#how their stories ended and how they maybe didnt have the chance to try over and over

[weirdcat1213]

I found eule and star in the mines during my second run..... :c

[hannieehaee]

Svt as tropes

seventeen as tropes

content: crushes, fluff, some of these are idol!aus (as in the member is an idol, not reader), etc.

wc: 884

a/n: these are just tropes that come to mind when i think of each member. i tried to keep it varied and original <3

masterlist

seungcheol -

enemies to lovers - he seems like he can be maybe a lil bit cocky at times (with reason, i mean have you seen him ..), so i think itd be possible to start off the wrong foot with him. he's also pretty stubborn, so pair with him another stubborn individual and you have a dragged out love story that begins with rivals and ends with a very fiery relationship.

jeonghan -

coworkers to lovers - jeonghan seems like an extremely charming and interesting guy who doesnt even have to try. im 100% sure people who work around him fall for him every single day. i think he'd be very entertained by the idea of crushing on a staff member/coworker. it would make him look forward to work and make him always seek you out while on the job.

joshua -

childhood friends to lovers - he seems the type that would keep a special someone in his heart for a very long time, even if it was just as friends. leaving his home country so young, the distance would make him realize his feelings and end up with that one special person from back home.

jun -

arranged marriage - okay not exactly arranged marriage but more so him being with someone his parents introduce him to! he seems to be a huge family oriented guy, so i see him ending up with someone his parents may have thought would be perfect for him. it'd start off as him giving it a chance to please his parents but ending up actually falling for this person.

soonyoung -

sunshine vs. grump - this concept isnt necessarily 100% black and white to me. but still i think maybe he would fall for someone who has a very contrasting personality his very positive and over the top demeanor. he'd enjoy the back and forth in which he'd act ridiculously to get his s/o to react while they pretended to be annoyed by him.

wonwoo -

long distance - idk if this is a trope ?? but i think wonwoo's love absolutely transcends any and every obstacle imaginable. i think he would be the definition of distance makes the heart grow fonder. he would cherish every single moment he got to be with you, constantly yearning for you any second he was away from you.

jihoon -

opposites attract - as someone who seems to keep to himself a lot and is a bit of a homebody, i think he would easily fall for someone who got him out of his comfort zone and got him to discover parts of himself he didnt know about before. would adore an s/o who was louder in nature and livelier, feeling some sort of nurturing sense in him come out whenever he was around them.

seokmin -

friends to lovers - its a classic for a reason! i cant understand how people dont constantly fall for seokmin but im 100% sure that if he had a crush on a friend of his, he would easily be able to charm them enough for them to reciprocate the crush. there would be a period of time of that cute back and forth in which he tried to 'court' them, ending up together in the end.

mingyu -

chance encounter - watching nana tour ive loved seeing how insanely outgoing and likable by strangers he is so i think that he would be the type to incidentally meet a person and subsequently fall for them. however, mingyu is a hopeless romantic so he wouldnt allow for this to be his one and only meeting. he would go to hell and back to reconnect.

minghao -

language barrier - ok ik this isnt actually a trope but i really do see minghao taking interest in a person who doesnt speak his language. i think that if a foreigner (in this case someone who does not speak korean or chinese) caught his attention, he would not be deterred by the language barrier and still seek them out. he would maybe even be more intrigued by the concept of communicating despite the barrier.

seungkwan -

found family - seungkwan is one of the sweetest and most likable people alive. im sure there's tons of people out there who consider him part of their found family. i think he'd be the type to become super close with that special someone (to the point of considering them as precious as his own family) only to eventually fall for them (and have them fall right back bc i mean its boo so how would you not fall for him!).

vernon -

class difference - i really see him falling for someone who's not in the industry. just someone who is an average person with an average life. this would obviously come with its complications, but i think he would enjoy the contrast between your lives and would live a regular life through your own.

chan -

mutual pining - contrary to popular opinion, i believe chan has insane rizz. however! i think he would be the type to have negative rizz when he has a crush on someone. he's still impossible to not fall for though, so this would lead to him and his future s/o to pine for each other for years, not realizing that their friendship could be more if one of then would just step up and confess.

[transhoverfish]

OK SO IM LATE BUT. MORE SUB3 NEWS!!!

so a few days ago, krafton (their publisher), apparently had this like presentation of their plans over the next like 2 years. and during that they talked a bit about sub 3!

and this obviously creates a LOT of questions. not to worry, though, because unknown worlds added on to this:

im honestly not surprised by this. iirc, when below zero released they said it would be a WHILE before the next game, and they only announced this back in like... january? now, the first game's release was in january, and bz was in may, so it's definitely possible early access with be in spring of 2025. those games did not have multiplayer aspections tho! its possible we'll wait until mid 2025, and full release will likely not be until 2026. but who knows? the first game took like ten to be fully finished!!

and honestly. THANK GOD. i can't imagine any subnautica game having BATTLE PASSES or LOOT BOXES. i would have just straight up ignored this game 😭

i do wonder what these updates will entail! "many years to come" is definitely something interesting to me, because other than bug fixes... i dont remember sub or bz getting many updates post full release. is this referring to bug fixes, or is it implying that it will be in a state of early access for much longer? are they going to just keep adding new things (like the building update for sub1) and taking fandom suggestions? very interested!!

maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but i actually,,,, dont want multiplayer. now i do like bz, and these games arent really intended to be horror games, but also bz is very noticeablely less scary than sub1. and some of it i think definitely has to do with all the extra characters and dialogue. its hard to feel isolated when you know al-an and marg are nearby. so im very happy that it's optional, bc i know i will probably enjoy single player a lot more enjoyable!!

so now... SPECULATION.

so the first thing im curious about that the development team didnt mention:

"uncover the mysteries on an entirely new alien planet"

apprently we are NOT returning to 4546b. which im kind of sad about!! ik the story is very obviously done there, but it feels weird that its going to be some other planet this time around. THERE WONT BE PEEPERS!!!! (well there could be but it would be weird if some other random planet had the exact same lifeforms)

now my next immediate thought is: is this a direct continuation of below zero? my opinion is: no. probably not.

mostly because it mentions up to four players, and robin and alan are, if you look very closely, only two people. now they COULD just create two new characters to go alongside them (my fanfic brain loves the au idea of marg and ryley 🥺) but im just going to assume that with the addition of a new planet, we're going to drop the old storylines. which means no more degasi, sunbeam, aurora, or ayou sisters. we might move away from architects/precursors altogether! (my basis on this is absolutely nothing and i could be wrong, this is 100% just theorizing)

also, i imagine that it would be difficult to keep the plot the exact same with two established characters and then two new ones, depending on how this multiplayer aspect works. if its another crash, it would be a lot easier to just have the extra players die/survive, then try to work in a balancing act of one guy playing al-an.

(also i like keeping the ending of bz vauge. if they show up again, they would have to mention what happened to the rest of the architects, and i think it's much more fun if thats a mystery!)

((also also, im gonna drop a bomb on u all for a second. i actually,,, dont like al-an. i have a deeper connection to probably every single other character in bz. i think they really fumbled al's character and story and he is so incredibly bland to me. it feels like they go nowhere with how he was responsible for the kharra outbreak because the game ends immediately after he confesses! it would be nice to give him another chance, sure, but i personally dread the idea of even more al-an. sorry everyone for this horrible news))

HERE'S A CONCEPT IMAGE

i hope they bring back some cut content creatures for this!! i noticed this new area looks VERY similar to the safe shallows, and several of the fish seem to be variations of ones we've already seen (im already seeing bladderfish and hoopfish color pallettes, and the shark resmbles some early concept art for the shadow leviathan, but with the ice worm's colors...)

will there be more land areas?? is it going to entirely underwater?? more kharra?? NO DISEASE AT ALL?? AAAAAA!!!!

[littledigits]

That time when working in animation made me realize I needed therapy

Since we're on the topic of overworking / being passionate in animation and blah blah blah.  I want to share my story about working on the first season of Hilda (for context I was the animation director), specifically..how completely garbo my mental health got because 

I INSISTED ON WORKING MYSELF INTO THE GROUND. 

This is a story I've shared when I've had a chance to do lectures or talks, and if there is one really awesome thing that comes with ..weird ..animation clout, its that you can use those powers for good in terms of teaching people about the BS that comes with the job...anyway.

The reason why I like to talk about this is because I insisted on doing it to myself, and that was really got me thinking about the factors that do lead us into over working. Because heres the deal

Hilda season 1 was, without getting into too many details, a heckofatime...especally for the core crew. we were a small group, doing something new because most of us haven't worked on a show before that included pre production. My entire career up to that point had been working on service work for shows that were created in Burbank, so the new pipeline had a ton of challenges. We did all care, and we all believed in the project SOOOO much. I would tell people not to work over time, because I want my team to leave on time - but I was there...a lot. Leaving the studio by 11pm , working through the weekends..it wasnt an uncommon thing for me. sure , it wasnt all the time, but this stuff spans years sometimes so it went in waves. But whenever the challenges came up, i doubled down. because I super believed in it.

  And the thing was - other people told me to stop. I had a lot of valid concerns given to me by my friends and team members who saw how I was burning myself out at both ends. And I thought like, well , its my *choice*.  Its my chance to have a voice and be creative and try to do something different and we all have to push ourselves and yes its HARD but. THATS HOW YOU DO IT RIGHT? surely if I just make sure I’m the one overworking and my team isn't.. that's fine. 

Well, no, I was immensely effecting my team maybe I wasn’t telling them to work late, but they were seeing me get more and more tired and stay later and later.  I thought they would still approach me for help, or if they struggled. But the issues they had they kept to themselves without wanting to put more on my shoulders. Because they *cared* , just as much as I did ..and we all took more on our shoulders then we should have and there were a lot of things that I could have solved had I fostered a better communication environment.  I became really resentful in my head over the smallest things, I actually saw myself becoming a more hateful person and easily annoyed. I came home every day rambling about the frustrations. Now, let me preface this by saying - my mental state did not only have to do with overworking. I had and have things still to unpack, but the control I had over work and the validation I got from it was a coping mechanism for me. I really didnt think i had any worth as a person outside of this job. It basically was a very nasty cycle that didnt stop until ...well I had gotten so bad I had to.  By the end of the first season I was actually incredibly close to quitting . I was in big anxiety attack territory because I was so worn thin- I had started therapy but eventually moved onto getting medication as well and that was what allowed me to stick it out. ( I have the same therapist and I am on the same meds, it was very hard to do at the time, but i cant imagine my life now without making that choice ). After it was done I was immensely supported by the studio and worked part time as a trainer, which is what i requested to give my brain a break. (Only a few of my closer friends knew how bad I was getting but it was pretty obvious I needed to rest) I'm really proud of the work we did and we keep doing on the show, ..and some other people may have gone through something similar and found it was worth it, but thats not me. I still struggle not to fall back into that mindset, but it helps knowing that if i keep myself out of it , i can help my team out of it, because I know they care about this show just as much as I do. I’m not a martyr, I am a leader, and its up to me to keep myself healthy so I can keep my crew healthy.   I always strive to be better, but i get to decide what that looks like - and for me ..better has nothing to do with the image on the screen. Its got more to do with the experience of the people around me. Readjusting those priorities has helped a lot with keeping my head above water and not add to the pressure that makes it so hard not to get sucked down in the first place.  I do think its good to talk about though , how our passion and language and drive can lead to a lot of us being a part of this cycle. And if theres one good thing about the challenges, its sharing them so at least others can learn faster then you did ;) . take care of yourself friends.

[ejundo]

genre; fluff?’

(js yr regular fic ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ)

Morinozuka Takashi x Book worm!Male Reader

m.n = just insert ur name it means “my name” but obvs its not me . its YOU!!

FEM DNI WITH MY WORK!! THIS IS STRICTLYY FOR MALE READERS. YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TALENTED PEOPLE WHO WOULD GLADLY WRITE FOR YOUU.

warning;

height difference , reader short like abt 5ft 4in , mori tall per usual. NERDY reader. reader is a boy , purposely lowercase!! bad grammar [english sucks] .🐾

sum; reader coincidentally bumps into morinozuka while trying to make his way towards the book club he started.. possibly sparking an interest in one another?

requested?; no || yes

— there are no male readers for mori or just OHSHC IN GENERAL. so why not do it myself!!!! [i dont rwsd my own stories]

m.n isn’t really known / “popular.” he occasionally kept to himself with his many books. he was so invested and interested in books that he made a book club.

.

.

.

it flopped. nobody ever really came to the club , hell nobody was in the club! well , other then m.n himself though..regardless of that. he enjoyed the peace and quiet he had when studying, and reading. nobody to bother him and his wonderful precious books!

pushing aside his many books, he also studied other people. it isn’t weird.. he just rather learn who too avoid and who is okay to stick by. he learned that the bratty self obnoxious over confident girls were best to avoid as they’d most likely spit mean comments out of their spoiled mouth.

though , while observing the many students of ouran. his eyes would always observe this one specific person. his name was morinozuka. He was tall , quiet , and seemed caring to his cousin, haninozuka or.. otherwise called “hani.” m.n knew these details and “facts” because of the students who spoke about the ouran host club! he wasn’t interested in such things as the host club, thinking of it as a waste of time .. and overall weird. flirting with others just to raise your reputation? how pointless.

though, it seems that this must be m.n’s lucky day! and on this day as of right now.. it was the end of class more specifically club hours. and due to m.n being a major nerd and the leader of the book club that nobody is aware of he quickly rushed out of the classroom so he wouldn’t bump into any sort of trouble.

gladly he didnt. and so he made his way towards the court area. passing by big green maze.. he wasn’t aware of the club he slightly despised was hosting one of their stupid club activities out there so…

then. he took a sharp left and his head collided with another students chest?, his glasses (yes glasses.) were knocked down as he fell back, his books scattered as he caught himself.. on the ground.

he groaned in pain, opening his eyes, rubbing them in an attempt to get any dirt out, the person who he bumped into bent down and gathered all of m.n’s stuff. even being so kind to put m.ns glasses on for m.n.

his eyebrows furrowed as he cleaned the lenses, he pushed his glasses up back on the bridge of his nose, then stared at the culprit who bumped into him.

m.n realized who it was, it was the one who he observed every time..it was.. i think you know. he blinked rapidly and got up onto his feet, he bowed and muttered countless of apologies. mori only stood in silence watching as the other apologized like he just spilt boiling hot coffee all over his face..

m.n lifted his head up and stared at mori, looking directly into his eyes. they looked unfazed and slightly cold, m.n nervously chuckled before standing up correctly fixing his posture and dusting off any dust or dirt.

m.n quickly scrambled away. mori watching as the h.c boy scurried off, he was surely interesting. so interesting mori was intrigued by him..

maybe just maybe one day the two will meet, and maybe that would be m.n’s lucky, chance to ask the host on a date… not like he really will…

LORDDDD , i am finally done.. i am sooo sorry for having like the LONGEST writers block ever.. and it seems i sitll have like barely ANY motivation. [this isnt really proofread] AND MB IF ITS HORRID. i literally rushed through this entire story not giving one fuck bruh. i just wanted to finish this so i can write for my ocs 🙏

[i-bring-crack]

To be fair I did have a lot more expectation on the mother daughter relationship that could have been shown between Chameleon and Zhen because the past three stories have always been about father and son relationships, which had been well done, so I kinda expected their first female one to be done just as well. In some aspects I liked the concept but it also lacked a lot of scenes that would have fit well with the stablished quota. In my part it would have been nice to see it as a reverse Soothsayer and Shen dynamic, but explored through a different complex dynamic. As if, instead of the child turning evil due to their rebellion, it is the parent(and master) who has become corrupted with trying to achieve as much power as possible in order to protect their children. Someone who had at first a noble attitude and was resilient to the struggles she faced (she was short, she was weak. I dont mean to completely take away her backstory in kfp 4 , especially with how much the people on the team tried so hard to put aomething out there), no matter how much it hurt she was still going to become strong enough to protect those she loved, but she slwoly started to succumb to the ambition of power that her own reasons dissipated with time and greed over what others had that she didn't.

And Zhen could have followed on her footsteps for a long amount of time, thinking that well, Chamaeleon is her protector so of course she should be grateful despite the horrible things she does to protect them, just like in the og kfp4 (but not just looting or being the boss of a gang but maybe actively being just as bad as Lord Shen in a different way. Like, Chamaeleon killing so many heroes because she saw them as a threat and they saw her as a threat too, that entire villages lost their protection and even their lives against her troops.) And whenever or not Zhen should be redeemed is another case of its own so ill leave that out of the window. (Mainly bc that new dragon succesor could be interesting, but i feel like it should have been executed later faaaar later and not broken so many plot holes.)

If she gets to be redeemed then (for me for me) i think the trip would have been the last knot or the breaking point to the suspivion that Zhen would have had a long time ago. Maybe her resolution to go against her mother would be sealed when she started to notice that Chameleon no longer cared for her or the family she had protected for so long, even going so far as endangering them for the sake of obtaining more power.

That betrayal would not only reinforce the fact that Zhen would have been so loyal to her mother that not even the dragon warrior would have changed her ways in a simple trip, but also the fact that she had to expirience the horrible side of her own mother to understand even just a hint of what so many people had been afraid of for years. I wish Zhen could have been able to sympathise with someone over that; over having a strict parent who was the only person that wanted to care for you and you owned them the world for that (cough Tai lung cough—) but at the end of the day it felt crushing that you wouldnt be able to meet their expectations (in the case of zhen she didnt become a sorcerer and instead a martial artist, and also betrayal). It would have hurt, and well maybe Po or Shifu himself (in the kidnapped situation they had planned before im going way too divergent) would have told her that the actions of her parents are not her own fault.

Chameleon had chosen to go on a darker path on her own. (I would either like to put it that the chance was there but also wasnt, like she was already strong enough to be respected at some point but her descend to madness blinded her to anything but getting revenge on everyone who thought she was weak. Maybe showing the story of the chameleon through Zhen's eyes and slowly getting to doubt something as time goes on but never truly questions it. As a watcher you CAN see how she is slowly becoming evil, but Zhen had lived with the idea that this was how it always had been.)

But Zhen, probably throught the story finding out the extent of the horrible things her mother had done and not being able to excuse it, as well as being shown the possible chances that there were in life which her mother couldnt afford, realized she had to break that cycle right where it started and put an end to her mother's schemes before anyone else got hurt in the same way they both did. (Because like, Chameleon incidentally letting innocents die for her gains, had become the things she resented and trjed to destroy.)

(Im probably going to do another long post of things i would like to ramble about kung fu panda four, and no hate to the artists that worked on the show. Just like a pinch of salt thrown mostly at certain people but i still get it. From the beggining it was going to be a mess. BUT i liked the pitched in ideas in the interview with the co director and my little dumb brain likes expanding upon weird niche topics so—

I could be nitpicky of other things but the first 3 had been so centered around the relationships of fathers, from strict to spoiled to wise to absent and more, that well, i did WANT to expect a lot of the mother relations when its a trope that has so so many ways to be explored and it DID have a chance through the concepts (a chameleon, supoosedly weak and short and not being able to do kung fu trying to spraise a child [who knows kung fu where did she even learn it??] In a horrible enviroment who doesnt care for them both LIKE PLEASE. Of course i would be interested.)

[louscartridge]

hii can you make a how you arisu and met/started daiting and can you possibly add smut to it 🤞🏽

i do not give permission for my fics to be posted claiming to be yours, translated, or posted on another platform without credit.

arisu x gn reader

cw- not rly proof read, swearing, arisu being a little bit of a stalker in a cute way if you squint, karube and reader being close, karube being a teasing shit, eventually established relationship, death, crying, kissing, arisu having a slight panic attack, the heart game arisu played :,(

A/N- unfortunatly, i coppied the intire story after i wrote it so it was like on here twice to if you read something more the once or something lmk so i can fix it lmaooo. also i got a liiiiitle carried away lmfaoo sry. also also theres no smut in this (because i got carried away) however you super duper cool favorite writer is going to make up for it by writing super duper cool smut headcanons n shit for arisu xx. edit- heres the smut

❥ you and arisu had met on a video game tbfh

❥ well no that was a lie

❥ you saw each other at the bar karube worked at, but like quite literally NEVER said jack shit to each other.

❥ you were just aware of each other but never rly thought about each other until you would see each other at the bar

❥ but then, you needed help on a paper for school and arisu was right next to you. you would ask karube, but you knew he wouldnt understand anything you wouldve said, and youve heard from karube that arisu was pretty smart so why not? you asked arisu the for help which he gladly accepted, he was bored anyway. soon enough you got the awnser. (which earned a snort from karube)

❥ then you like MET, MET in a video game

❥ karube and you knew each other fairly well and arisu knew that

❥ so instead of arisu talking to you himself, he seriously asked karube for your instagram

❥ after karube poking fun at arisu for ‘liking you’ he finally got it.

❥ you instagram led to your discord

❥ your discord led to your playstation (please idk if arisu played playstation or xbox.... or neither. kill me.)

❥ he saw you were in a game so he took that as his chance to add you as a friend cause if you were in a game you most likely wouldnt accept or deny it right away

❥ he joined the game you were playing and kinda just like did absolutely nothing

❥ he just watched you play

❥ he ended up being really impressed with how good you were doing tbh

❥ when you were done with the round you were playing you quickly accepted the request from arisu, knowing it was him since karube was laughing his ass off when arisu first texted him about you. 

❥ when you went to meet the guys at the mall the next day you immediately went up to arisu seeing as he was right where he said they would be, talking with karube and chota. 

❥ when you walked up to them karube whistled

❥ slowly turning to face arisu karube said “woooowww! look at that! someone is talking to you man!” 

❥ after another teasing remark towards arisu karube patted both of you on the sholder with a wink before walking away, chota frantically following behind him.

❥ “so..how’d you get my gamer tag hm?” (this is so stupid) you smirked

“i- what? i- i  didnt?” he would lie his thumbs safely tucked into the straps of his backpack over his shoulders. 

 “god your such a bad liar! look at you, not making eye contact at all, squeezing onto the staps of your backpack like im gonna kill you. karube wasent even trying to shut up when you texted him. i mean quite literally, laugh and reading me the text messages.”

 “well seeing as you dont have a problem with any of that.. could i maybe- possibly get your line? or- or something” 

❥ he was so shy it was adorable

❥ who were you to say no? (not like you wanted to)

❥ and so for a few months, you guys were inseparable.

❥ every time karube was with arisu so were you.

❥ every time you were with karube so was arisu.

❥ yet, you were both still oblivious to your feelings towards each other.

❥ karube was obviously not, still taking ‘sarcastic’ jabs at the two of you.

❥ playing games together, calling, sleeping, going to school, not going to school, pretty much everything was done together. 

❥ however, that included the borederlands.

❥ you were with karube, arisu, and chota when everyone but you guys seemingly disappeared. 

❥ at first it was fun, just you and your best friends with you and not needing to worry about anything at all.

❥ until it wasent.

❥ now it wasent pretty much everything was done together. it was absolutely everything was done together.

❥ but it still wasent until the hearts game that you guys didnt anything officially romantic together.

❥ you had gotten split up from everyone else during another game, earning you to miss the hearts game.

❥ when you went back to the apartment the five of you were staying in you expected to see everyone. chota, karube, arisu, shibuki. everyone. 

❥ instead, you were met with no one. 

❥ panic hit you right away thinking the worst of the worst. ‘they couldve just been getting food right?’

❥ quickly whipping towards the door, you didnt know if you were safe or as you heard the door to the apartment open hurriedly. 

❥ luckily you were.

❥ “oh my god arisu! where were you? wh- wheres everyone else-”

you were cut off from arisu walking towards you, pulling your face to his. his pull was harsh, though you knew he didnt mean it. the feel of his hands on the side of you cheeks were the opposite though. gentle, caring, loving, but.... they were..slightly shaking? before you pulled away, you felt a tear touch your cheek.

“why are you shaking? please tell me something..” you said to him looking in his eyes, trying to find anything other then the tears and almost numbness.

“theyre gone. y/n everyone is gone. but your not, oh thank god your not.” arisu cries. he puts his hands back on your cheeks but he doesnt kiss you this time. his eye just keeps darting all over you almost as if he was questioning if you were really there. “please- please will you be my partner?” he quickly asks breathing heavily.

“what?”

“loosing the others made me realize how much i actually love you i cant loose you i didnt and if i do i cant have you die not knowing how i feel about you” 

“yeah- yeah! yeah ill be your partner” you conform as you drag him over to the couch in the middle of the room. when you guys lay down you end up spooning, him being the little. your arms get rapped in with arisu’s and he tightly grips both of your hands in his, burying his face between his chest and your arms. you press light kisses to his neck and into his hair as he slowly starts to get his breathing down. 

you werent going to make him talk about anything. you figured if he wanted to he would. right now the two of you were fine like this. you tried to imagine what arisu went through, what happend, what happend to karube? he was your best friend. if you couldnt thank him for that you wouldve liked to at least thank him for getting you and arisu to where you are now. 

you eventually get snapped out of your thoughts as you hear soft, even, quiet breathing. arisu had fallen asleep. in your arms. you sniffed slightly thinking about how karube would be making fun of you guys right now and the amount of sex jokes he would try.

you kiss arisu’s head again whispering a ‘i love you too’ into his hair before drifted off to sleep yourself. 

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Reviews: Elemental

(Get it, cause there is a character named Gale thats an air elemental. Lol. thanks @knightsweeties for the GP)

Now Elemental is the most recent Pixar film and it was marketed Poorly. With the recent mid to bad movies Pixar had been putting out, Disney likely wanted to just let this movie rot.

Is this a pixar flop or is it a Gem put off too soon?

Animation

Plot

The Characters

The Romance

The Lesson

Final Thoughts

_____________________________________________________________

Animation

Look, if there is one thing Pixar does is good animation.

Elemental is a good looking film, there is detail and the way the characters move and interact with the area of Element city is phenomenal. Its clear that the animation team wanted to really show how each elemental worked and went about their day.

My favorite bit of animation had to be when Ember and Wade were in the underwater museum, it was gorgeous and had a beautiful moment.

While it is great, it is also nothing ground breaking. Its a good looking animated film, but compared to the caliber I have seen this year it doesnt stand out as something astounding. But it is still very good animation

9/10

_____________________________________________________________

Plot

Ember is a fire elemental that is being prepared to take over her father's store. But as her first chance to prove herself pops up, she has a fiery outburst and it causes Wade to pop out of the store's pipes.

After chasing him around element city trying to stop him from submitting the citations to have her dad's store closed down, they end up on the same side trying to fix the leak that started it in the first place.

The two, while being opposite elementals, end up gaining a spark for one another. But her being a fire elemental and him being a Water one causes more than just a physical clash, but a cultural clash.

The rest of the film is exploring their relationship and helping Ember realize what she really wants to do with her life.

The film's plot isnt an epic adventure its actually quite grounded in reality. Its a story of a child of Immigrants that feels like she owes her parents for the life she leads and wanting to meet their expectations while also finding out things about herself. The movie also explores themes of racism, culture clash, as well as other themes that make the film more real in ways one wouldnt expect. Honestly handling the racism thing better than Zootopia, especially because there was no bad guy in this, just real life obstacles and dealing with coming of age.

But, the problems around the Film start to crack when the main reason Ember's parents left Fire land makes no f***ing sense. Only their house was destroyed, they had family and friends in fireland that could have helped them, especially because it was only their house!

Also Wade's mention of not getting along with his dad is interesting but without having a single flashback or interaction with the long gone daddy of Wade makes it ring hollow.

Then there is how things in the film wrapped up a bit to quickly in the third act.

Though with those problems aside it is a very heartfelt film.

7/10

____________________________________________________________

The Characters

Ember: A Fire elemental that had spent her entire life learning and training to be ready to take over her father's store. She is confident, quick thinking, artistic, abrasive and short tempered. Which unfortunately makes it hard for her to deal with customers, her temper. And while initially seen as a negative, Wade's perspective on her anger wasnt negative, he phrased it as a positive, that her emotions were trying to tell her something. Sure enough, he was right and it was that despite living her entire life groomed to take over... she didnt want to take over the store. And hearing about other avenues and jobs made her wonder if maybe there was more to life. She loves her family to the point that she felt obligated to take care of the store. Ember is probably one of the most in depth characters Pixar has ever written and I wish there was even more explored with her.

Wade: A water elemental that is super emotional. He is in many ways the exact opposite of Ember. He is nervous, clumsy, great at communicating, emotionally secure and kind. He is lost and looking for a purpose to drive him, taking different jobs to try and find his path. After meeting Ember and seeing how driven she was he couldnt help but fall in love with her. Ember becomes the focus and drive for him as he wants to be a better person for her. Despite being smitten he is also ready to call her out on her BS, and he wants her to acknowledge her emotions. He wears his heart on his sleeve and when he cares for someone he goes the extra mile.

The rest of the characters are solid. Ember's and Wade's families being rather hilarious in their own way. And of course Clod, the GOAT. Gale is also an interesting character that shows how family memories can help shape us as people.

The characters are solid and I do wish Wade was explored more, I know the movie had only so long.

8/10

_____________________________________________________________

The Romance

I liked it. I think it is very well done and pulls the audience in.

It never feels awkward or weird, it just feels like seeing a relationship that wants to work despite everything going against it. Honestly it is a good allegory for couples with Cultures that are different from one another. The culture shock and how families can initially view your SO as an outsider or have a negative bias against them.

Ember and Wade bring out the best and worst out of eachother and it works because they both care about the other and want the other person to be happy. Its a love that grows and adds so much as each scene adds more.

Now since its a movie it might seem like it happens fast, but it actually is well paced.

And lets be real, you were on board once 'Steal the show' started playing over their dating montage.

9/10

_____________________________________________________________

The Lesson

The movie has several lessons that I think could fill this spot and it tackles each with varying degrees of success.

Loving your parents and understanding that you are not obligated to follow their dreams.

You never know who you will fall for, and even if they seem different they can show you great things

Understanding one's emotions and heart is the first step in pursuing what one wants

There are also talks on how having bias against others is bad, which is true, but I think the 3 listed address more of the core themes of the movie.

They are good lessons and some are done better then others.

7/10

____________________________________________________________

Final Thoughts.

Its a solid 8/10 for me.

Pixar has been going through a weird period but this film is more in line with their better films.

I cant say I think it is one of their best, but its far from their worst. If this is the direction Pixar wants to go in then I will call it an improvement.

This film is underrated and could use more love

[melodyfsoul1]

Sth I find interesting after watching the Loki Series Finale, and seeing everyone's reactions to it, is that you can immediately tell what someone's priorities were for the ending (ships aside)

Because depending on what your priorities for the Story or Loki as a Character were, people are either really hyped / optimistic for the future ... or just really freaking depressed right now.

Like on the positive side we have Loki:

- finally finding his "Glorious Purpose", his place in... well "outside" the world/ universe, becoming an even greater being, while his story comes full circle

- reaching his full potential, unlocking new powers, new magic, and being the God of Stories

- becoming one of the most powerful beings in the MCU, and hey maybe he's even able to travel freely through time now and not trapped at the space outside of time

- creating Yggdrasil and protecting it, and by that, saving his friends and the Multiverse, being a true hero

__________

But then on the other side we have the more pessimistic view of Loki:

- finding his "Glorious" Purpose, taking over the burden of a throne he realized he never wanted, but doing it because it was the only option he saw to save his friends and the multiverse ( though I wouldnt even call it a choice, he just resigned himself to accept it because the other options where helping the current HWR, killing Sylvie, risking a universal war or death by spaghettification....)

- making the ultimate sacrifice by chosing to "give everyone else a chance at life" over his own needs, his own future, his desire to be with his friends...

- now having the huge responsible of keeping the multiverse alive & intact for all eternity

And do we even know if he can travel freely through time? (I hope so), but how much power does it take him? What if protecting Yggdrasil means he cant leave the space outside time? That would mean he is trapped there, for all eternity, alone, having to watch over his friends without actually being able to interact with them. He will be able to see that they are okay (hopefully), but he will never be a part of their lives again.... Loki, the very character who explicitely said he doesnt want to be alone...

So depending on how you view it, the ending was either really epic, with Loki getting several upgrades and creating a new era for the MCU

or

Somewhere between bittersweet and incredibly dreadfully tragic with Loki making the ultimate sacrifice, losing everything he just worked so hard to keep (after all the struggles of his original timeline too with Thanos) with Loki probably never being part of any of their stories again, damned to eternal loneliness.

(I'm personally more the 2nd type... I do get the others point of view, it was epic and Loki unlocking his true potential as the God of Stories is insane, GOS Loki is one of my faves in the comics. And my GOD the imagery of Yggdrasil was freaking gorgeous.

But... my main priority was "Loki, for ONCE, getting a chance at life, to be himself, live, with his new found friends/ family at his side..." so you can guess how freaking sad I am over the ending... hell I dont even care about the ships, I just didnt want him to be alone... I just wanted him to have a friend...

Its like, no matter what or where, whether its the OG Timeline Loki, or L1130 or even in the comics... Loki is meant to be a sacrifice for the "greater good" or to suffer trying change or even help, like he did in the comics as Kid Loki and Agent of Asgard.

That being said, I still cling to the hope that Loki can either freely travel through time now or somehow find a way to get in contact with his friends again... of them finding a way to get to him... please, Marvel, I need a Loki who is allowed to be happy, he certainly deserves it.

[convexicalcrow]

Everything Beef just said vanished from her mind as she looked at the TCG card he'd just handed her. It was-

"M-you knew about her?" False said quietly. "I didn't tell anyone about her."

"I heard tales about her, and well, what other alter ego would you have wanted?" Beef said.

"Well, see, she's n- I mean, she is me, but she's- we're sisters, that's all," False said, trying to decide how much of the story to tell.

"Oh, I see. Still, who else would I have picked? I felt she deserved to be here, given what happened with the Rift," Beef said.

"No, no, I see that, I see why you picked her. I just- how did you know? You weren't there, right? You never met her," False said.

"Are you so sure about that?" Beef said.

His words sent a shiver down her spine. Suddenly the- well. Perhaps a lot of things started making sense.

"I-I gotta go, sorry, I'll - thanks for the cards, hey? I'll see you round," False said, tucking the cards into her pocket before flying off.

-

She didn't stop until she was a thousand blocks away. She buried herself into the side of a hill, set down a torch, and took out her card again. She-

She thought back to Demise. Thought about how the season started with death. Of joint caving adventures, of Demise turning the early game into a death game, how she somehow triumphed over everyone else and won, securing her joker permit that she hadn't used yet.

It's not that the energy felt weird this season, it's more- She was sure she'd left behind all of that stuff. All of her. Trapped in that world on her own, unable to get out. To find her again. Except.

Perhaps she'd seen some signs. Maybe she'd heard whispering about murder, maybe her dreams had been awful lately. Maybe- maybe it wasn't just because the rivers were haunted. Maybe she'd found her.

-

False avoided her base for days, thrown right back into the paranoia that engulfed her during Demise. She saw threats everywhere. Even Gem had noticed how jumpy she was whenever she stopped by her base. But that was the thing, she couldn't stay still, but she couldn't return. Who knew what she was seeing over there? What if she had a base there that False hadn't found yet. Maybe she was hiding out, preparing to take her revenge for trapping her in an empty world, for rejecting her so harshly and wiping her meories that she still found it hard to accept she'd done that.

But she'd had to! She was too dangerous! She'd kill all the other Hermits if she was left in contact with them.

"Are you so sure about that?"

Beef's words haunted her. She buried her head in her arms and hoped this nightmare would end.

She saw something moving at her base when she finally needed to return. Something under the big base, a shadowy figuer walking around between the pillars. False didn't dare approach. She busied herself with restocking her food and rockets, hoping to be out before she noticed.

False's problem was she was too anxious about the wrong thing. So as she shoved some golden carrots into her bag, she froze as she heard a door open behind her, and looked to see who had come in.

"Yep, I knew you'd come back eventually, you coward," her sister said. She drew her sword and walked towards her. "No chance of escaping me now."

False backed up. "No, no, look, I'm sorry, I-"

-

False sat on the bank of the river going by her house, washing her sword in the water. It was turning red and the salmon swiming there fled, leaving the water emty and barren. The rivers slooshed in her briefcase. She felt-

She didnt know how to feel, not really. Too many things at once, as might be expected when you come face to face witn your sister. Her memory's a bit off. It all felt like such a blur. The shouting, the running, the killing, the-

False concentrated on washing the sword, staring anywhere than at her own reflection. They reallly had looked so very alike, no wonder people got them confused. Not anymore, though. There was only one sister, only one False. No one would ever know the awful truth, or they'd kick her out as quick as they'd invited her. She sighed. The moon was bright tonight, reflecting on the water.

"The sky looks different tonight. I wonder why."

[akariarda]

Misako never visited Llyod. Never sent him a letter, never came back atleast once for parent conferences, and overall didnt give him any closure for around the first 8 years of his life. She left him at a school for the evil and ran away. Then he followed, ditching school and putting himself and others in serious danger.

She also hit on Master Wu while still technically married to garmadon, infront of Llyod to. Imagine your deadbeat mom randomly coming back in your life after years and hitting on your uncle, all while having to process aging from 8 to 13 in seconds and having a dad like garmadon.she could have dropped him off with wu his only other blood relative and someone she knows and trusts who could protect him teach him right from wrong, how to defend himself.

And she got really bloody lucky that Lloyd actually became the green ninja because all her decisions are seem to be validated by the other characters even though she’s a terrible person.

Garmadon on the other hand is a bad person sure but not by choice but even though he is corrupted he still puts a side his goals to take over ninjago and sides with the ninja to safe his son, and even after Lloyd is revealed the green ninja he is proud of him, still going to safe his son siding with the skeleton army once again to give Lloyd a fighting chance, and that’s just in season one

Season two he tries to stop Lloyd from unlocking his true potential but he refuses to harm him in anyway And then when he finds the dark island he has to be pushed to fight Lloyd but even then he hates it and ends up just getting consumed by the overlord

And in season three even though he takes up an oath of none violence the minute Lloyd was taken he brakes it in his own words “when you don’t my son all bets were off” and I could keep going but I think I made my point Garmadon even though he was bitten by the great devour and turned evil he still loved and cared for his son and would try to be their for him well misako just left and abandoned him because she had a hunch and even wurst she left him at a boarding school for villains She takes people for granted. She missed Lloyd's childhood just so she could find a way to stop the final battle, but couldn't. Sure, it had a positive impact on his future, but she sacrificed his present. And she just flits between Wu and Garmadon like nothing,she caused her son to free multiple snake armies that summoned a giant snake that killed multiple people and destroyed others homes and made them homeless.

She flirted with her husbands brother behind his back in season 4 and claimed I should have chose you.

And she left her son at a school that turns people evil,she's useless to the story itself! In the show she is only used for explaining lore and stuff, but everything that she says can be said just as well by Wu, Garmadon, Ronin, Zane or Nya (depending on the situation). she also made passes at Wu while still being married to Garmadon I know he was evil, but time he became good she just forgot all about Wu, and then got mad about a nearly 40-year-old letter.   That shit is NOT COOL

Here we go again...

Okay, I think that Misako is a very complex character.

I like to think of her as a person who is actually good but makes mistakes and later regrets them.

Yes, she left Lloyd...

She did it for his future and sacrificed his present, that's how it had to be.

Why in a school for bad boys?

Well, my dear, we don't have any answer to that.

The writers wanted Lloyd to be there.

Why not with Wu?

She knew about Morror, and Wu would certainly train him to become a ninja, and she wanted to prevent that.

Leaving him in a school for bad boys was a very smart move.

Was it good or right?

Who knows, we can't know how it would have been if it had been different.

And she left him when he was 5 years old, maybe he was 5 in boarding school.

Garmadon is a villain and don't deny it. I love him and everything, and that he cares for Lloyd, good for him.

I'll just ignore this with Wu, because I stubbornly refuse to admit it.

I really don't understand if Lloyd forgave Misako why can't you.

Literally later we see that they became very close.

How can you be fans of Lloyd and Garmadon when you hate Misako and they obviously care about her and she about them.

[bridgyrose]

The Ever After doubles as something of an afterlife. There are characters based on people Team RWBY (and Neo) knew who previously died, though they're not really the same.

(This will be a fun idea)

Ruby took a few, slow, deep breaths as she paced around the forest she and her team were in. The Ever After. They couldnt possibly be in a place that was written about in a fairytale. It was all supposed to be make believe, a story designed to help young kids figure out the world around them. “R-right, the… the Ever After. And we’re… sure this is where we are?” 

“I figured you’d be much more excited about this,” Yang said as she put a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “Like a dream come true.” 

“We need to find a way out,” Ruby said as she started to walk forward. Find a way out, find a way back to Remnant, to Vacuo. Be the hero, the one who would stop Salem… all of it on her. Not that she had any idea on how to stop Salem. Ozpin didnt have a plan, she didnt know where to start with trying to find out a way to stop her, Yang was still missing her prosthetic, Atlas was gone… 

“Gah!” Ruby yelled out as she slammed a fist into a tree. She panted as she watched her hand shake, a sprinkle of rain came down onto her along with a crack of thunder overhead. Her head still reeled with the thought of being told Penny was dead. 

“Ruby,” Penny’s voice called out in almost an echo. “Ruby!” 

Ruby nearly perked up and looked out in the direction she heard the voice. “Little, you said there’s a village down this way, right?” 

“Yes, there is,” Little answered. “Should be where Jinxy is and where we can find Yang’s arm.” 

“Great! Then we need to start-” 

Weiss frowned and put up a glyph to stop Ruby from rushing off. “We still dont even know how far that village is. We cant run off and expect to find it.” 

“Weiss is right,” Blake said. “We still dont know how everything is laid out or if the village is that close.” 

Ruby frowned and looked around the glyph for a moment and towards a bridge in the distance. “I heard Penny! She’s down here!” 

“Penny’s dead.” Weiss sighed and dropped her glyph. “I know you want her to be down here, but I watched her die.” 

“I know you said she’s dead, but… I really heard her voice.” Ruby took a few steps down the path, her voice cracked as she spoke again. “M-maybe it works differently if she died in that space. Maybe she really did end up down here.” 

“She might have a point,” Yang said. “I mean, we ended up down here too, right? So what’s to say that anyone else who died up there didnt end up down here too?” 

Ruby smiled a bit and started to run down the path. “I’ll race you guys there!” 

“Wait Ruby!” Weiss called out. “Slow down!” 

Ruby used her semblance to rush down the path and across the bridge, her heart pounded at the thought of seeing Penny again, to feel the warmth of her touch, to finally tell her exactly how she felt. Far too many words had been left unsaid for far too long and now she could finally have the chance to say them to her. To finally come out and to tell her-

“And here we have a fine ruby, great for decoration!” Penny’s voice said. 

Ruby stopped at the edge of the village, a blush across her cheeks as she looked out towards the denizens and the cart they surrounded. And there stood Penny, or at least a puppet like doll that looked like Penny who stood next to a racoon. But it had to be Penny. She sounded just like her, her emerald green eyes sparkled in the sun just like they did when she first met her in Vale, no doubt it was her.

With a deep breath, Ruby walked over to join the crowd and watched as one of the denizens grabbed the ruby that Penny had been holding. A small smile crossed her lips for a brief moment as she watched Penny grab the next item for auction. 

“And here we have a pretty black bow,” Jinxy said as they motioned for Penny to show off the item to the crowd. “For this rare object, I’ll part with it for the small price of… one’s first kiss.” 

Ruby froze for a moment as she caught a good look at the bow, recognizing it as the bow that Penny had worn. The green power symbol that held the bow together was all too familiar of the one that Penny had worn. She slowly started to raise her hand, just for the chance to talk to Penny once more. 

“And sold to the girl in red!” Jinxy said as they pointed to Ruby. “My assistant will take your payment.” 

Ruby slowly walked up to Penny, her heart pounded in her chest as the world almost seemed to come to a stop. Here she was, ready to tell Penny exactly what she had been wishing to tell her for weeks, for months. And now, she was going to kiss her. 

Once she reached the top of the stairs, she smiled as she looked into Penny’s eyes. “Penny, I’m glad I found you again.” 

“Penny?” Penny said as she cocked her head a bit. “My name is Penelope. But I am afraid I do not know who you are.” 

Ruby froze for a moment as she took another look at the Penny in front of her, her fingers shook as she gently reached for the bow. “But you’re… you’re Penny. We were friends.” 

“I think I would remember someone like you in my life. But, I can not say I remember much from my ascension. Jinxy found me a couple days ago and offered to let me be here since my purpose is to help those around me. And you still owe us payment for the bow. Unless… unless you do not have a first kiss you can give.” 

Ruby felt her heart shatter the longer she looked at Penny. Every facet of her was the woman she had grown to know in Atlas over the last few weeks, the same friend she had made all the way back in Vale. And yet, sitting right in front of her, was someone that she didnt know anymore. The Penny she had known was gone, and in replacement was the Penny that was here as part of the Ever After. 

Jinxy let out a sigh and put a hand on Ruby. “I’m afraid we’ll have to sell the bow off to the next person if you cant make the payment. Maybe there’ll be another item that you can make a payment for.” 

Ruby slowly nodded and turned to walk off the stairs. Her legs shook with each step, her heart felt like it was going to pound right out of her chest as it tightened up with each breath, even the words she had wanted to say wouldnt leave her lips. And yet, all she could do was get herself back to the crowd to join her team who had just arrived and listen to Penny’s voice. 

“Sorry about that everyone,” Penny had said as she pulled out the next item. “We will auction the bow again, but for now, the next item will be this golden scepter!” 

“All for the price of a hug!” Jinxy added. 

“Everything okay, Ruby?” Yang asked. 

Ruby shook her head and went back to watching the auction. “No. Lets… lets find your arm and then find our way out. We have friends waiting for us.”

[actualbird]

God I agree so hard with you on the afterstories. I get what they were trying to do with them as a sweet ending to take the sting off the main story but it just cheapens the story so much!! I don't feel relief when reading about how they miraculously survived, I just kind of feel frustrated because the afterstory just really doesn't earn that relief at all.

I'd have preferred if they turned the afterstory into an actual additional part of the main story detailing how the boys survived because at least then it'd have a better chance of landing since it's more developed than just "oh yeah don't worry about it I got out fine :)". Or if they really wanted to keep it an afterstory...I don't know, maybe a reunite in the afterlife thing? It's also cliche but at least it doesn't cheapen the story as much by magically undoing the tragedy of the story.

Of course, ideally they'd stick to their guns and just end the story where it's supposed to end without any afterstory. Maybe I could understand the need for a fluffier epilogue for the other AU cards which could catch players not expecting angst off guard since the art doesn't give anything away but for Enduring Light's set of cards? Every single card has the boys looking badly beat up or in a bad situation for Luke, I'd be surprised if anyone pulled for the cards not expecting heavy angst.

I think in the end I just act as if the afterstories are non-canon, and considering during the secret chats some of the boys talk about their card counterparts as if they did die I think that might be what the devs intended too. I do still think the stories told in the AU cards are generally good from what little I've read, I just wish they'd commit that tiny bit more to telling a tragedy when they want to.

🌌

irt my thoughts on marius and luke's enduring light cards

wahhh hi hi milkyway anon!! glad im not the only one hehe cuz I AGREE WITH ALL THIS

the thing i most most agree with is if they took the "actual additional part of the main story detailing how the boys survived" approach to the afterstory, i wouldve Loved that. for luke's in particular his recovery seems like suCH AN INTERESTING STORY IN ITSELF HELLO??? he was fished outta the ocean and injured so badly that his recovery took a whole year???? i wanna read that!! i wanna read about him coming to terms with his injuries (and maybe even disability because you dont get out of an Exploding Airplane Crash unscathed. in my mind he had to get a limb amputated (hi chika if youre out there reading this ask you have infected me with the "amputate luke" hc) or at the very least cannot walk for a solid period of time after the accident. oh, and ptsd of course) and how he copes with all this

all in all, my dissatisfaction with the inclusion of the afterstories in this set of cards seems to show a pattern for my dissatisfaction with other tot cards i didnt vibe with: they were all (even partly) caused by tot's dedication to the format of their cards rather than the story within it

why didnt i like ssr looming nightmare? 6 acts were not enough to flesh out mc's side of the story, given that it was her nightmare. alas, 6 acts are all we get for regular ssr cards

why didnt i like ssr orange scent? 3 acts were NOWHERE near enough space for luke to be able to get over his fears and propose to mc. alas, 3 acts is all we get for anniv ssr cards

why didnt i like this bit of ssr sky ashes? because the existence of the afterstory undermines the tragedy's tragedy-ing. alas, afterstories are a staple of big event ssr cards

like.....i get that tot has to be consistent in their format for types of cards but it makes me sad to see when that consistency actively does the card story a disservice. these stories could be homeruns! if they were treated as the priority and not something to shove into a template that must be followed

anyhoo, it's nice to see im not the only one w iffy feelings abt the afterstories. i still liked sky ashes and im going your route about it by mentally editing the afterstory to be a recovery story instead of a fluff fix-all

thanks for the ask!!

[hanasnx]

no yeah i need more of the indy x beef love story!! add a cut if you have to (jokey joke i'm not trying to nag) i've got a cup of ice water and a bowl of popcorn beside me (also a joke. the popcorn, not the ice water. it is toasty rn) i'm invested, i'm seated, i'm tuned in!! much love xoxo

part one sorry this took so long

i had this sense of belonging with him. i was already comfortable with him even though we'd only had a handful of conversations. this was a big step for me seeing as how i'd only ever been with people that gave me that thrill in my stomach especially if i was doing something wrong. in this case, that thrill was completely gone, replaced with a sense of safety i'd never felt before besides a friendship that was very dear to me. so i thought i needed to be his friend. i wanted to hang out with him.

i think i decided this when i went out walking late at night because its my favorite thing to do and it started pouring rain so i went to the little mailbox garage to keep my phone/earbuds dry otherwise i wouldnt have minded the rain. but i was sitting there and i found myself wanting to run into him. i was wishing he'd, for some reason, come check his mail so that we could talk more.

now that its decided that i knew i wanted to be closer to him, i did not have a game plan. instead, i applied the logic i usually would apply to this situation: if it's meant to be it'll come back. because i was too scared to make a move when he came in for coffee in the morning. we said our usual hellos etc but i did not give him my number. i was disappointed, even though it was my own fault, because its rare that i see him twice in one day. so the "if it's meant to be it'll come back" was kind a way out for me, 1) i wouldnt have to do the thing i was dreading, creating a sense of relief 2) but that would mean i dont get to do the thing i wanted to do, creating a sense of disappointment.

i was working all day and my boss left early, which means that when i went home for lunch, i put on non-corporate dress code socks because my feet were cold. ones that her micro-managing ass would've noticed and told me to take off. but i was behind the desk, it was nearing the end of the day, no one would notice my crazy socks. my coworker that knew i liked this guy was sitting next to me, and my head maintenance guy who didnt know and could not know. we were all talking when beef came in.

like i said before, it was rare to see him twice in one day, so my stomach did a flip. it meant i had to give him my number, i made that commitment. i wrote it down on a sticky note, waiting for my chance. but my maintenance guy wouldnt leave, and beef was making his coffee. i was running out of time. i didnt know how to find a situation to give it to him in which my maintenance guy wouldnt see it because i knew his ass would report me or hold it over my head. and beef left before i could figure it out.

crestfallen, i hadnt fulfilled my commitment. i was really upset with myself, it was perfect. he came back just like he was supposed to, just like the mantra. if it's meant to be it will come back.

i was beating myself up for it tbh. "you always do this shit, indy, you always do this shit." which is so rare considering how kind i am to myself, which goes to show just how upset i was at myself for not manning up about it.

some time passed and it was probably the last thirty minutes of the day, so i was gonna go put the golf cart back. i was walking out when something told me to go back to my desk, so i went back, and i grabbed the sticky note with my number on it. to this day i have no idea why i did that. something came over me that i went back to my desk and grabbed the sticky note with my number on it to shove into my pocket to take with me. maybe it was because i didnt want other people to see it on my desk, but i couldve just thrown it away.

i drive around and i go the longways because i usually did that. its about evening time, the sky is orange, im still upset over earlier.

and i see in the distance a familiar silhouette. one i've seen a thousand times. it was beef roller blading alongside his running dog. i cant believe my eyes it was like magic. i was genuinely, to my core, shocked. a third time. a third time in one day.

he goes to the sidewalk to let me pass, but i turn in to a parking spot like a mad man. i am determined to get this over with. a third time in the same day, ive never seen him three times in one day, this had to be it. i have to give him the number and miraculously i brought the fucking note with me. i march up, i say "hi (name), hi (dogs name)" quick asf. "dont look at my socks" i tell him because im still wearing the crazy socks that dont go with my shoes or outfit and the first thing he fucking does is look down at my socks. he laughs at them. i hand him the note "call me if you wanna hangout sometime." i say and get back in the cart to take it to the garage.

an hour later he texts. "hi :) this is (name)" and we text for hours. paragraphs about our pasts and shows we like and what we do for fun, everything. at one point he texts that he feels like he needs to say that hes "not ready for a relationship, and hes happy being friends" and i said "thats fine because thats why i gave you my number. to hang out" which is true. i asked him if he wanted to go around the community yard sale on thursday with me, and he said yes.

around 11 o clock that day, we meet up, and i remember he looked me up and down. he gave me that scan. it was subtle but i was like oh?

we walked around together and i got a bunch of stuff for my roommates cats and a lemon soap dispenser for my roommate who loves lemons etc. beef hasnt gotten anything, but he helps me carry my stuff :) he had insisted on it. at one point we come across a collection of framed paintings, and he looks particularly taken with a small portrait of a snowy landscape with a man in furs. he sets it back down. i check the price, its $5 so i buy it for him. he looks touched.

we text a little for the next week, but he says hes really busy with work and has to focus on that so i give him that space. at one point i subtly try to hang out with him late at night using the excuse of putting our crystals out for the full moon, and he says that he'd love to but can't, and i had to backtrack and act like i wasnt trying to hang out 💀

towards the end of that week, i had started texted with an ex-best-friend of mine we'll call her EBF. ebf invited me to a kava bar, then asked if her boyfriend could come, i said no that makes me uncomfortable bcos i dont know her boyfriend, she says "oh then i cant go", im like wow i wonderrr why we stopped being friends u pos but whateverrr so i said "if you get to bring someone, i get to bring someone" and invited beef. i said "hey i know its short notice but im going out tonight at a kava bar you should come" he says "great! give me the address ill be there" so i do. while im getting ready, EBF texts to cancel last minute. fucking dick n balls, right? so i had to text beef to be like "hey man so sorry but my friend cancelled. do you still wanna go just us?" and he says yea :)

he picks me up and at one point i pay a compliment to myself, i say i've got nice curves. he looks at me while hes got a spare moment driving and gives me a little once over again... and says "yeah, you do have nice curves" i couldve died

we talk about anything and everything on the way here, at the kava bar, and then when we take a walk. we walk up and down that strip for like an hour and a half. we drive back to the community and we take another walk. when i look at my phone after all this walking and talking it realize its 2am and we started hanging out at 7pm. so i have to run back home bcos ive gotta get ready for work in 6 hours.

the next day my roommates rly wanna meet him, so invite him over to hang with them. after that, i walk him home, and spent a bit of time with him there. i tell him im cold, and he says "heres my favorite hoodie". i go home and spend a few hours apart at my place. we keep texting, and he says "let me know if you wanna play some games tonight" as in like online, but i was like "im literally packing up my ps3 to bring over rn" bcos he had mentioned he wanted to play black ops 2 and i was feeling spontaneous. around midnight im back at his place and we play games until way later, and im feeling too tired to keep playing so we put on a movie and we "cuddle" which was kind of spooning but he kept his crotch away from my ass. (he tells me later that the reason he did that was because he got a boner laying down with me)

we fall asleep watching rio, our first sleepover. he had set an alarm for me so that i wouldnt miss work and i didnt even ask.

the next day he asked me to come over again. he cooks me dinner. we have another sleepover. i got to work, and then i go right back to his place. that night we're sitting and facing one another in the dark, that invisible string is pulling us together. he's murmuring, "i don't wanna be friends. i wanna be your boyfriend." and we kiss. its soft and slow, and it marks may 7th our anniversary.

since our first sleepover, i did not sleep again at my own place, which means that before we were officially dating, we were technically living together first.

[netrix-at-centric]

NO BECAUSE THIS IS SO IMPORTANT! I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS. ITS SO WILD AND CRAZY TO ME THAT THE WRITERS WENT THROUGH WITH THIS ARC FOR HIM. 

MOSTLY BECAUSE ANDY FOR SO LONG MAYBE AFTER 34 YEARS HAS ASSUMED THAT EVEN WHEN CHUCKY WAS GONE EVEN WHEN CHUCKY COULD JUST SUDDENLY GO AWAY AND JUST DISSAPEAR, A PART OF ANDY LIKED IT? 

LIKE ITS SO WILD TO ME ANDY HAS ALWAYS SEEN HIS LIFE CRAZILY AND ALWAYS WANTED TO BE AWAY FROM CHUCKY AND ( a HUGE part of him accepted it at some point ) but NOW THAT HE’S GONE ( A PART OF THAT IDENTITY OF CHASING HIM WILL BE GONE AND SUDDENLY LEFT?? ) ITS THE FACT THAT LIKE HIS WHOLE PERSONALITY WENT LIKE FROM A WHOLE ADDICTION CHASING CHUCKY WANTING HIM DEAD, EVEN JUST LIKE THE THOUGHT OF SEEING HIM MADE HIM GO CRAZY, AND NOW HE COMES UP AND CONFESSES WITHOUT CHUCKY LIKE....

HE’D LOSE THAT PART OF HIMSELF “CHASING HIM” AND WITH THAT TRAUMA HES HAD WITH CHUCKY, & REALIZING AND SEEING IT DISSAPEAR AND HE REALIZES HE HAS ACTUALLY TO MOVE ON WITH HIS LIFE, AND FACE THE CONSEQUENCES THAT CAME WITH HAVING CHUCKY AROUND??

i swear OH YM GOD THIS IS LITERALLY BATMAN AND JOKER ARC LIKE LITERALLY NOT EVEN JOKING LIKE ???

also too its been his whole life being surrounded by a LiTERAL DOLL WHO HAS GONE ON MURDER RAMPAGES AND HIS WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN AROUND “LIKE THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF” AND FOR SO LONG LIKE NO ONE WANTED TO BELIEVE HIM, AND HE COULDNT EVEN BELIEVE HIMSELF AT SOME POINT? everyone made him think for so long he lied, was being devious, and doing it out of spite and made HIM think that he was the THE ACTUALLY PROBLEM?

HE COULDNT EVEN BELIEVE HIMSELF FOR WANTING TO KILL CHUCKY at this specific moment because its been so long that he actually has built up his CONFIDENCE, STRENGTH, AND WILL POWER TO FIGHT BACK TO KILL HIM?? 

because that’s the thing about andy, after he moved into a quiet place in the cabins even when he still had the last chucky doll a part of him was so dissatisfied in his life because CHUCKY WASN’T DEAD? LIKE no matter HOW much he kept himself out, going on a date, even trying to DENY the fsct or try to come to terms that he has to actually face chucky and kill him.

GODDD HE EVEN KNEW, BY LIKE ANY CHANCE he could come back, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, and thats why he told himself to keep RUNNING to keep HIDING to keep telling himself that he should keep playing this game with chucky now because the truth is 

its always been a game to him. 

and the HARDEST PART OF THAT GAME WAS LETTING GO-

LIKE FOR SO LONG ANDY HAS RAN AWAY FROM CHUCKY MORE THAN HE RAN AWAY FROM ANYONE ELSE. AND IT WAS HIMSELF. 

ANDY FOR LIKE 34 YEARS DIDNT WANT TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT HE COULD ACTUALLY KILL CHUCKY OR DIDNDT WANT APART OF THIS GAME TO END BECAUSE HE FELT LIKE IT WAS SOMETHING THAT SHOULVE KEPT GOING SOMETHING THAT MADE SENSE OF HIM TO KEEP LETTING HIM BE ALIVE WITHOUT HIM ACTUALLY FACING HIM AND DOING WHAT HE NEEDED TO DO TO KILL HIM??

ANDY OUT OF THE WHOLE GROUP REALIZED HIMSELF HE NEEDED TO FACE THIS, HE NEEDED TO CONFRONT HIM, HE NEEDED TO KILL THE MF OFF. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE IT BEGAN WITH HIM?? 

AND HE SUDDENLY FACES OFF HIS TRAUMA JUST accepting, AFTER THE CONFESSION IT WAS SOMETHING HE HAS TO ACCEPT, CLOSURE AND FIGHT FOR HIMSELF JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE HAD?

AND GODDD, REMEBERING HOW LIKE HOW MIKE FIRST KILLED HIM?? 

AGAIN HOW HE ACTUALLY GRABS THE GUN JUST ULTIMATELY KILLING HIM, BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME THE WAY MIKE DID, BECAUSE HE ULTIMATELY REALIZES HE JUST ISN’T 7 ANYMORE??? 

AND HE CAN ACTUALLY FIGHT CHUCKY?? AND DESPITE OF THE STORY OF CHUCKY CHASING HIM, HE HAS TO KEEP GOING ON FOR HIM WITH HIS FUTURE, AND CAREER REGARDLESS OF WHAT HIS PAST HES HAD WITH CHUCKY ?? 

AND THAT CHUCKY DOESNT HAVE TO HAUNT HIM ANYMORE AND HIS IDENTITY DOESNT SERVE AROUND A DOLL AND THAT HE CAN BELIEVE IN HIMSELF AND GET THAT CONFIDENCE THAT HE’S NEVER HAD BEFORE IN THE FIRST 34 YEARS IN HIS LIFE.

[bunny-heels]

Considering we're pretty much at the climax of Holiday season... I was wondering how you think Casey would feel about Christmas/the Holidays. I feel like he'd probably be pretty uncaring about it all. But all that changed after he became close to Saga? He of course can come off as aloof but he'd be excited to find something Logan would like especially. And he'd feel out of sorts when presented gifts of his own? He's just not used to real, genuine thoughtful gifts lol.

part of me feels like he used to love the holidays in his child and teen years. it slowly faded when he became an adult, came back when he was with Miranda, then completely left after the divorce. but of course, it all changed when he got close with Saga.

i think as a child and teen, he loved the joy centered around Christmas, even if maybe he didn't have that great of an upbringing, but he sorta lost the magic for it after becoming an adult. not because he hated it or anything, just that he was focusing on trying to get to a good point in his life. his love for it came back when he married Miranda, and would help decorate the house and tree, and always buy her gifts that he thought she would like, even near the end of the relationship.

after the divorce, he barely cared about any holiday. not Christmas, or Halloween, or Thanksgiving-none of those. he treated them as just ordinary days with no particular reason as to why they were important.

after getting close with Saga and learning about his feelings towards the holidays, she tried her best to slowly get him to enjoy it again. she brought him tiny things to decorate his desk at work with, gave him some Christmas snacks, shared some pretty whiskey-spiked eggnog with him. she eventually was able to get him to visit their home, and even offered for him to stay overnight for Christmas morning, which he surprisingly agreed to. [Saga didnt have to pull a pouty face or anything!! that was a new record for her]

on Christmas morning, after Logan was finished opening her gifts, the adults were next. Saga and David opened the gifts from each other, then the gifts they each got from Logan. Casey was happy just watching them open their gifts, not expecting to get anything since it was their house. so he was fully taken aback when all three of them pulled out gifts for him, each being something that was guaranteed to fit Casey perfectly, picked with the help of Saga's "intuition."

he barely knew how to react. he was obviously happy, and very flustered, but he also seemed embarrassed for an unknown reason. they hadn't known why until he excused himself out of the house for a moment, and suddenly, he came back in with presents for each of them as well. he took as careful of note as he could to pick items he thought they would like. and they all loved them and thanked him endlessly.

he admitted to Saga later that day that he figured she would try to get him to enjoy the holidays, and even if there was no solid answer if he would, he would've felt guilty for at least not getting something for the three of them. he thanked Saga for coaxing him out of his shell and getting him to enjoy Christmas with someone again. and Saga went and thanked Casey for giving her a chance to help him have fun, and how happy she was of growing so close with him so fast. Saga couldn't help but ask for a hug, and Casey really couldn't refuse her, not that he wanted to.

since then he's started to thoroughly enjoy holidays again, even decorating his own house and inviting Saga's family over for Christmas and even Thanksgiving dinners, even having his own tree up to put gifts under for them to open when they visit.

he's also stayed up late with Saga and David and gotten drunk with them MANY times, often getting themselves into laughing fits and sharing work and life stories. Casey gets surprisingly touchy when he's drunk, so he would also either lean on Saga of David's shoulder, probably wearing a Santa hat and having a dumb smile on his face while he listens to them talk about past Christmas stories.

oh, and like i said, he now enjoys other Holidays too. he'll set up Thanksgiving dinner some years at his house to invite the family over, or help with preparing their dinner when he visits them instead, and eats himself sleepy. and on Halloween, he'll decorate his own house but will only get in costume when at the family house. he's always mostly this dark lord figure, like a vampire king or half-human monster man. there was one year he was lazy so Saga just put him in floppy dog ears. every time they hit him in the face she held in her laugh, so much so to where she was in tears.