#honestly with how well you set things up I would've loved to see your own rendition of their first kiss

[thatonegayship]

I loved the cowboy comic so much that I wrote a oneshot for it. https://archiveofourown.org/works/50934235 🥺 your art is BEYOND amazing, ty for the food

INCREDIBLE!!!!!

[alexlwrites]

𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬

✿𝑷𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈: OT7 x Plus Size! Reader

✿ 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒚: "What was so outrageous about someone like you, you asked yourself and the universe. You had tried your best to compensate for any shortcomings with everything else that was expected of you: femininity, understanding, a sense of humor. Never enough, those were never even the first thing that came to mind when people thought of you.

Why bother then? If nothing you did made any difference at all, why try? If people hated your body just for existing, why not give them a reason to hate your personality as well?"

OR  

The one where seven campus princes who are used to getting everything they wanted get enchanted by your distrust and brattiness, climbing over each other to get a smile from you who could not be bothered to give them a single second of your day.

✿ 𝑻𝒂𝒈𝒔:  Romance, Humor, Fluff, Angst, College AU

✿ 𝑨/𝑵: I wanna leave this here as sort of a trigger warning: this work features a plus size main character and throughout the story there will be mean comments from characters about her body and her journey dealing with said comments. A lot of it comes from my own experience as a plus size girl myself and my path to living peacefully within my body. And although this work is about Y/N's relationship with the boys, I like to think that she still would've continued to grow and blossom happily on her own. Let this be something you learn from this fic, as I say right on the first chapter: You don't have to love the way you look right away, you just can't let it stop you from doing the things you want and, in a greater scale, from being happy and treated with respect.

Thank you for reading <3

P.S: Red daisies, like many red flowers, represent love and romance. Florists often use them to communicate affection to someone who doesn’t know how beautiful they are—a.k.a. beauty unknown to the possessor. 

(Fanfic masterlist)

(support me on my ko-fi)

°•. ✿ .•°

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞: 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

The pattern in your relationships - if you could call them that - was tiring, to say the least. Once, they might have been soul crushing, but time and repetition took away the novelty of your pain and now the endgame was a mild, resented disappointment.

It started with kindness and a gentle smile, mainly from your part. You treated anyone who gave you any smidgen of attention with the utmost sweetness, hoping your energy would be matched. And sometimes it was, for a while. Sometimes you got to be on the receiving end of a blinding smile or a casual touch and you allowed yourself to hope - no, pray -that that could be it. That someone, some modern day knight in shiny armor , saw through your looks and decided that you were deserving of love, despite societal norms,

But men had a way of setting you up for disappointment. A talent, truly.

You were tired, you decided that night. No, beyond that, you were exhausted, scarred, bitter, hopeless, resentful… You could keep going. You could list every bad feeling you had been carrying in your chest by alphabetical order or by how badly they hurt and honestly you just wanted it to stop.

Would you have to change everything about your body to be happy, you wondered watching the boy you had been seeing for a few weeks make fun of you in front of his circle of friends at the party you were both at. Would you never be allowed to be happy just the way you were?

Would you have to change everything about your body to be happy?

“Yeah, she’s nice” Junsuu said, winking suggestively at his giggling friends “if you know what I mean.” you felt your face heat up in humiliation at the renewed round of laughter “But we just don’t match, like, physically. You know, looks-wise.”

“Right” someone agreed way too enthusiastically, sending a spear through your heart “I really just can’t see you with someone like her.”

What was so outrageous about someone like you, you asked yourself and the universe. You had tried your best to compensate for any shortcomings with everything else that was expected of you: femininity, understanding, a sense of humor. Never enough, those were never even the first thing that came to mind when people thought of you.

Why bother then? If nothing you did made any difference at all, why try? If people hated your body just for existing, why not give them a reason to hate your personality as well?

“You’re right” you said out loud, drawing attention to yourself. Filled with hatred (for him, the world, the circumstances), your heart had no room to be mortified when all eyes turned to you “we don’t match.”

You watched as Junsuu’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting you to hear, much less reply “I am a big girl” you continued, words dripping with rage “And I know for a fact that there’s nothing big about you.”

You turned around to leave the room, cringing at the petty comeback, ignoring the murmurs and Junsuu’s panicked calls of your name. Walking fast, you fled the scene of the last heartbreak you would allow yourself to go through, deciding that a change was needed, but not the change everyone wanted from  you.

Despite the rumors, you didn’t turn into a huge bitch overnight, didn’t start kicking puppies or spitting on the poor. Truly, the only thing you did was establish boundaries and reevaluate the amount of respect some people deserved, but very quickly people started seeing you as some sort of villain, especially when they realized how little you cared for how they saw you. How disrespectful of you to not allow yourself to be disrespected, right?

At first, there was still an air of uncertainty about you - years and years of non-reciprocal niceties drilled into your brain, habits hard to quit. But the more you let go of those things, these tiny acts of self-aggression disguised as pleasantries and altruism, the lighter you felt; Your days became easier to get through, existing within your body felt less and less like a punishment. You had yet to reach an Instagram-worthy level of body positivity, but you had become accustomed to body neutrality. You didn’t have to love the way you looked right away, you just couldn’t let it stop you from doing the things you wanted and, in a greater scale, from being happy and treated with respect.

And respect you started to demand and much happier you became, living in relative peace and solitude - safe by a few close friends - up until your days started being pestered by seven headaches you could not seem to shake away.

—-

Jungkook was the one that saw you first.

It was 3 weeks into the semester and he finally decided it was the perfect time to start going to classes, sitting in the back and only listening to about 25% of what was being said, mind floating towards more important subjects such as the package of ramen waiting for him at home. Only mildly interested in what the professor had to teach, he couldn’t help but to be startled when everyone started getting up from their seats to shuffle around the room. “What’s going on?” he asked the guy sitting next to him.

“Professor gave us a duo assignment.” the other man said, standing up “You're with Y/N.”

“Who?”

The guy just pointed towards you with his chin, redirecting Jungkook’s attention before leaving. You were sitting a couple rows further down, hunched over your little green IPad as you wrote something with impressive velocity. Jungkook walked over to you, already mentally going over what he would have to do to charm you into doing everything on your own “Y/N?” he called and you raised your head.

You were pretty, he noticed with satisfaction, all bright eyes and lovely features, curves everywhere he looked “Yes?”

“I’m Jungkook.” he extended his hand with a casual smirk “The professor put us together for this project.”

There had been a small, but pleasant and polite smile on your face up until he said those words, replaced by pursed lips and an arched brow. “Yes, I know. We’ve had classes together for over a year now and been partnered together before.”

Uh oh. “Right” he coughed awkwardly, fumbling under your hardened stare “so, about this project…”

“We will meet once a week,” you said, straightforward as you turned your eyes back to your sticker-filled IPad “I will go over the theme and split the work evenly, so give me your number and I can text you with what you’re supposed to do.”

“Woah, woah, asking for my number already?” he said in a flirting manner, sitting on top of your table so he could be directly in front of you.

“Would you prefer it if I emailed it to you?” you asked without looking up.

“Actually, I was thinking you could help me out a bit,” he placed his finger under your chin, raising your face towards him “you know I have soccer practice and…”

You pushed his hand away “Unless you’re playing at the World Cup, I can’t see how that would be more important than your studies, so you either do your part of the assignment or get an F in it, I don’t care. I won’t do all the work for you, Jeon. Not again.”

Again? Jungkook winced, trying to remember when you had met before. Surely he would remember getting his head bitten off by a snappy, pretty thing like you, wouldn’t he? Surely your attitude would stand out to him amongst all the sweetness and compliance he received just for existing and smiling.

“Here’s my number.” you gave him a piece of paper with your digits written in gel sparkly ink “Text me when you decide if you want to pass this class. Good day.” 

You looked down again, going back to your notes, signing that the conversation was over before he even had the chance to add anything more. He jumped off the desk and stepped away, looking back to see if you were looking at him, but there wasn’t a single glance from your part.

Shit. Shit. He actually did have to pass this class, otherwise his overbearing soccer coach would kick him off the team. He stared down at your number, wondering what he would have to do to get you to cut him a little slack and forgive him for absolutely forgetting about your existence. 

—

“Hey, this is Jungkook” the text from an unknown number said “looking forward to us working together. We should get dinner sometime, get to know each other better.”

You read over the text once more, willing your heart to slow down its beating. Sure, Jungkook was charming and handsome, but you had seen this dance before. He would talk his way into your good graces, making you laugh and giggle until you had a four thousand word essay done with both your names in it and your texts to him would go unanswered and unseen. 

This was not your first hurtful rodeo. You put your phone away, facing down, ignoring as the poor device vibrated itself off the table with the upcoming texts.

Meanwhile, across campus, Jungkook was fuming.

“Or breakfast. We should get breakfast. I know a great place.” he tried once again, but his message was left unread. Still, he persisted.

“I have a lot of great ideas for this assignment. Don’t you want to know them?” he texted, even though he didn’t have the faintest idea on what the assignment was even about.

“You know, it’s rude to leave a guy hanging.”

“How can we do this if you won’t even text me back?”

“I thought we were in this together.”

“You know, like High School Musical.”

He kept typing out absurdity after absurdity, hoping you would dignify one with an answer. He just needed one opportunity, one opening…

His text stopped going through.

“She blocked me!” he gasped out loud.

“Who?” his roommate, Taehyung asked from where he laid on their couch, feet up on the coffee table.

“This girl in my class. We have this project together and she blocked me!”

Taehyung sent a disbelieving look his way “Were you actually planning to do the work?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Obviously not.”

His friend rolled his eyes “Obviously not. So what’s your plan here?”

Jungkook didn’t answer, too busy looking for alternative ways to contact you. After a few minutes of research, he found your Instagram. You were cute, he noticed again, scrolling through your few posts, all relatively recent. You had a very specific style, a tasteful mix or dark and edgy with splashes of pink and bows, tight corsets under leather jackets that he couldn’t help but stare appreciatively, the flattering material clinging to your waist line and pushing your breasts up, exposing the soft freckled top of cleavage to his always hungry eyes. In your pictures, your eyes shone brightly, crinkling at the sides from your ever present smile and he could not understand why you hadn’t directed one of those to him. 

It was unsettling, to say the least, but he could not allow his annoyance to take over. He needed your help if he wanted to pass that class and if he had to use unconventional ways to get your attention, he would. 

And so, much like a little boy pulling at a girl’s braids, he started liking and spamming the comments of every single post you had.

—

There were whispers all around you, your worst nightmare.

You were at the school library, getting work done while drinking from your fourth cup of coffee, hands shaking due to caffeine and anxiety, your ever present friends. You tried to focus on your books and carefully written notes, but every word you could barely hear and every look you felt over your shoulder seemed to dig claws into your skin. You knew what they were saying. You heard it all the way from your dorm to your classes and couldn’t seem to escape them. 

“Did you see Jungkook’s comments on her pictures? What’s that about?”

“It’s not like there’s a lot to comment, is there?” 

“Maybe he thought it was someone else?”

“It’s probably a prank.”

“I bet he was hacked.”

Of course, why else would someone like Jungkook - a campus prince, popular soccer player, heartthrob - show interest in you? 

It hurt, but a small part of you still agreed with those mean spirited whispers. You closed your eyes, trying to even your breathing and will those thoughts away. You knew better, had learned better than to measure your value by how interested some boy was in you.

When you opened your eyes again, Jungkook was in front of you.

You barely had time to process his presence when the voices picked up volume, your skin prickling and eyes aching to remain dry. 

“What’s Jungkook doing with Fat Y/N?”

That word shouldn’t be as hurtful as it was - after all, it was just an adjective, just the current state of your body that served only to carry your thinking mind, your feeling heart. But people always said it like a curse, wielding it like a sword.

You closed your eyes again and when you opened once more, Jungkook was still there. Looking furious.

“What are they saying?”

“What they always said” you shrugged, avoiding his eyes by looking down at your papers.

Jungkook didn’t move for a while, hearing people pretend to whisper around you but it was clear that the motherfuckers wanted you to hear. Was it always like this for you, he wondered, watching as you focused on whatever book you had in front of you, hunched over with tense shoulders, your face a far cry from the luminescent one he saw on your Instagram, not a hint of that smile he wanted directed at him so unreasonably.

He couldn’t just stand there and watch you struggle to keep your posture. 

You felt him standing up and leaving more than you saw him. Good, you thought. He should leave, like everyone did, scared away by that one word that followed you around like a brand. He was probably embarrassed to be seen with you, you assumed bitterly, and there was no place in your life for people who didn’t want you proudly by your side…

Jungkook sat back in the chair in front of you and you couldn’t help but gape at the impressive bouquet of red daisies he extended towards you.

“Take it” he said, but you couldn’t move, could barely hear the furious voices around you over the roaring beat of your heart.

You… You had never gotten flowers. 

“Take it” he repeated “I almost got run over because of this, the least you can do is accept it.”

“Jungkook” you whispered, dumbfoundedly accepting the bouquet “what’s this?”

“People keep doubting I could be interested in you” he said and there was an edge to his tone you did not expect “maybe this could help clear up some rumors.”

“This is not your battle to fight” you held the flowers close to your chest carefully, looking up at him with distrust, unable to understand his motives “I’m used to this sort of thing and I don’t care about those stupid rumors.”

You were used to it? That just made Jungkook angrier. How could you be used to that sort of treatment? 

Jungkook was a lot of things - spoiled, a little lazy, sometimes a dick. But he wasn’t a bigot and he wasn’t about to stand around and let you become used to being disrespected if there was something - anything! - he could do about it “I like picking up fights”.

“Is this just pity?” you asked and he could see walls around you that stood thousands of feet tall “Is this because of that stupid assignment? Because I’m not going to do all the work just because you got me some flowers…” 

He raised his hands and smiled at you “Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll do my work” he said, a new goal in mind as he saw you recoil from him with eyes filled with wariness like a suspicious kitten “You said once a week, right? How’s friday for you?” 

You still clung to your bouquet like a lifeline “That works, I guess.”

“Great!” he clapped loudly, standing up and catching the eye of those around him “I’ll see you around, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me sweetheart” you mumbled, but he pretended not to hear as he crossed the table around to your side, quickly leaving a kiss to your heated cheek before you had the chance to react.

“Alright, sweetheart, I’ll see you around” he said, making sure everyone in the library could hear him “do me a favor and unblock me, ok?”

You flipped him off, both for stealing a kiss and that stupid nickname, but he just laughed it off.

“That’s my girl” he said and the library erupted in renewed whispers.

°•. ✿ .•°

𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧! 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝

°•. ✿ .•°

[Red Daisies taglist: @purplelady85 ]

[Permanent taglist: @imknewattis ; @dreamamubarak ; @onlythebest-106 ; @betysotelo18 ; @havetaeminforbreakfast ; @uno7 ; @chimchimmarie ; @anaya123world ; @junecat18 ; @kayleefriedchicken ; @jkselcouth ; @ivrose21 ; @svnbangtansworld ]

[wandanatsgf]

Right Where You Left Me

Pairing: Maid!Wanda x Noble Woman!Reader

Word Count: 2.7k

Summary: Wanda is your maid who you fall head over heels for. But like all good things, you knew it wouldn't last. You knew your life was already decided for you, but that didn't mean you couldn't enjoy your time with her while it lasts.

Warnings: This ends sadly and contains smut. Read at your own risk. Also I wrote this in two hours so there's probably grammar mistakes so pls ignore those.

You had never understood this strange feeling inside of you, the way you would cringe when you danced with a man or when he kissed your knuckles. You didn't understand why the idea of marrying a man brought feelings of dread and despair. You didn't understand how such simple actions from a man could elicit such strong emotions in a woman. And then you met Wanda.

Wanda is your recently hired maid and god is she gorgeous. She has long brown hair and eyes as green as emeralds. You tend to get lost in them quite frequently, much to Wanda's chagrin. And every time her skin touches yours it sets you ablaze, which is what's happening right now.

"Does this corset really need to be so tight?" you complain to Wanda who is helping you get dressed. It's making it really hard to control your slightly labored breathing. Wanda's presence was really doing something to you today.

"I'm sorry my lady but I'm just following your mother's orders," she says apologetically. She continues to help you get dressed and then she gets to work on your hair.

"You know you don't have to call me my lady when we're alone, Wanda. Y/n is fine," you tell her as she fixes a curl that was out of place.

"Ok Y/n," she says, trying it out. Your name sounds so good coming out of her mouth, you could listen to her say it for forever. Unfortunately you have duties to attend to today.

"Thank you for helping me," you say once Wanda announced she was finished.

"It's really no problem, Y/n. It is my job after all."

"Yes I know but it's only right for me to thank you."

Wanda smiles at this and you swear you've never seen a prettier sight.

"Have a good day, Wanda," you say as you open your bedroom door and slip out of sight.

You spent the majority of your day entertaining your parent's guest, Steve, a lord from a neighboring country. You talked with him for hours, however your heart wasn't in it. You could've cared less about what he was saying. You would've much preferred to be reading a book or talking with Wanda. And by dinnertime you were ready to rip your ears off if you had to hear another story about a battle.

"Thank you so much for accepting our invitation," your father says as everyone takes their seat.

"It really mans a lot to us that you rode all the way out here to visit us and our daughter, Y/n," your mother adds.

"The pleasure is all mine," Steve says.

"This actually brings us to an important topic, Y/n," your father says. "We, your mother and I, are hoping you would be open to courting Steve." You knew he wasn't really asking, he was telling.

"I would love to father," you say, lying straight through your teeth.

"Well that settles that. I think this calls for a toast," your father says.

The rest of your night was spent drinking and pretending to be merry, but you couldn't get out of your own head. You knew your parents wanted you to marry soon, and you had put it off for as long as possible. Now you were being set up with Steve and you felt hopeless.

Around midnight you bid your parents and Steve goodnight and headed to your room. Maybe you could cry in peace there, but when you enter you see Wanda waiting for you.

"How was your day?" Wanda asks as she helps you out of your dress.

"Honestly it was horrible. I had to spend the whole day with Steve," you say, your face wrinkling up in disgust.

"He can't be that bad."

"He's not bad...he's just not interesting," you say carefully choosing your words.

"Well men never are," Wanda says. She pulls off one of your many petticoats, accidently grazing your thigh. You let out a low moan and you hope Wanda didn't notice. You don't think she did because she finishes taking it off and sets it off to the side.

"Oh?" you ask. You can't tell if Wanda is giving you a sign or not. Or maybe you're just reading into things.

"Well you know how men are. They just talk about hunting or battles or money. It's all very boring."

"Oh yes of course," you say agreeing with her. Wanda continues to undress you, but your thoughts are still plagued by the awful news you got at dinner today.

"You know my parents wish for me to court and probably marry him and I don't know if I can do it," you blurt out. You hadn't meant for that to come out, but you just feel so safe in Wanda's presence. Despite the short amount of time you've known her, you've grown close to her. At least as close as you've ever been to a person.

"Why not? It's not like there's someone else and Steve could give you a life of luxury." Wanda unties your tight corset and lets it drop off your body.

You think carefully before letting your greatest secret slip. "I don't think I could ever love him, Wanda. Not the way I love you." At this Wanda's hands still and drop to her side.

"Y/n are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I'm in love with you Wanda Maximoff. I know it's wrong and we barely know each other and my parent's would never approve but I can't help how my heart feels."

"Do you really mean that?"

"I mean every word Wanda."

"I'm in love with you too Y/n. I have been since I first started working for you," she admits.

You carefully turn around and plant a soft kiss on Wanda's lips. She tastes like strawberries and you can't get enough.

Wanda pushes her body as close to you as possible, slowly walking the two of you backwards until your body hits a wall. Your thighs open up to make more room for Wanda to position herself between them.

Wanda's lips move from your own to your neck, making you arch your back.

"Please Wanda."

"What do you want baby?"

"I want you to touch me please," you beg.

Wanda obliges and slowly moves her hand down your breasts, fondling them through your undergarments for a minute. You thrust your hips up against her, getting impatient.

"You're just so needy for me aren't you baby?"

"Mhm I just want you so bad Wanda please," you mewl.

Wanda's hand moves to cup your mound and one of her knuckles lightly grazes your clit.

"Is this what you wanted? You want me to touch you right here?"

"Yes Wanda," you breath out. Your loins were on fire and only she could extinguish it.

Wanda slowly rubs her fingers against you and it takes everything in you not to cum then and there. You never thought this would happen, and now that it is you didn't want it to end.

"Let go for me baby. I'll still be here," she says. Her fingers start to move faster against you and it breaks your resolve. You cum in your underwear, moaning like a mad woman.

As you come down, you see Wanda staring at you.

"What?" you ask.

"You just look so beautiful doing that I want to see it again."

This time Wanda gets on her knees between your thighs and slowly pulls your underwear off. She can clearly see your arousal and it turns her on, making her let out a low moan. She lifts your left leg up over her shoulder and dives in.

The wet slurping sounds are unholy but they only turns you on more. Your hands grab onto Wanda's hair and you pull her closer to your heat. Her nose bumps against your clit and your hips thrust against her.

"Right there Wands," you moan out. The brunette woman continues to lick and suck your clit until you finish all over her face.

Wanda slowly works her way up your body, leaving kisses all over your stomach and chest. She makes her way up to your mouth and leaves a soft kiss there.

You gaze into her eyes and see nothing but love and admiration. It makes your heart melt.

"Let me return the favor," you tell her. You swap places with her and gently take off her clothes. Saying she's gorgeous is an understatement. She looks like an angel.

You kiss her as you start to fondle her pussy, messing around to see what she likes. You can feel her moan against your lips and it gives you a surge of pride knowing you're the one making her moan.

You dip one finger into her entrance and you feel her buck her hips against you. Clearly you had a much stronger affect on her than you thought. Her wetness coats your hand.

You thrust your finger inside of her, watching her writhe in ecstasy. It was a sight you knew you would never get sick of. You add another finger and watch as her head rolls back in pleasure. Soon she is cumming and you continue to fuck her through it.

Once she's calmed down you take your fingers out and lick her arousal off of them. She tastes so good, and you tell her as much.

The two of you spend the rest of the night in each other's embrace, enjoying your time together.

You wake up and you think it was all a dream before you look next to you and see a brown mop of hair sleeping next to you. She looks so pretty and peaceful when she sleeps, but you have to wake her up.

"Wanda. Baby. Wake up," you say as you gently shake her.

"Good morning honey," she says.

"Good morning," you say. You lean down and place a kiss on her lips.

'We have to get up y'know," you say as her lips move against yours.

"Just give me one more minute," she says. She continues to kiss you until you can't breathe anymore and you have to pull away.

"Now we really have to get up and get ready," you say.

"Fine," Wanda grumbles.

You each help the other dress and look presentable.

Today you were supposed to hang out with Steve again. The only thing that made that even bearable was the thought of going to bed with Wanda by your side.

"I'll see you tonight," you say as you cradle her face in your hands. You place a passionate kiss against her lips before walking out.

You spend the next couple of weeks like this. You spent your days with a man you hate and your nights with the woman you love, the woman who owns your heart.

"You know we could run away together. We could live in that abandoned cottage near the woods and have a garden and never have a worry again," Wanda says one night. The two of you are cuddling in your bed.

Deep down a part of you knew it was nothing but a dream, but the thought of living with Wanda made your heart soar.

"I want nothing more," you say, never truly thinking Wanda was serious. You lean in and capture her lips with yours.

That night you fall asleep with a pit in your stomach. You still needed to tell Wanda about the now official wedding plans (well your mother was planning a wedding but Steve hadn't proposed yet. You knew it would be soon though), but you would rather live in delusion than end this. And that is what you did, at least until Wanda comes storming into your room a few days later.

"What is this I hear about a wedding between you and Steve?" Wanda questions.

You were currently brushing your hair at your vanity, but you set the brush down when she stormed in.

"There's nothing official but word is he plans on proposing soon and my mother is planning a wedding even though there isn't one yet."

"And you weren't going to tell me?" Wanda asks. You can see the pain and anger on her face and it makes your heart break.

"I was going to eventually Wands. I just couldn't. I couldn't ruin what we have just yet."

"Are you going to deny him Y/n?"

"I-I don't know. I don't know if I can."

"Of course you can Y/n. You have a choice here."

"I don't think I do Wanda."

"Please Y/n," she begs. She begs you to choose her, but you can't let your delusion cloud your judgement anymore.

"I'm sorry Wanda, but we should've known this would never work," you say. You can feel your perfectly applied makeup start to run down your face, but you don't care. You look how you feel, a mess.

"Why wouldn't this work?" You can hear the pain and desperation in her voice.

"Because..." you trail off. You don't want to give her the real reason. You're afraid. Afraid of your family, the townspeople, and a life full of unknowns. You knew that going with her to the cottage the two of you had always talked about would mean giving up everything you have ever known and loved.

"I'm sorry Wanda but I can't leave them and I can't disappoint them." She knew you were talking about your parents.

"You always complain about them controlling you, y/n and you're letting them do it now. Is your happiness really worth their happiness?"

You nod and that is all the confirmation Wanda needs to realize her life was about to fall apart. She was about to lose the love of her life and there was nothing she could do about it.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Wanda," you say. You fall to the ground in a heap of petticoats and skirts. Wanda moves to comfort you, but she knew that would only make this harder.

"I'm sorry too Y/n," Wanda says. She leaves your chamber and you sob harder. You knew you brought this upon yourself, but that didn't make you feel any better.

The next morning a new maid walks in, telling you Wanda had quit last night. From that day on all of your days blurred together. Time was pointless without her. Living was pointless without her.

Exactly two weeks after you had ended things with Wanda, Steve proposed. You don't even remember saying yes, but you must have because you now have a huge, shiny ring on your finger.

You expected Wanda to come to you after the news of your engagement made it's way through the kingdom, but she never showed.

Maybe if she had came back for you things would be different. Or maybe if you had ran away with her you wouldn't be where you are now. But you had backed yourself into this corner and there was no getting out.

Your dress is beautiful. It's big and poufy and white. But the person at the end of the aisle isn't who you want to see. Instead of emerald eyes you see cerulean. Instead of a smooth face with delicate features you see a rough face with harsh lines. He's all wrong, he's not her. But you made your choice. Your parents and their wishes come first. Maybe in another life you could chase your happiness, but in this one you were chasing theirs.

After the wedding you resided yourself to a life you hated with a man you loathed, even though you knew it wasn't his fault. If only you could feel the same way about Steve that would make life so much easier. But no matter how much you tried to love him you were still repulsed when his lips touched yours or when you laid in bed side by side.

Sometimes you couldn't stop the sobs that would fall at night, knowing you had made a mistake with marrying him. You should've ran away with Wanda, but now it was too late. You had kids to take care of and an estate to run.

Despite that you let yourself dream about the woman you left all those years ago, the woman you still loved. You hoped Wanda had lived a life far more happier life than yours. You hoped Wanda had moved on and found someone else. You hoped Wanda and new her lover lived in the cottage that was meant to be yours's and had a plentiful garden and never wanted for a thing.

However Wanda's reality was much sadder than what you had wanted for her. Wanda spent her days at the cottage by herself, over come with grief. She never moved on. She spent her days gardening, reading, and crying. Everyday she hoped her lover would come back to her. She never did.

[localapparently]

/ orv main story ending spoilers , mentions of kdj's suicidal mindset

mindless rambling

my friend who just finished orv asked me why kdj couldn't just split like 2% off of himself into an od avatar and leave that in the train while he joined kimcom, and while my initial reaction was "there's no way he could just do that" I remembered i thought a similar thing when I first read through orv too? and maybe it got explained down the line but I forget things real easy (which is why i'm rereading orv) and so I'm just trying to make sense of it using my existing knowledge

There's this bit in epilogue here:

Sangah's words "protecting the world by dividing himself in half, one becomes the reader, one becomes the character". the first being 51 and the second being 49,

I think there are layers to it. Right after being shaken by the OD ordeal, kdj's mindset that he's to blame for the whole world is reinforced stronger than ever before in his head, because he had just witnessed living proof of it. And that's not something he can overcome just because sp and 999 gang took od away to take care of him. Even then, kdj was confused why they weren't angry.

There's also the persisting mindset kdj has that he's twsa's reader and not a proper part of kimcom, and he probably felt like he should bear the burden of consciously continuing to read the world until the very end. He managed to see himself as part of kimcom over the course of the story but od's appearance sort of undoes all that progress he's ever made, and its sad but its pretty common for self hate mindsets to spiral like that,

He probably felt like he deserved it, yet him wanting that extra 2% difference to prove he knew and loved kimcom more than his avatar. Him regretting splitting in half right after the avatar left and he saw them all walking away. He knows what he wants and in the end he can't bring himself to think that he deserves it

And honestly I don't really know why the way singshong writes kdj's self hate and suicidal tendencies get me so badly, I mean I do, kind of, the feeling is there, but it's incredible how long the set up was and how real it feels when you see it all go downhill.

i think od reveal truly truly fucked up kdj to no repair. like if you read the passages, its fucking heartbreaking.

"My own tragedy couldn't even compare to their pain. The sin of creating an even bigger tragedy because of my own should not be forgiven." "Something was wrong. A blade… I, I needed to find a blade."

and the thing that gets to me is how easily anyone who has had self loathing thoughts can empathise with him. The want to disappear for inconveniencing things that would've been perfectly fine and pretty and happy had you not come into contact with it, the idea that you are a disgusting monster and its easier to shut yourself off than do any more damage. and its Fine if youre in pain because They will be happy and theyll will be happier without you.

It fascinates me how a portion of readers of orv who self blame or self doubt love kdj so much, because the act of loving him is also some form of self reassurance that they can be loved as well, because if someone like kdj can be forgiven, then surely they can, for all their small or big mistakes that are definitely not on the scale of plunging the universe into a space apocalypse. or something.

but i might be assuming so. don't take my word for any of this.

tldr he doesnt split out a small avatar to take the place of od because he thinks he deserves it. which is quite obvious if you take a look at the big picture, and i dont really know why i rambled so long. maybe ill reread orv and theres gona be a small bit that's like "ohh well actually if it was too small of a percentage that became od the universe wont hold up" and i will be like Ah yes i just missed that part. and this ramble will be void. uhh yes. have a nice day

[seaweedcolored]

Five Times Heavenly Idol MK's Head Bodyguard Got On His Case For Leaving... and that's it. That's all it takes to break Wukong's heart.

These fleeting hopes we bury deep The signals mixed, pretend we cannot see I just wish I just wish that we could stay like this

(fic under cut)

1

"You- you- you're the Monkey King?!" MK squawked.

The monkey demon crossed his arms, capelet and multicolored skirt fluttering from a mysteriously present explosion behind him. "The one and only! Now, where's my--"

"But there's no way!"

"...Huh--"

"I mean, you're the Heavenly Idol MK! You're my idol! I literally got the same nickname as you! You can't be the Monkey King!"

Honestly, it had more to do about all the fan letters he'd sent the Heavenly Idol and how MK felt about said idol also being his hero, and he'd rather not think about the very real possibility that that a diety like Monkey King had gone and seen all the blabber MK had to say about him. Gosh, that would be beyond embarrassing. Maybe MK should've just let the Demon Bull King stomp on him if he knew that this is where he would've ended up.

MK's blabber continued on as Monkey King-- and that was definitely, undeniably the Monkey King. Heck, MK even stepped on him in bug form! What kind of person was he?!-- watched in something akin to resignation. It was probably embarrassing to him too!! He was even checking his phon eto see how much longer he had before it was time to ditch MK!

"Hey, uh, kid? I'm going to come clean here--" Monkey King chuckled, putting away his phone. "I need to check back in with my bodyguards in like, five minutes, so jig's up. I've been watching you--"

Before MK could even begin to process what that meant, Monkey King bulldozed on.

"And I already, sorta know about the whole staff thing--can't really be a hundred percent sure because I've been kinda busy this whole time with all the photoshoots and rehearsals, but I know that you're perfect!"

"To what?"

"Be my... SUCCESSOR!"

A few hours later, while MK was having some victory noodles with his family, Mei pulled up the live feed of Heavenly Idol MK's current world tour. MK promptly choked on his noodles and wondered briefly how the Monkey King, for all his abilities, made it back to the other side of the globe within five minutes.

(Wukong didn't-- he got a scolding from the head bodyguard for it, but it was always a treat to get any form of attention, if he was going to be honest.)

2

"Okay, bud, let's make this quick. I gotta get back to set before my bodyguards notice," Monkey King said, hopping down from his nimbus and starting on a few warm up stretches. As per usual, he was dressed in his performance outfit, and MK would be more bothered about it if Monkey King wasn't consistently able to reintroduce him to Flower Fruit Mountain soil in the inconvenience of it.

"We don't have to do this everyday if it's inconvenient for you, Mr. Monkey King!" MK spluttered.

"Nah, don't worry about it, bud! Happy to be here!" The Monkey King stretched one more time before hiding his hands behind his back. "Let's get started, shall we?"

MK successfully lasted six minutes-- a new record.

(Wukong's head bodyguard also noticed him within a new record of ten minutes since his "bathroom break".)

3

"I can't believe you just up and two-timed me for Macaque! Macaque! Of everyone you could've chosen, you chose HIM!"

"I'm sorry, Monkey King. I just... I just wanted to make you proud. You're always so busy with show business and you obviously love it, so I figured that if I could learn some things on my own, you'd be proud of me."

Monkey King sighed. MK expected him to walk away then a then, bu twas instead surprised when Monkey King took a seat next to him, going so far as the wrap an arm around his shoulders and giving him a few awkward pats.

"I'm already proud of you, MK. What you've got? It's not something just anyone could have."

"That I can lift the staff?"

"Well, there's that, but I'm talking about your heart kiddo," Monkey King chuckled playfully. "Your heart is one of a kind, and it's in the right place. Everything else you're worried about? We can work on it another time."

"...Thanks, Monkey King."

At that moment, Monkey King's phone pinged with a text. He looked sheepish about it, but MK knew better than to butt further into Monkey King's idol busine--

"THAT GUY--" Monkey King jumped to his feet, growling at his screen. "He think he can just go and tell me to come back? AFTER WHAT HE DID????"

"...your bodyguard?" MK asked.

"YEAH! He's so dead to me when I get there!"

"I don't think you can go around killing your staff, Monkey King."

"Can't I? I already did it once--" MK doesn't think he wants to know the scandal behind that story. "--and he was asking me to give it my all earlier, so why can't I zip back there and show him my 'true power'. STUPID MONKEY! HMPH!"

Monkey King got on his nimbus and promptly zoomed away, probably to make good on the threat. MK didn't hear any scandals about dead Heavenly Idol staff, so MK wasn't going to think too deeply into it.

(Except, it was kinda weird that Macaque was not only a monkey, but also asked Monkey King to give it his all that day, right? Maybe not. MK was probably overthinking things. There was no way, right?)

4

"Hey, Monkey King, are you sure you want to be spending time here, with me, when you're still technically on tour?" MK asked, trying to distract himself from the fact that he just ate Monkey King's hair for New Year. If he promptly didn't think about it hard enough, maybe he'd delude himself into thinking that he just directly consumed good fortune or something.

Monkey King laughed. "It's no big deal, bud, really! It's my day off. No one going to be bothering us today-- THE FIREWORKS!"

"You had one job, MK, one job," Zhanshi chastised, pointedly shutting his laptop, and along it the clip of Heavenly Idol MK, dressed in full New Year Special stage outfit, flying around in a nimbus that was unmistakably the Monkey King's. The general public could be fooled into believing whatever lie the PR team comes up with, but there would be a select few who lived a touch too long or knew a bit too much who could put two on two together.

(Much like Zhanshi did, but unlike Zhanshi, would probably have less noble intentions.

But who was he kidding, his own intentions were far from noble.)

"Don't end up in public eye. We left you for one day."

"Hey, you don't get to say that!" Heavenly Idol retorted. "You did the exact same thing when you were on day-off, remember?"

Zhanshi whistled innocently and turned away from his charge on his wheelie chair.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!"

"I can and I will."

Heavenly Idol sighed in frustration. "Whatever. You need me to stay on the downlow for a bit anyway, right?"

"...That's the usual protocol, yes."

"Then I'll be off. I need to do something anyway."

"Like training your successor?"

Heavenly Idol heard the swivel of the office chair and looked back, but instead of white fur and a pair of lilac eyes, he was met with midnight locks and golden eyes, complete with three pairs of glowing ears.

If this were a conversation between the Heavenly Idol and his head bodyguard Zhanshi, then it'd be one of banter with negligible consequences. This, however, had just turned into a conversation between Monkey King and his warrior.

Macaque.

Wukong scoffed. "It's none of your business. Stay out of my way."

5

"Why couldn't you just be satisfied with what you had?! You had everything you could've ever wanted. You're stronger than anyone would ever need to be. You were happy with just the monkeys on the mountain, you were happy with just me. What happened to all that?"

Wukong watched the distorted image of his past replay in front of him for the hundred, maybe thousandth time. Maybe, of all the memories he'd gone and shattered beyond recognition, then maybe this one was probably the one he wouldn't regret breaking on purpose.

And yet...

"What happened to all your promises?! What happened to living a lazy life under the sun?! WHAT HAPPENED TO NOT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING OR ANYONE EVER AGAIN?

"WHAT HAPPENED TO JUST COMING HOME SAFE?!"

[captain-mj]

I really love your Selkie!Soap au. Maybe Ghost could discover a bit more about Selkie culture, and the generational trauma that Soap might have?

YES!! Love this! Direct continuation of the previous post

Ghost brought Soap a deer. Soap stared at it for a minute before laughing. "What do we do now?"

Ghost hummed. "I'll clean it and cook it for you." And you'll fall in love with me.

"I see." Soap smiled. "Need any help?"

"No, I got it. It's bloody work but if you want sit with me..."

So they sat together in the little shed, both mostly quiet but the radio was playing. Soap watched him work and Ghost tried not to glance at him too often. He wore a surgical mask but that was more for cleanliness than anything else.

They ate well, both of them sitting next to each other as the sun set.

Soap ended up stealing some of Ghost's off his plate despite there being plenty of food still in the kitchen but it was fine. He glared at Soap who only smiled at him.

A ringtone sounded and Soap froze. It sounded like a personal one.

Ghost didn't move for a moment, waiting for Soap to pick it up. Soap just stared for a minute, picking at the food for a second before remembering himself and answering.

"Hey, dad."

Ghost perked up immediately. He had heard next to nothing about Soap's dad. He wondered if he was a selkie too. Or something else.

"Yes, sir. I am on leave, but my..." There was a pause before Soap swallowed. "My coat holder commanded I come with him."

Ghost frowned a little, but he stayed quiet.

"Yes. It's new. I haven't had... Yes, sir." Soap was visibly wilting. "I am... He's commanding me back. Sorry, sir." He hung up after a second and quietly put his phone down.

"I take it your dad is not... good?"

"No. I hope you two never have to talk, but its best he doesn't know we're close." Soap rubbed his arm, looking tiny and cold. Ghost scooted closer.

"Are you alright?"

"It's how he always is. He was excited someone has my coat again. That I'm at your mercy. He's a fucking prick." Soap looked down. "My mom can't leave him or else I'd never talk to him again."

"He... has her coat?"

"Yeah. I tried to find it. Took a couple slaps for it. But I never could. Swear I tore that place apart looking."

Ghost pulled Soap closer. "I see."

"He's such a bawbag."

"Is she the only selkie you know?"

"No. I know a few. All of them are like her. Trapped in their positions. Either as a spouse or caretaker or worker or..." Soap sighed. "No choice. No control. Stuck until either the coatholder dies or we get lucky."

Ghost was quiet for a while before reaching over and pulling him closer. "You... want this, right?"

"I do. Don't worry. You gave it back. You're a good man." He leaned into him. "My sister got lucky. She's just human. My other sister is a selkie but dad... protects her a little more. I think it's because she's the baby."

"Coatholder. Is that what you guys call them?"

"Not the most creative name, but yeah. Gets the message across. For a while Master was used but... yeah, it felt just a little too degrading." Soap hummed and shoved the plate towards him. "He'll want to meet you. I can try to lie and keep you from him. I don't... I don't want him to know it's my choice. If he knows..." Soap started to breath heavier, holding on to Ghost.

"Johnny, you're okay. He can't do anything to you."

"It's not me I'm worried about." Soap said softly. "If he gets upset he takes it on her and..."

Ghost winced. This entire situation reminding him just a little too much of his own time growing up. "If your mom had left your dad, would you have grown up a seal?"

"No. She likely would've abandoned me." Soap answered honestly. "It sucks but that's reality. I would've been left with him and my sisters. Can't blame her. She didn't choose to have me."

Ghost frowned and gently touched his chin, making him look at him. He smiled awkwardly. "You know when I came back from the military, the first thing I did was wait in my mom's kitchen."

"Why?"

"For my dad to hit her. He did eventually. He always did. It was all the excuse I need. I dragged him outside and beat him to hell for it."

Soap looked surprised. "Damn."

"Mom kicked me out for it. But she didn't let him back in the house either and that's all that mattered to me." Ghost took a deep breath. "I should meet your dad."

"Simon. You can't beat up my dad."

"I could, but I just think I should meet him. I want to meet your mom too."

Soap didn't look convinced but he nodded. "Alright, Si. Alright." He kissed his hand gently, looking tired. "Mind if we go to bed?"

Ghost hummed. "Course not. I'll see you in the morning."

"I'll be in the spare room, of course." Soap smiled at him, a hint of teasing there.

Ghost followed him like a shadow until he got to his door and then went to his own room.

Once he was in bed, he stared up at the ceiling quietly. He thought of Soap's mom, the gentle voice on the phone and how Soap shrank back.

It must be hard. Trusting Ghost of all people with so much. Even now, the thought occurred to him that it wouldn't be very hard for him to take the coat back. Or even just hurt him. They were alone in the middle of the woods.

And Soap still trusted him.

If it was anyone else, he'd call them an idiot for trusting the Ghost, but he knew as well as Johnny did that Ghost was harmless to him.

Did those other selkies think their human was harmless? Was their first meeting them taking the coat? Demanding so much from them?

Someone had done this before. Soap had mentioned someone had taken it before. On purpose. Had they hurt him? Forced him to do anything?

The idea of a younger Soap being controlled the way Ghost had read about in those stories made him feel sick.

He got up at some point and like the needle on a compass, he pointed towards his north star.

Soap was probably asleep. He also used the spare for a reason. Ghost shouldn't bother him. There were boundaries for a reason.

Soap's sad eyes popped back into his head. The distant look when he talked about the past or the others he knew.

He didn't knock in case he was asleep.

Soap jerked up immediately. "Jesus, Ghost you scared me. Something wrong?"

"Scoot over."

"What?"

"Scoot over." Ghost repeated, staring at him. Both their eyes reflected the light, both finding each other easily.

Once Soap did move over, Ghost climbed in with him. He pulled him safely to his chest and held him.

"No one is ever going to touch you again." Ghost mumbled into his hair. "I'm never going to let something like that happen to you again."

"You don't even know what they did." Soap knew exactly what Ghost was talking about, like always.

"Doesn't matter." Ghost squeezed him. "Never again."

Soap let Ghost hold him, putting his head on Ghost's shoulder. "Get some sleep, Simon. I know you must be tired."

Ghost slept better knowing Soap was safe with him.

[retrobr]

Lazytown Shenanigans pt. 2

So this time I've watched two episodes in a row: "Sportacus Saves the Toys" and "The Lazy Cup." I can't say that I liked both of the episodes, but they weren't bad either lmaoo. And, well, I think I liked the "Sportacus Saves the Toys" episode more than "The Lazy Cup"

So,

"Sportacus Saves the Toys."

In the first of the above-mentioned episodes, there were – holy moly – some new locations, even despite the fact that they weren't shown for too long. I liked that China and France looked somewhat identical to Lazytown, like they looked funky and colorful as well as Lazytown, u know

This episode made me feel a little bad for Ziggy tbh. I mean, Ziggy is one of my favorite characters; he has a very sweet (badum-tss) and kind personality. I live for this kind of character who is mostly cheerful and happy about everything in their life. And this episode was one of those in which someone ruined his mood, so that made me feel sad. I am sad /ref

And it was Stingy and Stephanie again who did that, just like in the "Ziggy's Alien" episode. Bruh why are they doing that to my boy :(

OH AND ZIGGY'S AND SPORTACUS' "FAMILY BONDING." I fucking adore their interaction, and I fucking love when Sportacus tries to cheer Ziggy up. I just can't do it anymore why are they so adorable 🥺 But then Stingy and Stephanie (mostly Stingy. All the blame is on him /j) ruined his happy mood once again. DAMN WHY JUST WHY ARRERGH-

A few words about Stingy. My God, he can't even play peacefully without proving that things belong to him. BRO UM JUST PLAY NORMALLY, GODDAMMIT, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?? Holy chimichangas, he even took all the sunscreen for himself, what the hell, seriously.... I just despise him at this point, but I can't help myself. He's just annoying.

Anyways. Milford and Bessie were adorable, as always. Can't help but smile like a dork when I see them interacting 🥺

And for goodness sake let Robbie rest and eep!! I can't say that much about him because, well, he was acting silly again as always, so yeah. But the machine that he built was a TOTAL MONSTROSITY. I would've shit myself if I saw that thing walking towards me omg 😭 /hj

And, finally, the "grab my hand" line. Nothing much to say because I'm shaking fiercely like a small pathetic chihuahua..... these dorks are going to be the end for me fr.

"The Lazy Cup."

Well, um, that was something I guess 😭 I don't even know what to say about this episode, except for some small things.

The Sportacus' "ball" shout from the very beginning set the mood for the whole episode, I tell you guys. (/j) I mean that was just very sudden, I just turned on the episode, and the very first thing I heard was "BOAHL" 😭

Won't say anything about Bessie and Milford again because I told about them earlier; they're just cute, like a married but not actually married old couple. Good for them

And speaking about old couples and stuff. There's no doubt to me from this point that Robbie is fucking obsessed with Sportadork. I mean, bro says that he hates him but at the same time HAS A GODDAMN MANNEQUIN OF HIM; bro says "ooohhh noo not him again" and still continues to watch him. Like dude, my dear, calm down 😔

But whatever. Robbie's disguise was pretty nice, I should say; I think his name was Sergio?? I honestly don't remember, but I think it's one of my favorite disguises of his.

And I would like to say that Robbie's team was SO FUCKING ODD I JUST UGH?? 😭 BRO GATHERED THE MOST CRINGE GUYS THAT HE HAS I SWEAR. And like, how did it even work? Did he just bring his own disguises to life? I don't know maybe I'm just stupid, but I didn't know that his disguise machine could do things like that

Finally, Stingy again. In this episode he actually did something nice – in other words, he helped Stephanie. Ok bud, that was a good act of yours 🙄

Well, I guess that's all.. It turned out to be a little longer than I expected, so I want to thank you if someone read this to the end :]

[imthepunchlord]

Honestly, the thing I’m saltiest about in Tales of Arcadia is how they handled the redeemed villains. Angor Rot? Dead. Strickler? Dead. Nomura? Dead. Tronos Madu? Dead. Literally every redeemed villain doesn’t get a happy ending. It’s especially egregious when it comes to Angor Rot and Tronos, who were redeemed for all of five seconds before getting killed. Like, why even bother going through the trouble of giving that development if they’re going to die anyway? Redemption Equals Death is an incredibly stupid trope, and I really hate how liberally Tales of Arcadia uses it.

The trope does have purpose to serve, but it does depend on the characters. Cause sometimes that finality is the only way, and there is peace in moving on. One of the best examples can technically be Darth Vader, though that can be up for debate on his redemption. I wouldn't say he's fully redeemed, but has a redeeming death, saving his child over his dark service, felt like a good end for him.

So, the trope of Redemption Equals Death, it does have it's purpose and use, it just comes down to the character it will be applying to and their situations and set up. But the big issue with ToA is that they overused it. I would've top that trope at 2 characters max cause not every character will apply to that trope.

Like, I don't see the point of killing Strickler, narrative wise it didn't feel fitting. To me, it always felt that he was set up for a redemption and a happy ending.

Before he revealed himself a villain, you got to see that he loved teaching, and he worked off Jim well and on some level did still care for him. Like, you can also see the alarm/horror in his expression when he saw that Jim was the new Trollhunter and that Jim his student was now his enemy.

And even afterwards, able to accept that Jim IS his enemy, for a trained assassin who can easily kill this kid who just started out and would get stronger as he performed more, he didn't go out of his way to kill Jim, he first wanted to try and just steal the Amulet without causing Jim's death. I could be wrong, but, as antagonistic as he got, I felt he did always care for Jim on some level and was reluctant to see him dead, especially the first half of s1.

Also he did come to really care for Barbara (though it didn't stop his villainy, I feel those smacks in s3 should've happened in s2 but I guess they didn't want to explore Barbara in the know which is a weak choice to me). But, with her, his love of teaching, and his soft spot for Jim, Strickler was always set up for a redemption and a future ally and mentor. And with this, I always felt that Strickler's end was going to be him and Barbara marrying and he'd be Jim's stepfather, which would've led to more of their fun dynamic, where they do care but also can't help but be a little antagonistic and that it would improve as the years went on. Death didn't feel like a fitting end for him.

Angor Rot though I did see as a potential redeemed character and still fated for death and finding peace through it. This is a troll that had his soul taken from him, got forced into servitude to a human mage commanding him to hunt down his own people who were fighting his enemies, and through the years became hollow, bitter, and ruthless. Also, mindful the show is kinda up in the air about troll life expectancy, but there could be in the realm of possibility that Angor is also much longer lived than he should be given that he is tie to that ring. He's a villain that got put into a situation outside of his control, and he's forced into a service he didn't want to be in. By set up, that leaves him open for a redemption, and the possibility that death could finally bring him some peace, give him true freedom. Which I'm sure was the idea for s3 but I also had different ideas of what s3 was going to go, and it was so weird seeing Angor think highly of Morgana like, didn't you hate her?

Did, did you get some amnesia with your revival? Or was there some brainwashing with your revival? What's going on there, buddy?

Anyway, when s2 ended, I predicted that we were going to see a Claire and Angor dynamic explored, cause for Trollhunters, the first 2 seasons was really good about giving us different dynamics that actually came out to be a lot of fun to watch. Like Jim and Strickler and their antagonistic rivalry + Strickler falling for Jim's mom. And we got Claire and NotEnrique that was a lot of fun. And then we got Steve and Eli and gosh those two were hilarious.

So at the end of s2, I was anticipating that Claire was going to be trapped in Morgana's service with the revived Angor Rot and that they were going to be forced to work together and do as Morgana wills, and it was going to be intense and fascinating as Claire, next to Jim, had the biggest clash with Angor; she even thought that Jim should have kept that ring and wore it and forced Angor to work for him. And then lo and behold, she's now in a forced servitude and is working with a hostile and bitter Angor and what starts out as hostility becomes them becoming reluctant frienemies cause they're enemies stuck together serving something more dangerous than them and holds all the strings and the enemy of my enemy is my friend and those scenarios are always so fun to watch. And once free of Morgana, because he hates her far more than he hates Jim and co, he helps in that fight, and would pass on more at peace in contrast to his first end.

So, that's what I would've expected and that's what would've been my ideals on the paths for redeemed characters. Not every redeemed character needs to live on happily cause sometimes, there is that peace in death and moving on. But not every redeemed character should die either. And this series just took it waaaay to far, to a point it feels more for angst and shock value than something fitting to the character and story. But I also felt that s3 of Trollhunters was the start of this series starting to go downhill and made weird choices that clashed with what was initially set up so I'm not too surprised.

[starsfic]

Let's Make Bath Bombs!

Happy birthday @kai-keda! I was watching a video of Safiya Nygaard combining all the bath bombs from Lush, and that sounded like something Xiaotian would want to try with the encouragement from the twins, and Red's a sucker for his adorable family.

-_-

"What on Earth are you doing?"

Red Son's wonderful, lovely, breath-taking husband looked up, goggles over his eyes. In one hand, he held a hammer. On the other, he was prying a bath bomb out of Xiaobo's hands, halfway to his mouth and wearing his own tiny goggles. If Red wasn't so shocked, he would've cooed at the adorable sight. Speaking of bath bombs, the entire table was covered in them, hitting all corners of the rainbow. On the other end, Peter sat with goggles of his own.

"...Combining all of the bath bombs?"

Red took in a deep breath and sighed. "From where?"

"That fancy place down the street. You know, the one ran by that nice snake lady?"

Red knew the place. He had bought soap for his honeymoon from that place, and the snake lady in question had congratulated him on his "fun night." She sold a mixture of normal stuff and more magic-laced stuff. Based on the amount he could see, he was willing to bet Xiaotian had bought even the magical ones. "Okay. Why?"

Xiaotian set down the hammer and scooped Xiaobo up. "Okay, so we decided to step inside because she had that new food-shaped collection and I figured it would be fun since Pigsy's celebrating the anniversary of the noodle shop opening. And then Peter wondered what the bath bombs would look like combined, and then..." Red could practically see it with that explanation. “Xiaojiao even sent me a video of some woman doing it.” And he could see that, the enabler.

"The lady looked really surprised," Peter said with an adorable little pout. "And now, Baba won't let me smash them."

“They even promised to not make a fuss about getting a bath so the could try them!”

There were several ways Red could've responded. He glanced to his nervous-looking husband, his sulky son, and to his other son who was trying to stuff another bath bomb in his mouth, with Xiaotian grabbing the bomb before he could take a bite. He sighed. "Is there another set of goggles and a hammer?" Xiaotian, his sweet light, face lit up in a smile as he nodded to the counter. There, as if expecting he would say yes, sat goggles and a hammer. Red sighed again and turned back to the table. “First, we have to organize these. By color. It’ll make things neater.”

“Aww…”

“Okay!”

Turns out that, yes, Xiaotian bought all of the bath bombs, including the more magical, sexy ones. Red distracted Peter by sorting, as well as teaching him how to swing a hammer, while Xiaotian grabbed them, Xiaobo chilling on his back and far away from grabbing and eating any of the bath bombs.

Once a rainbow of organized bath bombs decorated their table (with a drop cloth protecting it, Red honestly couldn't believe Xiaotian had forgotten that), the smashing could begin. Red took on the duty of making sure Peter didn't hurt himself as he swung his hammer, guiding him down and through the strike on the defenseless bath bomb.

"Ooh," Xiaotian said as he opened a green one. "This one smells minty! What does yours smell like, bud?"

Peter sniffed his bath bomb, which had been shaped like a mango before the little one had taken great delight in destroying it. "Vanilla!" he said.

Red raised a brow at the declaration. "Can I smell it?" When the little calf nodded, he leaned forward and sniffed, his brow raising further at the scent that greeted him. "Huh. It really does smell like vanilla. Weird."

"Oh, remember that red lava one, Peter?" Xiaotian said, clearly stifling laughter based on the shake of his shoulders. "The one that looked like it would smell like strawberries but smelled like peaches?"

"Yeah! Bath bombs are weird!"

“I think just this store’s bath bombs are weird,” Xiaotian chuckled, spreading his hands. “They’re magic!”

“Magic, and expensive.” Yeah, they would be talking about how much money Xiaotian spent on this project. Red would be more irritated if he didn’t know Xiaotian hadn’t used their mutual credit card. “What other weird smells do you think there are?”

Turns out, loads.

Once all the bath bombs (save the “special”) ones were smashed with minimal property destruction (why did the store even sell exploding bath bombs?), it was time to grind. And once that was all done, an issue arose.

“I don’t think this will all fit in one mold.” Red grabbed one of the molds his family had gotten and eyed the size. Yeah, nope.

“Aww!”

“But we can make two kinds!” Xiaotian said, “And throw them in together!”

Peter and Xiaobo’s eyes went big. They didn’t even have to speak to make clear their agreement.

In went the powder. Red took orange and yellow, Xiaotian took red and purple, and they divided up the other colors in between them. Carefully tucked in were dried flowers, shea butter, chunks of dried orange, and other goodies tucked in the bath bombs Xiaotian wanted to keep whole.

And then, it was bathtime.

"Okay, are you guys ready?"

"Ready!" Xiaobo threw his hands up at the same time as Peter, babbling something that Red was willing to guess was "yes." Both of them sat naked in the bath tub full of water, Xiaobo contently floating in his little seat.

Red chuckled, holding one of the bath bombs. Xiaotian grinned as he grabbed the other. "Okay, one, two, three..."

"GO!"

Xiaotian dropped his bomb in, and Red followed suit. The moment the bombs hit the water, they began to sizzle and foam up. The boys cheered as colors began to spread across the water. Red honestly expected some shade of grey or muddy brown, since that was what you got when you mixed every color together. He was pleasantly surprised that, through some kind of magic, the colors spread and kept, turning the water rainbow.

"SO COOL!"

"It is!" Red chuckled, enjoying the sight of his children enjoying the wonder of bathtime. He glanced at Xiaotian, who smiled sweetly at him, reminding him of the other bath bombs waiting to be combined. “Now, remember what we agreed on?”

Thankfully, the twins’ joy didn’t die at being reminded of bath time. Both were too amazed by the rainbow water and the sweet smells that rose up to really notice Xiaotian gently shampooing their head and rinsing it out, only to replace it with conditioner. Red made sure that behind their ears were clean, Xiaobo not even raising a fuss.

He really needed to keep those bath bombs in stock if it got the twins to enjoy bath time.

[saiyomiya]

Mamiya Review

Man, I don't know many people who know what Mamiya is, and that's a shame. Hell, the only way I know it is because I checked Andrew Hodgson's portfolio the other day and was captured by the art.

People should REALLY check this out. It's like if Nisioisin and Subahibi and the bunker dream scene in Disco Elysium and your lingering yearning for whoever just came up in your mind just now had a love child with the brain the size of thousands of universes or something. Like is that not the most incredible sentence you've ever read? I'm me and I wrote that sentence but it would've made me want to read it.

Pros

Beautiful art

Incredibly curated freeware OST that made me a fan of Ludo for life

Great translation with beautiful and succinct prose

Incredibly well-paced and doesn't waste your time at all

Cons

There is some thematic messaging in the game that leaves a bad taste in my mouth which is obviously subjective but hey this is my review

Will probably leave you hanging and wanting more answers when you're done, maybe even a bit dissatisfied (warning: I am dumb and maybe something flew over my head, a single read is definitely not enough for this one)

Rating: It's good, great even. The part I don't really like about it is subjective and some/most people might be fine with it or understand something about it I don't. I tolerate it because the rest of the game is interesting and everything else about it is very up my alley. If you're interested, make sure you buy the DLC DoomsDayDreams as well. It contains the last chapter of the story.

Spoiler subjective rambling to myself below the cut. Warning: I am dumb and might be too stupid for this game

Steam | VNDB (Part 1)

Why this game is kino

The settings are super interesting and the writing is beautiful. Honestly I would love to fine tooth reread it someday, maybe in Japanese. (Too bad Textractor can't since the engine uses Javascript).

The scope of the game is impressive and how verbose it is about all of those things is an incredible accomplishment. There is something universally accessible about Mamiya's message. You don't need to read a trove of philosophy books to understand what it wants to say. (Though obviously there are references.) You don't need to tolerate great horrors to get to the good parts. The pacing is good and it doesn't waste your time. It doesn't think you're stupid and believes in your ability to figure stuff out. There's a chance I'm jabbing at a kamige a lot of people revere that I also like for the most part but despise at the same time

MAMIYA (meme), Natsume, and the trichiliocosm are all very interesting and well handled themes. I've never really been able to word these feelings myself, so reading a story that builds something about concepts I've felt in my core was very freeing. It kind of makes you feel like an atom, if we could understand how a single atom feels. I think we all have thought about these things at least once. As humans, we all worry and think of the beyond every once in a while.

The effect this story has on you is genuinely beautiful. How can you feel so small and yet so important at the same time? Not only are you a body, you are your soul, you are your mind, and you have an existence before anyone knew what you are. Yet at the same time, we are all part of an infinitely expanding universe that is not only what we ourselves see, but what everyone else generates.

You feel so cherished and yet so insignificant at the same time.

I find MAMIYA so fascinating as well. To verbalize and personify the idea of yearning and admiring a ghost of a person is super interesting. Everyone has felt that for someone else, a longing to be with or to become a beloved. A lot of people grow out of that, but what happens when you don't? What happens when the scars that that yearning left are too deep? Being able to write a story about this concept, give it a mind of its own, and make it metatextually infect actual readers is brilliant.

It's kaleidoscopic in nature. It's a story that is so many things. It wants to be a literal read, it wants to be an abstract read, it wants to be meta, it wants to haunt you, like a ghost, like a veil, for the rest of your life. It's an incredibly unique and unforgettable experience. The only other game to make me feel similarly was Subahibi but I felt way less miserable while going through Mamiya.

That, on top of watching these characters face their weaknesses and ultimately conquer them with their own strength really tickles the Nisioisin fan in me. Like, all of this is incredible stuff. EX is incredible too, even though it hurts so bad. The bittersweet and vague and confusing endings for me leave me wanting more and someone smarter than me to explain what happened help

It leaves you with a love that is yours alone.

If you like the Pink House characters don't read this word vomit

(Vague Door 2 Fata Morgana spoiler mention)

Okay, time to get negative. I dislike almost all of the Pink House characters. I mean, that's definitely by design. All of them are groomers who succumbed to mental weakness and also nobody likes a groomer. It's pretty hard for me to view them just as characters because they did such horrible things to vulnerable children for their own self-satisfaction and weakness. Like brother I'm sorry but I can't just look at characters like this as just characters.

I fucking hate Osamu as a person. He's my least favorite character. To instill MAMIYA is to leave yearning, but damn, him leaving Ryou with his abusive mother and his biological daughter behind is just despicable. He is insufferable to everyone he talks to, he's ugly asf too, I'm gonna kill him, give me ten dollars. If you like him, more power to you, you're better than me, but my brain just can't run the calculations to tolerate him. Just a subjective thing.

Mayuri's relationship with their mother is relatable and I think their struggles with their inner child and self love are very interesting. However, what they do to Minato throughout DDD is despicable and unforgivable to me and it's very hard for me to look at them objectively. Like I totally get that's a me problem.

I mean, I get it though. There are people in my life who've done awful things to me, but I don't want them to die. Rather, I want them to live and be happy, but away from me. I don't wanna know how they're doing either. In this way, I really have nothing against the better ending Minato has with Mayuri, and I found their duel together interesting. It's well done, in my opinion.

Touma is the least offensive of all of them to me and I don't have much to complain about with him, at least from my understanding of his struggles and what he did overall.

Okay he did bad shit too but somehow it didn't leave as bad of a taste in my mouth than the other two. That too, is subjective.

Finally, Samejima is so boring to me. I never cared about Yukimasa from Fatamoru, so more of the same is more shit I don't care about. He's not very interesting to me on a personal level. I just never cared for characters with his narrative.

I guess for me, since ALL of Natsume's friends patch things up with the Pink House quartet it starts to feel very vaguely like, the way to handle your abuser is to understand why they abused you and then accept that it is a cycle and maybe get along with them and cheer them on. Saying that hilariously minimizes every arc but I mean, this was the vibe I got from all four of them just... more or less forgiving their abusers who put them through psychological and sometimes physical hell. It just didn't sit right with me. I think, for a game like this, having at least one character NOT be the "bigger" person and not be amicable, not forgive even after trying, would've made the message come across more clearly. Forgiveness and handling of abuse is messy and a bit of inconsistency among the cast would've garnered a bit more goodwill on my end.

Of course I might be missing the point or blind. I might be dumb as hell who knows. I would love to be enlightened otherwise. It just left a really bad taste in my mouth for a story I overall liked and became the hugest con about it for me.

Character rankings

Upper layer: Nidome > Mamiya > Natsume > Librarian > Senior

Nidome is cute even though he doesn't do much. I liked his design and I felt like this whenever he called Natsume a silly goose. Librarian and Senior are cool I just wish we saw more of them. The upper layer itself is really cool conceptually and I would love a story about it, but who knows if that's gonna happen.

Natsume and Mamiya are givens to like. I honestly can't tell if I like one or the other more.

Natsume's friends: Minato > Haruki > Ryou > Keito

Minato's narrative is relatable and I like them a lot, Haruki I liked more than expected, Ryou is fine, and I like Keito enough, but I feel like as I've gotten older I've had less patience for characters of his archetype. Or don't care about them. Like he's just there to me.

Pink House: Touma > Samejima >> Mayuri >>> Osamu

Touma is the least offensive of them to me (to the point that I would say that I like him), I don't like how Mayuri was handled and Osamu is just trash to me for reasons I spoke of earlier. I don't feel anything for or against Samejima. It's not his fault I don't care for his narrative archetype, but at least he's better than the other two behind him.

Natsume: Spectator/Idea/As a part of MAMIYA > Body

I'm just fucking around at this point

Conclusion

What can I say that I haven't said? It's good and I hope it gets more popularity someday. It certainly deserves it and I think it could be considered a kamige among VN enthusiasts if they gave it a try. People are just going to have to spread the word. I do think that most people would more positive than me even though I feel relatively positive about it, so go crazy and become the salespeople Kenkou Land deserves.

I still feel like I have so many questions and want so many answers for the main endings themselves. EX is both heartbreaking and yet so freeing at the same time, and the main ending is bittersweet and confusing.

It's as if I woke up to news to my dear friend Natsume Souichirou dying myself.

[legitimatesatanspawn]

Since you made the mistake of allowing me to ask you questions, here I am! Who, in your opinion, was the more unlucky between Hurin and Turin?

Oh god who had it worse? I hate comparing suffering but honestly they both had it really bad.

While Turin had the ability to travel among companions and find joy and ultimately had a terrible end, Hurin had to watch the whole thing and then live with the knowledge. We also don't know what Hurin endured alongside all that since he was trapped in Morgoth's castle and that place was compared to Hell on earth but explicitly run by the setting's hateful Lucifer.

But even if it was just imprisonment and suffering, Hurin was still a prisoner in Morgoth's grasp to know no peace or gentle grace. For decades.

Turin's deal was also a heavy mix of curses shoved onto him as well as his own arrogance and pride.

Much like Denethor when he psychically wrestled every time to use the Palantir against whatever poisonous shadow Sauron cast on the scrying tools, Hurin only saw what Morgoth's own powers allowed or maybe even reshaped. A twisted form of Sight that meant that much like someone depressed or cynical, Hurin only saw the worst things or saw things in the worst light. Which is why when he finally saw Thingol, he judged the elf harshly for what happened to their son and his daughter. (I say their son because Thingol may have treated Turin as his own son.)

On the flipside his greatest suffering was watching someone else suffer. His son and surviving daughter, unable to help them, unable to warn them... and in the aftermath forced to live with the knowledge.

Turin had moments of joy and the ability to choose freely what his actions were but everything was always brought to ruin.

I really can't choose who had it worse. Constant misery versus gradual horror. But if forced to, I'd have to go with Turin because he lived it.

For anyone who's like "who the hell are you talking about? Hurin? Turin? Are they dwarves since the Hobbit's dwarves had all those rhyming names?":

By the way trigger warnings for three counts of suicide and two unknowing incest. Everything else is setting typical violence and betrayals. Turin's story is a mix of Sigurd the Volsung, Beowulf, Oedipus, and Kullervo.

Hurin is one of the famous human heroes of the First Age. Hurin is also one of Elrond's great grand uncles through his half-elf father Earendil. Earendil is also the father of Elros who is the first Numenorian king (long story there) and by the way is Aragorn's ancestor (with about 6300 years between the birth of Elros's first son and Aragorn so there's a lot of time there). Half-Elves are able to choose whether they want to live life as an elf or life life as a human. Both choices have their ups and downs but the biggest thing is choosing long life over the unknown of what happens after humans die. As far as I can remember, no one is told what happens to humanity. Not even Mandos (the Valar Archangel God of the Dead), or if he does he keeps silent on the matter. This is part of why Arwen is able to choose to remain with Aragorn and why her choice hits Elrond so hard: because not only is this Luthien all over again but his own brother made the same choice just as Elrond chose like their father to be an elf for other reasons.

Earendil by the way is the "Evening Star's" pilot because of a lot of reasons. The light is from the silmaril on his fancy crown as he drives the enchanted ship. It's THAT bright. How the hell he sees with it on I don't know. It's bright enough to be mistaken for Venus for goodness sake.

Turin is Hurin's son and honestly the person who I would've loved to see a grim edgy AAA action game about instead of the wonderful then mess that the Shadow of Mordor/War games are. Of course, considering his life, it makes sense that he was skipped over for it. Because there were some really nasty bits in it. As hinted in the trigger warning.

Turin's life basically has him picking up cursed objects left and right and being an unlucky SoB. Like the family heirloom helmet? Turns out it's magic and nopes away any attempt to kill its wearer at least through a head-based deathblow. Swords break and arrows deflect. Which admittedly is good, but it won't be the only thing.

His mom sent him off for his safety, he was adopted by Luthien's father Thingol (could do worse than a hidden kingdom's king, honestly)… but one of Thingol's counselors hated him for being an outsider. Maybe also for being a human I'm not sure but the guy was a Grade A prick. Saeros would not let up on Turin and kept provoking him and trying to get him killed, which just caused an escalation in embarrassment and pain on his side… until the elf was forced to run buckass naked through the forest and fell to his death.

Apparently other people hated Turin too because Turin got booted out before Thingol could stop it. I like to think that Thingol was waiting for the right time to bring him back when things calm down but elves hold on to grudges like nobody's business (dwarves do too, as to mortal men, so its not like anyone's automatically in the right here).

By the way I've touched on Thingol and Luthien before here for those just dropping in.

So, like you do, Turin runs across a band of outlaws and tells them his name is something that basically means the Wronged One or the Betrayed. The bandits were quick to follow him because they liked how strong he was and then went along with his leadership after he killed their old boss for trying to do what outlaws often do. So instead of going around robbing people and doing horrible things to people, Turin used the group to hunt orcs.

His best friend Beleg was worried, got permission to go off, and tracked down where the bandits were later and joined them as Turin's subordinate. Although some of the members of the band weren't happy with this fancy ass stranger just making himself home there. One of the people least happy by this was Mim, a "petty dwarf" (not petty as in petty but he is that too but basically it's implied that the petty dwarves are descendants of dwarven exiles so…) because Beleg is an elf and good god there's so much bad blood between the two kinds you don't even know.

Mim barely put up with the outlaws because Turin offered him aid as apology for something. Mim would later sell them all out to Morgoth but in return for a promise that Turin would be spared. Then after Turin's death, Hurin would kill him for is part (however minor) in what happened to Turin but Mim would actually curse his treasure - including or maybe just the fancy necklace that was later combined with the Silmaril Thingol got Beren to get and would later play into Thingol's death so yes these things connect god help us.

But here's one of the fun things: Thingol gave Beleg the black sword Anglachel. This is important because unlike most swords, this one is not only meteoric iron but actually super cursed. It is with that sword that Turin unintentionally kills Beleg. The sword thirsts for blood in a way that no other should. By that metric it is a good sword. But… yeah. The sword had to be reforged as it actually mourned Beleg's death by turning chipped and dull so it became Gurthang.

Turin wielded the sword in battle and slew monsters with it, but it was also used to kill people too. I forget the full details but the dragon Glaurung pulled some Looney Tunes shit by telling Turin that his mother and sister were suffering. Instead of killing the dragon then and there, Turin dropped everything to go back to his original home of Dor-lomin and walked in on an empty house.

Just imagine it. Man runs from a battle field for about 150 miles only to walk in on an empty house.

Turin learns some stranger married a "kinswoman" (cousin? cousin to a sister-in-law to an uncle? I'm not sure) to claim his father's lands. Remember it's been about 25-27 years since Hurin was around so someone must've gone "oooh easy pickings". Turin learns through him that his mother isn't there, then kills the man in a rage like he's Hamlet shanking Claudius. Then runs back. To be fair the murder wasn't exactly of an innocent man since Brodda is said to have forced Aerin to marry him and also intended to have children with her but...

While Turin was running back to find the people he left behind to save his family, Aerin killed herself via fire (not an uncommon occurrence in the setting really), and the kin to Brodda ("Easterlings" who have been under Morgoth and Sauron's banner with the known lands of Middle Earth being one of the large pockets of resistance against them) used it to do even worse things to their people.

Turin believed that all this was what the evil fate would be and yes this is part of why I say he's arrogant and prideful, including the death of Finduilas (Gil-Galad's sister) because of his own foolishness. Considering Gil-Galad was fine with Elrond (at least we think it's the same Gil-Galad), I doubt that he holds his family responsible for his sister's death because I know there's a lot of other people who would. So Turin thinks that's the worst that can happen, that he's now the master of his own destiny.

You can probably hear Morgoth laughing.

But what I want to know is how the dragon - who he fought again years down the line - knew that the wife Turin took later was actually his younger sister (who he never met because his mom sent him away to Thingol) traumatized and possibly cursed into forgetting her past. ... Morgoth, probably Morgoth.

Yeah. Okay time to explain that.

Nienor, the surviving daughter of Hurin (because the other one died when she was 3 to one of Morgoth's attacks), had no memory of her life before meeting the band of orc hunters. She was found shivering in the dark, terrified and half-death from being unable to find any food in the wild. So she was named Ninel and the only peace she was able to find after dark was when pressed against Turin's side. Eventually they married and both found happiness in each other's arms. … But when Turin fought the dragon, it broke through the curse/trauma and made Nienor remember herself. With that horrible truth, Nienor threw herself and their unborn child off a cliff.

So that reveal combined with everything else in his life similarly drove Turin over the edge. He spoke to his sword basically going "in my hand you've killed without care for any but the hand that bears you, so seek my own heart's blood and end me quickly". And the damn sword spoke! Who knows if it's the first time or the last, but it spoke and basically said it wanted to wash out the blood of Beleg and the latest innocent man from its memory. So with that sword Turin killed himself.

As I said, Hurin later threw the fancy dwarven necklace (cursed by Mim) at Thingol's feet and stormed off. The necklace combined with the Silmaril led to the hidden kingdom being attacked and raided and ransacked because you do not send people to get Silmarils (Beren) and then expect to know peace especially not when there's at least one of Feanor's sons in the area who are oathsworn (cursed) to seek them out.

[the1975attheirverybest]

i would honestly like to hear the debate between him and his girlfriend on her favorite book. 😭

Okay, then. Here's a little something. just a trigger warning though, the book they discuss includes suicide.

-----

"I'm confused. I thought you'd like it. It's got everything that you love about art, instability of memory, open-ended-ness, blurring between fiction and reality....what seems to be the issue?" She crosses her arms over her chest, and Matty can tell she's unhappy. He laughs and tells her to just "forget he said anything," but she's persistent. "C'mon, let me hear it."

"Fine, alright- would you like some tea?" He walks away from the kitchen table and towards the kettle.

"Sure." she nods.

"Alright, so. The whole point of the first half of the book is to establish the contrast between Adrian and the rest of the boys, yeah?"

"mhm..."

"And the difference is- uhh- what exactly? That he's an idealist?" Matty stands at the kitchen counter, with his back towards her, pulling two tea bags out of the canister.

"Yeah, that he doesn't possess that sense of doom that teenagers often have. He believes in goodness over fame, he maintains a grid relationship with his parents despite their divorce, he has a sense of moral identity..." She watches as her boyfriend turns to face her, leaning against the kettle as he waits for the water to boil.

"Right, yeah, exactly- so it makes no sense whatsoever all that stuff he does in his diary! He's got a mathematical equation. And this...absurd idea that- that he "evaluated things logically," and reached the conclusion that "life is a gift," which he decides to reject. don't you see how nonsensical that is???"

"I don't, actually. The only nonsense I'm getting is out of you." she looks him dead in the eyes.

Matty groans in frustration, running his fingers through his hair. His lips part, ready for a rebuttal, but the kettle makes a noise, indicating that his water's ready.

"Darling, my sweetest girl, my truest love....use your brain for half a second." He pours water into the mugs.

"Excuse me?" she gets up from her seat, opening the fridge to pull out some milk for the tea.

"If Adrian's the idealist that the book suggests he is, then don't you think it'd be inconsistent of his character to reduce human relationships to mathematical equations? and use "logic" to weigh his options about whether to kill himself or not? life's complicated! it doesn't work like numbers do! don't you think his fuckin...he goes to Cambridge doesn't he?- yeah, don't you think his fancy Cambridge degree would've taught him at least that much? Besides, people who are in a suicidal state aren't 'logical.' Makes no sense!" He sets her tea mug in front of her, and his own, in front of him.

"Matty, honey, you of all people should know...perceptions are biased. We don't actually know the true nature of Adrian's character. We only know Tony's view of him. And, to make matters even more complicated, Tony is remembering him years into the future. So, his memories aren't accurate. We all remember our childhoods with rose-tinted glasses. I would argue that the diary stuff shows us the real Adrian. And Maybe Tony's reaction is cuz he can't accept the truth!"

Matty takes a long sip of his beverage to buy himself some time to think. "Well- umm-"

"Well what? You've got nothing!"

"Fuck yeah, I do! The way he's so considerate of others upon killing himself? don't you think that, if he's thinking this hard about how his body would be found, then he's clearly passionate enough about things to...stick around? Again, the characters and the plot are entirely unrealistic."

"That's the point Matty! You're meant to question the accuracy of the narrative!"

"And the whole paternity thing- what the fuck's that about. Cheap shot, if you ask me? The book takes pains to establish this character as this unique individual, and then falls back on old tropes."

"Okay, that's a completely separate issue, but, again, that's the fuckin point! Even the most unique among us is, in the end, still a cliche because they're still human. susceptible to the very same human troubles as the average person. You've clearly not read the book closely enough." she picks up her copy, slamming it into his chest. "read it again, then we'll talk."

Matty chuckles. "Fine, for you, I'll read it again....but only so I can find more flaws."

She rolls her eyes, despite smiling. "You won't find any. it's a perfect book."

He leans over the table, kissing her lips. "admitted, darling. Your favorite book is ridiculous. Just pick a new favorite....make sure it's better, though..."

[wetcatspellcaster]

I am so curious to know the background on this! :D

“Now, sweetheart,” he commanded. “I think you should kiss me again. And if you can’t make it nice, at least make it interesting.”

So, he was leaving her to do all the work. Rosalie bit her lip, in uncertainty and in anger, as she examined him, puzzling out his motives. Was he trying to make her feel wretched, again? Forcing her to act, so she condemned herself?

She said she’d been to therapy - and she had, extensively - but there was always going to be that little pit of self doubt in her stomach, no matter what. Especially with Astarion.

It felt selfish, given how immensely she’d failed him, to turn over the other parts of their relationship like fossils for examination. But one of the cruellest parts, about never getting to see things through to end, was never knowing what they truly could’ve been - what he would’ve wanted with her, in time. She didn’t know what he liked, and what he’d pretended to like.

Hello lovely, thank you for sending the ask!

Read myself for filth, commentary one: The first two paragraphs is how a person who can't write E-rated fics tries to write D/S undertones without writing enough spice to ever actually earn those tags. Never sure if I'm successful, but my god I could be a Level 7 rogue for the amount I dance around things and evade them.

So this is one of the few times Rose gets close to a good insight check, I guess bc the DC is lower than average! Astarion was trying to humiliate her, force her to admit she wanted him, force her to act on her own initiative rather than be 'seduced', meaning that she is culpable and cannot deny that fact later on. Wouldn't make sense for him to be lying about that, in fact it serves him and his purpose to make it very, very obvious, bc that makes it all the more embarrassing for her at her end.

Astarion does love her/want her, etc (that's what he's rolling deception on lmao). But he does also want her to condemn herself, it's a game. He wants to prove he has power over her, to prove she was wrong for abandoning him, and he's also testing her. He is making her physically uncomfortable, yet she's seemingly unable to resist or leave, regardless. He is also testing to see if she falls for the trap he sets for everyone: of deciding whether she is attracted to him enough to ignore all her other morals and constraints, and will thus place herself wilfully in danger.

As to the final two paragraphs - this Tav has some absolutely rock bottom self esteem, even if in this AU timeline she's kind of too powerful for that to serve her anymore, honestly. But another thing about getting an Evil Ending with a break up is that her relationship with Astarion was: Act 1 seduction: 'I successfully romanced him, oh no it turns out it was all an act', Act 2 'I don't think we should have sex anymore, idk if we ever will again': 'oh no, everything I did before now was making him uncomfortable and I never realised', then Act 3: turbo charged sex demon tells you you're worthless. So I feel like it makes sense for her to have a lot of self doubt around sex or intimacy with Astarion, bc she doesn't have any real knowledge of what the man she knew would've wanted - they never got to unpack what parts were an act and which parts weren't, and they crucially never got their graveyard resolution scene.

She has no belief that she ever correctly understood what he wanted or needed and so yeah. She'd be scared of getting it wrong again. What if he was doing all this just to turn around and tell her that she was never what he wanted at all?

She is also just... very attracted to him :') that makes a lot of people self-conscious in these kind of situations lmao

And yeah, I think that that kind of petty, insignificant insecurity carries a lot of guilt as well. I do think she's talked about it in therapy. Your boyfriend lost his soul while you watched... why would you obsess over whether the physical intimacy was good or not? That's cringe, and way down the list of priorities. But it's also a very human insecurity and she's fallible, so unfortunately it is there.

Hope that this was in any way interesting! :)

DVD commentary ask

[xplrvibes]

In your opinion, what are the top 5 most emotional Sam and Colby videos? Not including the cancer video cos that one would defo be no 1 on all lists lol.

Well shit, taking the cancer video out of the running really threw this list for a loop, lol.

Ok, so I actually included videos from their personal channels on here as well, simply because I honestly don't know if I could come up with 5 from the main channel lol. I don't know how often they get emotional while hunting ghosts.

This list is the best I could get without using the obvious choice:

1, The Chernobyl Series

I mean, the babushkas. They live all alone in a radioactive warzone and are just starving for visitors. They talk about how they don't even see their kids or grandkids that often, and you know these strangers who go there to essentially gawk at them are their only source of human interaction.

They got so excited for the boys to come that they prepared a veritable homemade feast for them, then apologized for it not being good enough. They got the boys drunk and made them (namely Sam) cry. It was just all around emotional. Every ounce of their interaction with the babushkas was emotional on a level that you don't really see too often with snc.

That alone would've guaranteed this series a spot in the top 5. But the actual story of Chernobyl, the way snc went about presenting it, interviewing the liquidator and their tour guide, Misha, who survived it all...it was just wonderfully done and very, very emotional.

2, Best Friend Gives Me First Tattoo (25x25)

I mean, come on. Colby decides to go and apprentice to be a tattoo artist so he can give Sam, who has always expressed fear about getting tattoos, his first ever one. Sam trusts him with this terrible idea so much, that he allows Colby to choose the design and agrees to be blindfolded while Colby is tattooing him.

Mind you, Sam went into this with 0 tattoos, and is allowing his first one to be done by his non-professional friend while he is blindfolded.

When its done, Colby tells Sam that he wants to match him, and that he (Colby) wants Sam to tattoo him as well. Now, Sam has done 0 training and is a little drunk by this point.

But that's the trust Colby has in Sam.

So, now they have matching 25's, and they get their actual professional tattoo artist friend to up the ante and give them a second set of matching tattoos - the ripple of water, which symbolizes them living in the moment.

This whole video, while out of the norm as far as their editing and production style goes, really just highlights the absolute trust they have in each other and this friendship standing the test of time.

3, (tie) "A Video to Future Colby Brock, my Best Friend | Sam Golbach (2017)" and "A Video to My Future Best Friend, Sam Golbach | Colby Brock (2017)"

These two go hand in hand, really, even though they are two different videos on two different channels, so I am including them as one. (If you've never seen them before, watch Sam's first, then Colby's).

Now, full disclosure, I have not watched either one of these in a long time, so I don't remember all the details of what's said in them. But, I know that when I read this ask, these were actually the first videos that popped into my mind, so they definitely must have made an impression in my subconsious, if nothing else lol.

The gist of these is that Sam made a video directed towards a Colby twently years in the future, telling him what future Colby means to him. Colby then responded with a video of his own, telling present day Sam what he means to him.

It's a love fest, lol.

4, Our Terrifying Shipwreck Experience (25x25)

Honestly, the first several 25x25 episodes before they gave up and got discouraged are a good look into snc's psyche, and follow a general theme, which is facing your fears and anxieties, and doing those things you've always wanted to do.

But this one has some suspense and intrigue and near death to it (which actually would've made it a good candidate for the intense videos list, had I included 25x25 stuff on there lol), and because of that, there are a lot of earnest moments of reflection, fear, and triumph over anxiety to it.

It's not a tear jerker, perse, but it is a good emotional story if the emotion you are looking for is nearly dying doing the thing you're most scared to do...and then doing it AGAIN.

5, I Got Robbed - Part of my 2021 Story | Colby Brock

I just plain old feel bad for him on this one, lol. His little journal entries that he wrote to try and remember the journal entries that he lost...epsecially knowing that he got into journaling in the first place as a way to combat his anxiety, only for that to be taken away...this is emotional in that "oh damnit, now I feel bad" kind of way lol.

(Disclaimer: I did not include the first episode of the new Conjuring series on here, partially because I feel that would've been as obvious a choice as the cancer vid, and partially because I plain forgot about it until I wrote all these up and didn't want to change anything lol. Sorry 'bout that)

[houseofpendragons]

Thoughts on Teen Wolf the Movie while watching it (SPOILERS) pt.1

Before I even start let me say that they should've just made it another 12 or 10 or hell even an 8 episode mini series

Should've opened with Isaac instead of Liam and Hikari in Japan smh. He was the last one to have the triskele box, how tf did Liam get it? (I do understand that Daniel Sharman couldn't be in the film but still...at least give me an explanation)

I don't care what they say, Hikari was supposed to be Kira and Hikari wasn't supposed to even exist. Liam and Hikari are clearly what Scott & Kira Should've been, minus the restaurant in Japan, if they'd done the right thing and brought Kira back in the last season. He said he'd wait for her😭. (Though I Stan the actress for not coming back when they were going to pay her white female castmates more than her. Honestly fuck them for that)

Why does Liam own a restaurant in Japan. How did we get here in our lives. Liam u supposed to be protecting Beacon Hills. Also idk what career I though Liam would get but it definitely wouldn't have been restaurant owner. I can see him as a coach maybe (at Devonford Prep in honor of Brett; huh maybe I did know what career I thought he'd have🤔)

Damn y'all really keeping Nogi with teas and spices. Ig hiding it in plain sight works idk 🤷‍♀️

Why Liam fall like that 😭

Damn Nogi really reminding me of the Witch from Narnia when she appeared in that ice wall thing in the second movie

also if Nogi can talk through that thing, why hasn't he manipulate someone into setting him free already

Though that Nogi was like a regular fly, not a firefly...

Scott being call "The Alpha" like they'll never know🤫 also like I thought Monroe went international w/ her hunting. Ain't no way Scott's just chillin all carefree enough to put his name on a business.

Yeah Scott save that doggie...oh and the little grl too. Also this would've been better plot wise if this was a flashback of Scott saving a little Hikari, it would explain how she's randomly apart of the pack now

Love how Scott's animal clinic looks like a mixture of Deaton's vet place and Derek's loft

Scott talking about having kids one day was how I knew they'd give him Eli at the end. Like wtf, he should be raised by his family, by other born wolves who know about the werewolf history that Derek did. Like hello we got great uncle Peter, auntie Cora, and hell even cousin Malia. Derek WOULD NOT want his SON raised by an ARGENT!

"I didn't see it. I took my eyes off the road for like two seconds to change the song on my ipod"

Wooo spooky 👻

I said ah oop jump scare Chris "I never use the front door" Argent

Poor Chris no parent ever deserves their child to die before them

Bardo! and who stayed up all night doing research about Bardo for you, huh, Mr. McTruealphaman. KIRA!

Yes papa Argent, say fuck

Well Jeff Davis said he wanted the timeline to work out so that Eli was born before Derek returned to Beacon Hills in an interview (idk where it is and I'm too lazy to find it) and after the series finale timeskip in the last season it was 2017, its now 2026 so technically it's been 11 years Scott my boy

Look at me out here fixing the timeline for everyone😁

"I got a feeling the real answers are in Beacon Hills" Yeah no shit Chris, everything's gotta do with Beacon Hills

Scott your the alpha. Be the alpha. Quit asking other people to to decisions for you, for the love of God

So Scott I understand why you left Beacon Hills but are we going to address what happend to Monroe and the internatipnal hunters Corp? No?...okay then

Chris why did you leave mama McCall. Jeff u really out here breaking everyone up. Should've got w/ Papa Stilinski so Scott and Stiles could be brothers fr "oh what could've been"

Why the pack break up? not gonna give me an explanation again...okay I'm sensing a pattern here

Yeassss!!! Business woman Lydia, we knew u could do it. And she looks very snazzy in that white outfit with her ponytail if I do say so myself. Funny how the banshee's business has to do with sound lmao it's perfect.

Lyd!😭 Thats Mrs. Martin-Stilinski to you! Shit at least call her Lyds so that you don't sound like your calling her a lid💀

Damn u think Lydia would've learned to look at stuff by now before handing it out. Nah but on a real note I feel like she should have a better understanding of her abilities by now, and have expanded on them, and had more control of them but that might be just me

I SAID ITS MRS. MARTIN-STILINSKI Ray or whatever ur name is!

Oooo the automatic writing again

Yayyy Eli Hale! In my head Eli is a nickname for Elijah, just like Derek is a nickname Frederick (if you known you know🤣)

Hale Auto?! Ain't no way. Derek ain't a mechanic. I refuse. Terrible career choice for the man. He's rich, he ain't even gotta work

Maybe Malia could be a mechanic but I doubt it, ooo a Park Ranger would be perfect.

Love how Eli just hotwired that jeep😂. Oh and just let me say this here and get it out of my system. Eli is similar to both Stiles and Scott when they were younger but he is NOT STILES. Yes he's sarcastic and a little delinquent but do you guys know how many teenagers are sarcastic little delinquents? Alot. It's a teen thing. I was the same way (minus the crimes😂) and still am sarcastic af. Love Eli as Eli, not a mini or replacement for Stiles. Love u guys to death but we went into this knowing there was no Stiles.

Jeff Davis: No Stiles.

Us: No Stiles?

Jeff Davis: No Stiles!

Boys gonna pop a damn wheelie in fucking Roscoe

Love how Parrish just calls Mason instead of tailing him

I'm fucking dead💀they was all too scared to tell Derek (me too thou bc sourwolf is scary😶)

Why is Mason a deputy? Feel like he should be working at Lydia's, like he's right under her is what I'd say he should be doing. I could see Corey, his husband, maybe being a deputy though. *gasp* or a cute little school teacher🥺

I stand by what I said earlier, Malia should be a park ranger and I add to that by saying that she should be the consultant and not Derek (though i understand they had to reintroduce his character) she spent a lot of time in those woods, and she's more intune with her animal side than anyone else

Derek still sexy af

serial arsonist...wolf pack also has a serial arsonist. I swear to God they should've just made it a spin off instead of its own thing

You definitely should call Stiles, he's head of his own supernatural devison in the FBI👍

Love how Derek was like a fugitive for most of the series and now he works w/ the police. Eli taking up that criminal mantel now😂

I mean...is it really grand theft auto if he took it from his own dads shop🤷‍♀️🤣

Derek's got ptsd from the jeep

Eli wanted to race that grl, I now headcanon that's how he flirts. Just like his daddy he's like haha look I'm better than you at something "you wanna see some real speed bitch" (flashbacks to when Derek flirted with Paige by being an ass with that basketball, like grl just wanted to play her cello in peace and quite)

Love how Derek just like slashed the tires. Really said "i don't think so. My names Derek hale. I go way back" (I'm so sorry to anyone reading this)

Part 1-5

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hello there! I love to read your responses ( I read two responses of yours (which is enough to make me love your views on tannies and their work) regarding controversial stuff in twt, and about the tannies in general)

I also apologize for my English in advance!

I had a question, about J-Hope's album, actually, I am and was a baby army when they went solo, and stopped doing activities as a group.

And I was not very involved in the streaming or tracking of their schedules for releases. So I didn't understand and realize the importance of Jack in the Box, as much as I do now for all the other releases.

Now, since I'm pretty active in twt, I get to see the sales tracking, stream tracking of Face, Indigo and D-Day..

Coming back to the question, what actually happened during Hobi's album release? And would it be possible to like you know up the sales again for the album?

***

Hi Anon,

I have no fucking clue. Honestly. I don't know where or when exactly it went wrong with Hobi's JITB release, but I know it did. I maintain the packaging looks pathetic and as I've said before, I'd say the same thing to Hobi's face. I love him, but come on. Lol. It would've been great to have a CD, a book, something with weight and heft that you can look forward to receiving in the mail. Not a scrap of cardboard. Hobi agreed and decided on it but it impacted his sales, and more importantly, the overall perception of the album too, however mild. His album also didn't show up on the official BTS website for a good while. With no explanation. While other members' albums were displayed. Just weird ass missteps like that and there's a lot more. But I'm aware all the members' releases have had their own set of circumstances, and incidents that go back too. It doesn't bother me much because this sort of thing is to be expected.

I liked a lot about Hobi's roll-out. I love that he let us in into his album launch party. We saw what the tannies look like in the club (cute). I love how he explained his process. The music videos for More and Arson are A24 indie gold. His 2022 MAMA performance of Future is iconic. JITB felt very Hobi. I'm thankful that record exists and the Weverse album version does have superior sound quality. Rush Hour, On the Street, and HUH?! are stellar follow ups to JITB.

Hobi has worked hard.

He's done so much and left such a huge legacy already. He's a one in a lifetime artist. I miss him dearly. Painfully, to be honest. This or that hiccup with rollouts doesn't register for me beyond my noting it. Life's too short to not savour everything they're giving us now. Yoongi has dropped the album of the year; Jimin has ended k-pop in 2023; J. Cole now calls himself "Cole hyung"; RM has collated an exhibit of some of the finest artists alive in Indigo; Jin performed in concert with Coldplay in Argentina (LatAm ARMYs, hi!); and Taekook are making splashes well ahead of their solo debuts.