimes…” you mumble, and in your head it didn’t sound that weird but now that you say it out loud, you feel your cheeks get a little hot. 

Niki purses his lips in a flat line, slowly nodding his head. No big deal, to sleep on someone's shoulders, to you, but to him, he feels like he’s on top of the world when he feels you relax into him when you fall into a slumber. Maybe you just didn’t understand because no one has fallen asleep on you, he thinks. 

“Right.” Is all he says in reply, causing you to look at him as you two walk down the hall to your next class. You feel bad, and you know exactly why you do. It’s obvious that it’s not not a big deal, and it is a big deal. You think it’s even more of a big deal because it’s Niki, someone who’s not fond of any physical touch and he lets you sleep on his shoulder, and he doesn’t dare move an inch in case he wakes you. 

You chew on your bottom lip, thinking of some way to possibly change the awfully awkward atmosphere that you created. “Wanna go to the café after school again? I miss the strawberry croissant we got last time,” you smile at him, and he returns it easily along with a nod of agreement.

“Of course I do, I’ll see you later then, yeah?” 

 

You’re sitting with Niki during lunch time, and normally Jungwon would be here by now, but both him and Sullyoon are nowhere to be seen. You shrug it off, because you assume that it’s just them doing coupley things by themselves, and you try to not think about it too much. 

Niki feels relieved when you don’t bring up Jungwon not being here for lunch. 

On the other hand, Jungwon’s arm is being dragged by Sullyoon outside of the school courtyard. “What’s this about? Are you okay?” He asks, because he’s never seen Sullyoon mad, ever, and it worries him. 

Sullyoon stops with a huff, crossing her arms across her chest. “No, I’m not okay,” she starts, and Jungwon likes to think he’s intently listening to her, but his head glances through the school doors, his mind thinking that he needs to get to the cafeteria before lunch ends to see you. 

Sullyoon sighs, shaking her head, “Jungwon. Please spare me five minutes of your time. Just this once.” He blinks at her, confused, but he nods anyway. 

“We should break up.” She simply blurts, and Jungwon’s reaction is exactly what she expected it to be. He blinks at her once more, tilts his head, and blinks again in confusion.

“Why? I thought we were doing okay yesterday…” he trails off when Sullyoon raises her hand and waves him off. 

“It’s not me, it’s you. Jungwon, I like you a lot, and you’re so funny and sweet, and I feel very lucky to know what it feels like to be your girlfriend, but I think someone else can treat you better than I can, and they’ve been waiting for a while, too.” Sullyoon explains, a soft yet sad smile on her features, and Jungwon frowns because he simply doesn’t understand where this is coming from. 

He shakes his head in confusion, “What? Sorry, what? Who is this ‘someone else’ and why can they treat me better? I want you!”

Sullyoon sighs again. “No, you don’t want me. You want Y/n. I can see it in the way you talk about them. Your eyes shine bright, more than they ever do when you talk about me, and you always chase for their attention, not mine. And that’s okay, I’ve pretty much come to terms with it. I just don’t know why you haven’t.” 

Jungwon splutters, and he’s at a loss for words. 

“You don’t have to say anything. I just want to ask you something.” Jungwon nods, indicating for her to ask her question. “Why do you hold yourself back when it comes to Y/n?” 

Jungwon paces back and forth in the empty classroom. Sullyoon’s question bugged him so much that he skipped class, something that he’s never done before in his entire high school career. His brows are furrowed, her voice replaying in his mind as he lets out a frustrated sigh. How is he supposed to answer that question? He wasn’t even aware that he was holding himself back two hours ago! He rubs his face with his hand, silently grumbling to himself as he tries to rack his brain for an answer because if he doesn’t, Sullyoon’s voice will just keep repeating in his head and he’s afraid he’ll go mad. 

He thinks back to when he first met you. A fond smile appears on his features, the scene in his mind is so vivid as he remembers every detail about the outfit you were wearing, how your hair was styled, and the way you simply carried yourself on the first day of school. He slaps a hand over his mouth, catching himself smiling as he reminisces younger you. “Get it together,” he mutters to himself, shaking his head as he continues to pace back and forth. Jungwon always admired the way you presented yourself. You cared about your appearance, but not to the point where it was obnoxious checking yourself out every ten seconds, but enough to make yourself feel confident, and Jungwon wishes he could learn that from you. He then realizes there are many other things that he admires about you, and he sighs once more. 

You are too good for him. It was why he rejected you in the first place – he thinks at the time, he wasn’t good enough to be your boyfriend, but he was dedicated to work on himself for you, so that he could be the boyfriend that you deserve. He frowns. He thinks that now, he’s lost you. As time passes, you start to become friends with Niki and he notices the way Niki looks at you, the same way Jungwon looks at you. At first, he didn’t think much of it. Niki was younger than you, and you expressed to him one time that you’re not really interested in younger guys. Jungwon was confident that you’d still be with him in the end, until you and Niki started to share more time together. 

He’s definitely lost you, Jungwon thinks, and he frowns deeply at that. He feels stupid, he fails to understand why his past self decided to make you wait for him. He should have immediately accepted your confession, then you two would live happily forever after. Unfortunately, he let himself get distracted with Sullyoon and academics that he failed to fully dedicate time for a better version of himself for you. 

Better late than never, Jungwon thinks as he looks at the time in the empty classroom, and the last class of the day is about to end. He quickly rushes outside the hallway, heading straight to your locker so he can ask you if you want to hang out today, and maybe he’ll finally return your confession. He only hopes you still feel the same.

The bell finally rings, and Niki awaits for you outside your classroom when you’re done packing up. “Hey!” You greet, and Niki returns with a smile and a wave. 

“Are you excited to go eat strawberry croissants?” He asks, nudging your shoulder playfully as the two of you make your way down the hallway to your locker. You’re too busy chatting with Niki to see Jungwon waiting for you beside your locker, not to mention his nervous fidgeting of his fingers and shoes tapping on the floor repeatedly. 

“Of course I am! I miss them so much, it’s too good. If I had to pay ten dollars for one croissant, I’d still–” 

“Y/n,” Jungwon says as soon as you reach your locker, and your head turns away from Niki, meeting eyes with Jungwon. You gape, blinking once as if you hallucinated him there.

“Oh…hey, what’s up?” You ask, and you immediately pick up on Jungwon’s nervous habits that he does. You furrow your brows in concern, and you almost ask if he’s alright but Jungwon beats you. 

“Wanna go to the park right now? I got something I wanna–” 

“Y/n and I are going to the café right now, actually.” Niki interrupts, stepping forward but he’s still behind you, and you feel his chest touching your shoulder. You bite your lip as you squeeze your eyes shut, this cannot be happening right now, you think, because Niki has never really spoken up around Jungwon. You always assumed it was just because he was shy, but you start to think it’s because of other reasons. 

“Oh, well– then Y/n, café or park?” Jungwon doesn’t spare Niki a glance, his eyes are kept on you as he awaits your answer.

You want to evaporate. He might as well have said me or Niki, you think. 

You know yourself well, or at least you like to think you do. Which means you know that Jungwon will always come first to you, and that no matter what, in any universe, Jungwon will have your heart. You think he always will, and it aches to even admit it based on the empty and meaningless pining of two years for Jungwon. You got nothing in return. You feel like an idiot for even still loving Jungwon, because anyone with a sense of mind would turn the other way and move on. But you think other people just don’t understand Jungwon.

You waited for a reason, and that reason is because you know that Jungwon will eventually come around, and that when the stars align, you and Jungwon will be the end. In a way, you think Jungwon has also waited for you. He’s never failed to make you feel appreciated and loved, and even though he’s never expressed it through words, you just know. And he’s finally, finally, starting to.

“I promised Niki I’d go with him today, sorry, Jungwon. Maybe next time?” You smile, and you feel Niki relax from behind you, but you also see Jungwon’s fist clench in a tight fist by his side. 

A part of you feels bad, even though you know you shouldn’t. You waited for two years. Two years too long. If Jungwon thinks that he’d still get you after rejection for two years, he’s wrong, and you feel it’s fair if he waits for two years, and if he does, you know yourself well enough that you’d come back to him. You always do. 

Another part of you wants to cry. You have been practically dreaming of the moment Jungwon initiates anything with you, and he finally does, but you don’t accept it. Past you would absolutely cry about this, but present you feels a little giddy about focusing your time on someone who has been showing that they care about you the entire time. 

You grab onto Niki’s arm, tugging on it slightly and he takes it as his signal to leave the school building. You give a wave goodbye to Jungwon, and he’s left standing there, with a newfound dedication to wait for you. 

taglist!: @hafsa-hoofsa-heefs @wonniesluvv

[ladyfocalors]

HIIIII THEREEE SWEEETIEEE OMG ヾ( ˃ᴗ˂ )◞ •

Ah how I know the pain of a writers block! hope the request will give you inspiration and not just completely burn you out instead! After all we wouldn't want a sweet little writer to get burned out, would we now? ( ๑ ˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و ♡

So don't overwork yourself, and don't forget to drink enough water. Be careful it's cold days and sickness time, MWAH(∩˃ω˂∩)

As I checked your requests I didn't notice anything with angst so I'll just put this here and you decide

Lyney x reader angst to fluff

Or (if you're not comfy with that, that's tots fine, I'll just give you the option so U can choose which you feel like writting)

Lyney X reader confession/accidental confession... Like lyney confessing to reader (bc I have a fear of rejection) LIKE AAA

Anyways what I wanted to say is stay safe, don't overwork yourself and don't forget to eat and drink, KISS

pairing: Lyney x gn!reader

warnings: friends to lovers, jealous reader, lyney is a tease but we all know that, reader is kinda a tsundere, traveller is not specified, wrote this entire thing sleep deprived, a bit messy, not proofread!

note: Thank you for the sweet words, anon! I hope this is up to your standards. Take care :3

word count: 1.2k

It was always you and Lyney.

So why was it that the moment the traveller appeared, Lyney has forgotten about you. You can’t seem to get Lyney all by himself now, he has to have the traveller and that loud flying companion of theirs around.

The traveller.

The traveller was pretty and likable, you have to give them that. You could never hate them. If you were someone else, you would’ve definitely loved to be around them. But you weren’t someone else, you were you. Your heart didn’t belong to anyone other than the magician himself. It was pathetic really, being jealous when you didn’t even have the right to.

Is it selfish to want all your attention?

You bitterly smiled at the scene in front of you. There he was again, with them. All smiles and everything. With a deep breath you tear your eyes away from them towards Lynette who seems to be doning a bored expression on her face.

I shouldn’t be jealous, you mentally scold yourself.

“I’ll come back another time, Lynette.” You turned around, hiding your bitter expression. “Tell Freminet, I said hi.”

Lynette hummed in acknowledgement, noting how the distant look in your eyes didn’t match with the smile on your lips.

“I’ll tell him,” she responded.

With that you left the place, not able to capture the moment Lyney turned to see your figure walking away or that the way he frowned.

It was always Lyney and you.

So why was it that the moment the traveller appeared, you had disappeared from his life? You didn’t seem to stick around for long anymore, looking for excuses to leave quickly and it almost felt like you were avoiding him now. He missed your presence next to him.

It was funny how he never thought of that. He was so used to having you around that he forgot what it was like to not be around you. Now that he is alone, everything seemed so dull. It was weird to not have the melody of your voice cutting through the silence or the bright smile you carried or the way he felt comfort in your touch or the way…

Well, you get the point.

So after pacing around a bit in his room, and getting scolded by Lynette for sulking around, he decided to go meet you while you were at work.

With a determined expression, he pushed open the door and entered. The familiar chime of the bell greeted him as he stepped inside. The atmosphere of the place was calming, but it lacked the warmth he associated with your presence: you weren’t at the front desk.

Wandering around a bit, he found you in a corner, engrossed in your work, a sight he found oddly comforting yet distant.

“Hey,” he greeted, trying to sound casual.

You glanced up, surprise evident in your eyes before morphing back into a blank stare. Despite that, you did manage to put on a smile. “Lyney, do you need something?”

“Yeah. You,” he responded nonchalantly, relishing in the way your expression got caught between disgust and a sigh.

“Gross!” you huffed, setting aside your work. “Fix your choice of words.”

Lyney grinned, happy to get a reaction out of you. “What I meant is, I missed you.”

Your face falls at his words and he doesn’t understand why. “You, missing me? Did fish start flying?” your voice carries a faint bitterness.

He chuckled at your words, if he had to get something out of you, he had to change his words to get what he wanted. "Maybe they did. Or maybe I just realized how dull everything is without you around."

“What brought you to this sudden realisation?” you asked.

He leaned against the nearby table, crossing his arms. "Well, Lynette pointed out that I've been sulking around like a lost puppy. Got me thinking about why I felt that way and, well, here I am."

You raised an eyebrow. “So it was Lynette. Well, always the voice of reason.”

You turned back to your work but Lyney grabbed your hand making your head turn to him.

“What?” you ask, annoyed now. “Let me do my work. I am busy.”

“Tell me,” he asked, placing your hand on his face and leaning into the warmth it brought. He closed his eyes. “What am I doing wrong? Why do you avoid me?”

You avoid his eyes which are looking at you with a soft expression that you would definitely get lost in and it could easily break your nonchalant facade.

“What am I supposed to say?” he mumbles to himself but you can hear it. “Look you’re my best friend and I love you-”

“What?” your voice comes out louder than intended. Lyney jumps at your voice and in an instant he realises what he just said when he sees the surprised horrified look on your face.

“I did not mean for it to come out like that.” This time Lyney is the one avoiding your gaze. It’s surreal to see him embarrassed and blushing, his face matching his Pyro vision. The air of confidence he had around him had disappeared and all the theatrics were out the window.

Anxiety bubbles in your chest at his choice of words, “You didn’t mean that?”

He laughed weakly, trying to come back to his usual self and realise what he just said. “I did mean what I said. I just, I just didn’t mean to blurt it out like that. You understand?”

You pulled your hand away from his face, flustered. "Lyney, you can't just drop a confession like that and expect me to understand. Besides, how can you say you missed me when you had traveller?"

“So you were jealous of the traveller!” Lyney chuckled heartily and your eyes widened at your slip up. You hid your face behind the palms of your hand, utterly embarrassed. “Don’t worry, my heart is all yours. No traveller can take it from you.”

"You're incorrigible," you muttered, trying to regain your composure.

His grin widened, and he moved closer to your face. "Guilty as charged. But seriously, what's the harm in admitting my feelings?"

You crossed your arms, trying to feign indifference. "You're just saying that to get a reaction out of me."

Lyney chuckled, the sound low and inviting. "Maybe. Or maybe I'm just tired of dancing around the truth. You make everything a little more lively, and I kind of like that."

Your attempt to appear unfazed was crumbling, and you sighed in defeat. "You're impossible, Lyney."

He closed the remaining distance between you, his confidence never wavering as he wrapped his arm around your flustered form. "Only for you," he replied, his hand gently cupping your cheek. "Now, are you going to keep pretending you didn't hear what I said, or are we going to talk about it?"

Your mind raced, your face heating up. "I... I wasn't expecting this," you admitted, your eyes flickering between his lips and the floor.

A shiver ran down your spine when he slowly traced down your jawline to your chin and tilted your face up to meet his eyes. “My eyes are up here,” he said and with a smirk, he pulled back, his expression still brimming with confidence.

“So, what do you say? We meet at our favourite cafe in the evening?” he asked, his tone changing to something more sincere and less flirty.

“Fine.” You sighed, shaking your head. "You're lucky you're charming."

Lyney grinned, "Luck has nothing to do with it, darling. It's all a skill and you love it."

“Don’t flatter yourself too much,” you grumbled.

©️ ladyfocalors

[hearts4juzi]

MY THOUGHTS ON HELLUVA BOSS AS A WHOLE

I have sooo many things to say so I’m putting it here! Unfortunately, I’m not put together enough to compile this neatly. But meh. If there’s a character that’s not here, it means either I have nothing notable to say about them, or anything I had to say has already been said in another character’s portion.

Also I’m not discussing design the only design I REALLY hate is Bee’s because it's cluttered and boring okay? Okay.

I have beef with other designs but not enough to mention

I'm mostly talking about specific characters and relationships, and other things will be talked about in those! :3

Blitzo:

Starting with Blitzo because he’s clearly Viv’s favorite.

Blitzo is actually really well written in my opinion. He’s the flawed character type Viv should apply to ALL her characters. He’s not babied by the narrative half as much as any other character, and his issues are addressed multiple times and left to fester rather than being fixed immediately.

HOWEVER

I think the whole fire being a complete accident dumbed him down a lot. For all the buildup of him being selfish, it ended up thrown out the window because he genuinely had no malicious intent. Why is Barb so aggressive with him if it wasn’t his fault? Why did Fizz attribute it to being his fault with no actual basis. For all he knew, Blitzo could’ve been dead! 

His relationships with his friends, however, are much more interesting. He’s nosy and rude and frustrating to be around, but despite that they stick around. They care about him, but they also understand that he has many issues he refuses to address.

I have more thoughts but they focus on specific characters so I’ll save them for later. I like this guy a lot and I have too much to say about him.

Moxxie:

Moxxie is a great character! I think his backstory lined up nicely with how he actually acts (especially the “sir” bit. I thought that was clever, that he refers to men older than him, even his friends and people he dislikes, as “sir”)

I also understand his insecurities come from his father’s abuse and neglect.

HOWEVERRRR

I think his insecurities are too repetitive. He has THREE episodes where his insecurities need to be acknowledged and every time he goes back to the same shit. Unhappy campers was the first time Millie actually snapped at him over it and the first time it was addressed as hurting his friends (specifically his wife) just as much as it hurts him. He’s constantly needing to be picked up and reassured. Blitzo and him had a talk about his insecurities and yet. Unhappy Campers. And Harvest Moon festival hardly acknowledged his insecurities, however it did show some development at the end where he stood up to people he’d been scared to disappoint. But even then, he falls right back into it. Not only that, but he ended up getting hurt in the games because he insisted on proving himself to Millie. Millie’s never given him a reason to doubt she loves him. She’s so dedicated to him and yet they keep having this conversation.

I also don’t like how often his skills are underestimated by the narrative itself in favor of making Millie “tough” (and I’ll explain why I hate that in better detail when I get to her) and we only really get to see his skills a few times. On top of this, it undermines his role as the weapon guy. I like that he typically has a disadvantage in close combat, but even that’s not consistent! (He kills all those guys at the gas station without any real weapons) It’d be fine if him working on his close-range was actually addressed (instead of his insecurities being done for the 50th time) but it wasn’t, so it’s just. whatever.

I do like that he’s the most sympathetic out of all of them. It’s shown in the pilot first, where he’s visibly upset about hurting an innocent child (ofc he kills him later, but that's when he knows the kid clearly did something. Also he was rude to him.) Murder Family then shows it again, where he feels sympathy until given a reason not to (and even then, he still felt bad about it in the end) and it’s even shown when he was a child, sad to hurt someone he’d never even seen clearly before.

Also the fat shaming jokes aren’t funny especially when we’re supposed to treat it seriously when it happens to Fizz. Like, okay. Ur not funny.

His relationship with Blitzo is very fun as well, and I think it's funny that him being somewhat secretive about his personal life is a constant thing (He didn’t tell Millie about his family, and he doesn’t like Blitzo prying.)

Millie:

Buckle up it’s a woman so I have LOTS to say.

Viv has become kiiiinda infamous for how she treats her female characters, and unfortunately Millie is one of the worst examples.

She has very little depth. Everything I have thought out about her is inferred. I like that she doesn’t have a tragic backstory, but I think it’s weird that she seems to have several conflicts with her family that aren’t addressed.

So, I’m starting with the Inferences I’ve made.

She probably didn’t get a lot of spotlight because she has several siblings (Inferred from Unhappy campers, where she says she likes being in the spotlight for once)

Her parents, while they do love her, are very judgemental and strict based on the ending of Harvest Moon Festival, where her mother scolds her for getting hurt and Moxxie snaps at her.

And She’s competitive, based on her being banned from the games.

All of these things could’ve been easily put in if they’d focused on her instead of Moxxie’s jealousy in Harvest Moon. (Which ended up being unnecessary? It just showed us how whiny he can be tbh… And set up a rivalry against Striker that is brought up once after)

Her whole personality revolves around Moxxie. The Episode about her family revolved around Moxxie. The episode about Moxxie’s family revolved around Moxxie. Every episode about her revolves around her relationship with Moxxie. The one time she goes on a mission separate from him, it’s because he’s tied up and the episode hardly focuses on her even then, because it’s all about Blitzo and Moxxie.

This ends up affecting Moxxie’s character as well. He gets his character undermined by her being the “tough wife” because that’s her only notable trait. And it ends up affecting both of them and making it annoying to watch.

Also she has. Like. Zero genuine interactions with Blitzo. Which is a more personal nitpick but it’s still annoying. I think the only one is the one in Truth Seekers.

Also, it’s very easy to forget that Millie dated Chaz too, because we never find out why she dated him at all, or why she broke up with him. He clearly made her incredibly angry to hold a grudge for this long, but it’s all thrown out because then she suddenly only hates him because he betrayed Moxxie.

When she… Already hated him???? It’s lazy writing and pathetic.

I do like Unhappy Campers, though, and I hope the development in that episode sticks.

Loona:

GOD IM GONNA SOUND LIKE A BLITZO ASS KISSER BUT SHE PISSES ME OFF SO MUCH.

First things first, I don’t like that HER backstory was treated like a traumatic memory for BLITZO. That was dumb. Fuck off. And then it was turned into Stolitz fuel which. God.

Loona is another basic tough girl but she’s also a MEAN GIRL!!! YAAAAY…

She’s horrible. For someone who seems to “secretly care” about Blitzo, she sure does make his life kind of suck.

I could see not liking him. He DID walk into her life and place himself as her father. He’s overbearing and babies her, I GET THAT!

But she’s ridiculous. She has a whole conversation with Via about how she should forgive her dad because he does care about her and then goes and is a bitch to Blitzo again. For no reason. And then she does that stupid fucking side smile like “awww she loves that he was worried about her” i dont care actually. Its not funny and it’s dumb as hell. 

Also Blitzo’s self-loathing is an issue Loona knows about better than anyone. She goes home with him and sees him cross himself out of photos. She knows he sleeps on the couch instead of taking the only room. She knows he loves her, and hates himself, and yet she doesn’t make any effort to be kind to him. The most she does is take him home when he’s drunk. But only after getting defensive when Bee asked her to maybe help him out. She made that situation about HER. Like Bee was attacking HER. WHEN ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO HELP BLITZO???

We know very little about Loona and it’s hard to sympathize with her when all we see is her being horrible to Blitzo who is flawed but trying his best.

Her aggression could be great if it was handled well, (like at the party! I liked how she was with people, it showed off who she is) but with Blitzo it feels like she has soft moments just to have them, while having very little proof she actually cares about him.

It makes her just an add-on to Blitzo and a joke. She has potential.

I’m hoping the show will clean her up a bit later on. I don’t think I’ll ever really like her, but she has potential and I DID enjoy the Queen Bee episode.

Stolas (and his family, in a way. But Stella will get her own part when I critique a few of the villains):

Technically not a main character but eh I have things to say about him.

His writing is very lazy and very. All over the place.

It’s clear they don’t want him to be hated, but in preventing that, they remove any nuance in his relationships

Stella is just an evil bitch with 0 depth to her at all and Stolas is the poor sad husband who was forced to marry her. So cheating is okay.

I actually do think he’s at least a little justified in cheating on Stella in the context the show gave us. I just think that context is lazy and he shouldn’t be justified because it removes depth from both him and his relationships.

Also, he hardly ever starts fights with Stella and it’s always Stella throwing shit around but Via acts like HE’S the shitty one? The line “Why does he hate her more than he loves me” could’ve been GREAT if we say ANY EXAMPLES OF THAT. He doesn’t scream at Stella like Octavia said he does. And she also says him cheating ruined their family but??? It’s implied Stella’s been abusive this whole time!?!??! LIKE WHAT R U ON ABOUT???

His relationship with Blitzo is nice actually. I enjoy the one-sided love and whatnot. However (and this is an issue more so with the fandom? But I feel the need to put it here)

We don’t talk enough about how Stolas abuses his power to be with Blitzo. Using the book as a way to get Blitzo to sleep with him WAS SHITTY but people don’t acknowledge that. Instead, it’s like Blitzo’s the bad guy for… Not being ready to reciprocate Stolas’s feelings????

I just. I think Stolitz is waaay too complicated for how the fandom treats it and if they just. Get together next episode I’ll be pissed.

Stella:

Not a whole lot to say. She just has very little depth. And it’s not just that (bc, all in all, characters like Crimson and Mammon also have very little depth) she’s just made to be unlikeable???

Like she’s meant to be an annoying whiny bitch… Without anything about her you can really like. Which is bad writing.

(GOD VIV MADE VALENTINO MORE LIKABLE THAN STELLA FFS)

She has zero character outside of Stolas despite being a villain. Compared to Mammon (who so far has only been in one episode and is still more likable) and Crimson (Whos character doesn’t revolve around Moxxie) she’s boring.

Crimson has a lot more going on. He has his wife, he has a whole mafia, ect. He’s got a lot going on that people (me) are excited to explore.  He’s very greedy (He’s in the greed ring, after all) and he’s very persistent.

Mammon is made out to be as likable to the characters IN UNIVERSE as possible, while making comments clearly meant to be a dig at very real, greedy people. He’s portrayed as a nice guy who’s not actually nice. But not in a “he’s secretly mean” way but in a “he's very clearly mean he just says it with a good attitude”

Remember that these two have had two and one episodes respectively since being introduced. Stella’s been here since the PILOT and she has zero extra traits aside from spoiled brat and abusive wife. We know nothing about her. How did she grow up? How did she feel about getting married to Stolas? How is she with Via? (Since Via’s NEVER TALKED ABOUT HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER MOTHER)

Also I hate her stupid brother. He literally exists to take any interesting villain traits away from her. I hate him so much.

Now I want to talk about relationships yaaaay

Millie and Moxxie I’ve already talked about thoroughly, and I’ve talked about Stolitz, so I want to discuss Blitzo with Verosika and Barb, as well as Fizz and Ozzie. (I’ve already said all I have to say about Blitzo and Fizz, that being that I think the circus situation being an accident is dumb)

I don’t think there’s much more to talk about aside from those? I dunno.

Blitzo and Verosika:

another example of shitty female writing but it’s not the WRITING exactly, it’s the presentation.

We meet Verosika and she’s IMMEDIATELY made out to be a massive bitch. Despite the fact that Blitzo fucked her over and admitted to it (and had no argument against her that ever proved she sucked in that relationship??) but she’s still presented as being terrible.

I mean, one of the first things she does is assault Moxxie which really wasn’t a necessary scene. I hate it so much. (Add it to the pile of things not taken seriously just because it’s Moxxie bc in Hazbin we’re meant to take that seriously but okay)

She’s made to be as unlikeable as possible despite how often we’re told she’s been wronged by Blitzo.

Blitzo and Barb:

Blitzo and Barb is. Complicated. I think both are in the wrong as much as everyone makes it out to be one or the other. I think it’s because we were presented with it in a weird way.

Again, this would have more impact if the fire wasn’t 100% an accident, but oh well.

I think Barb is justified in not wanting to see her brother. He is a part of her trauma, and she doesn’t want to be reminded of it. Him hunting her down was pretty shitty imo but it doesn’t make him a horrible person. Just ignorant and insensitive. But all we see is Barb yelling at him over something we later learned WASN’T HIS FAULT. It makes it hard to discuss because did she know it was an accident? Where’s their dad? How’s she been? Things that will probably be answered later, but I felt like talking about it anyways.

Fizz and Ozzie:

I have a few complaints about these two that I wanna talk about but they are, aside from Chaggie, my favorite canon hellaverse ship. Also I have a few things to say about the fandom that irritate me.

I like the pipeline of “love is stupid and you should be after lust” to “wow maybe I’m in love” but we didn’t really get to see that? I mean it felt like they were already in love in Ozzie’s so it has less impact. Also we don’t hear a whole lot actually ABOUT the idea of Asmodeous being in love from the POV of others. We see ONE newspaper headline and Blitzo calls them hypocrites and then we’ve got Mammon saying that revealing his secret was a mistake but we have nothing to make us feel like that’s true.

Also, I don’t think Fizz is infantalized the way people say he is. Like. He’s just smaller than Ozzie. And the whole like “C’mon big daddy, pwease” thing was ironic guys cmon. They were meant to look like a lovey-dovey couple because they can’t be lovey-dovey in public, that’s the point. It was to show us how little their relationship actually revolved around lust.

Also I’m a sucker for the big and tiny ship dynamic it’s funny to me <3

I do think it’s stupid that Ozzie builds the dolls despite knowing how uncomfortable Fizz is with them, although I suppose it could’ve been Fizz who insisted it was fine. But still, they don’t expand on that at all. If you don’t like it, why’d you do it? It’s not like Ozzie needs to do what Mammon tells him. He’s a sin, just like him!

And a lot of ppl keep misinterpreting the scene where Ozzie tells Fizz he doesn’t have to leave. I saw some people saying “oh fizz looks upset! Hes upset Ozzie said that!” he was upset because he felt bad for worrying him. He looks sad before apologizing. That’s the point. And we know from the special that what Ozzie said didn’t even hold up! “Oh he asked Blitzo to guard him!” that’s not why he called Blitzo we literally KNOW that was an excuse. Blitzo just happens to also be good at guarding him.

I DO think Ozzie can be overbearing, but tbh if you write a relationship (especially between a deadly sin and his famous imp bf) there’s gonna be issues. It’s not gonna be perfect. You can tell they disagree on things (“I know you’re not big on the whole Mammon thing”) and that’s how relationships are.

I also think the Fizz stuff got shoved on us way too fast. I mean, before all we knew about him was that he had possibly known Blitzo and that he was famous. And he was in a relationship(?) of sorts with Ozzie.

And then suddenly we get his backstory and then we get his whole thing with Mammon within two episodes. I just wish there’d been more buildup? Hell, we know more about these two than we do about LOONA. Which is so annoying.

AAAANYWAYS There’s probably more I could talk about, but this is what I really cared about so. Eh. Thanks for reading!!!!!!!

[heretherebedork]

I’m halfway through episode 8 of wedding impossible and….I’ve yet to see the selfishness that everyone insists is Dohan’s only trait. Every time he thinks something about their marriage is inconveniencing Ajeong he apologizes to her. Ajeong only ever acts happy to marry him to his face and actively participates in the planning, so he can have no idea she’s having second thoughts. I saw people saying he was forcing the idea of moving to new york on her, but she agreed immediately to do it? She didn’t give any indication she would be against it. Now Jihan just found out his brother is gay and his only focus is on how that affects Ajeong, which like I guess it’s not bad to consider her feelings and that Dohan might be deceiving her. But he doesn’t stop for one second to think about his brother? To be sad his brother didn’t feel like this was a part of himself he could share? To worry about the pressure Dohan must be under because of his sexuality to feel like he needs to marry a woman he can never be in love with? But people found Dohan selfish for what, not being able to read his friend’s and brother’s minds?

I really do think the idea of Do Han being selfish is rooted in a very childish and basic idea of having 'no secrets' and that coming out is a 'secret' you keep from other people maliciously.

Thus, Do Han staying in the closet is a selfish act to begin with and that makes him selfish because he's keeping secrets and secrets are inherently selfish!

Or something like that.

Because I don't get it at all.

Do Han is never selfish in the show aside from, like, five minutes in a later episode where he insists that Ah Jeong marry him despire knowing she's in love with Ji Han but that doesn't last long and is obviously him being desperate considering she's his best friend and Ji Han is literally his brother but whatever.

Ji Han, on the other hand? Ji Han is never not selfish. Even when the show is claiming he's being selfless, he's being a selfish twat to either Do Han or Ah Jeong.

The start of the show? Between insisting that Do Han needs to take over the company and marry the CEO despite Do Han repeatedly saying he didn't want either one? Selfish as fuck! Later on, insisting the Do Han was manipulating Ah Jeong into the relationship and threatening him and then completely cutting him out of his life? Selfish! And then doing that press conference without speaking to either of them and still cutting Do Han out of his life? STILL SELFISH!

None of the things that are supposedly so selfless of him are never actually selfless. They're all selfish behavior, in the end, and frankly I don't get what's to like about him.

Do Han was trapped and then the show just kind of forgot about it. And what about his ex? And what about Ji Han maybe acknowledging what he did in his press conference to him? Or what about his grandfather who called him selfish and tried to still make Ah Jeong marry him? We don't get to see any of that but we do get Grandpa apologizing to Ji Han. Oh, but Do Han doesn't get ANYTHING.

Ugh.

Yeah, this show had so much potential but then it didn't know how to show the relationships it needed to show to make it have meaning.

If they had truly shown us Ji Han and Do Han's bond as brothers, this show could have had so much meaning. But that didn't come through at all and so much fell flar.

[everlastiingiimmortals]

A Review on the Genius Society and Dr. Ratio: A Conflict of Philosophy

"The Path of Erudition has neither reason nor logic." - Dr. Veritas Ratio, v1.6

I've been thinking a lot again about Ratio and his opinion on the Genius Society lately, particularly with respect to their reception of him and vice versa. Looking through the voicelines available in game, you'll find that currently (as in not including Aventurine, since he's not released yet), not a single person has any reference to Ratio. Nobody speaks of him, nobody speaks to him in team ups. Not Herta, not Ruan Mei, and I can only hope that Screwllum or Sunday actually talk about him -- but unfortunately it is more likely that the latter will not. For such a big name, properly introduced to us by Asta (who also doesn't have a voiceline on him), he goes... well. Largely unnoticed by the target of his ire.

And sure, it's a gag when it comes to the texts you get from Ruan Mei and Herta in the game, for they have absolutely no clue about his presence on the station. Really, the only acknowledgement we get from them about Ratio is Herta talking him the fuck down in the 1.6 livestream, but that's also not necessarily canon, so I'm dismissing that for now. And I'll admit, this is something that I have talked about multiple times, but I find it so foundational to everything that Ratio is as a person that I want to touch upon it again through the lens of the Genius Society as a properly extensive post.

It's really, really funny in a depressing way that Ratio is so faceless to Ruan Mei and Herta that he can waltz around the station and do whatever he damn well pleases, including bullying Asta and intimidating Arlan and trespassing into the Seclusion Zone supposedly without raising any sort of alarm. He receives no consequence for, as we say, ~pulling some shit~ on someone else's proclaimed property, or even literally stealing the Phase Flame from right under Ruan Mei's nose (which he does return to Screwllum despite clearly being capable of utilizing it effectively and having every reason to keep it for himself), almost as if he was never there. And yet this is exactly the problem, isn't it? This is the exact thing he criticizes about the Genius Society. He doesn't exist to them, because he is not a genius according to Nous.

And the problem with that assessment is not that he isn't good enough. It isn't that he isn't smart enough. He has received the acknowledgement of a Genius Society member, # 55 Yu Qingtu, Ruan Mei's old friend, who commended him on his contributions to the understanding of evolution. He was able to solve three of the mathematical challenges Genius Society member #56 Elias Salas, widely known for his publicity, left behind. It is not that he is not on par with them in terms of intelligence. So why? Why was he not deemed good enough? It's a question he asked himself so many times, and a question he already has the answer to.

He's too compassionate.

And Nous was a machine. What does Nous care of humanity? What does Nous care of anything aside from THEIR primary directive? Nous provides not solutions, but questions. Not care, and certainly not compassion. THEY seek only to know what happened before, what is happening now, and what will, or can, come to be. The Genius Society members are all inherently selfish because they are the same as Nous; they must be the same as Nous, in order to assist in Nous' goal. Even Screwllum, gentleman that he is, operates in self interest. He seeks to understand the origin of his own existence, the birth of his sentience. Even he fails to understand why Ratio pulls his stunt until Ratio explains it to him, because it (likely) simply doesn't occur to him that anyone would stand against the Genius Society in the way that Ratio does, when all Screwllum knows is worship. He is a king.

Ratio tells you exactly why he scorns the Genius Society, 'declares war' on them even, and it's because they don't help anyone but themselves. They don't serve anything but their and Nous' interests. There is, to him, no reason to their behavior, nor is there any logic to their blindly faithful worshipers, who are content to simply exist and orbit them. That's not even living, because they aren't striving for anything. The Geniuses are ruthless, greedy, opportunistic, elitist, and in most cases inconsiderate. Ratio's priority is and always has been helping others. Finding solutions. Lifting up others and leveling the playing field. Curing the sick and diseased. This is why he is a doctor first, a teacher second, a genius third. And it's because of this that Herta and Ruan Mei don't acknowledge him. Even Screwllum, who is at least polite and actually notices and speaks to him, disrespects him, refusing to address him by his proper (and rightfully earned eight times over) title as a doctor, both scholarly and medical. They will never see him as an equal because he cares too much to leave the masses behind and relish in the ivory tower as they have.

So no, he does not want to join the Genius Society anymore. No, he does not want to follow Nous. No, he does not want to give up who he is, or what he's done. Take his morals and limits and his fundamental love for life away from him and he's no better than those who turned their back on the commonfolk to chase the stars alone. And frankly? At this point, he'd rather die than receive Nous' acknowledgement now, after everything he's done and sacrificed. That'd be too little, too late for the boy that once dreamed of opening the doors to that beautiful library, that temple to the mind, without any reservations. What a sick joke.

[deathbxnny]

hiii :)) can i request hi3rd men (kalpas,kosma,kevin,su) with a child/young teen!herrscher reader?

basically they got captured by fire moth but they still have humanity in them, so they are not dangerous unlike the other PE herscherrs

make it platonic thank tyouu

-----♡

A/N: Hello Anon! I love this idea so much, so thank you for the great request!<33

Content: Fluff, angst if you squint, platonic, fatherly relationships, child Herrscher reader, mentions of battle, kinda unserious at times, sfw

Reader has no set pronouns!

((Not fully proofread))

-----♡

》Kosma

When Kosma was assigned to taking care of you, he couldn't help but sigh softly. He already had a little sister to take care of... and now he also had to deal with a young Herrscher child too? He didn't know what to do with you at first, yet decided to not treat you any different than he treated Griseo. Even if he was still distant, until he began warming up to you.

He was able to easily see past you being a Herrscher, mainly because it was obvious that you were still human deep down and were practically harmless. He sometimes even forgets, that you're a Herrscher because of it. He just sees no reason to treat you any differently than a child, even with you being a supposed "monster", that you were obviously not.

Despite everything however, he still keeps you out of trouble at all times and often keeps you close to Griseo, so that he can keep an eye on you two. He may not talk or interact with you much, but you can still tell that he does care about you alot. Griseo does too, in her own way.

-----♡

》Kalpas

Whoever decided to assign you to him, must've really not liked you. And he didn't either, at first at least. He made it very much known too, until he made you cry. He panicked, not knowing what to do, before he just patted your head a little harshly and told you to knock it off and that he didn't mean it... kinda.

Since he's now stuck with you, he at first tries to avoid you, only watching you from afar for a while with a grumpy expression, until he concluded that you were indeed not dangerous, which confused him a little. But alas, it also made him quite curious, despite his initial annoyance, which made him eventually warm up to you a little.

In other words, he sees potential in you becoming stronger and therefore trains with you often, so that he can strengthen your abilities as a Herrscher. This actually makes you two bond alot quicker and proves even further, that you aren't evil. Perhaps you weren't all that bad... not that he'd ever tell you that.

-----♡

》Kevin Kaslana

Kevin was sceptical about you at first and even nearly decided to get rid of you himself... until he noticed that you were very much harmless. You had the humanity that Herrschers usually lacked and that made him immediately find interest in you. Though, mostly only for selfish reasons at first.

He only ever saw you as a weapon for the organisation, until he eventually began seeing you nearly like an actual child, the more time he spent with you. It was hard not to, when you looked and acted like one.

It may seem like he doesn't care about you, but he does, just not in an obvious or direct way. He takes care of everything you may need or gives you anything you want. He claimed it was to keep you calm and obedient for the organisation. But it was really just because he couldn't help but feel satisfied and warm, when he saw your innocent eyes gleam with joy, everytime he gave you something nice.

-----♡

》Su

He just immideatly accepts you into the organisation and makes sure to make you feel as welcomes as he can. He completely overlooks the fact that you're a Herrscher, mainly because he already knows you're harmless. He's calm and patient with you and doesn't mind, if it takes you a while to adjust to everything.

He acknowledges, that you're just a child and therefore treats you as one. He keeps you out of harms way and provides you with everything you may need. Ofcourse, he still keeps an eye on you, just in case your abilities get out of control. But he'll help you with those too eventually.

Su will also makes sure, that the organisation doesn't use you for anything dangerous and that you're always close to him. He becomes quite protective and gentle with you overtime and perhaps even sees you as his little sibling or child. Either way, you're in good hands with him.

-----♡

A/N: I hope this is okay! Thank you again for the request!<33

[yanderes-galore]

I'd really love if you did a romantic concept of Snotlout from HTTYD if you're down! Thx! ^^

Sure! I'll see what I have for this, had to do some research on his wiki. Hopefully I'm familiar enough with him to make him sound in character ^^

I feel I need to research his character more... but how's this?

Yandere! Snotlout Concept

(Ft. Implied Platonic! Hookfang)

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Swearing, Arrogance, Manipulation, Delusional behavior, Jealousy, Stalking, Possessive behavior, Blackmail mention, Snotlout craves validation, Clingy behavior, Dubious relationship, Threats from Hookfang implied.

Snotlout is arrogant... but not as bad as people say.

He has trouble with relationships which might make him desperate when he has an obsession.

Many dragon riders tend to have their dragon aid them in their obsession

Hookfang... Hookfang helps Snotlout when he feels like it.

Snotlout is Obsessive, Self-Absorbed, Possessive, Manipulative, Protective, Delusional, and Clingy.

He comes off as extremely arrogant, even when he's with his darling.

Although towards his darling it's aimed to impress you.

There's times Snotlout is an ass, but he gets softer with time around you.

To Snotlout, you're like the most important person to him.

Getting your approval is always a must.

Snotlout is selfish and would sacrifice others to have you.

What I mean is... he will put others down and make you dislike those around you to look better.

This is expected from him, honestly.

Snotlout is the type to daydream of his crush despite what kind of person he is.

He freaks out when people catch him with a distant stare into nowhere and talk to him to get his attention.

Snotlout wants his darling to think he's cool, to praise him with adoration in their eyes.

His method of obtaining such a dream isn't all that moral but...

He's stubborn and confrontational.

Snotlout is obsessive about you.

He crudely flirts with you and even if you say no... he'll continue.

He's too determined to back down from you.

He'll be told off again and again but never truly give up on you.

His crush most likely develops before any friendship between you does.

You do tolerate him as a friend... yet anything further and you shut things down.

You denying his feelings harms his ego...

Snotlout does stalk.

He feels jealousy build in him when he sees you with other vikings.

Oh... his blood boils when he sees you get along with Hiccup.

Snotlout wants you to think he can provide for you.

He wants you to acknowledge his skills!

He wants you to accept his feelings even more.

His attempts to impress his crush comes off as annoying bragging.

He would have Hookfang perform tricks for you to impress you... but the dragon never wants to cooperate-

In fact, when Hookfang does try to help Snotlout have you, it's at the wrong time and stresses Snotlout out more than anything.

For example, Snotlout wants to have you talk to him more and give him attention... only for Hookfang to drag you to the man kicking and screaming.

Snotlout wanted to curl up and die.

Snotlout gets jealous and can be possessive.

Such feelings only intensify when he eventually has you two "together" one way or another.

He hates seeing you exclude him and often forces himself to be the center of your attention.

He's stubborn and will argue about it.

Snotlout is manipulative.

He takes advantage of situations to aid himself in his obsession.

He'll save your life and expect you to adore him for it...

He'll cheer you up just to steal a hug from you...

If he can find something to blackmail a friend of yours? He will.

His ideal situation is to be the only one you rely on.

Snotlout doesn't seem like a yandere who'd kill out of jealousy.

He may kidnap but even then he might not.

Snotlout craves praise and adoration from his darling more than anything, he actually doesn't want to kidnap you or harm you.

He may fight someone and wound them, however.

Snotlout is not always a bully.

The closer he gets with his darling... the softer he becomes.

Snotlout would love to hold you or be held.

He craves both verbal and physical affection from you and is tame once obtaining it.

Hookfang actually grows to enjoy your company.

The dragon will actually listen to you more than his own rider.

Much to Snotlout's annoyance.

Both Snotlout and his dragon are protective of you.

Snotlout wants you to think he can defend you, that's he's strong and can provide.

He essentially wants to be your manly boyfriend.

Hookfang is protective because he can sense his rider's adoration towards you... also the dragon likes your presence.

Snotlout is not overprotective.

He's not suffocating with it and just watches to see when he should try to help you.

He takes advantage of the situation to look good.

Snotlout is delusional in a few ways.

He thinks he's better than he actually is.

He's actually a bit insecure, too.

Snotlout also feels you love him like he does you deep down.

Even if you don't show it... he feels you must be shy and too intimidated by him.

Again... he's persistent and stubborn with his feelings.

He probably would never just "give up" on having his darling.

Lastly, Snotlout can be clingy once he manages to have a relationship with you.

Forced dating or not, Snotlout doesn't like to leave your side.

He's always holding onto you and hates the idea of parting.

If someone brings this up, he's defensive.

He then accuses others of trying to separate you two.

Hookfang may intimidate you into dating his rider.

They may not get along all the time but the large Monstrous Nightmare knows what his rider wants.

The dragon would never harm you for Snotlout, yet he would "encourage" you to give your rider a chance.

Snotlout never ordered Hookfang to do this.

Overall, Snotlout is an arrogant yandere who craves his darling's affection.

He knows he isn't the best person...

But he'd do anything to hear an "I love you, Snotlout" fall from your lips, including sabotage.

[mikuthedragon]

Can you do a link x otherworldly char? Lol 😭

Hiii precious Loulu anon, I'm sorry I took so long I hope you enjoy 😭

"She was a fairy"

Link x Fem!Fairyreader

Sypnosis : A fairy got lost in another world. Little does she know, her world was gonna be rocked upside down by a young hylian knight.

Our story begins in a far far away land, called the Kingdom of Hyrule. You are a fairy, you came from another realm called the Enchantraverse. You were on your way to school when you got lost in your portals and have no way back home..

So you explore! You find there are other fairies in Hyrule, they aren't exactly like you but you start to live among them and you couldn't be happier.. It sucks to be away from your friends, family and home but the fairies in Hyrule prove to be warm and quickly become your family away from home.

Then one day, your friend Navi brings back a blonde Hylian boy in the fairy sanctuary. He's... charming ? He ate rocks during lunchtime and insisted he didn't mind the "crunchy" texture of it.. During the few days he stayed, your eyes couldn't help but wander to the blonde Hylian boy. On one of these days, you overheard him say his name was Link. Link.. One eavesdropping turned into three, which turned into 7? You don't know why you continued but you just had to hear more.

Despite his first impression of eating rocks, you quickly realised, he was actually really quiet. Oh no, you weren't gonna learn anything more about him at this rate.. In the midst of overthinking, it's interrupted by-

"Hello.. I saw you looking at me. Do I have something on my face ?"

You were a little surprised but you just chuckled and said you admired (his horse jk) how he could warm up to everyone so fast.

"Oh. Yeah.. So tell me about yourself" He said quietly. You noticed how he put his hand behind his head and tried to avoid looking you in the eye.. but the thing is you were also avoiding his gaze Tvt

You were stuttering a bit but you started talking about your favorite meals which turned into a talk about your family and later how much you love the fairies.. and oh it's time for everyone to go to bed already.. Link just smiled and nodded the whole time but somehow the day passed so fast and you said so much and and-

This occurrence happened a few times, during lunch, dinner.. during the strolls he took to gather more materials and the other walks you took in the forest to pick wild strawberries to make really sweet jam..

During one sunset, Link grabbed your hands, grabbed you by the waist and whispered in your ear "You're my best friend, thank you so much for being here with me"..

...

THAT'S IT ?

You were holding back tears as he waved goodbye and rode Epona. You don't know why you were about to cry but it felt more bittersweet the more time Link spent away from you. Until..

You noticed Link and how popular he was with the other fairies. The feelings of jealousy bubbling in you, you didn't want to acknowledge it but you have feelings for him.. You were biting back your laughter at the realization. How petty and stupid you were. So what did you do ? There's only one thing to do. Sigh

Just wait until he confesses his feelings to you. ;--;

You waited a few days which turned into a few weeks and at some point.. You did become closer to Link, you're now more precious to him than anything else in the world but he never uttered he loved you romantically..

You were dwelling on your feelings and sadness. In the background, Link was always there watching over you. He started getting more worried.. Were you homesick ? Would he have to fight until the ends of time or the universe or whoever had the power to bring you home ?

He wanted to see you smile, and he dreamed of holding you in his arms and growing old together in Hyrule. But he knows how selfish it is and decided to stay quiet.. In the end, to see you happy was what made him happy and since the day he met you he always spared his feelings for your happiness and livelihood.

A few weeks of seeing you like this and Link decides to go on a mission. He leaves without saying a word of where he's going in fear you follow him. He doesn't want you to get hurt.

You were sad when you weren't more than friends but to see Link leave without saying anything was even worse. While he was gone, you never left your house outside of work.. Your friends and Navi were especially worried..

.. Then one day, in the first rays of sunlight, you hear Epona and realise Link's back! You were leaping with joy, and you decide, you don't care what happens, if he rejects you or whatever! You just know to spend time without Link and without him knowing how you feel was just too much! If he doesn't like you, you'll just make him fall in love with you!

You fly out of the house at (1000% speed jk) an alarming speed. Link barely blinks before he realises you crashed right into him. He's surprised and is about to cry, during his trip he missed you so dearly and he finds it harder and harder not to keep you here with him in Hyrule. He hugs you tight, he's kinda squeezing your wings ouch!

"Y/N, why do you torture me so? How am I supposed to send you home if you keep tugging at the strings of my heart ? I was taught to serve other people before myself. It's my job as a knight, but you, who has me in the palm of your hand. How are you capable of making me both ready and happy to abandon my principles as a knight.. Y/N i'm sorry, I can't send you home even if I have the portal maker right here. I really love you from the depths of my heart. What am I to do" He sobbed

Hm.. what a funny coincidence, you hold back the urge to pinch his cheeks and say you don't love him back just because he left you alone to "make you happy" supposedly.

Instead of the tempting proposition of laughing at his pointless demise, you just bury your own head into his neck and smile. You look him in the eyes and mouth the words "I love you too" and proceed to kiss him on the lips whilst you both ride Epona..

Fin~

[deadbydangit]

With a reader that's a crybaby

Trapper, Trickster, Ghostface, Dwight, Jeff, Claudette

Trapper

Oh God, please. Please just- just stop crying.

Evan really doesn't know how to comfort others.

His upbring made him callus and unable to feel any empathy.

In his book, crying meant weakness; and weakness meant his father would do something terrible.

If you're crying because you're hurt, he'll patch you up, wipe your tears, and sigh.

A few head pats is all you're going to get.

But he means well.

If you're crying because of someone else (as in they said something or hurt you) he'll head out only to return a short while later with hands covered in blood.

No one disrespects his lover.

Despite his cold outward nature, he really hates seeing you cry; he's just not great at consoling.

He really does love you, and it truly pains him to see you so upset.

Give him time and lots of love. He'll eventually come around.

Trickster

He can be kind of a crybaby himself.

More whiny than anything.

"Ugh, Y/N I broke a nail" that type.

He can be selfish and has a hard time sympathizing with other's plights.

If you're upset because you're hurt, well, you're probably going to have to deal with that on your own.

In fact, if he gets hurt he's going to be the one coming to you in tears because he got some minor injury like a paper cut.

If you're crying because someone insults you, then fear not. This man will shower you with compliments in the most poetic string of words you've ever heard.

By the time he's through speaking, you might just be as arrogant as he is.

He'll drown you in gifts, maybe give you a make over.

Might go kill that survivor later, all in your name.

Ghostface

You expect this little shit to have empathy?

Ha, in your dreams.

First, he's taking pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

This asshole has an album of just you in tears.

Laughing at your misery.

If anything, he's going to tease you so relentlessly, you'll cry even more.

If you get hurt, he's laughing about how you did it.

"Ha, dumbass. I can't believe anyone could be that stupid."

But he'll patch you up after.

If you get really hurt, he's willing to help you walk and get minor things you need.

Lord knows he's been in more than a few scraps that left him crawling.

If it's because someone hurt your feelings, well you're gonna toughen up regardless.

Eventually, this man's teasing would prepare you for any insult hurled your way.

If you are very upset, he'll swallow his pride and try to comfort you. Usually by telling stories or jokes to get you to laugh.

Eventually, you'll forget why you were even crying in the first place.

Dwight Fairfield

He's pretty sensitive himself, you'll find yourself comforting him frequently.

But if you're upset, the first thing he'll do is assume he did something.

He'll sputter out a chain of flustered apologies, probably end up crying himself.

Once he figures out he isn't the problem, he'll be the best damned emotional support you could ask for.

Are you hurt? He's going to patch you up. Kiss every inch of the wound. Tell you how brave you are for getting through the incident.

He'll do everything in his power to make you as comfortable as possible in order to reduce the pain.

Someone hurt your feelings? How dare they!

Threatens to go talk with them, maybe even beat them up.

You know he won't do that; but it's the thought that counts.

Oftentimes, he'll start crying because you're crying. You both cry together, then end up falling asleep in each other's arms.

Jeff Johanson

Oh darling.

This man has a heart of gold and you can't convince me otherwise.

He's the master of consoling.

If you want to talk, he'll listen like his life depends on it.

Because you ARE his life.

Want to cry it out? He'll be there for hugs.

He's a living teddy bear.

Want to talk? He'll listen and offer advice.

You'll feel acknowledged and heard.

Got hurt? Let's take care of those nasty injuries and take a moment to breathe.

He'll kiss every inch of the wound if it makes you feel better.

Someone hurt your feelings? He's going to speak with them.

Not in a violent way like some others. He's a gentle giant and will often come back with the person who made the comment in the first place.

He will be the mediator between the other person and you. Having you work out your differences and finding ways to think of an alternative response to the situation.

Seeing you cry breaks his heart.

But crying and being weak is just part of being a person. He knows that.

Express your emotions, he'll always be there for you.

Claudette Morel

Oh you poor dear.

Are you hurt? What happened?

Concern will fill this girl's eyes as she holds you in her arms.

She'll rock you back and forth in an attempt to quell your sobs.

If you got hurt, you won't have to worry for a second.

She's prepared with an arsenal of herbs and medical knowledge.

She'll patch you up in no time. You won't be hurt for long.

Did someone say something cruel?

She'd been bullied since she was a child. Considered abnormal by other children.

She'll be your moral support, offering advice and listening to you.

[lansplaining]

Protagonist-centric readers will do anything but admit that their MCs did lie and impact other characters' decisions. It's not the side-characters fault that they did not know the whole truth because *drum roll* they weren't told anything and/or was deliberately lied to.

LQQ being hated bc he impaled XL in a coffin for a long time but like... XL admitted to killing the King of Yong'an and committing the bloody massacre so what was LQQ supposed to do? Sit down and ask his Guoshi for the truth when we know damn well XL will just continue to admit to it? XL didn't want to tell LQQ the truth to protect LQQ and the two groups of people, and that's completely admirable, but what LQQ saw was his Guoshi stabbing a sword through his father's chest and admitting to everything so him reacting the way he did was completely valid. The single act of killing the king was treason 100x already, and as the son of the king, LQQ's reaction was not out of the ordinary. we don't want XL to suffer and be even more traumatized, but XL already knew that the consequences wouldn't be pretty and lied anyway. idk why fans can't grasp that.

Or for JC's case, HE IS LITERALLY THE ONE PERSON ALIVE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD WHO ACTUALLY DESERVES SOME KIND OF EXPLANATION FROM WWX HIMSELF, THE MAN WHO ACCIDENTALLY CAUSED WN TO KILL JXZ AND INDIRECTLY KILLED JYL DESPITE CLAIMING THAT HE HAD EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL. These two aren't strangers to JC at all; they're his sister and his brother-in-law, or more importantly, his sister's beloved husband and father of his nephew. He deserves to be angry and bitter at the one person who did all that, and there is no time limit for how long he should remain bitter and angry about it. The GCT was a whole mess and they both made HUGE sacrifices out of love but the only one whose sacrifice is made invalid is JC because one, it was short-lived and two, they already didn't like JC so no matter what he does for WWX, it will be seen as something negative.

I don't even want to get into the hell-hole regarding LXC but... damn...

the revelations after a character found out the truth should be "oh man, so that's what really happened" not "this character was a dick because they didn't know about the major sacrifice the MC made for them that would only be revealed many years later, and it's not even voluntary because someone else told the truth, not the MC themself"

I'm not the first nor am I the last person to say this but a protagonist is just a character we see, mainly, from their POV or the character that we follow the story through. That's all there is to it. I feel like a lot of danmei readers have yet to read a variety of stories about an MC that's completely shit but serves to tell a story just as important and interesting.

okay, first of all-- people hate LQQ?? The sweetest, most violent himbo of all????????????? even Xie Lian doesn't hate him for what he did??????

i have nothing to say to such people

i'll be honest, it is really only relatively recently that i've fully come to realise how completely Jiang Cheng deserves an explanation or even just acknowledgement of any kind from Wei Wuxian, and how cowardly and selfish it is that Wei Wuxian refuses to give it. and I say this with a heart full of love for WWX-- he is dealing with Some Trauma (tm) but that doesn't mean his refusal to even speak to JC isn't hurtful and unfair, even if it's what he needs... but man everyone in fandom and fanworks is focused on WWX taking what he needs in this situation and not even remotely considering that just maybe he also justifiably owes something to someone he harmed and who he supposedly (formerly?) cared about (i think he still cares)

the lan xichen thing is literally inexplicable to me and i will never understand it

[yuikomorii]

I think it’s reasonable why some Ayato stans can’t stand Yui given that she doesn’t always treat him in the fairest way either. I’m not condoning how he acted in haunted dark bridal, they were pretty much all assholes and Yui really deserved much better than that but what bothers me is the way she started being written strictly in his routes after the first game.

Before developing my point of view, I want to mention that I did read all his routes and I will intelligibly write down why I don’t have the most positive opinion about Yui there. In more blood, she notices something changed about him. The whole route was about her crying for his love despite the fact that she did nothing other than give him blood. She knew he was struggling, but instead of trying to understand and comfort him, she only cared about her own feelings being reciprocated. There can’t be love when there’s no communication and the fence scene only proved that what she felt for him was mere obsession. He said it in an unserious way but she literally was on the verge of falling down and Ayato was shocked as she did that too. The only reason why I think he expressed his feelings after is cuz he was too afraid of how crazy about him she was to the point that she’d rather end it all than not get his love. I gotta admit that she redeemed herself in the vampire ending, I felt love there but route based she wasn’t shining.

He is seen sacrificing himself for her a lot of times, getting attacked by the wolves, jumping in flames for her, saving her from a bomb explosion, studying for her, getting into university for her, wanting to buy a house just for her, defending her from everyone that says anything negative about her wether that’s a random person or any of his brothers, mother or father.

Then we have Yui that does nothing for him in return. I better not hear ‘She is kind and cooks for him!’ because that doesn’t even come close to all the things he did for her well-being. Don’t get me started on how she tries making him face his abuser in Dark Fate and never defends him when he’s being slandered in front of others, even when they are in the wrong and harming her man. I saw some potential in her in lost eden but I took it back after she started taking such stupid decisions that only made Ayato feel even more guilty and sad rather than actually helping him. I can say the same about chaos lineage. She let his brothers make him feel like trash again, despite feeling bad for him in her thoughts, and only went to comfort him when he was starting to get depressed. Personally I would much rather prefer someone taking my side in front of others than putting honey around me in private. I swear this girl always talks but decides being quiet when she has to use her voice the most *face palm*

That is so ironic because she always expects him to save her ass and protect her all the time when she gets into troubles. At this point you should take a shot everytime Yui says ‘I know Ayato will save me. I know Ayato will protect me.’

Their relationship is not equal and will never be. You guys just like throwing the word ‘healthy’ only when the man loves the woman more but when it’s the other way around, then it’s seen as ‘toxic’.

I do think Yui is worthy of love but she’d fit better with someone that wouldn’t go to great lengths for her 24/7. Ayato is way too passionate and honestly he deserves someone more supportive and useful than her.

// Wow, that was long.

I've discussed this question with several of my friends, and while I generally agree with part of what you said, there are a few points I'd want to clarify.

Yui's actions in MB were essential to the plot of the route. When falling in love for the first time, I think a lot of teenage girls would behave similarly to her . She also acknowledged being selfish in the second last chapter, and it showed character growth when she came to terms with it and began to accept Ayato for who he is, flaws and all. I get that it's not particularly enjoyable to witness someone cry for almost the entire route, but she learnt something valuable from it, therefore I no longer see a problem. It was also confirmed in a book that Ayato was in love with her from the start. He was just confused and didn’t know how to properly explain his feelings due to the curse and trauma, therefore it’s not like he started dating her out of pity or anything like that. I developed this better here, feel free to read it if you want.

I would never consider her a bad girlfriend though. Even if she occasionally doesn't take everything as seriously as she’s supposed to, I believe she is doing her best. Yui isn't the type of person to take advantage of someone else's selflessness, and I have no doubt that she is very grateful of everything Ayato does for her.

Ayato is a bit more involved in the relationship but I don’t think he minds that…? I assume Yui's happiness is enough for him because he never complained about that matter. She still gives him blood, shows him affection and makes him laugh, even when it's not her aim to do so. It’s probably not the best comparison, since he’s putting his life in danger for her, but it’s still something.

Regarding the —not defending— part, I have witnessed several fans express the same displeasure, although I can't recall the specific situations they were referring to. Anyway, yeah, I kinda agree with that because everyone is capable of defending their S/O, so I'm not sure why they nerfed Yui on that.

It could also be the fact that Ayato is always shown as being really strong, therefore Yui probably doesn’t think he is THAT affected by those words. We don’t even know if she is very aware of how his brothers and family treated him in the past. For the players or readers, it makes sense why he gets insecure and feels threatened by their words or lashes out at them, but for someone who is unaware of the truth, it's a different story entirely.

On top of that, Ayato is the main hero. The heroine can shine in other routes but the main hero is the one who needs to show in his own one why he was chosen for the main hero position.

I wouldn’t say she’s not useful or supportive enough, she’s just softer in his routes, which I believe makes more sense to her character. Compared to other routes, she has it quite easy in his ones (except for the bad endings where they’re either both problematic or have to suffer), so I can see why Yui is more bubbly and carefree there. Besides, they both seem to be into the traditional relationship roles.

[littlemissmanga]

Just saw this on a poll and it gave me a little rage so, here we go ...

E. K. Johnson’s Queen’s Shadow established Padmé as bisexual, harboring unacted upon feelings for her handmaiden Sabé. This was further explored in the final book of the trilogy Queen’s Hope, where it became a tragic love triangle for Padmé between Sabé and Anakin. Sabé represented ideology, duty, and thinking about the bigger picture. Being with Anakin represented forgetting all these things, a selfish love where she could just be herself. As the movies already established, she chose Anakin. And we all know how that went.

Can we not have the whole "Padme was punished for choosing the selfish love" thing???

And this isn't me being the biggest Padme stan like bby can do no wrong.

It's me acknowledging that you SHOULD be able to be free, be who you are, be yourself, be open and vulnerable and unmask in your love. You SHOULD get to lower your guard and cast off your responsibilities within reason in your relationship with your person. THAT'S the benefit of being in a relationship. ESPECIALLY if you're, say, barely 27 and have been forced into adulthood and responsibility OVER OTHERS since you were 12????

Like, I hate that people think Padme is punished by the narrative BECAUSE she chose Anakin. Anakin fucked up and that's the only reason everything went "how it went."

Sure, you also have to keep your love in check - like anything else good in your life, you can't let it consume you. Which Anakin did, and Padme, despite seeing the problem with that, didn't fight it, so I can kinda see a bit of an argument there, but not really because no one is responsible for the actions or decisions of their partner! That's abusers' logic.

But Anakin was the actor, not Padme. She never let her love for Anakin stop her from doing what she felt needed doing for the sake of the Republic, so her choosing Sabe (while a really cool "What if" and they would have been fucking badasses together) WOULDN'T have saved the galaxy.

Anakin was always going to be consumed by his insecurities - if not for Padme, Palpatine would have found another way to create a rift between Anakin and the council. We already know Anakin was resenting Obi-Wan (despite his love for him) even before he reunited with Padme.

Padme choosing to indulge in a love that valued HER for her and not for what she does for others IS NOT WHY THE REPUBLIC FAILED OR WHY PADME DIED. She, like all people, is entitled to that kind of love.

She died cause the man she loved didn't really love her, just the idea of her, and let that corrupt him.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Sorry to any of my friends on here who have heard me say this for the third time now but I cannot get over the way Utsukushii Kare shows us the ways in which negative self-perception can impact EVERYONE.

The way that Hira believes so strongly that he is unworthy of love, that he is nothing but a servant to a God that he completely writes off Kiyoi's feelings for him. The way that Hira is so comfortable in his status a whipping boy for Kiyoi just honored to even have attention because he doesn't feel that they even belong on the same planet that he is blissfully ignorant to the harm he himself is causing to Kiyoi. The way Hira thinks so poorly of himself that he promises Kiyoi that he will never meet his parents and the way the audience can see Kiyoi's heart shatter and the way Hira can't. The way Hira says "I don't want to understand you," as if that isn't the most insulting, belittling, and tragic thing you could say to someone who loves you.

Every strong emotional outburst we get from Kiyoi in Season 1 and Season 2 stems directly from Hira's absolutely dogshit self-image and always centers on the fact that Kiyoi likes him and Hira is not doing anything to acknowledge or honor Kiyoi's feelings despite Hira claiming to like and love Kiyoi.

Hira thinks of himself so far below Kiyoi that he is almost able to obliterate three years of Kiyoi feeling comfortable and safe and secure in this relationship with the man he loves with just a single sentence.

The way that Hira is so worried that Kiyoi will leave him, that he never tells Kiyoi anything, that Kiyoi doesn't get to be a partner, that Kiyoi instead has to question his relationship to Hira because Hira's friend knows more about him than Kiyoi does despite them living together, despite them loving each other. Hira does not allow himself to accept Kiyoi's love but Kiyoi doesn't know that until he has spent three years of his life loving someone that refuses to accept that love.

And it's not like Hira isn't harmed by this too, until someone outside of their relationship points it out, Kiyoi can't see the ways in which he is, intentionally or unintentionally, exploiting Hira's devotion to him. Letting Hira cook for him every night, etc. Hira gets in his own way with the photography contest because he is so disillusioned with his relationship to people that he edits them out of his photos. I really like that Hira is called selfish to his face. Because he is.

It makes me think, and I think @bengiyo said exactly the same thing in his and @shortpplfedup's podcast episode about UK, about the conversation someone had where they were discussing with a loved one of some sort that they always worried that they were annoying them or that they secretly hated them, and the loved one said "I wish you wouldn't think of me that way."

I will be interested in seeing the movie if I can ever get my hands on it, but literally my only criticism of this show in any capacity is that I wish Season 2 was 6 episodes instead of 4 because I really wanted more time to be given to Hira learning to see or starting to understand how much he has been hurting others by refusing to accept they love him.

[nirashiyahell]

My Problem With The Fandom's Treatment Of Niragi; And Why His Fans Are Apart Of It.

Wow, a controversial post about a controversial character! Have fun reading and leave your opinions in the comments or reblogs, remember we are all human beings, thanks:)

Let me preface that I absolutely DO NOT CONDONE HIS ACTIONS and you are able to like/enjoy a character without agreeing with their actions or what they stand for, which brings me to my first point: he is not a good person in any shape or form, he does not have decent morals, and he is not a good. person, but no one in the show is. 1. The Gray Morality Of The Characters In Alice In Borderland

This is something I had caught on to by I think near the end of the first season, and it was reinforced throughout the second season of the show, let's take one of the most beloved characters, Chishiya, as an example: his character obtains a large favoritism boost because of the handsomeness of the actor he was played by, which is an unfortunate curse that many medias face, I say curse because most of these characters are separated from their complexity, and the only striking factor they posses is how physically attractive they are.

Chishiya Shuntaro, while not the main character, has quickly become a fan favorite because of the reasons stated above, now let's look at what makes him a really good antagonist (please note: I will be comparing both the LA and manga!); to start off, he is incredibiy selfish, a trait one must have to survive the games, he is shown to be a very "lone-wolf" type of character since his first few seconds of screen time, despite having Kuina by his side, which is a change that differs from the source material, likely made to have him appear as more likeable; in all the games we see him in season one, he is almost never in a group for more than a few seconds, in the hide and seek game, he wanders off to search for a high position to watch over the players and how the shooter moves, thus isolating himself. He does not view the players as people, surviving in his same situation, but rather shields, guinea pigs, chess pieces, anything that he can manipulate; he makes Arisu trust him enough to manipulate him in the 10 of Hearts game, and does not care of the known consequences that Arisu will face for that. The whole thing about his character in the first half, is that he cares only himself surviving, at the cost of other people, no matter who they are.

He lacks empathy and simpathy, well withing the entire season and the first half of the second season, I dislike this season in regards to how they handled his character, before reading the manga, I was not aware of how many panels were left out that showed, empathized his selfish nature, instead putting him in a game he wasn't even apart of in the first place, all for the sake of some sympathy towards him: all in all, I did like the Jack Of Diamonds game and understand why the writers chose this path for him, and Ippei's interactions with him were a good parallel (and a possible moral dilemma) for him, Ippei was sweet, selfless and caring, traits Chishiya does not have, they end up forming a bond that is quickly cut off because of Ippei's sad death, he acknowledges the boy's kindness, and then returns to his former self; he does not show any more compassion, until a crucial game. The King Of Diamonds was also a game that could have been done a bit better in my opinion, yes it's still a great arc, but it neglected a very important dynamic with a character; Daimon, though again, very short-lived, the interactions with her showed that Chishiya does not inheretly hate humanity, more so he does not care for it, most of the time. Kuzuryu was done well, he revealed a worldview that Chishiya was blind to until then, and actually feels something rather than indifference for the ex-lawyer's death.

Arisu, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Chishiya, he's the protagonist that would be deemed "morally white" and he is at the start, but his morals have changed in the course of the show, because who does not adapt does not survive: he is a very emotional character, he lets his heart speak rather than his head, this is shown to be a disadvantage, as he gets manipulated easily, but it is also why Arisu gained allies in almost every game, because he was able to show compassion towards other people, he cared about saving others, even if it put him in danger. He suffers for every death he comes across, blaming himself for it because he believes he could have done something, but that does not mean that he's not morally gray; Arisu, for the most part, is stuck in a toxic cycle of self-hatred, which lead to him either shutting down or having miscommunication with the people he cared about, like in the King Of Clubs.

Niragi, in contrast to the other two characters is A VILLAIN. A villanous character is meant to oppose the main cast and bring constant or reaccuring conflict to the story, they have twisted morals, selfish motives, and a foul mouth: this character does things that the audience is SUPPOSED to be against, whenever something happens, the audience is actively NOT supposed to condone it, a villain is meant to be disliked, but it's not the end of the world if he does end up being liked. Niragi Suguru is an extreme of that stereotype, his worldview is animalistic, he sees people as weak, things to prey upon, which is why he attempted to prey on Usagi during the panic of the game in the end of the first season: again, I am no way defending his actions or justifying him, he's a terrible person who committed terrible things, but he is an extremely well-written character. Niragi does not start off as what he is currently, pre-Borderlands, HE is the person people prey on, he is put in vulnerable situations that often cause him to be physically injured, and no one cares, therefore his anger goes unchecked, untreated which leads to mental health issues: before the Borderlands, he is not agressive, he is not assertive, he is not power hungry, he was a victim of serious, repeated bullying that went unseen by people he was meant to trust: in the Borderlands, there is NO law, NO social etiquette, just humans fighting for their lives, this is where Niragi gets the confidence he lacked all those years, this is where he becomes the predator and ceased to be the prey.

2. Niragi's Fans

Niragi is physically attractive, his actor is pretty, apperently that's enough to be defended for, and the reason why someone could possibily not hate his character to death. Liking a character based on looks solely should not be considered liking them at all, and it should absolutely NOT be defended, especially if the character is in the wrong: when people talk about the fans, it's mostly in a mean way, as most of them like him for his attractiveness, not all of them, most. which is why both the character and whoever admits to liking them, is looked down upon at best, receiving death treats is rather expectable at this point, that's not the only reason though; a large majority, if not everything, on the Niragi tag is NSFW-related, no character analysis, no character quotes. Just. Smut. I find it revolting for a character, any character, to be reduced to physical pleasure, there's rarely fluff and EVERYTHING is x reader. He did not have that final scene with Chishiya + that character development realizing he was at fault for his actions to be reduced to a sexy bad boy.

TLDR; I'm too emotionally attached to this burnt man so I'm mad about people not seeing him as a character.

(I was really sick while writing this, sorry if it's all over the place!)

[egg-emperor]

Has anyone ever tried telling you "eggman probably isn't as evil as you think" If so, how did you respond?

Side note. I really appreciate your account. We need more people who embrace Eggman as the irredeemable monster he is.

Yes, often and well they're either coming from a place of not being knowledgeable enough about Eggman and overlook all his crimes, or it's a case where they turn a blind eye because they don't want to believe he's actually that evil because it's not to their tastes and makes them uncomfortable. And I get it but it doesn't change the facts. I enjoy getting to help people learn the solid unbiased facts about game canon Eggman, by bringing up all the canon examples of what makes him such a terrible person and try to note as many of his actions as possible that prove he really is that evil.

Being a totalitarian fascist dictator who wants to own the world and strip freedom and free will away, a war criminal who causes mass destruction and is willing to commit genocide, will try to kill anyone who gets in his way even children as young as 6-8, has been sexist, will manipulate/gaslight and abuse people and animals in various ways and enjoy it, wants to build intentionally dangerous theme parks that can kill people in brutal ways as we hear all about in Colors, and knows he's evil and acknowledges it proudly and revels in it is the most evil of evil!

We've seen many examples that show just how low he'll stoop and he hasn't been known to have a single limit in canon, besides things that get the entire planet and himself destroyed so he can't rule it, obviously. Besides that purely selfish reason, he isn't shown to have any good morally based limits and doesn't show any hesitance or remorse for his actions, despite clearly being fully aware that he's the bad guy doing the bad thing, calling it evil with glee. He's ranged from completely apathetic towards the evil he commits to downright sadistic as he smirks cheekily and laughs through it!

Those aren't actions to be downplayed or overlooked, they're important traits that define his character and are involved by countless significant plot points, including his whole motivation and methods in his plans. They're the very things that establish him as a villain and a threat in the first place. It's what puts the "evil" in "Ivo (ee-vo)." He's not the villain and not the Eggman, or even the same character at all without it, I'm not even exaggerating. But yeah point is, if someone is to deny or ignore all these intentionally or not, then they're not gonna think he's as evil as I say he is. XD

From my experience, they haven't been able to provide solid proof and evidence, nothing I couldn't disprove with my own stacks of evidence taken right from the games, if they do have any they claim to be at all. Because a lot of the things I see that they tend to try to use are things that actually prove my own point instead, when looking at them in actual context and what they really mean. So what I'd also do is debunk anything they try to use to attest to the idea that he's really that evil of a guy, using those very same things they're trying to use for their statements and much more.

I really like having sensible discussions and debates where I get to put all my heavy passionate research and analysis to use but I don't really get the chance very often because people take it the wrong way. I think if people didn't take disagreements as so hostile, we could be having some really interesting discussions. Like sure, when someone says "Eggman isn't as evil as you think" I'm like "ah hell no, no way lol" but I'm not angry or insulting, I'd just like to discuss why I disagree and share some of the reasons why, which are based in fact. I encourage others to do it to me too.

Anyway, these are usually the points I bring up when I do get the chance. Then I ready all my tons of excerpts and sources right from the games explicitly written into the text, and with some further analysis adhering to that knowledge, and sometimes additional creator commentary that's solidly backed up by the game canon as a bonus. People I've talked to have been upset by being asked for sources but I'm always passionate about gathering all my sources the second someone asks because I'm like finally I get to do something with all this information lol

Thank you so much! I'm really happy you enjoy my stuff. :D I'm just super passionate about gushing over, analyzing, and educating over how Eggman is a lovable nasty evil bastard man and I'm really happy that I'm not alone, I have so much fun making the posts and to know that y'all enjoy it too makes it even better. Here we love and embrace this handsome horrible man always and I'm delighted for you to join me in it. We make fine loyal members of the Eggman Empire for it hehe 💜