#i’m personally not super upset by it. in fact i find it hilarious

[vulpecular-draconic]

pov you’re me, a minor, casually checking a couple of the blogs that reblogged your post and seeing this kinda stuff in folks’ pinned:

—

— my guys,,, if you’re this concerned about minors seeing your stuff then mayyyybe check the bio of the blogs you reblog stuff from?

[beatificwrites]

—VALENTINE ##

pairing: joel miller x gn!reader

a/n: here’s a SUPER late valentine!! first joel fic!! i love tlou and pedro

WORD COUNT: 2.2K

CONTENT: established relationship!!

PREMISE: joel’s never rlly celebrated valentine’s day, especially since the outbreak, but after some convincing, he’s willing to make the day special just for reader

The advent of February meant that the famous romantic holiday was coming up and you were ecstatic. Pre-outbreak, you spent a few valentines by yourself and when you didn’t, none were up to your standards, unfortunately.

Not that you were expecting a dozen of bouquets along with a box of chocolate covered strawberries or any other form of love bombing. During those relationships, all you wanted was a simple day for you and your partner to relax and share meaningful gifts that you’d keep forever.

You had yet to find a person that could mean that much to you or provide that for you.

Post-outbreak, you didn’t have the time nor the energy to find such a thing. You moved around with a few groups and made friends, but that was it.

Until you moved to Jackson last year and met Joel.

Joel gave you a reason to push forward and to keep fighting against the end of the world.

You two found it difficult to warm up to each other at first, but within a few runs, things changed drastically.

Beyond the grump exterior, you discovered a man that was actually caring and protective. He could be hilarious at times with the puns he shared, which, you later found out were all stolen from Ellie.

Your relationship quickly moved from run buddies to two people who couldn’t keep away from each other.

Ellie caught on and she would constantly poke fun at you both; saying you two should basically just do it already.

Joel would look away awkwardly and tell her to shut it, meanwhile you would laugh and scold her for being so crass.

Now, almost a year of being together, you were so ready to spend this special day with him. Even if he thought the idea was silly.

“Honey, I appreciate you everyday. All my days with you are special.” Joel reasoned as he took his boots off by the front door.

He had just come back from talking to Tommy and Maria about something and you were on the couch reading a book you had picked up on your last run.

“Well, that doesn’t mean Valentine’s gets a free pass.” you said back, looking up from your book.

You have been trying to convince him for the past two days.

“Who even celebrates that anymore?” he asked with his brows furrowed.

He made his way over to you and gave your head a kiss before sitting down across from you. Your legs were stretched out before, so he placed them both on his lap.

You scoffed and spoke with a matter-of-factly tone, “Um, hello, couples still do! And didn’t you hear the council’s getting together to decorate the town?”

All he gave you was a “really?” kind of look.

You proceeded with, “even if it’s not that big of a deal anymore, we could still celebrate us, you know?”

“I would think about it, but Tommy and I got a run tomorrow.” he gave a long sigh.

You tossed your book aside and scoffed again, “you’re kidding! For what?”

“The community’s low on medicine.” he quickly said.

“They can’t send anybody else? I don’t know, somebody who isn’t as old and tired as you to go?” you questioned, genuinely concerned.

“Excuse me?” he squinted, not liking you bringing up the fact that he’s old.

“Oh my gosh, you know I’m right. Plus, you and I both know you need a damn break! They can’t just take advantage of you.”

“I’m Maria’s in-law, I should help out a bit.” he stated.

“By a bit, do you mean a whole lot?” you fired back.

“I can take care of myself.” he affirmed as he raised his tone.

“Then, you would know that you should stay home!” you suddenly yelled.

He moved to get up and though a little upset, he gently pushed your legs off.

“I’m leaving at dawn and goin’ on that run, end of discussion.” he asserted before disappearing upstairs.

It was your turn to let out a long sigh. He’s so stubborn.

You knew he didn’t like admitting he was getting there, partially because it most certainly meant that he couldn’t do as much as before.

You found it amusing, to be honest. Sure, the pandemic allowed him to stay fit through the ages, but it was catching up to him. You worry.

You figured it would be best to leave him be for bit, until he was ready to rethink about leaving tomorrow.

You sat up and began to think of what to get him. Joel might not want to do anything, but that wasn’t going stop you from getting him a little something. Just a small token of your appreciation.

You picked up your book and continued to read until you felt so tired that you couldn’t process the words on the pages anymore.

You sluggishly went up the stairs and saw his figure knocked out on your shared bed.

“Stinky.” you teased, groggily as you realized he didn’t even wash up.

You did though, before heading to bed and falling asleep right next to him.

───────── ☆

You woke up as you heard the rooster sing. Your eyes were still shut as you patted the bed next to you to check for Joel. Not there, hmph.

Your eyes fluttered as they adjusted to the bright, morning sun. You stretched out and yawned before hopping out of bed and starting the day.

After brushing your teeth, you made your way downstairs and saw the yellow note Joel left on the coffee table.

‘be home before nightfall’ it read.

You tossed the note aside and got started on breakfast. Ellie always stopped by for a bite.

As you took out the necessary ingredients, you came up with a great idea. You’d stop by the wood shop later and ask Rose, the owner, if she could carve your initials onto a piece. Maybe try to make it heart shaped.

If you could find a piece of paper to write on, you would write him a cute love letter too. Yeah, you’ll do that.

Ellie barged in with a loud, “MORNING!”

You grinned, “good morning to you too, Ellie.”

“Where’s Joel?” she asked as she took a seat at the dining table.

“He’s out on duty with Tommy. He left early this morning.” you replied, turning the stove on.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” was all you said.

There was a pause before Ellie spoke, “Maria said they found a few romance movies they’d be playing in the theater tonight. Cat invited me, do you wanna come too?”

You stirred the egg yolk around a bit before saying, “No, I think I’ll just wait for Joel, if that’s alright with you.”

“Sure, whatever. Lovebirds.” she muttered under her breath.

“I can hear you just fine, you know...” you laughed as you reminded her.

“Yeah, yeah, just make my eggs!” she laughed back.

You shook your head and went back to your eggs. They cooked quick and you took out two plates.

You served her first then you. You almost sat down before taking out the fresh squeezed orange juice for you both.

“Cheers.” you two said as your glasses clinked together.

Ellie chowed down on her food as always and thanked you for yet another awesome meal before heading for the door.

You, of course, took your time to eat.

“Bye, kiddo!” you shouted from the table.

She was half way out door when she yelled back, “Later, skater!”

After finishing breakfast, you hurriedly got dressed and left for the wood shop.

You stepped outside and the breeze of the freezing air immediately hit your face. You wore your own puffer jacket and scarf, but you could still feel the coldness run up your arms. Winter in Wyoming was insane and long.

Again, in a hurried manner, you made your way to your dream destination. On your way, you smiled as you greeted the people walking by. You didn't think you'd ever get used to the abundance of people, living people, and the overall amount of life in such a big space.

How you even got here still shocked you.

You chuckled to yourself seeing the heart decor being put up. It would've made more sense to hang them up earlier in the week, but you guess it's staying for the remainder of the month.

You opened the door of the wood shop, and the bell rang as you did so. Thank, goodness there was a fireplace. You felt warmer already.

You looked around but didn't see Rose anywhere in sight. You guess she's off and her eldest son is in charge for the moment.

"Morning, Luke!" you greeted, nicely as always.

"Morning! What can I do for ya?" he greeted back, as always.

"Is there any way you could carve out a heart shaped piece of wood. Not a huge piece, but maybe about this big." you asked as you demonstrated with your hands.

"Ah, for you and good ol' Joel, I see." he smirked.

You rolled your eyes and nodded your head yes.

"I want our initials carved on the front and a few words burnt on the back."

Luke grabbed his notepad and had you write exactly what you wanted.

"You got one very special Valentine's gift comin' right up! Come back around 12." he assured you.

"Alright, thanks, Luke." you thanked him as you waved goodbye and exited the shop. Ah, back to cold.

You spent the rest of your day at your friends' houses, chatting about whatever nonsense. You picked up Joel's gift a little after noon and then went to the pub, to catch up with Maria on town gossip.

You noticed the sun was starting to set so you bid your farewells to her and Seth before leaving.

You had stolen paper from Ellie's room and were able to make that letter before reaching home and to your surprise, Joel was on the couch waiting for you.

You started taking your boots and cold wear off as you looked at him the entire time.

"Was expecting you to be home a bit later." you told him as you made your way to him.

"I said I would be back before nightfall." he simply said.

"Well, you usually come back when the moon's out." you said, plopping down next to him and giving his cheek a quick peck.

"Well, I stayed true to my note this time, I guess." he said as he gave you a soft smile.

You leaned your head to rest it on his broad shoulder. He moved in closer and caressed the side of your face with his thumb.

"Darlin', I wanna apologize for last night. That was stupid. You were just worried about me, that's all and I brushed you off." He confessed, trying to look you in the eye.

"It's fine, love. You're stubborn, per usual." you joked, but also meant it.

"To tell you the truth, I was really scared." he admitted.

You instantly moved your head to look at him. Worried something might have come up.

"Of what?"

"Honestly, the community was never low on supplies. I needed that excuse, so you'd let me go on the urgent trip Tommy and I been plannin'." he revealed as he turned to fully look at you.

You were a bit confused at first, not understanding why a trip would be so "urgent". Your face swiftly changed to absolute shock after Joel pulled out a beautiful, silver necklace with a locket and bracelet to match.

Your heart swelled right then and there. You couldn't believe it. All this time he spent telling you the holiday didn't matter anymore and here he was.

“Baby, you’re kidding!” you cried as you immediately went for a kiss.

All he could do was smile against your lips. He’s glad he could make you happy.

You wrapped your arms around him, wanting for him to know how much you appreciated him and how thoughtful he was.

“Here, let me put them on for ya. Aw, don’t tell me you’re crying?” he teased and you shook your head as you wiped a tear or two.

“I got you a gift thinking you wouldn’t do anything! And you get me this! Of course I’m crying.” you defended as you put out your arm so he could place the jewelry around your wrist.

You turned around and he put the necklace on for you as well.

“How long did it take to find these?” you asked, wanting full details on heartwarming trip your boyfriend took.

“A couple of hours. Tommy knew where to find the rundown store; that’s where he found his ring for Maria.” he told you.

“I borrowed some other things from the town too.” he continued, sheepishly.

You turned back around to face him once he was done and said, “Oh my goodness, like what?”

“I got a few discs from Maverick and Maria gave me a copy of ‘Dirty Dancing’ since I told her you like it so much.”

All you could do was pout at how cute he was. No way he got all that.

“You can’t be serious, hun.” you said as you laid against him.

He put his hand on your hip before saying, “even in this world, there ain’t a thing I wouldn’t do for you.”

You snuggled in closer after he said so, and he gave your head a kiss.

“Let’s go slowdance to Otis Redding and watch your movie.” he told you as he signaled for you to get up.

You giggled at him calling it “your” movie. You took out the wood-piece that was still in your coat and the letter.

You handed him the wood first, and watched as he admired it slowly. You knew he wasn’t one to show much emotion, but you could see it in his eyes.

He read your initials in the front and your sweet message on the back.

“Thank you, darlin’. I’m gonna hang this near our door.” He thanked you with that soft smile once again.

He was about to open the letter, but you stopped him.

“Read it later, I want our time together now.”

And with that, you two spent the night upstairs. First, slow dancing as promised to the ‘These Arms of Mine’ record that Joel borrowed and then movie time with him trying his best not to fall asleep for your sake.

He did read your letter later on and one moment led to another since you two could not keep off each other.

You were in his arms the entire night, just what you wanted. No person or personal issues to distract you from each other’s company.

He was indeed the perfect valentine.

[donnabenevientosimpingzone]

Hey! Now that you’re back I wanted to ask about Resident Lover? I remember you were on the team- but then the game came out and your name wasn’t on the dev list... what happened?

I can’t escape this question can I- and for those of you who messaged me, I did delete them in hopes of avoiding this- but I don’t want rumours to spread so lemme be transparent.

Also pls read this for how I’m handling coming back to this blog: https://www.tumblr.com/donnabenevientosimpingzone/741337986608873472/complex-feelings-and-absolute-pandemonium-about-my

No, I wasn’t kicked off the team, nor was I invited back when I left- and they made the right choice doing that. I was not mentally stable. I didn’t take the project seriously, I had jealousy issues, and didn’t take criticism well- I self destructed badly- blew up and burned that bridge to ashes, not to mention what sorta hurt I caused the team.

It did hurt a lot when I saw the game release. I was so upset, and spent so many weeks thinking about “what if I didn’t fuck up”. But there are no “what ifs” in history, we are meant to go through what we do in order to become the best versions of ourselves. The whole ordeal was part of the last push I needed to finally seek professional help. And the fact it still hurts whenever I see it around means I still care and carry guilt about everything that happened.

I’m practicing exposure therapy to try and heal that gaping wound. RE8 has turned my life completely on its head and I don’t want to abandon it- the best outcome will be the day I can download and play the game and find it within myself to genuinely love it with no more wounds to lick- but for now I’m content with seeing it float around every once in a while on my dash.

Out of respect- I hope none of you will pester the devs about this either. They did something amazing, and I’m so proud of what they’ve accomplished. Out of all of them I really miss MJ. They were the best, most hilarious friend- I always thought they were super attractive- and the whole reason the game was possible. Show them some love- idk message them “you’re cool!” for me or something. Anon ask if you have to. Don’t tell them I’m the one who sent you- I think it’ll be funny to just have a whole buncha people messaging them outta nowhere bahaha

And with that I hope this clears it up and stops people from messaging anymore about it. It’s still a sensitive wound I’m working to heal and I’d like to do it at my own pace<3 I don’t regret the experience, I’m in such a better place now because of it. I would love to make peace with my past self and accept the pain as a part of growing.

Until then enjoy me going back to my usual shenanigans before all the shit hit the fan. I’m very excited to draw more Spider Donna and Beneviento Sisters, I hope y’all enjoy it too<3

Update edit: https://www.tumblr.com/donnabenevientosimpingzone/737803172475781120/stupid-lil-update-i-wanna-do-as-per-my-pinned

Update! https://www.tumblr.com/donnabenevientosimpingzone/737980137572892672/people-who-knowknew-me-personally-probably-arent

Update that shows old sprite: https://www.tumblr.com/donnabenevientosimpingzone/738487941680316416/want-me-as-a-professor-okay-damn-ignore-the

Update where I rant about Angie and Daniela with a cat: https://www.tumblr.com/donnabenevientosimpingzone/740499151828156416/can-we-see-the-png-of-the-angie-sprite-holding-a

Update about the dangie ask on the RL blog: https://www.tumblr.com/donnabenevientosimpingzone/742312364040454144/hey-just-a-heads-up-that-the-rl-team-recently

[claudemblems]

Heyo idk if requests are still open but I don't see a post saying they're closed so I hope it's okay that I slide in with an idea 👀

This may be pretty similar to the Sylvain & Kaeya request you just did so feel free to ask for a different idea lol but I wonder what you think about Childe and Sylvain with a reader who doesn't fluster easily and is just always like "okay buddy" whenever he flirts with them? Bonus points if reader actually likes him but is beating their feelings back with a stick bc they think that he can't possibly be genuine

Thank you for sending a request in! I actually just write with fem readers in mind but I didn’t use any exclusively female terms for these. I also tried to follow the same format as the Friends to Lovers one with just sets of headcanons. I hope this is all right!! I’m just happy to get another request like that one because it was super fun to write about :) This did turn out kinda angsty but I felt like it fit with the overall theme. It's time to make your hearts hurt LOL

Friends But...Not Lovers?

Summary: Childe and Sylvain try and fail to win you over, but what they don't know is you've been purposely withholding your own feelings from them, too.

Notes: I tried to make these a little shorter because I tend to write way too much lol. I hope they're not too short though. Also, each set of headcanons is divided into the boys' perspectives and yours.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Childe

Childe isn’t fazed at all by your nonchalant attitude. In fact, he finds it really attractive. He’s a man that likes a challenge, after all!

“C’mon, you’re bound to crack at some point! You can’t tell me you don’t feel a little bit bashful?” “Are you calling all that flirting? I thought it was just a really bad attempt at comedy.”

The thing with Childe is that he’s not satisfied until he wins, so don’t expect him to give in so easily. He’s persistent if anything.

Of course, he wouldn’t flirt so brazenly with you if it actually made you uncomfortable. He may do questionable things, but he’s not without morals.

Especially when it comes to you. He wants to keep you safe and happy, more so than anyone else in the world. 

Thankfully for him, you’ve told him before that his flirting doesn’t faze you and that you’d actually like to see if he could manage to successfully fluster you, which only spurs him on even more. 

It’s game on, and he’s not going home until he secures his decisive victory.

You

You can talk the talk, but that unbothered facade of yours hides something under the surface: your real feelings for him. 

Sure, you could try to imagine that Childe means what he says, but it’s hard to tell when he’s being genuine and when he’s playing a part.

Can you really allow yourself to be swayed by his words when one order from the Tsaritsa can steal him away from you forever?

You’re not someone to get involved in a relationship that’s doomed from the start. You don’t have the kind of thick skin you need to come out unscathed. 

Sometimes you wonder if all this is just a game to Childe, if winning your affections would just be another trophy on his shelf.

But you try not to think about it too much. It just leaves you confused and upset.

You can’t deny, however, that you truly enjoy his company. He’s unlike any other person you’ve met on your journeys. Being with him is a breath of fresh air in your otherwise uneventful life.

If the day ever comes where you’re faced with accepting Childe’s declaration of love or rejecting it…only time will tell if he’s managed to convince you of this lie, too.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Sylvain

Ngl Sylvain is actually very pleasantly surprised by this revelation.

After seeing how all the women he’s flirted with eat up any compliments he gives them, your unaffected deadpan demeanor is absolutely hilarious to him. It’s definitely a first for him.

“Are my methods of flirting getting stale or are you just hard to break?” “It’s a little bit of both.” “Ouch.”

This is all very interesting to him but also very confusing. Talk about being totally unprepared.

However, his inability to make you fall for him has actually made him head over heels in love with you instead. But how is he supposed to win your heart if his words don’t affect you at all?

On many occasions he finds himself staring off into the distance trying to use that big brain of his to come up with a way to convince you that he truly does care about you. Though, it’s really hard to come off as genuine when all of his prior relationships have been made of thinly-veiled compliments and surface-level attraction.

You’re the only person who hasn’t been wooed by his words, looks, or his crest. You’re that one in a million. An anomaly. The kind of person Sylvain has been searching for his whole life. 

And Sylvain will do whatever it takes to prove to you that he can be your one in a million, only if you’ll give him the chance to.

You

You wish you could tell Sylvain to his stupidly beautiful face that his words actually do have an effect on you.

But you’re afraid of becoming just another name on his list of women he loves for one week and discards the next.

Out of all the guys in Garreg Mach, why did you have to be in love with the resident womanizer???

Day in and day out you go back and forth in your mind trying to figure out if it’s worth giving him a shot. Having feelings for Sylvain is utterly exhausting. Unfortunately they’re not like an item you can simply exchange for another.

You do have to admit that it pricks your heart a little each time you see him being a little extra friendly with another woman. Was it it that they have that you don’t? Can you really compare to all of the ones he’s dated?

You hope Sylvain never has any actual romantic feelings for you. With his kind of history, there’s no way a relationship with him could ever last. But would it be worth it for that one small period of happiness?

Who are you kidding? He’s a man that has everything. Someone like you trying to win his love would just prove to be a lost cause.

For now, you’ll just have to settle with watching him walk arm-in-arm with another girl he’s confessed to, praying that the sorrow in your heart will one day begin to disappear. 

[coll2mitts]

#3 Top Hat (1935)

Welcome to Fred and Ginger week, where we dive into two of their most beloved movies, Top Hat and Swing Time.  Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made 10 movies together, setting the standard for dynamic dancing pairs.

They were thrown together in Flying Down to Rio, which was a fine arrangement for Astaire for one film.  He had previously been part of a double act with his older sister, and when she married and retired from the industry, he was hesitant to be paired up again.  After the success of Rio, however, little could be done to deny Fred and Ginger’s on-screen chemistry.

Katharine Hepburn summed it up perfectly when she said, “He gives her class and she gives him sex appeal.”  Fred was dynamic and charismatic, and I’m sure it was easy for him to act as though he was enamored with Ginger.  Ginger made it look like it was the most fun in the world dancing with Fred, and every time they performed together, it was pure fantasy and Hollywood glamour.

Top Hat is yet another Irving Berlin lead musical, except instead of focusing on holidays it’s about a girl who is trying everything within her power to not get involved with someone else’s open marriage.

Jerry, played by Freddie himself, is a successful dancer that is actively being recruited by his friend Horace to star in his upcoming stage show.  Jerry seems generally intrigued by the plan, until he starts to realize his friend Horace has some unignorable personality quirks.  First he’s inserted into the middle of a tiff between Horace and his valet Bates over their differing opinion on tie styles.  Next, he’s told that Horace’s wife, Madge, is interested in hooking Jerry up with her painfully single friend Dale.  In fact, after the show opening, the plan is for the two of them to travel to Italy and rendezvous with Madge and meet this attractive young lady.  Jerry is wholly uninterested in the prospect of snagging a permanent dame as living unencumbered has so far suited him just fine.  Even though it’s the middle of the night, he demonstrates to Horace how truly footloose and fancy free he really is.

This number is so flippin’ glorious - Fred’s enthusiasm is infectious and hilarious.

Jerry changes his tune really quickly when the attractive young woman directly below Horace’s hotel room storms upstairs to let him know she’s not super pleased he’s literally tap dancing on her ceiling while she’s trying to sleep.  Fred lays down the moves, but she’s tired and cranky and easily rebuffs his advances before heading back downstairs.  In an attempt to get on her good side, he plays the sandman and soft shoe ASMRs them both to sleep.

The next few days Jerry fills his crush’s room with flowers and charges it to his benefactor, Horace.  We learn that this young woman is Dale, Madge’s friend she’s trying to set Jerry up with, but neither Jerry or Dale realize this.  Unfortunately, Dale is already kept woman.  Mr. Beddini, a fashion designer, has been paying for her room and board in exchange for her “modelling some clothes” for him.  Oblivious to this, Jerry escalates the situation when he stalks Dale to the park.  Somehow Dale finds this both annoying and charming, because it’s Fred Astaire and he can woo any woman by crooning an Irving Berlin tune.  The have a little tête-à-tête in the rain, and Dale falls for this man hard.

This is so much fun I can’t handle ittttttt.

After returning from her play date, Dale is confronted by Mr. Beddini, as he’s upset she no longer wants to travel to Italy to be set up with some rando.  Mr. Beddini was relying on the trip to Italy for Dale to “show off his new clothes”, and is immediately jealous that Dale would rather spend time in New York with her new friend Jerry.  Madge informs Dale that her husband Horace would be looking her up regardless if Dale decides to join them or not, and that Mr. Beddini could accompany her to Italy if that helps change her mind about the trip.

Through a series of misunderstandings communicated by the hotel desk clerk, Dale comes to believe that Jerry is her friend Madge’s husband Horace.  She confronts Jerry by slapping the shit out of him, offended she ever batted her thin-eyebrowed eyes at his dumb face.  To Mr. Beddini’s relief, Dale decides to travel to Italy in an effort to purge Jerry from her brain, and presumably conceal the fact her friend’s “husband” was hitting on her.

Surprisingly, the hotel decides to investigate “the slapping incident”, and when they approach Horace, who Dale thinks was hitting on her, he decides not to rat out Jerry because he doesn’t want to jeopardize the stage show he’s invested a lot of money in.  He instead throws his valet Bates under the bus and tells the staff Bates was the one who was slapped by Dale.  After the staff leave, Horace asks Bates to trail Dale to make sure she’s not trying to take advantage of Jerry for his wealth or connections, and the two of them decide not to travel to Italy.

During the opening night of the show, Jerry and Horace discover that Dale is the woman Madge was intending to introduce to Jerry.  Jerry also changes his mind about the Italy trip and pressures Horace to charter a plane so he can intercept Dale.  After Jerry murders his fellow backup dancers, the entire cast heads to the best Italy the “It’s A Small World” construction crew could erect on a sound stage.  

Honestly, this plot gets unbelievably complicated and convoluted, as this mistaken identity bit gets dragged out for like another 20 minutes.  Dale keeps trying to tell Madge her husband is a weirdo, and Madge continually blows her off.  When Madge finally gets Dale and Jerry to eat dinner with her, Dale is further put-off by the fact her friend keeps insinuating she should sleep with who Dale thinks is Madge’s husband.  But try as hard as Dale may, she finds Jerry/Horace harder to resist the more they dance together.

Fun fact: This is the dress that Fred Astaire was making fun of in Easter Parade because it shed like nobody’s business and was a pain in the ass to dance with.  Ginger fought Fred and the studio to wear this gorgeous gown, and she won in the end, but not without earning the nickname “Feathers”.

While dancing with her friend’s husband is acceptable, Dale is immediately furious when Jerry/”Horace” proposes to her.  In order to remove herself from this weird fucking dynamic between her friend and her “husband”, she decides to accept Mr. Beddini’s impromptu marriage proposal and they immediately get hitched.  When Madge is informed of this, she immediately blames her husband Horace for Dale’s poor life decision because it was him that was skeezing her out.  Finally, in the last 20 minutes of the movie, the group realizes that Dale thinks Jerry is Horace, and Jerry runs to correct this assumption and rescue her from the Bridal Suite.  He tap dances his way back into her life, and a slow speed chase ensues when the two of them flee in a gondola.  Dale and Jerry get away thanks to Horace’s valet Bates’ intervention, as he’s been tasked with following Dale and is fully apprised of the situation.  While the rest of the party is dead in the water, Jerry and Dale sing, dance and be merry.

Jerry and Dale decide to marry each other, but they need to get Dale divorced from Mr. Beddini first.  Turns out, the person who posed as a priest was MVP of this story, Bates, so the marriage was never legal.  Dale and Jerry immediately tie the knot and everyone lives happily ever after.  The end.

The acting in this movie is great, and several of the line deliveries from the supporting cast had me on the floor.  The music is catchy and memorable, and the dance numbers, of course, are out of this world.   If the plot wasn’t so fucking tedious, Top Hat would have been one of my favorites.

[suguruverse]

— HAIKYUU BOYS WHEN YOU’RE CRUSHING ON AN ANIME CHARACTER PT.2

includes - miya atsumu, kozume kenma and tsukishima kei

a/n - i had a request for this but i accidently posted it instead of saving it to my drafts so i just made a seperate post! sorry! <3

part one

ੈ✩‧₊˚ MIYA ATSUMU tamaki amajiki from bnha

- what a fucking brat

- he thinks he treats you pretty well and he does!!

- so why the fuck would you fall for some shy guy that doesn’t even exist

- he’s actually so confused because he’s like

- im right here?? love me?? stop looking at him?? when you have a gorgeous bf right here??

- he gets so angry with how much he gets jealous over it but there is no way that he’s gonna let a bunch of pixels beat him

- he also gets pretty insecure because he might start to think that you like the shy introverted guys and he’s quite the opposite

- he’s a combination of whiney baby and smug asshole

- he will whinge, whine, pout, fake-cry, complain, annoy you, just everything in the book for you to pay attention to him

- so competitive and for what?

- will literally do anything to grab your attention while you’re watching bnha

- he has literally started twerking in front of you one time

- spoiler alert, it was bokuto who taught him how to twerk during breaks at volleyball practice

- and if you ever have small little petty arguments, he always brings up the fact that you’ve been ‘neglecting’ him for an imaginary guy

- please just comfort him, he just wants to know that you still love him and that he’s still your favourite person

- because you’re his favourite person, so why isn’t he yours?

things he says when he’s jealous of tamaki:

“he needs ta grow a pair of balls, don’t ya think sweetheart?”

“no? WHADYA MEAN NO? I THINK YA LIKED STRONG, CONFIDENT MEN, LIKE ME??? RIGHT BABY??”

“ugh whatever, he’s not even all that”

“if he was real, he won’t even look at ya”

“nono baby, a wasn’t calling you ugly, a think ya absolutely stunning, it’s just that he’s too shy, don’t ya find it annoying?”

“HUHHH CUTE??? LOOK AT ME BABY, DON’T YA THINK A’M THE MOST ADORABLE THING YA HAVE EVER SEEN”

“baby, tell me, would ya love me more if a was more quiet like him??”

“‘nah baby, a ain’t insecure jus wondering”

“a know ya love me baby, thanks, gimme kiss”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ KOZUME KENMA mori from ohshc

- this man will straight up unplug the tv or turn off any device you’re watching ohshc

- most of time, kenma would be very subtle with his jealously

- but not this time

- he’s almost scowling anytime you watch any anime at this point 

- and you find it hilarious when you’re watching anime in the lounge and you just see him glaring you from the entrance of your shared bedroom

- in reality, he’s trying to communicate to you telepathically that he wants you to come spend time with him instead but to you, it just looks like he’s trying to stare you down

- and if you ask him what’s wrong, he’ll give you a little ‘hmph’ and walk away 

- when you ask him why he’s so upset with you, he’s always like

“if you don’t like it, then go with your little boyfriend from that show you watch”

“well sorry i’m not tall and strong like your other boyfriend”

- and if you try to tell him that you’re jealous, he’ll scoff and deny it with his entire heart

- he might even shut himself in his gaming room, but when he notices that you aren’t trying to console him, he’ll sulk even more and gets super clingy

things he says when he’s jealous of mori:

“okay sure he know martial arts, but i bet he would be a terrible boyfriend”

“nah because his relationship with honey is sus”

“you would definitely third wheel them”

“i don’t care if they’re cousins, don’t you think they’re a little too close”

“dang y/n i didn’t know you were into the tall quiet type”

“shut up, i do not feel threatened, you’re imagining things”

“can we go cuddle now, i can’t watch this”

“no? um, uh. did you just reject cuddles?”

“fine, be like that, maybe i’ll just play games. all by myself”

“you know it wouldn’t hurt to love me a little bit more right?”

ੈ✩‧₊˚ TSUKISHIMA KEI gojo from jjk

- lol i guess your type are tall cocky assholes

- tsukishima just does not care at all

- at least that’s what he wants you to think

- in reality, he’s panicking and stressing but not really

- like he knows that gojo is not real so he thinks he’s going mental because he cares a little too much for his liking

- you can feel him judging you from the back of your neck

- please he’s going to tease you so much

- he thinks you’re absolutely fucking crazy, because who likes fictional characters???

- he then starts to think that he’s been really mean to you lately and that’s why you’ve been crushing on some anime character

- he always watches anime with you and has never had a crush on an anime character, so wtf is up with you

- he now believes in gojo slander

- he can’t believe how competitive he is with a fucking anime character

- he will scoff and roll his eyes whenever gojo comes onto the screen

- ONE TIME YOU TOLD HIM THAT GOJO REMINDS YOU OF HIM AND HE FULL ON GOT SO OFFENDED AND DIDN’T SPEAK TO YOU FOR A SOLID 3-5 HOURS

- in conclusion, he’s extremely jealous and thinks you’re very childish

- you’re in a relationship with him because you love him right

- SO LOVE HIM MORE GODDAMNIT

- but when you do show affection, he pushes you off

- like what mf??? i thought you wanted this

things he says when he’s jealous of gojo:

“you know you have a wonderful boyfriend right in front of you right?”

“so y/n, what’s it like being fucking stupid”

“he’s so dang annoying, what do you even like about him?”

“his blindfold is tacky”

“can you stop fangirling when i’m right in front of you, you’re being insufferable”

“if i give you more attention this crush wouldn’t have happened huh”

“you really are an idiot...SHUT UP JUST BECAUSE I LOVE YOU DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOU’RE AN IDIOT”

“why don’t you look at me instead, don’t you think i’m more handsome than him?”

“I’M NOT JEALOUS, I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND”

[juhaksworld]

TBZ reactions to you forgetting what day their birthday is

(not exactly an au but let’s just pretend you can’t look up their birthdays online bc they’re idols lol)

Sangyeon:

lowkey hurt. (you meanie -_- ) like one day you were sitting together talking and you were like “oh my goodness I’m so excited for my birthday in a few months bc it’ll be a reason for us to get the day off and spend all day together and he’ll be like “we could do that for my birthday too!” and you’d be like “.....yeahhhhh!!!!! but ummm when is your birthday?? I’m really sorry I forgot. I’m terrible at remembering dates and stuff” and he’d be like “in two weeks” and you’d instantly feel so bad bc this poor boy deserves better (you meanie x2) you’d keep apologizing and he’d forgive you in his heart but he’d pretend to be sad the rest of the day just to make you feel bad ( as you deserve ) and you’d like make it up to him by planning this super sweet day with him and get him the awesomest gift and he’d tell you he wasn’t actually mad at you for forgetting but you’d make sure never to forget any important date again bc having sangyeon sad/upset with you was too heart wrenching,, even if it was just a joke.

Jacob:

you’d be like going through your calendar at the beginning of the year making sure you have everyone’s birthdays put in correctly and you’d casually ask him when his was and he’d be like “????” thinking it was a joke since y’all had been dating for like 3 years. and then you’d look up and realize how awful you must seem for not remembering so you’d make excuses like “i knowwww when your birthday is i’m just double checking….*blushes*” jacob would start giggling and then come sit beside you and hug you and be all sweet and say something like “ahh it’s alright! don’t feel bad at all!” but then he wouldn’t tell you to make you feel bad and you have to go searching through your pictures from last year to find the right day. he’d just laugh bc he knows you didn’t forget bc he’s not important,,, you’re just kinda forgetful. he’d tease you about it a lot. maybe he’d pretend to forget your birthday one day just to get back at you lol.

Younghoon:

he would think you were joking at first and be like “stahpppp you know when my birthday is!” and you’d be like “ummmm hoonie i don’t actually” and then he’d just be like shocked and a little hurt and then he’d start explaining to you about how his birthday was in fact the DAY OF HIS BIRTH INTO THIS WORLD and without his birthday there would be no Kim Younghoon. and you’d just be like “i know...why birthdays umm..are important hoonie” but he’d keep lecturing you about why you should remember and you’d feel so bad. he wasn’t upset,,, just shocked you could forget something like that. eventually you’d be like “i understand hoonie” and make an excuse to leave the room and then you’d call chanhee and desperately ask him to tell you when hoonie’s birthday was. chanhee would laugh at you but finally give in and then you’d rush back to hoonie and be like “BAEEEEEE YOUR BIRTHDAY IS AUG. 8TH!!!!!!” and he’d be like “duhhh” anyways,,, you’d avoid bringing that situation up with him or chanhee bc it was too embarrassing.

Hyunjae:

after he realized you were serious he’d just laugh in your face. like he wouldn’t be hurt at all he’d just think it was hilarious,, especially since you were so flustered about it and embarrassed for forgetting. he’d go on and on with you about how you “ForGOt HiS biRthDay” and you’d be pretty sure it was in the first half of Sept. but you just weren’t 100% positive, but he wouldn’t tell you and he wouldn’t let any of the other boyz tell you either. then at the end of the day he’d ask for your hand and you’d give it to him...a little afraid of what he was gonna do with that black marker he was holding. he’d write “SEPTEMBER 13TH 1997” in bold thick lettering on your wrist. and you’d be like “SKJDKDJFKSJDH WHY’D YOU WRITE THAT SO BIG WITH A MARKER??? NOW IT WON’T COME OFF!!!!” and he’d just laugh and be like “well,,, hopefully you won’t forget my birthday now!” then he’d kiss you on the cheek and run away for his life.

Juyeon:

clueless,,, he’d be like “you forgot my birthday?? for real? this isn’t a prank?” and you’d be like “i’m sorry T-T” he’d do that face like he’d just blink a couple of times looking at you with a slightly disappointed blank face like “ur serious bae?” and you’d try so hard not to laugh bc he looked so funny and cute but you’d feel so guilty. so you’d go on to explain that you were just having a “blond moment” and you couldn’t think of it. you knew when his birthday was...you were just blanking out right then. so you’d change the subject and cross your fingers that you would remember his birthday later and then you’d write it down 30 different times in different places and add a reminder for his birthday and a reminder to remember his birthday bc,,, you never wanted to admit to juyeon that you actually forgot his birthday. he was always so good at remembering all the important dates that had anything to do with you,,, so you wanted to be better at remembering as well 

Kevin:

he’d be so butt hurt over this oml. he would 100% never tell you and just sulk all day bc he always makes such a big deal out of your birthday that takes weeks of planning and you just ??FORGOT?? his???? a baby lol. even after you remembered and very loudly exclaimed “OOOOHHHHH YEAHHH OFC!!!! HOW STUPID OF ME FOR FORGETTING” he’d still sulk. you’d have to do some serious explaining of yourself and apologizing and everything. he’d watch you put it in your calendar and turn on reminders every day for a week leading up to his bday. would quiz you randomly after that asking you if you remembered his birthday. you’d have to prove your loyalty to him by remembering some small detail about him that was super important to him before he would completely forgive you.

Chanhee:

disappointed but not surprised lol. would just roll his eyes and be like “why must you be this way?” you’d feel bad,,, but not like super embarrassed bc he wouldn’t make a big deal about it. would tease you a little bit and pretend to be hurt,, but you would know he was just pretending. would ask you if you remembered other ppl’s bdays and when you could,,, he’d tease you even more “i feel like i should be jealous, y/n, that you remember juyeon’s birthday so quickly but not mine...your own bf of 2 years” he’d keep asking you randomly throughout the day if you could remember,,,, and when you finally did remember ( or you secretly asked on of the other boyz ) he would stop teasing you as much and just tell you you had to get a certain (expensive) gift for his birthday to make up for forgetting lmao

Changmin:

Laughs when you ask when his birthday is and then after a minute he’s like “wait--- you were being serious???” and you wouldn’t want to admit it bc you know he can get offended easily over certain things sometimes so you’re like “well...i mean...i know when it is...i just can’t..umm...remember...right now….” *nervous laugh* he wouldn’t exactly be upset..more surprised and a little confused like how do you literally forget your own bf’s birthday you weirdo. he’d just give you this judging look like “????” and that would make you feel even worse than if he openly was offended...somehow. anyway you’re like “i’ll just----- wait until it comes back to me...never mind” and you’ll quickly walk away or change the subject bc you hate having him look at you like you’re the biggest idiot of the century. changmin’s just like “this girl. what a strange person I’m dating”

Haknyeon:

he would be sad,,,like “oh my goodness, how did she forget???” I feel like he tends to overthink so he’d just be so astounded and depressed that you had forgotten such an important fact about him. so he begins to ask you other questions about himself to make sure you hadn’t forgotten everything about him like “what’s my mom’s name” “what year was I born” “when did we start dating” “what’s my favorite food at the moment” etc etc. and you just feel so terrible bc this poor buy is convinced that you don’t love him anymore and he just :(((  

[i’m sad writing this y’all ;-; ] 

so anyways,,, you’re like “listen hak,,, the reason i’m randomly asking when your birthday is is bc it’s my literal password and i forgot. I forget everything. you should know that by now T___T it’s not bc I don’t think it’s important to remember.” and hak would be like uwuwuwuwuwu “my birthday is your password?? that’s so cuteeee!!! <3 and then he’d tell you and forgive you bc,,, hak is like that

Sunwoo:

butt hurt pt.2. he’d sulk and sulk. “You can’t remember my own birthday baby???” pouts. you’d have to explain yourself thoroughly and even though he knows you sometimes forget important things,,, he’s still surprised and slightly offended. would say something like “you’re not allowed to have any kisses until you remember” and normally that wouldn’t be that bad of a threat bc you were sure you’d remember after a while,,, but you didn’t want him to be even more offended than he already was so you pretended to be heartbroken by this threat and started to act all desperate to find out his birth date (even though you originally just wanted it to put on a little drawing you were working on beside your bday lol ) and so you’ll like all frantically call chanhee on the phone asking when sunwoo’s birthday was (making it seem like a secret from sunwoo even though you made sure he heard) and then you proudly went to sunwoo and told him you remembered the date and by then he was laughing bc he realized how silly he was for being so sad. (you got a kiss on the top of your head for “remembering” lol)

Eric:

lowkey confused and highkey amused. you forgot his birthday??? lol. Is how he thinks. so like one day you were just talking with him and he was telling stories about his birthday a few years ago, before you started dating… and then you realized that you could not for the life of you remember when his birthday was...you were pretty sure it was in december...but that’s all you could remember so you asked him after he was done telling you a story. and he laughed and was like “duhhh it’s December 22nd” and you were like “OOOHHHHHH YEAHHHHH HOW COULD I FORGET???” and then he was like “wait--- you actually forgot??” and you were like “Ummm yeahhh,,,,, sorry ;-;” and then he was like “SHOOT i shouldn’t have told you so i could use that as a bribe against you!!” and you just [-_-] anyways he’ll randomly think of that throughout the day and be like “omg guys my own gf forgot my birthday. none of y’all have it as hard as i do” and then he’d pretend to be sad lol.

[floralovebot]

How do you think Helia’s “i’m just gg to disappear becuz ive fucked up and i feel like it” tendency affected his relationships with others. Like the guys, or Flora and even Saladin. Like do you think it might have given them trust issues regarding his reliability?

oooo... very nice question.

The really interesting thing about Helia's escapism tendencies is that they almost always come out of left field. Like it completely surprises them every time it happens, even more so the first time it happened. And this is mostly because Helia himself comes off as a very reliable and trustworthy person. I mean Timmy called Helia to help them like after a month of knowing each other and it's like? He didn't even warm up to Brandon that fast. Helia never really gives people reason to believe that he would just... leave or that they can't rely on him. So when he does actually get up and leave, it always surprises them (add on that he never tells them beforehand unlike characters like Bloom).

Ironically enough, Flora is probably the least bothered by it despite her being (arguably) the person he's hurt the most by doing this. The thing is... Flora completely understands it. Remember in the first season when she was fully prepared to live in the fucking swamp because the girls were mad at her? Flora 100% understands what it's like to disappoint people and to want to fully fuck off because of it. And while she is often confused about why he got upset in the first place, she never hates him for leaving. Flora cares about Helia so much that no matter how many times he leaves, she'll always try at least once to get him to come back. And since his escapism tendencies majorly calm down after he realizes how much he loves them, it never really affected their relationship in a negative way and it certainly doesn't affect how she views him in the future. If anything, I'd say these times strengthened their relationship and understanding of each other.

Now the Specialists on the other hand... I find it hilarious and also really sad how they got more hurt than Flora did. I really want to talk about Timmy in particular because he was the one who was most affected whenever Helia left. I've said this before but before Helia, Timmy really didn't have a super close best friend on the specialists team. Sky and Brandon were already besties and he practically hated Riven before he got better so he was majorly in need of a close friend. Then Helia comes along and he's not this super macho man who keeps making fun of him?

It gets missed if you're not paying attention to the specialists as much but Timmy fucking idolized Helia for a while. He had this idealized version of Helia in his head that could do no wrong and would always be the perfect friend. And that's why Helia ditching them affected him so much. While Flora reacted with confusion and sadness, Timmy got angry. He was genuinely hurt that Helia was being a bad friend and couldn't understand why. In fact, it was literally Riven that had to tell him "bro you're being weird Helia isn't perfect no one is calm your tits". This didn't actually make their relationship worse though, it made it better. Timmy had to go through this little self realization moment where he realized that he was placing impossible standards of "goodness" on Helia and how that wasn't healthy for either of them. It made him take a step back and go "yeah we're friends but I can't expect him to be perfect all the time and I can't rely on him like that". It made their relationship more even, balanced, and ultimately a lot healthier.

Saladin is sad because he mostly just feels disappointed and potentially even guilty. It's hard to say exactly how he feels since we don't get a lot of inner dialogue with him, but we know that Saladin cares deeply about Helia and that he really just wants what's best for him. Saladin mostly seems to be sad that Helia feels like he can't rely on him or that he needs to escape every now and then to be happy. He gets disappointed in himself for not being able to help Helia properly. And this shows up really clearly when it's shown how much he's willing to help Helia escape and how happy he is when Helia actually makes a decision.

It's honestly really funny but no one ever actually distrusts him afterward and they don't rely on him less. They often get confused about why he's left in the first place, but then once the situation gets explained they always understand and agree with him. If he ends up hurting Flora they get mad at him but he always made up for it and apologized properly so they never actually stayed mad for long (and they didn't hold a grudge against him - something they often do with the guys).

I think, for the most part, Helia's escapism was really tied to feeling like he didn't belong anywhere and trying to escape from really harsh expectations and rules. And once he realizes that he is free from all of that when he's with the specialists and winx, he stops trying to escape from his life. At the end of the day, they know that he'll be there when they need it even when he's going through one of his moods.

[toujoursmiraculous]

Thoughts and Reaction to SIMPLEMAN

A day late but that's what happens when good subs aren't out until the next day, and you're busy that day. This episode is so sweet and wholesome that it was worth it, for sure. I'm still not sure which one is Ella and which one is Etta. They're always addressed together so I just don't know, but I'd like to. ;-; (Note: Looked it up on Wikia, the one in pink with seafoam earrings is Etta, the one in seafoam and pink earrings is Ella) See Nino knows. Nino's concerned about Marinette babysitting three kids already. He lives with one all the time, times that by 4 and WOO that's crazy. Sweet of her to want to ensure her best friend has some time to relax with her boyfriend. Oh. OH those poor Kwami! Especially Fluff and her ears being pulled like a game of tug-of-war! I can see it now, Fluff now traumatized by young kids. So if Alix ever has any in the future, they better grow up knowing about Fluff right away or she's in for a horror show. PV TRAILER AND MUSIC! I'm such a fan of the music and the PV that when my sister told me about it, it made me even more excited for this episode than I already was. And I was very excited already! Manon: So? Aren't you going to answer it? She knows what's up. So Adrien's calling asking Marinette to help sew on a wing? Because nobody else there can do it? I dunno, sounds kind of sus to me, Adrien. Are you sure you're not using that as an excuse just to see your "friend"?

Marinette's biggest problem is thinking so far ahead in her brain that when she goes to speak, she's either way far ahead of herself or gets everything mixed up as it comes out of her mouth. If she just lived in the moment and didn't plan (which being Ladybug that's probably very hard not to do outside the costume), she'd be able to do this and overcome that fear of rejection as well. She seems to have that part fairly taken care though. When Gina said she was in China to learn Kung Fu and met a girl that reminded her of Marinette, instantly thought about Fei. How could it not be her? Rolland gets asked to babysit, immediately is like "Let's do something fun and dangerous!" Tom must have had an interesting childhood with Rolland and Gina. o.o Clearly Rolland doesn't realize who the heroes are based on. Or just completely forgot he met them when Bakerix. xD Adrien's so sweet with Marinette, even if he can't understand a single thing she says. That's adorable. But a really good way to thank her could've been "Would you stay and watch the photoshoot, and then maybe we could go do something fun/get something to eat after?" BOOM. Problems solved. But I have a feeling this may come back later, and maybe that would turn out better. Marinette's grandparents tend to give Hawk Moth/Shadowmoth the most sass and trouble in comparison to other Parisians. XD Rolland is so sweet to these kids, and they are so caring towards him. It's so wholesome! Just think: if that helicopter wasn't crashing behind her, she would've screamed she loved Adrien. So close. Simpleman is the chillest akuma. Being all "Hey kids, even though I'm akumatized, let's go out into the city!" and the kids are like "Yeah, okay. Hey let's get ice cream!"

Him protecting them from all the flying pizza boxes that guy was throwing around everywhere was super sweet too. LB and CN: Things are complicated. So we should find Shadow Moth directly. Let's run around the city screaming for him to come find us so we can fight him! I seriously think if Chat Noir or Ladybug brought up the fact that their identities made things complicated, they would've revealed themselves right then and there. LOL at the old school fighting and them behaving like young children xD "NO!" "I'm NaNa, ClaCla is no longer with NaNa! Paris is really messy! BuggyBug, KittyKity, help us!" Oh this is going to be so hilarious in the English dub with the voice actress who also voices Nathalie. XDDD A bouncy ball is very complicated for Ladybug. That a literal 5 year old can figure out. Wow this villain's power sure did a number on her. xD I find it all the more stressful actually, that Chat Noir and Ladybug can remember what they were doing the whole time they were affected by the akuma. That means if Marinette said she loved him, or they revealed their identities, there would be no going back or being able to make an excuse for it. Can we just talk about how those kids could understand that the reason he wants things to be simple and is upset that the world is so different, is because it scares him and he doesn't think he's capable of learning and changing with the world? A majority of adults these days can't even take two seconds to try to understand someone else's situation(s) before judging and being outright nasty people towards them. Yet these kids were able to do so. And a lot of kids actually are like they are in real life. Some may see this as an episode just for kids to appreciate, but there's a lot in here that's aimed at adults, too. Adults need reminders and these lessons just as much, if not more so than young kids. It's adults that lose their way and needed to be reminded of it, as they have a greater immediate impact on the world. I've seen so many people judge Rolland, make assumptions about him which is almost always the very worst things they could think of. But this episode shows how caring and willing to learn and understand he really is, he was just hiding behind his fear of change and not being able to keep up with it. Some lessons in this episode for the adult viewers are: -You're never too old to learn, get over your fears, try new things, become a better person, and see things through new eyes. -Don't over-complicate or overthink, but don't be lazy and think keeping everything simple will actually in reality be the answer, sometimes it can make things worse! -Kids tend to see the world as things are, not what they think it should be, or believing they're the center of the universe like adults tend to do. -Being wise means knowing that regardless of your field, educational background, age, or lived experiences, you don't know everything, there is always more for you to learn about everything out there. The kids in this show are quite wise, as they know that there is so much they don't know and how they treat learning new things. They also know how adults tend to understand, or act like they understand everything, so we as adults aren't used to it when we don't and react negatively to that because it scares us when we don't know. In that way, this episode was very brilliant! Also that hug at the end, oh you can bet these kids are going to want to go visit Grandpa Rolland, and honestly I'd love to see bits of them here and there, their bonds are adorable and they've changed his life in such a positive way. Also the pure Ladynoir without another hero or Alya or any kind of upsetting situation was honestly such a breath of fresh air! Maybe not the kind of Ladynoir people wanted, but it made me happy. Marinette acknowledged her problem is she's scared of Adrien rejecting her. First step is admitting it! Can't blame her for not being able to do what she wanted, she only just realized the issue after all. It's going to take a little time now to work on it! Is it just me, or

does it seem Adrien's almost trying not to laugh when she was messing up and then asked if he liked fishing? XD Maybe it was the actors tone with the facial expression but it seemed that way! But the way he just watches her run away and does that adorable little chuckle... Oh Adrien, we really need you to start realizing why you keep doing that. "She (Ladybug) reminds me of your grandmother and you know what? You look exactly like her (Ladybug)." Well. Oop. He's onto you! Apparently Rolland isn't blind, as not a single character suspected her from her personality or appearance to be Ladybug so far. Even Adrien only began piecing it together due to circumstances (and his own personal wish that Marinette is LB, you can't convince me otherwise this isn't true). This is going to come back later, possibly Dearest Family? Overall such a good episode with a lot of things in it, if you decide to watch without high expectations or biases. After all the angst lately, it was certainly needed as a nice change of pace.

[momota-kaiharem]

maybe this is just my kinnie speaking but i think a lot about the way that shuichi and maki interact with kaito. let me take an interaction from the talent development plan as an example.

just rewatching this interaction made me pretty mad again FLKJDSLKFJ i love training trio and i freaking love their relationship, but god, the way that maki and shuichi treat kaito here just drives me absolutely crazy, so let’s break it down.

i think maki is the more egregious offender here (because shuichi is a simp with manners) but throughout the interaction she’s very dismissive towards kaito, asking why he brought them out there (when shuichi says it’s something they do a lot) and then saying he was useless when he went with them to the novoselic, and saying he didn’t need to go along at all. but up until here shuichi does defend kaito a bit, even if it’s in a bit of a patronisng way (remarking that kaito “does this a lot” but “isn’t it fun” and remarking that kaito’s use on the novoselic mission was to invite maki).

and then kaito says that when he goes to space, he wants to see if he can see shuichi and maki from up there, which is a really sweet sentiment, albeit unrealistic. maki shuts him down pretty fast saying he couldn’t see them from that far, and shuichi says that he might be able to see the general region, and then kaito says that he’d like to take them up to space, and THIS is the thing that really frustrates me.

kaito loves shuichi and maki. romantically, platonically, however you’d like to describe it, it’s obvious that he cares about them a LOT. i mean, he tries to convince kaede to become an astronaut too in his ftes with her, but you could argue that kaito was trying to convince her to go to space because he really respects her (as indicated by the way kaito was the only one to consistently stand up for kaede through chapter one, and the way he was willing to fight the exisals to keep monokuma from executing her, and the way he was crying after she got executed... also he asks her for hugs a lot and it’s really cute kaito you simp ilu) so again, it shows, kaito says he wants to take people to space because he loves them. space is what kaito has always been most passionate about. it’s his longest standing goal and something he wants to share with the most important people in his life.

obviously he’s being unrealistic here!! but maki and shuichi have been friends with kaito for three years by now, and they should be used to it-- they are used to it, actually, as shown by maki’s response-- but maki’s response is mean!!! it’s mean. kaito shared a sweet sentiment about wanting to share his most treasured thing with them and maki responded by calling him stupid-- which, if you remember, kaito really doesn’t like being called!!! i’d go grab screenshots, but i don’t want to go sit and watch trials until i can find it, but often when kaito is called an idiot he responds by yelling that he’s not, and that he doesn’t like being called that. i know with maki a lot of it is just banter, but still, the utter disregard for kaito’s feelings just because he’s a hahaha positive himbo man hee hee hoo hoo is... ugh. it happens a LOT throughout the game and it’s really upsetting to me.

and then shuichi’s response is what really upsets me. i know it’s just meant as a tease, but let’s think about everything that kaito has done for shuichi and maki for a moment, here. sure, his practical abilities might not be on par with theirs. he’s not a detective and he’s not an assassin, so he can’t solve murders or fight off danger, but his EQ is INCREDIBLY high. he saw maki and shuichi, and he saw that they were struggling, and he decided to take them under his wing and help them to grow. he didn’t have to do that!!! he didn’t owe them anything. maki and shuichi could’ve grown at their own paces, of course, i believe in them, but a large part of their becoming more comfortable with who they are was owed to kaito’s help and love and guidance that he showed them over the years.

so the implication that kaito, an ASTRONAUT, would need them to go to space to save him, is utterly ridiculous. and mean!! it’s really mean. it implies that kaito is useless without them, that he needs them to go up there to save him (like they’re always saving him or whatever, which i find really stupid because there are absolutely no tdp events where they help him even SLIGHTLY) when he’s literally been training to be an astronaut and go to space for the last three years!!! it’s his special interest, and it’s so invalidating, to take kaito wanting to share that with them and imply that he’s useless at it, and that he needs assistance that they’ve never offered him because of it.

and maki’s response is really gross to me too, like kaito doesn’t have any other friends, which is totally stupid. i’m sure kaede would jump to his aid if he needed her, and gonta, and any other members of their class-- i mean, kaito is a nice guy!!! he helps people!!! it was easy to rally everyone in chapter five to save kaito because he was inspiring them!!! kokichi took him because if he didn’t, kaito would be there making everyone want to keep going. maki saying that implies that kaito is so annoying that they’re the only ones who would put up with him, that they’re these two skilled people who are just there because they pity him-- which isn’t true at all, i mean they’re totally talented but ALSO i know for a FACT that maki and shuichi really appreciate kaito, so why don’t they just act like it??

actually, i have thoughts on the reason why they behave that way. it’s something that happens a lot when you get comfortable with people. kaito projects confidence, this really strong, self-satisfied demeanour. it’s clear (or at least it seems to be clear) that he has a lot of self respect. so the teasing, to maki and shuichi, feels harmless, because kaito has high self esteem, he can take it. besides, he clearly has an inflated ego, right? so he needs them to take him down a peg.

except that’s not true, and you can tell that kaito has low self esteem because of what happens in chapter four. all throughout that chapter people rag on kaito, calling him an idiot, saying he’s useless during trials, saying shuichi is the only smart one. kokichi calls him an idiot and antagonises him over and over and over and shuichi NEVER sticks up for him, never once sticks his neck out and says “hey, i really appreciate kaito, and i need you to stop talking bad about him”. instead he just lets kaito fend everyone off alone, and of course maki doesn’t stick up for him either. that’s part of what fuels kaito’s turn on shuichi in chapter five. sure, you could argue that it was about gonta-- but shuichi also turned the tables on kaede, who kaito showed more consistent affection/respect towards, and he didn’t hate shuichi for that. no, the problem was that shuichi was getting all the credit and appreciation from everybody (which was fine!!! he led the trials) and kaito was getting dumped on over and over and over and shuichi was just letting it happen, soaking in all the admiration and letting kaito be called useless.

and i mean, that’d be hard for anyone, being called stupid over and over, getting forcefully logged out of the simulation twice, once by your own sidekick who didn’t even bother asking you permission first, but it’s clear to me that kaito feels inadequate, especially as compared to shuichi, who is so intelligent and composed. kaito projects outwards, he puts on this big grin and calls himself a hero, and that must stem from a place of insecurity. there’s no way that someone who gave himself a dorky title like luminary of the stars is super secure in himself and his relationships. 

there’s another reason why maki and shuichi probably treat kaito that way, and that’s because when you respect and appreciate someone that much, and you struggle expressing it, struggle with vulnerability, it becomes... hard to express. maki hasn’t been close to someone like she’s close to kaito for as long as she remembers. she’s never had a freaking nickname before, i mean, her life is really sad. clearly some of the teasing comes from a place of love, of “i respect and admire you so much, you helped me come out of my shell, idk what i would’ve done without you” and not knowing how to express it. i’ve been there. we’ve all been there. when you love a person but don’t know how to say it, sometimes you just end up playfully ragging on them.

and that’s fine, if it’s two-sided. banter has to be mutual, it has to be something that everyone is enjoying and is comfortable with. you choose things that they’re not sensitive about, that they’re fine with you taking the piss out of them over-- that they take the piss out of themself over. but let’s think about kaito for a minute here, and whether this is really banter.

1. does kaito ever jokingly call himself an idiot? does he ever say he’s useless, or he needs people to save him, or he’s dumb? how does he react when other people do it to him? even when maki calls him a dumbass ingame he gets upset about it, but then he brushes it off, because genuinely being hurt over something like that requires vulnerability and kaito doesn’t really DO vulnerability lmao

2. how does kaito respond? does he tease them back? i think if this was a case of healthy banter, kaito would’ve gone with a jab of his own, like, “haha, you two are hilarious, you know you love me” sorta thing, and then moved on to talk about the moon like he does in his next line. he doesn’t, though, and you never really see kaito making fun of those two. he calls maki a coward in chapter three, but he’s just being honest with her, being blunt about her weaknesses to help her grow. kaito doesn’t sugar coat things, doesn’t hold your hand and walk you through your problems. he’s a tough love sort of guy and that doesn’t work for everyone but it does really work for shuichi and maki, to the point where both of them become pretty confident in themselves, owed at least in part to the way that kaito guided them through becoming the people they wanted to be. but he doesn’t really tease them, never calls shuichi out on wearing his hat (he doesn’t even notice it) and never makes fun of maki for being an assassin/having a kill count/whatever stuff they’re insecure about. of course he doesn’t! kaito is a good friend.

i think it’s important to mention here that kaito does respond with lighthearted indignation before he brushes it off, but i just don’t feel like this is healthy, two-sided banter. you see maki and shuichi acting dismissive of kaito a lot, despite everything that he does for them. he puts up with it, but if anything that just shows to me more how everything in the relationship flows one way. all the care, love, and respect goes from kaito to shuichi and maki. he takes care of them, he helps them, he doesn’t mock them. in return they tease him (even if their intentions are good!!!) and don’t ever really push him to open up, nor do they stand up for him when people put him down, nor do they particularly try and get him to be honest with his emotions. take chapter four, for example, after kokichi punches kaito and he doubles over, coughing up blood. maki and shuichi just buy that it’s a cold when kaito says that, they don’t push, even though they’re both clearly skeptical. respecting boundaries is important, but you NEED to push sometimes, you need to make people open up, because in that case kaito was literally dying, and he had to spend the rest of his life putting up a front.

i mean, even when he was dying he was holding back the urge to cough, acting brave and strong, putting on a hero face so that the two of them could go on to defeat the mastermind and focus on things that mattered. not on him.

i love training trio, i think these three work so well together and they can bring out each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but i just think that shuichi and maki do NOT treat kaito well, and unless he opens up and communicates about it, it’s going to lead to building resentments and an increased lowering of kaito’s self esteem. maybe this wasn’t intentional on the part of the game, but if it wasn’t, clearly it just shows that dr is incapable of writing healthy friendships. i’d love to write a character study someday about these guys, where kaito talks about his feelings and maki and shuichi realise they treat him like crap, but until then i guess i’ll just sit here and scream about it.

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 2

The Girls Are Fighting!!!

We return to Aguefort Adventuring Academy where the man himself has just told the Seven Maidens that their party is being split up which they are NOT having even though it doesn’t seem to be a malicious plot so much as the fact that Danielle, Ostentatia, and Zelda are Juniors while the other four are graduating Seniors. Antiope casts Hunter’s Mark on Aguefort, Penny pleads, Katja threatens (well, “threatens”; she walks up menacingly and then says that he can’t do this because it’s the only group of friends she’s ever had and it’s heartbreaking like all of her non-hilarious dialogue is).

Aguefort understands that it sucks and has no respect for rules but says it’s out of his hands. Sam clocks that he’s hiding something (along with the fact that he seems to know about something going on with Antiope and Penny which we know is their respective internship/apprenticeship offers) and calls him out, hitting him with a Lightning Lure to drag his ass back when he tries to turn into a bat and escape out the window. She’s unhinged and I love it. 

So does Aguefort who decides to let them in on some school secrets, leaving a decoy while he leads them all to the super secret part of the forbidden library which is bondage themed because sure. Also, Ostentatia is topless for this also because sure. He does a lot of pomp and circumstance to summon a book which Yelle flatly says better not just be the syllabus and it isn’t but she’s close. It’s the bylaws of the school district which he has summoned for the guidelines on the special, magical thing the girls can get so they can graduate together…

Their GEDS!!!!! Trés mystical. 

Basically what they need to do is complete a level A, B, or C quest together (which Antiope knows are like the top 3 highest difficulty quests--they go from A-F) and get signoff from the superintendent. But the superintendent has been missing for 12 years and there can’t be a new one until she’s dead (which she isn’t or else they’d be able to appoint a new one). Her name is Tectonya Karkovnya (who I will be calling TK) and Aguefort calls her, “chaotic and impossible to predict,” which coming from him is como se dice, troubling. 

Sam pulls out her mirror to do a little snooping on TK’s past and sees that she’s a coppery, earth genasi woman. She also sees her talking to Aguefort and saying that the magic of consciousness is far superior to his beloved chronomancy. Then the scene shifts to show her getting more and more worried as she got deeper into her studies and then going to a dwarven holy site in the Mountains of Chaos with some kind of shadow figure following her. 

Penny gets photos of the super cursed bylaws and Arthur leaves since he very much is the principal of the school and has to do his job (ostensibly). With Aguefort gone, the girls discuss the proposition after conscripting a very reluctant Antiope to be their leader (Aabria hilariously improvises that a shaft of sunlight somehow comes down to illuminate her and she has to step out of the spotlight). 

They discuss whether they want to do this GED quest or not and Zelda says she wants to but she wants to give anyone who has other stuff going on an out so they don’t feel beholden. Ostentatia immediately shoots back that Zelda is just saying that because she has plans with Gorgug. That brings down the mood and Sam, despite being a water genasi, fans the flames by saying that Gorgug has lots going on that doesn’t involve her so she shouldn’t be running back to him all the time. 

Yelle tries to calm things down and says they should sleep on it but Sam and Ostentatia are taking this super personally and are offended that they’re even having this conversation. Penny accidentally lets slip that she has some kind of apprenticeship (she’s trying to keep it on the DL because it’s supposed to be a secret) and oh man it becomes a Whole Thing. They fight in the way that you do when everyone in the fight actually wants the same thing and cares deeply about each other but are in completely different headspaces which are making them lash out.

Penny, not wanting to be around the conflict, goes invisible. Zelda is suppressing going into a rage and says that maybe she should go be with Gorgug. At least he won’t yell at her. Yelle once again tries to cool things down and suggests they have a text thread where they can say if they’re in or out by the end of the night instead of hashing it out in the open. She’s accused of not being in and, in response, texts that she’s in. Ostentatia and Sam also immediately text that they’re in, which basically makes her “solution” entirely moot. 

Zelda is finally fully fed up and leaves (Penny following invisibly). Katja also follows. 

Antiope can tell that Sam is upset about something that’s not this but Sam brushes her off rudely and storms off (quite literally, causing storm clouds outside in her wake). Yelle goes after her. Ostentatia is left with Antiope.

Time for a string of very emotional mini scenes which I highly encourage you to watch because they are peak improv.  

Zelda, Katja, (Invisible) Penny

Katja runs to find Zelda who is under a tree crying and asks if she’s OK. Zelda says that Sam and Ostentatia are so beautiful and confident and eloquent and she gets so tongue tied and useless when they disagree with her because she’s so timid. Zelda wants this so bad but she doesn’t want to feel like she’s forcing her friends to stay with her. 

Katja, as we know, has major abandonment issues because of her constantly away dad (and prob her mom too) and she doesn’t want to be left behind again but she also doesn’t want her friends to factor her in so she tries to be stoic and says that the people you love have to want to stay. But with a 3, Zelda immediately clocks the emotion behind the words. Instead of calling her out, Zelda offers to listen to music with her. 

Penny takes this opportunity to make herself known (which has got to be terrifying--unless you’re used to it and then it’s like same shit as usual from Ms. Luckstone) and Zelda goat jumps to grab her out of the tree she was crying in above them and tells her that she doesn’t have to go invisible every time there’s conflict. They all agree that they hate confrontation and Rehka gets the funniest lowkey line of the episodes: that she wouldn’t know what to do if they didn’t agree on that. We then cut to…

Ostentatia and Antiope

Where Izzy gets the high key funniest moment of the episode by transitioning in with a big, “You know I LOVE confrontation,” which breaks everyone at the table. But she says it as a preface to admitting that she may have been a bit of a bitch to Zelda. She plays coy for like a half second before she breaks down sobbing with Antiope catching her before she sinks fully to the floor. Antiope comforts her and admits that while she wants to stay with the party, she hates having options taken away from her as they have been her whole life effectively. She was honestly kind of relieved when she was trapped in the crystal because it meant all that pressure was gone for a bit. They affirm that they love each other then Ostentatia goes to apologize to Zelda. 

Danielle and Sam

Yelle goes to talk to Sam (who she adorably calls “merbae”) and while Sam doesn’t wanna talk about it, Yelle says they don’t have to. She just wants to be there for her in whatever capacity she needs. She knows Sam loves her friends and would never hurt them on purpose so something must be wrong with her-- “History of abandonment?” Sam finishes, almost glibly. She’s tired of losing people. She doesn’t want to lose more. She doesn’t want things to change. Nature is change, Yelle says. Nature sucks, Sam says. Yelle is gonna pretend like she didn't hear that. 

Sam feels bad that she snapped at Zelda and Yelle says that they’re all a family. Things will be alright. The storm clouds that Sam reflexively summoned peter out into a cool, refreshing mist. 

Ostentatia and Zelda

Ostentatia goes to where Zelda and the girls are and full ass runs at her like they weren’t just fighting. After assuring her that she’s not there to fight she apologizes, saying she was a cow. Zelda says she honestly agrees with Ostentatia that she wants the group to stay together and wishes she could be bolder in non-rage settings. Ostentatia says that maybe if the Seniors leave they can still have a party and Penny vetos that even though, as Ostentatia says, it’s a pretty reasonable compromise. Anyway, they basically all go in a circle saying they love each other and it’s very sweet. 

I’m serious, I can’t do these heart to hearts justice in this format, just go watch them for that emotional girl group goodness.

Anyway, outside of the main group, Antiope goes to talk to her sister Corsica who is currently teaching a class. Antiope does not give AF. She orders the students out and they scatter. Wouldn’t you?

Antiope wants advice. Should she stay with her party after flaming out of her last one? Should she take the internship and stay on the path her parents want her on? Corsica really feels for her. Antiope has had to struggle in a way that she and their brothers never did. She finally answers that she and her brothers are awesome and successful fighters but none of them have been able to do the scariest thing possible: disappoint their parents. They’re soldiers. They like it that way. They fall in line. But maybe Antiope isn’t a soldier. Maybe she’s a leader. She ordered those kids out of the room without thinking after all and they obeyed. It’s an extremely good speech and Antiope basically has chills, as do I.  

I assume while this is happening or perhaps right before everyone goes home, Penny goes to see Jawbone (who has some spiffy new art--as did Gilear who cameoed early in the episode when Aguefort atomic wedgied him invisibly because sure) and talk about this uber difficult decision she had to make. Jawbone gets to the heart of the matter pretty quick. Penny is a high achiever who’s lived a life without choice. But now that she’s about to be off the rails for the time she’s freaking out. Penny sees the truth in the statement (after hilariously trying to solve his metaphor about an amusement park) and thanks him for the perspective. She then, in a very Fig move, tries to kiss him and Jawbone basically stiff arms her and breezes right past like it didn’t happen, showing her out. What a trooper that Jawbone.   

Moving on to Katja. When she gets home she tries to call her dad who is unreachable on his hell mission. She leaves him a message saying that he should call her back when he can and she knows what she wants for her graduation present now. She wants her party to not break up. This breaks Brennan and me. 

She then snoops arounds for info on TK. She sees letters of her dad trying to get her into Hudol. And she sees some stuff from the Ministry of Adventure, asking if he knew where TK was. But she doesn’t get anything else. At least, she doesn’t get anything else that’s helpful. She does however find a picture of her mom which makes her bolt to go talk to Cinnamon who prances for her to make her feel better. She joins in dancing, badly.

EDIT: I initially wrote that Katja’s mom was dead because that’s what I thought she said but @ennn said that in the Adventuring Party, Rekha said that her mom didn’t die, she left. Which is less dramatic in some ways but SO MUCH WORSE for abandonment issues so, yikes girl!

Yelle meanwhile goes home to talk to her unofficial third mom, Holly, who is the awakened tree under which her house is. Picture a Grandmother Willow situation from Pocahantas basically. Yelle talks about the conflict a bit and, as usual, ends up on a tangent about how the world is unfair and she has to speak for the voiceless. Holly is concerned for her (as are her other moms which I may have neglected to mention in the last recap). She asks Yelle if she can tell her something that might be painful. Yelle agrees. Holly says that Yelle is great and wonderful and kind but she spends so much time speaking for other people that she never speaks for herself. Her moms worry that there will come a day when she needs help and will have to ask for it without couching it in terms of the greater good and she won’t be able to. 

Yelle really hopes she’s high when the time comes. 

At her home, Ostentatia casts Commune With The City to see if TK has been around and she’s not there now but she can tell she has been (though there’s no indication on if that’s recently or not). On a 17 religion check she knows that there is a dwarven holy site in the mountains that matches Sam’s description from the mirror. She’s still avoiding her dad but when she prays for her spells, she asks for her dad to feel like himself again too. 

Hey, what time is it? Let me check my watch. 

Ah yes, it’s time for Sam to make some rash decisions. 

She feels like she should text Zelda but doesn’t. Instead, she goes into Penelope’s room. And she takes out her mirror. And even though she’s expended the charge for today, she tries to make it show her Penelope. 

OK, says Brennan. Sure. Hey, can you roll me a quick little Wisdom Save?

5. 

Haha, Sam’s in danger. 

The mirror heats up as it’s pushed beyond its limits and Sam sees an image of a young Penelope with braces grabbing her hands and grinning and saying that they’ll be best friends. Then, the image shifts and she sees the Penelope of the present in her tattered prom queen dress and glass shard crown. Her eyeless, haunting, demon prom queen form, teeth razor sharp as her words. 

“A call without a text,” she says. “Are you out of your mind?”

“You look better than you ever did alive,” Sam spits back. 

It is a battle of the bitches right out of the gate. The girls are fighting part two if you will. They snipe at each other for a bit and Brennan has Sam roll insight into herself. On a 19, Sephie says that’s not enough for Sam to get a read on herself (yikes girl) so she doesn’t understand that this fight can only ruin her because while Penelope enjoys causing people pain, Sam doesn’t. 

They both get in some very choice barbs but when Penelope tries to entice her into making a devilish pact and disparages her new party, Sam does the mic drop of the century by telling her that her parents are divorcing and hanging up. The entire table LOSES THEIR MIND. It is like a real life representation of one of those Draw The Squad memes. Everyone brandishes their fans in a salute to that truly epic conversation ender. 

As the night draws to a close, Brennan asks the girls who haven’t responded to the text chain yet if they respond. Katja texts that she’s in. Zelda texts Antiope and Penny that she’s not going to text whether she’s in or out until they respond because she doesn’t want it to feel like a 5 on 2 dogpile.

Antiope and Penny call then text, then call, then text, then call each other to discuss what they should do and also hype each other up because with all the drama, they didn’t really get to celebrate their opportunities. Penny tries to downplay her thing and insinuates that it wouldn’t be a big loss if she wasn’t in the group anymore and Antiope shuts that down immediately. You’re the last thing so many people see before they die Penny! That’s so cool! 

They both decide to text that they’re abstaining from voting for now and go to bed.

The next day, Antiope gets up and sees that her party’s schedule has been cleared for the next two weeks by the school for quest reasons. She tells her dad she wants to talk to Charity Blythe (the woman at the Ministry of Adventure she needs to talk do) and he sets up a no pressure (but actually tons of pressure) meeting with her before turning her 5 mile run into a 12 mile run because she is a Jones and 5 mile runs are for Amateurs. 

Ant texts the rest of the Maidens that this meeting is happening so they can maybe get some quest info from Charity and Ostentatia has in the meantime texted (after the 2 abstains) that she will be going for the GED regardless and anyone who wants to join can. Of course, there was never any reason to NOT go for it (besides the danger which they obv don’t care about) and getting it doesn’t mean any doors are closed to them. It’s just that emotions are running so high they can’t fully seem to see that (or at least some members can’t). 

Ant doesn’t have the clearance to meet at Charity’s office so they meet at the Museum of Adventuring instead. In it happens to be the skeleton of Kalvaxus who they killed (if you don’t remember, the Bad Kids killed him first and then he was resurrected so the Maidens could also kill him for catharsis reasons). Tensions are still super high as evidenced by Sam’s snide abstention comment to Penny and Ant and then by her TRYING TO LIGHTNING BOLT THE DRAGON SKELETON TO DESTROY IT.

GIRL.

That doesn't happen though because she’s Counterspelled by Charity Blythe who walks in, surprised to see that Antiope brought her whole party. Antiope says they were just leaving but Charity can sense shenanigans when she sees them and says if they’re gonna spy on the conversation they might as well stay for it which they of course do.

She gives Antiope a rundown of the internship: 1 year commitment with a possibility to expand to 2-3 years. Stipend. She’d have to live in Bastion City.

Katja remembers that her dad was talking to the Ministry of Adventure in the letters she found and asks Charity about it. Charity says they were asking him about TK’s whereabouts because he was friends with her. On that, Yelle casts Detect Thoughts with a Stealth roll of 17 (we see on a secret Box of Doom roll that Charity got a 26 to see her cast it). Anyway, she sees that TK took some object with her when she disappeared (which she later sees is a crystal screen with a map seemingly marking quest locations from A-F) and of course the fact that Charity knows this. Yelle shares this info with everyone as Antiope walks off with Charity to talk further. Katja suggests to the group that maybe Ant should take the internship to get more info for their quest. While she’s talking to Charity, Ant feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

See looks up and sees a figure with blood red lips look at her and disappear.

Yikes! Combat time baybee!

Superlatives 

Danielle: Most Likely to Talk Her Way Out of a Hostage Situation 

While, like her mothers, I am slightly concerned that Danielle is the type to set fire to herself to make sure others are warm, I also very much love her chill, warm, encouraging vibes. For those of you coming off of MisMag, she is like vibing at the same wavelength as Whitney Jammer but with the intensity turned all the way down. Danielle encouraging Sam honestly gave me like second hand calm. Excellent vibes. 

Random Thoughts

If you’re wondering how long it took for it to come up that Aguefort banged a phoenix, the answer is 12 minutes.

The concept of phoenix chlamydia is the definition of thanks, I hate it. 

Aguefort saying that TK is a crazy person could literally mean anything tbh. It could mean she is the most batshit person on the planet or it could mean she’s totally normal and just kinda bugs him. Literally no way to tell. 

Someone (I think Rekha?) mentioned that the cursed bylaws book is copper and so is TK. Idk if that’s relevant but thought I’d flag it anyway. 

We learn in this episode that the friendship bracelets Penny made them last week let them track each other and see each other even if one of the in knocked out (which is what gives it utility outside of what their crystals can already do).

We learn in this episode that Skullcleaver Elementary School is actually named after Katja’s family. 

Nothing like the fear you feel when a DM gives you what you wanted even on a failure. And on that note...

Sam, I wish you a very happy Please Go To Therapy. Please girl. 

This episode was such an emotional roller coaster. I deeply empathize with the horrible feeling that your friends have stuff going on and you don’t and you’re going to be left behind. It’s so rough to see everyone hurting and lashing out (or in the case of Yelle for instance, trying and failing to diffuse the situation). But it’s so nice to see everyone trying to be there for each other and apologizing and affirming that they love each other (from Antiope saying that she would kill and die for any of them to Danielle defusing the ticking timebomb that is Sam). The players really get the cadence of how teenage girl friendship works and it’s such a treat to watch. 

“Did we ruin your life?”

Do you think ep 7 of The Seven is gonna be when everything pops off? As a DM I wouldn’t be able to resist that.

Penny’s response to being told that she can’t take every path is, “You can with chronomancy” which isn’t a bad point. 

Rekha is the Zac of The Seven which is to say low key the funniest person on the planet. Her saying she was so scared that she wasn’t gonna be told “I love you” during that scene was so funny. Her comic timing is impeccable. 

Katja fainting at the end of the “I love you” session after Penny says she loves her and Cinnamon. 

I love the table ambient whisper of, “LCAB” under Antiope’s scene with Corsica. 

I really felt for Zelda in this episode. Like, I felt for everyone but especially her, being the quiet one with all this yelling happening. When she was talking about how much she hates to have to fight with Sam/O my heart really broke for her. I’m so glad she got all her hugs in after that. 

In this episode Katja, Ostentatia, and Sam roll nat 1s. No nat 20s.

[franniebanana]

CQL Rewatch - Ep 21

Note: I will be critical of Jiang Cheng in these posts. If you can’t handle that, please feel free to scroll on.

I really like this hug. I mean, if you've been reading these from the beginning, you know how much I love wangxian, but I'm really glad that Wei Ying's first actual hug after returning from the Burial Mounds is with Jiang Yanli. I'm not counting the hug with Jiang Cheng, because Wei Ying didn't hug him back. That hug was thrust upon him and he did not reciprocate. This reunion is very sweet, and tear-filled, and if I hadn't been up since 3 am, I might be feeling enough to shed a tear, myself. That being said, it's hilarious how they keep showing Jiang Cheng in the middle, looking awkward as he tries to balance joy and sadness. I get what the director had in mind, but it just looks weird lol.

But this part is also super sad, because Wei Ying again makes a promise he can't keep: that the three of them will be together forever. Now, I realize that if you hadn't read the novel or weren't familiar with the story, you should already know from the first two episodes that things do not turn out well for the three of them. However, if you're like me and have the memory of a goldfish, you probably didn't realize who everyone was in the first two episodes and even if you did, you've already forgotten long ago that Jiang Cheng was pissy and angry around Wei Wuxian and that Wei Wuxian's inner monologue reveals to us that JIang Yanli is dead. All that being said, his line about staying together forever hits a lot differently when you're very aware of how the story turns out, because Jiang Yanli dies, Jiang Cheng grows to hate Wei Wuxian more and more every day, and Wei Wuxian, of course, defects to save the Wens from slaughter. I think "let's stay together forever" is something you say and mean, but something that you know can't ever truly be. I think Jiang Yanli is old and wise enough to know that she will eventually marry and leave Lotus Pier, even though she will resist it for a while. The rest is uncertain, but I think at this point, Wei Wuxian really does believe and want to stay with the Yunmeng siblings and to stay at Jiang Cheng's side as he leads the Yunmeng Jiang Sect.

I will never not be heartbroken by this scene--even knowing how everything turns out--by how Lan Wangji looks at Wei Wuxian, how if things had been different in Yiling, he would have gone into that room and greeted him, how Wei Wuxian would have smiled at him and beckoned him inside, how they would have sat and Wei Wuxian would have talked Lan Wangji's ear off, like old friends. It's just so upsetting to me, and I can't ever shake that feeling in the pit of my stomach. I know what happens, but these two episodes, until they reconcile, really get to me. It's a horrible feeling when you want to help someone, but they don't see it as helping, and they only get upset with you. I deal with that on an almost daily basis, and I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. I really identify with Lan Wangji here, and I think that's why I get such a visceral reaction to seeing him like this.

I don't know if I've said this, but Lan Wangji is my favorite character in CQL and in every adaptation of this story. He is kind of my perfect character--he checks off all the boxes: one-sided love, pining, standing by the main character no matter what, practically abandoning his own family for the person he loves. I love that he has an almost child-like innocence, but he's still very wise; he's smart; he's strong; he has a strict moral code and he sticks to it without fail, even if it means going against his friends and family; he's a loner, but he loves deeply. When I first started watching the donghua and reading the novel, I liked Wei Wuxian the best, and he's still my second favorite character, but Lan Wangji has stolen my heart.

Of course, Wei Wuxian goes to this awkward dinner party, after spending three months around ghosts (and then killing a shit-ton of Wen soldiers), and all he can think about is that empty seat behind him, the one where Lan Wangji should be sitting. It's interesting how the Yunmeng siblings each react: Jiang Yanli starts to become concerned and commits it to memory. She's probably wondering why Lan Wangji isn't there, and then seeing how Wei Wuxian wistfully stares at the empty seat, she finds it even more unsettling. Jiang Cheng just seems embarrassed by Wei Wuxian here and his motivation is to get Wei Wuxian back on track so he doesn't make fools of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect in front of the other leaders. He obviously knows what happened between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, and I don't think he's bothered by it at all. He doesn't seem to care whether they're friends or not, and I'd say that even at this point, he'd prefer if Lan Wangji stayed out of Wei Wuxian's life altogether. He knows how close they were, and I think he also knows that Wei Wuxian would choose Lan Wangji over him if given that ultimatum. With Lan Wangji out of the picture, Jiang Cheng gets to maintain more control over Wei Wuxian than he otherwise would. Even later on at Lotus Pier, he wants Wei Wuxian around, helping him, being his right-hand man. He doesn't want him wandering around the city or galavanting off with other cultivators. Granted Wei Wuxian was drinking at the time, but I don't think that invalidates my point that Jiang Cheng wants Wei Wuxian to stay in line and stay at his side where he can control him. You know, because he sees the relationship (as Wei Wuxian suggested) as the same as their two fathers: where Wei Wuxian is in a subservient role to Jiang Cheng. Mind you, that's different from seeing him as a brother, and I think, while there's some of that mixed into his other feelings, it's a very small portion.

No screenshot, but the following scene, after Wei Wuxian leaves the dinner party, Jiang Cheng follows him out. And even here, he asks what's wrong--asks if he's upset because of Lan Wangji--but then scoffs at how that could really be what's bothering him. He says something like, "Why did you come here just to be disliked by him?" I think while he gets that they have a close bond, he doesn't really understand the depth of the relationship. He's jealous of Lan Wangji, but doesn't fully understand why. Ultimately, I think Jiang Cheng, because of his parents and the way he was raised, really doesn't understand what it's like to have a good relationship with anyone. And this ignorance isn't his fault--he's a product of his parents and surroundings, and no one, including himself, has ever tried to fix this. So, without being able to really understand how relationships work, he scoffs at how Wei Wuxian could still be upset over what happened with Lan Wangji. Jiang Cheng essentially gave Wei Wuxian what he wanted in that moment, which was unconditional support to carry out his revenge, and yet Wei Wuxian is hung up on Lan Wangji not being supportive there, and in fact being in opposition to him. Jiang Cheng doesn't even really have friends, so he thinks Wei Wuxian should just get over Lan Wangji and move on with his life, but it's not that simple. Lan Wangji isn't just an acquaintance, he's not just someone that Wei Wuxian partnered up with to fight a battle or carry out a mission--he's a soulmate, a kindred spirit (if you want to go down a less romantic route).

I rarely can say anything bad about Jiang Yanli (except how she's almost always making soup), and here's another example: Chenqing. She's so far the only one who supports Wei Wuxian having a first class spiritual tool. She immediately shows interest in the flute, even encourages him to give it a name. Lan Wangji immediately sees the flute as something bad, while she's completely supportive. And this is really what Wei Wuxian needs right now, and I love her for being there. She's also about the only person he will genuinely smile around. He gives everyone else forced or fake smiles, but not Yanli. At this moment, I think he only wants to be with her, and I can't really blame him when everyone else is either opposing him or just wanting something out of him. She really is coming from a place of sympathy and comfort that's different from how the others are handling things. Lan Wangji wants to help, yes, but he tries to force it.

Imagine being in this room, listening to Jin Zixun (I'm not even sure if that's his name lol) trash talk Wei Wuxian, wanting to say something in his defense, but being unable to, not just because it's not your place to do so, but also because you're not even sure if you can defend him anymore. I think Jiang Cheng is struggling with the same. He stands up to Jin Zixun, finally getting him to shut up by saying that it's a domestic affair for the Jiang Clan and none of his fucking business, but Jiang Cheng also struggles to find excuses for Wei Wuxian. And that would certainly be difficult, because Wei Wuxian is somewhat like a stranger now. He's similar, but he's not the same Wei Wuxian that Jiang Cheng grew up with. He's really a shadow of his former self. But Lan Wangji has the added bonus of not being able to speak on his behalf because he's not even in the same clan--who is he to defend Wei Wuxian? He can't even stand with the others at the table (can't or won't, I'm not sure), so he certainly can't speak to Wei Wuxian's honor in front of all the other leaders. I'm sure the conversation back in Yiling is still running through his mind: this is a Jiang Clan affair--and to have that repeated again to someone else. That very much puts Lan Wangji in the "other" position. He's not in Wei Wuxian's clan, therefore, it's none of his business. He should care about him. He shouldn't try to protect him. He shouldn't try to guide him. But the problem is he still cares deeply about Wei Wuxian, and he wants to help him and protect him and guide him.

These scenes are always hard to watch for me (thank god for the special edition cut). It's really hard to watch the clans doing to the Wens what the Wens have done to the other clans. As if war wasn't already terrible enough, you also have what happens to the prisoners of war. In this case, Wen Qing's sect are all healers and have little to do with the war that the rest of the Wen Clan was waging on the other cultivation clans. However, they are still treated as enemies and imprisoned. It's difficult to watch the other clans, who you want to root for, making the same mistakes and transgressions as the Wens, who we are supposed to look at as the proper enemies in the story.

As we've seen a few times in this episode already, Wei Wuxian is having trouble controlling all the negative energy that's surging through him and the Yin iron, and on some of those occasions, he's touched his old wound. As he does this here, everyone looks at him, but he just looks at Lan Wangji. This is the person he cares most about in this room, the person whose heart his closest to his. I have nothing profound to say--I just like it.

And of course Lan Wangji looks right back at him. He knows Wei Wuxian best, even better than his own "brother", Jiang Cheng. He knows what happened in Xuanwu Cave, he saw the effect the sword had on him. I feel like each time they exchange glances, they are both crying out to each other, but Wei Wuxian is too stubborn to ask for help and Lan Wangji doesn't want to force the issue and strain their relationship further.

The way Lan Wangji hesitates here before saying, "I don't know," kills me. To him, it's just further proof of how Wei Wuxian is getting farther and farther from him, how the chasm between them just keeps growing. He's upset here. He doesn't know what to do. He doesn't want to force Wei Wuxian to do anything--that's against his clan rules, but more importantly, against his own ethics--yet he doesn't want to stand by and do nothing while his friend destroys himself. I think we see Lan Wangji as a character who always knows what to do, someone who always knows the right path, but here we see how that's not true at all. This is a man who is very smart, very clever, but who is also unsure of himself. He's struggling with what's right and wrong. And he consults his brother here, hoping to get a clear answer, so that he'll know what to do next, but he gets nothing of the sort.

It would have been easier for Lan Wangji if his brother has simply said, "Wei Wuxian is wrong and an enemy," but of course he's more wise than that. Nothing is black and whit, and humans cannot be judged for what's on the surface. You have to look deep inside a person, know their intentions, and then you can judge if they are doing what's right or wrong. The problem is Lan Wangji doesn't know Wei Wuxian's intentions. Months ago, he know Wei Wuxian wanted to defend the weak, protect people who couldn't protect themselves, and live by such a just moral code. But now Wei Wuxian seems like a stranger, has murdered many, many people, and has taken cruel revenge upon Wen Chao and Wang Lingjao.

What I've noticed in this episode is that Wei Wuxian will look at Lan Wangji, but he always averts his eyes fairly quickly. It's as if he's afraid if they make eye contact for too long, he'll be letting Lan Wangji in, which he does not want to do under any circumstances. Letting Lan Wangji in means admitting what's going on as well as opening up Lan Wangji to danger. Wei Wuxian does not want anyone else getting hurt or dying because of him, so it's better to reject everyone and focus on his own clan.

Honey, I'd walk away too. It's hard to tell if Lan Wangji is about to cry or about to punch Wei Wuxian in the mouth--either one would have been excellent, but I'm leaning towards the latter. Lan Wangji had to answer Jiang Yanli. She met him by chance, but it was she who initiated the conversation. Of course, angst rules being what they are, we had to have a misunderstanding a la Wei Wuxian walking into the conversation midway and making the asinine assumption that Lan Wangji was just breaking his confidence by telling her EVERYTHING. Of course, anyone who knows Lan Wangji knows he'd never do such a thing. But when Wei Wuxian's shijie comes to him, voicing her concern and asking about him, he has no choice but to empathize with her and tell her what he knows.

I really like this little exchange. Reliving the fight on the rooftop, before they were acquainted, before they were friends--before Lan Wangji fell for him. This time when he attacks, it's not about malice, it's not about breaking the rules and bringing liquor into the Cloud Recesses--it's a man, looking at the one he loves, scared out of his mind, worried that that man is going to destroy his mind and body, using a taboo cultivation method. This fight is a love letter, as far as I'm concerned. It's an act of desperation.

Also I fucking love that around four or five people have asked Wei Wuxian where Suibian is, and each time he makes up a lie: he forgot it, he isn't in the mood, he didn't bother to bring it. But when Lan Wangji asks him, he doesn't respond. He doesn't lie, he doesn't laugh it off--whatever he does, Lan Wangji will know that he's lying, and Wei Wuxian knows that.

Other episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Or just check out the #CQL Rewatch hashtag

[kaypeace21]

Mike comes out  to El , Mileven breaks up for good, and the future of byler (s4 theory)

*this is based off the stranger things movie inspirations they listed on twitter , in the show, or in interviews/other outside materials. All movies mentioned have been said to be inspo for the show.

So I’ll be mentioning mostly the movies- sw*ngers, what women want, wet hot american summer and splash (and others). Along with Tootsie -which was shown in s4 bts.

Before I give a rough outline of what may happen. I have to specify I don’t think El will be “heartbroken” over mileven cause I don’t think she loves Mike romantically . I’ve already discussed why i think she doesn’t love him romantically at nauseam - but regardless  mileven brings out the worst in  El and Mike. And literally inhibits her character growth. So as an El fan- I’m super excited for mileven to be put to rest. SORRY.  I’ll trade El & Kali teaming up to get closure from their ab*ser ...over mileven any day of the week XD. 

I think Mileven broke up in s3 (and remained broken up) . But we’ll have more closure and a more official breakup in s4  when Mike visits the byers. (And Mike admits he’s gay to his ex )- before byler officially begins. Essentially, I think- Mileven broke up, but El still calls constantly .And Mike starts ignoring her calls so El demands an explanation and he admits to her he’s gay and doesn’t want to get back together. 

So first lets talk about Phone calls 

I think based off the movies and s3 we’ll see El call quite a bit in s4 (almost obsessively) . And Mike has had enough. In s3, he said he’ll call so often -she’ll have to turn her walkie off . But I believe it’ll be the opposite-with El calling so much he’ll turn it off.

We see foreshadowing for this in s3 when Mike hangs up the phone after saying “El ? no, sorry, not interested.” Or when he hangs up on her multiple other times that season ( he even technically hung up the walkie on her in s2 , as well ). But, in defense of El,  given her lack of socialization (and seeing mike call her constantly between s1-2 I wouldn’t be surprised if she thought this was the norm).

-In splash there’s a scene similar to s3 - a blond relative picks up another phone to eavesdrop on him talking to his gf. He yells at the blonde relative and when the gf asks if he loves her -he tries to dodge the question. But they break up and he admits to his relative he never loved her. Maybe confessing to Karen?

* This reminds me of that supposed rumor with El saying “I love you” and Mike not into El just saying “I know” in return.Or Mike in s3 saying quickly “i miss you-bye.” And immediately hanging up on her.

-some other aspects of the s3 breakup may be taken from  “pineapple express .Which had comedic breakups via phone  . When broken-up he says  “I love you “ and she says it back to him (like mileven). He IMMEDIATELY  says he takes it back and  “I made a mistake” (when he sees she took him seriously). And then he specifies that’s it’s because she’s must be too “  naive and immature” to willing to take him back after how horrible of a bf he was to her in the past. Which yeah -fits mileven: they said the ‘L word’ when broken up, Mike did immediately try to take it back , and he may have realized at the s3 finalie how naive el was -to still want him back despite him not being a good bf to her. In ‘p.i’ the girl’s mom even says  maybe it’s best she find someone new who actually appreciated her or ‘better yet just be single’ and hang out with her gal pals (lol if joyce gave this advice to El-that’d be great)!  El doesn’t need romance to be her own-happy person! Also in ‘p.i’ Dale + his male bff are always assumed to be gay for eachother as a running gag .So ... I’ll technically throw that as another byler hint- lol.

-In sw*ngers Michael (yes that’s his name) who is made fun of for being perceived as gay gets a call from his ex gf of 6 months). And he hangs up on her to talk to his other love interest who asks if he wants to see her. Michael (specifically hangs up on his ex as she says “I lo-” to talk to this new love interest. He later brags to his friend (at a dinner) about not calling her back (despite her wanting to get back together) and he says proudly she was “always his ex”- when his friend incorrectly calls her his “gf” . 

  -While in ‘what women want’- an ex gf goes to him cause he didn’t answer her calls. In ‘tootsie’ the gf does the same and is pissed that her bf Michael (yes, yet another michael) didn’t answer her calls for a week. And he LIES saying his answering machine was broken. Would not be surprised if mike made up such an excuse.

Similar to ‘tootise’  & in ‘what women want’-both gals who’s phone calls were ignored ask if their bf (in mileven’s case -ex bf ) is gay. And in ‘swingers’ someone makes fun of mike for being gay. too  Lol-i’m sorry 2 movies where a guy named Mike is called out for being gay /and 2 movies where a gf who’s phone calls are ignored asks is they’re bf is gay is suspish XD

In ‘tootsie’.  We also have movie-mike give her a present before she asks if he’s gay /they breakup -it echos what previously happened in s3. 

- Michael (from the film) despite not want to be with her anymore (and loving someone else) tries giving her a gift to patch things up - despite his lying/ignoring her. The gift /empty gesture annoys her. Which is similar to st- mike not apologizing for lying- but trying to give El a gift to make up with her (but he doesn’t even do as much as film-Mike).

Right after this is when she asks if he’s gay (aka so for mileven we have the gift scene for s3  & El asking if he’s gay in s4-which were both borrowed from ‘tootsie’).

In ‘tootsie’, she finds romantic letters Michael has from another guy and this causes her to ask him if he’s gay .(20+ movies have romantic letters). In ‘littlewomen’ the artist gal and her future husband (who used to have a crush on the painter’s sis) exchange letters.And in ‘wet hot american summer’- a guy ditched his friends to write a letter (and his friends make a gay joke about him because of his letter writing-not knowing he’s actually gay.  

In ‘what women want’ when confronted- he admits he’s gay to his ex gf. In ‘tootsie’ she asks if he’s gay and he avoids the question but after she demands that he be “truthful for once in your life”. And, we all know how Mike constantly “lied” to EL .michael finally says he’ll stop lying to her and admits he’s in love with someone else. 

And she says in turn she’s not angry he doesn’t love her but that he lied (and similar to s2 where Mike calls Hopper a “liar”. The ex gf calls movie-mike a “liar” over and over). In fact they use the identical phrase of “you liar. you liar.”

Not to mention- she does sound like El.  She says she’s more upset about the lying than the fact movie-mike doesn’t love her. 

But I do think they eventually get closure and El realizes she doesn’t love Mike (romantically either) before her real character/story arc begins. 

movies: twister & you got mail

I’m so ready for the El & Kali teamup in s4. It’s like s2 (we get El & Kali pursuing Brenner + byler moments).

But what happens before Mike says this?I assume before this -mike & Will may confide in others about their feelings. And Mike/Will may be bullied for being perceived as gay .

 -In “welcome to the dollhouse” a boy is bullied for being seen as gay in school & at an arcade- and a character who is made fun for being a lesbian defends him at school/the arcade (so maybe robin?)Since Robin works next to the arcade/is gay.  Similarly, Fin’s character (at an arcade) is bullied and called a “fairy” and f*g” in ‘It 2′. And movie-Mike is made fun of for being perceived as gay in ‘sw*ngers’. Along with the guy (who was gay) being called homophobic names for writing letters (in wet hot american summer).We also know hawkins will most likely have a ‘satanic panic’ over d&d, rock music, and other things- which was historically rooted in christian fundamentalism.In ‘Kingsmen’ the churchgoers pretty much go on a rant being hom*phobic, r*cist, anti-science, anti-athe*st, anti-other religions, and anti-democrat and equate all of these groups of people to the endtimes/the anti christ. So one guy just snaps and says he’s gay, loves science , etc and says after “so... hail satan .And have a lovely day.”And storms out.  lol not sure about all that -but it’d be hilarious XD. Trigger warning for hom*phobic sl*rs.

-Proof For Will was : In ‘heathers’ the jocks make fun of the new guy in the cafeteria- by asking him if he misses his boyfriend  and call him the f-sl*r .in ‘superbad’ the guy who draws is called hom*phobic sl*rs and in ‘wedding crashers’ someone calls the male-painter character a “homo”. In “hackers” the (computer-nerd) who just moved to town is asked by his single mom if he “likes girls”.etc

 Also, in “The guest” a computer-nerd in highschool is bullied for being perceived as gay (and he’s given really bad advice about how to deal with it by a lonnie-esque character who is visiting his house/family for a while).  The advice is also similar to the advice given in the st comic (from Troy’s dad).

Honestly just the fire ref makes me nervous. The computer-boy eventually snaps (after never standing up for himself) and beats up his homophobic bullies.

*whenever Lonnie comes back - I assume we’ll see he’s a bad influence on Will pretty quickly

In ‘the guest’ they also made a joke that the clearly older guest must be the gay highschoolers’ boyfriend (which is not the case).

While In ‘stoker’ ,the highschool painter eventually loses it after dealing with constant harrassment- and stabs the bully’s hand (to block a punch coming their way) after the bully made an inc*st joke about the painter & the family guest.  So a joke like that could certainly cause Will to finally snap (as opposed to the other gay jokes they used earlier). In ‘dukes of hazzard’ a guy also snapped and got into a fight over a inc*st joke (and in ‘girl interrupted” they make a similar messed up inc*st joke).

 Given my theory on Will’s trauma with his dad (which he doesn’t remember)-I would not be surprised even on a subconscious level such a comment finally gets him to snap -maybe accidentally unleash his powers for the first time?Lonnie could say something about how Will should light his bullies on fire, they make a triggering joke about Lonnie &himself... and Will the wise does have fire powers after all. In the film ‘firestarter’ the kid who couldn’t control their fire abilities also lights a bully on fire accidentally so... maybe? In ‘skyhigh’ Will’s superpowers aren’t revealed until he accidentally unleashes them on a bully in the lunchroom. And 1 character in that scene says “don’t talk about my dad” before using his fire powers. Also... it’s not on the inspo list technically but the Duffers are known avengers/xmen fans.So Will could be based on scarlet witch’s son William (code name Wiccan) - he’s gay ,has lightning&fire powers and can alter reality. He’s been possessed In the past by the ‘demiurge’ - even spit up a slug too. He opens a portal to his world allowing the inter dimensional monster “mama” out (cough demogorgans are called “deep father”.)  And he’s constantly bullied for being gay- and the 1 time he finally decides to stand up to his h*mophobic bullies- is the day his powers activate for the first time and almost k*ll the bully. Not super confident in this theory but thought I’d mention it just in case.  Ok- this post is supposed to not be too plot heavy. So back to byler-

*Before Mike visits they may both confide in people about their feelings for the other . in skyhigh (at a dinner similar to the convo in sw*ngers where Mike talks about his ex gf) the bff of Will (yes his name) goes on and on about Will and how she’s known him since the first grade. And someone asks “so you’ve been in love with Will since the 1st grade?” Which she tries denying but quickly admits is true. And her friend says she should confess to Will.

In fisher king - a women who works at a videostore tries setting up 2 people- a gal-writer and a guy with an alternate personality/ who hallucinates a fearsome mythical creature (obviously Will). When people doubt the idea the girl can love this mentally ill guy  she says “stranger things have been known to happen.” And in “altered states” the guy who would hallucinate flashing to another hell dimension (like Will)- has a wife. And people say “she’s crazy about him and he’s crazy.” When they weren’t together she says to her friend she had to pretend anyone she dated was him and she says “it’s crazy” in response the friend says “i think that’s how it’s supposed to be.” Plus in fisherking one character wrote a book dedicated to his wife (which had the same title as the movie they’re in) . And someone says about this author “ he was crazy about her” as he holds the novel in his hands.

* The ‘pretending the person you’re dating is someone you’re actually in love with’ was also mentioned in ‘children of paradise’ (reffed by Robin in s3).

*I’ve also talked about Mike projecting his feelings for Will to El-here.

Will confiding in someone is harder to say. in ‘reality bites’ when asking about why she doesn’t want to be involved in romance a friend asks “because of Michael?” Which she first denies but later admits is part of the reason. 

 And in ‘hellboy’, (while taking pics) John Myers tells the fire wielding character (with mental health issues) that her bff is in love with her and asks how she feels . The 2 bffs are endgame but at first she tells John that she’s unsure because she’s known him practically her whole life (but she thinks of him everyday). 

Lol not sure if Jonathan would ever be so straight forward but it’d be nice callback to s1/2 convos they had (Jon saying in s1 to not like things cause you’re supposed to / saying being a “freak” like queer david bowie is cool) .In “twister” & “it’s a wonderful life” a family member also tells a character that their childhood friend that they’re in love with (isn’t into the person they’re currently with). In ‘ wonderful life’ she says they’re “not crazy” about the other person-but them.  And they say they know this cause they “have eyes.” And In “twister” the family member says them visiting them  is proof they love them. 

*plus Sam who is supposedly crazy about her (also isn’t crazy about marry). Aka El isn’t crazy about Mike- but Will assumes she (along with mike). Cough El saying “what makes you crazy?” in s3.

-While in “hackers’ the kid (with a single mom) who is into computers, and upset they were forced to moved to a new city -is asked by the mom “Do you like girls?” . And he angrily denies and says he’s ‘not gay’ (which could followthrough with what happened in s3- Will not opening up to her about romance, like him telling Joyce he’d never fall in love. so he may lie to her if asked that question? Unlike Jon?

 So it’s possible Will confides in Jonathan (and or Joyce) & maybe Mike to his mom/nancy?/a friend (maybe Robin or Max) (hard to say). My top guesses are Will &Jon. And Mike with Robin (and maybe his mom or sister a bit after Robin?)

Mike visiting the Byers

In ‘Tootsie’, michael (disguised as a woman named dorothy...long story XD) meets up with the person he really loves and gives them a present. The 2 low-key have like a psuedo-gay courting for most of the movie (before they get together). In ‘paddington 2′, the main character even gets multiple jobs to save up for a birthday present for a loved one (another contrast to mileven- who Mike,despite being rich couldn’t even spend $3.50 on.  They did that alot -show contrasts with both ships .So s4 would be no different.And It’s Will’s b-day in s4 after all so Mike getting Will a present makes the most sense. 

*last pics from ‘scarface’- I have no idea what he’d get Will for his b-day but if it’s engraved with “crazy together” I will lose my mind. Also the parent glaring during this scene-makes me suspect Lonnie . I do suspect Lonnie will sabotage byler-but it may end up being a s5 plotpoint instead of s4? (I guess in s4 it could be El-since el has been known to get very jealous in the past (like with max).

 - In ‘waynes’ world’ the ex gf refused to accept the breakup initially (despite it being months ago).  And she didn’t understand how breakups worked . Which given El’s lack of socialization -  I get her confusion on the concept. Like how in s3 Max had to correct El that Mike was her “ex boyfriend”. In the film, she even tried giving him a present for their ‘anniversary’ (hopefully El doesn’t try to do something like that out of jealousy of the prior gift giving -cause Wayne just says the gift shows how little she knows him). 

*You have to admit this scenario of Mike having to explain breakups isn’t that far-fetched.

(even when broken up with wayne- she wore a necklace with his name on it. ) Which reminds me of How El had a bunch of Mike related stuff in her room-including things that said “mike” on them.

in waynes’ world: The ex gf would follow her ex and still refer to him as her bf and be a 3rd wheel and interrupt every attempt for wayne to romantically confess to his new love interest (like in ‘dumb and dumber’/’high fidelity ‘).A similar scenario also happens in ‘tootsie’- Michael (as dorothy) almost confesses (on a swing set) but is interrupted by another person interested in him (Mike). Personally, I assume El would just do this unintentionally- assuming Mike wants to be with her and being a bit pushy but probably being oblivious of byler.

Not to mention the Duffers are petty AF and probably got annoyed with all the jokes that Will was a 3rd wheel to mileven- when literally Will wasn’t even around the 2 interacting alone . A 3rd wheel- has a group of 3 consisting of a couple and a third superfluous person. Which never really happened? Plus,we saw the ‘burns’ they did of mileven over the past 3 seasons- it’ll probably get worse.

And again we already know El had no qualms spying on her ex (mileven even dances to ‘every breath you take’  a song about a stalking ex gf).And El also watched the  ‘all my children’ ep with Erica & mike roy. Which in the show after their breakup - had 1 of them refuse to accept the other didn’t love them and want to get back together- and stalk them/ sabotage their exe’s romantic pursuits. Only to eventually accept reality and move on. Although, I think this is mostly un-intentional on El’s part.

In ‘clueless’ she flirted with a gay guy who she thought was straight/in love with her and kept trying to make a move-much to his discomfort . And in ‘birdcage’ the ex gf would hit on her gay ex bf- and his male partner catches the 2 and misinterprets it as not one sided ). That scenario happens in quite a few movies. I could see Will (before byler happens/mike tells el the truth ) misinterpreting and assuming mike and El are still romantically connected or will get back together .

New Swings scene (almost confession)/possible swing-flashback 

Ok back to (tootsie) .In the film,Michael’s love interest was raised by an older sibling- and he even tries to confess to her when they’re on a bench swing together . Not even the only movie with a gay gal character + gal bestfriend swinging on a bench together (’silkwood’ ). In ‘enter the void’ there was also a flashback of a little kid asking the other “do you love me?”/ and him saying “a lot” .  

* it’s like a subversion of what happened in s3 at the hospital. Also like the Wayne’s world scene of the ex gf interrupting...

But i don’t think El will be the only one trying to get mileven back together. But Will as well.In ‘Emma’ & ‘clueless ‘ :character A assumes her guy friend is into their mutual friend and tries to get them together (despite him being into character A only). I could see Will misinterpreting mileven and trying to be a good friend and get them back together (despite his own feelings). In ‘emma’ and ‘clueless’ (before they fight) there’s is a party/dance (it’s in a lot of movies).It’s possible mike, Will, and El go somewhere to dance - a lot of films have the 2 people in love-dance with others -but stare at eachother the entire time.In ‘clueless’ 2 gay guys and cher (who is flirting with one of the gay guys) all dance together. In karate kid, referenced by Max to El. Has a guy kiss his ex without her permission (on the dance floor)- and the karate kid sees the girl he likes being kissed by her ex and misinterprets the scenario (assuming they’re back together). I suppose the fact they changed the s2 script where Will was watching Mike dance with El may come back up in a later season? Could also be a callback to when Mike looked mopey at Will dancing with a girl (after encouraging him to dance with her).  Will could do the same (as mike in s2). Or they both stare at eachother while dancing with other people. or it’s just a concept they scrapped- it’s hard to say.

*movie list (truman show,16 candles,step up 2,karate kid, backdraft 2 & stormship troopers)

Confession & fall out

In ‘emma’ & ‘clueless’: character A (after the dance party) goes with the guy home and he tries kissing her . She dodges it confused saying he’s mistaking her for her friend! And he explains he was never romantically interested in her friend. In ‘emma’ he even bought her a super expensive gift before hand and she still assumed he was into her friend not her. And he even specifies in Emma- the reason he came to visit her house was for her (not her friend). A similar scenario happens in ‘weird science’ and he says she just thought of the gal he used to be infatuated with  as a “sister” (and we all know the sibling parallels in mileven). And in ‘little women’- the artist gal dodges a kiss and says to her love interest “I won’t be courted with someone in love with my sister.” And he explains exasperated he doesn’t love her sister- despite constantly trying to be with her sister previously.

 In ‘tootsie’, what caused Mike (dressed as Dorothy) to try and kiss her was-  the other gal saying she feel like she wants something she can’t have and because of that -their friendship makes her feel lonely (it’s very queer coded dialogue). She dodged mike/dorothy’s kiss but then says she has the same (gay) “impulses” as Dorothy but that she’s not mentally sound enough to be in a relationship.  A thought that may cross Will’s mind.

But, before they can talk about the almost kiss-her dad calls via phone and interrupts. (They eventually do get together though). But she tells Mike/Dorothy she ‘can’t love’ her,before this. 

*may not come across in photos-but she’s crying when sayin this.

Also, a fight about “what they are-friends/or romantic” before a phone call interrupts ( happens in ‘it’s a wonderful life’ and ‘the fisher king’ too.) Those pairings were also both endgame. In wonderful life the artist gal yells why he even came to visit her . And he implies she knows why (aka his romantic feelings) .There’s a similar convo in ‘fisher king’  (asking why they’re there) + 1 of them saying it’s “bullshit” and “stupid” to pretend they’re ‘just friends’. (We all know the context of the phrases “bullshit’ and “stupid” by now). Even Han implies Leia wants him to stay cause he has feelings for him-which she denies . Thus, irritating him.

*(I’ve already mentioned before how in s1 byler was paralleled to a gay Han/leia while mileven was directly paralleled to luke/leia-mentioned this in the ‘mileven burn’ hyperlink).

All 3 movies have eventual couples arguing cause 1 character (mike) is saying he’s done pretending to be just friends and he came to visit (Will) for that reason. And he knows Will returns those romantic feelings- but Will refuses to stop the charade and admit his true feelings.

In ‘good Will hunting” a similar event happens. Will (yes that’s his name) is poor and has severe trust /psych issues caused by his ab*sive dad.  And he has “abandonment issues” so sabotages his romantic relationships before they can even begin. When the brunette admits her feelings for him he dismisses it as a phase/confusion on her part. She in response says she knows he finds the idea she doesn’t love him ‘scary’ (and she’s scared too but at least she’s trying and being honest about her feelings). She also says she wants to “help him” with his issues -but this just angers him more. Cause he doesn’t liked being pitied/treated like he’s broken . She says she wants to help because she loves him- not pity. But he doesn’t believe her romantic confession. And every time she says she loves him he yells “Don’t BULLSHIT ME”! So when she yells “say you don’t love me?” He says he doesn’t love her- which the audience knows is a lie. But she’s left a sobbing mess alone on the floor.

Which yikes- I feel like even if you don’t understand the obvious reasons  Mike used El as a beard + lied saying he loved her. You’ll feel bad at the possibility of how badly it blows up in his face. Will not believing his confession/thinking Mike loves El or scared he’ll change his mind -so Will (for that + a myriad of other reasons)just rejects Mike COLD. Similar to clueless & Emma & empire strikes back.

I’m not that surprised since Will claimed he’d never fall in love (so when he does - he may just deny it). Like the therapist said in ‘good will hunting’ he’s afraid it’ll go wrong so never even tries to begin a romance.  I hypothesize a lot of stuff happens after this, that makes getting closure on their relationship in s4 difficult. 

So essentially to summarize a rough idea of what may happen: mileven stayed broken up. Mike and Will probably exchange letters between seasons. And El and Mike call eachother- but the excess of calls becomes too much. Mike and Will  are probably bullied for being perceived as gay- and before meeting up they may or may not confide in someone (about their mutual feelings). Mike visits for Will’s b-day/spring break and gives Will a present. El (because she sees Mike as a source of comfort) tries getting back together with him and becomes pushy and a 3rd wheel. While Will even helps El- thinking he’s being a good friend to Mike (by trying to get them back together). Mike eventually comes clean and come to an understanding and El goes on her plot/character driven arc of trying to find Brenner with Kali.  Mike eventually confesses to Will but Will for a myriad of reasons lies about loving Mike- and rejects him. And that’s all the (non supernatural) plot stuff I wan’t to talk about now...

Sorry, if this post was just hard to understand. I wouldn’t call this a ‘theory’ per say ( I usually feel more confident in those). This is more like a rough idea given what we have available to analyze so far.

Personally - I hated the mileven/couple breakup drama in s3. So as long as it doesn’t last long and most breakups like say-lumax and jancy happen early in the season... and don’t drag the actual supernatural plot/character developement . I’ll be fine.

 Contrary to popular belief- I’m a byler shipper who’s most excited for the actual plot. I’m a bit more confident in my plot theories than the exact details in this post . But I thought I’d share XD. I’ll eventually do a whole s4/5 theory- post which will focus on other characters/supernatural plot points.(but i may rewatch some movies first) . I’ll probably also do a byler post too with s5 predictions (which connects more heavily to important plot points spanning across s4-5). 

Happy belated new year :)

I expect so much hate from this XD

[deaththesyd]

To The Brink Of Confession: Chapter 1, "He's not ugly"

I'd like to blame @mytanuki-kun for one of their works inspiring this side project that is now in the way of my Kisame week progress. As frustrating as this is, I'm having fun with this one and I'm excited to write my first true multi-chapter fic, even if it doesn't fit with the rest of my works and their timeline.

Summary: At first, she had shrugged it off as him simply being worn out from all the social interaction, but if that was the case, why was he only avoiding her?

At first, she had let it slide. Being super friendly and interacting with people was draining after all, and being forced to live in close quarters with such a loud group was sure to take its toll on even the most extroverted people. His avoidance lasted the entire rest of his time spent in her world, but she didn’t worry. As usual, a month passed by before she herself was teleported away into the foreign world of Jutsu, violence, and ninja. She even shook off her doubts when instead of her usual escorts, she was picked up by Kakuzu and Hidan, being told that the others were all preoccupied with important missions, ones that she would only be a distraction from. Entertaining as she found the duo and their antics, she couldn’t exactly hide her disappointment from the silver-haired loudmouth she had grown to consider a friend.

“What’s with all the moping, huh?” He said loudly, stood in front of her, face lowered to look her directly in the eyes as she had been watching the ground as she walked. Blocking her path forward, she stopped to look up at him, forcing herself to push down her thoughts and play them off as nothing. Surprising as it may be, Hidan wasn’t entirely self-absorbed and happened to be pretty talented at sensing other's emotions, a skill that he very rarely made use of. Not that it was really all that hard to see that something was up with her. Always easy to read, an open book, she was the worst liar and easily the most sincere person he had met. He seriously couldn’t stand her mood lately, it was worried and upsetting. Mixed with Kakuzu’s ongoing anger at everything and everyone, the irritating emotions were mixing and giving Hidan a headache. There were only two ways he could think of to fix this, either piss off Kakuzu to relieve his built-up stress and risk an explosive and painful response, or play concerned friend and get the woman lagging behind them to return to her normal upbeat self. Contemplating both options, the least painful option seemed the best bet.

“It’s not nothing, I can tell, so don’t bother lying, you’re shit at it anyway,” he cut her off as she tried to reply.

She tried anyway. “Really though,” she said, smiling almost convincingly, “I’m just lost in thought, we’ve been walking all day, can you blame me for tuning out?” Waving him off, she sidestepped him to follow after Kakuzu, who had not stopped for them and was quickly leaving them behind.

Knowing that the likelihood of being separated from Kakuzu was high if they didn’t keep up with the old man, he didn’t hold her back but stayed by her side to press for a proper response. “I said not to fucking lie,” he spoke casually knowing that anything truly harsh would only shut her up further, “you’ve been like this ever since you got here, it’s not just you being tired of walking.”

Sighing, she replied, “Ok, you’re right that I’m not just tired, but it’s nothing, really. I just need to manage it by myself.” No longer lying was a step forward, but she kept her lips tight on whatever it was. She was stubborn, but Hidan was persistent.

“What’s with you being all shy all of a sudden? You’re always so fucking talkative no one but Fishface can get you to be quiet,” he complained, almost missing how she reacted at the mention of the tall swordsmen. He grinned, seemed like he had a hook. “Awe, is this about your little crush on the big guy? Did you ask him out and he chickened out?” He laughed cruelly.

It wasn’t much of a secret that she had feelings for Kisame, she wasn’t very good at hiding how he caught her eye, often spacing out while watching him train, and making any excuse to get his attention. Everyone at some point had noticed the flush to her face around him, or the fond look in her eyes as she looked up at him. To most, it wasn’t anything to focus on. Kakuzu and Sasori couldn’t care less about it, as long as she wasn’t being obnoxious, Itachi seemed to keep a careful watch over her and her interactions with his partner, his reasons were unknown to Hidan who couldn’t care less about the Uchiha. Deidara and Hidan made sure to poke fun and tease her at any opportunity, making sure to keep their taunts from the man of her affections, trying to draw out their entertainment as long as they could. After months of this, she had become accustomed to the mostly friendly jeering from the two and had begun to poke fun at herself as well. It seemed she had resigned herself to watching from afar and keeping her flirting to a level that was easily mistaken for friendly conversation by the oblivious man.

Years of being acquainted with Kisame had only given Hidan a surface-level knowledge of the man, but recently he had noticed just how unconfident truly was of his looks, something he of course zeroed in on immediately. 6 foot whatever and hulking over even Kakuzu, it was hilarious to him that the member of the legendary Swordsmen of the Mist was both self-conscious over his fishy appearance, and his years of training as a ninja had not taught him to notice the obvious signs that a woman was into him. How anyone could be so unaware, yet so skilled was beyond him.

Her face saddened at his words, her brow furrowing, and her eyes cast themselves to the ground again. “I haven’t said anything, but I think he might have caught on,” she said quietly.

Despite her clearly upset confession, he grinned. “Way to go! Fishface finally figured out how to see above water, wondered if his brain was just waterlogged,” he snickered, excited that he could finally openly pick on him over the subject, but she didn’t smile and remind him to be nice like she normally did when he made digs at the sharkman. Clearly not a good sign then.

“I think he’s avoiding me,” she said, looking defeatedly at her shuffling feet. Now that made no sense.

Not long after it was clear to everyone but Kisame that she had an attraction to the tall man, it became more and more obvious that it was reciprocated. As much as she stared at him, he stared at her. Less openly, probably why it had taken everyone a while longer to see it, but it was well known that the two were complete idiots that had no clue the other was just as interested as they were. Part of Hidan had wanted to tell them immediately, embarrass them and make a scene out of it all, but another part of him had held onto their frustrations and fed off of it as a much more drawn-out entertainment source. Deidara was in on it too, saying that as much as he wanted to set off an explosive show by forcing their feelings out into the open, he also wanted there to be a build-up. In the meantime, they got to tease their fishy accomplice as much as they could get away with without pissing him off and alerting the other half of the pining duo. The fact that Kisame was avoiding her after finding out she felt the same was not what anyone had expected. For once in his life, Hidan was pissed at the drama of it. He would not admit that he was actually looking forward to the two becoming a couple.

“Bet he’s just scared that someone thinks his ugly mug is hot and is worried for your sanity,” he laughed. Her hand smacked him halfheartedly.

“He’s not ugly.” She said sternly, “Although with how forward I’ve been, he may have been creeped out,” she smiled, but there was a twinge of pain on her face that Hidan couldn’t help but notice. It pissed him off, his whole religion was about inflicting pain and death for his God, but seeing her genuinely upset gave him a feeling of frustration on her behalf.

“There’s no way he’s creeped out by your creepy staring,” he found himself attempting to reassure her, feeling as though he was betraying his and Deidara’s whole scheme. “He’s clearly just as much a creepy stalker as you are.”

Unsure that she had heard him correctly, she looked up to see Hidan avoiding eye contact, looking off the side of the road, ignoring her reaction purposely. “I don’t see how he’s the stalker,” she laughed humorlessly, “When he’s the one avoiding me.”

“Of course you don’t, you’re just as fucking blind as he is,” he muttered. Her sudden giggle made him look at her in suspicion. “The hell’s so funny?”

She brought a hand to try and stifle her laughter before she spoke, “What’s got you all grumpy now? Upset someones not crushing back on you?” She teased, eyes darting to look at the silent man trudging forward ahead of them, then back at Hidan.

The glare he shot her only made her giggles slightly louder. “What the fuck are you gettin’ at?” He spat, daring her to continue.

Humming whimsically, she spoke, “I just think that maybe you’re projecting some of your own frustrations onto someone else.”

He should have chosen to piss off Kakuzu. She may have been the lesser of two evils at a first glance, but the ability she had to force him into subjects he would rather avoid was something he had forgotten to account for in his earlier decision. Unlike the completely requited yet oblivious relationship between her and Kisame, Hidan’s own feelings were something he tried to ignore whenever possible. It was just a shitty joke she had made, something about how Hidan should leave her alone since he was really just trying to make the old man jealous. Something he should have shaken off with a normal insult towards the old miser, yet he had frozen, caught off guard by the accuracy. That was the one and only time he had ever allowed himself to come out to someone and let them live. It was shameful in the church to have feelings of devotion for anyone but Jashin, yet wanting someone that couldn’t produce more followers was even more so. Adamantly, he refused his feelings towards the man, but since that day she had treated his explicit flirting as nothing more than a show.

Embarrassed as he was, his comeback held no bite, and her teasing and further avoidance of the earlier topic increased. Eventually, it turned into a loud argument that reached Kakuzu’s ears, who ended their annoying discussion by threatening them both. She was easier to scare, but whatever they had been squabbling about had made Hidan more feisty than normal.

“Fuck off you old dick! There’s plenty of politer ways to ask to be included in a conversation,” came the danger prodding taunt from the young man. It was hard to guess why, but the older man’s fuse was shorter than usual, and the woman yelped as a dark arm split off from the man's torso to grab the face of the loudmouthed man right beside her. Flailing wildly and ineffectively he was dragged along the ground, yanked by the harsh grip of the intolerant man. Green eyes surrounded by red sclera flashed at her, warning her she would be next if she didn’t follow quietly. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she did just that.

[falloutjay]

Eric x careless/troublemaker reader, reader was always a crazy kid, she felt no one really understood her, and her only real friend was Esther Stoley, Annie Knitts and Nicole. But Reader has always admired Eric and never gotten why everyone hated him (she finds both Kyle and Wendy very annoying). One day, she finds him and Butters making their next scheme, and she wants in. After an effective day of pranking, they (well Eric but reader likes Butters's company) take her under their wing. They generally start hanging out and starts to be the 'girl' of the main group (she thinks of Stan, Butters and Kenny has her brothers) and she finds Eric and Kyle's banter hilarious. It gets better (for her at least): she always defends him now (be it irrationally, rationally, verbally or physically) like: Heidi tried to warn Reader about Eric...but the poor girl leaves with a broken nose or Wendy was just upset how someone so awful, could have someone advocate for them and starts to plan to tell her about the breast cancer incident when Bebe would tell that it's Y/n and if anything, what she did to him would just make her stay more, making Wendy stop. She was also a big fan of the Coon and would just gush about how cool he was (she does like Wonder Tweek, Mosquito and Toolshed but she loves Coon the best). Everyone was pretty divsive, some people thought it was funny and teased him on it (like: Craig, Stan and Kenny), some people shipped it (like: Clyde, Butters and weirdly Nicole/Tweek), but some people were afraid of those two becoming a couple (Kyle, Heidi and Wendy). Eric is strangely 'no comment'y about all this until one day, Eric is just about to be turned into the principal when suddenly Reader in a elorate plan, knocks out the witness and pins the blame on someone else. After that's over, Reader can't take it anymore and happily asks him to be her partner/boyfriend and Eric proudly accepts and the two go on to create to create anarchy. May others pray for their safety.

Hey guys! It's me! I'm back! :D

I'm still stressed AF, but after my day was really nice, I felt super motivated to finally continue this lovely prompt, so I did.

I'm currently still in the process of moving and my exams are still not over, but I'm trying!

So I hope I can publish the next request soon and I love all you guys, thank you for all the likes, reblogs, follows and most importantly your patience! <3

____________________________________

Eric Cartman x careless!troublemaker!female!Reader

“Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme Eric?” Butters asked, eyebrow raised as he listened to Erics new pranking plan. “No, it’s not at all, “eXtRemE”.” Eric retorted and shook his head.

They didn’t notice that someone approached them, listening to their plan. “W-well if you say so, I trust you, Eric.” As the fatter one of the two heard a twig snap, his head turned immediately and look at a kid from their class. What was her name again? “Who are you?” Eric asked unimpressed. “Y/N.” She answered dryly.

Butters kept looking between the two, moving his head, whenever someone said something. “What do you want?” “I want in on your plan.” “What makes you think I want someone like you in this? You normally play with the girls.”

“What does that have to do with anything. Just because I hang out with Esther, Annie and Nicole…That changes nothing about the fact that I love what you’re planning here, and I want in.” Eric seemed to think about the proposition for a second.

“Okay. I think I need one more person around here. Butters can barely do one fucking job.” So, he explained the plan to you in big detail. And in your humble opinion, it was brilliant. Once Eric had finished explaining, he looked at you with a sly smile.

“So, what do you think?” You pretended to think for a second, before an evil grin appeared on your face. “Why stop there? We can also pull a prank on the teachers and the school buses if we put in a little more effort.” “Never thought about that one before. I like your way of thinking, Y/N.”

The two looked into each other’s eyes, clearly seeing that mischievous spark in each pair of eyes. Butters watched you in horror, afraid of what he had just now witnessed. “Ohhh hamburgers.”

Y/N became a regular in Stans gang rather fast. Kenny and Stan love her to bits, just like she does. They love hanging out with her and to Kenny she’s like Karen. One thing that Y/N really enjoys is listening to Kyle and Eric's bickering. No matter the topic and no matter how loud or extreme the two get, she just sits there like it’s a cinema and the two are the newest marvel movie. Speaking of superhero movies, South Parks very own heroes are a topic ever so often too. And to Cartman’s delight, his trusted friend loves talking about The Coon. His super-secret hero identity. She would also gush about Wonder Storm, Mosquito and Toolshed but she would always praise The Coon, which is a melody in Cartman’s ears. Another thing Cartman loves about his only female friend is how she loves defending him to anyone. Be it teachers, her fellow girl friends, or anyone else. When Heidi tried to warn her that Eric means bad news, she had to visit the nurse afterwards. Y/N had detention for breaking the poor girl’s nose, but she sure as hell didn’t regret her decision. Even when she was shunned by the girls from there on.

“I just can’t believe her. Maybe she will change her mind when I tell her about the whole Breast cancer thing? You know… It could affect her too, maybe that’s wha-Wendy…” Bebe interrupted her and sighted. “You remember how Heidi was? How every time we said something mean about Cartman, she would only try harder to prove us wrong?” “Of course, I remember. How could I forget.” Wendy mumbled and stabbed her fork through her salad. “If you try to reason with her, she will just hit you with the whole “He isn’t like that”-schtick. You can’t change her mind, okay?” Bebe eyed their classmate who was happily chatting with Eric and Kenny a few tables away. “I guess.” Wendy said defeated and closed her eyes, asking herself how Eric could even make a girl interested in him.

On another table across the cafeteria, Craig and those guys were seated. Oddly enough, their topic was similar. Y/N L/N and Eric Cartman. “I don’t know why but they’d make quite a cute couple you know?” Clyde said with a smile before biting into his burger. “I know, right?” Nicole agreed and to everyone’s surprise, even Tweek nodded along. “I don’t think they’d become a thing though.” Craig mumbled lazily. “Why?” Clyde asked, obviously interested in the gossip.

“Well, Kenny, Stan and I teased him about it in History class, but he keeps saying he doesn’t like her that way.” “Aww, come on Craig, you know very well that he would never admit it just like that. Guys don’t just admit they have a crush. I’m sure he likes her. I mean, she the only one who can stand him for longer than a day.” Nicole commented, a sly smile spread across her face. “I just think the anti-Cartman fraction would rather die than see those two become a thing.” Token commented and his eyes darted across the room, looking at Kyle, Heidi and Wendy. “Well, I guess we will have some funerals to visit sometime soon.” Nicole replied and everyone at their table had to involuntarily smile.

“That’s it. ERIC. To the Principal. Now.” Mister Garrisons voice thundered through the hallways and a confused Y/N closed her locker. She let out a deep sigh, knowing something must have gone wrong with his new plan.

“Guess I gotta bust him out again.”

Knowing the way to the principal by heart she made her way there, only catching a glimpse of the in pink paint and glitter covered Mister Garrison, who kept cursing like crazy.

Y/N happily skipped past the not-occupied secretary desk and took a seat next to Eric. “I already wondered where you are.” Cartman commented unimpressed. “Sorry, I had to look at Garrison for a second. So what went wrong?” “This stupid asshole over there saw me set up the paint bomb in Garrisons locker thing.” The brown-haired whispered and pointed at the kid that was sitting across from them. “Thanks to that asshat, I will probably be suspended for some days or some shit.”

“Okay, I’ll handle it.” The h/c-haired said and got up to go over. She hovered over the boy who was looking up to her. “What?” He asked annoyed. “You’re Jonas Miller, right?” Y/N asked with the sweetest voice she could manage. “Yeah, what makes you care?” He asked, before a fist connected with his face. Surprised by her own strength, he seemed to be dazed and fell onto the other chairs.

“Y/N, what the fuck?” Cartman cried out confused. “Fast, hit me!” She said, not fazed at all. “What? Why?” “God, just do it!” Trusting his mischievous partner Erics fist landed on Y/N pretty face and he even felt a hint of remorse. “Good punch Eric. Now the other side.” Once again, trusting his opposite, he did what was asked. Despite now feeling rather woozy, Y/N grabbed Jonas and laid him down in a different position. She then made Eric kneel next to her and hold her.

“If you ever tell anyone I cried, I will tell everyone about your dirty little secrets, yeah?” Eric nodded, somewhat intimidated, and impressed, watched her do her best to cry heavily.

Hearing the blood-curdling scream, Mister Mackey and the secretary came running, looking at the scene before them. Mister Mackey immediately made sure that everyone was okay, before asking the roughed-up Y/N what happened. With a trembling voice, she answered: “J-Jonas over there did the prank on Mister Garrison and-and tried to pin it on-on Eric. So, I c-came here t-t-to tell everyone t-that Eric was with me t-the whole time. When Jonas n-noticed that, he hit m-m-me and Eric punched him, to-to help me.” The now fully awake again Jonas looked at the girl in horror. “N-No! That’s not the story! I- I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT, M'KAY?!” Mister Mackey interrupted him. “Hitting an innocent girl?! Jonas Miller, you will have to face the consequences!” Y/N still held up her best puppy eyes and Mister Mackey finally turned to the two troublemakers. “Eric, will you bring Y/n to the nurse, please. I will bring Jonas to PC Principal personally, m'kay.” Eric nodded, somewhat petrified, and guided Y/N along the corridors. He felt shocked. He didn’t know why. He never felt this scared before.

Once in the nurse’s office and after Y/N was handed an icepack, she was the first one to speak, once the nurse left them alone.

“You’re so quiet.” She commented dryly. “Thank you.” “For what?” “Getting me out of there. I never- It’s fine, okay? Don’t worry.” Silence fell over the two once more. Y/N just enjoyed the cooling ice on her burning skin and Eric still felt thankful for what she did for him. For him. And no one else. She would have never done this for Kyle. Not for Kenny. She did it for him.

“Hey Eric?” The boy next to her nodded. “You know I wouldn’t have done this for anyone else right?” Eric nodded once more. “Can I ask you for something?” “Of course.”

“You know, I like you a lot. So, would you maybe like to be my boyfriend?”

Bonus:

Eric gave no answer. He just slowly intertwined his fingers with hers and that was answer enough. “Are your cheeks red from blushing or is it from me hitting you?” “Maybe a bit of both.” She laughed and to Eric, it was the most beautiful sound he ever listened to. His girlfriend’s laugh.

Kyle was doing his math homework and started to get annoyed with the harder and harder becoming questions. A vibration ripped him out of his thoughts. He fished for his iPhone without taking his eyes off the paper and unlocked it. The contact read “FATASS” and it was a picture. Kyle's eyes widened in horror as his eyes scanned the picture. It was a picture of a list with dozens of prank ideas. The caption was what truly terrified him. “Me and my GIRLFRIEND brainstormed a bit, hope you’re ready Kahl <3”

Kyle felt like crying. Not only because of his math homework but also because his worst nightmare became a reality. Cartman has a Girlfriend. And it was no other than the infamous Y/N L/N.

[maliciouslycreative]

How I played damage control to an anti in a small anime fandom and may have led to her ultimate downfall

I know I had a really nice write up of this at one point but oh well. I’ll spill more of the tea in this one because honestly the tea was so hot.

There are a few things that I have to give context to first. Gaia online was like THE mega forum of the 2000s, you made a little avatar and through posting and doing other activities on the forum you made money to buy clothes for your avatar. There were forums for everything but the fannish portions were really what drew in most of the people. The anime I was into was Beyblade. It was a shonen anime about fighting with tops that were possessed by the spirits of magical creatures. The story was honestly pretty average but the characters were fantastic and the fandom is to this day still one of my favourites. The series had a primarily male cast and didn’t even have a female lead until the second season. This led to the fanfic for the English fandom being about 70% canon/OC, 10 % canon m/f, and 20% slash. The most popular character in the English fandom was by far Kai Hiwatari, the loner badboy of the team.

Also before we get started I would like to add that one of my best friends was neck deep in this and the two of us were more or less fandom married. This is the same friend that I fake dated, had feelings for, and she nearly got me into kpop in 2011 so like if you haven’t read that story please read it too because it will give you a good idea of how stupid I am and how much of a fanfic I have truly lived. 

To set the stage I was 16, soon to be 17 when I joined the fandom and it was 2004. In September of that year I wrote a humour longfic that became an absolute smash hit and I found myself somehow fandom famous. It was around this time that I joined Gaia online. I made my little avatar and immediately went looking for the beyblade thread so that I could make new friends. I found the main thread, made my little introduction and at the end of it mentioned that I was a slash writer but I supported all ships. This is where I met C. She had declared herself the authority on Beyblade in these parts and I had just committed the crime of mentioning slash which was very obviously not canon and we did not discuss in this thread because we only discussed canon things. I was like well that’s a bit severe but like sure whatever I just want to hang out and have fun. 

Oh boy did I have no idea what I was in for. 

C was a year older than me and unfortunately that made her older than the majority of the fans at the time. Her favourite character was Kai, and she was not shy about talking about this fact. She stanned Kai above all other characters, and often at their expense. She was also a fanfic writer of a popular canon/OC series. Actually, she was so full of herself that she didn’t even call herself a fanfic writer, no her stories were in fact novels and were apparently very good. I never read them. But more on that later. 

Eventually the slash fans got tired of her being rude to us in the general thread so we made a Beyblade slash thread. There was a core of like 8 or so of us and we honestly had sooo much fun. When C would be too unbearable in the main thread the people from there used to come over to our thread and we’d chat with them about non slash stuff because we were honestly all multishippers and just wanted to have fun. We’d get comments like “wow, I’ve had more pleasant canon het ship discussions in the slash thread than the regular thread”. We never worried about C coming over and getting upset about comments like this because she refused to be associated with anything related with slash lmao. 

I tried my best to keep the peace between C, myself, and the rest of the fandom because ultimately I hate being in fandom drama. I just want everyone to have a good time. I’m a people pleaser. Unfortunately my newfound fame put me in the awkward position of being the most fandom popular person in our small community aside from C. Virtually every fan that read fanfics that came into our thread knew one of us or the other by reputation and C HATED this. Especially because people would come in to the thread, recognise me and go “oh my goodness I love your fanfics!” and I’d be super sweet with them and it’d lead into “I can’t believe how nice you are, I love you” which would lead to us crying at each other. This was not the kind of fan interaction that C got, no her fans were more kind that were there to praise her and worship her like a deity that had blessed them with some gift. Rarely did they tell her how kind she was. 

Back in the mid 2000s there were really commonly those commercials (usually by Christian organisations) asking people to sponsor say children in Africa or to help build schools or provide drinking water. You all probably know the ones; know the language that they used in those commercials. My fandom wife, who I suppose I shall call wifey because yes we were THAT couple back then, once said that C described her fics like those people described donating money to save the lives of Children in Africa. So we used to joke that her fics were so good they’d save lives in Africa. Looking back at it all, she almost had a very fundamentalist Christian approach to bringing people into her fanfics. She of course tried to get all the slash people into reading it. None of us read canon/oc fic mostly due to our poor treatment at the hands of their fans and creators. Getting fed up I one day told her that if she would read any one of my fanfics that I would read the entirety of her novels. Yes, I was willing to commit to read a couple 100k of canon/oc fanfic that I’d never touch normally if she would even read one of my 1k 1 shots. Heck, I had a fic even that shipped 2 minor characters so she didn’t even have to sully herself reading about one of the main characters. It was honestly a good deal in her favour. I kept this up until the day we all left the fandom. Sometimes I do wonder if her fics were even ¼ as good as she claimed, but I will never know because she refused to read my fics. 

She wasn’t all bad and a tyrant all the time. As long as people kept the conversations on track and didn’t come in to the thread saying things like “KAI IS SO HOT ND T3H BEST N I AM GUN 2 MARRY HIM” she stayed mostly civil. It was always hilarious watching InuYahsa or Naruto fans try to come in and bad mouth Beyblade because they’d unleash the dragon and C was great at chasing off undesirables in the thread. 

The real apex of goings on though on Gaia was the guild drama. So guilds were like exclusive themed mini forums within Gaia. Anyone could buy one and run it however they want, as long as it still adhered to Gaia’s ToS. C of course was the owner of the only Beyblade guild. The fandom wasn’t really big enough to support 2 guilds so we just kind of let it go. Technically she allowed people to post slash fanfics but like everything had to be explicitly tagged and there was absolutely no slash RP. Wifey and I controlled a handful of minor characters together in the forum RP and definitely used to try to push the boundaries a little bit. Some ambiguous flirting here, a stray comment there. It was such a fragile balance though because C was heavy on the ban button. The active portion of the guild was just people that were in the cult of C and worshipped her writing. 

Understandably the other slash fans and myself were getting disheartened by this. So we pooled our funds together and decided that we’d open a second guild that though it was run by slash fans we would welcome anyone into our ranks. We just wanted to have a fun place for everyone to hang out, and to hopefully run a few events out of. In hindsight, we should have seen what would happen. When we opened the guild, with me as the guild leader, it was like somebody blew up the whole dam protecting the delicate ecosystem we had cultivated. Every single person in the Gaia fandom that was not a zealous follower of C applied to be in our guild and left her guild. We of course figured that we’d attract some of the gen population but we did not expect to accidentally poach all of it. All of the moderators were getting messages from people thanking us for giving them a place where they could say whatever they wanted without fear of getting their faces ripped off or banned. 

C lost her shit. She was so mad that we went behind her back to ruin her guild. We literally had to show her posts in the very public slash thread that we had been planning this in public and that it was not to ruin her life. We just wanted a place where we could freely post slash. The two of us had some spicy comments back and forth and then she dropped an absolute bombshell on me. Since Gaia’s mail system is terrible I unfortunately no longer have exactly what she said but it was something along the lines of “Ok, you win. I’m going to close my guild.”. Us slash fans had never been doing this to win anything. We had never been competing. We just wanted a safe space to be ourselves. 

C never joined our guild. The fandom slowly faded out within the next year anyway. We weren’t getting new content so naturally people just drifted into other fandoms. C kept up with the main Beyblade thread for a lot longer than most of us but eventually that eventually faded into obscurity too. 

I learned a lot about fandom bullies from those days. But honestly the thing that stuck with me the most out of everything was that if you provide a positive safe space for people they will flock to it. It may seem like there are so many hostile people out there, but there really aren't. They're the minority but they just make sure that their voice is the loudest. The best way is to ignore them and just do your own thing. The bullies just want attention and if you don’t give it to them and prove to them that their opinion doesn’t matter to you then they’ll move in and find something else to yell at.