#honestly its my fault that i keep liking ship that are not only together

[koko2unite]

drawing your ship as married old men living together is a form of therapy, actually

[walviemort]

Expecting a Secret [1/3]

Summary: After the events of 3x19, Killian is at his lowest after being rejected by Emma. When Snow's labor turns out to be a false alarm, Zelena offers Killian a deal: she'll leave the Charmings alone…if he gives her the baby she needs for her spell instead. There's just one hitch: he has to keep it a secret. At least it will only take 10 days, right? a/n: (slightly belated) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET FRIEND @sancocnutclub !!! This is the full fic from the manip I posted last week. I meant to get this done in time for you bday, but it kind of ran away from me…and ended up being a three-parter instead of the one-shot I thought it would be! Hope you (and everyone else) likes it! I just really liked the idea of him trying to keep a whole entire pregnancy hidden. rated T | AO3 | 3.1k

Killian left the hospital feeling—-well, the worst he had in a long while. Perhaps he’d been rash in trying to get Henry out of town without his mother’s permission, but it was the only way he could think of to get around Zelena’s curse on his lips. 

Worse, though, was the fact that he’d lost the trust of not just Emma, but her family. It wasn’t entirely his fault—but some of it was.

It’d been clear he wasn’t needed or wanted at the hospital after it appeared Snow was going into labor, but it ended up being a false alarm; thank goodness, as they were far from prepared to protect the babe from the witch.

After a rather long moment of self-flagellation—in the form of watching the family take a well-deserved breath together in Snow’s hospital room, something he’d never be part of now—he shuffled off without goodbye, into the night.

His feet found him instinctively wandering toward the docks—further reminder of his shame, but he wanted to wallow in it tonight, punish himself further; it was what he deserved.

The vacant berth that had once held his ship was a fairly accurate metaphor for how he felt: empty, adrift, far from port, with only the churning sea to match his jumbled emotional state. He took a swig of rum, but the familiar burn did nothing for him.

“I warned you.”

He didn’t even flinch when he heard Zelena’s voice behind him; honestly, he expected it.

“It was pure luck they all showed up when they did. Otherwise, you’d have some more blood on your hands,” she went on, heeled footsteps sounding as she approached his side.

“The bloody hell do you want?” He was annoyed, but his reply had none of its usual bite.

“I want what I came here for. But now that you’ve told all the Charmings what my intention for you was, and now that they have their memories back, that’s all been dashed. Highly doubt the Savior is letting you get anywhere near her now.”

His heart somehow fell further, and it had already been near his feet. “No, I don’t imagine she will,” he concurred; were he and Emma’s situations reversed, he couldn’t say he wouldn’t do the same.

“That said, I still need your help to continue my plans.”

“Like hell,” he spat, then began to walk away—but she was suddenly in his path.

“Let me put it this way, Captain—you have two choices,” Zelena told him. “Either you can help me, and I leave Emma’s family alone,” she started, holding up one hand, “or I continue to go after all of them, no holds barred,” she finished, holding up the other. “It’s entirely your choice.”

Neither option was ideal. Knowing that Zelena basically wanted to wipe out the existence of Regina and Snow (and, consequently, Emma and Henry), he was loath to aid her in any way, shape, or form—especially considering she had no leverage anymore. 

But perhaps, if he did take her offer, he’d be able to find a way to subvert it—and redeem himself in their eyes.

“Fine,” he replied, albeit reluctantly. “I’ll help. Do whatever you need with me. But you must leave Snow, Emma, and their family alone.”

The wicked grin that took over her face should have been his warning. “Then we have a deal, contingent on one thing: you’re to actually keep it a secret this time.”

“Done.” It’s not like they’d listen to him, anyway.

She offered her hand to him to shake on it; he moved closer and took it. “It’ll be a pleasure doing business with you, Captain,” she said slyly.

He tried to let go of her hand, but she held tight. And her other hand began to glow that awful garish green, now held outstretched in front of her.

“What are you doing?” he asked, suddenly worried.

“What we just agreed on,” she answered, her eyes wide and seeming slightly unhinged. “Using you to get what I need.”

Then she swiftly stepped forward and shoved the ball of magic into his stomach. He hunched over for a moment, a slight cramping taking over, but then it dissipated, merely leaving him slightly sore. “What did you do?” he demanded, slightly out of breath.

“I still need a baby,” she said matter-of-factly. “So now you’re going to provide it.”

He wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. “That’s impossible,” he breathed, though his hand immediately flew to his stomach once she let go. “I’m—I’m a man.”

“Anything’s possible with magic,” she sing-songed.

His insides certainly felt different; that could be anything, though. “But won’t that take a while?” he asked, trying to call her bluff. “You’ve always struck me as the impatient type.”

“I am. Which is why this is going to go just a bit faster than usual. You only have to keep that under wraps for about 10 days.”

Shit—he’d already forgotten about that part, he’d been so distracted by the absolute insanity of what she’d apparently done. “How the bloody hell am I supposed to keep something like that hidden?” His mind immediately went to Snow and the very obvious protrusion of her stomach.

“You’re resourceful; you’ll figure it out.”

“Where did it even come from?” he nearly shouted, incredulous.

“The same place they all do,” she shrugged, but there was a glint of something else in her eye. “See you soon!” she farewelled, then disappeared in a cloud of green smoke, leaving him alone to figure out just what he’d gotten himself into—and what to do next.

——————————-

Part of Killian was convinced Zelena had been lying, playing some kind of cruel trick on him. Magic aside, it just didn’t seem possible. He fell into a deep slumber that night in his rented room, and the following morning, just chalked it up to an incredibly vivid dream, or perhaps the result of too much rum.

But at some point that day, he noticed a bit of nausea settle over him. He wanted to attribute it to something slightly off in Granny’s seafood special, especially when he found himself making a mad dash for the toilet around midday (making sure to take his meals at off times—hours he knew he wouldn’t see Emma there, mainly to avoid both her ire and his shame). But he’d been through his fair share of food poisoning—and this wasn’t it.

For starters, food poisoning usually ended. This, however, kept going. All that night and into the next morning. He left his room long enough to try to get something simple from Granny’s—just some bread or oatmeal—but even that wouldn’t stay down. Oddly, the only thing that sounded even vaguely palatable was sardines, of all things; he thought longingly back to the store of them on the Jolly Roger, but they were obviously inaccessible at the moment.

(He did manage to keep his stomach calm enough to run out to the convenience store and purchase some, as well as some ginger tea—and took a long, hard look at the devices that apparently verified pregnancy. However, he moved on from them; time would surely tell.)

The nausea continued to follow him through the afternoon, but the ginger tea helped a bit. Still, though, he was surprised by the urgent knock at his door that evening—the end of the second day of the 10 that Zelena had foretold—as he flushed the latest bit of bile down the toilet.

“Hook? What’s wrong?”

He blinked and stared at the door before he answered; it was Emma—and she sounded concerned. That was a far cry from their last interaction.

Slowly, he opened the door; she looked like she’d been about to knock again, and indeed, there was a worried furrow to her brow. “‘M fine, love,” he told her, though his voice tiredly betrayed him.

“Please; I’ve heard you puking all day. These walls are thin. What’s up?”

“Just drank a bit too much,” he lied, staring at the floor. (Even the thought of rum made his stomach churn.)

“You know I know that’s not true.” He had no counter to that. “Well, whatever you have going on, just—take care of yourself, okay?”

“I always do,” he threw back.

“I know.” It looked like there were a multitude of things on the tip of her tongue, but she hesitated too long to say them. “Get some rest, okay? Have a good night.”

“You too, Swan.”

She headed back into her room across the hall, but he closed his door before she went away. He didn’t know how to interpret her care versus her statements to the contrary the other day.

Besides, his stomach turned again, so he had to make another mad dash off. 

Not much later, another knock came to his door; Ruby had brought him some soup. “Heard you might need it,” she said; he had to wonder whether that was her own preternaturally strong hearing or some other voice whispering in her ear, but he was just grateful for the gesture.

Amazingly, it finally stayed down, and though the nausea lingered, he at least didn’t find himself losing anything else in the toilet. 

His sleep that night was the deepest it had been since he had arrived back in Storybrooke.

————————————-

He felt surprisingly well rested the next morning—almost normal, though there seemed to be a weight that had settled in his stomach deep within, not unlike the guilty feeling he was used to carrying around for all these centuries. Perhaps the previous days had merely been an anomaly? A stomach illness?

David stopped by during the morning and invited him out on some rounds. He had no reason to refuse, regardless of whatever Zelena may or may not have done to him, so he joined in—especially because he could see it for the olive branch it was, even if it was never specifically stated as one. 

David did seem a bit lighter than he had in days past; he said Snow and the baby were still doing well, and the fact that no one had seen the witch had them somewhat worried, but also finally felt like they could breathe for a bit.

If that was the case, then Killian had few regrets in his deal with the witch—though he hadn’t yet figured out a way to thwart her plans, especially without seeking help.

If he still needed to, at least. He wasn’t wholly convinced that she’d actually done anything to him. The only real difference he noticed in anything that day was the return of his appetite, in dramatic fashion; he was never one for gluttony, and propriety (as well as manners lessons back in the naval academy) demanded he never overindulge and eat politely, but he devoured his breakfast and lunch in record time. He was getting over a stomach bug, though—right?

Were it not for that, and the persistent dense feeling in his gut, he’d still think Zelena was messing with his head. A man giving birth? Preposterous.

However, after bathing that night, he caught something in his reflection that likely confirmed he was with child: it wasn’t significantly noticeable, but when viewed in profile, there was a curve to his belly that hadn’t been there earlier, just behind his navel. And while he could partly attribute it to the copious french fries with his dinner, the very tiny wiggles he felt inside were definitely not from digestion.

“Fuck,” he cursed. He gently traced it, knowing that this was only the beginning of what was to come. But—it would still be worth it if it meant Emma’s family was left alone.

———————————

The next morning, after another rather large breakfast, he headed to the library; Belle was still doing research on ways to thwart Zelena’s plans, so he decided to offer his aid. They’d come to a tenuous peace in the time since Neal had passed away—and, really, it was his only plan so far towards defeating the witch without revealing the reason for her sudden pause in assault.

(He may have had to loosen the laces of his vest a bit in order to avoid revealing it in other ways; his stomach was somewhat larger in the morning, but one would still have to look very closely to notice the difference.)

Belle did seem a bit surprised at his offer of help when he arrived—she said she assumed he’d be out doing reconnaissance with the Charmings—but seemed glad to have another set of eyes on the ancient tomes she’d been poring through.

After a couple hours of fruitless searching—having no particular theory on how to stop the spell, they were casting a wider net when it came to neutralizing magic—he got up to stretch his legs (and ease the bit of ache that had settled in his hips). He wandered the stacks a bit, the naval officer in him still in awe of all the knowledge they held. Perhaps someday, he’d have the time to more thoroughly peruse their contents, but he did have a somewhat ulterior motive for heading to the library today.

“The pregnancy books?” He jumped when Belle found him skimming a volume entitled What to Expect When You’re Expecting; shit.

“I’ve been…curious, is all,” he replied, quickly and bashfully. “We never had this kind of information in our realm, and with Snow…”

“I get it,” Belle replied, thankfully. “It’s overwhelming how much more they know here, isn’t it?”

“Aye,” he sighed, glad she believed his quick cover.

She just smiled when he brought it back to the table. He didn’t read it too in-depth—gods only knew he was about to devour it later, probably far too late into the night—but he did skim it and—oh no.

It just got worse and worse. He finally got to the chapter on labor, and all it entailed; all he could say was “bloody hell.” Oh, he was in for it.

Belle was reshelving books and glanced over his shoulder—and laughed. “Yeah, that was my reaction the first time I looked through it,” she told him. “What? I was curious too,” she added when he raised an eyebrow at her in question. “Good thing you won’t ever be pregnant, eh?”

He swallowed, and paused for probably too long a moment before muttering out a “Yeah, thank goodness.” Then quickly reached for another magic book and shoved the medical manual aside.

(He didn’t see Belle’s furrowed brow at the delay in his answer—or the sidelong glances at how quickly he ate his lunch.)

Sometime that afternoon, Henry popped in, inviting him to join in a sparring session with him and David out behind Granny’s. Again, he was touched, and hoped the lad didn’t notice the sudden wetness of his eyes. Were it not for that book, he’d wonder where that had come from, but apparently heightened emotions were a thing he had to look forward to.

It felt nice to get a workout, and the verbal battle between him and David as they taught Henry differing styles of fighting was just as entertaining. They were sharing a laugh when they were suddenly asked, “What’s so funny?”

He stiffened and turned, to see Emma standing off to the side, smiling at them—though it didn’t fully reach her eyes. 

“David’s idea of properly blocking a parry,” he replied. “It works fine if you’re fighting someone who plays by the rules.”

“Which I’m guessing you don’t?”

“What fun is that?” he flirted back.

Her subsequent smile (and blush) was genuine. The sudden southward rush of his blood, though, was caused by something far different—and he just hoped no one noticed it.

They put away the practice weapons and headed into the diner, but Emma grabbed his arm and held him back. “Hey, I just wanted to say—I’m sorry for what I said the other day.”

He tilted his head, confused. “Beg your pardon?”

“About not trusting you,” she clarified. “I was upset at what had just happened. You haven’t really given us any reason to doubt you; I was just jarred by everything that had happened with the witch there, and you were an easy target. But you didn’t deserve that.”

“I…” he started, but found himself speechless—and attempting to hold back tears once more. “Thank you, love,” he finally said, sounding a bit more emotional than he’d like. “I’m…I’m glad to hear that, and I hope you never have reason to doubt my intentions again.”

“I know I won’t,” she said confidently, and there was a confidence to that statement that had him in awe. 

Which made it all the worse that he was holding in—quite literally—an actual, fairly large secret. 

(Well, only about the size of a grapefruit yet, according to the book, but—semantics.)

They invited him to dine with him—not taking his weak excuse at being tired—and conversation over their meal seemed to focus on future plans, even though Snow’s imminent birth still loomed. The oddest part, though, was they seemed to automatically include him in these plans. Gods above, he appreciated it, but hopefully they wouldn’t think it too odd when he had to inevitably bow out in a couple days, if not sooner. 

He decided to get some practice in that by making an early exit from dinner. “You okay?” Emma asked, seemingly worried. 

“What, is that tap Henry gave you on the shoulder acting up?” David joked. 

“Indeed,” he played along, rubbing his left bicep in feigned emphasis. “Best rest it up.” (In truth, he was sore, but not there—more around his midsection—and he needed to get back to the book to find out why).

“See you tomorrow,” Emma said with a soft smile; he could only nod back. 

Guilt was yet again plaguing him when he returned to his room. That didn’t stop his sigh of relief, though, when he undid his vest; he felt around his stomach, and it was definitely bigger than it was this morning, though still fairly small (and therefore easy to hide).

Perhaps he had indeed been too rash when he made this deal with Zelena. As much as Emma and her family had written him off in the moment, he too had underestimated their capacity for forgiveness. But no—anything that kept them out of danger was worth it, even if he still wasn’t wholly confident in what lay ahead of him, or how to ensure the witch didn’t succeed.

As if sensing his worries, the small life within gave a strong kick, one he could almost feel from the outside. It was a solid reminder that there was no going back on this.

He just hoped he could get through it with little issue.

—————————————————–

thank you so much for reading! tagging a few: @wyntereyez @jennjenn615 @superadam54 @ashley-knightingale @justsomewhump @teamhook @mathiaskejseren @88infinity88

[itsclydebitches]

"The Bees romantic arc is subtle subtext! That's what makes it good!"

No, the Bees romantic arc is years of cooperate baiting while one character had a romantic arc with completely different character and then the Bees were badly written to get together after the company realized it was the only way to keep enough viewers to renew the next volume (which still hasn't happened according to some of the animators).

You know what romantic arc had good subtle subtext AND good explicit canon writing that actually worked? Jon/Martin in TMA! And they weren't even originally meant to happen!

The question I always want to ask is: why is (presumed) subtlety only something to praise when we're talking about queer ships? Jaune/Pyrrha is the least subtle thing imaginable, with Pyrrha introduced as the cute, quirky girl Jaune wants to talk to and then going out of her way to ensure they become partners. Ren and Nora were a slow burn, but having Nora imagine a shirtless Ren at the beach or, you know, outright talking with her friends about how they're not a couple yet isn't subtle. Ozma and Salem walking off into the sunset at the end of a fairy tale while holding hands isn't subtle. Jaune serenading Weiss isn't subtle. Sun gushing over Blake to Neptune and asking her to the dance isn't subtle. Hell, Weiss making appreciative eyes at old!Jaune and then going beet red isn't subtle. RWBY is not a subtle show! That's why when Blake and Yang finally do get together it's via a bridge that will only let them get literally closer when they admit hidden feelings, culminating in these "bees" kissing in a blossoming garden. Presumably, if they're the height of romance writing due to "subtlety," fans should think that every other relationship in the show is the pits and the bees' confirmation a huge letdown because damn, where did that sought-after subtlety go? /s

It's only when you point out the problems with the way the romance has been written that suddenly RWBY is all about subtlety, because it's an easy way to dismiss that criticism. Oh, we weren't strung along for years and there definitely isn't a marked difference in how the story treats its queer vs. straight couples. It's just subtle. And once you introduce that idea you've effectively shut down the conversation - you've "won" the argument - because no matter what someone comes back with you can always just say, "It's not my fault you're incapable of seeing the painstakingly planned, oh so subtle romance RT created. Clearly that's a you problem, not a problem with the writing."

And oh man, anon... I have... less than charitable Thoughts™ about Jon/Martin, very specifically after listening to Season 5. Which I will not dump on you. But honestly YEAH, for all my problems with them at the end of the series, they're basically a masterclass in storytelling compared to Blake/Yang. Like, no comparison.

[samarecharm]

Okay everything under the cut is like, something ive (mostly) already had saved in a draft but was too punkass to post but

TL;DR: Akira forms a palace 12-18 months after the events of the base p5 game and it manifests through the anger (fear) of being left behind/tossed aside once his usefulness of being a leader was up. it is incredibly self indulgent, and it is comprised of a ton of hcs ive never really talked about on this blog so some things may feel a bit ooc, but like on god if i actually made a fucking fic it would make more sense 😭

The timeline of events is: base p5 game ->back home after probation -> [akira] spends the summer and third year alone -> palace develops sometime during the end of third year-> thieves infiltrate and clear palace during the beginning of summer -> boy time :) -> spend rest of summer following the plot of p5s. Once i actually play strikers i think that will be the motivation needed to start writing a draft for this fic.  (also good lord i transferred this from my google docs on mobile to desktop and theres so many words 😭 )

Ive wanted to make an actual ‘Akira has a Palace!au’ but it feels like. Nearly impossible to try and do so while making it seem realistic (read: in-character and not horrifically ooc), so i simply have not put it down on paper. But within the last year its morphed into something im Okay with and happy to daydream about :)

it hinges on existing hcs i already have for him. The ability to have a palace is dictated by a noticeable degradation in his personality; post game (ignoring royal) has him left alone back home but more importantly, without purpose (in his eyes). From punching some deadbeat and having that lead to gaining a family, saving japan (shido), saving the world (yaldabaoth), only to lose everything he gained in the blink of an eye is just so jarring to him. Existing in the real world does not even compare to being Joker;  the finesse and grandeur is simply an aspect of himself he feels he'll never tap into again. There was something comforting about being able to have a separate persona crafted for the metaverse and hes not sure hell be able to tap into it in the real world. On top of that, with how busy everyone is post game (graduating/college applications), while Akira acknowledges that the thieves, his family, are trying really hard to continue on with their lives, he is bitter that they get to do that together without him. 

It initially manifests as him simply tinkering about (another hc) to keep his head busy and buzzing, but as he does his own college process, he is more acutely aware of how he is doing this Alone. His entire problem is that being removed from his family has amplified some deep, deep insecurities that hes had way before he got shipped off to tokyo. Its why he is loyal to a fault, its why he demands loyalty in return; all he has to offer is his body. Literally. He promises safety and leadership and in order to accomplish this, he will give his body up again and again; in the metaverse and in real life. If you peel back the layers of his personality, you see someone who has a deeply ingrained sense of justice, and someone who clings to that desperately bc the one thing he feels like he has to do (to have any impact on the world and the people he encounters) is to stand up for and defend people who need defending. If he doesnt have that, what Can he do?

So the combination of being left alone again (sent back home), having a Not Positive relationship with his parents/caretakers, having to do stressful/difficult things alone again after getting comfortable having a team to help with tasks, no longer having the power granted by the metaverse to feel strong, and no longer having the power of the metaverse to allow him to directly impact peoples lives starts to wear him down. HONESTLY it would be over a year before anyone saw the metaverse app appear on their phone again; Akira would be bitter but he would not suddenly spiral out of control months after he goes back home. His friends still call and video chat with him and even ryuji and ann visit a couple of times, but it would be months and months of radio silence before it would sit heavy in his heart that maybe they Didnt want to be bother with him, esp if he had no way to actually be Useful to them. It would sound outlandish to him as hes laughing in a group call w everyone a month after he comes back home, but its alot more plausible when people are simply dubbing his calls. 

The whole point of this is that Akiras palace is created from the insecurities in his heart, amplified to a thousand, and so the theme of his palace would be something akin to neglect and Wanting To Have His Family With Him Again. But he is also someone who has an obsession with the bonds he has, and NEEDS to have people who will have a borderline unhealthy relationship with him; if he is willing to die for someone, that someone needs to Also be willing to die for him. He would not Want them to actually die for him (he LITERALLY would die for them before they could do such a thing) but it is the trust in him that he needs above all else. And this is not a GOOD thing! This is kind of bad maybe !!!! It manifested as something good while they were fighting rulers, but now that theres no one to fight, no treasures to steal, its eating him alive. Theres a phase in his boss fight that has his shadow casting Charm/Brainwash on random teammates bc at his core, this is what he misses; his team! And if they wont willingly come back to him, he will Make them come back to him. Thats !!!!! NOT Good !!!!!!!! At all !!!

His palace is the culmination of his internalized beliefs about the world around him, how his role fits into all of this- his true ‘purpose’- and how becoming misguided in life leaves him truly directionless in the worst way possible. His will is as strong as ever, but its been refracted through a dark and muddled lens. He Wants, and he Wants so bad that its warping his desires and his ability to think rationally. The destruction of his palace is more or a less a rebirth of sorts, and it marks the beginning of the thieves real relationship with him and amongst each other. Akira is no longer a Leader, hes just… Akira. And when u just have Akira, does that alter the relationship you have with him? (The answer is yes, and its for the better!!)

The confrontation w the thieves (and subsequently, the confrontation with his own insecurities) is followed up by a necessary respite, where they all take the time to reconnect. Makoto and Haru are in college!! Ann and Yusuke are doing well in their respective budding careers, Ryuji is Ryuji :) ( i am joking; in this au, he is looking into doing personal trainer stuff, and trying to work up the courage to do track stuff again by doing marathons), and Futaba is still a menace (affectionate). AND! After they split up (PROMISING to meet up soon!), Akira answers the door two days later to Ryuji standing there w a suitcase and Makoto waving goodbye to the two of them 

From here on, when the plot of strikers happens (directly after this entire mess and maybe a week or two into ryujis stay), Akira is the leader he loves to be, but the burden of responsibility no longer weighs heavy on his shoulders. They are a team; always have been and always will be, only now, they wont settle for an ‘its okay’ when everything about Akira clearly says otherwise. Theyre a team, and Akira will realize that they are more than capable, but more importantly, more than willing to step up when hes unable to do so himself.

[autobot-ratchet]

MTMTE 14-16

MTMTE 14

oh boy time to start the arc that still to this day holds a spot in the top five pieces of media that have made me ugly cry lmfAO

Overlord's out here killing people before he's even born

wow Chromedome really just let his whole entire guard down while fucking around in Overlord's head, tells him his name first thing. Like. Why would you even allow him to know you're in there, let alone start telling him everything you're doing??? Like, yeah, yeah, I'm yelling at the horror movie protagonist on my screen to not go into the spooky cabin in the woods but wow. Could not be me lmfAO “I'm your fairy godmother don't worry about it”

still incredibly funny that Megatron's stupid bucket helmet is removable. Is that the case for literally anyone else??? Like sure some characters have removable visors and/or facemasks but like. The whole helm??? why

“Megatron's alive?” aaaaaaaand there it is. You just had to tell him shit........

“Why am I even telling you this?” “Because in here it's difficult to keep your thoughts to yourself.” I guess that's as good an excuse as any, he literally could not have stopped himself from telling him shit lmAO alright, fair. Then Chromedome's fault lies in doing this shit without any backup

god. If I remember correctly, this conversation that Chromedome erases from Prowl's mind ended up being a remnant of an arc that got scrapped, so it ultimately didn't lead to anything or get resolved, but. Man it sure is something lmAO I wish it could've ended up leading to something bc it's so good

So Drift was the only one who knew about Rodimus's involvement with the Overlord project. As far as Chromedome and Brainstorm knew, only they, Drift, and the duobots were involved. And Prowl of course, but he's not on the ship lmAO man, Drift really did everything he could to make this quest to find the knights work, he didn't even want to do any of this Overlord shit in the first place, but he took on practically leading the project so Rodimus could focus on the quest... Anything to find the knights........

MTMTE 15

oh Pipes........

love how the meta-bomb is so easy to write off as a one-off joke, especially considering the much more important shit that's about to go down, but it ends up being its own fucking arc way later

god I love how Ratchet gets a shot off on Overlord, right in the eye, get his ass

“Your faith, your sword, and your friend. We do this together.” grIPS THE ARMS OF MY CHAIR........

urgfhfdj the implication that Overlord pinned Drift's legs to the floor with his own swords and Drift ended up ripping them off and crawling his way over to make him stop hurting Ratchet........

oh get his ass Fort Max, you deserve it

oof, Rewind having to hear Drift and Chromedome talk openly about how they've been fucking around with Overlord the whole time... he's so shocked........

on the one hand, god the entire sequence of Chromedome ejecting Overlord's cell and blowing it up so Rewind would die before Overlord could kill him fucking ruins me but also I can't stop thinking about that post that was like “what if Rewind was winning in there”

I FORGOT ABOUT THE XES OVER EVERYONE WHO DIED IN THIS ISSUE FUCK........ lowkey thinking about danganronpa-style death portraits

MTMTE 16

ooh, all the past Magnuses that we don't yet know are different people and how they all bit it... I honestly always loved how MTMTE made Ultra Magnus a title and set of armor that many different people have worn. Like, for as much as I love Magnus in this comic, it's really Minimus specifically that I love lmAO I wonder if we'll ever see him in any Transformers media ever again

poor Tailgate going through his first huge loss, especially while everyone else is so used to things like this that he feels like he's the only one who's properly upset. I have been on both sides of this lmAO fuck

oh Chromedome is so not okay, god hsfdjkasl he's acting so normal that it is glaringly obvious that he is burning alive inside

and Rodimus is also not okay, oof, buddy, Rung, you gotta stop lmAO granted the assessment that Rodimus would've liked to be the hero isn't far-fetched, and it might even be partially true but. Something Tells Me that's not quite the case in this particular instance. He was actually being completely honest when he said he was angry because he failed the crew. He failed by ever giving in to Prowl and putting Overlord on the ship

ooouuohouUOUOUUUGGHGF BRAINSTORM CLUTCHING THE BREIFCASE DURING THE FUNERAL........ HE'S THINKING ABOUT IT................

“You might want to speak to Drift, though; I think he's got an urge to name names” yEAH HIS OWN... GOD.........

oh Chromedome... and the fact that Brainstorm has had to watch him wipe his memories out of grief over and over again gOD this issue is so good lmfAO I am in so much pain this rules

Brainstorm is right though, you can't try to make yourself forget lost loved ones, I can't tell you how many times I've tried to avoid thinking too hard about someone for up to a year, sometimes more than a year after I've lost them because I just can't handle how much it hurts. But that moment when you can recall happy memories without it feeling like a punch to the gut anymore? With it making you feel happy, even, for ever having met them in the first place? Would not trade that for anything. The pain is just. Unfortunately a necessary part of the path to getting there, there's just no avoiding it

urghgfh and there goes Drift taking the fall for the whole Overlord project. He really believes in the quest to find the knights more than anything, he's willing to take as many hits as he has to to keep Rodimus on the path to finding them... as long as it makes Cybertron a better place, it doesn't matter what happens to him........

like, I've always seen people talk about Drift putting up with all of Rodimus's bs just because he admires him, and I'm not gonna deny that he does, he definitely thinks Rodimus is a pretty cool guy, but so much more than that, his vision told him that Rodimus was going to find the Knights of Cybertron and that they were going to restore the planet and make things better than they've ever been. More than ANYTHING, Drift has done everything he has done not because he admires Rodimus too much to say no to him, but because he truly believes Rodimus is integral to the restoration of Cybertron. He believes that succeeding in this quest will make it so that no one on Cybertron will ever have to go through anything he's gone through ever again. That's what it's always been about for him, even from the beginning, even for Deadlock. Aaaaa I gotta stop or I'll do an entire character analysis on Drift right here and I gotta save that for when I read the miniseries lmAO

oh fuck it's time for Rewind's final message oh lord oh jesus here we go

gooooOOOOD THE PART SHOWING DRIFT'S EXILE... RATCHET BEING THE ONLY ONE TO BE KIND TO HIM IN THAT MOMENT, EVEN IN FRONT OF ALL THE OTHERS... THIS SPECIFIC PART OF REWIND'S MESSAGE PLAYING OVER THIS SPECIFIC MOMENT AAAUUUGH FUCK

“You deserve to be happy... You're a better person now- stubborn and frustrating but wonderful!” this bit is fucking laser-etched into my brain forever it's so fucking perfect, this part is everything

dfshkgdfk fuck... for a second I actually deluded myself into thinking I wouldn't cry at the part of the message where Rewind tells Chromedome he loves him and Chromedome puts the needles away lmfAO even after all this time, it still hits just as hard

ah right, then we're hit with “by the way Tailgate's dying” lmfAO I vividly remember not taking this well during my first readthrough, Tailgate and Rewind were my favorites and I was not ready to lose them both one right after the other

[showtoonzfan]

(Last ask got cut off on my end, this isn't spam lol) What I was trying to say was, HB and HH get all this blind praise for its- really bad representation of LGBTQ+ characters. The only trans character is fetishized, yet Viv is treated like this hero for trans rep. Stolitz (the main gay ship) has the plot-line of a yaoi fanfic. Angel Dust (the supposed positive gay rep) is literally a walking stereotype of not just gay men, but sex workers as well. Alastor (the aro/ace 'rep') is just the classic serial killer who's too in love with himself to ever love anyone else. Not to mention the whole 'spooky-ooky voodoo' thing he has is straight up disrespectful to the religion. But ironically, the straight couple(s), including Moxxie and Millie AND Lilith and fucking Lucifer live this fairy-tale dreamworld and the only good rep from the show is literally from background characters or a one off character we'll probably never see again. Wanted to know how you think Stolitz should be re-worked (if it can be saved atp. It's hopeless as of now) Along with how you think Alastor can be good representation if the effort is put into him.

Agreed with everything here. So sorry for the late reply, just a message to all my followers real quick, keep in mind guys that if you send me something, I’ll get to you in time! I get a lot of asks, so it’s hard to keep track sometimes, but I haven’t forgotten you! 👍

Also yes, I do believe Stolitz can be saved, but of course things would need to change. Now I don’t mean on a rewriting standpoint, but I do mean just….moving forward. To make a long story short, what Stolas needs to do is get his shit together. He needs to acknowledge and FULLY own up to what he did, how badly he treated Blitz, and how he couldn’t make his daughter his priority. He was selfish, possessive, and toxic, and honestly he just needs to figure out what love IS because he clearly doesn’t know how to treat a partner. The show also really needs to start doing some actual GOOD storytelling, I want to see why exactly Stolas fell in love with Blitz, what impact he had on him, and why he pins onto him so much. The show failed at making me feel like Stolas felt any genuine feelings towards Blitz, and because of that I don’t even want the two together because there’s nothing to go OFF of, there’s just…no chemistry outside of them meeting once as kids, and then fucking, and that’s the major problem, but like I said, this can be saved, so long as Stolas admits his faults and actually WORKS to be better. On a realistic standpoint, Stolas should honestly just leave Blitz alone, figure things out for himself, tend to his family and take time alone, because I honestly don’t think he’s ready for a relationship, until he fixes himself. That’s why I would HOPE that from what we’ve seen in episode 1 of season 2, Stolas gives Blitz an Asmodeon crystal, and cuts ties with him until further notice. I would love this idea, it would show us the first step example of Stolas actually trying to better himself. And speaking of Blitz, he needs to do the same thing. Cut ties with Stolas, and get his shit together. The problem is just that both these characters are just horrible people who need to admit their faults and work on being better, THEN they should see if they’re able to be in a relationship. The problem is….that when it comes to how Blitz sees Stolas, the show through storytelling has done nothing but show that he doesn’t like him, and feels trapped, only screwing him for Lust and pity. It’s honestly safe to say that as a writer, Vivzie has fucked up multiple times when it comes to their relationship. Every time she has a chance to improve it, she makes it worse, and with season 2 episode 2 being the recent episode, it can only go further downhill from here. Again, there’s still a chance to improve this moving forward, but I feel like the only way to do that is for Stolas to just give Blitz the crystal and focus on himself for a bit.

As for Alastor, I’m going to be 100% honest, I don’t really think his asexuality needs to be explored in the show. Not that I have anything against that because I don’t, it’s just think that with a character like Alastor, is there really a need to explore it? With a writer like Vivzie, I personally always felt like she never had the intention to. I feel like her idea for his character was just that he was obsessed with himself and too focused on other things to be in a relationship, and that’s it, no double meaning regarding sexuality. It felt more like she labeled him as ace because she wanted representation points, when she easily could have said “he’s obsessed with himself because he’s a homicidal maniac serial killer” and just leave it at that, it would have made sense and I wouldn’t have batted an eye because it fits with his character. Meanwhile fans always made his asexuality a big deal and I never understood it. For a character like Angel, I get it, because he wasn’t allowed to be himself during the 40’s and is now openly gay in hell, but Alastor? Why would I care about this man being ace, who’s literally a serial killer that’s probably murdered thousands of souls and is one of the most feared beings in hell? Who’s also clearly mentally insane? I dunno, y’all can disagree with me on this, but this is just my opinion. People also call Al good ace representation and Lmao….no? Go look at Todd from Bojack Horseman, THAT’S good ace rep, Alastor only feels ace to me because he’s a dick who only likes himself. However please again keep in mind that these are my opinions, if you’re happy there’s an Ace character in the show, that’s 100% okay! As for Alastor and the voodoo stuff being disrespectful, I can’t really speak on this subject because I don’t have the proper knowledge, so I’m not saying I disagree, I just can’t speak on the subject lol.

[silvysartfulness]

12, 17, 19, 22 for the choose violence ask game👀

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Oh man, like. All of them? I tend to only fall for unpopular characters, so that's a long list. But keeping it just to a few choice people in the Untamed;

Xue Yang. Obviously. He's brilliant, he's dedicated, he's fucked up in some really interesting ways and he got so close to having a redemption arc and happy ending before everything came crashing down! If he'd been the protagonist/viewpoint character, you know he'd be getting the fandom's WWX cinnamon roll treatment. But alas.

Jiang Cheng. That so many people dislike him honestly baffles me? I see so many takes that are frankly based in extremely shallow readings, disregarding his trauma, his world context, the impossible balance between his crushing responsibilities and the people important to him. He's not your homophobic dad or schoolyard bully, he's a deeply traumatized person doing the best with what he's got despite losing everything dear to him over and over, and he's trying so hard. He's loud and has a hot temper, but for fuck's sake, there's so much love there and you'd almost have to be willfully blind not to see it!

Jin Guangyao. Another of those "if he'd been the main character/viewpoint character, people would have loved him" ones. He's intelligent, determined, hardworking and loyal - though frequently pushed way beyond his breaking point in that loyalty. Pragmatic to the point of ruthlessness, but it's because the world's one big trolley problem to him - he sacrifices the few to help the many (even if yes, that does include himself in 'the many'), but he doesn't take pleasure in the hurt he causes (except in that one pretty understandable case of his dad). He deserves so much compassion, or at the very least understanding!

Should I put Song Lan on here? A lot of people seem to hate on him for very shallow, ship-related reasons, but within the plot, he tried his very hardest to set things right. It's not his fault they were all already doomed by the narrative and he walked into Yi City that day as the unwitting catalyst.

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

For fics, Yi City fix-its that don't count killing Xue Yang as "fixing it". Stories digging into the hot mess of the complex, fascinating canon-verse, or at least reincarnation.

More fics with characterization I vibe with - a complicated, rough-edged but ultimately lovable Xue Yang, a compassionate but stubborn and somewhat brittle Xiao Xingchen and a Song Lan who feels so much and is so bad at showing it. More SXX fics overall!

For art, more art with the CQL character designs! The designs for the other adaptations are kind of cute, but they're just not my guys, and I feel pretty lukewarm toward them on the whole.

(And fellow artists - please, please, please don't forget Xue Yang's missing finger! 😭 I see so much fanart with either 10 intact fingers, or a glove with a fully articulated left pinky. His lost finger is the driving force of his entire character arc, don't just forget about it...😢)

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

Hmm... 🤔 On the whole, I don't feel a lot of shame for my tastes in fiction. I'm surprised I actually ended up really liking the main couple as much as I did - in a love story, no less? That literally never happens, I always go for the sideline gremlins.Other than that, though...

Trying very hard to hold up the blorbos and my usual go-to tropes, groping around for any sense of horror or shame, but I can't think of anything really. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

I guess I'm that one (1) person who actually likes the Yin Iron plot? I genuinely think CQL made a lot of good choices to tie the sprawling narrative together more cohesively, and I liked the introduction of the Yin Iron and how it led into the creation of the Yin Tiger Seal rather than tossing the latter in as an "Oh yeah, this was a thing that totally existed all along, forgot to mention". (I know MDZS was written and posted in installment, and that can make it hard to work with foreshadowing etc, but even so. I do think CQL did a good job tightening up the story in many ways.)

And don't get me wrong, I absolutely don't mind the idea of Xue Yang as an absolute nobody clawing his way up from nothing! It's a delicious version, too! But there's just something about the idea of a family he could have belonged to, a sense of community he could have had, ripped away centuries before he was even born.

If I want to be a petty, I guess I could put "Xue Yang is canonically brilliant" under this question, too, because I wish that was explored in more fics and meta. The boy is a prodigy. He's a genius. He's also a street-brawler, petty thief and murderous little piece of shit, but that doesn't take away the first point. Let Xue Yang be the highly, dangerously intelligent Problem that he actually is!

[minetteskvareninova]

Again on my Hot D bullshit, this time re: Daemon. I’ve been trying to sort out my feelings on this character, and it dawned on me that I love him, but in a very different way people usually love him. But also kinda, a little bit in the same way people usually love him. It’s complicated, okay? Basically, on the one hand, he’s a lot like Larys for me - yes, he’s horrible, of course I would loathe a person like this irl, but like... He’s not real. And on screen, he’s pretty hillarious? Daemon and Larys both are evil pieces of shit, but I wouldn’t have them any other way (except for the choking and foot fetish scene, those just suck and I hate them together with the people who wrote them). His conversation with Rhea’s cousin was great, “he can keep his tongue” simply iconic, not to mention the Crabfeeder bait thing? The Dragonstone temper tantrum??? Hell, I almost want the “heir for a day” thing to be said in the douchiest way possible, except I am not sure about its effects on his relationship with Viserys...

Which brings me to the other thing: Daemon’s relationship with the few people he actually likes and respects. And honestly, in this way, the show’s writing has been kinda dissapointing. There are kernels of something truly fascinating in every one of them that elevate Daemon above the funny evil man, but... The execution tho... - Viserys. Okay, that one was actually fine, for what it was. It could’ve been better developed, but you know. It didn’t have to. Considering the show couldn’t be Magnificent Century lenght, they gave us enough to chew on. - Rhaenyra. Hooo boy. That daemyra ship is truly something. Starts out as weird incestuous bonding over feeling underappreciated, by Viserys mostly, but also the world at large. I get the sense that he is way more into her than she is into him, but that’s just my headcannon. After all, Daemon’s main appeal is that he’s funny, and honestly what’s funnier than a thirty-something man simping over a teenage girl who has a vague crush on him, but if he doesn’t want her, she could go for her hot bodyguard too, because she doesn’t care THAT much? Anyway, he still loves after years of marriage to some other woman, while she... Well, she doesn’t. But boy does wish she did, because in hindsight he seems appealing. So when he comes back to her life just when they both suffered the loss of their significant other, they get together as naturally as two opposite poles of magnets. And they are happy! For a few years, they are genuinely happy together! But his toxic masculinity gets in the way of him supporting her emotionally when she’s at her lowest point, and he mistakenly thinks that fighting for her instead would suffice, and... Hey, what’s that? He’s still hung up on her dad, who hasn’t factored in their relationship for decades? In fact, for him, she’s the emotional substitute for her dad? And this thing, that hasn’t been alluded to and absolutely ruins an otherwise perfectly good and interesting relationship for the sake of another one that is just completely over narratively and was good as it was... This was worth giving us a scene of domestic violence against the fucking queen that goes completely unpunished (she doesn’t even so much as shout at him, what the fuck?!), that is actually kinda out-of-character and that utterly demolishes a perfectly good relationship??? OKAY, THEN. FUCK YOU TOO, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. (All else aside, domestic violence just isn’t funny. I fully support all of Daemon’s atrocities, but only as long as they are funny. Going back to my Larys comparison, I had the same problem with the foot fetish scene.) - Laena. Honestly, that one was just too little too late. I have absolutely no idea why the fuck show!Daemon married her, that’s the first problem; but also even outside of that, the relationship is criminally underdeveloped. Now I could headcannon myself into oblivion, but ultimately the fault lies with the writers. They should’ve given us so much more than they did! - His kids (and stepkids). Look, I was just as hyped for daddy Daemon as anyone, but “loves his kids, but isn’t good enough in sincere emotional expression to bond with them”... Well, I can get behind that. The fact that they cut so many nicer moments of him with his children still leaves me salty. - Velaryons, Corlys and Laenor especially. Honestly, this show needed more Velaryons, period. Like, seeing Daemon with actual buddies was so nice, I wish we got more than a little sprinkle here and there around their relationship. Their reactions his marriage to Rhaenyra are not shown, the failure of Daemon’s friendship with Corlys skipped over, the fact that Daemon and Laenor have been fighting together for years and that Laenor kind of respects Daemon completely ignored... Just. Tons of absolutely fascinating character stuff thrown in the bin, because our best boys and girls don’t deserve the attention payed to Aegon the Trashy wanking. Again, fuck you.

Basically, Daemon works very well as a funny evil man with some hints of psychological issues, but I wished he as a character could be developed beyond that and he just... Wasn’t.

[kiisaes]

thoughts about bkdk being canon?

i sorta answered this already (here if u're curious) but i suppose i can answer again, this time more in depth and specific to bkdk :')

this turned out WAY longer than i thought so erm. more under the cut LOL

personally i don't think bkdk will be canon. before bkdks throw tomatoes at me, it's not because i dislike them as a ship — rather, canonizing them would be canonizing a main boy x boy relationship in an extremely popular shounen series. i've expressed my pessimism way more times than i should LOL but i truly don't think shounen jump would be willing to take this risk. let it be known that shounen jump has allowed canon lgbt ships and characters in their IPs — blue flag is perhaps the most well-known example of a main relationship being between two guys — but blue flag is not nearly as internationally famous as mha. the more eyes on an IP, the more cautious its choices have to be. it's why the most popular shounens tend to be "stereotypical", "cliche" and "cheesy"; this is what works with its main demographic (teenage/young adult males, to be exact), and if a series gets as big as the likes of mha, it's only smart to keep following that trend.

now, horikoshi does have a tendency to subvert expectations, even within his incredibly cliche hero school story.

bakugou is a subversion of the morally dangerous, edgy rival character by being one of the most heroic, straight-laced teens in the series (as well as genuinely apologizing for his faults that he recognizes are his own). even though he looks and acts like that, his motivations and aspirations are always admirable, even pure and childlike at times. unsurprisingly, people hate him for not being either fully evil or fully good, despite how horikoshi specifically wrote him to be a healthy balance between both his failures and his accomplishments.

deku is a subversion of the stereotypically boyish, emotionally stunted, shounen main character by being unashamedly emotional, awkward and sensitive regarding feelings other than anger or happiness. aka he cries a lot, so much so that average shounen dudebros genuinely hated him for being "soft" and "a baby", but praised him during his vigilante arc where he was ... well, for lack of better phrasing, far more similar to existing shounen protags for being less openly empathetic and more badass. you could honestly argue that deku's entire character isn't meant to be typically badass, flashy, or otherwise appealing to the standard shounen audience. his character arc literally deals with being the hero no one thanks or acknowledges, but he continues to selflessly help others despite the lack of appreciation.

ochako is a subversion of the one-note, intentionally-less-interesting-than-the-mc love interest character — it may not look like it at first glance, but ochako has her own arc that is both connected to deku, yet simultaneously not dependent on him that's been festering in the background since she developed her childish crush on him. the more i read this series, the more i'm convinced that she was never meant to end up with deku. she was only meant to play that role before she comes into her own skin and uses her attraction to deku as a way to be her own kind of hero. or horikoshi is going to shove them together last minute, in which, well, fuck me i guess.

all might is a subversion of the gary-stu archetype, because instead of being the perfect human specimen the way he always presents himself to the public, he's constantly physically deteriorating. not to mention he's a subversion of the know-all mentor character, because he honestly kind of sucks as a mentor. this comes from his own faults as a selfless hero, unable to properly learn from his own mistakes until it was too late. also because he's never taught anyone before so like duh. love him though. i am a toshinori supporter first, everything else second

there's other characters that have been subverted too but you get the idea. horikoshi is very good at writing characters, and to an extent, character relationships. that might be his biggest strength outside of, obviously, his art. and clearly he likes subverting our expectations, otherwise he wouldn't write his main characters like this. he knows what's the norm, uses those tropes as a baseline, only to go out of his way to overthrow those norms the further he develops each given character.

however! i don't think horikoshi will go so far as to subvert the stereotypical main ship (izuocha) and instead pick the relationship between the main two characters (bakudeku). rival relationships in shounen are pretty popular anyway, and mha is not the first shounen to have a deeply meaningful relationship between the male main character and the male main rival/deuteragonist. naruto and haikyuu both have oddly homoerotic friendships between the main two rivals and neither of these relationships are romantically canon.

the reasons why they aren't isn't ever explained why, but i sincerely think at least a sliver of the reason is because both characters are of the same gender. case in point: haikyuu only has a handful of canon boy x girl relationships by the time the series ended. so little that you could literally count the number on one hand, despite the amount of characters in the full cast. and yeah a vast majority of those characters were guys, but those guys were left presumably single, or at least their relationship statuses weren't disclosed. haikyuu did what naruto didn't, which was consciously understand that the most impactful relationships within the entire series were always between two men. for example, hinata and yachi are canonically close friends, and furudate could just pair them up without much thought. but they didn't, instead opting to keep hinata single and keeping his most important relationship with kageyama. likely somewhere there, no matter how faint, furudate didn't canonize kagehina due to fear of backlash, even though it'd make sense chemistry-wise.

bakudeku is in the same boat, where deku could be paired up with ochako if horikoshi just stopped giving fucks — they have a good friendship, with ochako having a crush, or at least a strong admiration, on deku — but he is decidedly not. at least not yet, but it'd be weird to canonize them after taking deku's long platonic feelings for her into account. deku has been entirely single this whole time with nothing aggressively romantic happening between him and ochako (except for the blackwhip situaiton, which ochako's VA herself mentioned as not inherently romantic, but as a chance for ochako to showcase her heroism). i'm inclined to believe this is part of horikoshi's subversions: specifically keeping deku and ochako away from heartfelt, desperate moments where their connection can be brought to the forefront. this makes it even stranger that horikoshi gives bakugou a lot of the standard damsel-in-distress roles, such as being taken hostage by the sludge villain, being kidnapped by the league of villains, and even being carried by deku during their fight with all might. granted he was carried over the shoulder, but he was specifically carried, lol. compared to ochako, bakugou is put in much more danger, consequently "depending" on deku to save him, as much as he hates that.

narratively, this makes bakudeku the most purposeful relationship, from their connection since childhood and having it develop slowly but surely during their adolescence.

their relationship is significantly meant to represent change and equality, as their relationship arc is parallel with many of mha's core themes. canonically they are the two students that inspire the rest of their class to be better heroes. the character deku interacts with most is arguably bakugou, if we put their history into account. even though bakugou was his bully for most of their lives, deku still unconditionally cares about him, even without bakugou asking him to. most times, it's actually against what bakugou wants, which is for deku to leave him alone. he also has the most emotional investment in bakugou, since he canonically sees bakugou as his image of victory, as well as someone who instantly triggers his emotional response as opposed to his logical response. literally like 80% of deku's "outbursts" where he acts utterly irrationally (and not always in a heroic way) are related to bakugou. see: sludge villian,

bakugou's kidnapping (in the original japanese version, i believe he says "give him back" in a distinctly possessive way, as if bakugou is genuinely his. but i could be wrong, idk how to read japanese),

deku vs kacchan 2 (instead of trying to talk down bakugou, he ends up fighting him even though it's against the rules, just because he can't exactly say no to bakugou's unconventional way of dealing with his feelings),

blackwhip's awakening (there is murder in his eyes. monoma insulted bakugou and deku was ready to kill him),

danger sense's awakening (same as blackwhip's awakening, but amplified to 100 given how bakugou was straight up stabbed in front of his eyes),

and bakugou's apology. (this one isn't deku being impulsive, more that bakugou appealed to his emotions and it worked way better than any of their classmates' attempts lol)

through a few of these given pieces of evidence, it's also evident that bakugou cares a hefty amount for deku, just in a more lowkey, less obvious way. this feeling gets distinctly more desperate when deku runs away, so much so that bakugou bluntly tells everyone that he knows deku best (something he probably would have never verbalized earlier in the series), mobilizes his class to chase him down, and eventually talks deku into coming back. so it's also canon that bakugou cannot stand the thought of deku not being near him — "it makes me wanna keep him at arm's length" and whatever.

in literally every story-related way imaginable, it makes sense for bakudeku to be canon. in terms of relationships, they have the most developed, dynamic, and interesting one. they get the most screen time. the proof is quite literally in the story. everything bkdks look at for bkdk proof is canon, a somewhat rare situation shipping-wise, where two characters that aren't together in canon already feel like they are together in canon. at this point, all they'd have to say to make it canon is "i like you". so why the hell am i such a fucking cynic about them?

i've already mentioned up there that it's already pretty damn hard for a shounen jump to canonize a gay ship. it doesn't matter how popular the ship is in the fandom; if the mangaka and/or the manga distributor doesn't want them to be canon, then they won't be canon. it's made even worse that deku and bakugou are the main characters; if they were background characters, they honestly might've had a better chance in my eyes.

because here's the thing: canonizing bakudeku means that mha (and to an extent, shounen jump) is now officially supporting the lgbt community. which it already techncially is with its side characters like toga (either bi or pan), magne (trans) and tiger (trans), but they're side characters. purposefully not as important as deku and bakugou, who are the poster characters for merch, advertising, and spin-off material such as movies and games. regarding the lgbt community, japan is more conservative than the US — they haven't legalized gay marriage, and the overall understanding and acceptance of it is lower than the western world. all of this combined makes it very hard for any canon lgbt content to be big, mainstream and serialized. this isn't to say that japan doesn't allow any shows involving gay characters, but those shows are considerably more niche, many of them falling under bl/gl instead of any other broad genre. even yuri on ice, which was a big hit for what it was worth, only got one season and a movie that is seemingly never coming out.

mha is, in every sense of the word, not a niche series. horikoshi would be risking a lot making his male main characters romantically involved with each other, because mha is not a series that can fly under the radar and be solely picked up by smaller groups that are more accepting of queer people and relationships. it'd be like making luffy from one piece canonically gay. and i have never read one piece but i'm pretty sure all the dudebros in both the west and in asia would flip their fucking shits. it doesn't matter how close deku and bakugou are. as long as both of them are guys, their canonization will be inherently "political". at best, people would complain about why romance should be in a story like this in the first place (a common homophobic argument against lgbt relationships, since they have nothing against the male mc dating the main girl). at worst, people would be outright homophobic, aggressive towards the direction the manga is moving, and horikoshi could face serious repercussions regarding funding and advertising.

shows in the west get screwed over constantly for including lgbt relationships. steven universe had to fight tooth and nail to include ruby and sapphire's romance, and even harder for their wedding. the owl house's lumity faced something much similar, and the show even got "cancelled" — i know it's a glass half-empty idea, but i think they got cut short partly because of lumity. kids cartoons always try sneaking in lgbt content, but either they get cut, hidden, or relegated to background characters where you'll blink and you'll miss it. we're getting better i guess, but the undeniable truth is that if even the US is this finicky about lgbt representation, then there's no way japan will fold so easily.

if bakugou were a girl, then bakudeku would be canon by now. if deku were a girl, then bakudeku would be canon by now. it's the same shit every time; shounen series write the most groundbreaking, mindblowing relationships between two dudes, only to never make them official due to their genders. instead, they're stuck with having the most important dynamic within the entire narrative, but it's strictly platonic. i don't think it's because shounen mangakas are inherently homophobic. i don't think horikoshi is homophobic at all. i simply think that they'd rather play it safe, knowing their main audience. shounen is not written for any fandom demographics. we're big, but ultimately we hold no power over the story.

when i say i don't think horikoshi is homophobic at all, i truly mean that, because — i think if he had it his way, he would've made bakudeku canon by now.

there's already so much shit. a baffling amount of shit to prove their loyalty to each other, how they affect each other and their arcs, how they're save to win, win to save. how bakugou is a key component of deku's character, and how deku is probably the most important character to bakugou's entire development. horikoshi is deliberate in how he writes them. he's deliberate in how he framed bakugou as "the girl" that "the hero" needs to save. he's deliberate in their complimentary personalities and values. he's very fucking deliberate in how he specifically makes their relationship the most changing, beneficial, and understanding. if horikoshi didn't care about these two and their connection, he wouldn't have done all this. he would've latched deku and bakugou onto other characters, or had them be standalone individuals. but no; their entire existence is about dependence. about finding that middle ground and growing together, intertwined.

he's also not afraid of adding lgbt characters into his series, as long as those characters don't get a large amount of screen time. like previously mentioned, toga is canonically not straight, having interest in both deku and ochako. and she's written pretty damn well too, with her attraction to deku and ochako playing a huge role in her characterization. like i said before, horikoshi is good at writing characters and relationships. i don't doubt that he's capable of writing lgbt relationships too, if given the opportunity. i'd actually shit bricks if horikoshi made togachako canon. somehow i find that more likely than bakudeku. sick and twisted.

he also made magne and tiger, who are both wholly unimportant characters and one of them fucking dies. but the point is, i believe that horikoshi would want to make more characters lgbt, he just very possibly cannot right now. there's too much at stake; he's a popular mangaka writing a hugely successful series, with an insanely wide outreach. there will obviously be a sized portion of his reader base that just absolutely hates the gays. i'm pretty sure he's aware of this.

all this said, i find it hard to believe that horikoshi doesn't like bakudeku as a canon duo. not a romantic relationship exactly, but at least as an official partner duo. they're constantly paired up promotionally anyway. it would take horikoshi zero effort to make them future pro hero partners. it would probably take him more effort to justify why they aren't. what i'm trying to say here is this: horikoshi is possibly trying, in the most subtle ways possible, to allude to their relationship deepening in the coming years. just, well, not strictly romantically. in the same way his fellow shounen mangakas either stuck to heterosexual romances or no romances at all, he will likely settle for a simple platonic relationship between bakudeku. but he won't confirm nor deny that bakudeku are more, the same way furudate didn't say shit about kagehina. it's up to your interpretation. they could be just friends or dating or married; just know that the mangaka himself likes the idea that his main two guy characters are this close with each other.

ANYWAY. THE POINT IS. i do not think bakudeku will be canon. i refuse to get my hopes up, and i will continue to be a pessimistic little bitch until i'm proven wrong. i hope i am proven wrong. i hope horikoshi decides to make them canon, i really hope he does. but i'm just not sure if he'll be allowed that chance, or if he'll want to do it in the first place. in the meantime, i am fully prepared to see bakudeku as yet another failed mlm relationship in mainstream shounen, one that could have been genuinely revolutionary. oh well. at least we still have fan content.

[tiringwritings]

those last two episode of stranger things were a mess, honestly. i love byler and i’m not just angry because my ship hasn’t become canon. it’s just so unfair.

mike and will were real best friends before season three happened. mike used to care about will as much as the latter did.

he was a good friend, he cared.

but since el came into the picture he just became to get further and further from will.

which we can still explain because well she is his girlfriend, and maybe he has new priorities now. you know having a first girlfriend/boyfriend is exciting, you want to do everything with them and you distance yourselves from your friends because you wanna spend time with your loved one. maybe he didn’t even notice getting far away. it’s okay. we get it.

however that still doesn’t give him the privilege

to treat his “best friends” in certain way.

especially when your said best friend has pointed to you what you’re doing, how distant you have been, how the friendship now doesn’t feel like before.

best thing for will, which i expect to see at this point and as an advice given from someone who experienced something very close to what he went through, should be to end his friendship with mike.

will is too good for mike. he puts mike over over and over his own good.

why spending so much effort? why spending all of yourself on something that it’s not even worth? and you know it’s not worth because will already has pointed to mike what the problem is and mike has done nothing to repair their friendship.

he just brushed the thought out of his mind since will moved. never contacted him. never cared to see if everything was okay. nothing.

mike has so many things he has to make amend for, honestly:

• ‘its not my fault you don’t like girls’,

• making will feel shitty about himself for not reaching out when it was supposed to be him reaching out especially since will already had pointed out to him that he felt mike distant. (p.s a supposedly good friend would have wrote some letters or called at least to prove that he’s trying to be a better friend ). +bonus point to being the best shitty friend to ever exist: cause this happened during will birthday, and mike not only didn’t remember but also did this so yeah

• mike doesn’t question will being strange around him.

• mike doesn’t question the fact that will said el commissioned the painting when el sent him a letter saying: “idk what is this painting he’s doing but he’s all acting strange i guess it’s for a girl” . he doesn’t question because he doesn’t care anymore about will, or better said will is the last of his priorities now.

• he doesn’t ask why will is tearing up and okay he might be thinking that it’s because will cares about el so much but he’s tearing up and a good friend would still ask if there’s maybe something else to it. or at least show some comfort. will is crying and mike is the one being comforted. how unnatural is this.

• he lies to will. says that they would solve things together, but as soon as el comes back in the picture will disappears for him.

i cried so much for will cause what happened to him was so human it’s scary.

what happens to him is so relatable in a way that scares me. because only in real life i have seen people acting as mike: pretending that they’re your friends but doing absolutely nothing to prove it, or not caring.

and honestly, honestly

think how bad will loves him, to not explode.

i mean he did, four times, but always lies the truth.

you know what, i hope they make him burst one more time. just one more. and that time make him end things with mike.

he must tell mike how shitty of a friend he has been for the last years.

he must shout to him how many times he had to suppress himself and his feelings because he cared for their friendship, and for nothing.

because mike keeps ruining it just more and more.

i hope that is how it goes because that what mike deserves, even if with how they made the character act i’m sure the new mike won’t even try.

he would just blame will because that’s what he does now.

[angelicyoongie]

everything i brew, i brew it for you

⤷ 1.2k follower event request: Familiar!Seokjin x Witch!Reader + “I should’ve told you back then, but I didn’t want you to leave.” + Fluff/Angst ⤷ @softescapism​ said: seokjin x reader or OT7 x reader + prompt C8 + witch/familiar, fluff, sfw (hi! could you write a drabble/scenario/short fic for the follower event based on this, please? 💓) ⤷ word count: 2.1k ⤷ a/n: this is a little angsty in the beginning, but the ending is all fluff! i hope you like it!!

“There you are!” You grumble, snatching up a vial from the back of your cabinet. The little thing is covered with dust, the label yellowed with age and barely clinging on to the glass. But even then, there’s no mistaking the content. The shimmering pink powder inside makes you stomach flip uneasily, but you know it has to be done. You uncap the bottle before you can talk yourself out of it, carefully sprinkling the powder counter-clockwise into the boiling concoction in your pot. You can’t help but frown as it slowly turns from clear to bright pink, the stark colour mocking you as you throw in a pair of four leaf clovers with a little more force than necessary. The kitchen is quiet aside from the bubbling brew and the rhythmic tapping of your impatient fingers against the counter, your eyes resting nervously on the dark garden outside your window. You promised Seokjin years ago that you would never make this particular potion again, but you’ve run out of options.

You love being a potions witch, but truth be told, it’s probably the worst financial decision you could have made. All witches have to choose their niche the day they turn eighteen, and you, driven by the long list of potions witches in your ancestry, wanted to follow in their footsteps. What you didn’t account for however, is just how drastically the times have changed. Larger covens have started selling their potions online, making them in big batches to cut down on the cost and shipping them all across the country. There’s no longer a need for a town to have their own potions witch, not when you can get them delivered to your doorstep for a cheaper price. The mass produced potions are definitely not as potent as a singularly brewed ones, but it seems people care more about price than efficiency these days. Well, at least most people don’t care. And considering business has been dwindling so alarmingly fast over the last four months that you’re barely scraping by, there’s not a chance that you can lower your prices anymore than you already have.

You shake your head, trying your best to ignore the tendrils of guilt wrapping around your chest. As long as your familiar doesn’t find out about this order, there will be nothing for him to worry about. That's why you’re hunkered over the stove in the first place; desperately hoping that it will be done in time before he comes home. Tonight is Seokjin’s monthly familiar night with Hoseok and Namjoon, and the only window of alone time you have to make something like this. You murmur a quick incantation under your breath as you give the potion one last stir, watching as the pink brew slowly darkens to red. The sickly sweet smell that whiffs up from the cauldron almost makes you gag, but at least it tells you that the potion is almost complete.

You take a step back, throwing another glance towards the window as you count down the seconds in your head. Five minutes. That’s all you need. It’ll be finished, and you can finally hand over the love potion to your customer tomorrow. Despite your reservations and Seokjin’s hatred for that particular brew, it’s actually not that bad. It can’t force someone to fall in love, but it does make them more .. loose-lipped around their crush if they happen to have one. If anything, it’s honestly more of a rebranded truth serum. It does make you want to confess your feelings, and that’s also where the dubious morality of the potion comes in. Even if the person is already in love with someone, it still forces the recipient to act on emotions that they might not be ready to, or even want to share with their crush. You’ve turned down requests for this potion numerous times in the past, but this time, you truly can’t afford to. Seokjin might be older, but he’s still your familiar. Your responsibility. It’s not his fault that he decided to create a bond with you – a witch who can hardly sell enough potions to keep food on the table. You have honestly no idea how you managed to end up with a familiar like him, one that’s so utterly selfless and helpful. Seokjin’s guidance and assistance feels a little wasted on you, and you can’t help but think that your familiar should’ve ended up with a different witch. One that would actually be able to repay him properly for everything he does. You let out a deep sigh. You’ll just have to do better. Maybe you can try to set up one of those witchgram accounts Taehyung is doing so well on, after all, the ritual witch’s sales has been increasing.

The brew suddenly releases a puff of red smoke, signaling its completion. You hastily grab an empty bottle, scooping up as much as possible as you fill the vial to the brim. ”Shit, not yet,” You can suddenly feel the familiar itch behind your right ear, a telltale sign that Seokjin will be home soon. You scramble to turn off the oven as you hear your familiar open the back door, just about managing to shove in a cork at the top of the bottle and hide it behind your back as Seokjin steps into the kitchen.

”Hey! How was your night out?” You lean awkwardly against the counter, bottle digging into your back as you press it flush against your body.

”It was good,” Your heart flutters as Seokjin comes closer, the handsome features never failing to make your heart skip a treacherous beat. ”How was your night?” Your familiar raises an eyebrow as he takes in your awkward posture, the lingering scent of magic in the air betraying what you’ve been up to while he was gone.

”Boring! You know, just very normal and .. boring,” You wince. You breath hitches as Seokjin stalks closer, the frown tugging on his lips causing another wave of guilt to crash through you. You brain shuts down as he cages you in against the counter, and you swear you only blink before you find yourself staring at a red vial in front of your face, your hand grasping around air.

”I see,” Seokjin huffs, ”It’s so very boring and normal to brew a potion we agreed we wouldn’t sell.” As Seokjin stares down at the bottle with disdain before he places it on the counter, you can’t help but shrink against the wood, wracking your brain to figure out a good excuse. You can’t explain why you did it without exposing Seokjin to yourfinancial issues, and you have no plans of doing it – but, then you catch your familiar’s gaze, his kind eyes filled with saddened disappointment as he says, ”Y/n, why would you do this behind my back?”

The reason bubbles up your throat before you can stop it, the words bitter on your tongue as you blurt out a panicked, ”I had to! Business isn’t going well and we need the money, I couldn’t turn the customer away.” You register the flash of shock in Seokjin’s eyes, the purple tint around his brown irises brightening before he gets it under control. Your familiar runs a hand through his hair, leaving the dark locks messy and disheveled as he let out a deep sigh.

”For how long has this been going on?” You slump against the counter, adverting your eyes down to the floor as you mumble, ”Four months. I should’ve told you back then, but I didn’t want you to leave. I thought I could fix it before it became too much of a problem .. I just didn’t want to make you regret choosing me.”

Seokjin’s eyes soften, an exasperated huff of air leaving his lips as he places his fingers under your chin, tilting your head back up. ”Y/n, I would never regret choosing you as my witch,” Your familiar keeps his gaze locked with yours, his eyes urging you to understand the sincerity behind his words. "I just wish you had told me, we could have worked this out together much earlier.”

”I didn’t want you to worry,” You frown. "You already do so much by making deliveries and gathering ingredients, and I didn’t want to burden you more." You feel your breath hitch as Seokjin’s hand moves from your chin to cup your cheek, his touch gentle as he runs his thumb across your skin.

“That’s what I’m supposed to do as your familiar, Y/n. I’m here to help you and guide you, but I can’t do that if you don’t tell me when something’s wrong.” You know that, you really do, but it’s still hard to accept sometimes – the fact that you can’t solve everything on your own.

“I’m sorry,” You pout.

”I know,” Seokjin nods, a faint smile on his lips as he moves his hands to your back, pulling you into a hug. ”Just talk to me next time, yeah?”

”I will, I promise,” Your voice is muffled by the thick material of his sweater, but you know your familiar hears you as his arms tighten around your waist in response.

”Good,” Seokjin’s voice is fond as his fingers draw small patterns against your back. You feel yourself relaxing into Seokjin’s hold, your body melting against his as he rests his head on top of yours. ”How are we going to fix it though? I’ve tried almost everything I can think of. There’s nothing that beats low prices and convenience,” You sigh.

”Of course there is,” You pull back at the affronted tone in Seokjin’s voice, your familiar looking down at you like you personally offended him. Seokjin releases you from his hold, his hands flying up to cup his face as he says, ”I can beat that. This–” He points wildly at his face, ”–is sure to bring business in again. No one can resist the opportunity to glance upon this handsome face.” You snort at the expectant expression on his face, rolling your eyes so hard it feels like they’re close to popping out. As much as you like teasing Seokjin for his confidence, he’s not wrong. There’s no one in this town that can come close to Seokjin’s handsomeness, and well, everyone knows it. That’s the biggest reason you have Seokjin running errands and making deliveries, because it means he won’t have to deal with being ogled by all the customers that stop by. For all the banter and smiles he would flash at your customers, you could tell it made your familiar uncomfortable. You could see the way he gently tried to pull away when touches lingered a little too long on his arms, his ears stained a permanent red the days he worked out in the shop.

”Making money isn’t worth it if means you’ll have to do something that makes you uncomfortable,” You shake your head, ignoring the flutter in your chest as you grasp Seokjin’s hands, pulling them away from his face.

”I’ll be fine,” Seokjin says. It’s your familiar’s turn to roll his eyes as he sees the doubtful look on your face. ”I mean it. Please trust me just this once? I’ll let you know the moment it gets too much.”

You hesitate, using the extra seconds to search his face for any uncertainty. ”Fine,” You grumble. You owe it to your familiar to at least extend the trust he has given you back to him.

”Don’t look so sad Y/n, you know you’re the only witch that gets unlimited access to my handsome face,” Seokjin grins.

”Shut up,” You groan, pushing lightly at his chest. You can feel the heat creeping up your neck as Seokjin looks down at you, and you find yourself thankful that familiars don’t have enhanced hearing, otherwise your heart would’ve surely given you away years ago. Something flickers in Seokjin’s eyes, and your familiar’s grin turns heart wrenchingly soft as he ducks his head down.

”I do mean it Y/n, you really are the only witch for me.” You freeze as Seokjin leans in, your blood rushing in your ears as you feel your familiar’s plush lips press against the corner of your mouth. As your brain finally catches up to what just happened, Seokjin has already pulled back. The spot he kissed is burning against your skin, and you barely manage to make sense of Seokjin’s warm gaze lingering on your lips before his eyes flicker behind your back, eyebrow quirking as he says, ”Now, what should we do about that potion?”  

Click here for the 1.2 follower event masterlist! Please leave a comment/reblog/like if you enjoyed :) If you enjoy my stories, you can support me here! 💖

[stolen-pen-name23]

PROMPTS!!

Hi Katie!!! How about “You need to stop this. I can’t watch you burn yourself out anymore.” For ani and Obi? 💕

JUS MY BELOVED!! Thank you for the prompt! Prompts now closed.

---

She was dead, so what else could Obi-Wan do but work?

It was easy enough to do. War efforts were always hurting for diligent workers, and as a High General, it was already somewhat expected of him.

If he was getting reckless, no one said anything. Not to him at least.

Obi-Wan could pretend he did not see Cody’s worried glances. He could ignore the way Mace crossed his arms over his chest when Obi-Wan volunteered for more and more missions — each more dangerous than the last. And as for Anakin, well, he had not spent too much time with him since the whole Rako Hardeen incident. Anakin could not call out what he could not see, so Obi-Wan carried on, uninhibited by any unnecessary nagging.

But every man had his breaking point and Obi-Wan found his in the form of a grenade.

It was his fault, really. He made a sloppy mistake — something he might have done as a Padawan, but not as a Master.

Maybe it was a mistake. He thinks it was a mistake. Or maybe some part of him knew that he was too close to the tank when he pulled the pin and yet he did it anyway.

He didn’t want to think about it too hard.

Not that he could think of anything else save the searing hot feeling of shrapnel embedded in his gut, his legs, his chest. How could he reflect on his foolhardy actions when his blood was staining the dirt beneath him a deep red and the blue sky above was becoming riddled with black spots.

Part of him thought he could hear the sound of one of his men calling for a medic, or maybe it was an illusion. He did not know. All Obi-Wan knew was the sound of blood rushing in his ears and a deep numbness settling in his bones.

The world faded away to black, and Obi-Wan was ready to fade with it.

***

Turns out, the world did not share Obi-Wan’s sentiments.

As he rose to consciousness, sharp reality crashed into him. The smell of saline and antiseptic. The deep ache set throughout his whole body. All of it a very real reminder that he was not dead yet.

When he opened his eyes, he was not surprised to see his former Padawan glowering at him. Obi-Wan closed his eyes again and pretended to be asleep.

“Nuh-uh, nope, that trick is not going to work on me. I invented that trick.”

Obi-Wan sighed and opened his eyes once more. He did not bother asking what trick Anakin was referring to — his Padawan was no fool.

“Good morning, Anakin,” Obi-Wan croaked out. His voice was dry from disuse. Anakin handed him a glass filled with cool water and he took a small sip from it.

“It’s not morning, Master,” Anakin said, bitterness putting a hard edge on his voice. “It’s evening. Three days after you got yourself blown up by your own grenade.”

Three days.

The heart rate monitor picked up its pace.

“Honestly, I can’t even believe you. How come I’m the one they call reckless? At least I succeed in my recklessness. You just have a death wish.”

Anakin’s face had turned red with anger, his brows furrowed forward in a look of contempt or possibly worry. At this point, Obi-Wan is not sure which one his former Padawan is experiencing.

Obi-Wan’s heart only beat faster as Anakin yelled at him.

“Anakin, please,” Obi-Wan said breathlessly. He squeezed his eyes shut in pain and it was only this that seemed to shut Anakin up.

“Master?” Anakin asked quietly, and in that moment, he sounded so much like he used to when he would come knocking on Obi-Wan’s door after a nightmare.

Obi-Wan took a few shallow breaths in an attempt to not aggravate the wounds in his chest.

“Obi-Wan?” Anakin asked a little more desperately.

“It’s all right, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said. “I’m fine.”

“Master.”

“What, Anakin?” Obi-Wan snapped. He did not want to hear what his former apprentice was about to say to him. He had a feeling he was going to hear it anyway.

“You aren’t fine. Ever since… Ever since Satine—”

“Don’t,” Obi-Wan warned.

“Ever since Satine passed away, you’ve been pushing yourself too hard.”

“She didn’t ‘pass away’ she was murdered,” Obi-Wan said bitterly. “She was murdered and I couldn’t stop it. And it was because of me.”

Anakin shook his head. “It wasn’t because of you. Maul is a Sith. Sith murder people, it’s what they do.”

“It doesn’t matter what they do.”

“But it matters what you do,” Anakin said. “And you can’t keep doing this.”

“Pray tell, what is it that I’m doing?”

Anakin’s eyes darkened with rage. “You know exactly what it is you’re doing.”

“Enlighten me,” Obi-Wan dared.

“Where do I start, Master? You’re volunteering for the most dangerous missions and you’re volunteering for more of them. You are putting yourself in harm’s way on purpose. You’re being reckless.”

“And what about it?”

Anakin snorted in disbelief. He stood up and stalked back and forth across the room like an exotic animal locked in a cage. “I can’t do this anymore!”

“Do what?” Obi-Wan snapped back. “Please tell me what this has to do with you.”

“Are you… Are you serious? After everything? Master, I— I can’t lose you after I just lost you. After I just got you back. You can’t do that to me. I won’t allow it.”

The pit in Obi-Wan’s stomach deepened.

“I can’t watch you burn yourself out anymore,” Anakin whispered in a voice so soft, Obi-Wan almost didn’t hear it. “I can’t take it.”

Anakin’s shoulders hunched in defeat. He gave one last disappointed look to Obi-Wan before he turned toward the door.

Obi-Wan should just let him go. Anakin would walk away and go back to his own ship and his own problems. Obi-Wan would go back to his missions and his men. It would be easier for both of them if he just let him go.

But as it was, he did not want to.

“Anakin, wait,” Obi-Wan said desperately.

Anakin paused and gripped the doorframe, but his back remained turned to Obi-Wan.

“Anakin, please… please don’t go,” Obi-Wan said. Heat pricked at his eyes. “I can’t… I don’t want to be alone right now.”

Anakin turned around and the hard lines of his jaw softened. Wordlessly, he crossed the room and sat on the side of Obi-Wan’s bed.

“I’ll stay. Of course, I’ll stay.”

Obi-Wan nodded his thanks and tilted his head back onto the pillows. Exhaustion threatened to overtake him.

“You have to promise me something,” Anakin said before Obi-Wan could fall asleep.

“What?”

“Promise me you’ll take better care of yourself? You’ll be more careful? Less reckless?”

Obi-Wan snorted. “Only if you make the same promise.”

Anakin grinned.

“It’s something we can work on together.”

Obi-Wan let Anakin settle in beside him. With Anakin at his side, he knew he’d do everything he could to keep his promise.

[infinitewarden]

Osiris isn’t Savathun.

Great! Now that I have your attention:

Man you guys tire me out about Osiris. If you truly believe this is Osiris I don’t mean to sound like That Guy that’s like “you don’t know what you’re talking about” but... You don’t know what you’re talking about.

So.

Let’s talk about how much Osiris cares about the City and humanity and why the Osiris in Epilogue is not actually Osiris.

Alright. Let’s start off with context. I think it’s super important to see what we do know as Osiris’s views. From my heavy analyses of him since 2020 I can confidently say these are what he views as the most important things a person can do:

Keep promises

Speak their truths

Protect the City & Humanity

Know that the Vex are true Evil.

Now, I won’t be doing a breakdown of each one individually but I will be talking a great deal of how important honesty is to Osiris, the City, and his views of the Vex.

Speaking honestly and bluntly.

I don’t know how many of you were into Destiny before Beyond Light, so if you were unaware of this it’s not your fault. However I’ve seen a very strange change in tone when it comes to how people view Osiris. Before Season of Hunt people hated - and I mean hated - Osiris. Why? Because he was blunt. They viewed his bluntness as rudeness.

To see a sudden switch to him being secretive and scheming is... alarming, to say the least. (And to see people think that this is the norm is also alarming but in other ways.)

The Osiris before Hunt was not secretive and scheming. He sought knowledge openly. He sought, specifically, the truth. I must stress just how open he was about his plans. First I’ll give you a few in lore examples:

I admit, I found your questions divisive and disloyal, and I feared you might be capable of breaking our unity when the City's position had grown so tenuous. Why divert attention away from the Traveler, our only hope? And then it got worse, dabbling in thanatonautics, Ahamkara-lore, chasing after Xur and the tricks of the Nine. Launching expeditions into the Reef and beyond at a time when ships were irreplaceable. Your quest split Guardians along ideological lines. This was your greatest crime: Hunters chose to pursue your visions instead of protecting refugees, Titans assembled teams to chase the legendary Vault of Glass instead of striking the Fallen, and Warlocks turned away from the study of the Traveler in favor of  your  ultimate obsession... learning the exact nature of the Darkness. ... Perhaps what drives a Warlock to madness is truth.

Osiris.

"Do not romanticize this burden. We wield a weapon." The Speaker shakes his head. "The Light wields you, Osiris. You are what you make of it. A glorious extension of its majesty, in many directions." Osiris paces at cadence with his words. "Then it would do well to speak clearly. To better direct me." The Speaker cocks his head. "Without will? Then it would be no better than the Darkness." "I am asking only for guidance; it is a delicate game we are playing." Osiris's voice, distressed. Regal again, the Speaker motions to the stone garden. "Will you sit with me?"

13: Margins Part II.

And, while I don’t particularly like using the Fall of Osiris comic as a source, it does have very important lines on his viewpoints that I find relevant yet.

Fall of Osiris #1.

Hell he was open about his plans to fuck with time itself to bring Saint back.

Sagira narrowed her eye at the rogue Lightbearer and lowered herself to Osiris’s shoulder. “Why’s he here?” she asked quietly. “I asked him to consult on the engineering work,” Osiris replied, crossing his arms. “You sicko,” the other man declared, walking a circle around the Warlock, his eyes darting along every surface of the Sundial around them. ... “Just one more question, then. Why all the fuss?” “I owe him.” “I owe a lotta people, Warlock. You’re opening the gates of hell with a Vex key.” “When the Traveler brought me back, I had no friends. No family—” “No one had anything in the Dark Age.” “But Saint was always there. And I saw him grow from neophyte to demigod.”

The Sundial.

"You haven't left the Forest in years," Ikora said to Osiris, the only one to address him directly. "I need help," Osiris replied. "I know," Ikora responded, hands clasped behind her back. She stared intently at her former mentor. Back in her Crucible days, that uncompromising gaze was often the last thing her opponents saw. Aunor glanced sidelong at her superior. Harper coughed and looked down at his datapad. "Two years ago, Guardians entered the Infinite Forest," Osiris continued. "They aided me in defeating the Axis Mind Panoptes, preventing a Vex apocalypse from befalling this system. "In the process," he looked between each of them in turn, "Some Guardians reported a body they found in the Forest depths." Ikora sighed. "Saint-14 never came back from that last mission to Mercury. We finally knew why. I reacted to it the only way I knew how."

Desperate Times.

“I do not understand all of this code. This is Geppetto’s specialty,” Saint-14 says while standing bent over a wide desk covered in data tablets. Holographic images of the Lighthouse shimmer in the Hangar lights. “We could use the Crucible right now. Your trials. This will be very helpful. You mean to stay, yes?” “I will. Long enough to show you how to implement the simulation; but tonight, I must disembark,” Osiris says. “So soon?” Osiris tenses his jaw in forced silence. He twiddles with code. “I’m worried about what Vance found.” Saint places a heavy hand on Osiris’s chest. “Let go of your obsession. Do not leave chasing phantoms again.” “Phantoms… You think the Darkness is satisfied? This is just the first move. I need to know the next before it’s made.” “If there is something you fear, let me help you. We face this together.” Osiris’s mind drifts to the Dark anomalies. Saint doesn’t need another burden. “The safest place for you is the Tower, Saint. Time... tends to renege on its gifts.” “So, your mission is dangerous?” Osiris considers lying. “Potentially.”

Immolant I.

There are many more sources I could list on his bluntness and honesty but there’s honestly too much. What is important to extrapolate from all of it is this:

OSIRIS SPOKE THE TRUTH NO MATTER IF IT GOT HIM IN TROUBLE. IT IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS HE GOT EXILED.

Protecting the City & Humanity

Idk where people get the idea that he’s abandoned the City and humanity. And I don’t understand where people think it’s “typical Osiris behavior” to choose to put the City in danger.

I want to make something very clear here:

Osiris was exiled. He did not abandon the City. And though others view him as abandoning it, that wasn’t his intention. He never intentionally abandoned it. Everything he did was in pursuit of a brighter future for humanity. Let’s look at one of his lines from the Sundial activity during Dawn.

“By the time I left the City, many believed my practices to be sacrilege. But my methods have prevented countless futures not unlike the one you walk now. When it is laid out before you, would you not sacrifice anything to see this future shut?”

The Sundial.

He left because he weighed his options and he saw that humanity would have better use of him if he left. He cares A great deal about the City. He cares almost too much about it. He would never give Lakshmi the technology to cause it harm, especially knowing that she’s unstable. And I’ve seen some people think he’s playing 5D chess? In what world would he ever choose to bring harm upon humanity for some sort of... agenda; which I’ve already cleared up earlier, he’s open about his plans.

Let’s look at more known lore about Osiris’s feelings of the City & humanity.

"You've wrapped your mind around an idea of your own making. I have always tolerated this fawning 'movement' of yours, but this is a step too far." Osiris seethed. Brother Vance was awestruck. He stared blankly at Osiris, unsure of what he could say to quell his anger and dissolve his frustration. "What I have discovered…" "…is dangerous enough to destroy every man, woman, and child in existence. You're meddling with forces outside your grasp," Osiris reprimanded. "I warn you here and now, remove yourself from this Lighthouse. Find a simple life. Start a family. Write music. Leave Mercury and this fool's errand behind."

Chapter 8: Idolatry.

Osiris was furious to find out Vance was experimenting in his name by endangering people for his goals. And he was especially mad that he would dive into such dangerous areas so much so that it had the potential to destroy humanity.

"It's truth." Osiris considers this. "Truth seems subjective these days," Osiris says, finally observing his entourage for the first time. Among them, a small group of men and women, stand two wayward Guardians—Warlocks, it appears—and a child. Their forlorn faces resonate with him. Castaways and believers. The weeks since his departure from the Last City have worn on him. He was used to working alone, knowing he could fall back to the City's resources should he need them. Now, adrift in the expanse of purpose, he finds himself longing for a place he could return to. A sanctuary.

Chapter 2: Postexilic.

Here’s a few lines from Season of Dawn:

“The Traveler, mutilated. Mercury, a desolate warzone. This is the bleak future the Cabal wants for us all. We do not know what has become of humanity here. I hope we will not find out.”

.

“There are many terrible futures, but I have not grown numb to seeing them. The future the Cabal wish for is a nightmare for humanity.”

.

“If the Traveler fled the system, there is a chance that the Darkness would ignore our region of the galaxy entirely. It would sacrifice our second awakening, our ability to wield the Light, but potentially continue our Golden Age. There are too many variables at risk, but it's a variant path worth investigating in the Infinite Forest.”

.

“This battered Mercury is a blueprint for our system. Lightless, bowed, and nothing more than fuel for an endless war. It must never come to pass.”

The Sundial.

There are many. Many. More lines I could put here about how much Osiris doesn’t want to see humanity suffering. And especially how he doesn’t want the City to be at risk. But I think you get the picture.

Know that the Vex are true Evil.

So. We all know Osiris as “the Vex guy.” His whole thing is on fighting the Vex. However it seems people think that he’d be okay with using them for grounds of a higher purpose? Or something? I don’t know, everyone I see rebuffing Osiris’s actions with Lakshmi don’t seem to be interested in explaining this one.

So anyways. Let’s talk about how Osiris views the Vex as true evil compared to other species.

“The Fallen are not so different from us. How hard would you fight if the Light were taken from you?” “Those stories ring false to me,” said Saint. “They are not a noble people. I’ve fought them, and so have you.” “I have not fought them all,” the Warlock replied, pulling his hands apart to create an intricate web of hovering cubes and points of light. “They are nothing, no threat—not like the Vex. Not like the Darkness.”

Vanguard Commander.

[u.2:06] Have you spoken to the House of Light, like I asked? [u.1:07] I would rather not speak with Fallen. [u.2:07] They may need our help. Their cause is just. [u.1:08] What happened to “trust no one?” [u.2:08] What happened to your sense of right and wrong, hero?

Maintenance Operations Log 30037.

The unenlightened wonder at my so-called "fixation" upon the Vex. They believe our gravest existential threat is the Hive, for those beings have made a pact with the Darkness itself via the medium of the Worm Gods (according to Toland, at least, and I see no reason to doubt him in this). But Darkness is not merely absence of Light. Darkness is an entity unto itself. Put simply, Darkness is not Nothing. But the Vex? The Vex seek neither Light nor Darkness. They seek Convergence, the reduction of all life to its simplest, most meaningless form. An entelechy of zeros and ones. "Evil" is a word for sentimentalists and fools. But, in the ontology of the sentimental, the Vex are more deserving of the term than the Hive. Given a choice between Darkness and Convergence, I would choose Darkness. It is a logical choice. Yet for this they banish me.

Kairos Function (Hunter).

This one is important because Osiris doesn’t subscribe to the idea of “good” and “evil”, and that he would go so far to say that the Vex are Evil shows just how much of a threat he views them as.

It’s just. Mind boggling to me that people think that Osiris would be okay with a Vex invasion. That Osiris would encourage Lakshmi to open up a rift to “send the Fallen away” (Despite being one of the earliest sympathizers!) Osiris isn’t ineffable, he’s just a man trying to do his best to help humanity. His actions aren’t difficult to understand, they have been written to be very clear and with understanding his motives.

Saying that it’s natural for him to be secretive and have contradicting opinions and actions is just. Wrong. It’s not him. It’s not how he’s supposed to be understood. Even in Curse of Osiris I don’t think his actions didn’t make any sense.

This is going to sound very mean but I want to be 100% clear: If you think that Osiris would actively choose to put the City in danger of the Vex, if you think that he would actively choose to stand calmly and watch as his lover was about to die to the very things he spent millions of lives to save... You don’t understand Osiris. Go back and reread his lore.

I leave you with this:

The Vanguard is dubious of our intent and ability, fearing corruption and displacement. They do not trust me. You were held in similar contempt for speaking your truth and empowering free thought. You know what it feels like to be chastised and labeled a traitor. We are mere steps away from a disintegration of our institutions, and they cannot see destruction staring them in the face. ... For so long, we have clung to the Light, denying the strength offered by the Dark. By using Stasis, we will end this war. We see this contest for what it truly is: a game, played by our adversaries. And we have been the pawns. We are pawns no more. This is not a battle I want to wage without you, although we may not have a choice in the matter. Wherever you may be, please come back to us.

To Osiris.

[attemptinghaikyuu]

Fake Dating: Kita

A/n: the way I want this man to give me a hug and softly kiss my forehead is unreal

G/n reader

Kita Shinsuke

Kita’s literally the nicest, you meet when you’re looking for your phone at the park and he helps you out

You had lost it and were frantically searching the place where you were almost sure was where you last had it

He spotted you running around like a maniac and his captain instinct to put things in order when they’re out of control, kicked in

Jogging over, he calmly asked what was wrong, you were hesitant at first but after realizing he genuinely just wanted to lend a hand, you relaxed and told him what had you in such a panic

He nodded and started searching, finding it five minutes later like the perfect person he is

You give him a hug to show your gratitude and exchange numbers

After that you both fall into each other’s daily lives

You actually go to the same school so you ended up seeing him more then you could’ve ever anticipated, it led to you becoming incredibly close

A friendship that you both grow to value blooms haha grow, blooms,,,like plants? Like the kind farmer Kita grows? I’ll stop now

Being friends with Kita does come with its challenges though

His whole group of friends is extremely popular, both for their looks and skills in volleyball

And being friends with him somehow ended up pushing you into a spotlight, in which people were now confessing left and right to you

You weren’t really used to it, the influx of people garnering for your attention was a lot to take in so suddenly

It was also hard to reject people, you hated the look of disappointment that people had when you turned them down

Kita, being the ever perceptive person that he is, notices your feelings about the sudden spotlight and realizes that in a sense it’s his fault please no, you’re fine, we all love you ;-;

He decides he should try and amend this, he doesn’t want you staying uncomfortable and at the very least he wants to take away some of the weight on your shoulders

That being said, he’s not sure what to do at first

It’s a tough thing because he doesn’t want to stop being friends, that’s not even an option he considers, but he knows that the people garnering for your attention won’t give up easily

Then he realizes that people would stop, if they thought it was a hopeless endeavor

And that’s how you find yourself taking a bouquet of purple flowers, as one of your closest friends pretends to ask you out in the front of the school

People are slowing down outside of the gates to watch, and even with the whole thing being staged, you find the way Kita was going about doing it all very sweet

And when you tell him yes, he gives you a smile and promises to do his best in making you happy for as long as you’re with him

Fake dating Kita is quite the experience, and it’s not something you ever thought would happen to you

Some things he does are the same as before; taking some of what your carrying if you’re having a hard time, checking to make sure you’re taking breaks when you need them, and forcing you into breaks when you refuse

However, some things are definitely different now

He walks you to all of your classes while holding your hand, after a stressful day he gives you a forehead kiss, he always shares his food if he notices you eyeing something, he’s taken to calling you nicknames, and he lets you have as many hugs from him as you want

He also smiles around you more and wow, what a blessing

Honestly, the list of sweet things he does for you now that you’re pretending to be together, is incredibly long

It rubs off on you and you instinctively start doing similar things as well!!!

Grabbing his hand when you’re walking is an automatic and you’ve started to visit his grandmother, who absolutely adores you and knows it’s staged

Except grandma Kita sees your adorable interactions and even though your fake boyfriend says he’s just doing it for your sake, she can’t help but ship it😌✌️

She tells Kita this every time he brings you up, and he tells her the same things every time

“Y/n is a wonderful person, and I’m glad you think so too. But I don’t feel that way and this is to make sure they are comfortable, me asking them on a genuine date will only ruin that, as that was the cause of their discomfort to begin with.”

And he really doesn’t have feelings for you, so it really wouldn’t make sense to try anything

Haha… or he didn’t 😳

Because maybe he had fallen into this deeper then expected

It was a small interaction, one that had happened between the two of you a couple times, so he’s not completely sure why it was so different this time

But you were laughing and had given his hand a small squeeze, assuring him all of the teasing you were doing was a joke, it was an interaction he shouldn’t have felt so warm from considering the previous times it had occurred

Yet he did, and the smile that was on his face wasn’t stopping anytime soon because all of a sudden he was so lost in that laugh and the silly smile you gave him so freely

He thinks people should be charged for every smile you give them when it’s that warm and bright and all around perfect

He wants to hear you call out “Shin!” when you spot him in the halls and when you jog over, he wants to wrap you in a hug and hold you for however long you’ll let him

He wasn’t aware he wanted to kiss you until you leaned over him to grab a pencil while studying together, and he found he was inches away from your face, stuck staring at your lips

You were going to kill him

Of course he doesn’t want to throw his feelings at you and make it seem like he had asked you to fake date him just for his own selfish desires, but he also knew it wasn’t fair to himself to hold the way he was now feeling inside

It wouldn’t be good for him or you if he kept it a secret

You’re walking to a cafe, hand in hand, when he decides to talk about the way he’s been feeling

He asks you to stop and reluctantly let’s go of your hand, giving you space just in case you needed it

“I need to be honest.” He’s prepared for any answer you might give him, but he selfishly hopes you give him one answer in particular

“I would like to date you. Not pretend or act like what I’m doing means nothing to me. You mean more to me than I can express and I need you to know that.”

“If you don’t feel the same, please know it’s alright. Don’t feel guilty about not returning my feelings, I’m lucky to be your friend and I don’t want anything to ruin that.”

Kita watches your shocked face, looking calm on the outside, feeling nervous like he’s rarely ever felt before on the inside

He’s glad it goes from surprise to excitement

“Well the only thing I’m gonna feel guilty about, now that you’re my boyfriend~ is keeping your grandma waiting so long.”

He finds himself exasperated and endeared at that and he wouldn’t have it any other way

Smile spreading as you grab his hand, he tells you one last thing

“I love you, goofball.”

[vizowrites]

“We” vs “Me”| or “Why BlitzStrike Works So Well For Me But Stolitz [as of episode 6].....Doesn’t”

Alright my Loves, so I said that I was going to talk in further detail about my feelings regarding Stolas and the multi-layered portrayal of his relationship with Blitz in the new episode, and today’s the day where that happens!!  First of all, though, before I really get into my feelings about things, I want to just make it ABUNDANTLY clear that I’m not trying to sway anyone from one side to the other, or trying to shame anyone for shipping two fictional characters.  I’m fully in the boat that you are completely entitled to ship whoever you want, but I also think it’s wise to at least be able to recognize the faults and flaws in a pairing--and especially to be able to recognize them in the context of an IRL relationship.  In this analysis in particular, I’m specifically focusing on these two relationships within the realm of the Helluva Boss universe [......Hell] and within the specific context of their characters as they’ve been portrayed in the show thus far.  And, my biggest disclaimer of all: I’m doing this for no other reason than I felt like putting my jumbled thoughts together into a cohesive post so that they don’t have to stay bouncing and buzzing around in my head.  Please keep that in mind that this is just pure personal opinion and interpretation before anyone comes at me with torches and pitchforks.  <3 <3 

SO WITH THAT LONG ASS DISCLAIMER OUT OF THE WAY 

Let’s finally get to the good stuff.  And the not so good stuff.  :D

So I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone who follows me here that I’m a huge BlitzStrike fan.  What I think fewer people know is that when I first entered the fandom a few months ago, I actually was on board the Stolitz train like so many others that I’ve met here in the fandom.  Naturally Stolitz was the first major pairing I was introduced to, and I did find both the characters of Blitz and Stolas incredibly interesting and compelling in their own rights AND saw the potential in how they could really come to grow into one hell of a relationshp over time.  I was honestly really excited to see it happen, too.  

And then I watched Episode 5 [still my favorite episode, btw] for the first time and had this sudden question hit me like a truck that even now is still relentlessly burning in the back of my mind because I still haven’t found a legitimate answer for it: Why in the FUCK wasn’t Blitz falling head-over-heels in attraction to Striker throughout this fucking episode??

And I don’t mean that in a “They’re so hot and I ship them now why didn’t they get together?? DX DX” kind of way--I mean that in the genuinely perplexed “I don’t understand based on what has been presented to me thus far about Blitz as a character and the storyline overall why he’s reacting so nonchalantly to this whole thing”.  To Note: This is me wondering this from the context of what’s in the show itself, not from any extra fan materials like the Instas or Twitter or just straight up knowing that the most likely answer is that there are people on the creative team that ship Stolitz really hard and realistically wouldn’t have probably written Blitz as being attracted to Striker because that would just be--to quote Jack Sparrow--blowing holes in their own ship.  No, this is me disregarding ALL of that and trying to rationalize this with myself from the perspective of a fan whose entire knowledge of the show and its characters comes exclusively from what’s in the episodes themselves.  .....And that’s where I just can’t find my answer, except for the Stolitz positive “He’s not attracted to Striker because he’s in love with Stolas” answer.  Which really doesn’t even feel like a satisfying answer, because the entire vibe I’ve gotten from Stolitz in the show has just felt.....strangely.....off.  Like, the framework is there and the elements are there, but I’d felt as though they had so far to go still that it would be entire SEASONS before they got there.    

And THEN the new episode [Episode 6] came out and I’d heard a handful of fans going crazy because the show was finally addressing Stolitz in full, and I thought to myself, “Well, maybe if the show really is going to go with saying that the reason Blitz wasn’t interested in Striker is because he’s in love with Stolas.....sure.  I’m curious to see how they finally establish it in an episode, especially since there’s only two more episodes left in the entire first season.”  And then I watched the episode.  And then it hit me why Stolitz just does not do a damn thing for me but BlitzStrike does despite the fact that we’ve had 4/6 episodes [5/7 if you count the Pilot] of Stolitz but only 1/6 [1/7] of potential--not even canonical--BlitzStrike:

When Striker talks about Blitz, or interacts with Blitz, he always talks about them as a “we”.  As a team.  A partnership.  OR he just straight up puts the entire focus on Blitz and his accomplishments and keeps himself out of it entirely.

When Stolas talks about Blitz, he always talks about them within the context of “me”--of himself--of what Blitz does or should do for him.  Even here in episode 6, in the most “selfless” instance we’ve seen yet, where he does ask about Blitz’s safety first BEFORE going right back into how Blitz’s actions affect him and what Blitz should be doing in response for him.  Stolas’s focus is always automatically set to himself--and even when it comes to the people he supposedly loves the most.  

To explain what I mean here, let me give some examples directly from the show itself, starting with the Stolas side of things: 

Episode 1

Blitz, in the middle of trying to hide so much that he actually clamps both of his hands over his mouth just to muffle the sound of his own breathing, knowing damn well that this psychotic bitch who already shot him once won’t hesitate to do it again if she finds him.....gets a call from Stolas.  Stolas, who we clearly see from his leisurely hang out time in his bubble bath, is literally watching this happen and is fully aware that calling Blitz right then was potentially putting him in danger. But what does he say when he gets Blitz on the phone?  He offers--not help--but Blitz the use of his book in exchange for monthly sex.  Stolas literally uses Blitz’s peril as leverage here--consciously or not, though given the fact that he knows the situation at hand, I’d find it very hard to argue that he didn’t do this on purpose--just to get him to agree to be his bootycall until further notice.  

Stolas not only doesn’t lift a finger to help Blitz once in all of this--even at the moment where he and Millie are about to be shot in the face--but instead continues to stay on the phone talking about all of the things he wants for their upcoming future rendezvous.  He already got exactly what he wanted out of this and he still just continues to go for more for himself.

Episode 2

.....There are honestly so many fucked up things that happen here as far as Stolas and his relationship with Blitz goes but honestly the thing I want to draw the MOST attention to is actually Stolas’s storyline with his daughter, Octavia.  I know it’s a little left field, but bear with me--this is actually something I want to use as comparison for Stolas’s relationship to Blitz as we go along:

When Stolas first decides that he’s going to take his daughter to Loo Loo Land, he does so while completey setting aside the fact that she doesn’t want to go.  He just offers her assurances that it’s going to be so much fun because he remembers that she loved it so much when she was a little girl--effectively putting his memory above her wishes even as she’s sitting right there and telling him that she doesn’t enjoy the idea of going now.  

Stolas doesn’t actually notice just how uncomfortable he’s making Octavia throuhought their entire trip by spending his time sexually harassing paying more attention to Blitz than he is trying to cheer her up.  This tells me that Stolas--though I do believe he genuinely wanted to do something to make her happy--still wasn’t able to completely overcome his own self-centered tendencies at first even when it’s for her.  And this is the person that Stolas loves more than anyone or anything else in the entire world. It still wasn’t enough.

It’s only when Octavia runs off and completely breaks down that Stolas finally gets the much needed slap-to-the-face of reality to understand just what he’s putting his daughter through--and, for the first time in the entire show, he actually puts someone else’s needs and well being above himself.  It’s the one solid honest display of love that we see from Stolas in the entire show--and it’s how we as the audience come to learn that that’s how Stolas shows that he loves someone: When he puts their needs above his own with no strings attached or expectations of something in return.  A true selfless act just because he loves them.  **Keep in mind the parallel of Stolas carrying Octavia out of Loo Loo Land at the end, and how it compares to Stolas carrying Blitz out of D.H.O.R.K.S headquarters.

Episode 5

The. Fucking. Cigarette.  I had no idea that something so small and quick would be able to infuriate me as much as it did, but the fact that Blitz used the post sex cigarette to free Stolas from his wrist bondage but then Stolas turned around and put the cigarette out on Blitz’s horn which is literally a part of Blitz’s body just.....honestly it sums up exactly what I’m trying to get across in this entire huge ass post: Stolas only ever thinks of himself first and anything pertaining to anyone else just doesn’t cross his mind at all unless you blatantly put it there in front of his face.  And the fact that he’s still at this point with Blitz all the way here in Episode 5 is not.....promising for their relationship.

The fact that Stolas literally cannot stop himself from calling Blitz “Blitzy” or talking to him in such a condescending way no matter how frustrated Blitz gets and how many times he asks him to stop.  I just--how is that supposed to be interpreted as someone talking to a person that they love?  There’s no respect or dignity given to Blitz at all on Stolas’s part, and the fact that it seems to be presented as a “Oh teehee it’s just their cute couple thing” is just.....I really, really don’t like that.  It also doesn’t match with the Stolas in the very next episode which I quite frankly think is because the creators have been listening to the feedback from fans and were like “We need to SHOW THEM that Stolas actually does speak to Blitz respectfully!!” but that’s just my personal opinion there and, also, it still didn’t happen.  

Episode 6 

Keeping in mind that THIS is finally the episode where we see Stolas actually save Blitz from danger and demonstrate even the slightest inclination towards his well-being.....I think that honestly makes the next few things here even more fucked up

First and foremost: “WE”.  The second after Stolas asks if Blitz is alright and gets the assurance that he is, he roughly grabs his cheek and points out that “If you get in trouble, I get in trouble!  WE don’t want that”.  The fact that this is the first time that Stolas ever talks about Blitz in the context of “we”--when really what he’s really saying is that him [Stolas] getting in trouble is going to be a bad thing for all of them--is just.....so, so disappointing.  At least with this I could hope that perhaps the idea here is that Stolas is genuinely afraid that if he gets in trouble, he won’t be able to protect Blitz from the undoubtedly much worse trouble that he would be in as an imp, but still.  The fact that Stolas immediately reverts back to his self-centered perspective so quickly after supposedly being so worried about Blitz’s wellbeing, really makes it seem as though it’s just his own ass that he’s trying to protect.  And that.....isn’t  exactly what I’d been expecting from “the episode that confirms Stolitz is canon” feedback I’d been hearing.

"Am I going to get ANY thank you for the rescue Bltizy?”  This for me was kind of what actually lead to me having this whole epiphany over Stolas’s selfish perspective in the first place.  I realized that even here--even when he’s just been the most “romantic” towards Blitz that he’s ever been in any previous episodes up until now [and yes this shift in his character was incredibly jarring for me because of that]--Stolas still goes right back to thinking about what he’s going to get out of this now that he knows Blitz is safe.  Let’s take this back to that thing I was saying about Episode 2 and comparing how Stolas rescued Octavia and how he rescues Blitz.  Obviously they’re going to be different because it’s Stolas’s daughter vs his hook up BUT just think about where the focus is for Stolas in both of these scenes.  With Octavia, Stolas is entirely focused on making things up to her--taking her to do something she wants to do--even if it’s something that he himself doesn’t fully understand or isn’t fully into.  That doesn’t matter though, because the entire point is that he’s doing something just for her.  It doesn’t have to be about him.  But now go back to the scene where Stolas is carrying Blitz out of the room.  What does he do?  Ask what Blitz is going to do for him.  That just takes the idea that this scene was a confirmation of their love and throws it right out the window.  Stolas--as we’ve been shown before--would never ask for something in return from someone that he actually loves.  

Now let’s take a look at the one and only episode we have of Striker and Blitz interacting together, with an honorary shout out at hallucination!Striker’s appearance in Episode 6: 

Episode 5: 

Striker knows Blitz’s name.....and he uses it.  He’s literally the ONLY other character that we’ve seen so far refer to Blitz as “Blitz” instead of “Blitzo” or “Blitzy” by someone who wasn’t a member of I.M.P..  Aka someone who wasn’t a member of Blitz’s family.  He shows Blitz respect at that basest level, and only builds on that from there going forward.

Striker first recognizes Blitz for being “the bold imp that started his own killin’ biz”.  Not his hotness, not his skills in the Harvest Moon games because at that point he hasn’t seen them yet.....but for his accomplishment in starting up his own successful business down in Hell.  He treats it as an accomplishment.  With the kind of respect that comes with acknowledging another person for their accomplishments.  Right there, within two seconds of meeting him, Striker demonstrates more respect for Blitz than Stolas has yet to do in the entire show.

The Harvest Moon Festival Games.  Now this is something I find fascinating to think about from Striker’s perspective in particular.  We as the audience are shown pretty early on that Striker has a strong desire to be the one who comes out on top.  He likes the idea of being superior and he openly relishes in the praise and attention he gets for being better than everybody else.  ....Except Blitz.  When they tie in the games, Striker doesn’t seem bothered with sharing the spotlight with him at all.  If anything, he--again--respects just how skilled Blitz is in rightfully earning his place beside him on the stage.  That, to me, is HUGE.  I’m not going to go so far as to say that Striker necessarily sees them as equals because I think that might be going a bit too far for his ego but he does still fully acknowledge that Blitz is in the same general class as him: that is to say, better than most.  Worthy of the same kind of acknowledgement and praise that Striker gets.  I literally can’t get over just how big of a thing that is for what we’ve been shown of Striker’s character, and I think it’s unfortunately something that’s incredibly easy to miss or gloss over. :(

And now--for what I personally think is the most significant thing of all--we have: “We”.  How many times does Striker suggest during that final scene between them that he really wants Blitz to join forces with him as equals?  He never demands that Blitz join up with him, he doesn’t threaten him into joining up with him--Striker barely even hurts Blitz at all during their fight scene compared to how he tried to straight up murder Moxxie--and, most of all, Striker continues to acknowledge that Blitz deserves better than his current arrangement with Stolas.  And he’s right.  But instead of putting it as “I’M right and this is why you should do this”, he always puts his focus on Blitz himself, or the two of them together as a partnership:  “You are so above sucking on a a digusting rich pompous Goetia” | “We could be the most dangerous beings in Hell, Blitz” | “You could partner up with me and klll the unkillable--starting with the one that treats you like a plaything”.  It’s just--I honestly can’t believe it’s taken me this long to put together why Striker appeals so much more to me as a romantic interest for Blitz, but really breaking it down episode by episode and comparing the differences in wording between Striker and Stolas’s dialogue when it comes to Blitz is just.....holy shit. 

Honorary ShoutOut of Episode 6: 

The fact that the only thing hallucination Striker has to say to him is “But you don’t want to do things alone Blitzo!” is really, really interesting to me in the fact that he’s.....not......wrong??  Like, To be fair, Striker, RoboFizz, and Verosika all spill their harsh truths, but the thing is.....Striker’s is markedly different in that his wording really isn’t harsh or aggressive at all the way the other two are.  He’s just kinda stating a fact in an overexaggerated way because tripping balls hallucination sequence.  It’s very interesting to me that that’s the worst that Blitz can imagine him to say--as well as the fact that halluci!Striker calls him “Blitzo”, which is really weird considering that Striker’s never called him “Blitzo” once in the entire show.  Makes me kinda wonder where that came from tbh. 

Alright so, in conclusion of this very long and rambly styie post: I want to take things back to where I started by reiterating that this is not me trying to convince anyone that BlitzStrike is “right” and Stolitz is “wrong”, or that you should stop shipping what you’re shipping in the fandom.  This was just me honestly getting way more excited than I should’ve been over having my “Eureka!” moment for realizing why this new episode didn’t put me back on the Stolitz train like it did for so many other people--and why, in fact, it actually made me think even more favorably of the idea of Blitz and Striker being together.  

Thanks for sticking around with me for this very long read, I hope you found it interesting, and I really really hope that it didn’t piss anyone off or rub too many people the wrong way.  Like I said at the beginning, ship who you want to ship!!  That’s part of the fun of being in a fandom.  I’m just hoping that this might help make it easier to understand at least one perspective on why Stolitz is seen as being so problematic as a ship [as of where they are right now].  

Here’s to seeing where things go from here!! 

[theworldwithoutmagic]

shadow and bone

Im not going to keep watching it even though i enjoyed the first season, because I heard through the grapevine the obviously interesting and charismatic and compelling couple isnt going to be canon and the author stirs up drama in the fandom all the time.

Idk im just tired lol. I dont have the energy to defend a ship again.

Here is my honest question to all the people who agressively harass people who like villains. Why doesnt anyone ever write the powerful, attractive, fascinating love interest as being a good person then? Like. From what I see of Darklina, Alina doesnt realize he is the darkling for a while. What if the author had never changed that. like. they could have written is so the hot sun summoner and hot, fascinating shadow summoners bang, and go kill a different evil, kinda ugly, shadow summoner together. its not OUR fault that the most interesting attractive characters are always written to be villains and then we are told we are bad for shipping what THEY set up.

it honestly feels like a punishment for women at this point. these writers always set up a different, bland and boring as oatmeal character up to be the “approved” love interest. like its evil for the woman to have feelings for someone interesting and at her same level of power and capability. “haha you THOUGHT she would get to make love to an attractive man with the same powers and experiences as her, one who clearly thinks shes amazing. NOPE!!! HES EVIL YOURE A WHORE FOR EVEN LOOKING AT IT.” they need to deny their feelings and go back to good old boring oatmeal man that they DONT EVEN LOVE who always seems to have a nice guy complex and guilt trips the woman constantly into coming back to the kitchen or whatever. for that matter, why didnt the holy authors bother to ever write these characters as interesting? they hold the pen! they can make the other love interest JUST as cool and interesting. it feels like an ACTUAL intentional punishment.

fuck me for not going back to shipping oatmeal man like a good moral woman. i dont really give a shit.

im just not a fan of media in general right now. captain swan at least got to be canon, even though it felt like they slowly turned killian boring too in the later seasons. like it was only acceptable for the show writers once his personality was eroded entirely and he stopped wearing the eyeliner. and if swan queen had been made canon and killian never existed, they would have done the exact same thing to regina and probably killed her off too, to really send the message home. and reylo got fucked so hard i dont even want to go there. and im not even a star wars fan in general so it didnt even affect me much. just im sorry.