#i really thought they were going to tone down the romantic vibes this season but NO they're going harder

[warningsine]

[solomonish]

selfless (to a fault?) [demon brothers]

CW: allusions to past toxic relationships. minor description of injury in beel’s. belphie’s is a bit sad (happy ending! just melancholic vibes) and alludes to chapter 16.

no problem nonnie! i hope this is to your liking <3

nowdateables: here!

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Lucifer

Honestly, he'd be a tough one to get to allow you to do anything for him. You know, the whole avatar of pride thing….and he also just generally has a habit of holding the weight of the world on his shoulders. He thinks - no, he knows he can handle everything on his own

If he's letting you in enough to help him - not only trusting you enough to think the tasks he delegates to you will be done to his liking, but allowing you to help and opening up the possibility that he might be risking his image of perfection - he can only expect you'll let him do the same for you. It's like your own special love language, right?

He does NOT like how jumpy you are about the subject. At first, he's miffed. Do you not think he can do the task to your liking? Has he given off the false impression that he cannot take any more work than he already has? Was your offer to help not based on affection, but pity??? It really ruffles his feathers.

He's the type to confront you head-on. At first, his voice is harsh because he's talked himself into thinking you've offended him, but when you start backing away and trying to dodge the conversation, apologies falling from your mouth about how the last thing you wanted to do was upset him, he softens. He doesn’t understand yet, but something is upsetting you and he intends to get to the bottom of it.

Not one who would pester you about opening up to him, but the sooner you do, the more of a show of good faith it is. He’ll trust your word entirely regardless, but it does a lot to soothe the upset of his own creation if you come back to explain sooner rather than later. After all, being vulnerable is perhaps Lucifer’s greatest show of love - it does not go unnoticed when you do the same.

Doing his best to talk through a solution is act of kindness #1 - and it helps you adjust a little since you worked with him rather than completely handed him the reins. He starts off his own plan to help you out by bringing in things he was already going to do for himself - offering you coffee when he gets his own, for example. He uses the fact that you’d feel bad for refusing against you for a little bit, but he means well!

You might notice him going softer on you for just a little bit - don’t say anything about it. He’s worried that he gave off the impression of using things against you because of how much of a disciplinarian he is. Besides, the two of you normally don’t get into arguments (he doesn’t have the time to let things simmer - if he’s that upset about something, he’ll try to address it immediately), so he doesn’t really know how else to change his behavior. He just hopes that allowing you the opportunity to open up to him again, should you need it, will alleviate the feeling that he’d ever use your kindness against you.

Mammon

The first time you stiffened up after he tried to help you, he thought you were crazy. Lucifer had just given you a punishment for one of his schemes that you took the fall for (and he still isn’t sure why Lucifer let you take the fall when it was obviously Not You), and you insisted that you could do it by yourself! He wasn’t too keen on cleaning every window in the House of Lamentation himself, so he left soon after placing the offer, but his time was spent mindlessly wondering about you.

The next time was shortly after, when you came into his room and crashed on his bed. He offered you a hand massage, although he did it in a very muttered voice with dark cheeks - and you said no again! Forget being offended that the romantic hand-holding idea he totally didn’t get from a magazine he was reading waiting for you (that would’ve somehow ended in disaster anyway) wouldn’t play out - he was getting worried.

He doesn’t bring anything up immediately, but he worries about you and watches you intently. Sometimes you’ll catch him staring at you, and he flips out when you ask him what’s up. The only clue Mammon gathers is that you don’t seem to be angry with him, so what’s up? He’s used to his backwards advances working against him, but he’s making a genuine effort here!

He finally gets pent up in his frustration and asks you head-on. Mammon isn’t known for his tact - “Oi, why won’t you just let me take over once in a while? Cut yerself a break, MC!” - but there’s a certain...desperate tinge to his voice that makes you realize he really does care (and is driving himself crazy trying to figure things out on his own). When you DO finally tell him, he sort of deflates and his voice goes to that softer, more genuine tone.

“H-hey, I would never do that kind of thing to ya…” He starts shuffling in place, kicking at rocks (if there are any) and you realize he kinda looks like a kid. “You do so much for everyone, and it makes me feel real good inside. I just wanna make you feel that, too. Besides, we don’t need TWO cranky workaholics in the house. Lucifer is plenty.”

He knows one moment of honesty isn’t going to fix your entire way of thinking, but he goes right back to his blatant offers after that. Maybe if he desensitizes you to it, you’ll feel less weird about accepting his help! It doesn’t work, so he shifts to little things. Catch him running across classrooms as soon as you’re dismissed so he can grab your textbooks to carry for you off the desk before you can. 

Once he realizes you’re more receptive to him helping you, he’s ready to breathe a sigh of relief and be annoying about it again. Generosity doesn’t come easy to him, okay? Besides, he’s The Great Mammon! You should’ve known he’d be better than any other guy you’ve been with!

Leviathan

Of COURSE you wouldn’t want someone like him to help you out. He’d probably mess it up, anyway…

Seriously, Leviathan is very sensitive to rejection, so the moment you politely decline any offers to help he backs up about a thousand miles and sulks when you’re not around. It’s hard for him to get out of his own head, and he’s so ready for you to just tell him what everybody else is thinking and how much he sucks…

It dawns on him, though, that you never gave up on him when he pushed you away. It’s totally not poggers sucky of him to just give up on you like that. You’re his henry! You’re his s/o! He’s totally ready to fight any boss for you!! …..after he levels up a little more.

Levi spends a TON of time looking up ways to talk to you, one-on-one. He isn’t good with emotions like this but he is capable of them and having deep, serious talks. It shouldn’t MATTER that his research material is a bunch of feel-good romance anime scenes that he based his most recent Top 10 OTPs of the season post on! 

Surprisingly enough, he brings it up relatively smoothly one night when you’re chilling in his room and he’s playing some relaxing simulator. You’re complaining about the things you have to do in the morning, and when there’s a lull in your conversation Leviathan turns and tentatively asks, “Hey...why don’t you try letting me help you out?” He can feel your refusal before it comes so he hurriedly adds “Please! I just- you stress yourself out so much and what good am I if I can’t even help you at all?”

Is it his impassioned plea for you to let him in? Is it his willingness to obviously step out of his comfort zone? Have your walls just conveniently crumbled at this moment? Whatever it is, you don’t have it in you to reject him when he’s so open about wanting to help you (and the pain it’s caused him not to). Either way, you sigh and give him a few, small tasks that you think you both could manage him having and he swears to do them well!!

Truly opening up to him about the reason why you were so hesitant on letting him help takes a while, and he doesn’t exactly pick up on it himself. Once you do tell him, though, in your journey to help yourself let him in, he holds you a little tighter and mumbles that he’ll never do that to you. Levi knows better than anyone that words can only mean so much, but he’s grateful for the chance to prove it to you. He won’t let his Henry down!

Satan

Satan is perceptive, and he knows how to talk about emotions. He might even have suspicious about the root cause before you even think about letting him know what’s up. He’s already started doing a few things for you - carrying each other’s books, for example. Small acts of kindness to get the both of you through the day.

However, one thing Satan isn’t good with…..is dealing with emotions head-on.

He spends so much time keeping his own under lock and key! After doing his best to keep the most calm, analytical front he can, Satan tends to uh….forget about the emotional part of emotions.

So. When he asks why you won’t let him reciprocate in the relationship, attempting to display that he just wants the two of you to be on equal ground and he is worried about you, he sort of comes off...as cold. And like he’s accusing you of feeling a certain way. He definitely presents it as “I’ve noticed you feel x and i think y would be helpful for us to fix it” rather than “how are you feeling? What is causing you trouble? How can i offer assistance in a way that translates well to you?” And if that doesn’t bring back some memories…

He feels awful, and at the end of it all you’re crying (or presenting your stress and bad memories however you normally do) and he still doesn’t know how to fix things. Counterintuitively, he looks through his books for an answer, and it takes him a few days to realize that’s what got him into this mess.

So he goes to you directly and, albeit a little clumsily, apologizes and asks what he can do to help you through this. You say that’s just the problem - you don’t want his help - and he sits next to you and just asks why? The two of you wind up talking for hours, sitting next to each other and just...really talking. You aren’t the only one feeling vulnerable - Satan is talking about his emotions full-on rather than through a scientific lens and it makes him just as nervous as you are.

Satan doesn’t get into arguments with you. He runs from the possibility because he’s worried about what his wrath could do to you. But he promises you that he could never hold anything against you, especially something like asking him for help. It’s an honor that you let him this close, and he can only return the favor in kind. He hopes you have enough faith to believe in him until he has the opportunity to prove it beyond a doubt.

Asmodeus

Asmo does things for people without asking. He gives unsolicited makeup and relationship advice, he offers to touch-up any products you may have on, he lends you clothes just because he felt like he should…

The thing is, Asmo will start before you even have a chance to ask him to stop. He’ll start before you’re even wondering if you like him. And at first, you’re ok with it. Well, you’re not, but you can decide he’s just testing the waters or that this is some weird demon way to earn your friendship or tell you he considers you a friendly presence, like cats. But it still rubs you the wrong way.

However, Asmo always notices that you...aren’t receiving it the way he wants you to. He invites you out and leaves you an outfit on your bed, and you come out wearing something entirely different. He leaves you a bouquet of flowers, and suddenly the dining room has a new bouquet in the center of it. (and you always avoid his gaze during those dinners, which is totally weird.) It’s almost like you’ve recognized the face he makes when he’s about to touch up your makeup, because you pull out a pocket mirror and check yourself over before he even has a chance to!

Are you leading him on? He doesn’t think so, but you are quite literally the only person he can’t literally charm the pants off of, and he isn’t quite sure how to navigate the signals you’re giving him. You seem fine with the relationship - it felt pretty genuine to him, and you looked thrilled when he made the romantic moves on you - so what was going on?

He finally caves and asks when he’s going through your wardrobe, sifting through it with you on the bed to make room for a shopping spree the two of you had been planning, and sees all the outfits he’d bought you hanging, still in their outfit bags. Some of the bags even had DUST on them!

He turns around and puts on a gentle voice. Though Asmo doesn’t know what’s happening, he can feel the air in the room shift and he knows he’s encroaching on some sensitive territory. “Hey, do you not like when I give you gifts? I haven’t been able to understand what’s been bothering you, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable…”

He does NOT like the way you turn your face away from him, but he sits a respectable distance away and keeps his hands in his lap. Asmo is as good at genuine advice as he is at gossip, so it isn’t hard for him to get you comfortable enough to open up to him. You don’t have to tell him everything at once - he’ll listen to whatever you’re willing to tell him, letting you lean against him when you’re ready.

Asmo is known for being petty, but you bring out sides of him nobody knew were there. He’ll swear up and down that he’d never turn your good heart against you - after all, it’s one of the many things he loves about you - but he does understand where you’d get that impression. If you’ll let him prove it to you, he will - and he’ll start by only pestering you to let him buy one outfit for you on that shopping spree!

Beelzebub

Listen. Beel is a generous soul (for a demon) ((to those he really loves)). He just doesn’t ever really find himself in possession of anything worth sharing. Really, the only thing he is ever in the possession of is food. When he isn’t at his sports practice, working out or studying, he’s eating, and he’ll gladly share his food with you.

Oh? You don’t want it? He gives you a confused look - he’d ask if you were feeling well if he hadn’t eaten lunch with you just an hour before - but shrugs, his growling stomach winning over his concern. It’s not like you’re skipping meals, anyway. It isn’t until you get hurt helping him work out and refuse to let him pick you up to carry you to medical attention that he gets VERY concerned.

He feels awful enough as is. It was his fault you were even there - he just wanted to add more weight to his workout. (And, he won’t admit it, the idea of using a bench you were sitting on to lift over his head may have been a bit overkill. But he saw that little spark that said ‘that isn’t possible but man i wish it was’ when you saw it happen in that show and mmmmmmaybe he wanted to impress you. How was he supposed to know Mammon had broken it and left it there?) He could practically feel the pain in your ankle from the sound it made, and you were clutching desperately to your shin, wanting to press on the wound but knowing it was a bad idea. MC, there’s no way you can walk on that, why aren’t you letting him help?

The guilty puppy face he’s giving you is making the whole situation worse. It’s taking everything you can not to snap on, from the overwhelming pain in your ankle to the negative thoughts racing in your head to the knowledge that you’ll have to give in eventually. Finally, you face him head on and decide to just rip the band-aid off. “I don’t have the best experience with letting people do things for me. If you’re expecting to use this against me, I’m going to be out of commission for a while, so remember that.”

He is. So confused. Are you really mad at him? What are you talking about? It’s not that he’s stupid - because really, he isn’t - this just kinda came at him from left field and he does not know what to do about.

“What? I’m worried about you, MC, and there’s no way you can walk on your ankle. Come on, please let me take you to get help. I won’t mention it ever again if that’s what will make you happy.”

So maybe it takes a while to get to the nearest infirmary, and maybe he’s going extra slow so as not to jostle our injury, and maybe in the meantime he’s being so contemplative and quiet that you have a heart-to-heart. Beel’s too genuine not to trust him when he swears he’d NEVER use your kindness against you, but he understands it’ll take a while to show you.

Belphegor

So. Um. This is awkward.

Belphie is a smartass, and he’s the youngest and used to getting his way. He’s definitely the type to dig his heels in and fight dirty in an argument, just because he’s used to winning. He’s also sadistic and has plotted with you to use his brothers’ weaknesses against them for fun. So he gets it. He totally gets why you would think he’d do it. Honestly, that’s basically what he did to free himself from the attic, only with more violence involved. He gets it.

Since Belphegor hasn’t exactly been the nicest to you in the past, he isn’t about to make you pity him with words like “yeah, of course you wouldn’t trust me after what I did to you…” First of all, on the off chance that it’s completely unrelated, he doesn’t want to put that idea in your head and give you a resentment you never had, but also he’s getting a hang of this redemption thing. Yes, on an average day he’s still a bratty, selfish little shit, but he does show you how sorry he is for using you and hurting you. It shows in the way he checks up on you in situations he knows you’re uncomfortable in, in the way he cares for you in that gentle way that’s so subtle you wonder if he’s even actively doing anything. (He is - offering you the best spot in a blanket nest, suggesting your favorite meals when the brother on dinner duty needs ideas, little things - and you both know it.) But how does he repent for something he doesn’t even know if he’s doing?

The way you stop cold when you peek in the kitchen and see him (and Beel) cooking the dinner you just complained about wanting hurts. The two of you have a stare-off for a moment, and Beel gets the message to slide out of the room. Belphegor clears his throat.

“What do you want?” You ask with narrowed eyes. Ouch, way to be a Lucifer. He instead says, “Nothing. I just wanted to do something nice for you.” “And you don’t want anything in return?” “Have I given off the impression that I would?”

You sigh and step into the kitchen to wash your hands, asking if he needs help since Beel left. He grabs your wrist. “You’re welcome to keep me company, but I want to do this for you.”

He doesn’t like you looking at him distrustfully, but is relieved you sit at the counter instead of leaving. He wants to ask you what’s up, but something is stopping him - he ignores that what’s stopping him is fear that you’ll have another thing to add onto the list of the unforgivable sins he’s committed. If you feel like telling him, he’ll listen - but until then, he’ll go back to quietly trying to prove his worth to you, hoping one day you’ll see that it’s genuine and let him give you all the good things you deserve.

[obeiii-mee]

Could I request the brothers (and maybe Diavolo, if you're comfortable) reacting to a knightly/chivalrous m/c, please?

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I haven’t written Diavolo in a hot minute, I’m glad he’s being requested again. I’m guessing you mean an MC with the attributes of a knight? The same sort of mannerisms and traits and not an actual knight! MC? Lemme know if I did this ask wrong because I was low key confused lmao.

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The Brothers + Diavolo with a knightly/chivalrous MC:

Lucifer:

-He really didn’t like you upon first meeting

-He hated how he couldn’t intimidate you into not being a nuisance the way he could with most of his brothers

-But, to be honest, you had gained his respect rather early on

-I think, even though it may have annoyed him to no end, Lucifer was very fond of your bravery a lot of the times

-The way you would stand up for Mammon or that time you protected Beel and Luke from his outburst

-Courage is not a trait one would usually associate with humans, especially when more superior beings like demons are involved

-Your humility was also a characteristic of yours that he, surprisingly, was really fond of

-And your overall mercifulness was something to be congratulated as well

-I mean, him and his brothers put you through so much shit and for you to forgive and move on without an angry word at any of them kinda speaks on its own

-I think he understands, to an extent, the reason you’re so loyal to the people you care about too

-He has a certain devotion for Lord Diavolo and his brothers, more than he lets on

-To him, having someone like you around is something to be appreciated

-Because you are similar but also completely different and nothing like he deemed you to be at the beginning

-yo i think you remind him of himself back when he was angel tbh

-He’s sort of tired of saving your ass tho because you are very just, so you feel the need to help people all the time which leads to you getting involved in fights

-Bring him his 20th cup of coffee for the day please, it’s hard being a single father of 8 children (yes I’ve added Lord Diavolo he counts as one of the kids)

-He’s the definition of this incorrect quote I stumbled across a while back

- MC: “FIGHT ME RIGHT NOW!”

-Lucifer, from behind them “ Do not.”

Mammon:

-Ok so this random human comes to DevilDom and has the audacity to slap his hand away while he’s trying to steal from Diavolo’s castle????????

-“MC ya’re forgetting I’m a demon, my moral scale is wayyy different than yours-“

-“Put it back.”

-“......ok.”

-You’re coming at him with rightfulness and honor and your presence is gonna hit him like a truck

-Cuz he ain’t stealing anything when you’re around (lucifer uses this to his advantage ofc.)

-That was basically the only thing he disliked about you

-Other than that, after your first week in DevilDom, he thinks you’re a goddamn S A I N T

-Everytime you stand up for him when his brothers are being assholes-pls he melts into a puddle of goo from your perfection

-OOFFS AND ALL THOSE TIMES YOU GAVE HIM GIFTS BECAUSE GENEROSITY BBY

-Good thing he was wearing sunglasses, because holy fuck was he weeping under those Gucci shades

-He’s gonna give ya props for having the courage to stand up to him and his brothers

-Lucifer especially because big bro scary

-Think about it like this: literally every single one of them could have you seasoned and roasted for lunch, love

-And yet you still have the bravery to look them in the eye and tell them: “Ya’ll are dysfunctional as fuck and need family therapy.”

-Again, he doesn’t understand your morale, he’s the Avatar of Greed, if he sees something he likes or seems worthy of his presence, he takes it

-But with that look you’re giving him, he honestly feels so guilty he can’t help but put it back

-He also appreciates your patience with him when it comes to anything that involves him talking about his emotions and thought process

-Because at this point he is widely known as scum so-

-Ahhhh, in the end, he thinks you’re pretty badass for a human and would low key want to see you in an armour of sorts agajwhisebhwjwwhehgdhdh

-And he really likes it when you make the effort to open doors for him too but he’ll never have the nerve to admit it

Levi:

-Believe it or not, he warms up to you in less than a day...?

-It’s probably because he’s a navy commander and he’s used to having soldiers around and you sort of remind him of that

-Out of everyone, he reacts the least when he sees how you carry yourself because to him it’s second nature

-Even if he does tend to slouch most of the time

-Almost dropped to his knees and started worshiping you when you yelled at Mammon to give Levi his money back on your first day

-And then a friendship started to blossom (im not friendzoning y’all, relax)

-Levi has a tendency to just walk into your room with his laptop, point at the screen which is paused in the middle of an anime and go “Look, the protagonist is a knight. You’re also...really knightly. I like the protagonist. I, uh I like you too, I guess.”

-He loves how honest you are because he knows that no matter what you wouldn’t lie to him

-“MC, do you think I’m a yucky otaku?”

-“No.”

-“But-“

-“No.”

-“Oh ok.”

-But on the inside he’s like 🥰🥰💞💞💞💞

-I just think that a knightly MC would connect on an emotional level with Levi for a lot of reasons, idk

-He’s gonna be a sputtering mess when he realises how much effort you put into this relationship (platonic or romantic) and how loyal you are to it

-Like how you actually bother learning all of his stupid passwords because you are just as serious about them as he is

-He just crashed, give him a moment to reboot please

Satan:

-He takes a while to warm up to you because for some reason your overall demeanour reminded him of Lucifer lol

-He thought you might be just as stuck up as him

-It didn’t take him longer than a week or so to come to the sudden realisation that you are way more pleasant than his brother

-Like his daddy, you manage to earn his respect pretty quickly after that

-He just thought the way you handled everything that was thrown at you in DevilDom was very sophisticated but firm nonetheless, if that makes sense?

-Like, you weren’t itching to escalate fights or anything but your tone of voice could easily end a whole conversation if need be

-You were still a human of course, it would be real easy for some low rank demon to kidnap you or something

-But for some reason, your confidence seemed to intimidate a few of the weaker ones into leaving you alone

-Obviously, that didn’t mean you were completely safe or anything

-There were still others that could effortlessly overpower you

-Even so, Satan found it sort of reassuring that unlike some humans, you weren’t one to back down without a confrontation

-Don’t get me started on all those times you rebelled against Lucifer, because that’s what truly got him to get to know you better

-He found you pretty interesting and then that interest sort of evolved into actual fondness

-Another thing that caught his eye was that even though you have very strong feelings about justice and fairness, you are completely level headed most of the time

-And patience, while it’s something he can manage, is the one that he has been trying to control for centuries

-He learned a lot from you about behaviour, whether you intentionally taught it to him or not

-And if there is one thing Satan thinks highly of; it would be knowledge

-Therefore, from that point onward, your existence was so much more precious to him than your soul could ever be

Asmo:

-What can I say about our sweet Asmo?

-You could have the personality of a trashcan and he’d still love you

-You were so polite and honourable from the beginning to the point you managed to get the attention of the Avata of Lust himself????

-He thought you were pretty hot basically

-hoWEVER

-Your righteousness always sort of nagged him because he low-key believed Diavolo snuck in another angel into the program, I-

-And for some reason, your loyalty to everyone in general ticked him off immensely at the beginning

-Mainly because he recognised that’s one of the traits he lacks entirely and he came to the conclusion that he needs to revaluate himself on that one

-He is so desperate for your attention, he will tattle on his brothers just to get you to yell at them and then comfort him

-“MCCCCC, MAMMON STOLE MY NEWEST MAKE UP KIT AND IS ABOUT TO SELL IT ON AKUZON!”

-he is so petty istg

-Your nobility still catches him off guard every now and then

-Because you’ve been living with demons for so long and yet you’re still, theoretically speaking, pure?? get your head out of the gutter people

-He probably applauds you on the fact that you can even scare Lucifer on some occasions because imagine having a scarier death glare than the eldest prince of hell

-Asmo will personally buy you clothes that he thinks suit your “aesthetic” (wtf Asmo)

-Might’ve bought you a sword and then got shouted at by Lucifer because oops turns out it was cursed

-Again, supportive mom vibes

-“MC, do you know how stunning you look strutting around with that confidence of yours? Don’t get me started on your posTURE!”

-You pulled a chair for him once and he practically swooned lmao

Beel:

-He figures you’re really nice from the start

-Mostly because you kept running errands and opening doors for him even though he let it slip that he might lose control and eat you

-Like most brothers, he finds you comforting in a way

-Beel appreciates your honesty to him too because he can count on you to tell him when he’s doing something wrong

-And he sort of needs the validation that even though he blames himself for a lot of things that took place in the past, his brothers and you are more than ready to forgive him (even if they didn’t blame him to begin with)

-Rather than respect, Beel puts a lot of trust into you, which I would believe to be more intimate

-If it’s just the two of you hanging out, he has an easier time opening up about Lilith because he knows you would never judge him and respect his feelings enough to let him get it out of his system

-You always share your food with him and give him a bigger portion and he goes so soft-

-Like who allowed you to be this generous?

-Tbh, he thinks it’s sort of refreshing having someone like you around

-Beel has been surrounded by demons for millenniums now and he’s gotten used to their...uh ‘evilness’

-Ever since you got dropped off in DevilDom, you really stood out with your nobility and morals

-It was like a breath of fresh air in a way

-He may or may not believe you’re a good influence on his siblings-if you can even influence demons of all things

-I’m not saying he invites you to work out with him and give him honest criticism, but he definitely invites you to work out with him and give him honest criticism

Belphie:

-“Out of all the humans they could’ve chosen, they picked the most annoying one, oH MY FUCKING GO-I MEAN DAD-“

-You go up to the attic that one night after tricking Lucifer into vibing to some classical TSL tunes

-He spotted you and was immediately irritated

-Like, he KNEW you were going to be a pain in the ass just by judging your posture and how you carried yourself (very knightly)

-At the start, he’s even hesitant to lie to you because he had a suspicion you wouldn’t buy his bs

-(Spoiler alert: you didn’t but you went with it either way)

-It takes a while for you to forgive him when he literally fucking kills you because that was rude af but you got over it in time

-AFTER of the whole ‘Sorry-for-choking-you-can-we-be-friends-now’ incident, you still get on his nerves a lot but at this point, he believes that’s his punishment for being a murderous dickhead

-You don’t really piss him off tho, you just confuse him a lot

-Why are you so polite? You keep pulling chairs and opening doors for him??? Why are you treating him like royalty?? Stop it, he doesn’t want to be like Lord Diavolo (he def likes it when you do that)

-Pls stop dragging the poor man to breakfast, he just wants to sleep in-

-He doesn’t understand how you’re always one time for everything

-My dude tries to wake up 20 minutes early to get somewhere in time and he is still 2 hours late

-sTOP TRYING TO FORCE YOUR IDEALS ONTO HIM, HE’S A LITTLE SHIT WHO ENJOYS WATCHING PEOPLE SUFFER

-All the same, you’re a very forgiving person so he’s just grateful you don’t hate him or anything

-And in the end, it doesn’t really matter how much your chivalry and righteousness and all of that pisses him off every now and then

-Because he can’t deny the fact that you brought him and his brothers the peace they needed

-And he so loves it when you and Lucifer go head to head mhmm

Diavolo:

-This big tittied man right here takes a liking to you immediately

-A couple of days in DevilDom and he’s already inviting you for tea at his castle

-You managed to befriend the prince of hell faster than the demons you live with, huh

-He’s lonely ok? He loves having people over and having cozy chitchats

-Not to mention he thinks you’re such pleasant company!

-Most demons would be afraid to even say anything in his presence but you always speak your mind while continuing to be respectful and he’s so happy, you don’t understand-

-Only demons in close relations to Diavolo like Babrbatos and Lucifer actually know how much it takes for someone to anger him

-He doesn’t take offence to much lol

-And he’s really content that you acknowledged that

-He sometimes visits you in his spare time just to talk and hang out since Lucifer is a big meanie who doesn’t want to indulge him and Barbatos is busy making him dinner >:(

-SPEAKING OF- if you and Barbatos don’t bond then i don’t know what to tell you

-I mean, you would both have so many things in common (strong sense of loyalty, honesty, just in a way etc.)

-You’re his favourite guest to have over at the palace, sorry Luci you’ve been replaced

-He genuinely finds you interesting as well so please tell him stories from the human realm!! He’s dying to learn more!

-Diavolo notices you demeanour sort of gives off warrior vibes so-

-He really considered making you into a knight bc it’s Diavolo-what he says; goes

-“I know they’re human but they’ll be fine. Look how tough they are! They managed to survive a year with you and your brothers didn’t they?”

-“My Lord, that doesn’t amount to anything, please don’t get our human killed-“

[vegalocity]

How about 19, 20 and 26 for peachbun, please?

Love Meme

19. “I am only going to say this once, so you better listen – I love you.”

20.“I can’t lose you again! Please, don’t make me lose you again.”

26. “You will never lose me. I will always be right here beside you.”

No Joke I rewrote this several times because the vibes kept feeling off until i finished it in a delirium at 4am last night

Also Season 3 spoilers

--

He maybe shouldn’t have been surprised about how messed up Sun Wukong actually was.

Sure he’d spent that first long period of time while they were on the journey to find the True Fire of Samdhi distant, detached, and for the most part put together, only a small glimpse of what was true coming out that day when he was delusional, emphasized by Ghost Pepper eccentricity and as lost in a memory as he had been. He was still angry at the time sure, he would still be angry at the monkey for a long while still at the point that it had happened, but maybe if he’d been paying a bit more attention it wouldn’t have taken him by such surprise. Especially when he came back to himself and shut down entirely.

But then through no better options everyone began to properly bond from close quarters (and after getting Xiaojiao back from that scare with the True Fire of course) and it became far easier to see a different, more candid side to the great sage that he’d seen only hints of when his grudge was still too great to see clearly. And Pigsy had realised just how much he’d wanted to see more of it.

That dumb snorty laugh that sounded so much different than one would expect out of him, the gentleness in his tone when he’d handle Xiaotian when he thought the others weren’t around, those awkward anxiety filled attempts at keeping everyone in the loop without closing up and insisting that whatever problem had arisen he could handle it on his own.

The difference in how he smiled was one of the things Pigsy had found himself really wanting to understand the most. When the Great Sage smiled with his teeth out he always seemed more tense, nervous and trying to hide it. A smile where Pigsy could see his fangs was to some degree fake. But there was this other, smaller grin, he’d seen in very brief passing, one of relaxed facial features, a closed mouth, and warm amber eyes. That was the real one. That was an expression it had taken another week or so of examination and fantasies (that he’d been internally denying were fantasies) to come to terms with how much he’d like to see it directed at him.

I mean, what better time for falling but when severe stress and fear lead one to the only other full blown ‘adult’ in the group that he didn’t spend his messy 20s thoroughly murdering any chances of romantic feelings for right? Totally not bad timing at all granted they were still essentially on the run with home still in the ghostly storm cloud that was the Lady Bone Demon's wrath.

So he didn’t say anything. Their friendship was already tentative and fearful, Sun Wukong was openly making jokes about how he’s only instrumental to the group and he’ll ‘stop bothering them’ once this all is done. He didn't seem to realize how little they actually sounded like jokes.

But that did mean he was paying more attention to the Great sage than he was before. It wasn't that he didn’t sleep, so much as he didn’t like to sleep. And also that that memory loss induced adventure of theirs had shaken loose quite a few other memories that he was prone to get lost in when the unconscious claims him.

Sandy was behind the wheel of the truck right now, Tang speaking quietly with him about… whatever the hell they talked about when they were alone. Xiaojiao, Xiaotian and Red Son were all piled up in a little stack (with Red Son at the bottom, something he’d loudly protested until everyone started nodding off) on the topmost bunk, and Pigsy had been trying to get some sleep but it just wasn’t fucking coming to him for hours.

So he’d taken to staring at the bottom of the bunk above him, trying to either bore a hole into it with his eyes or stubbornly force himself to sleep. Neither of which were working by the way, when he’d heard a thump and a clatter beneath him.

He peered to the bottom bunk to find Sun Wukong stumbling free from a tangle of bedsheets, looking around frantically.

“Wukong…?” He spoke quietly, and his strikingly golden eyes darted toward him.

“Baije?” Oh, they were doing this again. He huffed and massaged his temple, it was too damn early for this. The last time he’d been lost in memories had been way too stressful what with Tang kidnapped by the Scorpion demon.

“Oh boy…”

“Baije, where are we? Where’s Master? And Wujing? What’s this device we’re riding in?” even in the darkness he was sure the monkey was pale in his fright, breaths huffing and heavy, sweat staining his brow from likely a nightmare.

“Calm down…” he shuffled into a sitting position and hopped to the ground. “You’re lucky I already wasn’t sleeping.” He grumbled as he reached the Monkey King and helped him escape from the tangle of blankets without ripping any of them in his haste. “We’re in a truck… it’s like a wagon I guess?” Last time he wasn’t coming to his senses no matter what until Tang pushed that boulder onto him, so would it be a waste of time to try that again or should he play into it? “Sa-…Wujing is controlling it up there and...Master’s keeping him company.” he nodded to the cabin and strikingly Wukong accepted that. He nodded simply and then glanced upward. “Who are they?” he nodded toward the kids, and Pigsy tried not to groan.

“Uh… they’re traveling with us.”

“How come I don’t remember them?”

“You hit your head pretty hard…”

“Oh.”

By this point they were sitting beside eachother on the floor, leaned against the far wall. “Baije?”

“Y… Yeah?”

“I had a pretty rough nightmare while I was out, and if i got hit hard enough it knocked me out and messed with my memories then i might be a little loopy, but uh…” Sun Wukong turned to him, and when Pigsy looked back he smiled. It wasn’t the fake one, and it wasn’t the quiet one, it was something else entirely. It was crooked, accompanied by a raised eyebrow and a warmth that made Pigsy’s heart leap into his throat. “I am only going to say this once, so you better listen, okay?”

This wasn’t right, he wasn’t in his right mind, he thought he was Zhu Baije, and here Sun Wukong was about to entrust home with something that was probably extremely personal and he wasn’t at that level with Pigsy. Certainly not at the same level as he must have been with his fellow Pilgrims, so he should tell him to wait, to act like whatever it is it could wait until he’d slept off his ‘wound’ a little more.

But because Pigsy was apparently stupid, he nodded anyway.

“I love you.” His thoughts completely froze. For a moment he could only stare dumbly, feeling his face get steadily hotter and hotter at the simple, matter-of-fact declaration, and the memory of the exact context of this exchange absolutely dissolved before it could break through to his mind and stop the swelling in his chest and the fluttering in his stomach.

He couldn’t believe it, how could he? How on Earth would Sun Wukong, of all people, have just admitted that to HIM? He didn’t get this level of lucky. Ever. He was always notably very UN-Lucky, it made his successes feel far greater because he was doing them with fate itself rigged against him. Pigsy had never been this lucky in his life. But it was happening, it was real he wasn’t dreaming because that crick in his neck from sleeping on the road so much was still hurting and everyone knows you don’t feel real pain in a dream and-

“And not like a Brothers-in-arms kinda love either, Don’t tell Master I don’t even wanna think about the lecture that would come out of it if he knew. This is just for you and me, okay?”

And then the reality of the situation--as well as Pigsy’s heart--came crashing back into him, shattering upon impact as it did. Sun Wukong laughed in a sort of wry humorless way, as if he were making fun of himself. “I know right? I was shocked too. Couldn’t even say that I know why either. I know you’re exclusively interested in the fairer gender, It’s okay.” He sounded so… resigned. Like he knew the answer before it even occurred to him to ask the question.

His gut plummeted even further. Was this really how things had gone between him and Zhu Baije? The idea that anyone could spend enough time with someone like Sun Wukong and say no when he confessed to them felt almost absurd!

He’d done nothing but cause them problems on the Journey, why would boss ever-

“Don’t think this means I’ll start letting you get away with anything okay? You’re just as annoying as you’ve always been.” This wasn’t the first time he’d fancied himself in love with someone only to find out they had feelings for someone else.

This was just the first time to realize that person in question not only didn’t feel the same way (though how could he? Who wouldn’t? Did Wukong ever even tell him? If he did would Zhu Baije have surprised him? He would have what could have been ached in his chest like an open wound) but was also long dead. His heart hurt. He didn’t know Pigsy was Pigsy right now. He wasn’t in his right mind, he couldn’t say anything, he couldn’t take advantage of him like that. If he said anything, even if it was true, to Wukong it would be coming from the mouth of someone else. Someone he actually loved-

He was not tearing up at that internal admittance, his eyes just hurt because he’d been staying up for too long.

“But do you think… just this once… While Master and Wujing are busy…?” Wukong shuffled to the side until their shoulders brushed, and Pigsy felt the soft fur brush his neck as the monkey king rested his head on his shoulder. “Just so I can know what it feels like…?”

What a thought… to be able to have just a few short hours to curb the desire that lived so deep in his bones and that somehow had gotten so much worse in a few short minutes, To give in to the desire for affection, to let Wukong assume ‘Baije’ was just being kind to a friend as he attempted the same thing.

It’s not like Pigsy would be getting another chance to cuddle with the person he’d begun to yearn for like a plant yearning for the sun in the middle of the night, anyhow. It’s not like he was trying to make out with him or anything, he didn’t have to deny it for morality’s sake. He could just… let it happen.

He put his arm around Wukong’s shoulders and practically fucking felt the shiver crawl up his spine, making that soft fur stand on end. Wukong leaned further into the half-embrace and… it was really nice. Heaven help him it felt great and he didn’t want to let go.

For a moment that was far far too short in Pigsy’s opinion it was just silence. He’d wordlessly sent curses to Zhu Baije wherever his spirit had reincarnated to for daring to pass up someone as wonderful as Wukong was, and enjoying the warmth, the soft fur tickling his neck, and the faint affectionate monkey chirps that were coming out of the great sage seemingly without his knowledge.

“This is nice.” Wukong’s voice was barely over a whisper, but the puff of warm air on his shoulder sent goosebumps all up and down Pigsy’s arm.

“Yeah…” he responded without thinking. “You maybe wanna go back to bed?” Before he did something they’d both regret.

“The dream will change if I do. I’m not ready to go yet.”

He glanced down at Wukong, the monkey wasn’t looking back at him, reaching a hand up to play with the fabric of Pigsy’s sleeve.

“You think you’re dreaming?”

“Of course I’m dreaming. What else would make sense? I’ve been so in and out of dreams lately on the mountain that it only makes sense I’d eventually start getting lucid while I was here.” Pigsy tried to pull away but Wukong shifted his grip until he was hugging his arm close. “I’m not ready. Baije please; This is my dream. I want to stay here longer.”

“Wukong-”

“No! I don’t want to go back!” His grip didn’t hurt, and his voice wasn’t loud enough to alert Tang and Sandy, or wake any of the kids for that matter, but he may as well have been screaming at him for the pain in Pigsy’s chest at the sheer desperation of it. “I don’t want to go back to mourning you; morning everyone! I’m tired of it!”

“Wukong calm down, you’re freaking out over nothing-” He could barely get a word in edgewise before Wukong interrupted again, this time letting his arm go, but lightning fast wrapping both of his around Pigsy’s neck to force him into a hug. A choked sob cut off any struggle he was about to put up.

“I can’t lose you again! Please, don’t make me lose you again.” It was a deep, ancient, misery in Wukong’s voice. The kind where you’re so tired of being sad but you can’t find it in yourself to be anything else. He could feel the tears sliding down furry cheeks and dripping eventually onto his shirt and… Even if this whole Baije thing wasn’t happening, there’s only one thing Pigsy would have done anyway. He wrapped his arms around Wukong’s waist and crushed him against himself.

The great sage equal to heaven sobbed into his shoulder and nuzzled into his neck, as if to force himself to remember everything about this.

“You will never lose me, okay? I will always be right here beside you.” He still didn’t like this, playing the role to match the delusion, it felt skeezy, wrong. It felt like he was getting affection and attention that he hadn’t earned. But the person who had earned it long ago didn’t deserve it anyway for ever turning down someone as precious as this.

But Wukong pulled away from him and smiled that same sweet, warm smile at him again and Pigsy did his best to return it. Wukong settled against him again, but this time it was more comfortable, almost like hugging one of those giant stuffed animals.

And eventually he fell asleep against Pigsy once again. And to Pigsy’s credit, he didn’t cry. He comforted his friend until sleep finally claimed him again, put him back in the bottom bunk, climbed up to the one above him, and listened to his kids snore above him and his love chitter below. And he didn’t cry.

He wanted to, but he didn’t.

For a few hours he got to pretend, And he got to do it as a kindness to Sun Wukong too. So it was enough.

It had to be.

Because there was never going to be anything else.

--

Send me stuff

[binniesthighs]

what you heard | reader x changjin

a/n: hi. its missing changjin hours also now I am addicted to poly r/ship fics so here is what my brain came up with hehe (pic creds to OPs!) 

what you heard | reader x changjin 

Pairing: self insert, hwang hyunjin x gender neutral reader x seo changbin 

Genre: smut w/ fluffy tones 

Tags: poly r/ship, comfort fic, outdoors sex, friends to lovers, discovery of feelings, idiots in love, with a lil bit of comedy, college au, teehee switch!changbin, switch!hyunjin, switch!reader, they’re all kinda fighting for dominance muhaha (its those bestie vibes ahaha), bratty behavior on all sides, jinnie kinda flips a switch when he gets in the mood (hehe pun intended), spitroasing (r), unprotected sex (stay safe!), sex under the stars hehe, penetration and fingering (r), oral (r & m), face fucking, cumshot, cum eating, that good, good makin’ out, soft and intimate body touching hell yeah, fluffy ending

Word count: 6.8k 

Recommended listening: what you heard by Sonder 

If there was something that you and your two bestfriends were the best at, it was getting your heart broken. 

Hopeless romantics you all were, in one way or another. In fact, it would take even more than your set of three hands to count the number of times that the three of you had come over with a broken heart, seeking ice cream, hugs, or plates to break. 

Changbin was the kind to fall in love slowly, but when he did, it consumed him, and everything that he was. He would become convinced that there was no one better for him in the whole world. He would spend sleepless night writing songs and poetry about those who would occupy his mind. Changbin would write love letter after love letter to never send them, or to have them crinkled into papery balls, and slam-dunked into his waste bin. He would often joke that he was ready to love someone, but he just didn’t quite know how to. Under it all, you and Hyunjin knew that he must’ve been scared if they didn’t love him back. 

Hyunjin fell in love with people at the drop of a hat. It was his “fatal flaw” as he liked to to joke about too. The gorgeous blond man would fall in love over hearts scribbled on coffee cups, smiles in passing, and compliments on days when he had caught the bus late. This man was the kind to sing love songs loudly in the shower no matter who heard him, and would often have a new crush by the week. Unlike Changbin, he had no fear when it came to confessing, but had even worse luck getting someone to take his words seriously. Hyunjin had too much love to give, and never received enough back. 

You, on the other hand, delayed love for as long as you could, no matter how much that you would dream of it. Love came to you in the forms of movies and books, fictional characters and song lyrics. You wrote about the love you had to give in countless journals and on the back of sticky-notes that had been used on the front-side. Love was more of an abstract concept to you. It was never something that you could touch but rather dream about. However, while this wasn’t the worst way to view it all, you still thirsted for something more. A hand to hold, a warm body to tangle up in the sheets with you. 

On this day in particular, you and your friends had gathered for a meeting: your “Unofficial Lonely Hearts Club” as you called it. You couldn’t recall who had called the meeting after the long week that you had, but it was likely what each of you had needed. 

These nights would often start the same: the three of you shoved into Changbin’s pickup, windows down, night air in your lungs, some song on the stereo that Changbin had been into these days. The three of you lived in the typical college city nestled into the side of some mountainside--a stark contrast to where you had come from before. It was the kind of place where people went to forget about who they were before to become new people. For some reason, some crazy fraction of the people who moved there, never left. 

First chance you got, you would move the hell out of there: a place full of so much heartbreak and disappointment…who could dare to stay? 

Hyunjin stuck his hand out the window, making little waves with his palm in the wind. You wondered what he had been thinking of that night; if he was sad or if he was happy. After knowing him for nearly four years now, you knew there was nothing in the world that he deserved more than to feel all the warmth that he had conveyed to others. It was a crime that he never got it back. 

Changbin’s free arm held to the handle above the car door frame, and he flexed and relaxed his muscles as he hung his fingers there. You too wondered what thoughts floated on his mind: if he was making up lyrics or if he was putting together some grad story or gesture only for it to never see the light of day. He too deserved all the love the world could offer. 

Changbin’s car sped up the dirt road to the lookout spot where kids would go to get drunk, high, or possibly both. It was a dreary and empty Wednesday evening, and secretly you hoped that no other rambunctious students would be there to shatter bottles on the craggy rocks. His headlights lit the path ahead, and the car bounced on the rough road with dusty orange rocks. The higher you got to the mountainside, the more static-y the stereo would buzz until soon all that was left were broken lyrics. 

There was one spot you liked particularly: it was a ledge that would jut out horizontally, giving a clear view to the whole of the land below: you would see the white lights from the nearby hospital, and the stadium lights from that god-awful football stadium that had sucked up your student loans. Further, you could see river on the edge of the city-line, and how it would ripple in dark blue sparkles under the moonlight. 

Your two best friends would grab the blankets that were habitually kept in the backseat made of scratchy wool, but this only made them warmer. Changbin also kept a couple camping lamps in his car to light up the dark space of his cargo bed. The weight of your bodies would shake the space and make the car bounce a bit on its wheels when the three of you would cuddle up between eachother to take in the scene. 

On nights like tonight, neither of you would say much, but just look out and feel it all. There was a kind of beauty in the simplicity of the way that everything seemed so still up there, or how time had appeared to stop somewhat. If you were lucky, you could hear the hoot of an owl, or some other critter rustling in the bushes. 

Hyunjin was always the one to sit in the middle, and he would take turns resting his head upon your shoulder or Changbin’s sighing deeply into how they would rise and fall. You hugged your knees to yourself and wondered how many more times you would come up here with them, or if after graduation, it would happen at all. It was painful to consider, but you even wondered if they would be in your life at all after everything ended. 

“I’m sick of being lonely.” Hyunjin said into the cold air. He shifted, looking both you and your other friend in the eyes. “Its depressing and exhausting.” 

“What are you talking bout ‘Jin?” Changbin threw his hoodie over his head.

“I mean moping about people who don’t ever feel the same...feeling sad when it doesn’t go my way...I’m sick of it!! I just wanna like, give up!! Would it be so hard for me to just like, stop feeling??” 

“Oh Jinnie...don’t be ridiculous. You can’t just stop falling in love with people. It’s impossible. Not just for you but...” You exhaled out, “...for all of us.” 

“Yeeeah, I don’t think that you have much control over that.” Changbin agreed. 

“No, seriously!! It’s shit!!” 

You wrapped your arms around him lovingly, nuzzling into his shoulder to sooth him, “I know, I know.” 

“Aren’t you guys sick of it?? The three of us must be cursed or something.” 

Changbin laughed out his little trademark chuckle and ruffled up his friends blond locks. “You’re being dramatic again Hyunjin. It’s not that bad.” 

“Psh! Says you who hasn’t gone on a date in months!” 

“Hey!!” 

You flicked both of your friends on the sides of their heads. “Cut it out, will you? We came up here to relax and forget all that stuff, remember?” 

Hyunjin gave out a sign in his exasperation, turning to fiddle with his little Bluetooth speaker that had definitely seen better days. The last crickets of the season chirped in the early fall air, and the little device booted up with the tiny ringtone that you knew well. 

“Anything we want to listen to in particular?” 

“Whatever you feel like Jinnie.” 

The little blue-white light of his phone illuminated his face, and Hyunjin picked a song that you had likely heard dozens of times before. It was from that artist that he had adored to bits, but only really listened to when he was feeling down. 

“Oh Jinnie.” You hushed, then wrapped your arm around his wide shoulder. “No one deserves you.” 

Changbin let his head fall on the other boy’s shoulder too. When the three of you were close like this with your body heat shared between you, it was cozier than anything imaginable. While you and your two friends weren’t the most touchy of people, there were still times when you could huddle up, and it was no secret that it felt safer than anything. 

Hyunjin chuckled a bit, causing his shoulders to shake. “You know what they say in those movies about people who can’t find love after long?” 

“What’s that?” 

“They say, “By the time that we turn thirty, if neither of us have found love, lets just marry eachother.”” 

Changbin scoffed, “And you’re bringing this up why?” 

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t be the most ridiculous idea if the three of us decided to do that, right? Seeing how the current trend is going?” 

You exchanged adoring and teasing glances with Changbin over your adorably naïve friend. 

“I think you’re missing something out of that equation Jin.” 

His doe-eyes widened, “What’s that?” 

“In all of those movies, it was usually two people who made that promise.” 

“Two people, three people, what does it matter? As of right now, its looking like the only people that we’ve got is eachother.” 

Hyunjin stretched out his hands into his sweater paws and made a little squeak when he cracked his back. 

“What do you say?”

“Hm.” Changbin cleared his throat, “So you’re being serious?” 

“What’s so crazy about it?” Convinced as ever, he counted out the points on his fingers, “We could all live together like we’ve always talked about, we’ll never be lonely and have someone to do things with, we don’t have to be second guessing ever, waiting for someone to call us back...we all already know eachother really well so there will be no surprises...” 

“Oh, so you are being serious about it then?” You ruffled his hair up a bit, just to get a rise out of him like it usually would. 

“I mean...it’s not like it would be hard...right?” 

Changbin sucked at his teeth, “Mm. I guess not.” 

“But isn’t a marriage supposed to be like, having kids, being in love, being...partners?” You added. 

Hyunjin stammered with frantic hands, “W-well, we don’t have to do everything!! Marriage is so conventional these days, we don’t have to follow all the rules, especially since there will be the three of us anyway.” 

Changbin sighed, casting his head up to the ocean-blue sky dotted with silvery constellations and the red blinking lights of airplanes overhead. 

“You’re still forgetting something Jinnie.” 

The blond tiled his head. 

“The part about being in love?” 

The tallest boy shied his hair behind his ear, then tucked his chin into one of the blankets. 

“I mean...I know that I love you guys. I wouldn’t mind spending the time...” 

Your chest buzzed with warmth hearing your friend say it for the first time. It previously had been somewhat of an unspoken phrase between the three of you, but now that he had said it out loud, it felt even more real. 

“Awww, I love you too Jinnie.” 

Changbin scoffed once more and picked with the fraying ends of the blanket. “I guess I do too.” 

The cargo bed grew silent while the three of you chewed on the idea. The longer you thought about it, it started to make sense bit by bit. After all, through all the confusion and the broken hearts, ice cream and broken plates, your little group understood each other better than most. When there were tears to dry, each of you knew exactly what to do. You had loved them all along, you always had. 

“I really love you guys...I think.” Hyunjin finally said, and linked his arms with yours and the other man’s. 

“What are you doing getting all cheesy for, huh?” Changbin nudged him with a smirk. 

“I don’t know, I guess I just never really thought about it like that before.” 

“Like what?” 

“Out of all the people that I’ve “loved” I don’t think that I’ve ever loved them like I have with you both.” 

“What do you mean?” Under the swath of blankets, your knee nudged against his, and he jumped a bit from the feeling. 

Both you and Changbin looked at him attentively and how his lip quivered, and soft eyes glistened from the glow of the lanterns. 

“M-maybe all along...I’ve been in love with you?” 

“Like, in love, in love?” 

“I don’t know...maybe?” He rubbed his eyes like he would’ve had they been lured with sleep. “Maybe I’m just, making things up...I don’t know. It’s getting late.” He laughed out with a tentative breath, “I’m saying things that don’t make sense.”  

Changbin looked out at the stretch of city lights as if he was contemplating the idea himself. 

“I guess that it wouldn’t be impossible.” He said blankly. 

“What!?” You tried to look at both of your best friends as seriously as you could. While your heart started racing, it was as if it was against your will. 

“It’s kinda funny,” Changbin began, “The three of us always complain about how love never really comes our way when we’ve already got it...right here.” 

Logically speaking, it made sense. You and your two best friends really did know eachother better than anyone else ever had. When you had met as scared little 1st years without a clue in the world how to be your own people. You had figured it all out together. The ways that you had showed love to each other had been a bit different--but it was still all the same. If you were to have not met them all those years ago, your life would’ve been drastically different. You couldn’t even picture it. 

Perhaps in all of your little rambles in journals and daydreams, was what you were looking for...them?

“Maybe we were just looking in the wrong place?” You offered, and both of them shrugged. 

“It’s possible.” Hyunjin pulled both of your arms closer to him, and rubbed his cheek into the top of your head, then Changbin’s dark curls. He giggled out, tackling the two of you to lay flat on the cargo bed. It crinkled with a plastic sounding thud, then he wrapped his legs up in both of yours the best that he could. 

Under his arm, you choked a little from his tight grasp, but you eventually let yourself mold into the curves of his body and soak up his warmth. The scratchy wool tickled at your cold fingers, and you soon felt Changbin’s hand come searching for you under the blanket too. It was a bit startling at first, but he reached out to hold your arm, then rubbed small circles into it with his thumb where you rested them on Hyunjin’s chest. 

It was as if he was a bit delirious, but Hyunjin chortled with laugher until he had lost his breath, and his lyrical sounding voice bounced off the cavern of the mountain and echoed up into space. 

“Why do I...weirdly...kinda...wanna make out with you guys right now?” 

Changbin pinched his friend with a teasing grin, “You mean it?” 

Hyunjin pouted with his plush pink lips, “I thought we all just agreed that we were in love with eachother??” 

“Jinnie...” You settled your head into the crook of his neck, right by his collarbones. 

“Damn. Glad I’m not the only one.” Changbin bit a smirk into his lip, then propped himself up on his forearm to gain better ground on you and the other man. 

Your fluttering heart beat it’s way up your throat and into your ears, and your two friends looked at you expectantly. 

“O-outside? Right now?” 

“Yeah, I guess. Why not?” Changbin traced his thumb and index under Hyunjin’s smooth jaw. 

“Aha! So you admit that you want to too!!” Hyunjin beamed and tugged at the sleeves of your own hoodie. 

“I-I didn’t say that...” 

Hyunjin leaned over on his side to face you. “Y/n, how about lets make a deal. We try it out, see how it feels, if it feels weird, we stop and pretend it never happened?” 

“I don’t know Jinnie...this seems pretty friendship ending to me.”

“Isn’t that the point?” Changbin said with a sly grin. 

The tallest boy pleaded to you with nearly needy eyes. “I think that it would feel nice? Besides...none of us have really...felt that...in a while.” 

Changbin’s creeping hands came surveying over Hyunjin’s deep green pullover, and the other boy shivered out a little feeling the touch. 

Hyunjin’s own curious hands reached out to hold both sides of your face gingerly with pink fingertips. 

“I know that I’d like to kiss you...if you’ll let me?” 

Both of your friends waited for you as you took turns checking with both of them. The whole prospect was unimaginable, but now...with both of them in front of you, both more real than anything you could have ever thought up, it started to make all the sense in the world. 

“What do you say?” Hyunjin asked with a dreamy air. It was chilly on that early fall evening, so he tucked up the blankets even higher. It was a simple gesture, but still held multitudes of his care. 

“It doesn’t hurt to try...” 

You felt your face pulled closer to his, and all at once his warmth flooded your lips. It was a strange feeling your friend’s lips on yours like this, but while it was new, it was comfortable. Your friend relaxed himself over you, smiling with the corners of his mouth, and slowly sucking at your lower lip like he didn’t want to startle you with anything too fast. His glossy lips stuck with his favored strawberry flavored Chapstick, and you only wanted to taste more. He hummed with a little happy sound, and his larger hands nearly covered your whole face where he helped tilt your head a little so that he could gift deeper kisses to it. 

Beside him, Changbin shook with a sigh watching the two of you, a different kind of passion growing within him seeing the two of the people that he loved most do something like this. He was a bit unsure at first, but he tucked back his friend’s blonde edges to free the skin of his neck, then sucked little kisses there too. He to was careful, and didn’t want to leave marks, but rather feel the way that Hyunjin’s skin dotted with goosebumps from the feeling and then let kitten-sounding whimpers go from the pressure on his neck. 

While the night itself was nearly too cold to bear, the three of your bodies heated instantly, and you nearly felt as if the sweater that kept you warm was even too much. Hyunjin parted his lips slightly to enter your mouth with his tongue, and it was a feeling so indulgent that you tried to hide from your friend how good he could make you feel out of your own embarrassment. 

Your name slithered from his lips to yours, and you tucked your hands under his sweater, finding Changbin’s hands there too on the other boy’s bare skin. Hyunjin flinched from feeling both sets of hands on his muscles. His abs flared from the attention, and he accidentally bit into your lip feeling the cold pads of fingers on him. 

Now that you had one taste of him your body could only crave more. 

Changbin tilted Hyunjin’s gasping and swollen lips to his own where he took his own turn gifting the other boy his affection. Hyunjin pressed his whole chest into the other man in an attempt to get closer and Changbin’s hands splayed across his back to hold him tightly. The two of them giggled a bit as they roughly worked their way around each other’s mouths. Changbin, a little smaller in the other man’s wide and long arms appeared to swim in him, and the two of them melted between the thick fabric of their clothes. 

Once more your hands went journeying up Hyunjin’s shirt, and you ran your fingers over every curve and twist of his back: from the little dimples above his hips, his ribs, his sweeping shoulder blades and each swelling bit of fleshy dorsal muscle you could get your hands on. You had never realized how curious you had been for him in this way, but it delighted you to feel him this close. 

Legs became anxious under the wool blankets, and tangled up with little regard for personal space, and hips writhed asking for attention that had been kept for them for far too long. 

Changbin moved down Hyunjin’s jaw to give him more kisses to his tender neck, sucking harder this time to imprint little purple marks. You had never taken Changbin to be one to do so, but something told you that he was one to take pride in those that he loved, and wanted them to be his only. 

“B-Bin...” Hyunjin’s voice wavered, no longer loud enough to bounce off the rocks surrounding you. 

From the way that Changbin kissed the other boy, you instantly craved for him to do the same for you. Across the width of your gorgeous blond friend, you tossed around Changbin’s dark and curly strands, and soaked up his warmth to your hand cracking from the cold. 

You called out for him too, and found your hips grinding into Hyunjin’s back, becoming more impatient by the moment. The way that both of them touched you, and each other was...different. There was no fear, no heartbreak, no uncertainty or loneliness. When you thought of it later, it was if the three of you could actually heal from it all for the first time. 

Changbin’s eyes softened hearing you beg for him, and he helped you slide closer to him. 

“Hm. You’re so cute.” He muttered before filling your mouth with his own kisses. Changbin appeared to channel everything that he had in him to give to you--it was no surprise considering the romantic that he was. He was attentive and slow; rough at first, but then melting into something much more infatuating. Hyunjin took his turn swiping his hands up and down your thighs, kneading into the skin, and then tucking up your sweater. He shimmied down your body, pressing soft lips into your belly to make you tremble from the pleasant gesture. He made his way up higher, up to your chest where he exposed even more skin to the cold, but was sure to make up for it by keeping the blankets close. 

Changbin swiped his thumb over both of your lips, smiling as he did so. 

“Have I ever told you that you’re really breathtaking?” He said with a tone so sultry it was a bit laughable. 

“I don’t think so?” 

He too took a greedy hand down your chest where Hyunjin nipped lightly, admiring the way that you had looked under the moonlight. He brought his fingers back to your lips, giving you a tiny and accidental taste of his fingertips, then promptly resumed the kisses that you had asked for. 

Hyunjin worked his way back up your body, stopping at last to lap lightly into your neck with tiny fleeting love bites and delighted in the way that he could see them fade onto your skin--almost like you and him were a matching set now.

Changbin broke his lips from yours, creating a tiny wet sound with a thin string of his saliva on your your bottom lip.

Hyunjin played with the elastic of your sweatpants, gasping out a bit once he saw your legs rub together in the absence of friction. His eyes wandered slowly to his other friend who had grinded his hips down into the cargo bed with a quivering length.

“Are we about to do what I think we are?” He asked, both thrilled and shocked.  

“Seems like it.” Changbin said simply after going to caress the other man’s cheek.

“Damn. I was not expecting this night to go like this.” Your voice shook, either from anticipation, or from the cold--you couldn’t quite tell.

“Me neither...but I’m not mad about it.”

“Friendship offically ruined?” Hyunjin said with a mischievous little smile.

The breeze blew through, wrapped up in the smell of the crisp mountain air. Hyunjin’s little speaker played on with his songs that you still knew the names of. There wasn’t too much light, just the glow from the inside of Changbin’s car and his lanterns, but it was just enough to take in your friends fully--the ones that you had cared for so much, you didn’t even known how much you had. While you would’ve been worried about getting caught on that Wednesday night, this mattered little.

“I’d say so.” You answered, and it was exactly what they had wanted to hear.

The three of you opted to keep your tops on to fight off the elements, but under the covers, you each jiggled off pairs of joggers, jeans and sweatpants. The car bounced once more as the three of you readjusted. As soon as bare legs intertwined and the thin fabric of undergarments got thrown into the mix, you each got louder and more desperate for wandering touches that could quell your desires.

With twisted and oversized socks, Hyunjin straddled both sides of Changbin’s head, letting the other man palm the outline of his dick and squeeze at it harshly until he shivered over the smaller man’s frame.

“Damn Jin...” Changbin groaned seeing the other’s length. “You’ve been packing and didn’t feel like sharing?”

“S-shut up.” Hyunjin whined as the other teased him.

You worked bite after bite down Changbin’s torso, sucking lightly, then harder. After long, you found that it tickled him a little--this knowledge you would save for another time.

He wore baggy boxers which hid the full girth of his dick that swelled with his erection that bopped and only appeared to grow larger once you and released him. Thick veins wrapped around his length, and his tip flared where you grabbed him into your palm.

“I could say the same to you, Bin.” You teased your friend.

Hyunjin turned to see for himself, laughing out, seeing the way that it looked in your smaller hand.

“Bin, what the fuck?”

“...Intimidated are you?”

The other boy tossed his head back, hair getting caught in his hoodie. “No...”

Changbin snapped the elastic to Hyunjin’s briefs just because he liked the sound, then pulled the other’s member out to pump at the considerable length with his fist. The blonde boy choked out a gasp at the strong grip, and Changbin dug his fingers around the other’s waist to bring in him closer.

“What me to suck this pretty dick of yours?”

“Do I even need to answer that question?” Hyunjin snarked.

Further down, you worked your own hand around Changbin’s cock which you had lathered at first with your spit. Obscene sounds of the liquid cupped in your hand, then you worked your mouth down to his gloriously thick thighs. Something overtook you then, and all you wanted to to was ravage them, make them all yours, mark them as yours, and make the quiver all because of you.

Your fingernails dug into the fleshy and squishy skin, and Changbin moaned out forcefully feeling the sting.

“Feels good?” You asked with a wicked grin, then returned to sucking bruises into the inner parts of his thighs.

“You’re gonna...gonna distract me.” He sighed out, still jerking the other boy away.

Hyunjin swiped away the other man’s curly bangs so he could see him fully. He guided his length over Changbin’s mouth, teeth clenched with a tight exhale once he felt the warmth of the other’s tongue lapping up the sides of his shaft.

Your teasing was enough, and you finally granted your friend what he wanted. With a girth as wide as he had, it was somewhat of a challenge, but a challenge that you gleefully expected. He had puffed up your cheeks fully, and you could barely take in half is length without it testing the back of your throat. Still, you focused your breath coming out of your nose, and swallowed him down deeper. Your eyes wetted from the simulation to your gag reflex, but you held on for as long as you could. At last, your wish was granted, and his marked up thighs shook just for you.

“Bin...fuck.” The blond shuddered upon coaxing himself fully into his friend’s mouth. He moaned out sinfully feeling the twist of the other man’s tongue.

To give yourself a moment’s pause, you stopped, gasping over your friend’s slit, teasing your tongue around his head, dipping down to the place where he dripped with beads of precum.

Changbin laughed out breathily, swearing easily and calling out your name too with a rasp to his tone. “S-shit...”

“Getting too distracted?” Hyunjin purred, seeing the other man made a wreck by you. “What about me?”

“S-sorry.” Changbin admitted, wetting his lips and taking back Hyunjin’s cock into his hollowed cheeks.

As you swallowed around him, your friend rutted his hips just slightly, his lust overtaking him.

“Oh fuck, just like that, mm--” Hyunjin cooed, getting lost in his own ecstasy with head thrown back, and his sweater paws melting down to Changbin’s quaking chest where he supported himself.

You worked your hand and mouth up and down around the pulsating vein’s of your best friend’s length, lazily letting him feel your flattened tongue, then switching to let him feel the tightness of your throat.

Hyunjin sighed out heavily as looked down at his friend who had taken him so well. It was almost as if he felt cheated from the crappy head that he had been getting in dirty bathrooms and semi-public dressing rooms. It was dangerous in the way that Changbin would stroke him languidly, then let his drool wet his tip.

Further down your hips, the pent up heat from your own sex ached on the cool plastic of the cargo bed, and you grinded your hips down for any simulation you could get. 

The blonde man whimpered out after long, feeling even hazier the longer that Changbin continued on. “Binnie...you’re...feels really--fuck--so, good...”

It was as if the words hand been a trigger for him, but your friend pulled his length for your mouth, panting out like a dog, while also robbing Hyunjin of all feeling.

“Don’t-don’t wanna cum yet...” He laughed out, “I was really fucking close.”

Hyunjin pouted, then turning back and look at you with a bit of your own saliva running down your neck.

“Your turn now.” He nearly whispered, then crawled down the other man’s body to jerk at him lightly.

“Jin! I-I--” He clenched his teeth.

“Lay down, y/n. Is there any way that you want it?”

“A-anything. Anything that you want to do. I-I don’t care.” You begged, falling under his spell.

“Aw. Cute.” He added once he had seen the purple marks on Changbin’s thighs.

You fell back under the two of them, opening yourself up for them to do as they wished. First, Hyunjin crept down your body with as much care as he could--beautiful in the way the he looked close to you like this. 

Hyunjin’s hand cascaded down your chest, then belly, all the way down to your own twitching and wetted sex, and you keened directly into his touch. 

“Wouldn’t you like my fingers? Filling you up...” He asked softly, finally sinking down far enough so that you could feel his words swirl over your exposed arousal, then pressing light kisses into you. “...as deep as you can take it?” 

“Mm-yes.” You squeaked, opening your legs further for him. 

Your other friend settled beside you, tilting your chin nearer to him. Just barely, his lips grazed over you, breathing in your air with his hooded eyes glued to your weakened form under the hands of the other boy. 

“You’re that excited?” Hyunjin mocked, “We’ve barely touched you.” 

“Quit talking and just get to fucking me, got it?” You demanded, mustering all of your strength. 

“Oh-ho! I didn’t take you for one to bite back.”

Changbin bit a proud little smile into your lip, wrapping his arms around you. The blond man then toyed with your entrance, licking his fingers, wetting them, then pushed them slowly into your needy hole. 

“Ahhh, look at that, so fucking tight around my fingers, You want it that bad?” 

His long and lithe digits filled you up where he started to thrust them in and out, using his free hand to push your jolting thighs back. Your right hand traversed it’s way under the blankets which you had readjusted, all the way down to Changbin’s leaking length which still blushed red. You wrapped around him carefully, promising his to lips that you would go easy on him. 

As Hyunjin curled his fingers, the other man then reached down to rub at you fervently, matching the pace at which Hyunjin flicked his wrist. Your hips lurched feeling the combination of each sensation, and you cried out loudly for the two of them--the sound itself bounced off that empty space where the three of you existed, almost as if you were calling out for the whole starry sky to hear you. 

“I-I think that we were really missing out on something...” You joked with an airy breath and both of your friends joined you. 

Changbin’s teeth caught his lip as your hand squeezed and twisted, and you could see with every ounce of restraint that he had, he was holding back. 

“Way to make me want to fuck you sideways, huh?” He said with a little grin, observing the size difference between your hand and his member. 

Your back arched when Hyunjin reached in even deeper, and you dissolved into the pleasure that he brought you--an amazing kind of all-consuming feeling that shattered your will, and sent you mewling out into your other friends mouth. 

“I-I can’t wait anymore,” You begged, clawing right into Hyunjin’s golden trellises. 

Changbin scooched up quickly, taking half of the blankets with him, thankfully giving the other boy a nod when he let him be the one to use your entrance. With his brutish hands, he flipped you to your stomach, and hiked up your hips too, cold fingers holding them in place. Hyunjin kneeled permitting you access to his cock which as softened slightly, so he pumped himself back into place with his eyes holding yours. 

At first, Changbin teased you with his tip, adding pressure to your twitching hole, then guided himself in bit...by bit. 

The blonde tapped his dick to your lips, holding firmly the back of your neck as you took him in and choked out at the way that the other stretched your walls. Changbin grabbed at your ass in handfuls starting slowly, grinding his hips in little circles to simulate you deeper. 

“Hm. Who would have known that your pretty little hole would be so perfect for me? Guess we really were missing out on something.” 

Hyunjin growled lowly feeling his cock slide down to the back of your throat, brows crossed, and the bottom of his hoodie resting just above his hips. 

“Squeeze my leg if it becomes too much, okay? ...I’m gonna fuck your mouth, okay?” 

You nodded best you could, and he started to thrust carefully, every few seconds you would hold his member to drag it against the sides of your cheeks, causing him to huff out loudly at the fleshy bits of your mouth. 

Changbin quickened his pace, doubling over your back as he lost himself in you, grunting out in his rhythm. From both sides, your best friends used you, resorting to something much more feral as they edged themselves closer. From the motions, the car rocked back and fourth like a bed and it’s headboard. 

You too felt the tension build deeply in your core, and it begged with reckless abandon at your dizzy mind that drew itself closer and closer into the feeling of being utterly all theirs. 

In many ways, you guessed that you always had been--while it had been unspoken at the time. Now, having the two of them wholly like this under the silver sheen of the moon, the cold biting at your skin, then furiously met with your heat, you could no longer see them as the two broken souls whom you had bonded with at first. They were now everything, everything that you had wished and hoped for.

Even now that you had become much more to each other, there was nothing that could take away the closeness that you had shared with them. 

“F-fuck--gonna cum--” Changbin announced while he pounded frantically. The other man rolled his hips into your mouth quicker too, seeking the same kind of release. 

“Y/n?” He said with a broken breath, and you muffled out a moan to let him know that you were nearly there too. 

“Oh shit, oh shit--” 

Changbin grunted out, with a bit of panic to his voice, forcefully removed himself from you seconds before he spilled his white seed onto your hole, then sending it dripping down your leg. 

“Oh fuck--s-sorry--” He gasped out, still jerking his cock while he pulsed. 

“Bin!! What the fuck??” Hyunjin yelled out, his words quickly turned into mumbles of nonsense when you took him down as deeply as you could manage without gagging, focusing only on him even though your sex ached feeling so empty.  

When he had come down after a few moments, Changbin took to fucking your walls once more with his thick fingers, not even caring that he had fucked his white warmth back into you at the same time. Meanwhile, he returned to rubbing of your sensitive flesh, trying to replace the feeling he had robbed you of. 

“Cum for me baby, cum for me.” 

On cue, you came in waves, shuddering over Changbin’s fingers slicked with his cum, just as your other friend released down your throat and the warm liquid painted your tongue. 

His blissful moans turned into light chuckles as he milked himself into your mouth, giving you every last drop. Changbin drove you further, overstimulating you to the point where your knees nearly gave out, and you had to beg him to slow. 

After each of your bodies collapsed weakly to the bed of blankets and rejected clothing, you drew the covers back up over yourselves, feeling the cold seep in once more. Both of your friends kissed perfect adoring kisses into your raw lips, tasting the both of themselves on your skin. While your thighs still stuck with your friend’s cum, it didn’t matter as much now that you had huddled up cozily into their arms. 

“Bin, you asshole!!” Hyunjin jested, and flicked the other boy’s forehead. “You fucking finished before you were supposed to!!” 

“What the hell was I supposed to do?? I’d already edged myself enough!!” 

“You could’ve tried!!” 

“Whatever, it felt fucking amazing, don’t blame me.” He added with a smug smirk, “You felt fucking amazing, y/n.” 

“Did it feel good for you too, y/n?” Hyunjin gingerly asked, falling right back to his soft and adorable composure that you knew well. 

“Like Bin said, it was fucking amazing.” 

“So we all agree then? We won’t forget that this happened?”

You gave Hyunjin a little nod to say yes, and your group of three hugged eachother even closer. You hadn’t noticed it, but at some point, Hyunjin’s music had turned off. 

“So, this means that we’re like, a thing now?” Changbin asked, playing with the drawstring to your hoodie. 

You peppered Hyunjin’s forehead with a tiny kiss. “I’d like to be.” 

He nuzzled into the crook of your neck and reached out for Changbin across the expanse. “Me too.” 

~🌹~

Bunch of (Ro)ses!

@minaamhh @dazzlehoseok @synnocence @jjewibeans @hyunsluvv @unexceptional-h @bobawithchaitea @lechanters @sailorhyunjinz @silencefavarchive @eunaeiekim @lunarskzzz

[feathered-serpents]

SO I finally sat down and wrote an obnoxiously long post on my feelings on Nandermo instead of doing literally anything else but I wanted to get it all down somewhere cause my journey with/thoughts on this ship are. A lot

I was not a fan of Nandermo at first because I didn’t like their dynamic (in a shipping context) during the first 1.5 seasons and that honestly still remains true. I DON’T like Nandermo set in the context of season 1 and the first half of season 2. It’s just...too power imbalanced for me even with the tone of the show which is a factor in why I overall have changed my mind over this ship, but not for season 1. 

What warmed me to it was the latter half of season 2 and what got me actually on board was the latter half of season 3. Seeing Guillermo finally start to stand up for himself and demand to be treated like Nandor’s equal got me excited. Seeing Nandor actually try to do this (with varying success) got me thinking that maybe this could happen 

And then season 3 episodes 8-10 happened and I was just gone. Those were the episodes that taught me that yes, there is potential for a relationship between these two where both of these people could be on equal footing, and I think that relationship could be interesting to watch.  

They’re still not QUITE at the dynamic I want. I want a dynamic where Nandor fully respects Guillermo and demands that others do too and we’re getting very close to that, but we’re not totally there in my opinion. I’m shipping I guess future/potential Nandermo more than current Nandermo. I also don’t love that Guillermo still calls Nandor “master” but I do think that’ll stop as we go forward. 

And yes, tone of the show was also a factor in me changing my mind. If WWDITs was a show with a more serious tone, I probably still wouldn’t ship it, but given that at the end of the day this is a comedy designed to be funny and not taken too seriously, my standards are admittedly lower. I think their dynamic is funny, I think a romantic relationship between the two would be funny, so I’d like to see it. 

(And if I’m being 100% honest there is a little bit of “can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” going on here too. I saw a bunch of people having fun with Nandermo every week and went “I wanna have fun too” and just. Dove right in. I’m not strong)

Finally, do I actually think it will be canon? How canon something will be is never something I consider when picking up a ship, but it is always something that “would be nice” in the back of my mind. For Nandermo...I don’t know. I’ve seen some people DEAD SET that it will be canon but I’m a bit more skeptical. This is TV, I’ve been burned too many times by TV to really honestly expect them to go through with it. I’ve seen relationships like this (Good Omens) where two characters read as blatantly queer (Good Omens) with obvious feelings for each other (Good Omens) and sure it could be read as romantic if you want, but in the end the show itself does not explicitly go through with it (Good Omens). 

But I don’t want to be too cynical about it either, What We Do in the Shadows seems to be making more strides in terms of representation than other shows and is on a premium network like FX which means there are less restrictions. So I think it could be canon, I’d like it to be canon, but I’m not gonna hold my breath for it to be canon. 

Lastly, I will say I am sorry if I disappointed anyone with my change of stance. I do remember talking with some people who also didn’t vibe with Nandermo at first who seemed excited someone else was in that minority with them. I do still get it, and I’ll tag every Nandermo post I reblog as best I can for you!

And I will still fight you in a Wendy’s parking lot if you call it the new Jonmartin

[ethanesimp]

YOUR NAME // PROLOGUE

Pairing:  Ethan Torchio x Mexican GN! Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 1.4k

Summary: A name. Two words. Twelve letters. Five syllables… That was all it took for you to turn your life upside down after hearing the name a fortune-teller promised belonged to your soulmate.

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

A/N: I made sure to remove every description that was too specific to the OC (ex. eye color, skin tone, etc.) but please let me know if I missed one :) I hope you like it 

July 3rd, 2012

There was nothing better than summer vacation. It was one of the few times of the year where you spent almost every waking moment with your friends and got to forget about school for a few months. Not to mention all the beautiful festivals and carnivals that were organized in the city during this season.

Earlier in the day, you had begged your parents to take you and your best friend to the carnival that was starting today. You had found out there be a drive-in and one of the films playing was going to be Dirty Dancing, which happened to be a favorite movie of yours. They'd agreed to take you only because friends of your father were going to and he wanted to meet up with them after years of not seeing each other.

At some point of the night, they'd gone to see their friends after giving you some of their pocket money, leaving your best friend, Emilio, and you alone. It hadn't taken you too long to spend all the money they'd given you until there was only enough money to pay for the tickets to the drive-in and ten additional pesos that weren't even enough to buy a bag of cotton candy or popcorn.

There was still about an hour left until the movie started and you had absolutely nothing to do so you just sat by the game stands and watched people play darts to pass the time. Most were terrible and would often miss their targets by a long shot, not like you were much better at it though.

You got bored of seeing people try and miss every single time, so your mind darted to the most pressing and annoying matter at the moment. Ever since summer began, your head had been completely blank of ideas to write about. During the school year it had been buzzing with new concepts to try out, but the moment you got out and actually had free time, all those ideas went poof.

You had started writing about two years ago after your mom bought you a Gabriel García Márquez book and you fell in love with the idea of maybe writing one of your own one day. Just to be clear, you were nowhere near good at writing, but it kept you happy, so you kept on doing it in hopes that you’d eventually improve. Emilio was your only audience. He'd read every single thing you wrote down and criticize it, not like he knew more than you did about writing, but it was still a good way to try and get better.

Amongst all the people in the crowd, you spotted a couple holding hands, and your mind couldn't help but make up a story about how they could've ended there. Perhaps it was their first date, maybe they'd been together for years or maybe you were just being ridiculous and too much of a hopeless romantic.

Either way, Emilio saw it fit to interrupt your thoughts by poking you on the rib and pointing to a stand you hadn't noticed before. There was a small sign placed outside that read: 'Hazle una pregunta a la adivina y conoce tu destino por tan sólo cinco pesos.' You couldn't help but snort. You had never been one to believe much on things like those. Emilio, on the other hand, was a firm believer. (Ask the fortune teller a question and get to know your destiny for only five pesos.)

He dragged you over to the tent and you didn't complain just because you wanted to know what it was all about. You paid the small fee and walked in together because he didn't want to go in by himself in case it was a trick and there was a kidnapper on the other side or something.

The dark tent was only illuminated by a crystal ball that sat in the middle of a small round table with two chairs. In one of them sat a woman with long and white curly hair. She looked to be at least fifty-five yet the smile that appeared on her face when you walked in screamed youth.

The room smelled strongly of incense, but not to the point where it bothered you. In fact, you found it quite calming because the smell reminded you of the dance classroom that always smelled of incense and coffee. You looked and Emilio and he gestured for you to go first, so you pulled the chair back and sat on it. You fumbled with the velvet tablecloth to distract yourself as you felt the lady's eyes inspect your face.

"So, what has brought you to me today? What is the question you need an answer to?" You opened your mouth to speak but closed it right away because truth be told, you had no clue. There were many questions that you needed an answer to, but most were far too personal to ask a stranger.

You turned to look at Emilio in hopes that he'd have an interesting question for you to ask and he didn't disappoint, "What's the name of her soulmate?" You giggled and shook your head. It was the perfect thing to ask, nothing too personal and funny. You wanted to see what the lady would come up with.

She reached for something underneath the table and placed it right in front of you. It was a small sack full of things that had rattled when she picked them up. The lady opened up the bag and you noticed it was full of scrabble tiles. You furrowed your eyebrows, what was she going to make you do? Get out letters and see which name they formed?

"Okay, what I want you to do is to take a deep breath, close your eyes and pick out two of the tiles," You tilted your head to the side and sighed, but did what she asked anyways. You moved your hand around the bag a few times and picked up several tiles only to let them fall again.

Before you could pull the tiles out, Emilio emitted a sound that sounded almost like a screech, "¡Mierda! Tenía que llamarle a mamá antes de las nueve, ya vuelvo." By the time you had opened your mouth to protest, Emilio was already gone and you were alone with the fortune teller. (Shit! I had to call mom before nine, I'll be right back.)

You shook your head and apologized to the lady before drawing out two tiles and placing them on the table. You looked at the letters scribbled down on them: E and T. The white-haired lady placed her neatly manicured hands over the letters and closed her eyes. She leaned her head back as if she was looking at the sky and you saw her lips move but heard no sound come out of her mouth.

With an awkward chuckle, you fumbled around with the necklace around your neck. You had no clue why but you were starting to get freaked out, something about the vibe and being alone gave you a queasy feeling. Your head shot up the moment the woman spoke, "Hmm, this is quite interesting. You see, I'm sensing this strong connection between you and this person."

"Whose name is?" You asked and felt kind of stupid. As much as you wanted to pretend you didn't really care, the romantic side of you was eager to know the name of the person, even if you knew this was probably all bullshit.

"Ethan," She finally said as she looked you dead in the eye, "Ethan Torchio."

By the time Emilio had returned and asked his question, you were waiting outside shaking. There was something about the way she had looked at you that had sent shivers down your spine and the name... God, as crazy as it sounded, it made you feel something when you heard it.

As you watched the film, you still couldn't get it out of your head. Ethan... Ethan. You kept repeating it over and over again inside your head as if it were a mantra. As if there was someone out there who owned that name. There was just something about it that felt so right, you knew it in your bones. That something was the only thing that allowed you to remember the name, even years after first hearing it.

[mayonnaisetoffees]

Mayo's Fic Recs

List of my favourite fics below the cut; this list is a WIP and completely personal taste; a mix of fandom classics and lesser knowns

Please remember to leave comments and kudos for the authors and podficcers!

*shows particular favourites

Fandoms currently included: Spn, Merlin, Les Mis, BatFam

Fics That Changed Me Fundamentally

Loaded March*** by Footloose. Merlin | E | 1.26M(Series)/ 35k (First part) | 188k hits (First part)

The reason SAS Captain Arthur Pendragon can’t keep a communications specialist in Team Excalibur because none of them are good enough. And then Lieutenant Merlin Emrys gets assigned to his squad, and Arthur does everything he can to prove that Merlin isn’t good enough, either. Except he is.

You can read all about my thoughts on Loaded March here, here, and here. Basically this fic series is beautifully written, has absolutely delicious UST, has found family, magic, and high stakes. It’s been part of my life for almost a decade now, I made friends through LM that I still have to this day, and it genuinely changed me as a person. Plus there are 78k of Extras to itch that I Finished Now What scratch. Parts 1-5 have been podficced and you can find them in works inspired by this one in each part.

Down to Agincourt*** by Seperis. Supernatural | E | 1.12M(Series)/ 154k (First part) | 73k hits (First part)

The world’s already over and they’re already dead. All they’re doing now is marking time until the end.

S7!Dean is transported back to the aftermath of where 5x04 The End left off. Much like LM, DtA was one that I avoided for a while. I didn’t think it would be my thing. I’m not usually into End!verse, it sounded so bleak from the summary, and it sounded so long for something I wasn’t sure about. If you’re reading this and nodding along? You are as much a fool as I was. Yes, it’s the end of the world. But it’s not over yet. This is a beautiful journey in what it means to be yourself, how to survive the end of the world, a How-To for Coups, and a study in food as a love language. I only read this fic this year, but like LM, it has genuinely changed me. Map of the World has been podficced.

Supernatural

Let’s start with the current hyperfixation. All of these are at least passively Dean/Cas unless otherwise stated. I've split into ones from my first time around in the SPN fandom and more recent ones because the vibes are actually really different and it took me some time to adjust (Not in a bad way! In a time has passed they have grown as characters way)

Old-School SPN (AKA the Classics my first time around)

Canon-Compliant or Divergent

Home in Motion* by nomdeplume13 M | 232k | 48k hits

Castiel swore he was done with spur of the moment decisions that permanently changed Dean Winchester's life. A year after the angel's most disastrous, his newest may present the largest challenge of dean's life: Fatherhood.

Did someone say kid!fic in canonverse? This is perfect. Canon divergence from the end of S6. Cas saves a baby from a neglectful mother and gives him to Dean to raise. They all move in with Bobby. Great OCs. Bobby considers Cas his son. Listen everything I say here will not be able to begin to encompass how much I love this fic. Just trust me on this one.

Named* by RC_McLachlan M | 95k | 95k hits

Jesus Christ is dead. Somehow, that isn't the worst part of Dean's week.

With a summary like that, need I say more? No but I'm gonna. This is one of the funniest fics I've ever read, but it doesn't take any emotion from the serious moments, if anything it heightens them. There are so many quotes from this I think about all the time. It was written in 2010 and so there's a bit of misogyny/character assassination of Anna in places.

Second Childhood by CloudyJenn (read by exmanhater) G | 16k (1h30) | 10k hits

"Dude, I can't do this whole thing by myself," Dean said with far more desperation leaking into his tone than he liked. It would just be too much to make it through hell and death and Lucifer only to have Castiel bail on him because of a frigging baby.

They beat the Apocalypse (OG-S5) and then Sam gets de-aged by a spell. I've listened to this so many times I know it by heart, it's an ultimate comfort fic to me.

Defy Any and All Expectation* by Tenoko1 (read by Tenoko1) M | 138k (14hrs) | 37k hits

Chuck's newly released books tell of another war between Heaven and Hell. Team Free Will sets out to try to defy prophecy, only to realize there is a lot more at stake and amiss than the not-quite-accurate words of one Prophet of the Lord. Along the way, Dean and Cas' relationship continues to evolve into something neither expected or were prepared for, all of their lives transforming in ways no one could have expected. But with no shortage of cases, monsters, and mayhem, it's going to require the help of new friends and old enemies if they're to have a hope of saving the world one more time. Alternate Season Six.

So this is a re-written version of Tenoko1's The Path We Choose which I don't think is around anymore. By the time I was reading the re-write as each chapter came out, I knew every single line of TPWC and it wasn't all that much shorter. It's such a perfect canon divergence because they are all 100% in-character. If you're into podfic, you already know what an absolute gift 14 hours is, but if you have never tried podfic before, Tenoko1 is a fantastic place to start. Her voice is soothing and energetic and her Cas sometimes comes to mind when I'm reading fic in Misha's place (sorry Misha)

His Fucking Kids 'Verse by 8sword M | 96k(Series)/ 3k (first part) | 26k hits (first part)

Jesus, the school should just have a parking spot labeled, “Reserved for the Novak-Winchesters,” because Dean’s getting sick of having to cruise around the parking lot looking for a spot every time he gets a call from the principal about Emma.

Emma survives and Dean and Cas are raising her and Claire. This fic series will make you laugh, make you cry, and (nowadays) make you wish Emma had survived to be a part of Wayward Sisters.

One Species Too Many by wallmakerrelict E | 22k | 37k hits

While Dean is laid up for a month after breaking his leg on a hunt, Cas decides that it's a perfect time to adopt a litter of kittens. But even though he's gotten better since Purgatory, Cas still isn't quite the same as he was before fixing Sam's head, and being trapped in a cabin with him for weeks on end is making that all the more obvious to Dean. When Sam takes off on a hunt, Dean has to figure out on his own how to navigate his new relationship with Cas while also helping to raise a bunch of fuzzballs that aren't even cute. Not even a little bit. (Well, maybe a little bit.)

Dean breaks his legs, and honey!Cas brings home some kittens to foster. It's achingly sweet and also painful because you know Dean wants to fix Cas but there's nothing to fix. It is tagged for ableism for this.

Tripping* by Hatteress E | 49k | 78k hits

That time the universe decided Dean belonged with Cas and wasn't afraid to pull out the big guns to make it so. Big guns in this case being obsessive fangirls, archangels turned tricksters and overly enthusiastic cupids. Welcome to Dean's life.

Alt!S5 and it is beautiful. Also any fic with Missouri is an automatic win.

Broadway Musical by Grifitings M | 12k | 79k hits

This is the day that marked the Holy and Blessed Union of Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle. The merging of prominent bloodlines is always a grand occurrence, but breeding pedigree hunter families like Winchester and Harvelle is something to be rejoiced. It is also something to be meticulously planned, which thankfully the Host is very good at. Or, the romantic comedy where Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle are destined to get married, Castiel is given the task of playing matchmaker and fails terribly, the entire Heavenly Host becomes a sitcom audience, God warns against male pregnancy, and Jimmy Novak is incredibly unimpressed with angels in general.

Jimmy deserves a sainthood and frankly I don't even want to hear about crack if it's not on the level of the Host yelling at Cas not to touch the butt.

Classic AUs (AKA AUs from my first time around)

Try Something Tuesday by almaasi E | 48k | 144k hits

Dean Winchester teaches a third-grade class. He's new to this whole ‘bisexual’ thing - but by pure happenstance, he meets Castiel: a particularly dapper male librarian who moonlights as a substitute teacher. Dean's curious and Castiel is willing, so why the hell not? Except, fate never intended it to be one-time-only...

This was one of the first spn fics to really really stay with me and it never really left.

Rock 'n' Roll Queer Bar by ChasingRabbits E | 127k(Series)/ 8k (Part1) | 29k hits (Part1)

Ellen and Jo Harvelle run Harvelle's Roadhouse, a bar that unintentionally becomes a beacon for wayward queer souls. Her employees: Dean, the smartass runaway with a big heart and bigger mouth; Castiel, the college drop-out turned hippie; his (surprisingly heterosexual) trouble-making brother Gabriel; and Charlie, who has been told several times that the back room is not to be used for after-hours Dungeons & Dragons games. But there's a lot of love in this place, and a new family for anyone who may otherwise be without.

This series. If you've ever felt unsure or out of place or anxious or just really felt like no-one understood you, this fic is for you. I first found this series when I was coming to terms with my queerness and I genuinely think it was invaluable. Also I am a sucker for the go for a dinner at Cas's family and end up storming out trope.

Play It All Night Long by janie_tangerine (read by Tenoko1) NC17 | 43k (4hrs)

The rom-com-ish one where Dean hosts a late night radio show, Castiel is a regular listener of his who starts calling one day and ends up calling more often than not and Dean finds himself liking it. This, until one day Castiel calls for not exactly petty reasons (just before Dean's brother Sam is visiting with his girlfriend for spring break) and things get very, very crowdy at his place. He also doesn't know it's just the beginning of it. Also features Gabriel, Chuck, Andy, the Roadhouse crew and a huge amount of music quoted. Especially Bob Dylan.

Again, this podfic has got me through many a night of insomnia. Cas calls in after a particularly shitty day and it all goes from there.

New-School SPN (AKA post-2014)

Canon-Compliant or Divergent

Tall Grass by aeli_kindara E | 57k | 28k hits

“I think we should have a garden,” Cas says. Dean looks up from his beer. He hasn’t had that much to drink, but Cas still has a vague look of unreality about him, a splash of living color that doesn’t fit in the bunker’s echoing stillness. Dean didn’t hear him coming. A lot of the time, Cas is so unobtrusive it feels like Dean has the bunker to himself, with Sam away. Dean shakes his head to clear it. “A — garden?” he repeats.

There is a reason you will see this recced time and time again. It healed parts of me I didn't know needed healing.

So Says the Sword* by komodobits E | 85k | 73k hits

The briefing was simple: ‘Stand guard over the Michael Sword until the battle is ready to commence. Await further instructions.’ Castiel doesn’t mind working security duty; he was briefed shortly after the initial salvation of the Sword from the pit, and again before taking up his position. He knows what to do. However, it’s easy to forget that the green room isn’t real. Time moves differently there, the space ever-changing to make a prison of mountains, cathedrals, salt flats, orchards, and whatever Castiel was led to believe about Heaven’s greatest weapon—Dean Winchester is something entirely unexpected

I saw ssts mentioned in like every single If you're getting back into the fandom READ THIS rec list. For good reason. It's described as "canon-adjacent in that seasons one to three happened exactly the same, but when Dean goes to Hell, he is not raised by Castiel". It's one of the most interesting concepts I've read and it's one of those fics where the writing style will stick with you. Castiel POV in a way you've never read before.

Aching in the Absence of You* by sobsicles E | 95k | 9k hits (in 5 days)

Brittle and battle-worn, Cas looks at him over coffee one morning and says, "I need to go," and Dean instantly knows that he's not coming back. He's not really sure how he knows it, but he does. It settles into the pit of his stomach, curling hot and tight like something he instinctively wants to tear out with his bare hands. He takes a breath, and it gets stuck in his throat, hitching there. It hurts, hurts, hurts when he finally exhales. "Yeah," Dean says, "of course you do," and he nods jerkily as he looks down at his phone. He doesn't say goodbye. He doesn't look up from the screen when Cas gets up and leaves the room. He doesn't finish his coffee, or move for a long time. By nightfall, Cas is gone.

If you don't already know sobsicles, I am delighted to introduce you to the person who will smash you to pieces with a hammer to put you back together Kintsugi-style. This one is post-finale but without 15x18 (it'll make sense as it goes). Cas says he's going to leave again and again Dean doesn't ask him to stay. Full of lines so beautiful they'd make Shakespeare weep, Sobsicles has this way of writing that is so evocative and paints such a clear picture. Fair warning, if you're Dean-coded, this might be A Lot.

dumbassery, denial, doing (the three d's to the destination)** by sobsicles E | 108k | 25k hits

Freedom is just one adjustment after the next. ~~~ Cas hums again. "I think you already have. It's been months since everything settled. All that's left to do is...get used to it, and perhaps—" His voice stalls out, uncharacteristically, and his gaze roams Dean's face with intensity. When he speaks next, his tone is a little raw. "Perhaps what one does with peace is...whatever they want." "What if I don't even know what that is?" Dean grumbles, arching an eyebrow in challenge. "'Cause I know damn well you don't just mean good food and a good bed and time in Baby, not simple wants like that. You mean—ya know, the big things, the wants we didn't get to have before." "Yes," Cas agrees. "If you're not sure, figure it out." "Easier said than done."

Yes, two sobsicles recs back to back. This one I read first and it still holds such a special place in my heart. A sign of a good fic is being able to picture it perfectly. The sign of an amazing fic is that when reading this I was so in Dean's shoes I could feel a pool cue between my hands and Baby behind my back. And I sobbed like a baby in this. It has probably my favourite ending ever. It's genuinely beautiful. If you don't read another on this list, read this one.

Teaching Poetry to Fish by aeli_kindara M | 52k | 14k hits

In which Castiel teaches poetry to fish. Also, himself. Also, eventually, Dean. (A series-long story, diverging slightly from canon after S14.)

The ultimate Cas character study and interwoven with poetry.

So There It Is, I've Said It All by PorcupineGirl (read by Ceewelsh) G | 4k | 13k hits

"Why, do you have something you need to say to me that you don't think I'll like?" I think I'm in love with you. "Yeah. I guess so."

Dean figures out he's in love with Cas then can't stop thinking it. This is genuinely beautiful and if you've ever had trouble actually saying the thing you're thinking, you'll relate to Dean here. I recently did the podfic for this.

you won't find this place alone by amidsizedfrog G | 9.5k |

When Claire said she was dropping out of college to pursue hunting full time, Dean said, “right,” and left the room. Or, the cross-generation conversation about formal education, choosing your own path and figuring out what it looks like to find a family. Or, in other words: "But what I do have is a GED and a give-'em-hell-attitude, and I'll figure it out." - Dean Winchester

This is a beautiful look at education in the hunter world, and I love anything that looks at Dean and Bobby's relationship and this does it perfectly. Also best cameo ever.

Seek to Know You Better by ahurston E | 33k | 23k hits

Dean and Cas, a long stretch of highway, and 36 questions empirically designed to make two people fall in love. As if they weren't already.

This is perfect. It has a lovely slow pace like it has the vibes of an indie film if that makes sense? Like it's two guys going from place to place talking. It was an instant favourite.

Newer AUs (AKA more recent AUs)

And This, Your Living Kiss* by opal_bullets M | 57k | 69k hits

Only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet Jack Allen is just Kansas mechanic Dean Winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. Not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen. Until, that is, a string of coincidences leads Dean to auditing a poetry course with one Dr. Castiel Novak. The professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia's foremost expert on the poetry of Jack Allen.

When I asked which fics were absolute must-reads for someone who'd been out of the fandom a few years, this was said repeatedly. But what really got me to read it was everyone actually told me more about what it meant to them than just the summary. It's a study in poetry, a study in learning who you are and who you used to be, and a reminder that it's never too late.

The Graveyard Shift* by riseofthefallenone, PurgatoryJar E | 620k | 175k hits

Dean’s favourite coffee shop, The Graveyard Shift, is only open after the sun goes down. Which is perfect for him, because that’s exactly when he craves coffee the most while doing the overnight at the fire hall. The coffee shop’s owner is pretty perfect too, but it’s kind of a bummer that Dean never gets to see Cas during the day. In a world where the supernatural live more or less in peace with the rest of humanity, it’s a little impolite to ask Cas just what he really is - or what his dark past entails.

A fantastic magical realism fic - magical creatures live and work with humans. Gabe and Cas run a coffee shop, Dean is a fireman, and the burn is slow and delicious and the intrigue kept me reading for like a week every single spare minute.

Painted Angels by WinJennster E | 106k | 162k hits

Author Castiel Novak has finally hit the big time, with a book based on his failed college relationship with a brilliant painter. He's put all his pain behind him, but at a book signing, he comes face to face with Dean Winchester for the first time in twelve years, and the reunion doesn't go like Cas hoped. Dean's a broken man, with a lot of scars and secrets, shoulders weighed down by his demons and self loathing. Cas sees a second chance with the man he's never stopped loving, but Dean's moved on, and is about to get married. Sam launches a "brilliant" plan to reunite his brother and his best friend, but Cas is worried it will all blow up in their faces, and he'll go through the agony of losing Dean a second time.

The first part of this I actually saved back when I was first in the fandom but I never got around to reading it (I had a To Read folder of 100+ fics that I absolutely dove into when I got back into spn) and the rest of the series finished in 2016 so I'm counting it in this section not the other. On the one hand, I wish I'd read this when it first came out. It's beautiful and heartbreaking, and so visual. On the other hand, I think I appreciated it a lot more now than I would have seven years ago. The parallel of me coming back to the old fandom that I loved dearly with Cas coming back to see someone and places he loved so much really hit. (Although coming back to the spn fandom was much easier and much less heartbreak!)

Finale Fix-Its (yeah fuck you Dabb that this has to be a whole category)

The Goldenrod Revisions by aethylas M | 66k | 15k hits

A rewrite of Supernatural’s final two episodes, expanded into a five episode arc - in which Chuck needs to be defeated, Castiel deserves to be saved, and the characters in this story get a very different ending.

Script format re-write of 15x19 and 15x20 into a 5-episode finale fix-it. As far as I'm concerned, this and chocolatecakecas's American Pie fanvid are the Supernatural finale.

break the skin (to break the barriers)* by sobsicles M | 30k | 9k hits

The first time she meets him, he's nothing more than an almost-missed appointment. ~~~ Dean is silent for a long, tense moment, then he gruffly says, "It's not for banishing the angels. It's to summon them. So, it doesn't—it's not to get rid of 'em, but to draw 'em in." Mitzi can't help but glance up at him at that. His voice is so heavy with so much unexplained pain, and she doesn't understand why, or what angels have to do with it. She knows religion can impact people. She's very aware that it can get complicated, and that it can be a huge source of pain for someone, but Dean sounds grievously wronged, somehow, as if it's a truly personal thing. She pushes through, focusing back on her job, clearing her throat before murmuring, "Well, I guess we all want angels to visit us sometimes." "Just the one," Dean mumbles. "Your guardian angel?" Mitzi asks. Dean breathes out, "Something like that. As close to one as an angel will ever get."

Therapy through getting tattoos and telling your life story to someone who obviously doesn't think it's real. Outsider!POV not just done well, but done literally the best.

Kingdom Come by ahurston E | 17k | 10k hits

Cas wakes up on the coast of Maine. He makes his way home.

I don't know if this counts as finale fix-it as it's more fuck the finale we're ignoring that. There's just so much love and care in this fic.

The Family Business by chai_lattes M | 16k | 5.5k hits

It's all over. It's been weeks since Chuck's defeat and Cas' return from the Empty. There are no threats on the horizon, no apocalypses to stop, but there's something that keeps the Winchesters from being happy. Something that's maybe always been there. On their way back from a hunt, they find John Winchester, back from the dead.

If you're anything like me, you start rubbing your grubby little hands together at the tag John Winchester's A+ Parenting like yes let's address this! This is one of the best examples of John coming back and how it jars with the life that they have built. Also Claire and Jack getting to share screentime!

Merlin

If I have a forever fandom, it's Merlin. I've always kept one foot in this fandom, and it introduced me to fandom, and most importantly to podfic which kinda had an impact. All Merthur unless stated.

Canon-Verse

Seven Magpies by syllic (read by lunchee) E | 33k (3hr15) | 58k hits

Arthur opened his eyes a minute later to the sight of seven magpies streaking across the top of the clearing, their shapes dark against the white clouds and the muted grey of the sky. He tried to remember what it was that seven magpies meant—he'd had a nurse who had sung the rhyme to him as a child—but couldn't. Arthur wakes up somewhere he doesn't recognise, but where he clearly belongs.

Okay so this is an AU but it's Canon-AU so it's going here. Fantastic role reversal fic that you will be thinking about for weeks.

and from your grace, i fell by TheDragon (read by Ceewelsh) T | 4.6k (41mins) | 13k hits

“Where’s Merlin?” he asks the maid. “Where’s that idiot of a Court Sorcerer?!” “Begging your pardon, Your Majesty. I thought you knew,” the maid replies, not daring to look him in the eyes. “He’s taken ill.” “And he couldn’t be bothered to tell me himself that he would be unable to attend today’s council meeting?” Arthur questions, voice full of acid. “He hasn’t woken since he collapsed two days ago, Sire,” the maidservant says, blissfully unaware that what she’s saying the power to stop Arthur’s heart in its tracks.

When I first read this, it had me completely transfixed. I could not stop reading. It was so raw and so full of emotion. I was then lucky enough to get TheDragon in our exchange, so I did a podfic for it and it's probably the most proud I've been of one.

Modern AU

The Student Prince* by FayJay (read by FayJay) M | 145k (15hrs) | 696k hits

A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love...

A classic is a classic for a reason. I'm also pretty sure this introduced me to podfics so like special place in my heart x2. Did you know if you filter AO3 by hits on Merlin, this has 426k more hits than the second result? Now that is a Fandom Classic.

Drastically Redefining Protocol* by rageprufrock (read by lunchee) E | 46k (5hr30) | 269k hits

In which Prince Arthur meets Merlin and all hell promptly breaks loose.

As I always say, if this can happen to me and I still love the fic, nothing is going to change that. Arthur hides from his duties in a cupboard and gets stuck in there with a chainsmoking med student.

Fundamental Imperfections by Starlingthefool (read by bravenclawsome) M | 12k (1hr35) | 123k hits

In which an argument about Dickens leads to a Twitter scandal, broken bones, midnight conversations, and transatlantic longing. (Or, an AU with Arthur and Merlin as moderately famous authors.)

This fic has everything: Charles Dickens, long distance texting, Morgana choking a Sherlock cosplayer with his own scarf. This is the ultimate comfort fic and I compare all fics to this even when they're incomparable. I never read the sequel because it was WIP and I was waiting for it to complete, it hasn't been updated since 2015 and apparently ends on an unhappy note, so if you're going to read the sequel you have been warned.

Les Mis

Modern!AU

Overzealous Oddities by YassHomo e/R, Courf/Cosette/Marius, Comb/Ép | G | 6.4k | 4k hits

Courfeyrac: Remember when I smashed our tv and we laughed about it? Enjolras: No. Courfeyrac: Let me rephrase Courfeyrac: I've smashed our tv, lets laugh about it.

I love me a text fic and this is in my opinion the best one around. Just look at that summary. I have quoted that so many times.

But Paris was a very old city and we were young* by GingerNinjaAbi E/R, Courf/Jehan | M | 99k | 42k hits

Perhaps somewhere in between all the cups of coffee, shots of tequila, sunny March days, terrible lumpy jumpers, love, cigarettes, drunken nights and the desire to change the world they'll all leave Paris with a degree in something. Or not. Grantaire's money is on no. But he's a pessimist who's hopelessly in love, so perhaps his opinion shouldn't count.

The ULTIMATE modern!AU tbh.

Tagged by Salomonderiel E/R, Courf/Jehan | E | 155k | 28k hits

So there's this artist. He could probably be compared to Banksy, but he's a lot more... cynical. He shares rooms with a poet who braids his hair with flowers, in a flat near Covent Garden they rent from a short-tempered shop keeper with a penchant for fans and who'd do anything if you mentioned Poland. Sometimes, the three of them will go and deface public buildings in London whilst completely smashed off their heads. And then there's this, shall we say, 'revolutionary'. He has a band of other revolutionaries, who all meet at this cafe by Borough Market. He shares rooms with his best mate, a philosophy student, spends too much time with a flirty guy who has a thing for poets, goes boxing with a guy in a red vest, wants to punch the wet sop who drools on the blonde waitress and is getting tired of this guy who keep breaking his laptops through sheer dumb luck. Thank god the hypochondriac's there to keep an (slightly too) attentive eye on their stress levels. The revolutionary thinks the graffiti artist's work is a waste of space. The artist thinks the revolutionary's campaigns are a waste of time. And all the while, the poet and the flirt drool over each other in the background...

This is perfect and it's funny and it's beautiful and it rips my heart out multiple times.

Canon

To Be Free by kjack89 (read by Ceewelsh) Gen, Cosette/Marius | T | 3.8k (32mins) | 375 hits

Three blows from a bayonet had transfixed Combeferre’s breast, followed by a fall from the barricade as he rapidly lost first blood and then consciousness. But neither of these, it seemed, was enough to kill him, as much as later he might perhaps wish that they were.

I read this because it was on a list kjack89 did of their favourite fics which don't necessarily have the same hits traffic. It's nothing I would have usually read (canon era, not e/R, MCD) but I am so glad I gave it a go. It's a study on what if Combeferre had survived the barricades too and the guilt. This stayed with me for days afterwards until I eventually messaged kjack89 to get permission to podfic it.

BatFam

Canonish (I don't know differences between canons but these are all they're superheros fics)

Robins United by laceymcbain (read by reena_jenkins) Gen | T | 49k (6h15)/ 19k (2h25) (First part) | 103k hits

Bullets, knives, a three story fall, even a fucking crowbar hadn't managed to keep Jason down permanently, but Dick Grayson (and the rest of his "family") was going to kill him with kindness.

The ultimate batbros series. Also if you haven't heard reena_jenkins' podfics before, you are welcome. Pre-pandemic I took a lot of public transport and reena_jenkins kept me sane.

batcoons by drakefeathers (read by reena_jenkins) Gen | G | 6k (49mins) | 14k hits

Jason and raccoons have a lot in common. (Additionally: his so-called family are much bigger pests than the stray animals hanging around his safehouse.)

This is funny, it's heartwarming, and it's a really good character study.

AU

Here Comes the Sun by batsy_rocks Clark/Bruce | T | 19k | 20k hits

Clark Kent is a kind-hearted reporter working in the big city. Bruce Wayne is a stressed dad of four with no idea of what he's doing. Then they meet.

Bruce Wayne is a Tired Single Dad™. It's genuinely such a sweet fic.

[macgyverseries]

rebutting and debunking frequently used arguments against macriley

I made this 10-page google doc rant a while ago, but I never ended up posting it. Today, however, I woke up and chose violence. So here it is: my thoughts on frequently used arguments against macriley.

I took some quotes and arguments that people put online (reddit, tumblr..), and I debunked them all :p I feel like I always see the same arguments all the time, and I’m honestly getting a little tired of hearing them. I’m here to settle this once and for all.

and yes, i did manage to cut down the google doc by 3 pages :D (but it's still long af so rip my brain)

1.”Mac and Riley are siblings because Jack is their father”

I can (mostly) get behind the argument that Mac and Riley shouldn’t be in a romantic relationship because of their super strong friendship. Some people really value that sole platonicness, and I get that.

But the argument that I can’t get behind is that: Mac and Riley are siblings because Jack is their father figure”

If you google the definition of “father,” the first result that comes up is: “a man in relation to his children.”

Now, Jack was definitely the father figure to Riley, and I would consider her his child. He raised her. He helped shape her ideals and upbringing.

Mac only met Jack when he left MIT. So it was pretty much after Mac was raised (by Bozer’s parents haha), that Jack really came into his life. Mac already became his own person. (also, I always saw Mac and Jack as more of a bromance)

So because Riley and Mac met Jack at different periods of their lives, and they were raised differently, I wouldn’t say that they were siblings who were raised by the same father.

2. “The show writers left the impression that there was a huge age gap between them”

I understand this a little. I do think Riley was introduced as pretty young and idk naive? Because she was literally in highschool, and then she went to prison, and then she got released into the wild. Personally, when I started watching the show, I googled the whole cast. So I started the show knowing that they were the same age.

And also, the more I got to know Riley, the more that I thought that Riley was more mature and had an old soul herself. I think it was because she was just a dynamic and round character, who is well-developed.

But, I get first impressions. I feel like once you get stuck on an impression, it’s hard to go away from that.

Also, Jack would’ve totally shipped macriley, and you can’t change my mind.

3. "Riley isn't ready for a relationship"

I honestly think that this argument should be more geared towards Mac. He needs to figure himself out and go to therapy ffs. However, this person targeted Riley (the literal queen), so I shall defend her:

I understand wanting Riley to take some time off, and figure herself out before going straight into another relationship with someone. But here’s the thing. Throughout the first few seasons Riley’s character was very well established, and she didn’t have any partners during that time. She has proven that she is a strong, well-rounded, independent woman (with or without a partner). So i think it is valid to say that she isn’t just some girl who only has boy toys. She is much more than that.

My next point is that Riley has made it clear that she wants a lasting relationship with someone who will support her. When talking with Mac in 4.04, we see her express her interest in a stable, healthy relationship. It’s not wrong to go out and look for that potential partner. This applies to everyone (not just fictional characters): It’s going to take a few relationships and self-discovery, to find a good relationship, and people shouldn’t be shamed for searching for that.

Riley has only ever had two major boyfriends that I remember. First was Billy; she took that relationship very seriously. She really did seem happy with him. It was a shame that he cheated on her. Second was Aubrey. She also took that relationship very seriously. She had been living with him for six months (and they even had the cutest date nights!) So I wouldn't say that Riley only has boy toys. She has meaningful relationships.

Lastly, I think this was written when season four started airing, but it’s been over a year (and a pandemic) since Riley has dated. I think enough time has passed.

*4. I had to split this one up because, oh boy, there is a lot to unpack here.

4a. “If that was the direction they’d chosen to take with that relationship from square one… My issue with it is that Mac and Riley were presented to us as friends/ found siblings for three years. There were NO romantic vibes to speak of between them..”

I actually felt the same way about macriley. The thought of them being together in season one, made me want to throw up. I don’t think the writers intended on having macriley, and I was perfectly fine with that.

I know that people look for different things when they ship. Some really like having instant gratification with the spicy, hot, sexy parts of a relationship, like macdesi (which is why I was fine with the idea of shipping macdesi in the past).

I always wanted to see macriley do more: have hot, flirtatious banters/interactions. it can be hard to ship people who seem to be missing that part of the love equation. So i agree. It's definitely strange. And I understand if you genuinely have a hard time seeing the romantic potential of macriley, when the writers have only dragged out and shown us the platonic potential of them.

Also, the reason why it is difficult to see macriley as romantic, was because they ALWAYS PRIORITIZED AND WERE DRIVEN on their friendship. A partner should be friends first, and then makeout buddies second.

But just because people start off as friends, doesn’t mean that they still don’t have that potential to be lovers. Because guess what?! Feelings change. It’s now canon that Riley has feelings for Mac, and Mac always had feelings for Riley (but never acted on it).

I'm sorry, but you like a boomer when you say “bAcK iN mY dAy, tHeY dIdN’t HaVe fEeLiNgS fOr EaCh oThEr.” like okaAAAyyYYyYY????? We are not “back in your day” anymore. We are in the present. We are in today. And today, macriley is real :)

4b. “There’s the incredibly tired trope where long-term coworkers suddenly catch feelings for each other out of nowhere”

Personally, I will never get tired of the friends to lovers trope. I think the fact that Mac and Riley had such a strong friendship and foundation is what makes them perfect. Again, I know that some people just like instant gratification, but I love when a couple can take their time to have depth, emotion, and realness in their relationship.

Obviously I am biased because I have so much love for this trope, it's my favorite trope, but I don't see why you would use the “it’s overused” as reasoning to hate a ship. Just because a trope is used a lot, doesn’t mean it is bad (that’s probably why it is so good lmao). I can understand getting tired of it, and growing a dislike towards a trope. For example, I have grown an extreme dislike towards the love triangle.

A bit of a tangent: But the difference between overusing love triangles and overusing friends to lovers, is that love triangles aren’t just commonly used tropes. They are cliches. They cause unwanted drama and unnecessary hurt to one character. Whereas friends to lovers doesn’t involve as much drama and pain for a character. It is more of just angst between two people. And we know that they will get together eventually with a happy ending. So it was never really problematic.

And even then, the great thing about overusing or utilizing tropes, is that they can act as a guide. It allows the show writers and cast to make it personal, make it their own, adding their own special flair to it

I just don’t see the “this trope is used a lot” as a valid reasoning for disliking a ship .It just seems like this commenter doesn’t like the friends to lovers trope for the sake of not liking it.

I could be very wrong in my assumption of this person’s thoughts on friends to lovers, maybe there is a deeper reasoning as to why they don’t like it, but the tone that i interpreted when i read this section, was that they don’t have a real reason to dislike it, it’s more of just because.

4c.“then there's the fact that Riley had a mostly single Mac in her life for 3-4 years and she never even considered him romantically until he was with someone else”

First: Riley didn’t CHOOSE to fall in love. You may recall that “emotions aren’t a science. You can’t control them.”

Second: Mac was broken up with Desi when she caught feelings for him. Plus, the moment Riley saw that Mac and Desi were getting happy together, she moved out and gave them space. She sacrificed her own feelings for his happiness, despite the fact that her heart was breaking.

4d. “and finally, Mac not only still doesn't seem to even have Riley on his radar in that way but he literally told another woman that he loves her just last week. Neither of them look particularly good here if they get together now.”

I'm assuming that this was written when 4.12 first aired. I'm also assuming that this comment was more directed towards the idea of Mac and Riley getting together immediately at the end of the season, rather than later down the road. I always saw of macriley as more of endgame material. That i would see them get together sometime in the future. So I agree. Macriley getting together during that time period, would be too rushed and unsatisfying.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So those were most of the supposed arguments that I saw for people who were against macriley, but I also wanted to provide some really good examples of people who were very respectable, and actually had valid reasoning for disliking them.

1. they just don’t like shipping in general

Ships can be annoying af. Seeing people ONLY focus on the ships is sometimes tiring. I, myself, even feel a little guilty making this post, because I need to chill and mind my own business lmaooo. I really should let people do whatever they want to do with their lives, and not get caught up in the ships, but here I am :p

Anyways, I know that there is a lot of unnecessary drama that comes with shipping, and it's tiring to see people constantly go on and on about romance, when there are other perfect things about the show.

2. No matter how hard they try, they just feel it.

This is literally so dumb (and a little hypocritical/self-contradictory), but if you have a gut feeling, and you just can’t get yourself to ship it, I get it. If you truly and genuinely believe that they are best platonic friends, I can't change your opinion. And I have respect for you (if you say it in a kind manner).

Here is a nice example of a person who expressed their opinion in a nice way, with no BS.

So the moral of the story: I can't control your deepest thoughts. I can't control your gut feelings. And that’s okay. But the moment that you start backing up your thoughts and insights with BS reasoning, is the moment that I lose respect for you.

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Why I Haven’t Given Up Hope On Barchie Just Yet.

The more I think about it the more I feel like there might still be a chance for Barchie. I was very disappointed and angry after the episode aired, but after rewatching the episode a few times I realised that there wasn’t really anything in that scene that makes me think that its permanent. I mean what was said really that ends them for good? That they should make sense, was it that line, or that they were so different at their cores? Because to me that seemed more like Betty seeing Archie as this golden boy and as this light she was going to corrupt, which is very similar to how Archie saw Betty as the perfect girl next door in the pilot and if I didn’t think they were over permanently in the pilot why should I believe they’re over now? We know that this statement that they are too different and that they don’t make sense isn’t true. Barchie make perfect sense and they aren’t different at all, I mean they both have protector like jobs, they both have gone through a trauma and are suffering PTSD due to it which manifests in a similar way of nightmares, they both have a habit of rushing into dangerous situations to protect others, they both have stereotypes forced onto them and struggle with that identity. They’ve both struggled with an inner darkness that was brought out when someone they cared about got hurt, for Betty it was Polly and for Archie it was when his dad was shot. They’ve both lost their fathers, they both see the other as their light in the darkness. I mean alot of elements from their stories are very similar. There is just so much that they have in common that Betty’s line just doesn’t make sense at all. So the only explanation is that Betty doesn’t realise how similar they are because she is still looking at him as this All American Boy and herself as having this darkness. I do think that as they get closer as friends they are going to come to the realisation that they aren’t too different at all. I think that Betty will realise that Archie too has a darkness that he struggles with and that it is ok to be each others light.

I’ve also been thinking alot about that scene between Archie and Eric again where he talks about Betty and how it felt different and not great because for me out of all of it that was the moment that made the less sense to me. I feel like that’s the moment alot of people kind of had a wtf moment. But I think I might have finally cracked what was happening in that scene and what Archie meant by ‘different’. To fully understand it I think we need to take a look back at all of Barchie’s other hook ups and see how they evolve and they do evolve, there is a change in them.

So first I want to talk about the shower and the car scenes. Both of these scenes have very similar energies, they are both very s*xually charged and very passionate. In my opinion these two scenes are very much about the s*x and distraction. They are both letting out all the pent up frustrations they have.

But then there is a shift at the end of episode 6 with the porch and bed scene where the ‘do you love me’ theme song is played over the scene. The reason why this scene was different was because it didn’t focus on the s*x. Instead the focus was on the kiss before which was very sweet and very soft and then on the intimate moment between them where they were cuddling in bed.

Again this scene where they are just laying in bed together is not about s*x we aren’t suppose to look at this and go ‘wow that’s hot’ it was about the intimacy between them and the fact that they were just enjoying being together and that cosy, relaxed feeling is, like Betty says, nice. It has similar vibes of the scene in 4x18 where they are lying on the bed in the bunker and its purely about them wanting to be in each others presence more than anything else. Also to me it seemed very much like Archie didn’t want Betty to leave.

Again the next hook up scene we get has another shift in tone. This scene is the Firefighter scene. Again this scene doesn’t focus on the s*x aspect of it but on the connection between the two of them, its about the intimacy. We can see that they seem very comfortable together and very relaxed. On top of that there is another shift in that the scene is given a much more romantic atmosphere due to the like 100 candles that have been lit, I mean seriously who lights that many candles for just a casual hook up? In this scene they also talk about their past together again showing that deep connection and history that they have. Also this bit I am probably giving the writers way too much credit and looking too much into it but the line Betty says when Archie first came out and she says ‘I was so not ready’ maybe this was kind of foreshadowing and what we are being told here is that Betty just isn’t ready for something deeper with Archie right now. I mean especially when not long after we get that scene with Betty and Kevin where she admits she doesn’t want to get too deep with him because she is afraid of losing that light. But I do struggle to watch this scene and not see any romantic feelings at all, to me this seems so romantic and soft and they just seem really happy.

Then we get to the scene where Betty has her nightmare and calls Archie over. When Archie talks to Eric he says that when Betty called he thought it was going to be a booty call which he was more than fine with that and when we see Archie show up he is very happy and smiley very much like he was in the scene above.

When he sees that she is upset his demeaner changes immediately and you can see that he is immediately concerned for her. Now circling back for a moment to the line about thinking it was a booty call and being fine with it, the problem with this line is it makes it seem like all Archie cares about is s*x and that he didn’t really care that Betty was upset. But that doesn’t correspond at all with the scene where we can see that he very clearly does care that she is upset. I really do think that the line was just badly written and then misinterpreted. We have to remember that Barchie themselves have been calling what they are doing a casual thing and a booty call, I think when Archie said he was expecting a booty call he was saying he was expecting something like the firefighter scene where he felt close with Betty. That’s what he was ok with because although he knew she was using him as an escape I think in those more intimate scenes like the bed scene in 5x06 and the firefighter scene in 5x08 he probably still felt very connected to her. But then after her nightmare Betty was likely feeling very vulnerable and we also know that she is hiding what happened with TBK and pretending everything is fine from everyone, so I do think in this moment she had probably shut herself off a bit and Archie likely picked up on this.

When Betty says she doesn’t want to talk about the nightmare and just wants to forget, I feel like Archie says that it’s fine and whatever she wants because he feels like that’s the deal they’ve made, that’s their kind of arrangement, that they are there to help distract each other, and Archie might feel unsure about breaking that when she clearly doesn’t want to open up about it and he isn’t sure what her feelings are.  

The other thing I noticed was when Betty kisses Archie in this scene he seems a little hesitant. In their other kisses he immediately responds to her and leans into the kiss. Here he barely moves the first time she kisses him and she kind of has to pull him down with her which makes me think Archie wasn’t hundred percent on board and I do think he really did want to talk to her as oppose to sleep with her. Weirdly this kiss, on subsequent watches, kind of reminds me of the kiss Betty and Jughead have during their break up s*x where its very much initiated by Betty and Jughead was a little hesitant at first. I do feel like Archie felt disappointed that she didn’t want to talk to him and again like I said I feel like Betty had closed herself off in this scene and that’s what Archie meant when he said it felt different and it didn’t feel great. I think for the first time he felt used and like there was some kind of disconnect between him and Betty.

On top of that just before this scene were the ones where he had spent time with Veronica and where Eric had talked about Archie juggling two women which as I said in another post Archie didn’t look happy at the idea. So I think on top of feeling like Betty was more distant from him and feeling a little used, I think he was confused and maybe even feeling a little guilty about his feelings for Veronica. All of this combined and its no wonder why Archie would describe it as feeling not great. Also I think when you take into consideration that whilst Betty is closed off to him and he’s not sure what her feelings really are, Veronica is being very open about how she feels. They’ve been getting along really well since they got back to town and they don’t have any awkwardness between them, so with Eric making him question what is between him and Veronica and this sudden distance between him and Betty and how comfortable he feels with Veronica and the fact that Veronica is making it no secret that she is still interested in Archie, I think he just kind of comes to the conclusion that he must still have feelings for Veronica. Now whether he still does have feelings for Veronica I’m not sure. I do think alot of it stems from nostalgia and to be honest I don’t see it lasting long. I think they will realise pretty quickly that what they have now isn’t as deep as what they had in high school.

However there are other reasons why I think that Barchie aren’t over just yet and the first is because I feel like this season is following very closely to the first season and the journey of the characters are very similar. I mean just in this episode there were so many parallels to the pilot. There is some romantic story with Barchie, Archie begins to have feelings for Veronica, there’s a party where they play a game and Veronica and Archie get paired together and the episode draws to a close with Barchie ‘breaking up’ before we get this shocking cliff hanger, in the pilot it was Jason’s body, in this episode it was finding the crushed phonebooth. So if we are following the same journey as season 1 then the next things that will happen is that Betty gets with someone, maybe it’ll be jughead or maybe it’ll be someone else, I mean Glen has to make an appearance at some point right. When she is with someone else then Archie will realise his feelings for her and confess this to her. I think the difference this time is instead of her shutting him down they both would have grown enough to finally confess their true feelings.

Another reason why well this is more why I think Archie and Veronica won’t stay together and that is because it feels like they are all kind of, as well as following their own storylines from season 1, but their parents as well. Jughead is following the same addiction storyline FP did. Betty is having to deal with a missing Polly like Alice did in season 1 and Archie and Veronica are following Fred and Hermione’s journey in season one. Fred and Hermione were high school lovers who meet again as adults. Hermione isn’t in a good place in her marriage and she gravitates back towards Fred her old flame. This is exactly what happened with Veronica and Archie and just like Fred and Hermione I think that they’ll come to realise that they are very different people now and that whilst they might have worked in high school they don’t work anymore. I also wouldn’t be surprised if just like how Hiram caused problems between Fred and Hermione, Chad will make a reappearance and cause some problems between Veronica and Archie.

I fully understand why alot of Barchie fans see it differently from me, why they think Barchie is don and why they want to take a step back. I do think that if stepping back is something you feel like you need to do then definitely do that. Myself though I just don’t think I am quite ready to give up on them yet. So I think I am going to keep watching just a little more to see where it goes. I’ll keep my fingers crossed over my heart and hope for the best.  

[loftec]

Heyyyyy girl! We haven't talked in a hot minute, but I just finished reading I Will Follow Him earlier and hadn't had a chance to comment when a friend brought the nonsense anon tumblr drama to my attention. Anyway, I'll just say you handled it much more gracefully than I ever would (and probably have in the past, lmao). And I know you have a thick skin and this isn't something that would make you stop writing, but I still just wanted to let you know that I've missed your writing. I don't know if it's just in my head, but having been around the fandom for roughly the same amount of time as you have, I've discerned patterns in terms of the way people write and even what they respond to as readers, and the cliques that get formed around those things, so that to me it feels like even the fic itself generally has eras of writing styles? Like in my head I kind of cluster people together who seem simpatico in regards to the way they write IxM, but also how they express themselves and the way stories flow, whether there's depth of emotion or not, etc, etc. Anyway, for whatever reason, true or psychological, I find myself missing an era of fic that feels gone now. Not to say that there isn't any good writing anymore, just that it's simply a different vibe. So your new fic really brought me back to that old feeling. You always defy expectations when you adapt something into your own thing, so right off the bat I was pleasantly surprised that you, knowing Johnny Castle was not a completely accurate fit for Mickey because dancing/performing and also being a big man whore with the ladies (lmao), decided to subvert that and make him someone else. And Ian was Baby, but also not. My favorite thing though is the unspoken way you really showed Ian not feeling like he belongs anywhere. He has two families and none of them feel like home. I've felt that way my whole life and it's an emotional theme that's always been highly relevant. Makes you feel like there's nowhere you actually belong or anyone you really belong with. So I loved that aspect and look forward to it being explored more in the sequel(s). I thought your ending to this part of the story was realistic, even if I teared up and felt the loss. I could imagine a bit of a time jump and them meeting in completely different circumstances down the line. Again, totally unexpected that you wouldn't even include the big dance at the end, but fucking bravo honestly, because I couldn't picture some cheesy shit where Mickey dances with Ian in front of everyone for shock value and do the lift. Lolololllll... but yeah... do people honestly think Baby & Johnny lived happy ever after once the credits rolled on the actual movie anyway??? No way in hell. Lol. They were too different in ways that couldn't be overcome back then, sorry. He was meant to be her sexual/romantic awakening, and she went on to have a freer life. That's what I think. Ian & Mickey have a lot more in common, and although they have obstacles to overcome, they ultimately will be able to understand each other, and I think, get on the same page eventually. So please, think no more of any hate-adjacent crap you got or will get for this, because you'll always have a willing audience here, and we enjoy your voice so much. 💜

Hey my friend! It sure has been a hot minute, and this is so interesting! I hadn't even really thought about it, but I think you're on to something here. I haven't really read IxM fic in a good while and I kind of just figured that it was all on me because I have changed over the years, but it makes so much sense that the fic culture would change too. The characters are different, the tone is different, the fandom is different... it stands to reason that the fic is different too. I remember how fascinated I used to be with finding demarcations of time in fic, going back chronologically through the tag on AO3. Season 1 fic felt one way, season 2 a whole other way, etc. I suppose we're yet another ring in the ever growing oak tree of this fandom, lol. We're vintage, baby! You want some of those season 5 vibes? You know where to go, these angsty oldies over here writing increasingly absurd AU in 2021, they got what you need.

All of this means so much to me, you have no idea, especially knowing some of these ideas resonated with you personally like that. I've been thinking about this dang AU for several years at this point and I'm a little bit frustrated that I didn't find a way to give the actual writing of it the time it deserved, but I guess I gave it all the time I had, in the end. So that's something. I hope to muster some enthusiasm to go back and perhaps edit it a bit more soon, or at least start working on the sequels. I was traveling with my dad last weekend and I played some of my playlists for him, telling him about all my silly research and plans, and I now have three books about Soul in the late 60s to read. So you know the next part is gonna be real approachable! 😆

I think I somehow imagined that everybody knows and loves Dirty Dancing, too? I never talked to anyone about it when I was a kid, and it's only really the last four years or so that I have started meeting people who love it, like me. And turns out it's all my friends from primary school! It's all of my coworkers (at least the women), and it's so many of my tumblr mutuals... I was halfway convinced that every single person around me was just waiting to reveal themselves as another fan. Not so much, turns out! Writing a 60s dirty dancing AU is really weird, honestly! I expected two people to read my MiB AU, and I should have had the same expectations for this one. Because that's fine! I will write what I want to write and people will read what they want to read, as it should be.

Most importantly, though. I couldn't agree more with your Dirty Dancing analysis! To me, the dancing isn't the actual ending. To me, the ending is "guess we surprised everybody" and "I'll never be sorry" and "neither will I". The dance number is just a good note Johnny comes back to end it all on, but really, the honest final note is that "I'll see ya" *saxophone solo intensifies*. I just think it's so very bittersweet and good, and I only loved the movie more when I realised this. With Ian, everything became more complicated. Clayton is no Dr Houseman, and there can be no cheesy onstage dancing, and Ian has barely had time to wrap his head around the idea of having a future at all, being himself, let alone spending it with someone he just met. The Dirty Dancing AU needed to end this way for it to truly be a Dirty Dancing AU, in my mind. The next part will be something entirely different, and operate under a different set of narrative rules... Oooh well, look at me. I'm all excited about it. I can't wait to write it!

Thank you 💜💜

[flightfoot]

Analyzing Reyna’s romance (or rather, lack thereof) arc and her feelings towards it throughout the series

Recently, Rick published a tweet about Reyna’s orientation, stating “Personally, I see her as romantic asexual and have written her arc with that in mind. (hence the prophecy in HoO) It’s been a struggle for her to figure that out, as she explains in Tyrant’s Tomb. But as always, interpret the text as you wish.”

After reading Tyrant’s Tomb, I figured she was somewhere around ace or aro, so it was cool to see it confirmed that he wrote her with that in mind! Especially since I’m ace myself, and we don’t get a ton of representation. It was just really neat.

In light of that, I wanted to lay out and analyze her arc as it relates to her orientation, to who she’s attracted (or moreso, not attracted) to, starting from her first appearance and continuing through to Tyrant’s Tomb.

Starting all the way from “Son of Neptune”, there’s hints and conversations about Reyna’s love life woven in, with Percy noticing how Reyna reacts to Jason being mentioned.

Reyna grimaced. Percy got the feeling this guy Jason might’ve been more to her than just a colleague. (SON 41)

 Percy doesn’t know much of anything about Jason or Reyna or the culture in Camp Jupiter, so he doesn’t have much of a bias towards thinking they’re a couple because of those factors. For Percy to still pick up on Reyna being especially close to Jason is a pretty good indicator that that wasn’t just other people reading into it, seeing what they expect to see from Reyna - something which DOES happen a lot, and that Reyna goes into in Tyrant’s Tomb.

Jason… Percy couldn’t go very far in this camp without hearing that name.

“The way you talk about him…” Percy said. “Were you two a couple?”

Reyna’s eyes bored into him – like the eyes of a hungry wolf. Percy had seen enough hungry wolves to know.

“We might have been,” Reyna said, “given time. Praetors work closely together. It’s common for them to become romantically involved. But Jason was only praetor for a few months before he disappeared. Ever since then, Octavian has been pestering me, agitating for new elections. I’ve resisted. I’ve resisted. I need a new partner in power – but I prefer someone like Jason. A warrior, not a schemer.”

She waited. Percy realized she was sending him a silent invitation.

His mouth went dry. “Oh… you mean… oh.”

“I believe the gods sent you to help me,” Reyna said. “I don’t understand where you come from, any more than I understood it four years ago. But I think your arrival is some form of repayment. You destroyed my home once. Now you’ve been sent to save my home. I don’t hold a grudge against you for the past, Percy. My sister hates you still, it’s true, but Fate brought me here to Camp Jupiter. I’ve done well. All I ask is that you work with me for the future. I intend to save this camp. (SON 181)

 Initially when she’s introduced, and in the early books especially, Reyna gives off this extremely dangerous vibe, with Percy especially being nervous about her. Her initial proposition here seems very opportunistic at first, with the emphasis being on the power that comes from being her partner first and foremost, and any more romantic (or otherwise) partnership being implied as an add-on. It isn’t really clear whether she has any actual feelings for him or not.

“The point is, Percy, you are the real power on this quest. You are a seasoned veteran. I’ve seen what you can do. A son of Neptune wouldn’t be my first choice, but if you return successfully from this mission, the legion might be saved. The praetorship will be yours for the taking. Together, you and I could expand the power of Rome. We could raise an army and find the Doors of Death, crush Gaea’s forces once and for all. You would find me a very helpful… friend.”

She said that word like it could have several meanings, and he could pick which one.

Percy’s feet started tapping on the floor, anxious to run. “Reyna… I’m honored, and all. Seriously. But I’ve got a girlfriend. And I don’t want power, or a praetorship.”

Percy was afraid he’d made her mad. Instead she just raised her eyebrows.

“A man who turns down power?” she said. “That’s not very Roman of you. Just think about it. In four days, I have to make a choice. If we are to fight off an invasion, we must have two strong praetors. I’d prefer you, but if you fail on your quest, or don’t come back, or refuse my offer… Well, I’ll work with Octavian. I mean to save this camp, Percy Jackson. Things are worse than you realize.” (SON 182-183)

 Reyna’s giving off a “together we can rule” kind of vibe, though for benevolent purposes. And the emphasis on him not being her first choice necessarily but preferring him to other options, along with the casual way she talks about him possibly failing his quest or not making it back compounds the perception that this isn’t really about Percy personally, and not about any attraction she may or may not have towards him, but just what he can offer as far as strengthening the camp goes.

He could tell the audience was over. Reyna was having trouble holding herself together, keeping up the image of the confident commander. She needed some time by herself.

But at the door of the principia, Percy couldn’t resist turning. “How did we destroy your home – that spa where you lived?”

The metal greyhounds growled. Reyna snapped her fingers to silence them.

“You destroyed the power of our mistress,” she said. “You freed some prisoners who took revenge on all of us who lived on the island. My sister and I… well, we survived. It was difficult. But in the long run, I think we are better off away from that place.”

“Still, I’m sorry,” Percy said. “If I hurt you, I’m sorry.”

Reyna gazed at him for a long time, as if trying to translate his words. “An apology? Not very Roman at all, Percy Jackson. You’d make an interesting praetor. I hope you’ll think about my offer.” (SON 184-185)

 The bit about Reyna having trouble holding herself together and keeping up this image shows a crack in her earlier portrayal, that maybe she isn’t quite as... impassive I think? As she appears while making her ‘offer’ to Percy. It does make me wonder though, how much of this portrayal of her during this scene was a deliberately planned part of her character arc since the beginning, and how much was Rick writing this in the early stages and slowly figuring out her character along the way. In later scenes, especially in later books, it seemed like less of a purely pragmatic offer, and more of one with at least some twinges of actual desire behind it, albeit only twinges (not like she knows Percy that well anyway).

She glanced up at the warship. Her expression turned a little wistful. “You say Jason is aboard… I hope that’s true. I’ve missed him.” (SON 512)

 Even here, though, at the end of SON, the stalwart commander image she tries to project softens a little, and her closeness with Jason, her desire to see him again, is emphasized. Platonic or romantic, she definitely cares for him.

“Enough,” Reyna snapped. “Annabeth is what she says. She’s here in peace. Besides…” She gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. “Percy has spoken highly of you.”

The undertones in Reyna’s voice took Annabeth a moment to decipher. Percy looked down, suddenly interested in his cheeseburger.

Annabeth’s face felt hot. Oh gods… Reyna had tried to make a move on Percy. That explained the tinge of bitterness, maybe even envy in her words. Percy had turned her down for Annabeth. (MOA 24)

 Here’s where there starts being some pretty strong implications that Reyna did actually care about Percy more personally, her romantic offer was for more than just convenience sake. Especially with the ‘maybe even envy’ part. The bitterness could just as easily be from just the rejection, but the envy implies she actively wants what Annabeth has.

“Uh, Reyna,” Jason said. “if you don’t mind, I’d like to show Piper around before the senate meeting. She’s never seen New Rome.”

Reyna’s expression hardened.

Annabeth wondered how Jason could be so dense. Was it possible he really didn’t understand how much Reyna liked him? It was obvious enough to Annabeth. Asking to show his new girlfriend around Reyna’s city was rubbing salt in a wound.

“Of course,” Reyna said coldly.

Percy took Annabeth’s hand. “Yeah, me too, I’d like to show Annabeth-“

“No,” Reyna snapped.

Percy knit his eyebrows. “Sorry?”

“I’d like a few words with Annabeth,” Reyna said. “Alone. If you don’t mind, my fellow praetor.”

Her tone made it clear she wasn’t really asking permission.

The chill spread down Annabeth’s back. She wondered what Reyna was up to. Maybe the praetor didn’t like the idea of two guys who had rejected her giving their girlfriends tours of her city. Or maybe there was something she wanted to say in private. Either way, Annabeth was reluctant to be alone and unarmed with the Roman leader. (MOA 32)

 Reyna did have some things she wanted to go over with Annabeth privately, but with the emphasis on Annabeth being able to tell how much Reyna likes Jason, her reacting coldly to him asking to take Piper around the city, along with the way she snapped at Percy for asking to take Annabeth around instead of stating her refusal more calmly, her reactions strongly suggest that she IS hurting from seeing both Percy and Jason with their girlfriends, that she does have feelings for them somewhat, and is trying to suppress it.

“Long story,” Reyna said. “But I remember you well. You were brave. I’d never seen anyone refuse Circe’s hospitality, much less outwit her. It’s no wonder Percy cares for you.”

Her voice was wistful. Annabeth thought it might be safer not to respond. (MOA 37-38)

 I didn’t pull quotations emphasizing this specifically, but Reyna’s loneliness and the strain she’s under as a commander, especially having been the lone praetor for so long, is putting her under a lot of stress. I think at least part of the reason for her hints of envy towards Annabeth and coldness about Jason having a girlfriend, is derived from her not really having had the sort of support that Percy and Jason currently have, that intimacy, that ability to drop the walls and image she’s built up in order to lead and to protect herself.

“I wanted to hear it from you,” Reyna said.

Annabeth turned. “Hear what from me?”

“The truth,” Reyna said. “Convince me I’m not making a mistake by trusting you. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about Camp Half-Blood. Your friend Piper has sorcery in her words. I spent enough time with Circe to know charmspeak when I hear it. I can’t trust what she says. And Jason… well, he has changed. He seems distant, no longer quite Roman.”

The hurt in her voice was as sharp as broken glass. Annabeth wondered if she had sounded that way, all the months she’d been searching for Percy. At least she’d found her boyfriend. Reyna had no one. She was responsible for running an entire camp all by herself. Annabeth could sense that Reyna wanted Jason to love her. But he had disappeared, only to come back with a new girlfriend. Meanwhile, Percy had risen to praetor, but he had rebuffed Reyna too. Now Annabeth had come to take him away. Reyna would be left alone again, shouldering a job meant for two people.

When Annabeth had arrived at Camp Jupiter, she’d been prepared to negotiate with Reyna or even fight her if needed. She hadn’t been prepared to feel sorry for her.

She kept that feeling hidden. Reyna didn’t strike her as someone who would appreciate pity. (MOA 38-39)

 The loneliness is really apparent here, and very explicit. I don’t think it’s even really about ‘romantic love’, as far as the whole thing with Jason goes, exactly, but... being that high level of priority. Having someone there for you closely. I think she at least thinks that a romantic relationship with Jason, or even Percy, may provide that. And that’s something most people need, regardless of orientation. 

“You see?” Reyna said bitterly. “The spear is thrown. Our people are at war.”

“Not if I succeed,” Annabeth said.

Reyna’s expression looked the same as it had at Camp Jupiter when she realized Jason had found another girl. The praetor was too alone, too bitter and betrayed to believe anything could go right for her ever again. Annabeth waited for her to attack. (MOA 253)

 Between this sudden attack out of nowhere, Jason disappearing and returning with having bonded with these new people, especially Piper, and having ‘changed’ as she said, no longer having anyone around she’s close to... well. She’s just managing as best she can.

In the center of the line stood Reyna, her metal dogs Aurum and Argentum at her side. Upon seeing her, Jason felt an incredible pang of guilt. He’d let her believe they had a future together. He had never been in love with her, and he hadn’t led her on exactly… but he also hadn’t shut her down.

He’d disappeared, leaving her to run the camp on her own. (Okay, that hadn’t exactly been Jason’s idea, but still…) Then he had returned to Camp Jupiter with his new girlfriend Piper and a whole bunch of Greek friends in a warship. They’d fired on the Forum and run away, leaving Reyna with a war on her hands. (HOH 247)

 I couldn’t find much about Reyna’s relationships with others in HOH since she’s barely in the book. From the looks of things, he’d at least believed that Reyna wanted to be with him actively long-term, something which jives pretty well with previous passages concerning Reyna’s relationship with Jason. Makes me curious how exactly they interacted in the past, what went down between them.

Also more emphasis on Reyna being stressed and on her own. That seems to be pretty heavily associated with anything talking about her love life.

So far in the ancient lands, she’d only seen one place on her wish list: Diocletian’s Palace in Split, and even that visit had hardly gone the way she’d imagined. Reyna used to dream about going there with Jason to admire their favorite emperor’s home. She pictured romantic walks with him through the old city, sunset picnics on the parapets. (BOO 75)

 And then comes Blood of Olympus, where we actually get to see Reyna’s perspective, her thoughts, instead of having to infer them from other characters’ perceptions of her. The daydreaming about going on trips with him and explicitly ‘romantic’ walks and picnics seems like she genuinely desired that to some extent. Though I do notice those are pretty cliche desires, so that may also feed into the part of her arc with feeling pressured to perform a certain way, to ‘be’ a certain way, and believing that this is how to find happiness.

She found Thalia’s eyes distracting: electric blue, intense, and alert, so much like Jason’s. (BOO 221)

 Just wanted to note this bit, since she’s paying special attention to Thalia here, especially her eyes. Though I’m iffy about this representing attraction to Reyna, since Thalia’s eyes are often commented on (at least in their heads) and a major factor in paying attention to them seems to have to do with them being like Jason’s, which could account for the focus.

The giant’s eyes clicked and dilated. Red laser dots floated across Reyna’s breastplate. “Ah, the young praetor. I admit, I’ve been curious. Before I slay you, perhaps you’ll enlighten me. Why would a child of Rome go to such lengths to help the Greeks? You have forfeited your rank, abandoned your legion, made yourself an outlaw – and for what? Jason Grace scorned you. Percy Jackson refused you. Haven’t you been… what’s the word… dumped enough?”

Reyna’s ears buzzed. She recalled Aphrodite’s warning, two years ago in Charleston: You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart.

She forced herself to meet the giant’s gaze. “I don’t define myself by the boys who may or may not like me.” (BOO 238)

 It just occurred to me that I really have no clue how Orion knows about Reyna’s love life. Like I know Python can provide some intel, but was that detail REALLY that important? 

Anyway, this statement by Reyna, “I don’t define myself by the boys who may or may not like me.”, is an important step in how she relates to romance in general, and in her portrayal in the series, particularly in the Tyrant’s Tomb. Before this a lot of emphasis was placed on her being rejected by Percy and Jason, and of at least somewhat wanting to be with them in some capacity, or at least believing that she did. After this she seems more at peace with herself and less focused on past or present pursuit of relationships for herself.

“Once in Charleston, Venus told me something. She said: You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart. I- I have struggled with that for…” Her words broke. (BOO 492)

 Near the end of BOO, she finally talks to someone about this. A lot of people know, but... well, with the emphasis on how alone she is, how she has to keep up appearances, it doesn’t seem like she’s really gotten a chance to break down and talk to someone. I’m glad she got to do it with Piper. And this proclamation, this prophecy, the seeming hopelessness of it that appears to re-emphasize her being alone, along with implying that she’s broken in some way with the reference to her needing to be ‘healed’... I can only imagine how it would torment her.

Reyna rolled her eyes. “If I had a denarius for every time I got that question… Aside from the fact that Thalia is in the Hunters, and thus sworn to celibacy… why does a strong friendship always have to progress to romance? Thalia’s an excellent friend. Why would I risk messing that up?” (TTT 228)

 By TTT she’s had a lot more time to come to terms with her thoughts and feelings about relationships and romance, plus she’s not alone anymore, though the situation is still dire and stressful. While during HOO her being without support and having to manage everything by herself was interwoven with the narrative about her feelings towards Jason and Percy and her lack of romantic relationships, that’s not present here. In fact, it’s the opposite, with her having a strong friendship and having no desire to turn it into something romantic. It seems like those concepts became unbundled, with her having strong support and friendship unrelated to any romance.

Reyna broke a dry branch off a shrub and flicked it into the underbrush. “I went on that quest with Jason, what, two years ago? Venus took one look at me and decided… I don’t know. I was broken. I needed romantic healing. Whatever. I wasn’t back at camp a full day before the whispering started. Nobody would admit that they knew, but they knew. The looks I got: Oh, poor Reyna. The innocent suggestions I got about who I should date.”

She didn’t sound angry. It was more like weighed down and weary. I remembered Frank Zhang’s concern about how long Reyna had shouldered the burdens of leadership, how he wished he could do more to relieve her. Apparently, a lot of legionnaires wanted to help Reyna. Not all of that had been welcome or useful.

“The thing is,” she continued, “I’m not broken.”

“Of course not.” (TTT 233)

 This conception about “being broken” is something aces tend to end up feeling, at least without knowing more about asexuality. I didn’t get it as much since I wasn’t surrounded with as much emphasis on dating and sex as a lot of other people are, so I started figuring out maybe I was different from most other people only awhile after having run across the term; I just figured it was normal to have this attraction thing start up sometime later, like late teens or so, and that I didn’t exactly know what people were talking about anyway so maybe I just didn’t recognize it. By the time I figured out that I probably wasn’t going to develop this “sexual attraction” thing anytime soon I already knew about different sexualities and was able to research the topic to see what best description best fit my own experience. So I’m glad Rick touched on Reyna’s discomfort here. With some of the earlier passages I think she may have come to view herself the same way other people were viewing her, as needing a romantic partner to help her, but now she’s realized that was never really necessary for her; she doesn’t need that in her life.

After this, the whole scene with Lester awkwardly asking Reyna out occurs, and she figures out how ridiculous all this stress over who she should be with is, that it’s not something she needs to force herself to do, to dedicate all this time and energy too.

“My whole life, I’ve been living with other people’s expectations of what I’m supposed to be. Be this. Be that. You know?”

[…]

“But the whole time I’ve been a leader here,” she forged on, “I was looking for a partner. Praetors often partner up. In power. But also romantically, I mean. I thought Jason. Then for a hot minute, Percy Jackson. Gods help me, I even considered Octavian.” She shuddered. “Everybody was always trying to ship me with somebody. Thalia. Jason. Gwen. Even Frank. Oh, you’d be perfect together! That’s who you need! But I was never really sure if I wanted that, or if I just felt like I was supposed to want it. People, well-meaning, would be like, Oh, you poor thing. You deserve somebody in your life. Date him. Date her. Date whoever. Find your soulmate.”

She looked to me to see if I was following. Her words came out hot and fast, as if she’d been holding them in for a long time. “And that meeting with Venus. That really messed me up. No demigod will heal your heart. What was that supposed to mean? Then finally, you came along.”

“Do we have to review that part again? I am quite embarrassed enough.”

“But you showed me. When you proposed dating…”

She took a deep breath, her body shaking with silent giggles. “Oh, gods. I saw how ridiculous I’d been. How ridiculous the whole situation was. That’s what healed my heart – being able to laugh at myself again, at my stupid ideas about destiny. That allowed me to break free – just like Frank broke free of his firewood. I don’t need another person to heal my heart. I don’t need a partner… at least, not until and unless I’m ready on my own terms. I don’t need to be force-shipped with anyone or wear anyone else’s label. For the first time in a long time, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. So thank you.” (TTT 405-406)

I understand her confusion here about whether she herself wanted to be with someone, or whether she felt like she should enough that she forced some facsimile of those feelings onto herself. I suspect that there were at least twinges of genuine romantic feelings concerning Jason at least -  a lot of the focus around romance is in regards to him, and some of her reactions regarding him appeared to be more instinctual to me, like her reaction to him suggesting showing Piper around the city. Now how strong those feelings really were and whether they’d sync up well with a romantic relationship, I’m not sure. Just because you can imagine a relationship being one way, actually experiencing it you may find it’s not for you, that conceptually it’s appealing but not when actually trying to have one.

She doesn’t seem entirely sure of her own feelings as far as dating someone goes either, but she’s letting go of the idea, of the feeling that she needs to figure it out now. She can just... be. 

When I was first trying to figure out what the heck my orientation was, I fretted about it for a bit, trying to analyze my own feelings and compulsions. I thought demisexual or asexual, and as for my romantic orientation... bi perhaps?

Eventually I just... stopped worrying over it. At least all that much. Pretty sure I’m ace, but romantic orientation I’m still unsure of, though I’m currently leaning aro. And even in my twenties, I’m not totally clear on it. And I don’t have to be. Neither does Reyna. If she ends up with feelings for someone, of whatever gender, that’s fine. If she doesn’t, that’s fine too. Maybe she’ll end up changing what she thinks of herself, what she believes her orientation is as she has more experiences. Or maybe she won’t. It’s good either way.

Joining the Hunters decoupled the themes of loneliness, of isolation from HOO with the idea of romantic relationships even more thoroughly. She has that sort of camaraderie with them. She doesn’t need to be strong for them, to be the high leader. She has that support, along with not needing to be responsible for so many people’s welfare and morale anymore, all without any romantic pressure. She can just chill. There’s a reason she regards it as a vacation. And seriously, good for her!

Side note: based on the focus Reyna has on male characters as possibly being viable partners while not seeming to consider any female characters in the same light, even listing Jason, Percy, and Octavian (though I kinda doubt that was romantic) as ones she considered, but listing Thalia, Jason, Gwen, and Frank as people she was shipped with, I suspect that she’s hetero-leaning. It’s hardly conclusive evidence though, headcanon what you like.

[asagi-s-garden]

WB is the worst when it comes to DC. It's no coindence that Constantine is leaving 'Legends of Tomorrow" in the wake of the upcoming HBO Max show. And this pandemic ruined a lot of plans. As you said "BL" wasn't meant to be in the Arrowverse put when it happened they were all gung-ho for it. They had plans for Jeff to visit Central City and for Anissa and Grave to chill in Gotham. But then the pandemic and whatever BTS drama that got "BL" canned. Like *something* happened. It got an early renewal in Jan then it was cancelled in Nov. And CW didn't even bother to have proper trailers for new episodes. Don't tell me somebody on the show didn't rub the network the wrong way to result in that level of pettiness

Yeah, WB isn't just the worst with DC, but really the worst with favoritism in my personal opinion

They tried so hard to make the DC streaming service a huge success but as soon as they saw it wasn't going to be they got rid of everything like it was on fire, HBO Max is the new golden child so they're cutting their own throats in other areas to make it succeed- IE: Theaters

My poor Suicide Squad 2 ;_; no I won't say "my THE Suicide Squad" it won't roll off the tongue it was a sacrificial lamb to the damn streaming service :(

I know it's an unpopular opinion to not be all over streaming but they're really clearly cutting way more than just corners in order to feed that specific beast and try to make it compete with Disney+, that's why they're starting to draw the string on the Arrowverse :/ The same thing happened, I think, with the DC streaming service though, when they saw that the biggest success of DC was the Arrowverse, they decided to pull their dying streaming service as well as the DCEU into it to pump the Arrowverse up more, now that the Arrowverse is starting to go under- with three shows being gone, Batwoman being in questionable territory, and the two biggest successes of the year being largely disjointed from it (Superman and Stargirl), I think they're going to try to scramble it like eggs :/ They're doing the same with the DCEU to a degree though, by having loosely connected stories that do more universe hopping and tone changes (IE: Joker coming out just months before Birds Of Prey and having been preceeded by Shazam!) I think since they're seeing more promise in that approach right now for the movies, they might be trying to do the same for TV- or they're just trying to let the Arrowverse die of neglect so they can pump up HBO Max like you said

Ofcourse now that WB has been bought by Discovery, we might get some big changes to this; Discovery already said they wanted to pour seven BILLION dollars into DC properties specifically in the first year alone, and I know the rumor is that they're only going to try to gloss up DC so that they can sell the assets to the highest bidders once their "probation" period ends but like.... seven billion is a hell of alot of gloss..... and if they can start pulling in more numbers like Joker, Superman & Lois, and The Suicide Squad (wich may have not been a huge hit at the box office but wich reportedly smashed the HBO Max numbers enough that WB is circling James Gunn like a starving shark), then I have a hard time believing they'd be wanting to get rid of it, especially when, let's face it, DC is easily the most well known and most marketable asset Discovery has ever had and probably ever will have purely because of Superman alone, you can't find a person anywhere who hasn't atleast heard of Superman, regardless of how much the film properties are hit-and-miss financially, I have a hard time believing anyone would just throw that kind of name power to the wolves....

But onto Black Lightning, I actually have a pretty strong theory about that one

I'm almost certain that China Anne McClain is why the show was canned

And do not get me wrong, I don't mean that in a snippy way, but China quit Black Lightning pretty urgently- to the point that she only wanted to do limited episodes for the final season

Backing up a moment here though, let me explain why I think this was the nail-in-the-coffin

Black Lightning was very quickly becoming centered around Lightning specifically

That doesn't mean to say that it wasn't still Jefferson's story and that Anissa wasn't still important, but Jennifer was getting set up to be The Powerhouse of the show, with the bulk of the drama probably surrounding her and the thought of her potentially taking on her father's mantel

It seemed like the idea of Black Lightning retiring or atleast putting on the suit a little less was starting to become a thing, and with Jefferson firmly accepting his daughters as part of the world of Metas at that point, that would have lead to Anissa and Jennifer taking much more of the spotlight than they had in the beginning- that's a natural progression of things, and although I actually prefer Anissa's storyline (it's just more my personal cup of tea), I will readily admit that Jennifer was the one who had the ability to carry an entire season's worth of story on her shoulders.... not so much Anissa, who has her wife (so romantic subplots are pretty toned down), her powers are developed and stable (nothing quite like the learning curves Jennifer was facing), she has a stable job and a stable superhero identity- two, in fact-, so no literal schoolyard drama or issues with "Am I in my father's shadow? Is this how the world sees me and do I want them to see me this way?" much like what Jennifer was starting to experience in the end of the show either

TLDR Anissa mostly had her shit together, wich is great for her, but it doesn't lend to being able to carry the most dramatic storylines like it does with Jennifer, who's still figuring out pretty much everything

I think Jennifer was already starting to take a very large amount of the story as of the last season and even starting to steal the spotlight before that, if they were to come back for more I feel like she would have been in a place of being much more obviously groomed to take on the main charector status wile Jefferson stepped back just a little bit to be more supportive to her journey instead of the other way around

And the show could still exist very much as Jefferson's story wile that story happened to center on Jennifer

.....Buuuuuuuuuuuuut that's where the problem comes in

China said before the show was cancelled that she was going to step down from playing Lightning because she wanted to focus on her faith more and be removed from anything that wasn't "in service to God", wich is totally fine for her, but it does put Black Lightning in a bit of a difficult position because the charector they were gearing up to make their breakout star was suddenly going to either have to pull a Winn and just... be.... gone.... or have to get recast

To be entirely honest, I'm not sure why they didn't stick with the recasting instead, I thought Laura Karuki did a fantastic job as Jennifer and the "Am I Jennifer or am I JJ?" story would have been a great thing to explore for an entire season, but if I had to guess, they maybe just didn't want to mess with it?

Black Lightning had good numbers but it wasn't in the top five or anything to my recollection, not since it's premiere season anyway, and it could have been a compound decision of "We weren't going to keep this up much longer anyway so let's just take this as a sign to wrap it up", although I think that the way the recast was done could have presented a stable option for them if they had decided to give it a go for a full season, although maybe that's just my opinion and they initially made the recast so that the people behind the curtain could see if Laura would work well enough as Jennifer and when they decided that the vibe wasn't right they went on ahead and pulled the plug rather than risk getting the same um... resistance.... than Batwoman met over their recasting choices

Although I could go on for days about why that situation is different (to be clear: I do like Ryan quite alot but I don't think the Batwoman situation was nearly as seamless as Black Lightning's in terms of recasts, but that's another story for another day)

TLDR I think if China had stayed aboard they would have gone on for atleast another season or two, but there are some shows where members of an ensemble cast are so essential that their leaving is too big of a blow to stay through

It's much like when Dylan O'Brien had to bow out of Teen Wolf for a little wile, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a fan who absolutely loved season six, and even before that people were having a hard time staying with a lack of Tyler Hoechlin, with some even stepping away when Crystal Reed left, even though- at both of those points- most of the core cast was still there and at no point did the titular main ever leave, I feel like Black Lightning's situation is very similar, people were just too invested in Jennifer

[cloveroctobers]

ELLADINE SARABI

IG info/bio: @/ellasardineabi | 18.5k followers | Artist | i was born with glass bones and paper skin♡

25 years old

Born & raised in Cardiff, Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Father was in the n*vy and moved his family around a few times until he and his wife came to a agreement that it would be best for the family to grow up in one solid place

whereas he would leave for months at a time living elsewhere

Which was hard on the family at times since he is viewed as the rock of the family

He eventually left the n*vy after serving 20 years & was so thankful to, he hated it and how it messed with him mentally

He’s also of Iranian heritage

Her mother is of German heritage

Has her own restaurant that serves authentic German food

Both of her parents instilled hard work, discipline, generosity, and how to be practical in their children

Elladine is the middle child

Has a brother that is ten years older than her and then a younger sister who is seven years behind her

Canon: there is currently a discussion going on if they are going to bring their (maternal) nan/mam-gu home since the nursing home isn’t providing the proper care their nan needs

Her mother has a rocky relationship with her mother that she doesn’t like to discuss with her children but her husband knows all about it

Her nan has Alzheimer's and is becoming violent

it has become difficult seeing her most days

Elladine came into glassblowing after being involved in many classes in secondary such as workshop class

which became her fav since she was able to manipulate many materials such as metal, wood, and glass

She also took a auto body class which was interesting but she wasn’t too thrilled about it. Got away with a B- but knew she could do better if she really wanted to but she didn’t need the class to graduate so allow it

Currently works in a glass studio where her work is displayed/sold and she’s one of the main ones that makes great profit

has bought her own space for her own studio and is slowly making it to her liking with her assistant, yes she’s got one!

Hopes to be in that space within the next 6 months...it would have been a little sooner if we weren’t dealing with a global p*ndemic!!! but ya know life f*cking sucks sometimes!!!1!!:) especially if people don’t gaf

Moved back in with her parents so that she could not only help with her nan but get her studio ready, her parents approved since she was working towards something and realized her talent

I definitely see elladine going through a grunge phase and it probably still slips out every now and then lol

Her childhood room is still in shades of raspberry, gray, and a deep purple

always been plus-sized/fuller than the rest but it’s literally hereditary since her mom is built the same way who got it from her dad

Her family never made her feel ashamed as they shouldn’t and none of her true friends made her feel different since they were all of different sizes!!! besides who’s really friends with someone because of their bodies? Ur really ugly if that’s how u roll js

Always a respectful student and not too afraid to spark up a convo with you but can be a little nervous if the person is more of a “I have to warm up to you first” since she’ll feel like she’s annoying you if she carries the convo at first

Takes her time in relationships because she’s scared of getting hurt, cause breakups are not fun! Especially if theyre your friend on top of that

Although Friendship breakups are much worse let’s be honest here!!!

Has noticed that a few of her exes like to bring up that she’s controlling or too bossy in relationships and that makes her a little insecure since she doesn’t view it that way??

She knows what she wants and likes things a certain way, and she can see how it can kinda come off that way based on how she approaches/says things and tries to be better at toning it down and not being offensive to her significant others

Always has a plan and likes to follow it, she definitely keeps to-do lists on a daily

Takes trips to see Nicky often and vice-versa, every moment they spend together feels like it’s meant to be, even when it’s them just simply chilling in each other’s spaces, he’s truly one of her best friends and he feels like the missing part of her life

He offered for her to move in with him but elladine didn’t accept it since she wanted to be there to help with her nan and in fact—she wanted to be the one to ask HIM to move in with her

but if they make it long enough, they’ll go house hunting together...maybe

I get Shawn/Angela relationship vibes from them (boy meets world for those who aren’t aware of this couple and I’m not just saying this because they’re interracial as well lol) did I say this already about someone else? Brain fart lol

everyone relationship has their flaws so when they hit a bump in the road...elladine immediately wants to fix it but it comes off as more critiquing, moodiness/blaming the other

while Nicky can be defensive/argumentive/a little condescending on his end

To get through it, they normally go on a walk together in complete silence until they’re ready to speak again or they take a break from each other

I think words of affirmation is her love language

Taurus sun + Virgo moon + Capricorn rising?

“The girl on the motorcycle” is one of her fav films — no this is not metaphoric to her love life

Loves watching things with captions on since she always finds herself doing something else while watching anything (which irks Nicky a little bit but that’s just the way elladine is and he loves her so he deals with it)

Will rewind something if she missed it too

Canon: never had morning sex before

but can now say she has ;) & understands the pros people say about it and it outweighs the cons in her book

Will start the whole song over too if she missed her fav part in it

She also enjoys billiards since her brother used to work in a pool hall and when he had to watch her because she was “too young” in her words to stay home by herself he would take her there even tho technically she wasn’t supposed to be there but he was screwing his boss’s daughter so it was quite fine

her sister has a crush on Gary & ships elladine with him, which they joke about every now and then + he doesn’t follow her back, which is okay! Not a big deal but her sister keeps sliding in his dms (he’s now single)

She NEVER thought she would be on THE love island and wasn’t that confident that she’d find a real love that carried on outside of the show but Nicky has proven her wrong 🥲

She’s 5’5–5’6

Probably shops at Zara & top shop and has no issue picking pieces that flatter her “pear” figure, she loves all that is of her body: the pudge, love handles, cellulite and all (she’s very confident and won’t let anyone see her moments of doubt when it comes to her frame)

Loves mythology but will tell bill stfu if he comes near her trying to argue about anything in that subject

Very competitive and will rush through certain things, leaving one to think that she’ll fail somewhere but rarely does

If she’s not near or away from the mountains or the sea for long period of time she gets very moody!!! Guess that’s the Welsh in her huh?

Loves fireplaces, they’re super cozy and very romantic if you catch ella’s drift 😏

Probably smells like jasmine & pink pepper idk

Wants to travel to Iceland one day

Knows her way around a car but dreads having to get it fixed or fixing it herself?

Loves driving until her road rage kicks in? Oh you’re gonna go around her to get in front of her? Never that. She’ll always be in front of you and will break check you if you try her “Drewgi” she mutters

Early riser and goes to bed early too lol

She’s the crying drunk lmao

Automatically vieve has become one of her best friends from the villa but it deff didn’t feel forced like it normally would have just because their bfs have a podcast together, they talk about everything together. EVERYTHING! It feels like she’s the big sister she never had, yet they’re only a year apart lol

They have ft sleepovers and man is it fun!

Forgave lily but at the same time can’t fully see herself being friends with her like vieve tried to encourage before they went on the yacht...sorry everything can’t be Kumbaya over here sis

It sucks to say but it was easier? She doesn’t know if that’s the right term or not... for her to forgive rafi than it was lily and it’s fucked up but that’s the way it is. It’s not like she contacts him on seperate messages or anything like that! She’ll talk to him via group chat and that’s pretty much it. She knows it was all part of the show and production’s bs for ratings but that doesn’t mean it still didn’t hurt

Wishes him success on his shows/movies but doesn’t engage/watch them

What does she post? I feel like she posts maybe three times a month and a lot are outfit pics but tends to go live more so to chat with the people! She’ll also show all what glassblowing entails while chatting away! She loves that part and is pretty open about things but knows how to keep some things private

Personally wasn’t the biggest fan of season 1 but admits she wishes she had mc’s balls in terms of what she would have done if she was in elladine’s place when lily picked Nicky, “ugh! I wish I had her strength rising through my veins in that moment. Absolute riot. Adore her.”

‘“Licky” is a ugly ass ship name anyways so who’s really winning here?!’

Celeb crushes? Iwan Rheon, Henry Zaga, Anthony Welsh, jason derulo, & LaRoyce Hawkins

Listens to: soleima, Marisa Maino, Ava Max, poppy, Caroline polachek, Donny Hathaway, Phil Good, & SAINt JHN

Anthem — M.I.A. “Bad Girls”

[chibi-chaos]

The Problem with the Sims 4 Packs

As once more EA proceeds to let us all down, I decided to pitch in my thoughts having now for about two years having played the sims and seen no point in buying all the packs, and feeling cheated with the packs I do have.

1. There is a noticeable difference between older and newer packs

Some of the older packs feel less filled when compared to say some of the newer packs. Which I suppose is to be expected when a game evolves. But did it really evolve much?

2. Despite it’s ‘evolution’ there are still newer packs that REALLY could have been executed or at the lest presented better.

Realm of Magic for one. LUXURY PARTY. With weird builds, an absence of items, or smaller amount of things.

3. Repeated failure to listen to the community

The fact that is too so bloody long for them to address the need for better skin tones is infuriating and should not be happening in a time where the need for P.O.C representation has been highlighted

Babies, cars, more elements of toddlers/elders. Literally it’s been time and time again CC (custom content players who have come to the floor)

4. There are packs which should have been put together, it very clear from theme and purpose.

Cats and Dogs - My First Pet Stuff (so a DLC for a DLC), Parenthood - Toddler - Kids room (even if Toddler and kids were combined it would feel a little less of a money grab especially with how neglected toddler/kids outfits are with EA), Perfect Porch - Backyard - Romantic Garden (three stuff packs for the outside some might say I am stretching this but why was three stuff packs for the exterior needed?), Bowling Night - Movie Hangout (the theme of friends hanging out and having fun inspired by retro looks). One could even Seasons with Backyard.

5. THE Money Grab. Whenever EA has made a ‘deal’ with another company to ‘collaborate’ it has resulted in something subpar. Mac. Moschino (which feels like it’s an extension of Get Famous). And lastly the most infamous one STAR WARS Journey to Batuu. Cause it wouldn’t be Disney if they weren’t putting their foot into everything.

A person who likes to play star wars games would not play it on the Sims4 - and a person who likes Sims4 potentially would not play something involving Star Wars.

The way I put it when I saw it coming out “Star Wars is action, fights (in space and on planet), rebellion and space travel. A fan who wants to play Star Wars would buy something like Fallen Order, it covers all these aspects and has both a wider range of skills and a story line which is a lot better than whatever story they go for this. A sims4 game story mode isn't as diverse or in-depth as a game entirely made for a story. missions become a chore list, and a struggle to find things”.

And surprise surprise the game-play was far from impressive.All in all the pack only served as an advertisement for Disney’s Galaxy Edge, and contributed nothing to the wider Sims4 game or it’s community. Also of note is that the lightsaber skill potentially is just the sword fighting skill of Get Famous rehashed

6. The brewing potential cash grab in the works. Kits.

Not only is it weird to be getting a new type of pack after so long, but we’re getting THREE at the same time. Is this foreshadowing to the frequency? The argument is the role of the kit will be to allow people to ENHANCE how an individual wants their gameplay to be - but when these seem to come in small forms comparable to those ‘celebration gifts’ we get for special days or even like with updates - it makes you wonder why we have to pay an unclear amount for these. Especially when you consider:

Kit 1: Sims4 Throwback Fit kit - this kit is about retro-inspired athleisure looks.

Aesthetic? Looks like Snowy Escape but also has the retro vibe/aim of Bowling Night and Movie Hangout.

Gameplay contribution? Seemingly Fitness Stuff but expanded.

Kit 2: Sims4 Bust the Dust kit - cleaning your house (something you’d think you wouldn’t have to pay for, for a LIFE SIMULATOR.)

Aesthetic? Yet to be determined

Gameplay contributions: it can be noted there seems to be dust bunnies that give a vibe of Paranomal’s Spectrals, Then there’s the obvious Laundry Day. Mixed with Eco-Lifestyle where some of the vacuums designed look to be VERY similar to the device you make in Eco-Lifestyle to clean the atmosphere.

Kit 3: Sims4 Country Kitchen Set - vintage style appliances and decorative pieces for the kitchen.

Aesthetic? Besides farming pack people have asked for without the farming. it feels to be 1. the missing kitchen part of Paranormal, 2. the missing kitchen part of Cats and Dogs.

Gameplay Contribution? Yet to be determined. Potentially served the same purpose as cool kitchen.

Overall it’s hard to be confident that these were not items rejected for previous packs making the cycle back. Or that these will be like prevalent micro-transactions. The argument could be made that many of these are older pack they are similar to but EA could have ensure consistent quality but adding to the older packs.

And even more so regardless of the cost EA has been be REAL careful cause some stuff packs may end up looking like kit pack and more expensive, and any person with common sense would not be happy with that.

7. The COST, with 10 Expansion Packs, 9 Game Packs, 18 stuff packs the price is HEAVY. In AUD

Expansion Packs - 49.99.  On sale 50% off                      = 24.99. There are 10 of these

Game packs        - 29.99. On sale 25% off                        = 22.49. There are 9 of these.

Stuff packs          - 14.99. On sale between 15%-20% off. = 11.24 - 12.74. There are 18 of these.

Bundles come out as 59.99. On sale at 10% off                = 53.99 There’s a maximum of nine as of February, 2021)

This means the complete the full pack you pay one of these ways:

Everything pull price:

(49.99*10)+(29.99*9)+(14.99*18) = $1039.68

Bundles and Full prices:

(59.99*9)+(49.99)+(14.99+9)        = $724.81

Pure Sales:

(24.99*10)+(22.49*9)+(12.74*18) = $681.63

Cheapest occasional Sales of Stuff Packs:

(24.99*10)+(22.49*9)+(11.24*18) = $654.63

Sales Bundles and Prices:

(53.99*9)+(24.99)+(12.74*9) = $625.56

Sales Bundles and Prices with the cheapest sale for stuff packs:

(53.99*9)+(24.99)+(11.24*9) = $612.06

Is the Sims4 worth $612.06 to 1039.68? I’d dare say the answer would be an easy NO.

[darkpoisonouslove]

Winx Club Season 4 Thoughts Part 1

I have to say that I remember exactly five things from this whole season so I am interested to see where this is going even if it has high chances of annoying me. I am trying to stay open-minded about this and the fact that they still haven’t destroyed the art style here is definitely helping some so I hope that I will find something I like in this season and will not have to bitch about it 98% of the time. Here we go:

4x01:

- Okay, so they just decided that season 4 and SotLK are not on the same time line. Because in SotLK the new school year had already started when Mandragora attacked and Winx were definitely not teaching. And Musa says that it’s been three years since they first came to Alfea so that implies that s4 is the school year after s3. Which means this is not the time line of SotLK. Great! I mean, I’m not gonna count that as a plot hole but it is still frustrating to a degree.

- Faragonda really said “Let’s make Winx teachers even though they have no training and qualifications for that whatsoever”, huh? Nice to see that there is as much real world logic applied to any of this as always - aka none. I know it sounds like I’m already bitching but, trust me, I am not. This is just an observation. You’ll know it when I truly start bitching.

- I get it that everyone except Stella is not thrilled about all the attention but Tecna and Layla sounded too annoyed. It’s not like the young fairies are trying to tear off their wings and fairy dust vials to keep as souvenirs. They are actually pretty polite considering that they’re fifteen and have just met their idols. Why is that Amaryl getting Stella’s autograph, though?

- Lmao that scene with Griselda. XD But they really did not consider the fact that now that they are at Alfea as personnel they’ll have different rooms? That is like walking into the room and sitting in your old student seat even though you are supposed to be the teacher. Come on, guys! Gotta love how Layla, Bloom and Musa almost sent Griselda falling to the ground and Flora was the only one who tried to help her keep her balance. Also, the fact that Griselda was more concerned with the misunderstanding rather than with the fact that she was about to fall down the goddamn stairs! Priorities, Griselda! Not breaking your neck should always come first in a situation like that.

- Is it me or have they toned Griselda down a little? She used to be a bit more of a hardass.

- Why is that the Agator box Faragonda has put the “keys” in? Did they just decide to recycle an old design without even changing it at all or what?

- It’s been three minutes (without the intro) and we’ve arrived at our first plot hole. Remember in season 3 when Galatea took the Trix to the Hall of Enchantments? And it was a very public and very unrestricted area in the school that was definitely not hidden behind a secret passage? Yeah, now it is suddenly a place where only a few people can go. Nice one!

- Why the fuck would you bury the entire history of the magical dimension under one school? And why the fuck can you find out the future from there? Let me tell you, this is a horrible idea.

- So now there are infinite levels of powers and more transformations after Enchantix? Second plot hole in four minutes. This is going well.

- “It will also give you the power to heal whoever is in need.” Where was that when they fucking killed off Nabu?!

- Of course, Bloom will wander off and find the villains of the season even if it is just a painting. Please, tell me that it wasn’t the fact that she removed the cover of the Wizards’ portrait that brought them to Alfea. That will simply be too dumb. Also, Faragonda could have totally used her magic to cover the portrait again and given her reaction to Bloom finding it, she should have. I am curious as to who painted the portrait of the Trix that went in there, though. Or did it just appear magically? Lmao, that would be a fun concept. Imagine that you do something big enough to threaten the whole magical dimension and suddenly, there is a portrait of you in a closed off gallery buried under Alfea.

- Stella really poked Brandon in the face to test if he is really here? XD

- So they did have some plan for their first class (since they built that obstacle course in advance) but they didn’t think of a name for it? Not looking too professional but as long as the young fairies are engaged AND learn something, I guess it’s fine.

- Why is Clarisse so mean here? I agree to some degree that Winx are not really qualified to teach but she has no reason to be like that.

- So she showed the magic she used to sabotage Winx to ALL of her roommates and none of them went to Faragonda to tell her the truth after Alice was accused?! What the fuck, you people?

- It would have been more interesting if it had been Bloom that had been hit. She is the leader, after all, and the show always insists on making her the center of everything but not this, I guess. Can’t have her be the target of a prank. That would probably be too embarrassing. I hate that Faragonda didn’t even give a chance to Alice to speak. For how much she claims to believe in her students, she never actually gives them the chance to explain themselves. You’d think she’d rely more on her intuition rather than on hard, cold proof that can be staged (as is the case) or reframed thanks to circumstances.

- If the Wizards hunt fairies, why have they never been to Alfea? It is literally full of fairies! Or are they just after Earth fairies? I have no memory of them or their plan whatsoever. Guess I’ll have to watch and see.

- Why are all the Winx being so damn mean in this episode? Even Flora is out for people’s heads. Honestly, the only time she’s given off more hostile energy than here was when the Trix attacked the Black Willow and Miele.

- At least that battle was a bit more of a battle than what we’ve seen in previous seasons. Although, it is disappointing that all of Winx’s arsenal of magic seems to be down to just blasting the enemy. Like, they literally never do anything else. Where is that energy of Musa doing an anti rain dance combined with runes to negate Stormy’s powers? Can we ever get anything more creative than just shooting magic beams out of their hands and throwing balls of energy at the opponents? Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Wizards have a bit more interesting powers from what we’ve seen here. Especially, Duman with his shapeshifting (a Duman vs Wizgiz battle would have been interesting). And I like the idea of their partnership allowing them greater power like opening the Black Circle. It’s cool. We’re going back to the vibe of the Trix being equals in season 1 and that was interesting.

- Okay, so the Wizards really wiped the ground with Winx but you have to love how none of the young fairies care about the fact that the teachers weren’t able to do jackshit either. Winx failed once and now suddenly they’re losers. I know the idea of that part was that fame is temporary but you know what would have been a better lesson? That persistence is the key to victory and you have to get up after you’ve been knocked down and try again. That would have been far more helpful for the young fairies to learn from Winx and it would have been exactly the best lesson that Winx could teach them considering their own experiences of never giving up even when everything looked bleak and they were failing.

- So why did Clarisse suddenly change her mind? Was she touched by the fact that Alice was still trying to help Winx even after they didn’t believe her or...? But yes, if she didn’t even think twice about hugging Griselda, then the show has really softened Griselda here. XD It was adorable, though, so I am fine with it. And I hope that Alice and Clarisse will keep that friendship going (I so do not remember anything from this season).

- Really? We’re gonna stop this episode right before the origin story of the Black Circle? Damn! Have to love how they were teachers for all of one class. Not even that, in fact. Griselda will probably be the one who will take on those classes now. Poor freshmen fairies! XD

4x02:

- Okay, I have questions. Where did the Wizards come from and why did they attack Earth specifically out of all the planets in the magical dimension? How did they create the spell that made them immune to fairy magic? You can’t just wish to be impenetrable and boom, it’s done! Also, were fairies the only magical beings on Earth? Because that story made it sound so. And what do you mean the powers of nature? Are we talking elements? Or not quite? Plus, really not into the way this blamed all the shit that happened on Earth on the disappearance of the fairies. It takes off the responsibility from humanity’s shoulders and that is not a good thing to do.

- At least Tecna is paying attention and now they know where to start. Bring back belief in fairies and find the last Earth fairy (though, that might not be the best idea since it will lead the Wizards straight to her and Winx are not yet powerful enough to protect her). That sounds like the first step of a plan.

- Aww, Stella is always so thrilled to see Brandon she ends up knocking him down! That is absolutely adorable! But please, can we skip the part where Bloom angsts about Sky not being there? But back to the important things (aka everything but Sky x Bloom), yay for Nabu being here! Riven picking up Musa was so cute! And she wasn’t angry that he didn’t come up with his own script which is good (besides, I think that the fact that he asked for help because he wanted to cheer her up still counts as a cute romantic gesture). And Timmy and Tecna instantly starting to nerd out together is just precious!

- Bloom says she’s getting used to it while still sulking about it. Forgive me if I don’t believe you. But at least his entrance was funny indeed. And the way all the other guys were in on it spoke of them planning it together which helps sell their friendship. I would actually like to see more moments like that. And omg, Riven being the one to say Sky is a friend! I approve so much of this non-sulky Riven. Dammit, why do they have to screw up everything (because we all know they will, especially when it comes to Riven)!

- Why did they have to lie to their girlfriends? Winx could use some help and it doesn’t have to mean that they’re weak. Honestly, the more people are fighting the Wizards, the better their chances! Like, this is simple strategy! It doesn’t have to mean anything about their power levels. And who the fuck decided that Winx should be the ones responsible for the defeat of the Black Circle and do it alone? All of this is nonsensical as hell and it is obvious that they will use it to generate drama again. MY GOD, CAN WE JUST NOT?!

- What happens if someone steals Tecna’s gadget and accesses all that info she copied from the Hall of Enchantments? That was probably not the safest idea there but it would have been cool if that actually happened and they had to deal with someone else while still trying to defeat the main villains. For a change of pace. Just saying.

- Man, Tecna is the one doing everything. But wait, how did Bloom miniaturize? Is it because she found her birth parents and restored Domino so now her Enchantix is complete? Is that what happened here? I mean, it wouldn’t be completely illogical so it’s fine, I guess.

- Wtf why did Bloom just jump on Tecna like that? Are they trying to emphasize her first miniaturizing experience by making her afraid of things because she is so small now? Knock it off, guys! I hate to say it, but Bloom isn’t exactly the person that scares easily no matter what she’s facing. She was attacking monsters with a stick before she even knew she had magic, please! And Layla getting scared is also out of character. I love how Stella just didn’t give a damn. That is kinda like her and she is right that they’ve faced scarier things. And here is Bloom with the stick spoon again.

- Hey, they remembered the ocean of light spell from SotLK.

- They brought tents? Why are they camping there? Do they have any idea what they’re doing at this point?

- Why do we keep at it with the flashbacks? There is literally no point to them!

- What the hell? It... is eating Stella? What is happening? Also, does Flora have any other magic at this point aside from making ivy grow and wrap around the enemy? Not to mention that she just started crying with a monster right in front of her that ate her friend! What the hell, Flora? Did you think your tears would move it and it wouldn’t eat you as well?!

- “Apparently, I am not easy to digest.” XDDD Only Stella can say that while in the belly of a monster!

- Wtf was Musa’s idea with roaring at the monster? And Layla couldn’t spot a butterfly that was roughly half the size of Piff’s head?! It was so visible from the moment they found Piff!

- Is that... Yes, that’s the tree from Magical Adventure. It definitely looks different here but it can’t be anything else.

- Well, of course, the Earth fairy was born in Gardenia. It is too impossible a coincidence for them to pass up on. If it means I will get some Mike and Vanessa, I am willing to forgive it, though.

4x03:

- Yay! It’s Mike and Vanessa! I love how they totally don’t mind that Bloom and her friends just dropped off without any warning. They are the best parents ever!

- Okay, they copied almost all of this montage in Magical Adventure but I don’t mind because it’s funny and also pretty cute that they are now all living together. Mike and Vanessa are so open to Bloom’s friends and it is absolutely adorable! Also, the challenge of living together is hilarious.

- That montage of their jobs is also hilarious (but kinda painful as well when it is us, non-magical beings’ reality). I’m glad they also showed the others having trouble with their jobs and not just Stella.

- Do we trust this guy that offered them a job? He doesn’t look suspicious... but that is kinda suspicious. I don’t know.

- Wait, they can bring toys to life? Then that totally confirms my headcanon about Kiko being a stuffed bunny that Bloom unknowingly turned into an animate one with her Dragon Fire. Okay, so Flora can bring toys to life which makes sense but Bloom having the magic that created the whole universe should also be able to do that.

- Poor Mike! But omg, they really almost had Kiko jump a female bunny right there on screen. Damn, guys! Calm down.

- Okay, the pet shop is actually a pretty good idea considering that it turns their problem into a solution. And the pets are adorable.

- I am grateful that Vanessa is in on finding a place for the shop. She already owns a shop of her own and is a businesswoman so she knows what she is doing. It is the adult presence this series seriously lacks and she can be both helpful and supportive of Winx. It’s awesome!

- Well, the last fairy on Earth found them. And they conveniently lost her. Oh, come on! They didn’t even realize it was her?!

- I just skipped all of the Kiko and pets buffoonery. It is so unimportant.

- They are really fucking dense, aren’t they? Why did no one think that if the Wizards aren’t anywhere to be found, then it could be something else?!

- You left a bunny in charge of a business establishment. What did you expect? I mean, really?! Not to mention that the magical pets have zero reason to listen to Kiko. They probably think he’s beneath them because he can’t fly and shit.

- Of course, the Wizards arrive in the middle of a storm. Because Grand EntranceTM.

- You mean to tell me that Tecna didn’t know you could use a computer to play games and learn languages? What the actual FUCK?! She is literally the fairy of technology. I don’t even have the words to express how stupid this is!

- Why is Roxy sleeping in the clothes that she was wearing when she was out all day? Ever heard of pajamas, animators? And of course, she is having Symbolic Dreams just like Bloom. And by “symbolic” I mean overly obviously so.

- I love their clash with the reality of business. But why are they acting like the website is new? Bloom already mentioned it in the previous episode. And all Tecna is adding now is the download-a-pet feature.

4x04:

- So they’re giving the pets for free... but they will be charging for food and other things? I am confused here. They promised to pay Vanessa back and they can’t do that unless they make profit from the shop. So they should be charging for some of their services at least. But what is the point of downloading a pet if you have to go to the store to buy food for it? Ugh, this makes no sense again.

- Why are only girls adopting fairy pets? Tell me this is not going to be sexist like that.

- Ugh, pls no drama with Sky over Andy. And what the fuck did he mean that they were engaged?! I mean, probably overexaggerating but it was still weird. Not to mention that Bloom’s reaction to learning he’s in a band is somewhat not selling the idea that the Winx would form their own band later on (even if this is what starts it).

- What the fuck are the Specialists doing? And are they only now arriving on Earth? Weren’t they supposed to be there already since Faragonda told them to stay close to Winx?

- Why is Brandon the only one with brains in here? Sky literally just went on and pawned the seal of Eraklyon? Stupid, stupid move. Besides, it’s not like they didn’t know where they were going. He could have gone to Eraklyon and taken some gold to exchange on Earth or something. They could have prepared for this trip. Oh my god, why does no one think of things ahead of time? This isn’t getting sucked into the Omega dimension by mistake. They could have made a plan and avoided literally all of the problems they’ve faced already.

- Why did they take the pets to a concert? Animals are sensitive to loud noises and can get scared by the music they’re blasting there. Wtf?!

- Damn, I was right about Sky being jealous of Andy but I am still entertained by the fact that he was being all righteous with Riven until he saw Bloom and flipped the script on its head. And again, Brandon is the only one that is actually thinking... for now. I so do not need the drama with Mitzi that will be in this season. But literally the only reason they haven’t blown their cover is that Winx haven’t looked their way. Otherwise, those menus wouldn’t be enough to hide them. And why didn’t they change in their everyday clothes before dropping in the middle of a park?

- Why are you leaving Kiko in charge again?! You already saw that he can’t control the magical pets! Oh my god, this show really insists on getting on my nerves!

- What, they don’t have fruits in Magix?! Please, if Magix is so much more advanced in terms of technology, there is no way that they don’t have smoothies and fruit salad. This is really stupid!

- Omg, thank you Layla. Finally! Can they now, please, figure out that Roxy is right under their noses? Because they keep crossing paths with her without even knowing it and it is getting ridiculous. Why was she so quick to judge Stella, though? She barely heard her say a sentence. No need to label someone based on the one line you’ve overheard them speak! Why is everyone so judgy in this season?!

- I told you the Wizards would just follow them and Winx would lead them to the fairy. Rather fortunately, they’ve all got it wrong but poor girl that got mistaken for the last fairy. She is probably going to be traumatized. Btw when are they going to start earning their Belivix? They totally forgot about the book Faragonda gave them.

- Ogron is really annoying me. But why not just eliminate Winx and they won’t have to deal with them anymore? What, is this some kind of “they’re obviously too weak to stop us so we won’t even bother destroying them” deal here? (Edit: Yep, that’s it - aka plot armor.) It always comes back to bite the villains in the end. You’d think at least one of them will know better... Or at the very least be ruthless enough not to care who they harm... which the Wizards allegedly are.

- I am so sick of Flora’s “luxurious ivy”. Try something else one of these days! But being caught in her own ivy was new at the very least. Maybe that will make her come up with a new attack next time.

- Omg, I am really starting to see the Riven x Nabu thing. XD But the Specialists generally seem too busy saving each other to help Winx.

- Seriously? They’re all gonna be dicks to each other? And over this stupidity with the jealousy and refusal to accept help? *sigh* I am so pleased to see Nabu and Layla just trailing behind like that. Like, “I don’t wanna be a part of this drama but I gotta stay with my team even though I would much rather be with you.” It is really cute and I love it! Also, proof that all of this is stupid because Layla has always been super independent but she didn’t seem to have a problem with Nabu coming to help her. Probably because she trusts him enough to know he wouldn’t think she was weak! Take notes, everyone!

4x05:

- Hey, be a bit more supportive of Stella! She’s obviously tired if she fell asleep and she just told you she is stressed out because of what happened with the boys! She is not just dramatizing for attention. I know they are all in the same boat but they don’t have to be rude to her just because she voiced her discomfort.

- What the hell did the Wizards do to the pets? My gradually returning memory (meaning that whenever I see something, it triggers some deeply buried memories I have about this season) is failing me here.

- Lol, I can’t believe Riven actually went to get Brandon a glass of juice. That’s adorable! But how to break it to Timmy that they already look like they belong on the planet (Nabu is definitely standing out but that’s just because Gardenia is western-society based)? Riven is literally wearing England’s flag, wtf?!

- Why do the boys sound like they are sharing the same six brain cells (that’s probably too high a number)? Even Timmy is jealous which he totally has no reason to be because Tecna hasn’t been around anyone! Omfg, why are they turning the personal drama of one (well, two bc Musa and Riven also) couple into a drama for everyone?! And Flora hasn’t really said anything to Helia which could be rude of itself but still. I am sure she is not actually angry at him.

- I am actually really getting on board of this Riven x Nabu ship. Riven’s first thought of a solution was to turn to Nabu. I mean, their actions speak for themselves!

- I just had a new thought about Winx’s pet shop policy and it is actually a bit of a malicious tactic (even if not intentionally so) to just let children download pets that will later need to be taken care of. Once the pet is already downloaded, parents will have a much harder time saying no to their children and they will be forced to spend money on caring for the pet. This is... not how things should be going.

- Mike and Vanessa are adorable together! And awesome parents! (Yes, I will gush about that every time. We can use some positivity amidst everything wrong with the series. They definitely got Mike and Vanessa right.)

- Roxy is really trying to adopt all those dogs, isn’t she? But wow, Mitzi really wanted to wrap an animal in wrapping paper. They shouldn’t have given it to her at all.

- I actually like the fact that they had to go against their mission and convince everyone that they aren’t real fairies because they were otherwise running the risk of making people afraid of fairies. It is fun, though, that it was Stella who thought of faking a movie shoot and not Bloom who is from Earth, after all. I mean, movies in the magical dimension probably don’t need ropes for the stunts.

- I am already so tired of this fight between Winx and the Specialists and it has barely been an episode. And they are all so frustrating. The boys could have just said that they are there to help instead of “to protect” them like Winx are damsels in distress and Winx could have just accepted help. Honestly, this is such a non-issue that they are blowing out of proportion. Winx have never been so stubborn about accepting help from the Specialists before and the Specialists have never acted like they don’t fully believe that Winx are capable of handling themselves. Why did the writers have to do this now?

- Does Ogron mean that next time they will go for destroying Winx? That will be interesting as long as it actually happens.

- Okay, this is more like it! They are finally working together. And Layla fangirling over Nabu is so cute! As long as they don’t get pulled over for speeding, they should be fine now.

- Ugh, here comes the Mitzi drama. Is that what Stella was crying about? Like, Brandon literally didn’t look twice at Mitzi and cut her off when she was trying to introduce herself. Why is everyone making up issues when there aren’t any?! I am so sick of that! And Bloom not talking to Sky was also super stupid. Not that they ever talk so at least that’s in character, I guess. Doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

- I love how Timmy is the one that is handling himself best in this new world. And Nabu’s magic is also helping him so the two of them will have to carry the team for a while. (”All from home so I can be with you, guys”? Are all the Specialists just in love with each other? Because that’s what it looks like. XD)

4x06:

- Omg, Mitzi kissed him on the cheek! That is not the same as “he was kissing that girl”. The least you could do in that situation is fucking talk to him! And why would he come all the way to Earth to just pick up another girl?! This is stupid! Stella has never been like that with Brandon. And if anything, she should be in Mitzi’s face like “You can’t have my man.” At least she is up for spending time with her friends.

- What the fuck happened to Helia’s hair?! Okay, who thought that was a good idea?! Like, both in production and in verse. This was a horrible, horrible idea. Bring back Helia’s hair! And wtf was that comment from Sky about girls checking them out?! You all have girlfriends! It should not matter at all if girls are checking you out or not! I swear, this season is trying to enrage me on purpose. But at least the dynamic between the Specialists is going strong and, I would say, better than in previous seasons because we actually see them be friends here!

- What is Mitzi’s problem? She is stalking Brandon AND trying to steal him from his girlfriend. Like, crazy psycho much? Calm down there and leave them both alone.

- It’s good that they’re having fun together but like Tecna said, they could get this done faster which would be preferable considering that finding the last fairy on Earth is kinda urgent. You know, before she gets killed by the Wizards would be nice.

- Oh, you have to be kidding me! They have been bitching about the Specialists helping them but “That looks heavy. Let me give you a hand.” gets a smile? Really? It is literally the same thing! Why are you, guys, not throwing bitch fits now?! And Bloom is suddenly very quiet for someone who didn’t want help now that Andy is all “Let me show you how to paint walls.” Because you’re girls and you obviously have no clue about it. This whole situation can’t get any more stupid.

- Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I was wrong. It just got more stupid. First, Stella sounds like she’ll push Bloom into Andy’s hands any second now even though she had the Bloom/Andy situation happen to her with Brandon (except that Brandon seems far more firm on not being into Mitzi than Bloom is about Andy) and then Mitzi is there to snap a picture of it and send it to the boys. Fucking spectacular! This is just shoving high school drama down our throats now that they are finally out of high school! Makes fucking sense.

- And Stella is flirting with someone else already. Just shoot me in the head. It will be less painful than this. Can everything just explode already so that we can be done with the stupidity? And why are the boys like that? It’s not like they just walked in on Winx having an orgy with Andy and his friends! They were just helping... and flirting with them a little which would mean less if Winx had tried to discourage it instead of doing the exact opposite. *sigh* It’s a mess on both ends and I hate it so much. Can we get back to the magical stuff? Enough with the stupid teenage drama already!

- Finally! Thank you! But didn’t they say in the previous episode that Tecna’s system didn’t allow one person to adopt more pets even if under different names? Now it is suddenly possible. I don’t need contradictions in the “plot” on top of the relationship stupidity!

- How did they think that that conversation would go? Though, to be fair, they could have done far more. They could have shown her their magic to begin with. And also, if Roxy doesn’t believe in magic, then where does she think the flying pets come from? I mean, they literally fly! How do you explain that? Genetic mutation that gave them wings?! (Tbh it would’ve been cool to see authorities investigate Winx and their business because they think they might be doing illegal experiments with animals. That would have been so much better than the jealousy.)

- Well, Artu seems better at dealing with the Wizards than Winx are.

- Why would Ogron throw a barrel at Layla? Is he still stuck on “they’re unworthy of us wasting our powers on them”? Ugh! But seriously, Winx need to come up with a strategy for fighting these guys!

- It’s working! Roxy’s belief is giving Winx more power. They transformed.

4x07:

- Okay, so the new powers work on everyone but Ogron who keeps absorbing them. Do they by any chance defeat him by shooting too much power at him at the end of the season? Because that is usually the way to defeat someone that absorbs any kind of energy - overload them. More like overwhelm them. But back to the fight at hand, I love that Roxy is ready to defend herself with throwing rocks (lol, the irony, considering she is named Roxy). I guess refusal to give up is just the universal Earth power. XD

- Wait, how did Roxy disappear? Did Layla teleport her or were those Roxy’s own powers awakening? Wtf happened?

- At least Flora is using new spells. And so are the rest of Winx. But damn, the Wizards have really cool powers! Is Gantlos able to track Roxy because his main power is sonic waves?

- Doesn’t Roxy know that you don’t get in strangers’ cars? Or is she trusting the fact that Artu is not suspicious of the woman? I can kinda accept that.

- Why are all of the Wizards (well, except Ogron) flirting with Winx? But on a less creepy note, wouldn’t it have been better to have made the people believe in them so that they could become stronger? And Ogron has a point that if they lose Roxy to the Black Circle, they won’t be able to save anyone.

- “It’s a little hard to explain but, basically, we’re looking out for your future.” XDDD That’s my Stella.

- Okay, I am starting to like Roxy. The fact that she hates flying is super ironic considering that she’s a fairy. And I love that she thought of not leading the Wizards straight to her father and putting him in danger, too. Plus, she did go down the sewers despite not wanting to. And aww! She is already a fan of Winx (and of Stella). I have to say that I am a little annoyed by how similar they are making her story to Bloom’s. She even has her own spirit guide as Daphne was for Bloom. It’s almost like the writers can’t come up with anything else.

- They’re opening the Circle for the third time already and Roxy just ran out of it like it was no biggie. XD

- Why can’t the Winx admit that they did need help. Layla and Flora have no problem admitting that they could have used some help.

- Well, the scene with Roxy’s dad getting their names wrong is hilarious! And I love that Timmy figured out how to make him get his name right! That was awesome! Why can’t the scenes be like that instead of them fighting over bullshit?

- They already mentioned the three sets of wings. Why are they acting surprised now?

4x08:

- Finally a boy interested in the fairy pets!

- Yes, thank you! Finally someone giving Stella some good advice and telling her to talk to Brandon about the whole deal with Mitzi. I am pretty positive that they are gonna drag that out until much farther into the season though, so I have more to suffer.

- Roxy’s father either doesn’t mind having her friends dropping by in the middle of the night or he’s a sound sleeper and doesn’t know they’re there at all. The thing with the photos arranging themselves was cool, though!

- I just hope Stella’s only problem with driving is her lack of sense of direction. It would have been more realistic if she’d misdesigned at least a part of Roxy’s outfit. They just met her and Stella already got a perfect sense of her fashion sense in order to make her the perfect outfit? Unless she’s using some kind of fashion magic, this seems unlikely. She’s just really not going to talk to Brandon, huh? Why do they have to do them dirty like that?! They’ve always been the perfect couple.

- Bloom is riding a horse here. But in Magical Adventure she didn’t know how to. Great one, you guys! But again, the movies just have no continuity with the show. On the other hand, the show has no continuity with the show so I don’t know what I expected.

- But why not put that guy to sleep? It’s not like they will harm him. Just get him out of the way for as long as they need to look around that place. What’s so wrong with that plan? They won’t have to deal with him and he won’t have to deal with them. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

- Omg, for the first time ever “the ground is shaking and falling apart” is actually a problem because Roxy can’t fly. Finally they have a reason to pretend that this is actually dangerous.

- What about Roxy? They can’t just leave her in a burning barn filling with smoke! See, it would have been much better if they had put that guy to sleep! They wouldn’t have to save him from the Wizards now because he would have been away from the battle and unable to interfere.

- So the glowing thingy on the ground is the White Circle? Or is it Queen Morgana’s crown? What is happening? It is the White Circle, after all. But I would like to know more about it!

- Well, I guess it paid off that they didn’t put him to sleep, after all. They made him believe in fairies and be better to the life around him. So one for the team.

- Stella is being so ridiculous at this point that I just cannot take it anymore. Please, tell me this drama will be over after the karaoke. At least she snatched him away from Mitzi but damn, why is this still not over?!

- Why can’t everyone be like Nabu and Layla? They have no drama, Nabu trusts her and Layla shows him that he is the only one she wants. Why can’t the rest just get their shit together and start taking notes?!

4x09:

- Why the heck would the White Circle reveal itself to be destroyed? Honestly, all of Ogron’s lines in this scene sound either cringy or nonsensical... or both. And why is the White Circle an object while the Black Circle is a group of people? This just doesn’t sound logical. Don’t tell me there will be an identical Black Circle popping up at some point.

- On the one hand I kinda liked that Winx have something else going on except for fighting villains with the shop and going to the Fruity Music Bar but at this point it seems like that is taking up too much of this season. And now they are shoving more of it with Musa getting a call for an audition and everything. It feels like the season is not focused on the Black Circle to an appropriate level considering how big of a threat they are supposed to be.

- So Roxy is one of Winx now? I am not really a fan of that idea. Idk I just always looked at her as a part of the season 4 storyline and not part of the girls’ group. But I like the fact that she “doesn’t want to be special”. It’s a nice change to the typical pace of these stories.

- What is Riven’s problem? Musa is literally just singing with Andy’s band. There is nothing even remotely provoking jealousy. Also, why was Sky the one proving Riven’s point by purposefully going to a girl and offering to make her favorite drink? That is more flirting than Musa singing with the band. And didn’t he and Bloom fix this already?! And why is Mitzi now holding on to Sky?! What is she doing? Trying to steal all of Winx’s boyfriends?!

- Okay, but how is Musa enjoying singing different from her normal behavior? Wtf, Riven?! What is the problem? That she is more social than she used to be? I understand his feelings just not why they exist since the situation is not at all the way the show is trying to make it out to be. Musa doesn’t seem all that different to me (it’s not like they’ve given them any character moments this season, only drama and jealousy) and all this angsting is just unnecessary, not to mention stupid.

- “Jealousy keeps a relationship alive and thriving.” WHAT. THE. ABSOLUTE. HONEST. GENUINE. FUCK?!?!?!? Yeah, Stella sure seemed very alive and thriving when she was distressed over her jealousy of Brandon. Sure seemed like a peachy experience. I just cannot even. And does this seem very OOC to anyone else? I mean, Stella’s parents are divorced and she took that very hard. She has abandonment issues. Why the fuck would she say that jealousy is in the core of a relationship?!?!?! What the fuck, writers?!

- Ugh... Erendor? Really? Out of all the ways to make this episode worse... Smh. And he is being an asshole as always. I love how he doesn’t care that Winx might have some urgent business. No, his wishes always come first. Entitled prick!

- Oh, great! So the White Circle was possessed and now Roxy is possessed. Fucking awesome!

- Why is Stella the one feeling what’s wrong with Roxy? Bloom is obviously the one who has taken on the role of her mentor and in the beginning all six of Winx could feel Roxy’s magic. Why is it different all of a sudden? And Erendor actually let them go?! Wow, I am shooketh.

- Ogron didn’t absorb that? Why am I surprised? There is no consistency in here and if you want to contradict what’s been established already, you have to explain how it works. Not just “White Circle makes Wizards of the Black Circle weak because opposing colors means opposing powers uwu”

- “She seems like a totally different person”? Are all of them deaf and didn’t hear that she just said she’s been waiting for that for centuries? The fact that Roxy is sixteen should have tipped them off somehow.

- They just keep throwing balls of energy at each other. Wow! What an engaging and epic battle! -_-

- How come Stella is the one who’s been doing all the reading this season? I am not saying that she is dumb but Tecna is usually the one who sifts through the information they’ve received and considering that she copied the whole library from the Hall of Enchantments, it would have made more sense for her to have read the book from cover to cover.

- Stella is like a caretaker now all of a sudden. This episode has thrown me for a loop, honestly.

- Oooooooh, this scenes with Erendor are giving me a headache with the twists and turns. First, what the hell did he think by making Sky king at the age of 18? Erendor is well so there is no need to rush to pass the crown to Sky. I hate to admit it but he kinda has a point about Sky abandoning his royal duties to go to Earth and do pretty much nothing to help there. And then the scene in the pawn shop (or whatever) that is just... huh??????? Erendor was angry about the seal but then he is suddenly flipping the script completely and giving Sky money so that he can stay?!?!?!?! I cannot even with this episode. Please, let it end.

- Are Stella and Brandon fine now? Yes? Please!!!!!

4x10:

- The White Circle is the last portal to the dimension where the Earth fairies are held captive? Why are they only mentioning this in the recap of episode 10 and didn’t say it anywhere in episode 9??????????????????????????? I swear, the sheer number of times this has already happened (or rather the opposite where they introduce a concept twice) is nerve-destroying. They should really hire someone to check for continuity.

- So now Roxy remembers not just the Nebula possession but also the other fairies’ feelings? Didn’t she say she didn’t remember what happened in the last episode?

- Since when does Bloom understand not wanting to be a fairy. She has always wanted to be a fairy.

- What guarantees that Bloom won’t get possessed if she is wearing the Circle like a ring? The fact that she’s not from Earth? But she’s the only one who grew up on Earth so the White Circle will probably be much safer with any of the other Winx.

- Where did Bloom’s double come from? In season 3 they couldn’t make doubles and could only make pixies look like fairies. What is happening now? Edit: She turned one of the pets into a double. Great fucking idea considering how Kiko was handling the shop in a previous episode.

- Why tf are the guys trying to pay with gemstones?!?! First, I thought Sky refused to take them from Erendor in the last episode. And second, they’ve been on Earth long enough to know how buying stuff works! Just sell the gemstones to a jewelry shop and you’ll have money you can buy stuff with! Jeez, like it’s so hard!

- Musa is being stupid, then Riven is being stupid and we keep spinning in that vicious circle forever. *sigh* I have to agree with Riven, though. The building is ugly.

- Roxy’s explanation made no sense to me. But why is Bloom having trouble figuring this out? She grew up on Earth. Granted, she was practically just waiting for proof that fairies exist to fall in her lap which is different from not believing in fairies completely but still. And why not start from children? Children are always more open-minded to “impossible” things.

- Okay, so teleporting will not rattle Roxy and her hate for flying.

- See? The little girl believed in magic! Told you! What I can’t comprehend is what the parents thought. Like, those girls had plants growing in your apartment and had sparkly wings! What did you think? That they are scientists who just like to dress up fancy and go rescue people with their inventions?!

- Why were the Wizards so sure Winx would show up? It was a burning building. Surely, there have been other burning buildings in Gardenia. It’s not like it’s some beacon that would lure them there. And Gantlos using his powers in a building that is near collapsing is sketchy and best and incredibly stupid at worst.

- What the hell was Bloom thinking? That magic could have brought the whole building down!

- I am a bit... disappointed, I guess (not the right word) that Musa had to come to Earth to be noticed for her musical talent. She is literally the fairy of music. She should have been noticed in Magix as well. Not to insult our world but the show has made it clear that Earth is behind in its development so it kinda seems like they’re saying Musa’s talent is only special on a place where everyone else is ordinary compared to her.

- I don’t trust Jason. Like, his eyes remind too much of Ogron but I absolutely do not remember enough of this season to say if there is anything shady going on there. I am not saying that Riven was right since Musa really has not done anything that would give him any reason to be jealous but I also do not like Jason.

- Wtf, Roxy’s advice didn’t do jackshit. They saved people from a fire. How is that forming a connection with them? Anyone would have been grateful to be saved (well, almost anyone).

4x11:

- Yeah, right. Musa, honey, you’re not breaking up with him for 2 and a half more seasons. And even if I didn’t know that, I still wouldn’t believe it. They’ve done this song and dance already.

- Since Duman always shapeshifts into animals and Roxy is the fairy of animals, can she influence him with her powers while he’s transformed into an animal? If she can, that can stop him from shapeshifting because she will have control over him. Please, tell me that happens somewhere in this season. It would be a horrible missed opportunity otherwise.

- I knew it! At least this time they were smart about something and had Roxy call Winx. But didn’t they use the Zoomix wings to teleport there in the first place? Why did they have to change them to leave? Or was that just for us to see the Zoomix wings?

- Now the girls are jealous of each other’s boyfriends?

- I knew Nabu would propose to Layla! They’re so adorable! I only wish they would have let him stick around long enough to marry her.

- But if people think of them as superheroes, they still won’t believe they’re fairies. They’re supposed to convince people that magic is real but I think the common consensus is that superheroes are not magical. They just have abilities that normal people don’t have. So how is that gonna help the mission?!

- Winx are stretched across two fronts. Why don’t the Wizards use that against them? Wait for Winx to get so caught up in a chase (like the one with the ninja thieves) that Roxy can’t keep up and falls behind and then attack her. Or put everyone else in danger also so that Winx have to help others and can’t come to her aid?

- Man, it really was a disaster. But on the plus side, they are nailing the superhero vibe. Most superheroes inevitably do some damage while helping. Unfortunately, I still don’t think the superhero approach is right.

- I swear, Stella is acting towards Layla the same way she was acting towards Brandon. And they’re making a surprise dinner for Layla? I think Winx are also in love with each other just like the Specialists. XD And that reunion between Stella and Layla was too cute (and maybe a bit overzealous in proportion to what happened).

- Tecna says it’s not the Believix power that makes people believe in them, yet it was exactly the Believix special powers that made people believe in them.

4x12:

- Oh, wow. Roxy made Artu talk? That’s cool. I have to say that the way they draw that dog makes him look creepy and hostile half the time.

- It’s good that grown up men are so taken with the magical pets.

- Lol, at this point I am not sure whether I am relieved or disappointed that they didn’t make Kiko love Roxy a little too much to have Bloom getting jealous. Since a main theme of this season seems to be jealousy, that would have been on brand. But maybe a little too much on top of the talking thing. I don’t really know how to feel about the fact that Kiko is talking. At least Bloom seems to like it.

- When was that part where Bloom didn’t see herself as a fairy? She was insisting she was a fairy even as the Trix mocked her for not being able to transform. She never felt the way Roxy is feeling. Sure, she doubted herself but she didn’t believe she could be the fairy she wanted to be. Roxy doesn’t feel like she should be a fairy. It’s different. Please! I do appreciate the credit Mike and Vanessa are given, though.

- For a second there I was about to say that Roxy’s father is really getting on my nerves with his bad parenting but that wasn’t him. Though, he has been a bit dismissive and authoritarian in previous episodes so I am not sure I like the real him either. But how did Duman imitate Claus so well. He said he knew Roxy’s tone and it meant trouble which she didn’t consider out of place so it must have been true. How come Duman knew that, though?

- At least the spell that lets Artu talk didn’t wear off before he got to Winx and told them what happened. I have to admit that I expected it to. I should have known, though. That would have actually been a complex situation and they just can’t afford to write those.

- Okay, the Zoomix and Speedix wings make sense but the Tracix ones are just way too convenient.

- What, the name White Circle doesn’t tip you off on why the Wizards of the Black Circle want it? It’s obviously their opposing power! Jesus, didn’t they learn about opposites in season 2? Why is none of that ringing any bells?

- That spell sure seems to last a lot longer than I expected it to. When Roxy said it doesn’t last long, I thought it would wear off in half an hour tops. But it seems to last for hours and hours, and hours.

- Soooo... why didn’t Winx think of having Artu trace Roxy? They can also still communicate with him so that wouldn’t have been a problem.

- Omg, Roxy summoning a bunch of rats to defeat Gantlos is the most badass thing that has happened so far in this season. And she managed to transform.

- Timmy and Tecna are adorable!

- Layla just threw them for a swim. But why didn’t Ogron absorb her magic? Is it only attack spells that he can absorb? Or is it because their Believix is stronger now and it works against the Wizards?

- Well, at least Claus will have to believe that Roxy is a fairy now.

4x13:

- The Specialists suddenly only seem to be good at failing which is stupid because they were holding up quite well during the battle in the previous episode. But again, everyone’s capabilities depend on what is convenient for the writers at the time.

- Timmy tracking the Wizards was a good move but it won’t help if they can’t fight them. Also, Ogron should have just threatened to kill Sky (and the other guys) if Winx leave and it would have kept them there. Simple as that. I mean, the guys were obviously losing and the Wizards could have very well killed them.

- At least Roxy’s “temper” is rather consistent.

- “Try fighting me like men,” he says and proceeds to use magic against people who don’t have magic. Yeah, very fair. Extremely manly.

- I love how Anagan freed himself exactly one second after Helia said he wouldn’t be able to. Helia, your fangirling over your girlfriend is cute but don’t underestimate the danger.

- Timmy is “Anagan-boarding”, I guess XD. But good thing Tecna showed up because he would’ve ended as a Timmy pancake on the sidewalk.

- Yes, I was going to say that they totally forgot about Gantlos while busy with their romance drama and he made himself known. But I’m sorry, I thought Musa was sold on breaking up with Riven. But now they’re a team? Okay, hon. Call me when you make up your mind.

- Why does Layla look so scared of Ogron? But damn, Sky, great way to fall of a train like a total idiot! Well, technically he didn’t fall off the train but he still tripped like an absolute klutz.

- “I hate to travel alone.” Is Sky hitting on Ogron? XD

- Can’t Bloom control the fire Ogron sent at her? It was from her own magic and even if he absorbed it, he shouldn’t have changed the structure of it, otherwise it would have worked in a different way. This makes no sense. Since when is he able to copy others’ powers?

- Poor Roxy. It’s horrible to expect of her to make a choice like that.

- I love how Duman was too much of a team player to pass for Riven. But that proves he doesn’t know anything about the people he imitates. So how did he pose so well as Claus?

- I’ve decided that Claus is an okay dad.

- Did Gantlos just vaporize a whole train? Oh, damn. That was a lot of people who died. But Gantlos sure seemed very worried about Ogron’s safety. If you know what I mean ;)

- What happened to the Wizards, though? They couldn’t have defeated them for good even if they were too weak to fight.

- That Flora and Helia photo was so adorable! And the one with Bloom, Sky and Brandon too. At least Stella and Brandon finally seem to have resolved their drama. Just, please, let it stay that way. Half a season of this was more than enough.

Part 2 is here.