#i know this comes off weird coming from me given i ship characters as much as i change pants

[azumetapraline]

No offence, but I do not understand why everyone is going into “ship mode” because of the Mario movie trailer (I have just finished watching it)

And it kinda rubs me the wrong way, not gonna lie 😅

[voidy-vibing]

This is probably gonna be my last post about the Zerum drama but here is a full breakdown of what happened and what I understood! Thank you @obbystars for showing me the tweet and screenshots. (also sorry for the tag)

So.

Zerum, the co-creator of Pressure, who's sona is canonically married to Sebastian has been getting constantly harrassed, bullied, and been given death threats.

There have been alllegations in which they are anti-selfship, transphobic and ableist.

To start off bit by bit.

Zerum was NEVER anti-selfship/oc x sebastian. In the Official Pressure discord server, there is a rule where people are not allowed to show ship art with ANY of the Pressure characters as all devs aren't comfortable with it. While they do not allow it in the official discord, they are not BANISHING shipping as a whole and people are allowed to do whatever they want.

People have been calling Zerum possessive, insecure, and a hypocrite because their reaction to people thinking 'Sebastian x Zerum is a joke not canon' was a pretty bad one. It was not professional, and people were right to get mad about their behavior but responded A THOUSAND TIMES worse. They sent Zerum countless death threats, insulted them, and they also griefed the Pressure Fandom Wikipage (the unofficial one) with a Sebastian x Zerum divorce fanfic (its fucking crazy).

People took the fact that Sebastian has a wedding ring as something to SPITE the Sebastian shippers, but to me it really seemed like setting in stone a thing that was already meant to be canon, as many ppl thought it was a joke.

The transphobic allegations came from the fact that Zeal made Zerum post a rule that Sebastian art with him in a dress isn't allowed. This was a rule ZEAL wanted, and they only banned it on the official discord server, and do not care for anywhere else. They just do not think it fits Sebastian's character ig. Its kind of weird to me, but its whatever.

The abelist allegations came from the fact that Zeal, when adding the deaf accessibility setting, didn't take on some tips from the deaf community. This I don't know a whole lot about so I'm not gonna delve deeper into it rn.

And finally, people think that the devs are mischaracterizing Sebastian by making him more snarky lines, or the ability to kill you, as a way for Zerum to 'fend off' the simps. This is not true, due to the fact that the voicelines for Sebastian killing you was recorded BEFORE there was the huge popularity for Sebastian. This is not something that was per say targetted at Zerum, but Sebastian has TOLD that he has been forced to help the Players. He doesn't help the Expendables because he is caring- he helps out of being forced to ans out of NECESSITY. It says in the wiki that Sebastian gets the data from the Expendables for blackmail (or probably something whatever in regards of escape ofc), and he simply sees the Players an easy means to get said data. Just because he is snarky because you literally flash his eyes fucking dry does not mean they are changing his character. He is still funny and sarcastic, but there are consequences to your actions and that'll be him getting mad ar you if you annoy him too much. It is very fair imo.

So no, perhaps in canon, Sebastian would not care for the players but it doesn't stop anyone from shipping or simping. He just manipulates us into thinking he cares in the game yes, but fandoms such as ourselves really shouldn't need to be mad or necessarily care over this aspect. This new update shows Sebastian's true colors VERY WELL and it is infact in-character for the game's story context. This does not mean you can't change it to your own liking, self-indulgence comes with being in fandom, and no one is gonna shame you for that nor should you shame someone else. I understand if people are upset over these new stuff about him, but I can make a seperate post to speak about this more clearly, I only wanted to try and explain it.

So yeah.

I really truly hope this does not seem like I am attacking, targetting, or hating on someone. If allegations with the devs or Zerum change, they'll change, but it's important to take every perspective and keep an open mind.

[mellowquint]

Fanbinding Masters of Mayhem - a Ninjago and Lego Monkie kid crossover!!!

FINALLY after weeks of putting the project on the shelf i finally have the (motivation) free time to complete this amazing bookbind!!! Shoutout to my best friend who came to me and ask if i could bind it. So what better birthday gift than to bind her current favourite crossover story? At the time of this post i have not given the gift to her yet so fingers crossed that she likes this 🤞😖

Thank you FictionForLife_NZ for creating this absolute hilarious masterpiece!! I have been wanting to read an LMK crossover fic for the longest time and low and behold, the ao3 algorithm has answered my prayers lol. Me and best friend really love the character interaction that the Ninja’s have with the LMK crew 😂. Also the shipping!! Best friend absolutely LOVES dragonfruit but was sad that they didn’t have as much of a fandom dedication as opposed to spicynoodles. So imagine her suprised (and scream) that dragonfruit is the main pairing in the story and their many iconic moments together!! Also the climax truly had me at the edge of my seat!! And that ending?? Gosh couldn’t have asked it better myself Ninjago writers really should take notes ✍️!!! Anyways enough rambling here’s the fic if you would like to give a read, absolute 10/10

Flip through

Some close ups

also yes excuse me and my terrible phone and room lighting it did not do this book justice.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any fanart that was related/tagged so there was no illustrations for the book. However thats when i had the idea of making the chapter title in the same font as the Ninjago font! To make it seem like every new chapter is an episode!

Also unfortunately couldn’t tag the author since i can’t find their tumblr. If any of you know if said author does have tumblr please let me know!

If you’re all curious on how i make this, i recommend going to the first bookbinding project that i did, its all the same process except with some new improvements that im gonna talk about under the cut

I definitely learned a lot from my mistakes from the last time that i did this, and of course gain new mistakes as well 🥲.

The edges aren’t trimmed

The cover isn’t aligned

The printing for the covers are garbage

Book would not lay flat, instead forever stuck at a weird 120 degree angle

Overall a lot of stuff

This was a given by the fact that i have no experience and was impatient. But since this is a gift for Best Friend ofc this has to actually look good, so here are the improvements that i made

Signature printing— i will admit it took some time and effort but after the old cannon printer finally died permanently jammed, managed to convince parents to buy a more advanced and better printer that can now do double sided printing!! No more wasted signatures from here on out 😮‍💨

Cover printing — not wanting a repeat of the last time that i did it i went to my local Officeworks to get it printed by them. Here i discovered the beauty that is known as ✨Poster Prints✨. Now all of my yellow lines and elements actually do show an pop against the darker background!! Unfortunately this does have a drawback because the prints are sensitive to any type of scratching. Not the scratch and all the colors come off way, more like the scratch it and lines will show up kind of way as you can really see in the front cover :') . Will work on improving this is future projects.

Trimming the edges — originally in book one i trimmed the edges using your typical box cutter and cut it myself. Bad BAD idea i was doomed at that moment. So imagine my surprise the Officeworks ALSO do CUTTING service!!! My jaw dropped and i immediately went back the next day with my text block and asked them if they could trim all edges. After some inspection they put it through the guillotine and all of my edges are perfectly trimmed. Saved me all the time, money, and storage.

Laying book flat — this was definitely the biggest pet peeve that I have with my first book. The way i do it now is i now put a one cm gap between the front cover, side cover and back cover. And also using the right paper (cardstock) to connect the text block with the covers. Now the book can actually fully open!!!

Cover alignment — I printed out the front and back in regular paper and use that as a template on where i wanna fold the prints to find the cover. Worked like a charm

once again shoutout to best friend for giving me the brilliant idea when making the covers!! had it not been for her to point out about clause's book of spells i would have never made the coolest cover page that I've made in my entire binding experience!! all in all im pretty dang proud of myself for being able to improve on my bookbinding skill.

[shakingparadigm]

For the ask game: Hyuna!!🔥

HI TOON THANK YOU!!

favorite thing about them:

Man, what's not to like... she's just a fantastic character all around, probably the most likeable character in my personal opinion! I love her perserverance and her incredibly strong sense of self. Her character design is also just so incredible, probably the most unique and distinct character in the cast (shades?? almost 6ft?? abs??? a prosthetic leg???)

She's just so badass.... save me noona......

least favorite thing about them:

I don't really have anything that I dislike about Hyuna honestly. Maybe a cause of concern would be her habits of drinking and smoking but hey she's grown and reclaiming her freedom so really she can do whatever she wants with her life!

favorite line:

This might be a weird one but "A bird is set free​" from All-In has always stood out to me. It carries a certain feeling and just perfectly encapsulates Hyuna. The shot that's presented during this line is one of my favorite Hyuna frames too.

(Honorable Mention: "c-cheers!" man I love Hyuna.)

brOTP:

MIZI AND TILL!!! I love the idea of Till acting as an adopted little brother to Hyuna (is this a Hyunwoo coping mechanism? Who knows). Of course her fellow rebels Dewey and Isaac as well! I also think Hyuna and Ivan would get along (suprisingly enough). She'd have a hard time figuring him out at first, but eventually they'd warm up to each other and probably be gym buddies or something.

OTP:

Hyuluka is the given of course since they're paired together.... while I don't have any particularly strong feelings about it in a romantic sense I find their relationship incredibly interesting to analyze and think about. Hyuluka and Ivantill are really in the same boat of obssessive perfect guy x rebel who does not like them back 😭

A ship that I genuinely do find adorable (and super underrated) is offrec/actor Hyuluka!! Offrec Luka seems much more chill and down-to-earth but also kinda jaded because he had to go through the whole idol thing which he hated. Offrec Hyuna is bright, innocent and the youngest of the cast which I find really cute.... there's this one offrec fancomic I like where Luka gets flustered because Hyuna approached him and then immediately deflating when he finds out she just wanted an autograph 😭 cute

nOTP:

Honestly haven't seen many other Hyuna ships besides Hyuluka.

random headcanon:

Hyuna has accidentally seriously fucked people over with her voice mimicry talent. At one point she was begged to stop doing it because she kept freaking people out.

unpopular opinion:

Okay, this one is a bit long and kind of less an opinion and more of a story, but I will admit that at first I really did not like All-In. LISTEN TO ME OKAY SAVE THE GUILLOTINE FOR LATER.

I fell off of Alien Stage after ROUND 5. I saw ROUND 1 and ROUND 2 and while I found them interesting, I didn't really think about them that much. ROUND 5 was the only one that caught my attention enough for me to come back to the video maybe 4 or 5 times after my first watch, even searching about Alien Stage on social media and stuff. Still, I wasn't too invested yet.

When I saw All-In freshly released on my Youtube page I was like "oh hey it's this thing again. there's a new one? okay" and out of curiosity I watched it.

I don't know what it was, but something about All-In just did not click with me at first 😭 I remember feeling as though it sounded kind of dissonant? Like something was a bit off with the instrumental, maybe it sounded a little low in volume or something. The rhythm of the song threw me off a little and I could not for the life of me explain why. This is purely personal by the way, I'm no professional music analyst or anything, it just seemed weird to me personally at first.

But that's the thing. Because I found it so strangely off, I kept coming back to the video (it helped that the visuals were absolutely banging). Everytime it showed up on my homepage I would just sit there and watch it entranced like a zombie and I couldn't even explain why. At one point I woke up at 1AM, opened my phone, and watched All-In completely unmoving expressionless unblinking in the dark of my room, then shut the phone off and immediately knocked out again. Once again I cannot explain this. That video had me in an absolute chokehold no joke. Eventually I started to understand it more and it really grew on me, to the point where I played it in the shower on loop and then proceeded to start the rest of my days with the damn thing. I began to get curious about the deeper aspects of Alien Stage, took the plunge, and now we're here.

Anyways, that's the story of how my opinion on All-In went from "this sounds kinda off" to "this is the best thing to ever be created by human hands". All-In is now one of my most favorite ALNST songs and Hyuna absolutely killed it in her debut video. Sorry I couldn't understand the true extent of your genius back then queen, but at least I do now.

song i associate with them:

Eight by Sleeping At Last

When I see fragile things, helpless things, broken things,

I see the familiar

I was little, I was weak, I was perfect, too

Now I'm a broken mirror

But I can't let you see all that I have to lose

All I've lost in the fight to protect it

I can't let you in, I swore never again

I can't afford to let myself be blindsided

favorite picture of them:

It's come to my attention that Hyuna was being taken away by the guards. I didn't notice because she just looked so cool in this shot 😭

[imsorryithurts]

Whumperless Whump Day 1

@whumperless-whump-event

Hello, friends! This is my first entry for the Whumperless Whump Event. I don't have much experience with formatting text on tumblr, so I hope it'll be legible. I am also not an experienced writer, I just wrote down what comes to my mind! If anything is too out of place feel free to tell me (nicely!).

This is set up in my "generic space adventure" setting, if you want a primer on the characters, you can read it here: [link]

Thanks to Seth for setting this up, and without further ado, here's my story.

-x-

Emergency First Aid:

Self-done stitches / Alcohol as sanitizer / “It's just a scratch, I've had worse.

Content warnings: Falling from heights, bruises, lacerations, and stitches.

-x-

“I’m fine, I promise.” Matt took a deep breath, doing his best to keep his voice steady. “It's just a scratch. I’ve been worse.”

It wasn't exactly a lie. He was fine. He has had worse.

He had to admit, though, calling it a scratch was quite the understatement.

“I swear to fucking god, Matt,” Rex’s voice rang distantly through the comm. “If we get there and your leg is missing, I'm ripping out the other one myself!”

“We’ve got your coordinates already,” Roye’s voice came through the speaker much clearer, without much background noise. Matt had to laugh at the possibility that Rex wrestled the comm out of Roye's hand just to threaten him. “We're trying to figure out how to get to you, just don't move, right?”

Matt could tell by his tone that he was serious. Roye was using his “captain voice”. He would be here in seconds, if he could.

“Matt, do you hear me?”

“Yeah,” he picked up his comm with his uninjured arm. “Yeah, I hear you.” He hoped to god this sluggishness wasn't from blood loss.

“Call back if anything happens. We're coming.” There was the noise of a finished call.

Matt sighed and slumped back against the sandy rock formation he was sitting against. The same kind of rock that crumbled under his feet at the mount above, sending him rolling god knows how many meters away. He only didn't curse it because it was providing some much needed support at the moment, and he didn't want to risk losing it because he offended it.

He gathered up some motivation to take stock of his situation again. He took his cracked mask off. The team always made fun of him for wearing the O2 mask even in breathable planets, but it very likely saved him from a broken nose and a couple of mouthfuls of dirt. He set it aside along with his comm, breathing in the fresh, even if slightly too humid air.

He was sore all over, but that's to be expected. His left knee hurt particularly badly, along with his foot that was caught in a root on the way down. Nothing was at a weird angle and he could move his toes inside his boot, so probably nothing was broken. He couldn't tell what was going on with the foot, it hurt way too much to bend his knee in order to remove the boot, and even if he could reach it, the swelling had already settled in, making it hard to remove it on his own. So he settled for leaving the leg outstretched for now, to be given attention once he was back in the ship.

The “scratch”, on the other hand, needed attention now immediately.

Somewhere along the way his right forearm had snagged on something, that something ripping a gash almost from his wrist to his elbow. He had spent the last couple of minutes pushing against it with his jacket to stop the bleeding while trying to relate his situation to the rest of the team. Now that nobody was listening, he allowed himself to groan loudly as he peeled the fabric away from the wound.

Like he said, he’s had worse. Still, it was not pretty. He was lucky enough that the edges weren't too ragged, but it was still long and deep. It had stopped pouring out blood and now it oozed lazily, red filling the entirety of it like a lake.

Matt pressed his jacket against it again, pushing against the sides, trying to mop up some of the blood.

Not pretty might not be a good enough description. Squeezing some of the blood out of it exposed the angry edges around a pit of bright red muscle, lumps of nauseatingly yellow fat tissue clumped around it. 

He poured half of the water from his canteen over it. Blood loss or infection was going to kill him before dehydration anyways. He fished the first aid kit from his backpack, working as fast as he could, if he hesitated, the pain would take over his brain and he’d be scared to do anything so as to not aggravate it.

He held his breath and poured as much antiseptic as he could over his arm. Even if he had been trying to be quiet, he wouldn't have been able to hold back the scream he let out as the liquid touched his exposed flesh, white hot searing pain burning all the way to his bones.

He sat back with his arm outstretched to wait the worst of the pain away and catch his breath. Once he could take a full steady breath in, he retrieved the little suture kit.

It was a good thing he was the one to take that fall. Matt wasn't sure any of his colleagues would manage to properly clean and stitch a wound. Even with guidance over the comm, some of them could have the dexterity to do the stitches, but not the ability to keep calm until more help arrived.

It wasn't until Matt had the needle, thread and hemostat ready he realized that, actually, he had no idea how he would do this either.

His dominant hand was useless to work on this two handed job. He could probably use it to hold something, but there was no way to use it on its own arm.

He better not have a fucking concussion on top of all this.

He steadied his arm between his knees, trying to squeeze it in a way to push the edges of the wound as close together as possible. He was determined to make it up as he went along.

He couldn't get the hemostat to work on his left hand, so he threw it aside and held the needle with his fingers.

He expected the sting of the needle to feel like nothing compared to the agony of the gash, but it aggravated it in a way he had to consider just leaving it alone and take his chances against dying right there. He shakily pushed the needle through the other side of flesh after a couple of deep breaths.

He stared at the thread crossing his open skin. The obvious part was over, now he had to focus to remember all the steps. It was like doing his first stitches on a sponge all that time ago.

Right. Cross the thread. This was the twisty part, right? He missed having the hemostat.

Come on, learning to do something one handed was good, rewiring the brain, keeping it in shape.

He made two loops, moving the thread with his thumb and index, holding it with his pinkie. He pushed the needle through the loops, pulling it with his teeth and holding the loose side of thread, the edges of skin meeting where the stitch tractioned it. Matt let himself whimper at the feeling, both the surface of the skin and muscles protesting at the movement.

He repeated the loops to the other side, cursing when they slipped away from his fingers, but completing the knots of the stitch. 

He snipped the ends of thread, completing the suture. He sighed in relief and admired his work. But then he had to laugh. 

That was one stitch down. There remained… What, about 20?

His comm beeped to life beside him. Isabella's voice came from it. “Hey, Matt, how are you holding up?”

“Fine.” He sighed, forcing his voice not to shake. “My foot is still messed up, so I’m-I’m just sitting here.”

“We're going to leave you bored for a while. We found a path around the bushes, should take a little less than two hours to reach you,” She said, apologetic, but hopeful. “Roye says he’d keep you company if we weren't worried about about battery.”

“Ha, thanks.” He swallowed the lump in his throat, looking at how much he still had to suture, the wound slowly seeping blood into his pants. “I’ll just enjoy a nap, maybe.”

“Sleep well, Matt. We’ll wake you when we get there,” she signed off sweetly.

Matt laid back against the rock, looking at his injured arm. He sighed and forced himself upright. He wiped the blood around it as best as he could. The gash wasn't going to close itself.

He struggled with the next two stitches, but then he blanked out, and when he realized, half of it was already closed up.

It was not a good sign, but he was relieved it was almost done before he noticed.

His hands shook as he completed the next ones, and the needle slipped out of his fingers more than once, but he got there.

He pierced the skin one last time, looped the thread twice, pulled the needle through. Looped twice to the other side, pulled it through. Helping with his teeth. His vision was blurry and his mouth tasted like copper. But he did it.

He snipped the last of the thread, finally. 

He slumped back against the rock, realizing he had been holding his breath. He had to pour some more antiseptic over it, but he couldn't get his non injured arm to move. Needed to drink some water, maybe, but his limbs fell heavily at his sides.

Well, fuck. At least people were already coming. 

His vision started to grey out, and he allowed the fog to take over.

-

He woke up being half carried already.

“I FUCKING TOLD YOU HE WAS HIDING SOMETHING,” Rex shouted beside him. “WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY, I’LL RIP YOUR OTHER ARM APART, YOU IDIOT!”

Matt chuckled. He would have thought the same if the roles were reversed.

He felt his consciousness drifting again. He took advantage of the light hearted moment and the safety of the arms heaving him up, and let it go. He was fine now.

[wanderingwomanwondering]

911 Season 7 Critique

This is a long post. If you don’t make it to the end, I totally understand.

I know we all have lots of feelings about this season and most of what I’ve read from others in the fandom here on tumblr has been overwhelmingly positive, but I have serious and persistent concerns. Here me out, if you’re willing and able.

This entire season something about 911 has felt off for me in a big way. I couldn’t quite put my finger on exactly what the problem was until recently. All I knew was that season 7 was weird out the gate. Now I finally think I have something coherent to say about this season now that it’s over. The whole season’s main plot(s) have been overblown and overworked. All season long, the characters have felt bodysnatched by extraterrestrials being just similar enough to our beloved characters to not raise total alarm - at least initially - but different enough to snatch some epic side-eye outta me. Then ep 4 happened and the whole time I was a mix of elated and confused. Anybody who’s been paying attention for the last 7 years knows that Buck is queer so that wasn’t the shocker. For me, it was the way everything went down in ep 4 with the characters that felt heavy-handed and untrue to who they are. The weird strange bizarreness through the season just kept on coming like a freight train with no breaks or relief. By the finale I was scratching my head and kinda irritated because the tiny bit of actual character work that we saw over the course of the season was odd as hell and now it’s over and I’m not really excited about much of anything that’s supposed to be coming in s8. The characters feel too ooc and the plots feel too uncharacteristic of 911. Like for a bit there I thought I was watching Days of Our Lives meets Miami Vice meets The Walking Dead, and that’s not what I signed up for with 911.

Season 7 left me earnestly wondering: Where are the family feels, the tight bonds, the heartfelt connections, the vulnerable conversations, the healing community that is the 118, the fucking togetherness? Everyone feels like they are adrift and alone without the found family support that they enjoyed in previous seasons. This season has been a trauma fest with little to no emotional payoff. Drama for its own sake. Problems resurrected, rehashed, blown way out of proportion, repackaged, and sold as authentic current issues. This season I felt like I was watching a completely different show.

Yes we are on a new network. Yes Tim is back. Yes a bit of shake up can be good. But this doesn’t feel like a good shake up. I feel like I’m being jerked around for sport. Like past BS is being thrown in my face instead of laid on the table and worked through by the characters that I know and love. Season 7 was mostly just trauma porn and I did not enjoy it.

Yes we could argue that Tim is trying to grab the attention of new viewers on a new network. But honestly that kind of feels like a cop-out explanation given what he delivered. If I were new to this show, I would not feel like I have any idea who these characters are beyond the wild crap that happens to them. I feel like I know more about how to sink a cruise ship or how to traverse the desert than I do about how the characters relate and connect with one another.

As someone who’s watched 911 from the very beginning live and in real time, the plotting, pacing, and character choices in season 7 feel like Tim is putting on a show instead of telling stories. Shows are a wacky wild ride with little cohesion and/or progress; characters take a backseat to whatever the ptb can cook up for the weekly plot. Stories center characters and what’s happening to them is processed by them and moves their arcs along in mostly coherent ways. A show is ‘shit happens’. A story is ‘shit happens TO ME AND I DEAL WITH IT in ways that show the audience who I am and what matters to me’’.

Maybe season 8 will feel more like a story since it won’t be a truncated season, and season 7 has reintroduced people to - aka dredged up long-past but somehow present again - character issues. I don’t know. I hope season 8 is more coherent, character-focused, and progress/healing-oriented like previous seasons have been. Honestly the show has been running too long to act like rehashing the past over and over again is enough to carry it for 7 more seasons.

Anyway, my specific concerns with season 7 are below the cut.

The main plots have just been hilariously bad. Soap opera levels of wtaf.

The cruise ship disaster had pirates, cheaters, and poorly-developed conflicts between lovers all of which (mostly) came out of the thin blue sea air and/or were handled in incredibly ooc ways. MIssing groom because of viral encephalitis. Hospital wedding like its a good thing and preferable to the warm fuzzies that Madney deserved. Long-dead wife put on such a high pedestal by Eddie that she walks the earth once more. Bobby chasing a random man from his past into the desert to say/do what exactly? All while mixing it up with a literal Mexican cartel. A desert crossing complete with traumatic flashbacks, a car crash, and a makeshift stretcher. (Bobby should have left Amir where he was after the crash and just walked the mile to the road without him in tow. But instead he slowed himself down and risked sunstroke in the process. That was a drama choice made by the writers, not a paramedic/firefighter choice made by the character.) Post-house fire Bobby’s heart stops for 14 whole ass minutes and he wakes up fine and perky as meringue. Athena Grant choosing cold-blooded vengeance over holding vigil for her allegedly dying husband. Racist and misogynistic Gerard returning for absolutely no narrative or character-related reason at all, at least not for one that couldn’t be more effectively accomplished by some/any other means.

The women have been side-lined in their own stories, and/or their characters altered in problematic ways.

Hen dismissed the councilwoman’s son in the season’s opening arc and ignored his potential injuries because he was being an asshole. A lesser paramedic would do that, but NOT our Hen. Also that plot point was unrealistic af because if someone is not in their right mind to make a life-saving decision for themselves, like in the case of intoxication, medical personnel can ethically treat them anyway. It was such a weird plot/character choice to Hen use that guy’s intoxication as a reason NOT to treat him when it’s actually a great reason to go ahead and check him out. She should have and would have worked the problem (poised and professional) instead of storming off in a huff (emotion-driven and unethical) because that guy was being a dick. Hen is not easily unsettled, nor is she unprofessional!

Hen and Karen were oddly clueless about Mara’s trauma and the fact that it was actively relevant to her behavior when they took her in, despite the fact that they have fostered several children at this point in the story. They considered “returning her” before they considered the trauma factor. Unreal. Our Hen and Karen were not born yesterday, are no strangers to hard times with foster kids, and have hearts the size of the 7 seas. This writing choice made no sense to me and made Hen and Karen feel like extraterrestrials to me. Ignorant ones at that. In the finale, Hen didn’t tell Karen she was going to see Mara. Like. Why? They talk about everything. Hen claimed it’s because Karen would have tried to stop her but we all know that would have been a half-hearted comment while she put her shoes on and grabbed her purse. No. Hen and Karen are partners and they act like it. The one woman show era between them has been over for a while. Especially when it comes to their family.

Athena and Bobby had a conversation at the end of season 4 about cutting each other out and leaving each other emotionally stranded and since then have been actively committed to communicating and staying a team. So what the hell was that vibe between them on the cruise. Athena was evasive and weird the whole time and in the most banal gender stereotyped way possible. In addition, Tim seems obsessed with women as damsels in distress this season which is not and has never been Athena’s vibe. Even with the Jeffrey arc in season 5 while she coped with the trauma of that encounter, she displayed agency. So I’ll never understand her indirect approach to dealing with Bobby running off to ‘Step 9’ Amir or her decision to turn right around and talk to Amir about Bobby instead of talking to Bobby directly. Athena is a direct person, especially about her family. She cuts to the quick and gets to the heart of things. The drama I needed was Bathena working through Athena’s fears for Bobby and Bobby working through his trauma/recovery with Athena…not a Mexican cartel and shenanigans in the desert. Then there was the way Harry talked to Athena when she discovered that he ran away from Miami. Athena’s response to Harry would have been understanding but corrective. She wouldn’t have stood there and let him disrespect her. Not in a million lifetimes. She also wouldn’t have left her allegedly dying husband at the hospital to reenact a revenge plot from some B movie. Plus what was up with her blaming herself for Amir supposedly burning the house down, and her doing no police work to puzzle out what happened? She just went on an emotion-fueled rampage. That’s not how Athena operates. Remember her namesake, goddess of WISDOM and warfare. Come on bffr.

Maddie. Oh where do I even start. From ep 1 she was treated like a means to an end instead of the first responder former nurse badass that she is. This whole season, she comes across as ‘just another dispatcher’ instead of the focused problem-solver and active agent that we know her to be. Prior to season 7 Maddie would have had her thinking cap fully on right along with Hen in the first episodes as they worked out a way to get in touch with the cruise ship. Calling Tommy could have even been Maddie’s idea since Chim and Tommy are still in touch but Hen and Tommy don’t seem to be. Then there was the whole Maddie hearing what she expected to hear with the abuse victim on that one call. Like. What?! This is not Maddie’s first rodeo, she is not easily unsettled, and she’s a damn professional. She would have done what she had to do to emotionally regulate and help the woman in danger before she let herself ‘hear what she expected to hear’. Admittedly she would have cried the whole time because that’s JLH’s jam and she’s good at it but Maddie wouldn’t have fallen down so hard on the job (especially not after what happened in season 3 with Tara and Vincent). And the wedding stuff! Maddie was just watching and waiting instead of using what she knew about her partner in life Chim to deduce where he might go or what he might do. Instead of collecting information about their previous calls and how they might be playing into Chim’s disappearance, she was busy being insecure about whether Chim actually wanted to marry her. Mind you, Maddie was the one who was originally reticent about marrying again AND she’s the one who proposed to Chim. After all the drama with the ring, there is no world in which Maddie would have imagined Chim was running from her. She would have known something bad was up and that it had nothing to do with their love for one another. In the finale Maddie calls Chim to talk about Athena’s suss behavior but Maddie has more connections and professional wherewithal than just ‘call my husband he’ll know what to do’. She would have called the precinct and asked about 727-L-30 in a discreet way and put most of the pieces together herself and then actually sent Chim and Hen to stop her. And she would have been ready at a moment’s notice to call the cops on the rogue cop. The way that scene actually played out felt more like gossip on the high school bleachers than Maddie doing her actual job.

The relationships seem plain odd/ooc, distant, and/or superficial. Very few vulnerable emotional conversations happened and when they did they felt generic, shallow, and/or incomplete.

Bobby and Athena on the cruise. Athena just didn’t feel like herself because she refused to talk to Bobby. When they did finally talk it was when they were about to drown and it was more of a mini-therapy session for Bobby. After Amir was introduced, Bobby pulled away again and Athena let him. Then Athena chose to approach the traumatized stranger rather than have a talk with her own damn husband. When they finally confronted each other about that situation, she walked away from Bobby almost like she was punishing him for walking away first instead of them both leaning into the conversation as partners. Really? Bffr.

Buck and Eddie having a bro convo about womanizing in the early episodes of the season. The ‘hey pal please talk to my kid bro because you have experience with these issues’ rather than the all important ‘there’s no one in this world I trust with my son more than you’ vibes of it all. Eddie making limited eye contact with Buck and ignoring him in ep 4. Eddie’s physical demeanor in ep 4 being bro-ed up and distant. Yeah I know we can argue that was all from Buck’s perspective in the moment but that explanation seems insufficient to me because it was so extreme, and was kind of maintained in some ways throughout the season. The ‘i’m gonna maim my best friend’ energy of the bucktommy origin story despite the fact that buck is not violent at all and definitely not towards loved ones. (Tim seems determined to ruin everybody just enough to generate unnecessary and ooc drama.) Buck’s weird dudebro conversation with Eddie while on his date with Tommy as if the foundation of buck and eddie’s relationship has ever been conversations about women solely to assert their heterosexuality * facepalm emoji * The super textbook sterile coming out scene in ep 5 like these guys aren’t besties and don’t actually know each other deeply. I wanted that coming out scene to have 504 patio conversation energy, not whatever it was we got in 704. Like that coming out conversation could have played out the exact same with one of the no-name background firefighters at the 118 or with Connor or some other rando. It felt so impersonal to who they are and to their particular brand of vulnerable courageous conversations. Honestly even the hug in 704 was weird. I was happy to have it but it was still weird. The kitchen conversation in ep 9 at Eddie’s place felt odd and incomplete for buddie. We get queer sexual innuendo (‘skulking around my back door’), basic mutual acknowledgment of worry about the dead wife doppelganger, and that’s a wrap? Okay I guess * eyeroll emoji * Then we had the finale where Eddie is obviously losing his mind and Buck is just sitting on the arm of the couch like ‘i dunno what to tell you man’. Like they’ve never had a (chris) conversation before in their life. Like buck wouldn’t have been the one to VOLUNTEER to go talk to chris without eddie spelling it out. Like buck wasn’t the person who stayed with chris talked to him and took care of him when eddie got shot and when eddie lost his damn mind in 513. The buck in the finale was not the buck who did all those things. He was so bodysnatched it’s not even funny. Also, in what world would buck have snarked that chris can’t keep eddie out of his room??? Buck, my good sir, if eddie wanted to break down chris’ door he wouldn’t have called you over bc he can do that on his own without a consult. That scene felt ooc af plus the dialogue was just plain dumb.

Hen and Chim have barely had a meaningful friend moment this season. It’s mostly Hen razzing Chim, a polite smile, or nada. Let’s not even talk about the ‘betrayal’ in the beginning with the councilwoman’s son and then the deeply meaningless drama that ensued after. So much so that they commented on it in a joking way on the helicopter. That’s not how Hen and Chim roll. They give each other clear and unapologetic honesty at all times. Not the cold shoulder for sport which is what it felt like when Hen finally said she wasn’t actually mad. The gender and racial implications of how that played out are not lost on me. It felt like a 180 from how these characters normally interact in serious circumstances. Complete waste of time and invented drama for drama’s sake. I don’t blame Hen and Chim for that, like everything else I’ve mentioned in this critique of the season, it’s pure writing room weirdness.

Bobby’s locker room conversation with Buck in ep 9 was more like mentor-mentee than father-son. We’ve stated that as their dynamic several times but that’s not what we got in that locker room. They were standing several feet apart, Bobby and Buck smiled politely, no hug, no shoulder pat. Just textbook sterile ‘you’re okay kid’. Bobby could have given that speech to no-name firefighter number 12 and it would have felt the same.

You mean to tell me in the finale that Bobby was just gonna stroll back into work in uniform after quitting like nothing happened? Like he’s still employed. My good sir, you didn’t even call headquarters before showing up to be like ‘just kidding i want my job back’. You mean to tell me Buck and Ravi were at work, in uniform and clocked in, but didn’t already know Gerard was there? You mean to tell me Bobby was supposedly that allergic to having a real emotional/vulnerable conversation with literally anybody that he strolled into work WHEN HE NO LONGER WORKS THERE like he was gonna get to actually work??? I just can’t -

Anyway, this post is long af so if you made it to the end, thank you. Honestly, I'm still processing this season but as of now, in the words of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, “I take no leave of you, [Tim Minear]. I send no compliments to your [season 7 showrunner decisions]! You deserve no such attention! I am seriously displeased!”

[sensitiveheartless]

20 questions for fic writers!

Tagged by @feralrookie! :D Thank you for the tag!!

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

10! (technically, kinda)

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

379,547

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Bungou Stray Dogs! It's also the first fandom I've written for, actually. :D

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

This is how it feels to take a fall (Dazai goes feral, time shenanigans)

Plate :( (Dazai breaks a plate, experiences emotions)

Dazai and the Moving Detective Agency (Howl's Moving Castle AU)

Chuunyaa's Pawsitively Catastrophic Day (Chuuya is turned into a cat, it's short and pretty much just shenanigans)

Wish in one hand (First fic I wrote, and the first one I posted — Dazai has emotions about handholding)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to, but I've been absolutely terrible at it lately — whenever I'm particularly stressed I start worrying that the negative emotions are going to leak through into what I'm writing and make my tone sound weird, so then I end up turtling in on myself and not saying anything at all, no matter how much I want to engage with people. It's a bad habit, and I want to work on it, so I'm gonna try to catch up on comments! (I treasure every single one of the ones I receive, so for anyone who has left a comment and hasn't gotten a response from me yet, thank you and I am very sorry about my inability to form words in a timely manner skdjfksd)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably An Unsent Letter, since it's pretty much just a short snippet of Dazai being sad while he's leaving the mafia. And even with that one, I have in my head that skk still get together after the four years apart, I just didn't write it. I am dreadful with sad endings — although the ending to "This is how it feels to take a fall" is a little bittersweet, perhaps.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmm...I'm gonna say Dazai and the Moving Detective Agency, because it's the one with the longest buildup, so I think it has the most catharsis, at least for me! But I tend to give all of my fics happy endings because, as established, I am a wimp when it comes to hardcore angst. I will say that Zut Alors I Have Missed One is probably a contender for happiest as well, just because that fic had no angst whatsoever and was just Unhinged

8. Do you get hate on fic?

Nope! Everyone's been lovely! I have gotten some for my art, but honestly it was pretty toothless and I couldn't take it seriously lol

9. Do you write smut?

...Yeh. :0 There was an attempt, at least — one fic, and I made it anonymous (so on the extreme off-chance that anyone notices a discrepancy between my total ao3 wordcount listed here and the summed up wordcounts of the fics viewable on my profile, that's why!) It's also another fic I need to finish, I hit my writing roadblock with that one at the same time as all my others, and it's almost doneeee I just need my brain to cooperate >:|

10. Do you write crossovers?

Not any proper crossovers, only things like the Howl AU and the Little Mermaid AU, where I took the settings/plots and put in BSD characters.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

...Possibly? I'm not actually sure, I've given a couple people permission, but I'm not sure if anything came of that, I haven't heard one way or another :0 I do have a tendency to use puns, which I realize might make things difficult for translations

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, not so far — and given how tempestuous my schedule has been, it'll probably be a while before I attempt anything like that! Sounds fun, though

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

...I mean, it's gotta be soukoku, because for all that I've enjoyed a lot of fictional pairings before (for example, Howl and Sophie specifically from the HMC books, Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing — I like bickering duos, what do you know — Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, currently falling down the Hualian rabbithole because I'm reading Heaven Official's Blessing with my friend, and there's lots of other ones), for as much as I like all those, I haven't really had much of an urge to write anything for them.

So, purely in terms of me wanting to mess around with two characters and write them over and over and over again, it's really only skk! They hit the exact right combination of braincells, I guess lololol

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but probably won't?

Hmmm...honestly, most of my WIPs I still intend to finish at some point or another — first priority being the ones I've already started posting, of course! Although...just due to time constraints, I might not get around to writing the thief!Chuuya/detective!Dazai one I was planning a while back. (and I mean a WHILE lol) I didn't write very much of it, and honestly most of the reason I wanted to write it was for comedy — so maybe I'll turn it into a short comic series instead, because I do think some of the bits were funny :0

16. What are your writing strengths?

That's a hard one; I tend to look more at the ways I want to improve my writing then at what I like about it, and I nitpick just about everything I create, art and writing alike. But if I had to pick something, I would probably say dialogue? That tends to be what I write easiest, at least. I still want to get better at that too, though.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions and action scenes. I've been making myself write them more, so I think I'm slowly improving (the Howl AU has been great for that! It pushed me to write all sorts of scenes I wouldn't have normally :D ), but those two things remain what I get bogged down by the most.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Depends on the circumstances, I think? I'd include translations if I did. I do tend to include Japanese honorifics when I'm writing in the canon universe, because there's not really english equivalents and it feels like I'm leaving something out when I just do their names straight — although I did take them out when I was doing the Howl AU and the Little Mermaid AU, just as a setting thing.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Bungou Stray Dogs — like I mentioned in the ship section, this is the first fandom where I've really felt the urge. Although I did write things when I was little that very blatantly yoinked in various creatures and concepts from the things I was reading and watching, which resulted in stories with pirates and weeping angels and Ringwraiths all running around in the same place. But I didn't usually bother with bringing in actual characters from those pieces of media, or even using the settings, I just made ocs and had them run around in my own made up world.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I like all of them for different reasons, but I think my favorite overall has to be Dazai and the Moving Detective Agency. It's the longest thing I've ever written, and when I started out I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it — so the fact that it's most of the way done (currently chipping away at the epilogue, it is getting to be a LOT of words) makes me really happy. And it's just been so much fun! Writing characters I hadn't before, piecing the world together, working out the magic system, writing Dazai being a mess and Chuuya being cool, it's all been a blast. And I seriously need to finish the epilogue, because the followups are living in my brain and they demand to be freed aksdfjksdjfk

But yeah! I'm not sure how many writers I know on here have already been tagged, so I'll just go open tags on this one! :D If any of y'all write and feel like doing this, then go for it!

[offorestsongs]

Rook + Lysander ― ship introduction ♡

it only took me like, a good few months but finally! an official (somewhat of an) introduction post for the main OC x canon ship i post about on here - Rook x Lysander aka lilyarrow. Lysander is my Yuu and you can read more about him here <3

i didn't write out their entire relationship timeline because 1. this post is already pretty long and 2. i want to give myself some space to just, make up scenarios lmao. there are some things about the development of their relationship that i consider to be pretty set-in-stone so maybe one day i'll make a post about that too

FIRSTS 𓂅

FIRST MEETING ➙

Lysander has met most of the characters earlier than in the game canon (mostly because i think that makes for some fun dynamics), including Rook. they've met shortly after book 2. Lysander was actually trying to make Ramshackle more liveable; cleaning, moving out some of the old furniture that had was too broken to use, fixing up some things here and there. Rook just kind of,, appeared out of nowhere (he was actually watching Lysander for a while now), spooking poor Grim out, and offered his help. he also kissed Lysander's hand.

when Lysander tried to introduce himself, Rook interrupted him, saying that he already knows it. he also knows what class Lysander is in, his seat number, height and interests.

Lysander, in turn, blushed. he thought it was cute. he did, however, firmly refused any help, since he likes to do everything by himself (Grim thought that was very stupid of him). but Rook insisted until Lysander had given in and agreed to it, so in the end they've spent the entire day moving furniture and painting walls. turns out, Rook had a lot to say about Lysander's interior design choices.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS ➙

Lysander: as i said, presented with Rook's stalker tendencies right off the bat, instead of being weirded out, he thought it's kind of sweet. he's not really used to people noticing him or paying attention to him, so he naturally got kind of flustered by the idea of somebody having any sort of interest in him. he also needed only about five seconds before going "oh! i like him!" ― he just tends to cling to people who are more extroverted and more talkative than him, and he found the fact that Rook seems to have more knowledge about a lot of things pretty interesting. he was a bit overwhelmed by Rook's general Everything, but he pretty quickly got used to it. Rook: he was actually watching Lysander for a lot longer than the day they first met; he was quite taken by Lysander's delicate beauty. he thought that Lysander is like a pretty little flower ― Rook would be failing his life's mission if he didn't help Lysander bloom into his full potential! he was also kind of impressed with the fact that for a tiny, frail, magicless human, Lysander seemed to fare pretty well (especially watching him haul all that heavy furniture).

WHO CONFESSED FIRST ➙

surprisingly, it was Lysander! while Rook was well aware that Lysander returns his feelings (i mean, Lysander was very obvious about it, if anything, it was hard to not notice), he was also willing to wait. you can't make your final move too fast or you'll spook your prey ― Lysander still seemed very skittish and he didn't want to accidentally scare him away. and besides, the wait is as much part of the fun as anything that comes after it (and he enjoyed teasing Lysander and watching him make the most awkward attempts at flirting seen to man).

meanwhile, Lysander made a bet with Vil that if they win the VDC, he'll finally confess to Rook. well. yeah. about that... but Lysander still decided that he's going to do it because, well, they've all had kind of a shitty day, he can at least have this one thing. and he's been hyping himself up all day! he can't all that go to waste!

(and maybe, just maybe he was a lot a bit jealous over a certain celebrity from a rival school. but just maybe!)

Lysander kind of fumbled it tho. he wanted to say something heartfelt and sweet and romantic, but he got too stressed out after like, the first sentence and started to kind of ramble. but Rook thought that it was cute, so it was all okay <3

FIRST DATE ➙

well technically their first date was going to get Vil, Grim & co out of S.T.Y.X while Epel was thirdwheeling them but that doesn't count lmao

it was surprisingly normal and kind of, low-key. very private, very cozy. even before getting together, they would often go on walks and just kind of wander around, especially in the woods near the school.

so they went on a picnic in a little meadow that the often used to meet up at. Rook was the one who organized it, so he was the one who got all the food and all ― Lysander would be happy to do so himself, but Rook didn't want him to do any work before their date <3. Lysander has a real sweet tooth, so Rook had mostly got them Lysander's favorite sweets.

also they got caught in the rain about half way through and had to run back but Lysander got to wear Rook's jacket so it's still a profit? he never gave it back

FIRST KISS ➙

it was actually during their first date! they were both laying on the blanket and chatting and it just kind of,,, happened. for the romance of it all, i would love to say that Rook is a good kisser but realistically speaking i don't think he actually has much experience, same with Lysander, so it was just kind of awkward, but still pretty sweet! tho Lysander did start laughing because he got too overwhelmed.

also it was almost right after that it started raining. they don't have the best luck lmao.

RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS 𓂅

WHAT DO THEY LIKE ABOUT EACHOTHER ➙

Lysander: first of all, he really likes and appreciates the fact that Rook can read him pretty well!! Rook is one of the few people who understand that Lysander really isn't shy or anything, he just doesn't like talking too much and never pushed him into it. Rook is also very good at noticing when Lysander gets too overwhelmed by social situations and is quick to pull him out of them.

for his whole life, Lysander had to work hard to prove that he's worth anything, so he really appreciates the way Rook just,, sees him and loves him for who he is, wholeheartedly and without any conditions. it's maybe the first time Lysander feels really appreciated without having to do anything to "deserve" it.

he likes that Rook is emotional and earnest and genuine!! even if Rook is secretive and weird about some things, Lysander could never distrust him, because he knows that he's honest about the things that matter (especially, his feelings towards other people).

and he also likes the way Rook is so passionate about so many things!! he likes that Rook knows so much about many different topics and that he's always willing to talk at length about them!! and he likes the way Rook gets all excited over it too, he thinks its so cute <3.

Rook: he likes that Lysander is kind and warm and sweet. and most importantly, he likes that Lysander is somebody who chooses to be kind, no matter what — the thinks that's really admirable

he likes that Lysander is so resilient! again, he thinks the way Lysander is so bent on building a life for himself in a unfamiliar world, that he's never deterred by people treating him awfully, that he's willing to be stubborn when the situation demands it and that he doesn't give up easily.

he really appreciates how good of a listener Lysander is. while sure, Rook will gladly just talk at people, he's happy to have someone whos willing to actually listen to him, who's genuinely interested, who's asking questions and who actually tries to look at the world from Rook's perspective.

he also likes how busy Lysander always is. he likes that Lysander is always working on something, always has some project in mind, especially since he likes watching Lysander at work. he also finds Lysander’s wide array of home renovation skills absolutely delightful.

WHAT DO THEY DISLIKE ABOUT EACHOTHER ➙

Lysander: he has some bad jealousy issues, so he tends to get a bit grumpy when Rook starts fawning about other people. he knows Rook doesn't mean it like that, but he's still unhappy

also he doesn't always appreciate how blunt Rook can be with his words, but they usually can talk it out so it's alright

Rook: while he does love how kind Lysander is, yes, he also thinks that sometimes Lysander is being too much of a pushover. yes, it is very noble and beautiful to sacrifice so much of yourself for other people's sake, he wouldn't mind if Lysander also took care of himself while at it!!

FAVORITE PHYSICAL FEATURE OF THE OTHER ONE ➙

Lysander: listen. he's a simple boy. his type is just guys who are Strong. and so as you can imagine, he feels Very normal about Rook's arms. the first time he saw Rook in a t-shirt, he was UNCONSOLABLE. he also likes Rook's hands a lot, he likes that they're the rough hands of somebody who actually uses them to do work

Rook: while he would surely write many pomes about any given part of Lysander’s appearance, he's especially fond of Lysander’s freckles. he always tries to kiss as many of them as he can.

he's also very fond of Lysander’s smile since Lysander doesn't actually smile all that often.

WHAT DO THEY DO TOGETHER ➙

they're both very outdoorsy people so most of their time together is just Going Somewhere. they like to just be in nature, Lysander then can ask Rook about Fun Animal Facts and Rook can be delighted by how animals seem to be naturally drawn to Lysander.

they can and will treat any outing as a date. they also treat everything they do like an adventure!!! no matter where they're going, they're going to find it fun and exciting!! but they especially like discovering new places together; when they're travelling somewhere, they like to go off map and just wander around and Lysander drags Rook to every food place they come across.

when they go on more "fancy" dates, it's usually theatre/opera. back in his home world, Lysander actually never went to theatre and upon learning about it, Rook went to fix it IMMEDIATELY. Lysander is still not that much into it, but he likes that Rook likes it.

they also watch a lot of movies even when they're just chilling together — again, Lysander is mostly happy that Rook can go on and on about cinematography and behind-the-scenes stuff. Rook had introduced him to musicals tho and he does actually like those!!

Rook is not allowed to help Lysander while Lysander is cooking, but sometimes Lysander lets Rook sit in the kitchen and watch. it's one of the few times when Lysander actually gets chatty because he starts to explain what he's doing and Rook is just happy to be able to listen (tho Lysander always makes him do the dishes afterwards). Rook also often helps Lysander with work in Lysander's garden.

OTHER FACTS 𓂅

aka all the other things i wanted to mention but i didnt know where to put them lmao

i wanted to put it into the "what do they like about eachother" section but didn't know how to fit it in so it's here BUT. Lysander actually never found Rook weird and gets a bit defensive when others do so because. well. Lysander knows well how it is, to be labelled as "the weird person" simply because your way of interacting with other people is a bit out of the norm

while they aren't overly touchy with eachother in public, they're still very affectionate and combined with the fact that they often act like they're joined by hip, it makes them kind of insufferable to be around

they ARE very touchy in private tho!! they often cuddle/take naps together. Rook likes to put his head on Lysander’s chest so he can listen to Lysander’s heartbeat

while Rook uses A LOT of petnames in general, the one he uses most often is mon fleur, since, as i've said, Lysander reminds him of a flower a lot. Lysander is not big on petnames but he often calls Rook "my love" or "my heart"

they write eachother letters by hand, despite the fact that going to the same school, they have no real need to do so. usually full of dramatic romantic confessions and plans for the future

at one point they've given eachother a lock of their hair

not only did Lysander find Rook's stalking tendencies kind of cute, he would also leave the curtains in his windows opened just in case Rook was watching

obviously, the have eachother photo's as their phone lockscreens

Rook really admires the fact that Lysander does embroidery/sewing! he's fascinated by it since it's such a delicate job that requires a lot of carefullness and patience. he likes to sit with his head in Lysander's lap and watch him do it

Vil had put them in a "there was only one bed" scenario during book 5, making them share Lysander’s bedroom (since there were more people living at Ramshackle than actually liveable rooms, they had to arrange everyone somehow)

Rook often compares Lysander to a hare and once bought him a hare plushie

there's some intersection between Rook's interest in hunting and Lysander’s interest in cooking; somehow, that ended up with Rook teaching Lysander how to skin a rabbit (i feel like i shouldn't be putting this point right after the previous one LMAO)

they actually really love teaching eachother how to do things they're interested in!! Rook had also taught Lysander how to climb trees, some archery and whittling (with varying degrees of success)

Rook has just. so many sketchbook pages filled solely with drawings of Lysander

Lysander very often steals borrows Rook's hoodies/shirts; he likes that they're soft and too big on him and smell like Rook. Rook also often steals borrows Lysander’s clothes — they're too small for him to wear obviously but he just likes Lysander’s smell

[pueraeternal]

Limbus Shipping Company

Edit: My assumption is that Sinclair is a adult. ive been told otherwise. My perception is that Sinclair and Don are consenting adults.

Don Quixote stood over Sinclairs body.  He was on his back, eyes wide open, a look of panic on his face,  breathing fast,  hands, red with blood grasped at the dirt and rocks where he lay. Blood was pooling and slowly soaking into the earth around his hips, somewhere on his torso was likely a mortal wound, at least Sinclair thought that.  His mind raced with all sorts of unfortunate outcomes, the main one, “Dante is not here”.

Dons knees were bent, her feet on either side of Sinclairs hips, her upper body leaning forward in a aggressive stance, left arm out at her side, right hand clutching her lance in a Seigan no Kamae stance, one she learned from watching Ryōshū. Don yelled at the Inquisition, spit flying from her lips “Leave Him Alone!”. Her breathing was heavy, causing her body to rise and fall w/ each breath, but nothing else moved, she stared, daring anyone to come near Sinclair.   Sinclair's eyes opened a bit wider and the pain dissipated slightly, “Don is putting her life on the line, for…for  me?!”  He never felt more protected and safe than he did at this moment.  Sinclair always felt Don Quixote got the least respect from the group, but the one he respected the most.  “She nearly beat me to death one time,  because she cared enough to stop me from doing something stupid”.  I never forgot that lesson and looked up to her ever since.  But today, certainly no other sinner would risk themselves for me.  All would wait for the Holy Dante to set things right, not caring about their selfish actions or how it affects others. W/ Dante out of the picture, would they dare take any risk, knowing Death was much closer.  I'm sure even Gregor would have left given the odds, but Don, she stayed knowing full well the outcome for us both.

Don eyed the battlefield w/ a narrow focus that only comes from adrenaline.  She saw each enemy in clear detail.  The hesitation of the leader caused the remaining two to stop in their tracks.  The lance aimed at his eyes, and her eyes bore a hole through his skull. “No one is touching this boy” she thought.  The leader slowly backed away, making a motion to the others w/ his hands to back away.  He lost too many today, and saw what she could do, he did not want a similar fate.  

Sinclair was not sure what was happening, time was at a weird place for him, it was not until Don changed her stance and then quickly kneeled down beside him putting his head on her lap. He figured they backed away.  He let out a feeble "Fuck off assholes" Don huished him and asked “My boy..errrm, Sinclair...how fare thee?”  Don breaking character for a second did not slip past Sinclair.  But what did slip was his consciousness, Sinclair passed out in her arms, it was the most peace and safest he felt since his family died. 

Thou art alive! She whispered into Sinclairs ears, his eyes opened, it was cold out but he was warm next to her body.  It must be nearly dawn, he thought.  Sinclair was on his back and Don on her side snuggled close to keep him warm. Her cape was around them both, one arm wrapped over his chest and the other tucked under using her hand as a pillow.  She was tight against Sinclair, and whispered in his ear, “I am glad you are better, I was worried.” Knowing this break in character would not go unnoticed, Don added “tell anyone and ill pummel you a second time”. She kissed his cheek and her face remained touching his as she drifted off again.  Sinclair had never been this close to a woman before, at least not outside of a fight or training.  Her breath on his ear and body tight against his, caused Sinclair to have feelings, ones he never felt before. Since was swaddled in her cape and arm, he was not able to scooch over, for modesty's sake. But given the temperature, he appreciated her warmth and decided this was the best place to be.  He stayed in place, feeling a bit awkward but also, enjoying these new feelings.

During the day, Sinclair was able to take in all the work Don put into keeping them alive the past 3 days, only making him feel more appreciative of her.  She gathered leaves for tea, hunted small game, cleaned and cooked them.  Collected fire wood and never lost a bounce her step.  She talked non stop, usually about Siegfried or fixers but she also regaled Sinclair w/ how he stepped in to save her from that ambush.  Risking his life to save hers.   Sinclair smiled, he had never been thought as a hero before. He reflected on his actions and did what felt right in the moment, stepping in to stop Don from being pierced by a sword, taking the cut meant for her. His action did not go unnoticed, Don felt it was the bravest thing anyone has ever done, and for her.  No one has ever stepped in to be her hero.  She only fantasized of the red Gaze saving her from Peril or fighting alongside of him.  Having a real life hero save her was the stuff of dreams and legends.  Don  was still happily talking about her fave fixers and skipping through their camp when they heard the sound of Mephistopheles approaching and the toot toot of Charon behind the wheel.  Dante, Faust and Vergil greeted  both, but not before admonishing them for leaving the group.   4 days prior, Don saw a village burnt to the ground and the corpses of those left behind, the dead children is what set her in motion.  She ran off w/ out hesitation to find their killers.  Sinclair gave chase, partly out of his admiration for Don but also, not having anything to live for, she always had something motivating her, Sinclair wanted some of that, and her spirit.  She was always so damn happy, being around her made him look at life differently. So for once in his life, Sinclair was impulsive and followed someone into the fray.  Given how he felt about her today, Sinclair had no regret despite nearly dying.

Since then, Don Quixote was always near Sinclair.  Mostly happy to have someone listen to her talk about fixers. Sinclair had a patience the others did not, she could actually get through a full story and he would still be there to the end smiling.  Adding to her tales of the great fixers, she would often regale the group of the time Sinclair stepped in to save her life. These were the only times the group would stay and listen, even Ryōshū.  Dons admiration for Sinclair was clear for all to hear.  Not to mention she doted on him, not really in a motherly or sisterly way, but a caring friend way.  She was also protective of Sinclair.  One day Heathcliff wanted Sinclairs head to see if it would fit on Dantes body then Ryōshū offering her sword, saying it would work better than his stupid bat.  Don stepped in, normally there would have been a scuffle and some or lots of blood.  But now, the sinners had new found respect for Don and knew not to step between the two.

 Don, She liked her boy, he was a good fit in her life, something she did not feel she needed till now.  She had no idea what to do w/ him, but she kept him close, he was hers and that was that.  Romance, that would likely never happen, but love, it was there, in their eyes. To Don,  Sinclair was as grand as any fixer she ever met and his life was hers to protect, at least thats what she told herself.

-Puer Æternus

[dizzythegreat]

Keeper of the Lost Cities meta: a hopefully-not-too-critical analysis

Starting off by saying that this whole thing is a just little too pretentious and a just little too fueled by irritation so don't take everything I say as fact! I'm just kind of ranting about things that I feel like most people are annoyed with (?) please share your thoughts with me! I think it's important for discourse like this to happen to keep fandoms alive!! non-Keeper mutuals feel free to DISREGARD!

First of all Keeper has such a special place in my heart, I started reading the series when I was 12 and I'm 16 now, so I really did kind of grow up with the books. I LOVED the series as a kid and hyperfixated on it for a really long time. As the series progresses and as I read it from a different lens, I'm seeing all of the flaws so much more clearly, so this whole rant basically stems from realizing something so special to me is flawed media and wanting to get my thoughts somewhere. All of this comes from a loving place! I'm just putting down my top few issues with the series and my opinions on a lot of different elements <3

DISCLAIMER I'm doing a reread but I'm only on book 1 and my memory is shit. Any false information is literally not my fault leave me alone

1. Length, redundancy, and predictability

This one really starts in Flashback #7 for me. It will always, always evade me why that book contains ~300 straight pages of Sophitz fluff and fucking around in the healing center. I know that a lot of people enjoyed those parts, which is totally valid! Shipping is a cornerstone of this series! But for me it felt so pointless and fan servicey, idk. And this is maybe my biggest problem with the books: they drag. We're at 9 and a half books now, each spanning like 500-800 pages, and the plot drags and drags and drags. I don't know if Shannon's publisher makes her fill a certain number of pages or what, but I feel like at least 100 pages of bullshit could be cut from each book and nothing would change. They start to almost follow a formula: 200 or so pages of figuring out the Neverseen's plan of the hour, another 200-ish to plan how to defeat them, and then finally we learn that the Neverseen is actually always one step ahead and the crew gets crushed oh my god tragic!! It worked as a subversion of expectations the first couple times but by now I feel like most people could basically just predict what's going to happen in any given book. Sometimes I wonder got left on the cutting room floor because it feels like SM wrote a first draft, barely trimmed it down, and published just that. The plot spins in circles, the protagonists are confused yet again, I am pulling my hair out in chunks.

It's a huge turn-off to a lot of new readers seeing these super thick books, and it's even a turn-off to me when I do rereads because surprise surprise, I don't actually really give a fuck if Fitz likes Sophie back, or at least not enough to read 300 pages on it per book. If the books were more concise, not only would that fix a lot of the plot and character development issues, it would also make them way more digestible because to be honest with you I probably couldn't remember half of what happens in most of them.

2. Sophie...

I think this is a very polarizing opinion but I just kind of don't like Sophie as a main character? I honestly think she's fallen victim to becoming a Mary Sue and not even in a "wehhh powerful woman make me mad" type way! It's just that Sophie at her fullest power is undeniably the most powerful elf in a battle, so to counteract this, Shannon has to keep finding ways for the Neverseen to take away Sophie's power. Whether through the whole "she can only inflict everyone at once" thing or breaking every bone in her hand or creating forcefields or literally fucking anything to stop this kid with five million superpowers, they have to find a way to effectively tie her down so the battles seem somewhat realistic. This then creates a weird pattern where every battle goes one of two ways: Neverseen finds a way to effectively debilitate Sophie and all her friends, or she just goes fucking sicko mode and destroys everyone. You just can't have a main character who's this much ahead of everyone else in terms of raw power.

For me, I think the biggest issue with Sophie is she's not relatable to the average reader. The age demographic for Keeper is preteens and teens. How many 13 year olds are the most powerful, unstoppable person in their friend group, in which three hot guys are head-over-heels in love with them, living in very comfortable conditions, with like five hundred friends? If you were that fucking baller at 13 then go fuck yourself that's super cool for you! But the core pillars of Sophie's life, disregarding the all the magical stuff (which obviously requires some suspension of disbelief) are simply not relatable or recognizable to the average reader. So how are we as readers supposed to feel connected to Sophie's life and situation if we never have (and let's face it, never will) experience anything close to the more realistically human parts of her life?

3. Character development (and the lack thereof)

Say what you will but to me the character development is so pale and arguably just doesn't exist. It feels like everyone has become so one-dimensional, so predictable, and so limp. Sophie has it the worst because we read from her POV, so all of her quirks and thoughts become really fucking annoying to read over and over again. For example, The whole oblivious "omg does Dex like me? does Keefe like me? DO I LIKE FITZ???" thing was cute when she was 12 back in book one but by now I am genuinely tearing my hair out when I have to read "Sophie blushed" every two pages. The whole "I'm a freak and nothing I do ever works and all is hopeless" thing was easy to feel sympathy for the first few times, but by now it's just kind of... exhausting? It feels like the naïve, oblivious Sophie from book 1 is exactly the same person as Stellarlune Sophie, no matter how many hideouts SM makes her burn down to prove she's ruthless or something. At this point, I feel like Sophie's choices throughout the series end up either being really predictable or wildly out of left field.

Every character other than Fitz, Keefe, and Sophie (and you could make a case for the three of them too) have become a shadow of themselves and they all get at most two conversations worth of pagetime. This can be attributed to a lot of things that I don't feel like talking about so here they are in point form: excessive focus on the main "love triangle", overloaded cast of protagonists, too much emphasis on A) furthering the plot and B) Sophie's inner thoughts instead of character relationships and found family. I think the books have lost sight of the original love, trust, and bond created by the five mains, and those super interesting dynamics between the different sets of friends that were so abundant in the first few installements have become few and far between. When I was a kid, I loved the books for the warm friendships and soft moments between Sophie and Dex, and now we're lucky if they even really talk to each other if not to push the plot. Biana barely exists, Marella and Linh show up every once in a while to be gay as fuck and then leave, Stina turned nice and then immediately went back to being a bitch because SM, for some reason, un-did all her redemption, and everyone else fucks around until they're plot-relevant. Where's the squad where's the crew where's the homoerotic undertones?!

4. Miscellaneous whining

Fitz's character is wildly inconsistent imo. I love you Sophie but I'm going to consistently get mad at you over irrelevant things and ice you out even though you need my support! Your boyfriend is for the streets girl

Fuck this whole half-book thing I'm sorry. Understandably, things have slowed down now that SM has two kids and I'm really truly happy for her and I'm glad she's taking time out of her work for herself and her family. But when she keeps releasing these weird novellas every year as some kind of "solution", it really just seems like a cop-out or a cash grab. I wish we could tell Shannon that we don't necessarily need a 700+ page novel to consider it a book! I personally would love if book 10 was more concise!! Let's just get this plot moving a bit!!

Sophie burning Gisela's book BURNS MY BLOOD. SM just had no fucking idea what she wanted that book to say + it would probably end the series too quick so she got Sophie to burn the most crucial piece of information they could have ever used under pretense of "refusing to follow Gisela's trap" or whatever OH MY GOD

Sooo many dropped plot lines/plot holes there is no way this shit is being resolved in the next 1 and a half books. See you all in 2034 for book 13.125

Sokeefe endgame was great but so predictable. Half the reason most people read this series is for the will-they-won't-they thing with Sophie, Fitz, and Keefe (justice for Dex!), and I think it was executed very badly. You could predict that Sophie and Fitz would burn out, you could predict that she would end up with Keefe, there was net 0 suspense by the time Fitz made his 500th dick move. I know I just complained about things being stretched out for so long but this one could have done with some taking it slow without making it obvious what was going to happen

Can Marella and Linh just kiss already

Anyways this all comes from a place of loving frustration. Oh Keeper my love, look what has become of you. Ultimately, SM started a fantasy series without knowing the ending, and it's spun out of control, but what can you do? I appreciate the series for what it is, I wish it was better, but I'll always love it. Through all my bitching and moaning I'm still rereading it to this day so who's really winning here? Please rb and comment and dm I love discussing Keeper!!! If you think I'm an idiot tell me!!! If you agree with me tell me!!! Don't be a dick!! Thanks for making it this far! Don't forget to like and subscribe and smash that bell

[gffa]

I cannot even BEGIN to describe how feral this trio of characters makes me, like set aside any potential shipping stuff, just as three characters who each have unique relationships with each other but each of those relationships winds up affecting the other character in this trio. Like-- Dick and Babs are sometimes a team together, two young heroes who are developing a friendship, two young heroes who understand what it's like to work with Tall Dark and Spooky and his need to control everything, that they both understand the other has a need to prove themselves, a drive that will not be stopped no matter what Batman tries to tell them. And eventually they will have an unshakeable relationship, whether romantic or platonic, they will always support each other. And Bruce will use that dynamic to help give Babs gear that will keep her alive until she ~wises up~, and Dick plays along with it, pretends that he's giving it to her because he has a crush on her, meanwhile it actually came directly from Bruce. Yet it also does help give her a sense of someone rooting for her, because Dick genuinely is! Dick and Bruce have a whole encyclopedia set of issues and undercurrents totally separate from this, god knows I've devoted like two hundred posts to trying to chip off even a fraction of Whatever Is Going On Over There, while here they're not yet father and son, but they're not not at that point at the same time, they're just not acknowledging it, but they're also partners, they tag-team Barbara with the good-cop/bad-cop routine when they have her in the Cave to ask why she's doing this, but Dick will turn on a dime and spray her with the knock-out gas, even though he'd projected a harmless aura and sneakily being on her side up until then. Bruce and Barbara have a conflict-driven dynamic, she wouldn't mind having his approval, but it's not why she does what she does, she's not driven by it, she's not motivated by it, this isn't about him. But when they clash, she's often mad as hell, because he wants to treat her like he treats Robin, someone that he can set the rules for, someone he has the right to interrogate and she tells him, no, you don't have a monopoly on helping people or even wearing a Bat-themed symbol. He's not an influence in her life and she genuinely does not want him to be, but at the same time he casts such a long shadow and he's set the mold for all of them, that he's an influence in everyone's life in the Gotham vigilante scene.

And I keep thinking of that one future Gotham Knights issue where Dick tells Bruce that he and Babs are dating and she's so annoyed because SHE wanted to be the one to tell Bruce just so he didn't get to pretend to be all-knowing on her, when Dick just laughs in her face because she's being so cranky and weird about it, he thinks it's hilarious that they're trying to use him as a pawn in whatever chess game they have going between them, because he loves them both but also he's not going to play by those same rules, you guys have fun with that, he'll just watch with popcorn from the sidelines and laugh at you.

Just!! The slippery and sliding dynamics between these three!! At ANY GIVEN TIME two of them could be going through something that spills over onto the third and you never know which two it's going to be! And it's complicated and thorny and crunchy in the best way, there are always good moments and bad moments, and no two dynamics are the same, like what Barbara has with Dick is completely different from what she has with Bruce, which is completely different from what she has with her dad, while what Dick has with Barbara is completely different from what he has with Bruce, while what Bruce has with Dick is completely different from what he has with Barbara, and I'm not sure any other trio really comes close to that (other than maybe Bruce & Tim & Steph, but other than in a few runs, I'm not sure how much of a foundation that is to who the characters are to each other on a bigger narrative level). It's not that they don't exist outside of each other! It's very easy to find Bruce & Dick stories that aren't influenced by Babs at all, it's very easy to find Dick & Babs stories that aren't influenced by Bruce at all, it's even reasonably easy to find Bruce & Babs moments that aren't about Dick at all. They're not all tied up in each other. But they have built their foundations around each other. Bruce, because Dick was the one who knocked down his emotional walls and opened his heart up to having a family. Dick, because Bruce raised him and gave him a path forward in life, gave him direction. Barbara, because if she's going to love Dick (as a friend or as a boyfriend, whichever), he doesn't come without the Bat influence and she has to be aware of the space that takes up in him, as well as if you're a Bat yourself, you're eventually going to clash with Bruce, and boy has she.

And I'm just really, really into that kind of "multiple moving pieces on the board" dynamic, especially when it's not always nice or soft, because each of them care about the other (some more than others, granted) but they are all massively stubborn and often angry people who do not get pushed around easily, who will find a way around you if you try to get in their way, and you never know which two are going to be in conflict and just how that's going to spill over onto the third. I JUST REALLY LOVE DYNAMICS THAT DON'T FIT NEATLY OR EASILY INTO A SINGLE CATEGORY.

SORRY NOT SORRY ABOUT HOW UNHINGED I AM ABOUT THEM WHILE READING THIS COMIC.

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

🔥 Otherside Picnic

I actually have 3 for this. They aren’t THAT unpopular of opinions but I’ll still say em

The anime isn’t bad actually. Is it the worst of the 3 ways to experience the story? Yes I will wholeheartedly admit that, for all the many reasons that everyone who talks about Otherside Picnic knows. But is it bad? No I don’t think so. The anime was very enjoyable for me and I rewatch it occasionally when I want to see my favorite girls. It was what got me into Otherside Picnic in the first place (which is actually the point of a lot of one season anime, it’s essentially an advertisement to get you to buy the manga/books) and for that I am very thankful bc Otherside Picnic is one of my favorite things ever

This one is only really “unpopular” in certain circles of fans here on tumblr. I personally don’t think the Sorawo + Toriko + Kozakura poly ship is very good or likely to develop further. Kozakura’s attraction to Sorawo is pretty clearly one-sided and Sorawo only has eyes for Toriko. I also don’t think Toriko and Kozakura have much between them in the way that Sorawo has with both Kozakura and Toriko. I do think that Kozakura having an obvious crush on Sorawo is very funny and a very interesting dynamic, but even Kozakura herself seems to recognize that Sorawo will never think of her the same way

This is the hottest take of them all I think: Toriko isn’t dumb! It’s understandable how someone could read Otherside Picnic and think that Toriko is kinda dumb given how she often comes across, but she very much isn’t. Most of the conversations in Otherside Picnic are about weird phenomena that follows templates made by ghost stories partially based on what the Otherside finds in human minds. So with this being the most common subject the girl who is extremely autistic about ghost stories and the girl who is literally a brain scientist are both going to sound smart, which leaves Toriko as a partial stand in for the audience that the other girls can explain things to. Basically everything about her position in the story makes her the least knowledgeable about relevant things and make her come across as ignorant. She doesn’t know much about ghost stories or how the human mind works, and she’s also not from Japan and is less familiar with the customs and culture than all the other characters (even though it’s somewhat implied that her mom who isn’t the soldier is Japanese, she is still a white girl from Canada who has only been in Japan a few years). And on top of all this she sort of gets dumber when she’s feeling particularly attracted to or horny for Sorawo, which is pretty frequently. Given that the story is told from Sorawo’s perspective, it’s understandable why Toriko appears “dumb” to many readers. She’s impulsive and a bit naive, but when she actually gets to show off the things she’s good at (mostly knowing about guns, shooting guns, and being generally badass) she’s actually an extremely competent woman:

[ladyazurith]

Totally agree with you about Cater in Book 5. I always found Ace and Deuce's inclusion on the team extremely forced and contrived. Realistically speaking, neither of them should’ve ever made the cut. Neither one of them have any singing or dancing training. While they did practice a little, there’s no way in hell someone would ever become a professional level dancer in the matter of a couple of days, even with the best teacher in the world. 

I’m 99% certain that Yana only did that for plot convenience, because that way she wouldn’t have to craft two new characters to fill in the roles on the team. While I can understand that logic from a real world game development standpoint, like you said, I still don’t understand why someone like Cater could’ve taken Ace’s spot at the very least. Cater is in the Light Music Club, so he has a background in that area. His VA is a professional singer. Cater making the team wouldn’t be as big of a stretch as Ace. It’s not like Ace did much in this arc other than cause trouble and insult Deuce, anyways, so anyone could’ve taken his spot. 

The other question about ch 3 is going to take a bit more thinking, cuz I've tried to make it work before in various stories, but this seems like a complete rework kind of answer is needed.

And yeah, I made a post a while ago about how Cater had to feel about the VDC, and it's something I tackle in some of my fics. Because I don't know how he can look at what happened and who got picked and not come to the conclusion Vil just hates him? Like this man is so driven to win that he's willing to do anything...except let Cater on the team.

And given I ship the two of them primarily their dynamic is something I've put a lot of effort into figuring out. The only thing I've found to justify it is that Vil doesn't like the idea of dating someone just for PR/fame. Because the way he talks to/reacts to Cater is just... not in line with how he treats everyone else. He constantly calls him shallow or implies he's only after fame which is just a wild take.

That he would let someone like Rook be his friend who 100% comes off more like a stalker fan type than Cater. And Rook doesn't even hide it. Like I get they bonded over Theater but it's not like Vil and Cater have no common ground at all. Cater's shown to be into fashion and design, given they go out of their way to mention Cater came up with Heartslabyul's Halloween costumes and designed their LMC clubwear (When for the most part that's all just assumed to be Crewel)

And then there is his friendship with Kalim like I've pointed out. And Lilia which Vil admits is someone he's interested in getting to know better himself. Hell Cater and Rook are friends? Like none of it makes sense.

Especially when Vil also has no problems with associating with other people who are clearly out to use him?!?! Like Azul, Jade, Ace...even Leona? But nah we're gonna hate on Cater. When he's always you know ASKED to take Vil's picture, even in situations where he wouldn't have to ie in public spaces and what not. He's never just taken it without permission.

In the end, despite the fact that Vil calls Cater shallow he's the one that comes across as incredibly shallow about the whole thing. Especially when we have Cater talking about what he sees in Vil and what he appreciates about him and why he looks up to him...and none of it is really shallow? He definitely sees more in him than just a quick ticket to fame.

It just seems so weird when Vil otherwise seems to put effort into helping others better themselves. He can be incredibly generous and thoughtful in certain situations. AND HE KNOWS THAT CATER IS LIKELY DEPRESSED. And that's what he's hiding behind his cheerful facade thanks to Cater's Labcoat personal story.

It's just like consistency, please. Anyway you probably weren't expecting this rant sorry XD It's a sore spot for me if you can't tell lol

[lesbiansanemi]

SHINOBU FOR ASK GAME!!!

OFC OFC HELL YES MY BELOVED SHINOBU <3 TY JAYFORD <333

Favorite thing about them: There are so, so many things I love about Shinobu, but ultimately I think my favorite thing has to be her all-consuming desire for revenge. That sounds so edgy, but it is very rare that I get to see a female character have a genuine revenge plot line, let alone that being the main focus of her story, and it actually gets to end with her killing the man she wants revenge against. So many revenge plot lines (especially ones given to women) end with the character giving up vengeance, or allowing someone else to take it for them. Not Shinobu. She got what she wanted and told Douma to go fuck himself in hell. Queen shit

Least favorite thing about them: I tried so hard to come up with something, but I truly have no genuine complaints with Shinobu's character and how she's written. So I'll choose something petty. Her hairstyle. Like, pinned up it looks fine, I like it, but we never see her hair down so I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IT DRIVES ME INSANE. I def don't think she has very long heir, I tend to go with shoulder length, but god I would love to know

Favorite line: Tbh her whole monologue from her opening scene still sticks with me. Her cadence and word choices and cheery smile as she talks about torturing the sister spider demon did such a good job of introducing her as a character, and their the lines I can most clearly remember off the top of my head

brOTP: Now.... hear me out.... Shinobu and Sanemi. I like the hc that they grew kind of close themselves when Sanemi and Kanae were Hashira together. I think they probably would have gotten along pretty well (well, by Shinobu and Sanemi standards) before Shinobu adopted a lot of Kanae's mannerisms and personality after her death. Because of this, I like to think that Sanemi is one of the few people she will fall back into her "old" personality with, at least in small ways. I do think they drifted apart after Kanae's death though. Partially because Shinobu emotionally distanced herself from pretty much everyone, but also because Sanemi didn't like her trying to emulate Kanae in the ways that she did. He found it weird and unsettling. But, every now and then, in brief moments where they're alone together, they can fall into old teasing and banter more easily than they realize

OTP: ShinoMitsu, easily! It's one of my favorite kny ships in general. I think that Shinobu and Mitsuri compliment each other as characters very well, and there is so much angst potential regarding their relationship (I know you know what I'm talking about, you understand Jayford haha). Mitsuri inspiring Shinobu to want to live again but she doesn't know how is actually something that can be so personal

nOTP: Shinobu x any man. Sorry that's a whole lesbian. But more specifically, I really can't fuck with Giyu//Shino or Dou//Shino. Keep that shit AWAY from me. I just don't like them in general, but I find so much of the content for them leans very heavily into "woman fixes sad broken man" and makes Shinobu way too nurturing and mothery which.... eugh....

Random headcanon: I like the headcanon that she opens the Butterfly Mansion to any women who need a shelter/resources for any reason, related to demons or not. The estate is huge, and as a Hashira, money is not an issue. So she's more than happy to give any women and girls a place to stay if they need to get out of bad situations (be it related to family, marriage, or something demonic). She is obviously very busy, so she's not directly involved with a lot of the women who are in and out, but she does what she can for them. She's also very willing to get any girls to good trainers to become swordsmen, if they want

Unpopular opinion: I feel people in the fandom swing wildly between two misinterpretations of her. The first being where people act like she's a much "better" person than she is, and who seem to fall for her smiles and pleasant tone. They treat her as if she can do no wrong, and tend to get mad/upset if someone depicts her as less than perfect (wild to me, esp considering canon makes it very obvious that she has many flaws). However, you also have the other side of the spectrum, where people act as if she's a horrible, awful irredeemable bitch and disregard her kindness as nothing but an act because she's complex and sometimes does questionable things. I do think both of these things are rooted in misogyny, the belief that women have to either be perfect goddesses, OR they're two-faced fake bitches, and unfortunately because Shinobu is so nuanced, she tends to get both. But yeah I hate both these interpretations of her and they are both very wide spread. Like guys... can we please just appreciate her for being a nuanced character who has both good and bad aspects, I'm begging

Song I associate with them: I have a couple! Kamikaze and Spoils of War for Shinobu specifically, and then Thank You For the Venom and Dying Star for some ShinoMitsu vibes imo (I should make a Shinobu/ShinoMitsu playlist)

Favorite picture of them: Every time I think of this little drawing I lose my mind, it's so cute and the way Shinobu is just fucking staring at her.... Real

[ohno-myfeefees]

Good omens 2

Finally got around to watching good omens season 2 and just jotting down my thoughts.

I like the ending, aziraphale has always been very holier than thou and he thinks heaven is the best and god is the best so it makes sense that when given a chance to go back to heaven and make someone he likes his little nepo pet he will take it.

Also when Crowley points out that he was offered to come back to hell and he said no, aziraphale goes “well obviously you said no, you’re the bad guys”, as if the angels of heaven didn’t attempt to start Armageddon, kill all of Job’s children, and erase him from existence more than once (saved both times by bad guy Crowley mind you)

I like that when Jim said “I love you” to aziraphale, aziraphale didn’t say it back.

I feel like Crowley kissed aziraphale not cause he cared much about kissing or anything but he thinks that’s what you (or humans) do to show how much you love someone. “One fabulous kiss and we’re good”

I disliked Nina and Maggie, they were off putting together and boring and had no chemistry. But at the same time I also think that was the point. Maggie had a weird stalkerish schoolgirl crush on Nina who was in a terrible and abusive relationship that finally ended and she just wanted to live her life. Any scene with them induced cringe and just dragged on and on. Two heavenly beings decided to then try to forcefully pair them together. It makes sense that the ship doesn’t sail and I’m glad it didn’t and I hope it never does.

People complaining about how grumpy and cold and unlikable Nina is but she’s constantly being hounded by a stalker that she has no attraction to. If I was in her shoes I’d be as dismissive and rude as possible in hopes they leave me alone. Especially if you’re a woman, you should understand how insufferable Maggie is being and she doesn’t get a pass just because she is also a woman/attracted to women.

“I hAvE bRotHerS” stfu Maggie

I hate that Nina called Maggie “angel”, it’s so cheap.

Still hate his royal smugness Gabriel, especially since he got his memories back. Him being Jim for a season didn’t change my feelings and I think Gabriel and beelzebub’s relationship was weird with not much chemistry either.

I like Muriel, she is cute and innocent and naive. I feel like she is the cinnamon roll that most fanfic writers seem to imagine aziraphale to be.

Shax was only a good character at the start. Once she started getting her solo moment in hell and commandeering an army she got boring fast. Her initial relationship with Crowley was compelling as she took over his old position but her character was not consistent.

Archangel Michael’s incompetence and ignorance of anything human is pretty funny this season. I enjoyed seeing more of the angel bureaucracy fleshed out.

Beelzebub was pretty meh this season, too cutesy and not enough deadpan “why is everyone I work with an idiot” and “I don’t give a fuck” attitude.

Wtf was furfur even there for

Fav scene was the Nina “how’s your naked man… friend” and Muriel’s visit to the bookshop for the first time.

I found Crowley being able to access Gabriel’s file interesting especially knowing the clearance level needed and I hope they do something with it.

Just because I didn’t like some of the side characters from season 2 doesn’t mean I miss the side characters for season 1. Anathema, whatshisface unlucky glasses guy, racist abusive Shadwell, and “the them” were all also meh. They worked with the story but I didn’t actually like them or their characters.

Muriel is the best side character ever created aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The season overall was hit or miss, the writing wasn’t very tight, and I found some of the characters very boring and cringey and a lot of the story and characters lack subtlety.

[thesilverlady]

Judging by how Ryan love to show his feminist ideals by making female characters go through unspeakable amount of non-canon abuse and violence. And the only way for Rhaenyra's story to be a progressive/feminist tale is by making her get abused by the men around her. I am going to assume it's wouldn't be that far for Ryan to change Rhae's death and makes her gets raped in 4k scene by aegon (who should be disabled but we know Ryan loves to ignore source material) like show Rhaenyra's got zero respect from the writers. Like even her relationship with Daemon which wasn't healthy in the book to begin with , is now not really about her but because Daemon got the hots for Viserys (some leaks implies it for Aemma) he started projecting into her and entered a relationship with her bc it's the closest he can get to Visussy 🤓 f&b was already bad for me personally but Ryan is such a talented mf he managed to come up with much worse

*sorry for the rant I don't really ship daemrya but I really hate watching a female character get non-canon abuse just for the writers to prove a point about a male character *

Edit: My answer became very negative so for the pookies who want to avoid discourse and negativity pls scroll past ♥

it's alright! no need to apologize! 🫶

tbh with you I do enjoy daemyra very much in the book but I fully acknowledge their dynamic has its toxicity (tbf it's super rare to find a wholesome, sweet, "healthy" asoiaf couple and I probably wouldn't even get that hooked compared to how I get with the dark ones)

That being said, the couple lost me already by s1 ep4, so it terms of shipping I've given up waiting anything from them

Now about the writing, hotd has been misogynistic from the start so I'm not exactly waiting for a transformation to happen in s2.

in s1 Alicent’s character was rewritten - in such a way that the new version of her doesn't even experience a moment of happiness or a second of having autonomy or power. She's always someone's punching bag while also her being hypocritical and nasty to Rhaenyra

Laena's way of death was completely unnecessary and brutal, similiar to Aemma's. And the fact they made getting burnt alive being "a dragon rider's death" already gave a hint about how Rhaenyra's death will be seen if it follows canon.

asoiaf established how brutal dragon fire is when Rhaegal bathed Quentyn after he tried to tame Viserion. It's not "honorable" as hotd tries to make it be, it's torturous. And my concern with Rhaenyra's death is that it won't be seen for its brutality.

To continue Baela & Rhaena were barely given any lines, their role as kids was getting dismissed but their dad and as adults they were just standing silently - you'd think they were background characters.

Mysaria's character was brushed off by erasing the child loss she went through due to Viserys - which debatably worked as a trigger for the events she also did in the plot.

Rhaenys was downright written as an idiot who was envious of Rhaenyra and instead of supporting her, she was trying to "humble" her by being an asshole. When she got the opportunity to destroy the greens during the coronation she walked away because.... *check notes" she made eye contact with alicent and the power of motherhood won? her granddaughters being engaged wasn't enough for her to act I guess.

Then there's Helaena, who while she did have an extremely tiny role in the book, it doesn't justify making her extra passive. I've talked about this before but making her having "dragon dreams" is useless and a waste of time and it's also a great excuse to have her be dismissed and ignored.

Helaena in the book was said to be pleasant, motherly, patient and calm. I won't mention the leaks I've read about b&c but if they're true they paint her in a very weird light.

Rhaenyra deserves an entire post of her own. If alicent was the punching bad Rhaenyra is the bing bong boll being tosses from one person to another each second.

So yeah, the issue isn't about shipping or even which teams anyone sides with. The writing is atrocious to all the female characters, and what's the cherry on top is the showrunners constantly patting themselves in the back for being "feminist" and GA falls for it!

I'm so burnt out 😩 This is why I've decided to attempt turn off the media analysis for the show 'cause it's like kicking a dead horse. My goal for this season is to try to vent less and enjoy whatever I can put of context without thinking too hard about it.