#i went into this episode to gif something else and i can't for the life of me think of what it was

[atdawn]

MERLIN | 1.10 The Moment of Truth

[bambihrt]

Celebrating your Anniversary with Lucifer Part 2

I wasn't planning on writing a second part but after seeing how loved part one was I just had to so enjoy!

Lucifer considered himself a nervous demon. Blame his abandonment issues for that. He knew you loved him, but he couldn't help his anxiety telling him that you'd leave just like everyone else has. One night when sleep couldn't find him, he snuck into his workshop to fiddle with his ducks to distract him from his worries. All of a sudden he felt two arms circle his neck and you nuzzle to his left side.

"C'mon baby, you can work tomorrow, let's go to bed."

Though he knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep, he took your hand and let you lead him to your shared bedroom. As he crawled under the covers, you snuggled up next to him. holding him as you pet his hair. Throughout this whole encounter, he was silent and had a distant look in his eyes. You could see through this act immediately and knew what the cause of his nighttime anxiety was.

"I can't wait to wake up next to you forever. I'll always be here with you Lucifer. I love you."

After that night you made sure to always validate his feelings when he was having a moment of low self-esteem. You started leaving notes around your home for him to find at random moments. Opening the pantry he'd find a note on his favorite cereal telling him 'good morning lu!' and opening his tool box he'd find another post-it saying 'can't wait to see what you create :D'. Through these little actions, he'd learned to trust that you will be there for him.

One day while you were out to see your friends he was having a bit of a depressive episode and didn't want to bother you while you were enjoying yourself so he went into your office. He grabbed your favorite plushie knowing it would smell like you and give him comfort. As he turned the stuffed animal in his arms he felt a crinkle and pulled what was stuck on it off. A note reading 'call me love :('. This moment was when he knew.

Lucifer had to marry you. Nothing would make him happier than the honor of being your husband.

Bringing him back to the present day, he watched you try and hook a golden duck for him in the game you made. Of course, you would do something so special for your anniversary. You weren't the only one with a surprise up your sleeve. He checked his watch noting it was almost time.

"(Y/n)? My love? I've left my phone inside I-"

"Oh I'll go grab it don't worry," you immediately cut him off not wanting to make him go in on his own. As you headed inside the hotel, you were met with a trail of rose petals leading you under the chandelier. "What is this?"

Unbeknownst to you, Lucifer was walking behind you and cleared his throat stealing your attention away from the grand decor around you. He got down on one knee and pulled a box out of his pocket.

"I thought it was only fitting to do this in the very place we met and on our anniversary. From the moment I met you, I knew you were special. You showed me the light when I was stuck in a dark place and ever since then, I've loved you more than anything. You have been the best partner I could ever dream of. There's only one thing that could make my life perfect and that would be you agreeing to marry me. (Y/n) my heart and soul, will you allow me to be your husband?"

Nodding, you couldn't get the words out as you began crying. You had no idea Lucifer had been planning this. A high-pitched squeal came from behind as Charlie jumped out throwing rose petals over you, "I'm so happy you're joining our family!"

Lucifer reached out to your hand, slipping the most beautiful ring you'd ever seen onto your finger, and gently pulled you into a tender kiss. Softly whispering, "Thank you for everything, my love."

[lovelybrooke]

The way things were before (Platonic Yandere Muzan x reader)

This was inspired by the last episode of the latest season where we get some Muzan lore. This is kinda my first time writing real angst so tell me what you think. Keep in mind this is based on the anime and I haven't actually read the manga.

Pt.2

Check out my other works here: Masterlist.

Anger.

Ever since Muzan was young, one emotion he always felt was anger. It stuck to him like a tumor, destroying him from the inside out.

He felt anger for his illness that prevented him from having a real life. He felt anger for having to be tested on by doctors nearly daily. He felt anger that people looked down upon him as he grew weaker and weaker. But more importantly, he felt anger that nothing changed. He never got better, he never got stronger, no matter how much time went by.

As he aged, and his illness got worse, Muzan accepted the fact that his anger, his hatred for everyone would never leave him.

That was, until he found you. His beautiful, wonderful child, the only thing that could quell the rage inside of him.

You weren't his biologically, no, but that didn't matter to him. Before he was too sick to leave his bed, Muzan found you orphaned living on the streets and took you in. Ever since, you've been repaying him by taking care of him.

"Father, it is time to take you medicine." There you were, right on time. Muzan refused to take his medicine from anyone else, even his most notable doctors.

He was too weak to sit up, simply moving his head to acknowledge you, watching as you sat down in front of him. Muzan didn't complain as you moved his head so the medicine could travel done his throat more smoothly.

Once done, you lay his head back down, putting the small bowl down next to you, blessing him with a kind smile. "How are you feeling today father?" You question.

"I'm doing fine now that you are here, my child." You giggle, the smile reaching your eyes. A small smile graces Muzan's face at your happy demeanor. Even if it is only for a second, Muzan is happy.

"Oh, I almost forgot." You gasp, "The doctor has new medicine for you, he wanted to give it to you himself."

Muzan let out a childlike groan, rolling over to face the balcony. It was beautiful outside, but Muzan couldn't help but feel annoyed. The sun was too bright, the wide was too strong, the birds were too loud. Even the thought of having to interact with his doctor for a second caused his blood to boil.

You roll your eyes at him, "Father, you have to take your medicine, the doctor knows better than me." He does move to face you, but you could tell he was annoyed.

"The doctors are incompetent." He moves back on his back; his brows cross in frustration. "They have been treating me for years, but here I remain, trapped in by bed." He laments.

You frown at his words, looking away from your father with sorrow. You remember a time when he was still healthy enough to spend time with you, your favorite days being when he would grow flowers with you, teaching you about their meanings and medical uses. But now, just standing was enough to strip him of all his strength.

You've been forced to watch as your father grows more resentful for the people around him, hating his doctors, maids, even gardeners for simply existing, being able to live the life he most desperately wanted. On days where his illness is at his worse, he mumbles about wanting to destroy them all, something you assumed was delirium caused by the medicine.

Even though your father has changed, you still love him, and you can't help but see him as the carefree, happy man he was when you were younger, even now. It's why you so desperately want him to get better, so that maybe you could go back to the way things once were.

"Father, I promise they just want to help." You try and talk some sense into him, though his resolve doesn't budge. You sigh, "it would make me really happy if you let the doctors give you the medicine." You put emphasis on the word really, in hopes it would motivate him. To your luck it did, Muzan moving to face you, sighing at your pleading face.

"Fine." Was all he said, feeling warmth bubble up in him as you smiled. You leaned down and hugged him the best you could.

"Thank you, father." Muzan smiles, happy once more.

---

You haven't visited you father in days, him forbidding you from entering his room a few days after he took the new medicine. You didn't mind though, it probably had some bad side effects, so you left him alone. Though, you couldn't help but question whenever he ordered for a worker to enter his room, especially when you swore, they never left.

Today was the final straw, you had to see your father. Workers had been disappearing left and right, and you knew your father was not going to be happy about it if you kept it from him.

As you get closer and closer to your father's room, a stench more disgusting than anything you've smelt before entered your nose and caused you to gag. You would've thrown up than and their if you didn't cover your mouth quickly.

The smell only got worse as you slowly crept towards the door, it nearly becoming unbearable. You swallowed down you fear as you knocked at the door. You could hear the faint sounds of crunching, like someone was chewing on something tough which made heartbeat against your ribs.

"F-father, are you in there." The chewing stopped and your heart sank. Your hands shook as you heard someone move towards the door. Slowly, the door opened, revealing your father covered in blood. He smiled down at you creepily, a stark contrast between the horror that covered your face.

Muzan moves to cup your cheek in his hand, blood smearing on your face. He could hear your fearful breathing coming from your nose as you inhale and exhale in rapid succession. He rubs your cheek, trying to calm you down as you look into his room, seeing the mangled-up bodies behind him. Your breathing became even more erratic at the sight, Muzan simply sighing with a frown.

"(Y/N), you don't understand-"

"You killed them, father." You whisper, backing away from him.

"I am much stronger now; I can protect you." You shake your head, tears streaming down your face. What was he talking about?

"You killed them." Your repeat you back hitting the wall. Muzan was directly in front of you, looking down intimidatingly. For the first time in your life, your father scared you.

"I had to, my child." He answers, his voice calm, but you could sense his annoyance. "It's the only way I can remain strong."

You don't say anything as he moves closer, hugging you into his chest as your world went dark.

---

It's been years since that day.

Your now older, more aware of the situation you're in. You father was now a demon, forced to consume humans in order to live. You realized quickly it was from the medicine the doctor gave him, and you curse him everyday for doing so.

He took your home from you, forcing you and your father out of your village. He took your life from you, forcing you to remain hidden with you father. Most importantly, he took your father from you, him now a husk of the man he once was.

Along with the myriad of strange side effects, your father couldn't go out in the day, the sun causing him immense pain, one of the only few things that could hurt him.

You learned to treasure the mornings, them being the few hours away from your father. While he was busy learning all he could about his aliment, you were trying to maintain the image of a normal human being. Working, socializing, anything you could do to forget about the atrocities your father committed when the sun set.

You wish things would go back to the way they were before.

"-N)? (Y/N)?" Oh, you were in the hospital, getting blood work done. You look over at the doctor in front of you, him attempting to get you attention.

You've been feeling terrible for the past few days, constant headaches, hot flashes, soreness. You could barely move without pain. You got blood work done, now waiting for the results with anticipation.

"I just wanted to ask you a question before giving you the news." His voice is solemn, not giving you a good feeling. "Does your family have any history of illness?"

You want to answer yes, but that would we wrong. You're not Muzan's child, so you shouldn't have inherited his illness. "No, my father was plagued with illness years ago, but he's...better now and I'm not his child biologically."

The doctor nodded, looking away dejectedly. When his eyes finally met yours, they were serious, "You've developed a rare blood disease." You heart sinks, but the doctor continues, "I suspect about a month or so is what you have left."

You could feel tears in your eyes, but surprisingly you didn't feel all that sad. Ever since you were young, you've accepted the fact that you would die, it's something you've learned from your times on the streets. The doctor continues talking, but you don't hear a word, to busy wondering how you're going to tell Muzan.

---

"Father, I'm home." No response, but you know he heard you.

On your way home, you accepted that you weren't going to tell Muzan. You knew if you would, he would try to turn you, and you couldn't accept that fate. To you, even death was a better fate than becoming a demon.

You slowly make you way up to your father's study, knocking on the door before entering. Like most days, your father is hunched over his desk, books and papers strewn about.

He doesn't acknowledge you when you enter, even when you move to stand beside him. You take a look at the scientific papers, not understanding a single thing about any of them. The only recognizable thing was the blue spider lily that for some reason was crucial to father.

"How was your appointment?" He doesn't look at you, flipping through pages of a book.

You sigh, shaking your head, "It was fine. Apparently, I was overreacting." You let out an awkward laugh. Muzan nods, before moving his attention back to his book.

It's like he was consumed by this flower, it was the only thing he cared about. You missed you father, even though it's been years since he's felt like one. In a way, you feel like death would be more welcoming than the life you have now, one that is consumed by fear for the man your supposed to feel safe around.

You left without telling you father, silently hoping you wouldn't see him in the morning.

---

Your hopes were not answered.

It's been week, but death does not come, all that greeted you was endless pain.

Your father found out when you collapsed one morning, and while he was mad you lied to him, he was livid when you refused to be turned into a demon. He's never yelled at you before, it surprised you when he screamed and threatened you, but you didn't change your mind.

In the end, your father was forced to watch you slowly succumb to your illness. You attempted to brighten his mood by framing the situation as repaying you. You took care of him, now he is doing the same. The only difference being you won't make it out in the end.

"Father, do you remember when I was little," You murmur to him; you voice raw and quiet. Your room was dark, blocking out any light so you could barely see your father looking at you. "You used to grow flowers with me." Your giggle sounds almost painful, but the smile on your face was one Muzan had nearly forgotten. "I'd get so sad when mine would die."

He doesn't speak, he can't, "Then you'd tell me not to cry, because death is normal for all living beings." Your voice is getting quieter as you speak, but he doesn't acknowledge it. "You were trying to comfort me about your death, I didn't know that at the time."

Muzan wants you to stop talking, he hates the pain in your voice. "I wish we could go back to the way things were before." You said, before finally going quiet. Muzan hears your breathing stop before letting out a sob.

---

It's been over a thousand years since your death and ever since then, Muzan has been filled with anger.

Anger for this imperfect world that took you away from. Anger at you for refusing the life he could've given you. Anger at himself for making your last few moments miserable.

He doesn't know who to blame for his misfortune, but he knows that if he lets anger consume him, he'll find someone to blame.

Muzan chooses to remember you when you were younger and at your happiest. When he's alone, his mind often wanders to these moments, when you were just a child, so small he was afraid anything would hurt you. He never let you out of his sight, wanting to protect you from the world.

Though in the end, he still lost you.

Since the day you died, Muzan was filled with rage. And he will continue to be until the day he sees you again.

He just wishes things would go back to the way they were before.

---

A/n: I don't even know if this counts as Yandere but whatever.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

The Agency's Older Brother: or, Ranpo's Character Development

I want to talk about Ranpo and the development he goes through in the series, because for as much as Ranpo is an important member of the Agency, his story is focused on in small chunks that may not always, at first read, seem to be overly significant. In fact, Ranpo’s arc is very consistent and I’m fascinated to know where it’s building to, because he’s done a lot of growing in the series. A lot of the themes of his story are to do with responsibility and faith in others.

The Ranpo we meet at the beginning of the story is not the Ranpo we see now. The biggest change is that he’s a lot more personally involved with the struggles of the Agency members, taking it on himself to be proactive and protective, while previously he had to be pushed and bribed into helping much of the time. When did this change?

Well...

[ID: Two screenshots from a scene in Poe's introductory episode of the Bungou Stray Dogs anime. In the first screenshot, Yosano lies on the carpeted ground, an axe embedded in her chest, blood pooling around her. Ranpo is crouched beside her, supporting her shoulders with one hand and clasping her hand with the other. The second screenshot is a close up of Ranpo's distressed face. End ID.]

The thing is, it's almost easy to overlook the effect this scene had on Ranpo, because Poe’s introductory chapter/episode is such a brief one. Moreover, afterwards, Poe becomes an ally and is a bit of a silly character, so it’s easy to forget sometimes that he was a legitimate threat here - and Yosano nearly died for it. This scene was incredibly significant to Ranpo for a few notable reasons.

It’s the first time someone in the Agency was in serious trouble/died without a backup plan.

It is, unfortunately, kind of on him. (Let me be real clear here: I am not blaming Ranpo. But he probably was blaming himself and that's something to keep in mind.)

To recap: Poe pulls Ranpo into his novel out of revenge, also trapping Yosano, who went with him. Ranpo realizes that they are in a world with no abilities, and importantly, he doesn't have the glasses Fukuzawa gave him.

We know those glasses mean a lot to him. When Ranpo was at his lowest, when he was convinced the world hated him, Fukuzawa gave him those glasses and told him he had a special ability. That he had a gift that no one else did that allowed him to see the truth that no one else could. Untold Origins makes it very clear that if Fukuzawa hadn't reached out to Ranpo when he did, Ranpo may have forever been outcasted. He was a kid kept in a bubble then suddenly and rudely shoved into a world he was unprepared to cope with, where he continued to get rejected and thrown out over and over - and all this on top of the grief he felt from his parents' passing. Ranpo was bitter and terrified of people, and thought everyone was pretending to be oblivious just to hurt him. Fukuzawa saved him the only way he could, in the only way Ranpo would hear him. It's not an exaggeration to say Fukuzawa saved Ranpo's life. And, while cute, it's also telling how quickly those glasses became an intrinsic part of his identity. Only maybe twenty minutes after he first received them, he was already making little doodles of himself wearing them.

Suddenly, the glasses are gone, and Ranpo goes into a funk because he "can't activate his ability without them". Obviously, we know that isn't true, and so does Yosano. Ranpo probably, deep down, knows this too, but to admit that would be to admit the president lied to him, and to uproot the very thing that gave him the means to perceive the world in a brighter light. The reason Fukuzawa had to lie in the first place was because the truth would be to tell Ranpo that his parents lied to him, something he angrily denies could ever be the case. And now, Fukuzawa is very plainly stated to be Ranpo's adoptive father. Ranpo's parents do not lie to him. He does not want to see it - and so he doesn't. This is a recurring thing with Ranpo. For as much as he sees the truth clearly, he also chooses not to see it at times when it would be uncomfortable/go against the intuition of someone he deeply trusts and respects.

And I think it's very easy to just leave it there, and say, "Oh, Ranpo realized at the end of this chapter/episode that he didn't need the glasses, that he doesn't have an ability, and that's a key turning point" but I don't feel that's the full picture or even the focus here, especially since Ranpo still hasn't reached the point where he can properly admit it aloud, even to Yosano.

The thing is, those glasses aren't just of use to Ranpo - they have sentimental value. A heck of a lot of it, for a character who is not very sentimental. The real turning point here is that Ranpo put on Yosano's glasses in order to save her.

[ID: A screenshot of a panel from the Bungou Stray Dogs manga. Ranpo puts on a pair of glasses. His hair is blown out of his face and he wears an intense expression. End ID.]

Shortly before this, we are informed by Yosano that not only was the Agency specifically formed for Ranpo to make use of his talents, but also that it was Ranpo who invited her to join - which we later learn was a pivotal moment for her to start over after she was completely broken by her experiences in the war. And now, he is watching her bleed out because she had to take over. Because he couldn't solve it. And that, to Ranpo, is unacceptable.

But again, there's more to it. Ranpo is fundamentally a self-centered character - this is not a judgement; I actually love that about him. He's the center of the Agency, the (ostensibly) good guys of the series; a narcissistic guy with little in the way of sensitivity who wants to use his skills to help others. Not for some higher ideal, or because it's "right" necessarily, but because he's good at it, and because he's supposed to protect all the "babies" who can't solve things for themselves. I love it because it highlights a major theme of BSD, which is good as something you do rather than something you are, and also because it explains something about Ranpo himself.

See, if everyone in the world is a "baby" who needs Ranpo's assistance, then the people in the Agency are a little different. They're people hand-picked by Fukuzawa to support him, both through praise and through backup. Remember that Ranpo trusts Fukuzawa's judgement more than anything - this means that he expects the Agency members can handle themselves. So, in chapter 10, when Ranpo doesn't really care that Atsushi has been taken, citing that it's a "personal problem" and he should handle it, I really think this was some odd form of "Atsushi will be fine" and "why should I worry or do anything when I know he'll be fine". And in the past, this has been true - the Agency members always pull through. None of them, up until that point, have been in a situation that they couldn't eventually fix. Ranpo has a bubble of safety in the Agency, that basically amounts to a "villain of the week" type beat from his perspective, where troubles gets fixed up pretty quickly. All in a day's work.

But then Yosano dies in Poe's book, someone he actually had some level of responsibility for when he invited her to join his safe little circle in a world that had no place for people like them. And it's a direct result of Ranpo's refusal/inability to act.

In order to fix this, Ranpo uses Yosano's glasses. The lens he's seeing through has changed. The people in the Agency were initially "his" in that they were meant to support Ranpo, the special one "chosen" by Fukuzawa's glasses, the reason for the Agency's existence in the first place. But now the people in the Agency are "his" in that they are his to protect. He's their big brother they all look up to in a way, and as the big brother, he's got to take responsibility for their safety.

Why did this not stand out in the moment? Well, we learn something about Ranpo from Untold Origins: he's very good at pretending he's doing okay and things aren't bothering him as much as they are. He's able to hold it together up until it all comes spilling out of him during the play. Also, I do think Ranpo cares about people a good deal more than he'd have you believe. A common fanon thing about Ranpo (from what I've seen) is that he tends to forget people, which, I can see how one would come to that conclusion, but I actually think it's completely wrong. I don't think Ranpo's forgotten a single person he's accused. I don't think he's forgotten a single person he's helped.

He lied about not remembering Poe, in fact, he remembered him pretty fondly as a real challenge. He remembers the information on a person from the Special Division he was asked to look into and gave the info to Mushitarou to allow him an in. He recognizes an officer he'd helped, and it's implied he recognizes every single officer who had been present while he was working on cases in the past. Does this mean he cares about all of them? ...eh. Probably not. But it does mean that Ranpo keeps a lot of his cards close to his chest. He's disarming with his intentional childishness. And so it can be difficult for the characters and readers both to notice that events like Yosano's almost-death... actually bothered him a lot more than he let on.

Because it was his fault. Because she was his responsibility. Because he's supposed to be invincible.

And unfortunately, the story from here on out does not get any kinder to Ranpo as his safe bubble that is the Agency is repeatedly targeted in ways that are increasingly hard to repair.

Fukuzawa falls ill and nearly dies in Cannibalism arc.

A girl gets blown up and Kunikida ends up in jail because Fyodor managed to manipulate Ranpo's intel.

Mushitarou is believed to have been shot and killed trying to warn Ranpo about the Decay of Angels plan.

Taneda bleeds out from a stab wound and falls into a coma. Ranpo can do nothing but listen and cannot get him help.

The amount of times Ranpo has seen people nearly die in front of him... bro it's almost as bad as Kunikida.

Much like Kunikida having extreme faith in his lofty ideals which make him fall just that much harder when he fails to uphold them, Ranpo has practically zero self-doubt and complete and utter confidence in his abilities... so when problems arise, Ranpo is very harsh on himself. He takes the blame because he's supposed to be better than that. Because he is the one with the powerful "ability" that should never fail.

In this sense, Ranpo's position in the Agency reminds me a lot of a certain person in the Port Mafia, someone who also has a powerful skill he puts towards protecting his own, someone who also received life changing words from the boss which earned him his loyalty, and someone who would do anything to defend the only place in the world he feels secure.

I think there's definitely a reason Cannibalism arc had Ranpo and Chuuya face off, I'm just saying. Both of them ostracized and thrown out as young teens by people who should've been looking out for them. Both the instigators of that arc, proactive and desperate to protect the person they are most loyal to who changed their perspectives. They've even got the same power stance, look. :P

[ID: Two panels from the Bungou Stray Dogs manga. The first is a panel of Ranpo with the silhouette of Fyodor behind him. He is standing with his hands in his pockets, facing front with his head tilted back and to the left a little, a fierce expression on his face and his cloak billowing outwards. The second is a panel of Chuuya standing in a similar manner, arms crossed, facing front with a fierce expression as his coat billows out around him. End ID.]

Of course, there's more interesting comparisons and contrasts to be drawn between them, but I'm focusing on Ranpo in this analysis, so I think I've made my point. Chuuya is the Port Mafia's best martial artist. Ranpo is the Agency's strongest man. And that places a burden of responsibility on them that they both believe they must uphold. They're both ready and willing to do whatever it takes.

The thing is though, is that Ranpo doesn't actually have an ability. When up against someone like Chuuya, he is at a distinct disadvantage, and he knows it. "Regular people can't defeat ability users". But he's still going to come up with a way to do it anyways, and why?

[ID: A screencap from the Bungou Stray Dogs anime. The members of the Agency all stand around Ranpo, who is seated at his desk with a smile, one hand holding his cap, the other held up in a casual gesture. The image is filtered in a soft light. End ID.]

Because his friends think he's invincible.

If Ranpo wants to maintain his safe place in a world of fear, then he has to step up to defend it, and he has to get creative about it. And that's exactly what he does. Ranpo becomes steadily more active throughout the story, which is a huge change from the start, where he had to be practically bribed to help at all. I see a lot of people point out his channeling of Fyodor's tactics to secure Kunikida's release, which is definitely a dark turn for his character, but it's not the only change.

Ranpo is now choosing to place his faith in others, the first obvious instance of this being his use of Poe's novels - which was how he defeated Chuuya. Ranpo knows that he is not going to succeed against people who drastically overpower him all alone, even if he does still take things on as personal burdens. He's also far more obvious about his protectiveness, going on the rescue himself to save the Agency members, driving a car (whereas before he needed someone to take transit with him - another indication of his increased proactivity since he's now literally driving instead of being driven), and bodily shoving Atsushi out of harm's way.

It all culminates in one of my favourite Ranpo scenes where he speaks at the conference to the police, who've worked with him before, where he asks if they will think for themselves - and tells everyone gathered there that anyone can be a detective if they think for themselves and look with their own eyes (!!!). He manages to get half the police force on his side, just through his words and his logic alone! Minoura assumes he somehow knew it would all work out, because, well, it's Ranpo. Ranpo knows everything.

But...

[ID: An image from the Bungou Stray Dogs manga. Ranpo sits in the passenger seat of a car with an honest, helpless smile. End ID.]

He reveals he didn't know if his ploy would work at all. He had to trust that it would with no solid proof. He had to trust these people would use their heads and look beyond the obvious. He respects these people enough that he thinks at least some of them will make the right call.

Fourteen year old Ranpo, bitter and estranged from other people, would never. For him to have come such a long way is testament to the security that the Agency provided him with. In a way, Fukuzawa forming the Agency allowed Ranpo to "complete" his childhood in relative safety, so that when the world became hostile once again and his family destabilized, Ranpo had matured enough to meet it and defend himself and those he has a responsibility towards head on. The Agency is his family, and Ranpo cares for them enough that he puts his faith, not just in them, but in the people they put their faith in too.

[ID: A panel from the Bungou Stray Dogs manga. Ranpo is kneeling in front of Fukuchi, who is sitting backwards on his chair to face him. End ID.]

...aaaaand then Fukuchi went and ruined it. Thanks, Fukuchi.

Ranpo again chooses to put his trust in someone without proof because Fukuzawa trusts him, only for that to have gotten thrown back into his face in the worst way possible. And it's in this regard, the trust aspect, that I think we'll see Ranpo develop as the story goes on.

Will he continue to show this tentative faith in people? Or will he begin to hyper-analyze, unwilling to trust again without proof?

If this arc gets resolved decently well, I think Ranpo will have no issue brushing this off as a one-time thing. However, if what I fear might happen does and Fukuzawa doesn't make it out of this arc... Ranpo will be destabilized.

I don't know that Ranpo would go "bad" per se. He likes the other Agency members. He cares about them - that's genuine. But if Fukuzawa dies, then Ranpo may begin to take darker actions in order to keep them safe, almost overprotective and harshly logical, with little room for blind trust or risks in the name of justice or honour. It may put him at odds with Kunikida, in that Ranpo may start to develop a strong "do what's necessary" mentality, even if that may be immoral. He may regress a little into his old trust issues.

However, I really don't think Ranpo will go too far down the path of darkness, even if the worst should happen. He's a lot tougher than he seems, and he has a good support system in the Agency. I guess it remains to be seen where Ranpo's story takes him next.

Until then...

[ID: A screencap from the Bungo Stray Dogs anime. Ranpo sits in his chair in a cuter art style, having taken a bite from the pastry he has in his left hand. End ID.]

I love one good boy. :)

[ride-thedragon]

A MILD GLIMPSE AT LAENOR AND RHAENYRA.

I do find their dynamic in episode 6 and 7 very interesting, but the first time I watched the show, I did not get what was being communicated between them. Her words to him felt wrong and different with every conversation, and I didn't know why I didn't believe it when the events of episode 7 happened, but I think I do now.

A few things, Laenor does do his duty. They both hold up their end of the bargain it's just unwillingly on his end by the end.

From the start, Laenor is mourning Joffrey in their marriage. That's how it happens. Shortly after, based on age, Jace is conceived with Harwin.

A lot of assumptions seem to be that Laenor and Rhaenyra weren't trying, but I don't think that's it. It seems more likely that they did, and Rhaenyra went after Ser Harwin either way. Because Laenor is being forced to do his duty, I can't imagine him disregarding it. Especially if the deleted scenes are being taken into consideration, but another thing is that Harwin isn't some politically correct decision.

People act as though in the first year of their marriage Rhaenyra needed to be pregnant, but that's not true. It just happened, and I don't see the pregnancy carrying out without some possibility of Jace being Laenor’s, with all eyes on them. The issue was never Laenor not doing his duty. It was that there was no joy in it. Rhaenyra found that with Ser Harwin. That's actual show dialogue.

Laenor in the show doesn't go to Driftmark. In no conversation does it seem as though he has that break from court life. The strength of being a Velayron is taken from him with no noble house Velayron men at the Keep or him being able to go back and prepare himself for his role as heir. This is a world building issue. But also isolated him to the Red Keep unwillingly, it seems.

Then we consider that he cares for Rhaenyra. Ten years later, and he's telling her, "Let's go back, stop making the show of Alicent commands, this is dangerous you're in pain." She disregards him, which is the first of many times we see.

After he's called a cuckold by Alicent, Rhaenyra makes sure he's aware of her dislike of the name Joffrey or him choosing it. I think that scene perfectly analyses their dynamic.

Rhaenyra doesn't like it, Laenor defends it, and she disregards it with something else that's irrelevant in that context. He's playing his role, naming their child, being there at the birth like a happy father would be waiting to meet him, walking with his wife to the king, publicly but quietly doting on her health and taking everything said against him because that is his son but that's not enough for her because in this moment she's upset with him for nsming Joffrey and Alicent.

We see this play out with the "our sons," "are they insinuations" dialogue, and reinforced.

Laenor wants to go to the Stepstones, unaware of the fighting taking place. She says rumours follow their sons, and he asks if they are rumours. This shows his disconnect from the situation at hand. Even a small joke, she discredits from him rightfully but is still isolating for him from their reality. Then, the worst lines from Rhaenyra come out. And I don't know why these are often ignored, but they're based on the characterization of her in her adult years of wanting everything at the cost of nothing because of her position.

She blames Laenor for not being there for them, uses his sexuality and the agreement they had to do so and then makes him stay at her side when he doesn't want to because she thinks it's good for appearances not taking anything he's saying into consideration.

Then we find out that Laenor writes to Laena all the time, it seems because Daemon doesn't want to go back, and Rhaenyra doesn't let Laenor leave. Laenor being restless has been his way, but she kept him at her side. And then Laena dies, and he's crushed.

This is after Rhaenyra finally decides that they can leave for Dragonstone, which is away from all the questions of court, tells him he can bring Quarl and doesn't let him make the decision. We see how upset he is before she tells him of that. Laenor seems to find out about losing Laena on Dragonstone.

Laena is gone, and he's reeling from her loss. He's in the water trying to be near her, grieving. He's getting drunk and can't perform his role, being accosted by Corlys (I know it's Quarl but context clues) for it and is in no position to do anything. He's lost the one person who would be happy for him with this change, the person who he keeps in contact with ten years later. He's distraught.

And Rhaenyra’s conclusion, although based on the fact that she's lost Ser Harwin, is to say he'll be useless to her now.

She sleeps with Daemon, which I won't get into because it doesn't matter right now, but two conversations happen. We see Laenor get drunk, and in Quarl's attempt to go fix his spirits, be completely unaware of the whole Driftmark fight, Rhaenyra sleeping with Daemon or what has occurred with Vhagar and Aemond.

Laenors words to her are I should've been there. I didn't protect Laena, I did not protect you, and there is no comfort. She tells him to sit. They have this conversation, which is his apologies while grieving for his failing and her saying he's a good man with a good heart.

The condition of Laenor in this scene is heartbreaking because of what happens next. He's lost Laena. He's trying to do right by his family, recommiting himself to them, and she suggests he fake kill himself and escape with Quarl. He's confronting their past mistake of thinking that love and marriage are mutually exclusive and knowing his lover is being sent away and that Harwin is dead dedicates himself to Rhaenyra and their boys, wanting to be a family.

But because of Daemon, that's a long gone possibility for her. It's not for him. We don't get to see her, or Daemon or Quarl suggest Laenor leaving, but based on their relationship in the last episodes, he'd simply agree if she said it, reluctantly so.

[rosstrytobe]

HOW I THINK THIS IS JUST THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS EDDIE DIAZ GAY ARC PT. 1

You know that you love a character so much that you have all the explanations of why he's acting the way is doing now

Yes the cheating part sucks but if we see trough it

Eddie's not cheating Marisol with another woman

He's cheating with a woman he remembers his ex dead wife

And that's just realive how much he still proccessing Shanon death and he didn’t do it in the right way at first when he was supposed to talk about it with Frank in s3

However if we saw why he didn’t that's just a scene it comes in my mind and how it's important understand that maybe Eddie is just using a doppleganger of his wife as an exuse to something he faced at a special bachelor party 👀👀

Let's go first:

1)In s3 Bobby said to Eddie to talk about his feelings for grieving Shanon because Eddie was self distructing himself with the illegal fights -> Eddie talks about it with Frank but then he said to Buck that therapy wasn’t for him and then this scene happens:

And what Eddie said after?

Yeah. He didn’t need anymore the therapy because he was happy with the people he have now in that moment (his son and Buck)

2) In this season we saw Eddie talking with Bobby again about the Nun thing and Eddie is afraid and confused about why he can't commit to any of his past relantionships with women and why now he's having Chatolic Guilt regards Marisol -> Bobby said to him that Eddie doesn’t have a problem of commit to certain things (👀👀) and one of them is Shanon but Eddie always said that he married her just because of Christopher and he had some kind of duty towards her

He doesn’t regret being married to her but he never said that he actually was in love with her and that's a thing that even Michael felt when he married with Athena. Michael never regreted to marry her and have his children with Athena but we know from s1 that he's a gay man

But maybe just because Eddie now is scared that he will never commit to a woman. As with Marisol. He's just pretend that in this doppleganger he can find what he's missing as a female role for Christopher but as Bobby said to him he already commit in other things in his life like:

(😫😫😫😫)

3) All the dialogue with Marisol last episode i think he meant something. She asked him if Eddie was okay and even though Eddie said that he's fine. Marisol asked him again if it was a truth or a lie. And even though Eddie said it was truth we know he's not okay. He's again romanticed his marriage with Marisol out of blue because he just saw her in another woman and his false memories of her are just coming through his mind because he wants to get attached to that feeling. Because in his mind he was happy with Shanon and his marriage with her was perfect. Like the scene with Marisol that just show how him, Christopher and Marisol looked as the perfect ready made family. Like with someone else:

But we know he had panics attacks just of the thought of him, Ana and Christopher being a family and maybe this time is trying to not have them since he learned from therapy how to control them. But why he's trying to pretend to be in a perfect relantionship?

If we thinks about it Eddie seems more like he's living in his own telenovela for how the scenes went with Kim and Shanon but that's a way to not copy with something that it's happening in reality like the fact that he didn’t want Marisol to live with him anymore and he was having sexual problems with her after he figure it out she was a nun. Then he talked about it with Buck and he said to him that he wanted to break up with her but then what made him change his mind?

Yep. It’s just took Buck coming out to him to made him rethink about his relantionship with Marisol and made her moving out. Eddie of course supports him. Buck is his best friend. But support someone and see with your eyes that your bestfriend is indeed bisexual is something else. Because Eddie loves Buck as Ryan said he loves him to the core. But see Buck with Tommy just makes him a little pissed off

You can see it from how just an hug made him bite his lips with an angry mood and also what he said after just proves how much he's jealous of them. Then he spent all night making killing eye to Tommy as he did something wrong and we saw even Eddie watching Tommy yawing as if he's interest in what Tommy is doing. Later everyone leaves incluse Tommy, Buck and Eddie spent all night togheter being closer than ever. And we saw how much they were connecting their neurons togheter and in someway i think Eddie got that with no one he had ever have this much of connection. And that's why i think he's scared to analyze that emotion and he wants to hide it because he doesn’t get why he's jealous of Tommy and why he knows that nobody could ever be Buck

[messymindofmine]

This episode hit me so hard. As a Muslim woman, I see so much of myself in Marjan and even more so now than ever before.

The way she used to be this shy quiet child that people called Mouse. She hated celebrating herself bc she didn't want to make anyone feel bad but the last words her best friend's mother ever said to her was that she should never hide her light. And she hasn't. On the contrary, she shares her light with the world and uses it to inspire others. There's an added layer to this when you're a Muslim woman. There's so much of yourself you feel you need to hide bc of the way the world treats you. And Marjan felt this way too but she refused to let anyone put her light out. Even when she was being shamed for the video in 1x03 and she struggled with the judgement she faced from someone who should have been among her biggest supporters bc who better to support a Muslim woman than other Muslim women? Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out like that and clearly it didn't for Marjan either. But Marjan never let's anyone shame her for being who she is.

The fact that she lost her best friend at such a young age and how she has used that grief to save others.* And how she must have been met with so many barriers on her path. In her very first scenes she says she's allergic to poor leadership. The first glimpse we see of her is of her jumping into a lake to save someone else even as her captain yells at her. She also talks about how she finally felt like she got respect after she went viral the first time. Picture it, Marjan decides to become a firefighter so she can save others the way she wishes she'd been able to save her friends. But instead, she is ignored and underestimated and I think we all know why. But she refuses to put up with it. She doesn't let Owen convince her to move immediately even though I'll bet she wanted to. But she make sure that everyone knows she is not someone to take advantage off. And when she does make the move to Austin and the 126, she finally finds a place for herself.

*As a sidenote, I do find it interesting that both Marjan and Judd lost their best friend in a car accident and both the episodes for them took place in the ninth episode of their respective season.

We see her remorse and her grief over the woman in 2x11. It's so easy to judge her for flexing for the camera during that scene but it's not like she stopped for a photo op. OK maybe it was unprofessional of her to respond to the crowd at all while working but she's allowed to have her flaws like anyone else. Besides, we now know that she wasn't always this confident and it's understandable that sometimes she might go a bit too far with that. I would much rather have Marjan who gets a bit carried away with her confidence at times than a Marjan who stays in the shadows bc she's afraid of what others think. She went from being the little girl known as Mouse to the woman known as Firefox. As Marjan said, people stop her in the streets to thank her for what she does. If she were real, I would be stopping her too.

That's what made it so painful for Marjan when the Geralds tried to extort her. Yes she did something wrong by calling the woman crazy but she was trying to save her life and the woman was being stupid by insisting on staying. Marjan had a human reaction and she had no problem taking accountability for it. But then they went after two things she puts so much value in. They went after the job she chose so she could save people and they went after the means she uses to share her light with others. They made Marjan doubt herself. They made her feel unsafe even though all she wants is to keep others safe. And they tried to take her platform and make her twist it into something ugly. But Marjan didn't let them. She fought back and she decided that if she can't be herself somewhere then it's better for her to leave. She left the place that she felt so safe bc she no longer felt safe. Despite that, the people that made her feel safe are still there for her.

She fought so hard to keep the firehouse together in s3. Because this was the place where she truly felt accepted and surrounded by people she loved. And Marjan never wants to lose another friend ever again. We see her grief over TK and Paul. Her fear as Owen and TK were on that plane. Now it hits so much harder. And these people really do love her so much. The way they worried about her in this episode. TK immediately thinking to start calling hospitals. Mateo looking at pictures of him and Marjan and being so afraid of losing her. Carlos using all his connections to track her down. Grace helping them look even though she was at work. Owen, Judd and Paul going to look for her and carrying her out of that tunnel. Tommy coming to the hospital afterwards. And all of them wanting to see her in the hospital. Even the doctor remarked on how many people there were to see her.

I'm so happy that we see she has such supportive loving parents. For a young Muslim girl, this isn't always the case. All too often, they are forced to keep themselves in the background and be quiet. But her parents support her constantly. They obviously supported her when she moved to Austin. They obviously supported her when she decided to end her engagement to Salim. And they taught her to keep true to her faith. Faith has been such an important thing to Marjan since the start and now we see why. For Marjan, it is obviously one of her biggest sources of comfort. No matter what happens, she knows she will never be alone bc she has her faith.

I don't like that they killed that poor old man who was only trying to help but it just goes to show what men like Grant Harlan are like. There are far too many of them out there in real life. As far as I'm concerned, Paul is absolutely right. Grant got what he deserved. Marjan not only saved Kiley's life, she stayed with her after and then sold her bike to give Kiley money to start over. She got her sister to take Kiley in so that she could be sure Kiley would have a place to go and made sure Kiley got onto that bus. Kiley is absolutely right. Marjan is a hero. To Kiley, to the other people she saves, to her friends and family and to people like me

When I first started watching the show, I was very nervous about how they were going to portray Marjan. As Marjan herself questioned, were they just doing it to show off how woke they were? But they have done so well and I am so grateful for that. I love that they have consultants on the show to offer advice. I love how much Natacha puts into Marjan. It means the absolute world.

[theerurishipper]

I hate how im not even angry at how Kwamis choice ruined the Ladynoir ending from Hack-San. That little conversation was already bothering me in s4 bc Hack-San was brutally open with how little Marinette ever conciders Cat Noir in anything.

Beats me why she thought he wouldn't have the logical reaction of fcking RED ALERT when he suddenly sees Ladybug's earrings in possession of somebody else, but hey, Marinette told Alya to play with her pet so that makes up for it I guess? And "pet" I find extremely fitting in that episode's context. She literally send in another Ladybug miraculous holder who's lead Cat also had to follow with no saying in the matter. Marinette literally send him a new owner since the Ladybug can do with the Cat whatever she wants as Marinette herself perfectly demonstrates in her leadership and Adrien therefore had to learn in season 4. I don't know what kind of dignity Marinette was supposedly treating Cat Noir with because it definitely wasn't on screen.

Marinette not thinking a single second about Cat was so bad in Hack-San that in the end she was genuinely surprised that she had to talk to him. There had been no intention on her part to have a conversation, she truly thought she had taken care of everything that matters. And from her perspective that meant telling Alya to laugh at his jokes being the only thing she conciders of any importance (something Marinette herself barely does). Honestly, there is not more personhood to him than "Pet".

So no, her words in the Ladynoir end scene have always meant as little as it turned out in Kwamis choice where she immediately left after he rejected her one time in "Elation" and the she didn't even care if it was at least Scarabella again who Cat Noir would met next to find out the awful news.

I always felt so unbelievably bad for Adrien in the Hack-San ending because the episode went out of its way to show that it isn't Marinette who gets the "Their crush barely realizes they exist" treatment, it has always been Cat Noir.

It had to be ALYA to make Marinette even talk to Cat when she comes back and then the only thing Marinette acknowledges as a mistake is that he must have been (negatively) surprised by having met a different Ladybug holder and that she's sorry, if she were to have found out that way that he had revealed himself to someone else she would have been upset too.

Which... man, Ladybug's dialog in that scene is so surface level. Comparing the emotional depth of how Cat talks about what all this meant to him, with how much care he talks and that it was so bad that the thought of her not being there anymore one day hurt the most and that he doesn't think he could bare that...

And Ladybug is besides him and says "she would have sulked too".

The difference between what she means to him and what little he seemingly means to her is so bad that when Marinette says "I will never abandon you, Kitty" and Adrien immediately forgives her for everything as per usual, I look at Marinette and honestly want to ask if she even knows what the words she just said mean. Because the entire rest of the episode characterized her in a way where her line feels almost shallow.

What is Ladybug apologizing for not having warned him and saying "I will never abandon you Kitty" even worth when she was shocked that she had to talk to him at all?

Already back in season 4 I looked at Adrien's heart eyes after that and felt so bad for him bc very clearly this IS a bond be should be able to live without because she's spearing him barely any thoughts of actual significance in season 4.

So yeah, I can't say I'm angry about season 5 then having made that reality and destroyed the Hack-San ending with Kwamis choice. Marinette in part 1 once again proofs why it's even IMPORTANT that Ladybug isn't someone Cat should hold onto in his life and definitely needs to be able to bare possibly not seeing again. He rejected her ONE TIME and next morning she already tells Tikki to give her earrings to literally ANYONE before Plagg goes about his plan.

Already at that point the line "I will never abandon you Kitty" became worthless and she also would have caused yet ANOTHER Ladybug miraculous holder to met Cat Noir instead of Scarabella, when this time around the new Ladybug would have no information or connection to Marinette and was meant to stay for good.

I almost feel bad for saying it but also honestly not, Kwamis choice really reinforced how little Marinette actually learned in season 4. What little Ladybug "learned" in Hack-San was ripped to shreds in the same intensity as it already felt shallow in s4.

It's only thanks to Tikki that the same "new Ladybug" fiasko wouldnt have repeated itself for Cat just this time he would have been faced with every fear he had coming true, right after Elation where Cat admits that he isn't in love with her anymore and asks if she's okay with him only loving her as a friend.

She said yes. And then she left.

As much as I want to be harsh on Adrien's side of Kwamis choice too, I cannot hold it against him that he left to just finally be able to find happiness (and that being Plagg's motivation too for starting all this), especially not when him having stayed would have only resulted in him having to go through Hack-San 2.0 only in WORSE because once again Marinette barely spared Cat any thoughts besides this time him not wanting to date her anymore making her sad.

Hack-san is one of those other episodes in Season 4 in which I was rather defensive of Marinette in the beginning. Like yeah, she is in the wrong and she should apologize, but I understand that it's an honest mistake, you know? She isn't the best at considering how others might feel about situations, and it's understandable that it didn't cross her mind to talk to Chat Noir. She did do it after Alya mentioned it and she took responsibility for her screw-up, and I was fine with it. That scene from Hack-san on its own is still one of my personal favorite Ladynoir scenes.

But that's just it. The scene itself when seen individually is so soft and sweet, but putting it into the context of the whole season, it's not a good look. Marinette says she'll never abandon Chat Noir, and spends the rest of the season pretty much replacing him with Rena Furtive and overall just pushing him away. It just makes her come off as hypocritical and dishonest. She continues to never consider him and his feelings and things just continue to get worse. The way the Ladynoir conflict was handled retroactively makes the scene in Hack-san worse.

And honestly, I don't feel like defending Marinette for what she did anymore, because she didn't really fix her mistake. She just doubled down and continued to do the same thing, and her assurances that she never really backed up really seem shallow in hindsight. She never learns anything, he takes all the blame for it in the end, and they just carry on without her having to fix her mistake. It's just so bad.

Thank you for your ask!

[pandorasword]

Chaeri as the 8th and youngest member of BTS.

Chaeri's masterlist

❒ Requested ✓ you can find the request here

「 A compilation of BTS proving themselves as gentlemen for their Chaeri 」

⠪ Let's say that for the first few years after their debut Chaeri was not a great heel-wearer

⠪ She was young, plus the concept of their outfits did not focus on that style, so she had never felt the need to wear particularly high ones.

⠪ As she grew up and started to attend more and more important award ceremonies and events, the urge and need to wear them became evident

⠪ The first time she had to wear very high heels was preceded by a lot of practice in their company building. She did quite well on flat surfaces, the challenge was the stairs

⠪ And obviously at the event she couldn't avoid them

⠪ Luckily Namjoon seemed to be heaven-sent to make her life easier in everything, even in wearing heels

⠪ He was there, of course, waiting to hold her hand and walk down each step with her

⠪ It is still a habit of the guy to offer her help even though, as the years went by and her skills in walking on heels improved, she wouldn't even need it anymore

"You're making it off the stairs like a pro" "I don't think I could do it without you" "Just doing my duty as your favourite brother" "I will say 'favourite brother' if I'm gonna get down all the stairs without breaking an ankle"

⠪ As the eldest, Jin has a natural inclination to always keep an eye on all the other members

⠪ With Chaeri he seems to have to intervene more often than he would like

⠪ She doesn't seem like it, but when she's really into something she can get awfully clumsy with everything else

⠪ ESPECIALLY IN THE KITCHEN.

⠪ She is a real disaster as a chef, she can cook only a few dishes and poorly.

⠪ That's why, when she tries, she is so concentrated on trying not to burn anything or add too much flavour that she doesn't pay attention to anything else

⠪ In particular, during an episode of BTS in the soop, Jin had to prevent her from hitting the kitchen shelf with her head more than once by putting a hand between her and the furniture

"Maybe next time I'll just wear a helmet in the kitchen" "Or maybe you could just pay attention to where you're going." "Hey, I was distracted by the delicious smell of your cooking" "Flattery will get you everywhere. Now, let's finish making lunch before we have any more near-death experiences."

⠪ Very funny of Yoongi to always move Chaeri to the inner side of the road as he is the first to scold the others for being too protective of her

⠪ It's something he can't help, they start walking and at some point, at the first possible excuse, he shifts to the side of the road

⠪ The others always tease him about this and he pretends not to hear or simply glares at them to shut 'em up.

⠪ He is not the type to show protection for Chaeri dramatically, as other members do. He is for small things like this

⠪ Yoongi is the type to walk beside her keeping an arm around her shoulders

"Ooh, look at you, all responsible and stuff. You're such a good role model" "Aiish, just move to the inner side before I start regretting this friendship"

⠪ Chaeri among them is always the one who suffers most from the cold

⠪ Whether during the recording of a music video, a concert or an event, her outfits are always those with the thinnest fabric

⠪ During the making of music videos, Jimin always carries a blanket purchased with her in the group's early days

⠪ In MV shooting videos uploaded by the company channel, there is always this scene:

⠪ Jimin taking the adventure time blanket and covering Chaeri as soon as the cameras go down

"Let's finish shooting this and go get some hot cocoa" "Sounds like a plan. And don't worry, I'll make sure you're bundled up the whole time" "Geez, you're like my personal blanket service" "Hey, it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it" "I love you"

⠪ Chaeri's love for snowboarding starts very early

⠪ As her career began, she decided to spend some of her money on snowboarding lessons

⠪ At her first lessons she was accompanied by Jin, who liked the sport and had already been playing it for a while

⠪ As soon as she put her feet on the board, she ended up with her butt in the snow, for so many times

⠪ In the end, Jin was "forced" to teach her to snowboard the way one teaches a child to walk: by holding her hand the whole time

"You know, you're actually a pretty good teacher" "Thanks, I try my best. And you're a pretty good student, for someone who keeps falling on their butt" "Hey, it's not my fault I have bad balance" "Sure, blame it on genetics."

⠪ Of the BTS members, Chaeri steals the most clothes from Hobi.

⠪ And he lets her do it, not caring so much.

⠪ Actually, seeing her with her clothes on only makes him more joyful.

⠪ With her, sharing is the basis of their friendship

⠪ As Chaeri always styles his jacket on crop tops, she is used to holding them open to show what she is wearing underneath

⠪ He, on the other hand, always rushes to close them and remind her that if she's wearing a jacket it's because it's cold and keeping it open doesn't even make sense

"Seriously, it's cold out here, you need to zip it up" "But I like it this way, it's a fashion statement" "Fashion statement my ass. You're gonna catch a cold, let me zip it up for you" "Oh, so now you're playing the protective big brother card, huh?" "You know it. I don't want my little sister to get sick on my watch"

⠪ Chaeri's dress was beautiful, as beautiful as short though

⠪ However, it was never a problem at award ceremonies as girls in skirts were provided with blankets to cover themselves from improper camera angles

⠪ Unfortunately for her that evening, the staff had not been provided with enough blankets for the entire number of women participating

⠪ Looking around, it was possible to notice the girls sharing the same quilt in two

⠪ She, the only female member, could not share it with anyone

⠪ So she did her best to keep her legs tightly closed and look around in case someone was filming her from the wrong side

⠪ It was not for long, because as soon as Jungkook realised that Chaeri would not be receiving any coverage, he took off his jacket and placed it directly over her legs

"Hey there, Miss Short Dress. You're gonna get us kicked out of here with that outfit." "Oh, shut up. You love it" "Well, yeah, but that's beside the point. I don't want you to get in trouble with the paparazzi" "You're such a gentleman. Offering me your jacket like that" "Well, what can I say? Chivalry isn't dead yet"

⠪ One thing Tae loves to do is to stop Chaeri's bodyguard before he can open her car door, to do it himself

⠪ It all started as a game in the group's early days, when the bond between the two was just beginning to form

⠪ Tae pretended to be her personal security guard and Chaeri pretended to be a world-famous celebrity

⠪ Well, over time, part of that game came true.

⠪ Growing up, however, Tae continued to have these attitudes, not just for laughs as they once did

⠪ But he loves giving her princess treatments

⠪ It's really hard to see anyone on staff getting Chaeri out of the car, then

⠪ Her Tae always takes care of it

"After you, m'lady. Allow me to open the door for you" "Oh, thank you sir" "I take my job as your personal bodyguard seriously. I might need to start wearing a suit and earpiece" "I'll make sure to get you a matching tie"

[clj-art-blog]

Under the water

Nothing special, I just once again greedily and with pleasure “eat” the scene under water. [episode 8]

DFQC and XLH`s figures are intertwined into one silhouette, as if they are one whole right now. They are now in complete seclusion. How is it that he allows her to be so close to him? He never let anyone touch him. Nobody would dare to do it. But only she dares to hug him again, and for the second time he does not push her away from him. He lets XLH hold onto him tightly, while it can be noted that the edge of his lips slightly touches her forehead.

She would feel his breath if they weren't surrounded by water on all sides. What does he feel at this moment? Does he feel her emotions? Of course, he is unhappy with her stupid actions. Because of her, he is now here and wasting his time on her. But as long as she is in his field of vision, then everything is fine. If she wants to hug him, then let her do it as much as she wants, as long as she does not interfere with him, he will not do anything to her. And then she abruptly pushes him away from her. Why did she do it? What a fool! And what is she going to do now? What is she even thinking about?

Well, he doesn't mind watching where it takes her.

She looks at him so boldly and impertinently. How long do she think she'll survive alone?

Oh, and what happened now? Can't she breathe? What did she expect when she pushed him away from her? She prevented him kill CH, with the losers who came with him. She threw herself into the water with him… Without any plan… She is useless as always!

XLH desperately tries to hold his breath as long as possible, and DFQC just watches it indifferently.

Finally. Which is to be expected. XLH suffocates from lack of oxygen.

Does he feel her discomfort, pain, fear, that she is experiencing at this moment? But it seems that now he is not up to her feelings, because something strange is happening to him …It seems that the Xylan curse has no effect on him rigth now, no matter how powerful it is. His attention is completely focused on what will happen next and he just keeps looking at it

Great! The bubble burst. The bubble was what held them together, and now it has nothing in common with XLH. (Perhaps it was he who made the bubble, but when she pushed him away, he decided to destroy it so that nothing would hold them together. Like, let it be as you want. Enjoy! As if he was offended by her for this)

She swallows the water for the last time.

What a pity! And what did she count on? Nothing new. Her weakness and her stupidity are take her life right now.

And now she is slowly moving away from him. Further and further. Deeper and deeper...

DFQC's actions seem to say that this is probably good for him. This Xiaohuayao is so annoying. All the time he must experience her worthless, constantly changing emotions that irritate him so much … How nice it would be if she went to the bottom, and the deeper the better. She would have gone out of his life, out of his mind and out of his feelings. Forever. He so wants to never see or hear her. And so that she would take this damned curse with her down to the bottom, into the abyss. Nothing would bother him anymore, and not irritate.  After then everything would return to normal, and nothing else will stop him.

She moves further and further away from him… The distance between them increases. She sinks into where he would have sent her in parts from the very beginning, if only he could.

XLH holds out a hand to him. DFQC keeps doing nothing. Does he feel compassion for her? Why should he feel compassion for her? And what is “compassion” anyway?

But that's the last thing she does. She doesn't move anymore. She no longer has the energy to fight for her life. Her body is now completely subject to water. She's so incapable. But no matter how much he wants to let her go where it is deep and dark, he still needs her, because she is precious to him. That's what he told her a few minutes ago, and unfortunately for him, this is the truth. To him, she is much more precious ass his life.  After all, his life depends on this, damned, Xiaohuayao, grass.  And she still has to fix the damn destiny book for him.

DFQC takes a breath at the hopelessness of his situation. He has no choice. He needs to save her again… What a pity he can't do the opposite. But she must live. Well, okay. So be it. He will save her again.

Gracefully and charmingly, DFQC swims up to her, closing the distance between them. (Magic show!)

His image at this moment inspires fear and awe, as if he were a predatory killer whale, but he does not intend to cause her even the slightest harm. Gently and carefully, as far as possible, as if trying not to harm her with his careless movement, he cupping the back of XLH ’s head, pulls her to him and touches her lips with his lips.

He kisses her tenderly, and in doing so he breathes life into her, a life that belongs to him alone. XLH opens her eyes.

He feels her lips twitch a little .Her eyes are stunned and indignant look at him.

He does not care. Complete indifference and cold peace still dominate in his eyes. Then, when he breaks the curse and she will fix the destiny book  for him, he will definitely kill her. Perhaps, as he wanted before, he would cut off her arms and legs so that she would be very, very hurt, and then throw her into the river of oblivion to be fed to crocodiles. He will repay her in full. Yes, that is exactly what he will do, isn't he? Would he want to kill her then? Or maybe he'll leave her by his side afterwards? Still, she is different from those hypocrites from Shuiyuntian. He doesn't feel bad with her... And that warmth of her lips on his lips at that moment… Her lips are so tender and soft. Even the cold water that surrounds them is not able to cool this warmth that comes from his touch to her. It's something so sweet. It's something so unusual. He's never experienced anything like this before.

Probably, he will not do anything yet, because everything suits him at the moment. Moreover, he is now so calm and good next to her. It's not something that usually cools the blood. On the contrary, it is what warms. Warms better than hellfire. What is this? Such unknown sensations for him.

He feels a sudden resistance from her. He, too, resists her for a split second, but… But XLH pushes him away again, thus cutting off the connection between them.

How dare she interrupt him like that! This makes him very angry and pissed off. Well, what the hell? What is she doing again? And why does he feel so intolerable about it? And that look of hers…

She looks at him with her innocent and pure eyes. So what is she trying to say when she looks at him like that? What is her plan this time? And what should he do? Should he do what she wants?

But no. This time, he won't let her move even a meter or an inch away from him.

She belongs to him. Whether she lives or dies is up to him to decide. His gaze calms down, and he again draws her lips to his.

She is now his. He possesses her right now like never before. What does he feel? Does he feel her emotions at this time? This Xiaohuayao is in his submission and does not dare to resist him anymore. She is clearly overflowing with various and complex emotions right now. But his own emotions seem to drown out hers. Only he does not understand this emotional tangle. He is difficult for him to distinguish his emotions (that are just awakening) from hers. In any case, he will do as he wants, whatever she feels at that moment. He will breathe life into her as much as he sees fit. And to be warmed by her tender lips and the warmth of her presence, he will be as long as he wishes.

Certainly. He could think of some other way to keep her under water, but apparently this first plan appeals to him more.

Now she doesn't dare to look him in the eye… It throws him off balance again. Why does he feel so uneasy about this?

Is she silent? Why is she silent? Did he do something wrong? He had just saved her life. After all, he… Well, you would think that he got what he liked a little longer… Just a little bit… What's wrong with that? What should he do now so that she doesn't look at him like that? DFQC has never made excuses to anyone. DFQC never explains his actions. However, here for some reason he has to squeeze out such a pitiful thing like: - I was just afraid that you would suffocate to death, so… She runs off without saying anything intelligible.

What did she just say? She says she pushed him away not because she was afraid that… She was afraid of what? Did he do something that she should have been afraid of? He so lacks the dead calm that had him before. These excitements of hers, which he is now experiencing, are not pleasant to him. Of course, it's all because of her. If not for this Xilan Curse, he would now be calm as the surface of the water.

But for some reason, he still feels something warmer on his lips than the golden rays of the warm, outgoing sun, which right now illuminate and hopelessly try to warm him. He still feels the presence of her sweet lips on his lips. He wished he could feel that touch again. It's all so stir his blood so much. He not only does not want to resist this, but is also ready to humbly submit to this growing feeling. What is this feeling that grows in him? Breathing life into her, he, too, seemed to be filled with life.

Sorry if there are mistakes in words (and they are there). English is not my native language. But I'm trying.

[liyazaki]

the twist of a knife

"I am the knife. I am all blade.” -Clementine von Radics

falling down symbolism rabbit holes isn't really my bag. unless it's laid out for the audience in crystal-clear terms that "yes, X was indeed meant to mean Y" (by the writers or the script itself), I don't dedicate much mental energy to those elements in my fiction.

but something about that knife- the visceral image of Pete gripping it by the blade for dear agonizing life was haunting me. I kept circling back to the opening conversation on the bed, and the moment where Vegas' rage went up in smoke- and again, that knife. then it hit me.

like knives forged just so, no one can hurt Pete or Vegas quite like they can. and not just because of their mutual vulnerability, their love, for each other- like @ellaspore said to me, how deep they get under each other's skin.

it's their fundamental struggles, their shame, who they are at their core: if people can be 'made' for each other, Vegas and Pete were also made just so to perfectly hurt the other.

the first blow came from Vegas. lying together in the afterglow, of all the things Vegas could say, he said: "you're just a fool." just four words- pretty benign-sounding, all horrible things Vegas has said before considered.

Pete didn't have some explosive reaction, either. and that makes sense- a quiet knife slipped between the ribs is too exact, too surgical for all that. instead, Pete turned his face slowly away from Vegas, suddenly lost in his thoughts- while Vegas, still grinning in lighthearted ignorance, followed his movement with his hand, stroking Pete's face. Pete's far away now, though, his gaze focused on the ceiling.

we start to see the damage when we cut back to Pete later. Pete- who just last episode was chastising Vegas for "being stupid" for hurting himself- now slaps himself in the face. "I don't like it. so why didn't I say no?"

the killing cut was delivered when Pete's worst fear- that all of this loss and fear and pain was for nothing- was confirmed by Vegas' attack. there was no righteous rage left in Pete, hollowed out by the realization that he "has nothing left."

in his compassion, in his curiosity about this wounded, broken man- he's afraid he's lost everything. who he is, what he stands for, his self-respect, his pride- he's been stripped bare. not just by everything Vegas has done to him, but by the depth of his feelings for him in spite of it all.

that one little phrase, those four little words from Vegas cut to the heart of Pete's fears: he's not only lost it all, some of those things against his will- but the rest was by his own submission. his own volition. the definition of a fool.

on the other beautifully-tragic side of the coin, Pete cut Vegas at his emotional knees in a way no one else could. even after abusing Pete, beating him, treating him so inhumanely- darkness can only run from the light for so long. Vegas found a sliver of genuine happiness just by having Pete in his sphere.

after a lifetime of wretchedness, of thinking this misery is all life has to offer, that there's no way out- Vegas' world started to crack open for the first time in that room.

seeing Pete completely lose his joy, his humanity, his will to keep going- and knowing that he was the one that caused it- was the only thing that could snap Vegas out of his rage. and it was the reality hitting of losing him that nearly broke Vegas. he is the monster- just like he always feared.

it's also not just the idea of ruining this man he's come to love- it's the ruination of hope. of a different way of living, existing, being. no one else could deal as deep of a blow- even though Vegas himself is really the one that dealt it.

and yet- and yet. just like the agonizing way Pete let that blade cut deep into his palm, invited it, even- they can't help but hold on to the sweet agony of their connection. even after freeing himself from his imprisonment, Pete is breaking apart. Vegas is leveled, shattered by his grief. they weep, they mourn- the cuts bleed.

sometimes, love is as much about grief as it is joy- to know that in a world that hurts so deeply, so frequently? the most vulnerable, aching parts of you are at another person's complete mercy.

that they hold your heart in their hands, and you can't just take it back. there's rage there, sometimes- shades of desperation, too.

horrible, beautiful, cruel, agonizing love- like the twist of a knife.

[alexisnoir]

Turning poison into positivity

Now that I had time to process the last episode of season 2 of OFMD, took out my anger and frustration out on few dick-ish customers at work (they deserved it!), took on vaping in the span of one day (not very good for my health but that's just life). I can finally focus on the show itself and what I did love about it.

I loved it as a whole because we finally got what we fans yearned for for years sometimes, I know I have. Love between two characters without judgement of the outside, where their journey is not too colorized but painted in various color of life - like heartbreak, hurt, love, anger, sadness, hope, excitement and so on.

We finally got many characters we can relate to without fear of being told we see too much into something. What we see is what we get (most of the time but let's not let poison back in)

I enjoyed Roach this season, he was more sure of himself, tried to take command of the Blackbeards crew, be their balast so to speak.

Archie is very nice addition, I liked her character, she's a bit like me, doesn't hide from a fight and can kick ass when needs to but can be soft when needs too. What I missed this season is where and when they picked her up. Hopefully when Season 3 happens we will get that information and a bit more of her backstory

Zheng, well I don't know what to think of her, her character is okay, too short of a season to really pass out judgement. I neither loved her nor hated her. She was just there.

Absolutely fell in love with Wee John this season and his seagoddess Calypso! You can't not fall in love with him for that!

Stede and Ed both went through a journey. Stede of course from a child to a young adult and Ed from angry hurt man, to finding peace of mind, at least some form of a peace. He learned thanks to Fang how to center himself, how to quiet himself which in turn will help him keep his more negative emotions at bay.

The season as a whole was very good alas a bit too short but what can we do on cut budget right? If only I had million to spare I'd gladly pay for the next season myself and get 20+ 40 minutes episodes

What are my hopes for the next season?

Well, as I mentioned in one of my previous posts I'd love for Mary, Doug and the kids to come back and meet Ed and the rest of the crew.

Now that we know that the weasel of a prince is out there, I hope the Revenge crew alongside Stede and Ed will hunt him down and serve justice to him for what he did to Izzy. Hopefully it's going to be a theme for the next season - the REVENGE.

As to anything else...

a dance between Stede and Ed, we need to see that and since THAT LOOK of Ed's toward Stede at Lucius and Pete wedding, I can safely bet we would get a wedding dance between these two - if we are lucky

no more death

Izzy coming back

Stede and Ed taking on a responsibility for another person - a child. Just like Ed was somehow taken care of by pirates after running away after killing his father it would be interesting to see his take on someone young and in need with Stede helping him. Let's not forget Stede has some experience in taking care of for children

Stede and Ed renovating that shack into an Inn. I'd love to see some of the process, even as a montage

the Revenge crew visiting them on their island, getting them supplies, having parties etc

THE TALK - I need them to talk through their emotions, their grief

This is more like a speculation but I'd not be surprised if Ricky the dick went after Stede's family as a Revenge. Which paints a interesting plot IMHO

That is for now. I may or may not add something later, you will know if you find the word EDIT somewhere below in the future.

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Do you have favorite BL dramas or movies? If you do, what's your top 20 Asian BL dramas or movies?

Hi anon! 💙 Thank you for this ask! I can make a list! I love it 🥰

Of course I have favorites and I am so thankful you ask for my 20 favorite bls, because 10 would be too hard 😅

I don't have any logical reason behind my choices. Most of the times I go with the feeling I have while watching the show. The following is not a best to last ranking, just my top 20 favorite shows 😊

Goodbye Mother

A vietnamese movie about a young man, Van, who visits his family for the first time after being abroad for nine years. He doesn't come alone, but brings his boyfriend Ian with him. Van waits for the best moment to come out to his family and present Ian as his partner. It is more of a family drama than the typical bl, but it is such a good movie. The grandmother is the heart and soul of it all. It provides everything, happiness, sadness, anger, pain, love...just a perfect movie. It is still available on GagaOOLala, but on the list to leave soon.

A Tale Of Thousand Stars

One of my feel-good-series. EarthMix is one of my favorite pairing and they went crazy with all the staring and pining. The story of Tian and Phupha who meet at a village in the forest where Tian works as a volunteer teacher and Phupha is the local Chief Forest Officer. We whitness how two people get to know each other, understand each other and develop feelings for each other. It is a romantic fairytale dealing with important and serious issues and I love it! You can watch it free on Youtube.

Moonlight Chicken

Speaking of EarthMix...Moonlight Chicken is my newest favorite and one of the easiest decisions for picking as a favorite. It is a short series, but it tells so many stories in a perfect way. No character comes too short, no realtionship is undeveloped. It is such a perfect series. EarthMix are killing it, but GeminiFourth stole the show. Their depiction of a this first love between a deaf young man and an angry young man was just so beautiful. Both had their dreams and both felt unheard and unseen from the outside (especially the parents and guardians) and they developed such a pure and beautiful bond. I could go on and on about the beauty of this show. Perfect and free to watch on Youtube.

My School President

And another GeminiFourth project. I am so in love with this show. It is something personal. The story about a first love and such a healthy love and Tin, our school president is one walking green flag. The show helped me on a very personal level to understand parts of my own history and choices and I am forever grateful and will keep this in my heart. And besides that it is such a comfort watch. Every conflict is dealt with before the episodes end and there is no drama, just love and respect. I love it! It is also free on Youtube.

Triage

This is something else. We have time loops and some supernatural stuff happening while the main character tries to rescue this young man who is as it turns out the love of his life. And when it looks like it finally can work out, destiny or in this case a higher entity, plays a little bit with time and fucks everyting up again. It is really interesting and tense and there are twists and it is just amazing!

The Untamed

Does this count as a bl? It is not the typical bl, more a censored adaptation of same-sex original work from China. Nevertheless you can see the love and affection between Lan Zhan and Wei Ying. This is a masterpiece. When I tell people about it, who don't watch asian dramas, I always tell them it is better than Game of Thrones for me, so they can put it in relation. This show wrecked me. I cried like never before. And I can't put into words what this series made me feel. It is on Viki and WeTV.

180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us

Speaking of non typical bls stuff. 180 degree is such a good series. It is difficult to watch, because it feels really raw at parts and it deals with so much stuff, like homophobia, grief, internal homophobia, trauma, loss, love different kinds of relationship, growing up and stagnation, resignation. And the cinematography, uuuhhh! Such a beautiful series and in everything you see on screen you can intepret something in it. As a person who studied language and the comparison between novels and their adaptations, this was heaven for my intepretation loving heart. You can watch it on GagaOOLala.

A First Love Story

Strongberry at its best. It is korean and a short film in two parts and perfect. It tells the story of two best friends who have feelings for each other, but one of them enlisted and has to go to the military soon. We meet them again after some time and get a very intimate view on a very short part of their lifes. The acting is good, the story is good, the chemistry is good. You can watch it on Youtube or soon it will be on GagaOOLala again.

Be Loved in House: I Do

My comfort watch. This is nothing special. It is just a workplace romance, but it feels so cozy and I love the story. It makes me feel all the butterflies and happiness in my stomach and I love this shit! The company gets a new boss, who is very strict, has a bunch of rules and forbids his co-workers to date, because love can be a distraction and because of his own personal trauma. Can his stone-cold heart be warmed-up again? Oh the cuddles are everything for me! It is on Viki.

History 2: Crossing the line

I like most of the HIStory shows, but tis one I like the most. I do love the secondary couple of HIStory 3: Make our days count and HIStory 4: Close to you (I know...don't judge me), but as a whole series I really like this one the most. Perhaps because it is something different with the whole Volleyball thing or because I think the main couple is just so sweet. I don't know, I like to rewatch it from time to time. You can watch it on Viki.

Bad Buddy

My first asian bl ever. I am so happy I could start with this one. I love the story of Pat and Pran. Enemies to lovers is something else and they did a really good job. And their love was so vulnerable and sweet. Even though Pat always tried to be the strong kind of macho man, he was soft and sweet with Pran and it was so cute to watch. And the iconic rooftop scene! What a scene! It is free on Youtube.

Long Time No See

Another movie. I don't want to spoil anything. This has assasins and mafia and love and romance and sweetness and blood and fighting. It is not the typical bl stuff, it is more mature, but a really good action movie in my eyes. I liked the drama and the action scenes. As it is leaving GagaOOLala soon, I just rewatched it and it is still good!

Semantic Error

I don't know how many times I rewatched this one. The enemies to lovers story that just melts my heart. I am reading the manhwa and this is so explicit! The series is so tuned down from the original. Nevertheless I love the story of how SangWoo made his way into JaeYoungs heart and melted our all hearts on the way. This one is on Viki.

Old Fashion Cupcake

The story of the 29 years old Togawa who tries to show 39 years old Nozue how beautiful life can be. And what better way to show him than to eat the most delicious sweets ever. I am always hungry and craving for sweets after watching this. This series gives hope. You are never too old to start enjoying life and to allow yourself to love again, even if the person is ten years younger. And another one you can watch on Viki.

Love Mechanics

I guess this is here because of YinWar. I mean, their chemistry is through the roof! The story itself...well...cheating and pain and War is crying quite often. But it is still good and I can't stop rewatching it. Yes the story is hurtful and a little bit stupid, but VeeMark are adorable when they are happy and in love. It can be watched on WeTV.

DNA Says Love You

We all love some slow burn, right? I mean, this one is very much slow burning, but with a reason and it is a really interesting story behind all that. It is a complex story with some really good staring and pining and hurt and comfort. You have to watch carefully to understand everything, but it is worth it and the wait while our hearts burn away through the slow burn is worth it too.

Gaya Sa Pelikula (Like in the movies)

This one is...it is cute. I don't know what else to say. It is not the best production, but the story is good and the actors are doing a good job. Karl needs to live on his own because a family tradition says it is a good idea to show early on how to survive alone in this world. So he moves into his uncle's apartment where he meets his neighbour Vlad and because of some reasons the end up living together. I love the soundtrack and their whole story. It is free on Youtube.

Once Again

My favorite bl series of 2022. It tells the story of Shin Jae Woo who deals with childhood trauma and because of some supernatural stuff happening, he jumps back in time to the year he was almost the victime of a crime, but Kang Ji Hoon helped him back then. JaeWoo wants to rescue JiHoon from this path. I was crying through most of the second half of this series. It is just so good. Painful and hurtful. Just watch is you can deal with sad stuff. Everytime I need a good cry, I come back here and it always works its magic. It si on Viki and GagaOOLala.

We best love: No. 1 for you

The true enemies to lovers story. The slow burn and the slow realisation is just so perfect. I feel with Gao Shi De through this whole story. I love to rewtach it and see things I haven't before. And the second season is good as well! Not as good as the first one for me, but still really good. You can watch it on WeTV.

Secret Crush On You

If you manage to get past the first episode full of cringe and you learn things about the characters, you see that these are all of us. The characters are not flawless, they make us cringe, because it feels too real. You can't act normal when you are living your secret crush. And you feel uncomfortable if you don't fit the norms. It is so beautiful to see that there are people out there who love you for who you are. And who isn't afraid to tell the world about it. This series makes my heart feel all the beautiful feelings. It is a little gem out there. And you can watch it for free on youtube.

Well these are my top 20 of all the bls I have watched. It was so much fun! Thank you for this ask!

I guess after this month there are going to be new favorites. Our Dating Sim or A Shoulder To Cry On are some really good shows and I hope they won't mess it up in the end like Oh! My Assistent did.

Have a beautiful day and stay happy and healthy! 💜

[ouatsnark]

This might be stupid of me to think but... Is the heroes and villains verse Regina even really Regina?

Like obviously they're the same person but can main Regina really be given credit for the heroes and villains verse Regina's actions?

I've seen people praise Regina for her actions/behavior there but it doesn't really make sense to me given that everyone else was really out of character in that written by people who don't really know them sort of way (i.e written by Isaac / others who didn't know/care about them).

Again this probably makes no sense but I wanted to hear others options on it.

Are we talking about Regina recast as Snow White in the S4 AU?

I never found Regina's actions praise worthy no matter what Henry writes at the end. And why is that?

Regina went to that church because she wanted her happy ending. Regina then ends up sacrificing herself for Henry. Not anyone else. Just Henry. And to that I say, whoopdee doo. It's not a sacrifice for the greater good and of course she is going to protect a child since she's been re-programmed to be Snow White.

Lets say this was in essence Regina. Again it was only for Henry and to be fair this action is consistent with Regina putting Henry first ONLY when it comes to Henry about to die. Regina is going to do something to prevent that just like she did in the S2 finale because she can't live without Henry's love. Let's not forget that she ignored Henry and only listened when it was her happiness on the line. So does that sound like the real Regina? Yeah it kinda does.

For consistency sake, do we consider Deckhand Hook to really be Hook? I mean, yes, it is our Hook but he's been reprogrammed by the author into being someone completely different. Yet, he was the one that immediately believed Henry, felt an immediate connection with Emma and straight away sacrificed himself for Henry and Emma.

Personally? I like to think Emma and Henry's love reached him and he just felt an immediate connection to them both because no matter what the author wrote his connection to them was stronger.

What about Snowing? They didn't spend enough time with Emma but maybe if they had they'd have also made a connection with her? But if we're to believe that Regina is to be praised for what her AU self did then shouldn't we be condemning Snowing? But we don't and neither did Emma. She even tells them "I think we both know what happened in that world was not real."

So I guess my final answer is.... the characters have been reprogrammed. IMHO they are not responsible for their actions because they are under the author's control.

HOWEVER.

Killian Jones was reprogrammed to be a coward yet bravely sacrifices his life. In my opinion, this is worth far more than Regina's sacrifice for Henry when she's re-programmed to be Snow White.

Most importantly we can enjoying the fact that nothing can stop true love from emerging! And CaptainSwan embodied that in this episode.

I would LOVE to hear others thoughts on this too because I haven't seen much discussion about it other than Regina being praised and Killian's sacrifice overlooked or rejected by Regina Apoligists.

[echowithpain]

Buckle Up, Bitches. This is a long one.

Okay, I've definitely had some gripes with episode 2 and the fact that it took me this long to rewatch the episode to collect my thoughts says something. I even stopped the episode halfway through and got distracted with something else for about 3 hours before remembering what I was doing and resuming it.

...

I didn't like this episode. Unfortunately the bad outweighed the good for me.

First up, Lola, Norman, and Julien.

Why the FUCK did they do a storyline where Lola cheats on Norman?? Their whole introductions/characters in season 2 were about how Norman didn't see her after they had a kid so she went out of her way to force him to look at her by flashing the freeway. Go off Queen.

She gets arrested but she and Norman are super happy and making out, and they even admitted that the situation saved their marriage when Josh and Sue gathered people Maddie helped to convince her not to quit. The cheating storyline is so out of character for Lola that when I saw episode 1 and she was acting weird around Julien, I thought she knew he was a bad guy but he had threatened her off screen or something and she didn't want to worry Norman, not that they were seeing each other???

I thought Julien had just mistaken them for smugglers since they were living on the cruise ship, Lola found out and confronted him, and he threatened her to keep quiet about the operation but didn't get to call off the guys he was working with in time so Lola and Norman ended up getting jumped.

When Norman found out Lola was cheating on him after getting shot and was groaning in pain, all he could do was go into denial and talk about how Lola cheating couldn't be true. Then when he was lying on the poker table talking about the life he and Lola had, 37 years, selling all their stuff with handmade price tags, it made me feel both genuinely sad and angry. Not angry at Lola, angry at the writers for making this storyline for them. If people who have never seen the show go back to watch all the seasons and get to Lola and Norman's episode, they're gonna have it in their mind that their love is a lie and apparently Norman doesn't love Lola enough to keep her satisfied which is why she's cheats on him later. They're gonna see it as Lola being a horrible person this whole time, someone who likes to sleep around, or even just chalk it up to "Women ☕" and that pisses me off! That's not their characters and the fact the writers were portraying them in that light is horrible.

*sigh*

Then we have the whole Hen storyline, and oh boy do I have words about that.

Episode 1 did an amazing job reintroducing the characters to new people (except for Athena, I don't care about Marisol). In fact, if not for the Athena thing, I'll make a post about that later, it would've been a solid 10/10 (9/10 cause Karen wasn't in it lol).

Hen was shown to be a great captain when under intense pressure, going with her gut about which wire the pilot said to cut and even double checking, being a teasing but helpful friend to Chim about the forever dating thing, being kind and knowledgeable with the woman in the hot tub incident and teasing Chim again, and being an ear Athena could rant to when she thought Norman killed Lola. She was absolutely amazing...

Episode 2 ruined all of that.

She's at the car accident and is caring and attentive to the daughter and her mom, but then she's suddenly in a bad mood and making assumptions when it comes to the guy who blew through the light. She sends Chim over to him and when the dude is acting rude, telling them off, and threatening their jobs, she does the right thing and asks if he's refusing care. He says yes, he doesn't consent, so she doesn't give him care. Even in a bad mood she's still doing her job properly. Chim's been a firefighter/paramedic longer than her and should know that if someone refuses care, you can't force the care onto them, so he had no reason to try to make her change her mind about that.

Putting that aside, her words to Chimney really made me upset,

"No, he's done. Why is it that drunks always come out of these things without a scratch?"

Why the fuck did the writers make her say that? What did the dude being drunk have anything to do with it? Also Aisha's delivery is great but the line is terrible. Why put so much emphasis on the guy being drunk?? Hen doesn't act like this. She gets pissed off sometimes, yes, but in season 1 when Bobby had a relapse and she and Buck found him in his apartment, she was empathetic and sensitive to his struggles and has been ever since. You can't tell me if Bobby was the captain on that scene, she would've said it anyway because she wouldn't have. So I'm just supposed to believe that when he's not there, that's how she acts??

I think the thing that really made me upset was the fact they kept going back to the guy being drunk. He could've been completely sober but texting on his phone while speeding, he could've had a muscle spasm that made him hit the accelerator, he also could've just been a dick and decided to run the light for the hell of it. The part about him being drunk or not shouldn't have gotten so much attention, because either way HE STILL REFUSED CARE!!!

They could've still had the whole Hen's intern captain position being paused because it's a councilwoman's son and rich people use money to sue and try to make things go away to keep themselves in a good light with their public image. Like the chief said, all the signs of impairment could've been indications of the brain bleed the dude had, but again, THE GUY REFUSED CARE!!!! Hen says this but still gets put on pause cause rich people.

Buck saying they can't fire her for one bad call is true, but it also wasn't a bad call??? Toxic reports or not, if the guy refused care then he refused care!!! It's not her problem!!! It would've been worse if he refused care, she gave it to him anyway, saved his life, but now she's getting sued for bullshit reasons and can't be a firefighter/paramedic anymore because she went against protocol.

And they're talking so much about how the guy was definitely drunk. So drunk that obviously everyone could smell it off him. WHY DOES THIS MATTER????

DRUNK OR NOT THE GUY REFUSED CARE!!!!!

You might be wondering why I'm repeating myself but I was wondering the same thing watching the episode. Why are they repeating the fact that the guy was drunk??? And then Hen thinks all of them betrayed her because they don't know for a fact if the dude was drunk or not.

Hen's ranting to Karen (omg Karen hi!!! 🥰🥰🥰 I'm so sorry this is your only scene 😭😭😭) saying,

"I just feel like if I was any other captain, I would not have been benched."

Shut the fuck up, yes you would have. It doesn't matter who the captain is, what mattered was who the victim was. I'm sure there's been times where someone refused care and ended up dying because of it. It's like that woman's dying mother with cancer who took a bunch of pills but had a DNR so when Hen and Chim showed up they legally weren't allowed to do anything. Even though the daughter was freaking out and telling them to do something, they stayed professional and said they couldn't. Neither of them got benched for letting that woman die. Hen's getting benched because the dude's mom was a councilwoman, not for any other reason.

Hen's upset cause she thinks Buck, Eddie, and Chim were trying to comfort her because "they assumed she screwed up", then she starts second guessing herself on whether or not she did screw up and goes on about how she thought the guy was an "entitled rich brat" anD OH MY GOD WHY WERE THEY ON THIS FOR SO LONG!!!!!

Entitled or humble, rich or poor, brat or dom, drunk or sober, IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!!

THE GUY REFUSED CARE!!! STOP HANGING ON THE MATTER OF IF HE WAS DRUNK OR NOT!!!!

And then the reports come back and it turns out he actually was drunk plus had drugs in his system. Whoopty fucking doo. That didn't matter nor did it excuse the fact they carried that stupid plot for no reason across the entire episode.

The guy. Refused. Care. That should've been the end of it.

*sigh*... I have a headache.

Sorry guys, I love 911 but this episode was a flop for me. 3/10. If not for the cool action scenes and beautiful transitions, it would be much lower. Hopefully things are better in episode 3.

TL;DR

The Lola cheating on Norman with Julien storyline fucking sucked, and everyone and their mother focusing on if the guy who caused the car accident might've been drunk or not storyline fucking sucked too. He refused care so it shouldn't have mattered if he was drunk or not.

[atlasscrumpit]

Hi hi I saw that you wrote for ghost (cod) and I was wondering if you could do a little fic on how he would react to reader having a fainting disorder? Like POTs? And when he catches her in an episode or something, he catches her and takes care of her? 🥺 I just got diagnosed and I would love a little fiction in my life:) no obligations!

Daisies and Poppies

You sat listening to Price debrief his men, you sat in the bed snacking on some food.

After a not so fortunate kidnapping to try and take down your father John Price, he decided to keep you with him at the base for a bit where he could take better care of you.

Once the meeting was done the men started to pile out before Ghost stopped and looked at you to see you were fast asleep against the shelving beside you.

"Captain? I think your daughter passed out again." Ghost said as he turned around to see Price talking to someone else.

He glanced at you and then to Ghost.

"Can you get her to her room for me, Riley?" Price said as Ghost groaned softly and picked you up in his arms.

You were out cold while he carried you out into the cold and through to Price's quarters, your room was right beside your father's.

He entered your room and chuckled softly noticing all the stuffed animals in your bed.

It was a complete opposite to anything and anyone in this base.

Ghost gently placed you down on your bed and covered you with a blanket before he left.

--

Once you woke up again you found your way to the dining hall, you usually went later then all the soldiers so you could have some peace and quiet.

They all knew not to land a hand on you though, they knew Price would kill them and there was always König ready to break anyone's neck if someone made you uncomfortable.

You grabbed some food before you sat down at one of the tables and sighed.

Even though you'd slept so long you could feel another wave of fatigue about to hit.

You slowly started eating and you heard some soldiers come in.

You looked up to see it was Ghost and Soap.

"Hey, Y/N!" Soap said as you looked up and smiled.

"Hey, guys." You replied before Soap sat across from you and Ghost sat beside you.

"You guys like coming after everyone else eats too?" You asked as you continued to eat.

"Yeah, we can't stand all the noise and shit." Soap said making you chuckle softly.

You continued to talk for a bit until your eyes started to feel heavy again.

You leant your head against Ghost's shoulder and closed your eyes.

"Dammit. Y/N?" Ghost asked as Soap looked at you.

"Price mentioned she does this, no wonder he keeps her here to keep her safe." Soap muttered as Ghost looked down at you.

"Want me to help you take her to bed?" Soap asked as Ghost looked back at him.

"No, it's okay. She won't be out for as long as last time. I've been tracking her patterns, she'll be back soon. I'll just let her rest against me for a bit." Ghost said as Soap chuckled.

"Aww do you care about her?" Soap mocked before Ghost grabbed some of his food and threw it on the ground.

"What the hell! I was gonna eat that." Soap said as Ghost stared at him.

"Well, lick it off the floor."