#i'm actually so in love with this entire rant anon!

[the-way-astray]

keefe has never gaslit or extorted anyone ever . manipulate MAYBE and i ONLY say that because katie knows all but i draw a line at extortion you arae wrong

hi, anon! those are some opinions you got there! obviously, it seems you've made up your mind, so my goal isn't to change your opinion, but rather to defend my side. i believe gaslighting is actually a form of manipulation, and you've already acknowledged that keefe could be manipulative, so i'm not really going to talk about that. however, it seems you feel very strongly about the extortion thing, so let's chat.

keefe's threats don't tend to come off as threats, because he's usually camouflaging them as something else, but the force (his use of empathy) is blatantly obvious. here are some examples (copy-pasting from my rant, only the stuff in the [brackets] is new):

(note: these are all out of order and i'm tired so i'm not citing shit. i may or may not change that later. point is, there is evidence in the text that proves that keefe is an extortive little shit, which is what i'm trying to prove.)

“Keefe nudged Dex’s arm, then grinned at Sophie. ‘Interesting.’ ‘What?’ Dex asked. ‘Which one’s your gift, Dex?’ Sophie interrupted. She didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what Keefe was going to tease Dex about.” Here we mark the start of Keefe using his empathy to learn people’s secrets without their consent. He feels not a hint of remorse for it, and instead uses it as a way to breach people’s boundaries and embarrass them. As a lot of people have already said, Keefe is the primary reason empathy should have similar restrictions on it to telepathy. [He obtained something (Dex's feelings, without permission, for no other reason than he wanted to) through force (his use of empathy).]

“He reached out and brushed Grady’s arm. ‘Whoa—that is some serious tension radiating off of you. Is it that bad?’” Again, here we see an example of Keefe breaching boundaries and using his ability to get people to tell him things they aren’t comfortable telling him. If Keefe was a Telepath, this would be breaking the law. In case you care. [Same thing as above.]

“Keefe grabbed Fitz’s wrist and pressed his fingers against the exposed skin. ‘Hate to break it to you, but I can tell you’re hiding something.’” (26) Another example of Keefe breaching personal boundaries and using his empathy to extort secrets out of people to get him to tell things they wouldn’t ordinarily tell him. This happens a lot starting in this book, and yes, I am going to point them all out. By the way, what Fitz was hiding was not at all important to their mission. It’s a secret of Sophie’s that Fitz accidentally saw and was forced to tell because of Keefe. And Keefe tries to make fun of Sophie for it, but is cut off. [Same as above.]

“Keefe spotted the crush cuffs about ten seconds after he got to Havenfield the next morning—despite the long-sleeved tunic Sophie had worn to keep them covered. And he dragged out the rest of the story with a relentless bombardment of questions.” Can Keefe keep his nose out of Sophie’s personal business for even a minute??? The “dragged” here is very telling: Sophie would not have chosen to tell Keefe all this of her own free will. He bombards her with questions, and so she tells him, not because she wants to, but because she knows that he won’t shut up until he has the full story. This is Sophie’s secret. Sophie’s business (and Dex’s). Keefe has no right to ask about the cuffs at all. The fact that he “retelentless[ly]” asked her questions until she was forced to tell him the entire story is not a good thing. It does not demonstrate trust, but quite the opposite: a breach of personal boundaries. Keefe is so toxic, I honestly find it impressive how Shannon has twisted him into a seemingly perfect-angel love interest. [He obtains something (what happened between Sophie and Dex) through force (his questions, which are specifically described using the words "dragged" and "relentless", as I stated).]

“She could feel him reaching for her glove—and yanked her hand away.” Keefe tries to breach Sophie’s boundaries. But what else is new. [Once again, he tries to extort, yes, extort, Sophie's feelings out of her. He isn't successful, but hopefully this proves that Sophie is not a willing participant here.]

“He traced his thumb over the sliver of skin between her glove and the edge of her beaded sleeve. ‘There’s something you’re not saying right now. I can feel it.’” (12) Keefe once again breaches boundaries because he can’t keep his nose out of other people’s personal feelings. He has no right to just help himself to Sophie’s emotions like that. It’s a massive breach of boundaries, and then using that to try to pry the secret out of her is nothing short of repulsive behavior. [He obtains something (Sophie's feelings, specifically the feeling of "she's not saying something", which he states) through force (his empathy).]

“Keefe snatched Fitz’s wrist. ‘I knew it!’ ‘Knew what?’ Fitz shouted, trying to wrench his arm away. Keefe tightened his grip. ‘Shhhhh, let the Empath work.’” (367) Oh, boy. Keefe really is such a manipulative asshole. He grabs Fitz’s hand to read his emotions because he wants to know why Fitz is offering to search his dad’s memories. He really can’t respect his supposed best friend’s privacy, can he? He can’t control himself; when he wants to know something he needs to have it right away. He breaches people’s trust and boundaries. Fitz tries to “wrench his arm away”, meaning that he’s uncomfortable and clearly doesn’t want this. But Keefe instead tightens his grip and forcibly extricates what he wants out of Fitz, even having the audacity to say “let the Empath work”. What an asshole. Honestly. He’s such a piece of shit. He’s a terrible person and the fact that Shannon is romanticizing this behavior is revolting. [He once again obtains something (Fitz's feelings, and from that the fact that he's trying to go after Alvar) through force (very literal here, he uses not only his empathy, but also his physical strength to keep Fitz from wrenching away).]

“‘Okay, two choices,’ Keefe told her, standing up and tilting her chin toward him. ‘You can tell me what’s wrong. Or I can put my Empath powers to work—but keep in mind, Option B will likely pick up on all kinds of other feelings.’ Sophie gave him her surliest scowl, but he didn’t back down.” First of all, here’s another example of Keefe touching Sophie’s face creepily. Secondly, Keefe just extorted Sophie’s personal feelings out of her. He just threatened to use his empathy on her if she didn’t tell him what was going on. He then said that if she didn’t tell him the thing she obviously doesn’t want to tell him, he’d not only use his power on her and figure it out, but would also probably pick up on other things she doesn’t want him knowing about. Sophie then makes it very obvious that she doesn’t want to do it, but he “didn’t back down”, by which Shannon of course means “didn’t respect Sophie’s feelings and her right to keep them to herself”. That is so. That is just. I don’t understand how Shannon somehow managed to twist this into Keefe caring about Sophie. He threatened, coerced, manipulated, and extorted her into telling him, sure, but caring about her??? Don’t make me laugh. Keefe is possibly the most toxic character in this entire series, and it is disgusting how Shannon gives the impression that this is caring behavior, or correct in any capacity at all. When someone wants to be left alone, you leave them alone. Keefe needs to go back to seventh grade health class, where they teach you that no means no. [My personal favorite example, because this is the one that most makes me think Shannon actively does not realize what a shitty character she's created in Keefe. He threatens Sophie (by telling her that if she didn't tell him, he'd forcefully take it from her, with some possible extra secrets, thrown in for funsies) into getting something he wants (her telling him what she's feeling). Yes, this is still shitty if you mask it as "caring". If Sophie doesn't want to talk, he needs to respect that, not pretend he knows her wishes better than she knows them herself. That is gaslighting. And taking away someone's agency to make their own decisions regarding their own feelings is bad and not good!]

[block limits are fun!!!]

“‘[ . . . ] forced herself to meet Keefe’s ice blue eyes. ‘I’m fine.’ When he raised one eyebrow, she added, ‘I’m just frustrated [ . . . ]’” (7) That’s right, the page numbers return. And I have physical copies of the rest of the series, so they’re here to stay. It may seem like Keefe is just trying to check on Sophie and make sure she’s okay, which is a noble cause, but when someone says they don’t want to talk about something, that means they don’t want to talk about it. That does not mean you prod and prod until they spill. So many things Sophie tells Keefe get twisted and people think she tells him because she trusts him, but more often than not she doesn’t and he just prods her or extorts them out of her. [It may not seem like Keefe "prod[s] and prod[s]", as my past self put it. But this is Flashback, so you do have to take into account the fact that Sophie has been putting up with Keefe's shitty behavior for six books, so she succumbs quicker. She knows that he will just take it from her if she doesn't give him what she wants. There is a quote later down that proves this, actually (it'll be in red).]

“‘Yup! But I can’t stop her, so I might as well let her take you down with me.’” (97) This is Keefe talking about Ro using him as a lie detector to extort Sophie’s secret out of her, by the way. Which Keefe agrees to do. Which he wouldn’t do if he really was a good friend. Just like Sophie wouldn’t have to make this deal with Ro if Keefe would just listen to good advice for once and do the smart thing. But he doesn’t care about Sophie’s mental health, and he doesn't care about Sophie’s feelings, because or else he would respect them by agreeing to stay out of the Neverseen’s way and not using his empathy to extort secrets Sophie clearly doesn't want to share out of her. And Ro. Honestly, she’s even worse than Keefe, partly because of her personality, but mostly because of the wasted potential. Keefe was always going to be the “bad boy angsty prankster with daddy issues that causes trouble” trope that we've seen a million times. But Ro could’ve been so much more. She’s the ogre princess, and the most Shannon could do with her is make her a Sokeefe fangirl. [Again, Keefe uses his empathy (force) to keep Sophie honest as Ro forces her to tell her and Keefe the secret that she desperately doesn't want to tell to the both of them (obtaining something he wants). And this is somehow spun around and sold to the audience as caring.]

“‘But do you really think you’re going to be able to leave here without telling me what happened with the Forklenator? If you do, you’re going to be sorely, sorely disappointed—and covered in biscuit crumbs.’” (351) Again, Keefe as good as admits that he’d force Sophie to spill if she didn’t tell him what happened with Mr. Forkle. His extortive ways need to stop being glorified and start being treated like the horrific manipulation it is. [This may seem like a joke, but it got Sophie to spill, so I mean. And yes, Sophie came there with the intention of telling Keefe. But that doesn't change the fact that telling someone they have to tell you something they may not want to is shitty. Especially considering how Keefe has acted for the past seven books (this is in Legacy).]

“She wasn’t sure if they were allowed to tell him—but it was so much easier than arguing.” (336) Keefe has literally annoyed Sophie so much that she doesn’t even think it’s worth the fight to keep a secret. That’s not good. It means that Sophie just succumbs to whatever he wants without a thought. That’s pretty much the highest sign of a toxic relationship. [And the reason she succumbed? Because he consistently shows her he has the power to take what he wants from her, over and over and over, and consistently has threatened/forced her, so now she doesn't even think it's worth the fight to try to keep stuff secret anymore. I don't know what else to say. This is not good. It is not caring. It is extortive and shows a clear lack of trust in Sophie and Keefe's relationship.]

and just as a comparison point, here's what keefe using his empathy in a healthy, not extortive way looks like:

so yeah, i'd say keefe consistently and constantly extorts sophie (and others) when he decides it's convenient for him.

[lovvecherrymotion]

thoughts on Nace's antibiotic tit milk please

i feel like drinking it would fix all my problems

[velvetvexations]

Venting but like. I know it's influenced by which circles I follow and such (I'm on this site, for example) but it feels like people just seem to associate gender varience with lesbianism. Like I see so little content of people who center femme gay men, or masculine women who aren't lesbians, etc. People constantly make jokes about like "sees what looks like two gay men but is actually two butches which is ontologically better" but never never anything like what if these two femme looking individuals were gay men. That and like the lack of community and language for feminine men just makes it harder for me to feel like I fit in where the options seem like cis gay overall gender conforming men on one side, people attracted to women of diverse genders and presentations and experiences on the other. People talk about events where they've felt seen as their gender and found other people with queer gender experiences and it's like yeah it was at the Dyke bar or something and I love that for them but where do I go someone who's gender is femme but also man and attracted to men cause the gay male community feels so distant and very cis and conforming, I don't feel a sense of belonging there but the alternative feels desperate to tie me back into womanhood or attraction to women. Butches and dyke's are fantastic but I wish I could find more queer rep of gender exploration that isn't tied to lesbians, personally. And I know it's largely because of the history of these groups and all that and the ways that lesbianism is treated and policed (how there's always arguments against bi lesbians but not bi gay men, trans man lesbians but people just flat out ignore trans women gay men(see the language deficit) etc. There's no equivalent to the butch community for gay men as far as I know, not to the same extent. There's not even commonly used terminology similar to butch or lesbian that gets across that kind of meaning without explicitly tieing in a binary gender(people try with things like Achillean, but that doesn't have the same recognition and often gets mocked instead)(easier to say "the term lesbian includes nonbinary people" than it is to say "the term gay man includes nonbinary people") so I've had to say gay men community even if I'm not entirely a man because there's no words for me) but I feel like I don't even know where to look to find people like me a lot of the time.

This is all just a very personal rant and probably not entirely indicative of wider reality but it helps me to express it to someone else, so I greatly appreciate you having your ask box open to listen <3

It's not things I have a good handle on, but I've heard very similar from others. You're not alone, anon!

[chao-thicc-hcs]

hii! just saying, i really love your work so much! i wanna request something if that’s fine with you! could you maybe do tr characters accidentally slapped you across the face?? (pls have both haitanis brother and sanzu like i need them hehe) thank you! <3

thank you so much, anon! 😭 a/n: sanzu is an absolute word-vomit i'm so sorry i wrote this at 3am

Slapping you across the face.

ft.: haitani brothers, sanzu haruchiyo

warning(s): mentions of slapping, rindou being absolutely fucking toxic and controllng, crying, mentions of depression, suggestive, mentions of sex.... and sanzu

genre: angst, no comfort (for now, there might be part 2, who knows?)

READER IS AFAB! not proofread, will be edited further

ran↷

Your lover was usually very calm and gentle with you. During the occasions where you had arguments, he'd not react abruptly, nor raise his voice. He'd always be calm, soft-spoken, wich oftentimes susbided your flames.

But today was different. He was annoyed and bitter, because he got into a fight with his brother, and such things impact him greatly. You however, didn't know the reason he was so pissed. It was a day where both of you had agreed to go on a date in a lavish restaurant, venting and ranting to each other about work-related stuff. Ran was quiet, however, and his stare was blank, as if your voice was equivalent to a fork being scratched on a plate. You noticed this, and quickly reacted.

-Ran, what's wrong? You've been bitter this entire day and evening.

-None of your business, Y/n.

The coldness in his voice caught you off guard, and not being called by the usual "babe" or "my dearest" definitely hinted to you that you shouldn't push his buttons further. But you couldn't shake the feeling that was eating you on the inside. You wanted to know more, and somehow help him out.

-...Actually it is, you're my fiance, and I want to know more-

-Just shut up and eat your food. You've been nagging me to go out to this restaurant and now you aren't even looking at it.

You blinked slowly. You felt like shouting at him, but kept your cool and sat quiet, eating the now tasteless pasta in front of you, not wanting to cause a scene in such expensive environment.

The ball of emotions was dormant until both of you arrived home. The second you stepped foot inside the apartment, you threw your bag to the side and threw your earrings on the counter.

-What the fuck is wrong with you, Ran? This entire day, you've been letting out all your nerves on me. You kept pushing me, threw remarks at me, grimaced every time when I tried settling things with you... If it is something about me, you better tell me like a man!

Ran just stood there, his eyes wide, eyebrow twitching at the sound of your voice bumping inside his skull. The man approached you and the last thing you knew, his hand connected with your cheek, turning your whole body to one direction. Your head remained turned, for you weren't even able to process what the man you were so eager to call "your husband" in the future laid his hand on you.

-Didn't I tell you to shut up? Weren't you taught common human decency, hm? That when someone tells you to shut up and leave them alone, you should do so?

You didn't want to cry, but bitter tears found their path down your now red cheek. What broke you more is the nonchalance Ran looked you with at this very moment, his tie already loose and blazer thrown on the ground. He seemed so much bigger and intimidating than usual, his eyes piercing holes through you.

-Oh, is that so..?-you smiled wobbly, your voice shaky.

You didn't utter a word anymore, but through forced smile and watery eyes, you took your bag and ripped off the necklace he gifted you on your graduation day a few months ago, throwing it on the ground. Ran seemed unbothered, but knowing him for over 6 years, you always spotted the hidden emotions behind his stare, especially when he so desperately tried being tough in a fight like this.

Not wasting any more time crying in front of what you called your "fiance" with so much joy, you stormed off the apartment, almost stumbling from the wave of emotions that you felt warming your body up.

The shutting of the door, followed by the echoing of your loud steps on the stairway outside, left Ran alone with his own regrets. Never in his life had he thought he'd feel so... empty yet kind of relieved. Relieved because he let out his anger, empty because he did it on you, and now he probably lost you forever

The night wasn't easy for him. Ran hated staying up all night, but the emptiness and serenity in the room were suffocating for him. He missed your voice, he missed the way you breathed in his neck, being the big spoon most of the time. He knew you'd not respond to his texts nor pick up his calls, hell, he didn't even bother charging his phone, because the only reason he even used in in the first place was gone.

rindou↷

Sometimes your boyfriend's insecurities overcame him, and it often lead to atrocious quarrels between you two. No matter how often you'd say you had eyes only for him - he'd never believe you and fall down into yet another depressive episode where the whole world is to blame for him.

Today was no different. There was a big bag next to your wardrobe, and you stared at it for a while, slouched onto the bed, sighing deeply. You knew it was risky, but the dress was so beautiful, so gorgeous that it was an impulsive purchase. Rindou gave you full access to his card, and he rarely checks it.

You slipped it on, and for the first time in maybe months, you enjoyed the view of an expensive, shiny material wrapped around your figure, the poofy sleeves hugging your arms you hated so much perfectly. The dress was royal blue, the cleavage was deep, it had a beautiful slit and you even ordered a jewelry that wrapped around your thigh with Rindou's initials.

You hoped honey will start dropping from his eyes the moment he sees you in this dress, even getting aroused by how beautifully the fabric and color complemented you.

You heard the front door closing, which sent shivers down your entire body, and suddenly the plan you had in your mind dissolved into thin air, blankness replacing it.

-I'm home.

His voice lingered into your head. Unaware of your surroundings, it felt as if everything began fading into white, dulling your senses. You loved hearing him say these words, which propelled you to throw yourself on his neck and plaster kisses on his face, but now, you were hoping to not hear them at least for two more hours while mentally preparing yourself for whatever was spinning in your head.

-Um, hello?

The creak of the door pained your eardrums. You were fiddling with the material of the skirt on your chest, taking short, tense breaths after Rindou's presence hit you from the back, his strong aura suffocating you. The thud of his suitcase made you jump.

-H-hey, Rindou. - you said meekly, turning around to face him

You were tense. Your chest felt heavy and you felt like your stomach shrunk and moved around your abdomen. Rin analyzed your entire figure, visibly unsatisfied with your current appearance.

-Y/n. What is this?-he growled, approaching you with a slow yet heavy gait

-This is a dress I bought to show you... I know you like this color on me, and I-

-It's too fucking revealing, Y/n. What are you trying to do, huh? You know damn well what I think about rags like these.

-Rindou, can't I have nice things on me for at least once? For fucks sake, I am wearing this dress for you, I want you to drool over me and just touch my body, is this too much to ask for?? I even have your initials on my thigh!

Rindou's expression changed abruptly, forming from annoyance to sheer fury and disdain. He grabbed you by the fabric of the poofy sleeves and pulled you closer, causing it to rip.

-Maybe if you didn't have such trash taste in clothing, I'd be pleased. And the thigh jewelry? The fuck were you thinking?? You want to be watched, eh? You want others to see your thigh??

By this time his voice got louder and louder, making it feel as if the inside of your head is shaking. But you cursed yourself for even thinking that he'd be any different. Ever since the incident with his brother calling you "hot", he's gotten worse and worse, sinking deeper into the pond of insecurities he was born in.

Your overthinking slowed your reactions, and by the time you came to your senses, you felt a burning sensation on your cheek. He laid his hand on you, and he was on his knees in front of you, head laid on your thighs, asking for forgiveness.

-I'm sorry.. sorry... sorry, Y/n, my love, I got too-

You shushed him up. You kept your gaze glued onto the door in front of you, legs urging you to stand up and go away, disappear, evaporate from Rindou's life. His eyes were filled with what seemed shame, self-hatred... even more than usual. No more were you influenced by his gentle caresses, no more you felt the same spark as before.

Rindou couldn't stand looking at himself in the mirror. Everything reminded him of you. The body mist you left in his room, the towel you'd use for your hair, and the last bits of your sweet, enticing scent that tied his braincells into a heart knot, forcing him to bury his head into the pillow you slept on, inhaling it.

30 missed calls.... over 100 messages until you blocked him. He searched for you everywhere - every nook and alley. He'd always randomly get the feel of you being around, or even hiding behind a sinister street.... alas you were never there.

sanzu↷

-YEEEEAAAAAAAH!!!

His voice echoed throughout the bar, or more precisely - the private room he'd booked for the both of you in the Haitanis' club.

You were embarrassed by your boyfriend's attitude, placing a hand in front of your face in a pathetic attempt to hide it and tone down the soul-eating feeling of your boyfriend being an absolute douche. The night was supposed to be lecherous with the just both of you in this room, talking, kissing and probably even unabashedly fucking in front of the entire staff.

-For fucks sake, Sanzu! You're so loud and obnoxious!

By the time he night progressed this far, Sanzu was high as a kite. Paired with the amounts of alcohol he had ingested by now, there was no salvation from the sweet curtain of drunkness that was in front of his eyes.

You were pissed. Not long before your date, he was gone for around 5 days. Full-on no contact. He didn't answer your texts nor calls, and it had you worried sleepless for days. He eventually came back, and as always - he'd take you out and throw all his money on you, buying you all the shit you lay your eyes upon, just to glaze your eyes and cease your nagging, making you forget that he'd do the same shit again.

He thought that problems are solved through material goods. Clothes, expensive dates and good sex, but soon you began realizing the toxicity you were put through from him, commencing from him gazing at other women to straight up disappearing for days. Who knows what he could've done?

But here you are, yet again, positioned in his lap, taking a shot of what seemed to be one of the best whiskeys you ever tasted, making you forget for a split second the mess your boyfriend is. The liquid warmed you... a little bit too much before a wave of dizziness washed over you. The only support you had was your lover, who had his hand wrapped around your waist, squeezing it.

You hated... no - loathed yourself for falling weak for his lukewarm excuses and attempts to win you back and have you moaning and murmuring under his touch.

-Y/n, you're so fucking boring. You don't let me have fun at home, and I ain't letting you hinder my fun here too.

He gruffly said, suddenly pushing you away. You plopped onto the couch. The alcohol brewing inside of you propelled you to a bold move you'd usually not make. You abruptly stood up and spilled the remaining liquid you poured yourself, all over his suit.

-The fuck are you doing?!

-The fuck does it look like I'm doing? All you've been doing is acting like I am some kind of side hoe. Doing all kinds of hurtful shit and then trying to make up to it by spoiling me...

-But I managed to succeed til' now, right? Why can't you just shut up and accept it again this night.-he retorted and tried to clean his clothes

Your fury couldn't be concealed even under the finest mask there is. You were panting from the build-up pressure inside of you the entire night. The buttons of your shirt were threatening to rip apart from the deep, frequent breaths you took.

-So I am going to continue being the only one fighting, huh? I will be the only one who loves truly and wholly? Is that it? You're going to treat me like some kind of used towel, huh??

The force you gripped his collar with was tremendous. Blue eyes stared at you in both confusion and frenzied fury. His arms were twitching, almost as if he wants to hit you.

Which he did in the blink of an eye, without a drop of remorse or holding back. He gripped your cheeks with his fingers after, forcing you to kneel down and look at him.

-You shut your filthy mouth or I am going to make you meet Satan himself, Y/n. You'd witness the other 50% I've been holding back to release since the last fucking time someone irritated me!

Terrified eyes analyzed his facial features. Vein protruding on his forehead and eyes filled with contempt and sheer malice, making you feel inferior, crushing you with just a simple stare back. No word was uttered from your mouth, nor you didn't move.

He didn't seem to have any quills about harming his "precious gemstone", as how he called you in the first few years of dating. You were shattered like glass, and your own pieces turned against you and impaled you with force, digging deep, hence you were blaming and cursing yourself for staying with him after Bonten was formed.

The night was young, and so were Sanzu's intentions of punishing you until you lose your voice from screaming.

©chao-thicc-hcs; reblogs are deeply appreciated

[celaenaeiln]

12 am anon back at it again. my friend called me at 2 am, tipsy on i wanna say wine??? and ranted about how nightwing’s “superpower” is his charisma for like 15 mins . and then they talked about how he looks like he’d have a great spice tolerance before hanging up. i think its a hyperfixation .

I absolutely love it!! You and your friend just have the best conversations ever.

Your ask immediately reminded me of this scene from YJ Season 3

"That's just about everyone. Wasn't sure they'd all respond."

"You command more respect than you realize."

"I'm starting to get that."

Literally this boy has charisma oozing out of his pores. It absolutely is his superpower!

Charisma is known as "a personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure" or "the quality of being able to attract, charm and influence those around you." And Dick is the living embodiment of it.

It's actually a canon trait of his

The New Teen Titans (1980) Issue #5

Dick has the unique ability to lead people. It's not just about telling others what to do, it's people wanting to follow him, listen to him, and and accepts his commands of their own volition.

In the DC/RWBY comic, the RWBY team crosses over to Gotham with all their problems so they have to work together with Batman, Batgirl, and Nightwing (Ruby REALLY gets along with Dick which for some reason makes so much sense idk why). And the batfamily get superpowers.

And DC-

DC LITERALLY WENT-

DC/RWBY Issue #3

THEY ACTUALLY GAVE HIM THE POWER OF INSPIRATION. THEY SAID "if anyone has the ability to lead people to a better life, give them light and hope, and be everyone's favorite leader and savior, then there is only one person to which we can attribute this power to."

Inspiration is the factor that leads people to moving mountains, becoming greater, and changing our entire lives and everyone else and Dick is the one who bestows that power.

He literally inspires people to be better and inspires them to follow him and became the greatest they can be.

Teen Titans (2003) Issue #33

He just has the ability to inspire people to reach greater heights. The younger generation, his own, and the older ones kind of hero worship him.

Charisma is a dangerous power to have. It's essentially the unique ability to convince people to want to do things for you.

Examples of charismatic leaders are Martin Luther King Jr, Joan of Arc, Fidel Castro, and Napolean.

These people moved nations, worlds, societies but they are only one person. And Dick, has the ability to do this too.

To describe him as a person, to describe his charismatic authority, you need to combine all those figures into one person. And that's the equivalent of his power.

Because in the comics when he wants something - the whole superhero society answers.

The Titans (1999) Issue #39

On a separate note, Dick does have a high spice tolerance!

Batman and Robin (2009) Issue #1

Also Romani food is made hot and spicy, commonly using chili, paprika, and red and black pepper. So he can definitely handle the heat.

Lol I'm just imagining Dick absent-mindedly chewing on a red chili pepper while he watches Garth dare Wally to eat a ghost pepper while Donna's rolling her eyes and Roy's hyperventilating on the floor because he's having flashbacks to Ollie's Chilli.

[chaifootsteps]

making myself sad but can you imagine how powerful it would be if Moxxie and Millie saw how confused and shook up the full moon deal left Blitzo and they like, actually listened to him and validated him?

like if he explained when he made the deal and how he was getting shot at and Stolas not only didn't care but pushed him into agreeing so Blitzo could get him off the phone, then went into an X rated rant while Blitzo was in danger

and Moxxie suddenly remembers how Stolas was still going when he went back to the house even though Blitzo obviously wasn't on the phone anymore. and how Blitzo always seemed to have to pysche himself up before visiting Stolas once a month

then he explains how Stolas gave him the crystal but whenever Blitzo got mad at how he'd been treated Stolas would either do nothing to change the behavior (after Ozzie's) or denied it and blamed Blitzo completely for not immediately jumping to love him (full moon, probably)

and Moxxie and Millie realize what they've been treating so lightly and as an advantage of their business has been something Blitzo has been compartmentalizing to deal with this entire time and been forced into to keep the lights on.

and for all Blitzo's flaws they both look at one another, take one of his hands and look him in the eye before saying "you didn't deserve how he treated you"

and Blitzo just crumples because all along Stolas has validated his worst fear - that all he's good for is sex - then turned around and demanded an intimacy and love from him that he desperately wants to feel with someone, but he's never felt anything but used and dirty with Stolas. but now finally someone is listening to him. he doesn't have to feel crazy and alone anymore

for a show that loves to strut itself around like it wants to talk 'about abuse' it sure avoids having any discussions about the effects of it - and who gets away with it most effectively - instead it's just 'look, character is sad and cries'

but you just know what we're gonna get is Millie "the prince is the boss' boyfriiienddddd!' and Moxxie 'calls Stolas Highness constantly and is happy to rescue him twice without ever being thanked' just shaming Blitzo and grouping Stolas in with the people Blitzo hurt before, as though they're remotely the same thing

probably accompanied with the most aggravating cut rate version of 'I won't say I'm in love' where M&M are the greek chorus going 'so what if he treated you like a sex toy? get over it!' ever

Gloriously cruel of you to fill our heads with such beautiful, tearjerking visions of what could have been, then smack us collectively with that fat serving of reality, Anon. 11/10.

[reverie-starlight]

hiii, just poppin' in to say i love ALL of your writing (no matter how self indulgent) it's always so so amazing

i also wanted to ask about your favourite headcanons of your favourite haikyuu boys/girls?

AWWW ANON ILY THANK YOU SO MUCH, THAT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME <333

and oooo that's a tough one... I'm gonna do relationship HCs and I'm gonna try to limit myself to 5 but we shall see how that goes...

(...I only did some boys in this one cause it was getting long but if you want me to do one for the ladies of haikyuu I absolutely will. alisa and kiyoko are my wives.)

{relationship HCs for various hq boys}

gn!reader, pure fluff <3

timeskip spoilers!!

includes: kuroo, atsumu, oikawa, sakusa and semi (who would have guessed)

kuroo

the light of my life. my first husband.

like he could be so attentive to your every want and need

but you need to communicate with him what those things are before he actually picks up on them

but once he does? you're gonna feel like royalty with how amazing he treats you

kuroo is definitely the type to rile you up for his own enjoyment

like not enough to make you actually angry but just mildly annoyed, or to get you into the same playful mood he's in

usually you'd go into playful banter from there

he loooovvveeesss kissing you

like so much it's actually concerning (but you love it anyway)

doesn't have a specific place he prefers to kiss you but he will admit to purposefully kissing you in sensitive spots (like your neck or stomach) so he can hear the noises that come from that

if you're like me and get anxious/too in your own head sometimes, he would be so good at keeping you distracted and calm

would hold your hand squeeze it every so often to ground you

(side note he would have the nicest hands, second only to akaashi maybe, and he's aware you like them)

gently cups your cheeks a lot when you're having a conversation, it's so common that neither of you even notice it anymore, so when you're out with friends and he does it, they gag at the affection

also yk that thing where you knock your heads together as a form of affection??? you guys would absolutely do that, it's his favourite thing

since I literally have his jersey in hoodie form, I have to mention that he would purposefully buy clothes he thinks you'd be more likely to steal from him

he lovesss seeing you happy, so your relationship is a lot of fun. he's always making you laugh, which in turn, makes him laugh too

will CRY if you whisper sweet nothings to him after a long, hard day, pls validate him and tell him you love him and he's all that you want and more

and he will absolutely do the same for you, even if you had the best day. he wants to give you everything, so let him !!

scratch his back while he lays on top of you and rants about his day and he turns to putty

he's just very in love with you and wants to make you the happiest person on the planet, he wholeheartedly believes you deserve it <3

atsumu

we all knew he was gonna be on this list

fun fact, kuroo and akaashi were my top two characters for like a year and a half, and then one day atsumu shot to first place (if you couldn't tell from my blog)

anyway if favoritism shows, no it doesn't

he will pick you up at any chance he gets and drag you to your room for cuddles

he is SUCH a cuddly guy I wholeheartedly believe that.

does not mind being the big spoon one bit if that's what you prefer, as long as he gets to hold you in some way

he goes all out for anniversaries and holidays, you actually have to reign him in a lot of the time

will go to the gym and send you mirror selfies with horribly cheesy captions saying how much he misses you and how he wishes you were there with him

the jackals all love you and will 100% side with you in a petty argument just to tease atsumu

his favourite place to kiss you is definitely on the lips. he's not sure why but it just makes him happy

he LOVES it when you kiss his forehead tho

you guys have an entire arsenal of inside jokes

truly your relationship is two dorks best friends in love

after a long day his ideal destress routine would be to make dinner with you and then watch a show on the couch before going on an evening walk together

will show you off at every event he brings you to

he gets so giggly whenever you show him affection without him having to ask for it, it's the cutest thing you've ever seen

this man flirts to see you hideaway and then turns a million shades of red if you give it right back

he is just so proud to call you his partner <3

oikawa

this man is my favourite character in all of haikyuu

he's my favourite character but like, only top 5 in terms of my simp list yk??

but you'd better believe I have some HCs for him

I've said it before and I will say it again, even if Spanish isn't his first language, he would absolutely use Spanish terms of endearment on you while/after living in argentina

things like mi vida, mi sol, mi amor, etc...

i'm half costa rican, you can't blame me for adoring pet names in Spanish, and if you do I will simply ignore you <3

bro is so romantic.

like I genuinely believe he would be one of the most romantic guys out of any of them

very affectionate, but I feel like he wouldn't be so much in public despite what everyone else says

he'd happily show you off at events and stuff, and it would be obvious you two are together, but I think he's definitely more affectionate alone with you

loves loves loves skinship

will literally stick his hands under your shirt when you're cuddling just to trace shapes into your skin

loves gently running his fingers over the features of your face

he just wants to feel you a bit

kisses your temples and fingers the most I think

loves taking baths with you as well, he loves just sitting with you and talking about your days

he always wants to hear about every little detail

he lovesssss when you start rambling on about something and will listen to you so intently bc he knows what it is to feel passionate about something

if you run your hands through his hair he will melt into you, but you didn't hear it from me

he will also melt if you call him any pet name. he'll never admit it, but you know his favourites are the ultra-sweet, tooth-rotting ones he claims to hate

if you're ever insecure about anything in terms of your physical appearance, he will spend so much time complimenting you and kissing every place you point to <3

looks for you in the crowd at his games and smiles at you before he serves bc you're wearing his jersey

i want to give him a million kisses all over his face after he wins a game to see him smile and laugh, I have no problem feeding his ego actually

damn maybe the favoritism showed up more in this one

sakusa

take this as his bday post bc i forgot to get something out for the actual day

i LOVE this guy

I do already have some fluff HCs for him and a clingy!reader

but these are gonna be more general

okay so I do genuinely believe he would be soft for his partner

in public he is not outwardly affectionate

but that's okay bc you love all parts of him and respect his boundaries

however behind closed doors

he will bask in your affection

loves having your arms around him, loves being pressed against you

he's not a robot in public though, oh no

he has a very dry sense of humour, i think, which you love

bc if he has a sly remark or something to make about someone, he'll lean in close and whisper it to you

doesn't matter where you guys are, if he thinks of something, he's gonna want to share it with his partner, especially if he thinks it will make them laugh

his pet names for you range anywhere from "sweetheart" to "you little shit" tbh

lots of playful debates with him too

he likes to subtly match with you, either through colours you wear or like, homescreens that match up when you put your phones side by side

loves to kiss your palms the most and when he's holding your hand or you're cupping his face, he will hold your wrist and press tiny kisses to it

very observant so he will always be picking up on any mood changes or things you're hinting at

his morning voice is god tier, just saying

loves it when you play with his hair right when he wakes up, will literally purr like a cat if you do it long enough, but he will deny anything and distract you from it with a kiss

what a guy <3

semi

THE SEMI APPRECIATION AGENDA LIVES ON

i've said it before and i will say it again: he plays the guitar for you and writes songs with you in mind

he is a literal godsend when it comes to attending to your needs

does not mind one bit if you ask him to get you water at midnight

he is always down for late night drives as well, and has two playlists specifically curated for them and he picks one to play based on whether you're tired and need to get extra sleepy or if you're energetic and want to jam out with him

he's a government worker by day, musician by night and whenever you go to his shows, he will dedicate a song to you

speaking of performances

bringing this one up again, but always has you write something on him before he goes on stage (I have a mini fic based on that idea if u look on my page!!)

HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH OKAY??? would literally worship the ground you walk on if you told him to

gets you souvenirs from wherever he plays a show and presents them to you all dramatically and grins when you laugh at him

you most definitely have a necklace or bracelet with one of his old guitar picks hanging from it

semi is affectionate. not stingy with it in public but not crazy with it behind doors either. he's just. affectionate. most of it comes out in his songwriting anyway.

his main love languages are probably words of affirmation and acts of service

will ABSOLUTELY whisper sweet nothings to you completely unprompted when he's feeling soft just to get you flustered and/or in a sweet mood with him

he is in love, your honour

@emmyrosee more kuroo as promised!!

hope you all enjoyed!! please like and reblog <3

[violetasteracademic]

I saw a reddit post a while back talking about how “obvious” gwynriel is, with hundreds of upvotes and everyone agreeing, saying that it’s exactly how SJM sets up her love interests, and it makes me feel like a crazy person.

I agree that SJM is obvious with her couples, but for me the only logical obvious answer is elriel. The entire time I was reading the series it couldn’t have been more obvious, and all my irl friends feel the same. We didn’t even know gwynriel was a thing. They barely interact in the books, and even then it’s only vaguely friendly and mostly one-sided. Then I get online and see all of these people who genuinely believe it’s gwynriel that’ll be endgame and I can’t understand how we’ve read the same books.

This is the only reason I question elriel at all; am I somehow missing something? What the hell are these people seeing that overshadows elriel’s foreshadowing? I just can’t see it from their point of view, no matter how many theories or analyzing I read from them. I almost wished I could so that this ship war wouldn’t be so frustrating, but I just can’t.

Sorry to throw this rant at you, your posts and explanations are just very comforting and you explain things so well. I read them whenever I’m worried to assure myself I’m not crazy :,)

Hi sweet anon!

I certainly don't think you are crazy or missing anything, and I'm glad to know that some of my posts have brought you comfort. That is my one and only goal.

I've been getting more and more messages like this in my inbox, and I've been struggling with how to answer them because I've learned that a lot of my thoughts don't really fit in with the fandom at large. I don't mind that other ships exist. I have real life G/wynriel and E/lucien friends that are very chill and wonderful and not knee deep in the online fandom and don't think horrific misogynistic things. I stay out of spaces where I'm bound to see something hurtful, and I scroll so fuckin fast when I see the Elriel community screenshotting and reblogging bad takes cause I *don't wanna see it.*

I'm just a girl, and while I'm honored that this little weirdo's opinion has become of some value in this little comfy cafe corner I'm trying to build here, I don't want to say the wrong thing and make people feel discredited and invalidated. I've learned that people really like being in the drama and venting and focusing on how badly the other side is behaving, which I don't really like, and it often leaves me at odds with my own "side" of the war. But since you are here in my asks, I'll share my thoughts. Please know I am saying this with all the tender love and care in my heart, but I say:

Just let them exist. You don't need to understand. You also don't need to let it worry you. None of us are in control of the ships that are sailing in this war. So for whatever it is worth, I want to encourage you to try to stay away from the spaces that make you feel upset, confused, hurt, or angry.

We are all honestly similar in ways that might be hard to admit. If we are here, deep into this fandom, we are probably connected in a number of ways. Maybe we're a little bit lonely (me), a little bit mentally ill (me), a little bit hyper-fixated (me). Maybe we are easily consumed and obsessed, and don't have anywhere for that energy to go in our real lives and so we live on in a chronic state of escape and disassociation (yep, me).

We are also an exceptionally small percentage of SJM's readership, and we take things as far as a fan could possibly take them. This is not how most readers are interacting with her work. So to see hundreds of upvotes on something, even thousands, yes- it seems like a lot. But it's not actually that much in terms of SJM's actual numbers. Anyone on reddit, tumblr, tiktok, ect, is looking for community and people who share their thoughts and likes and dislikes. I think this is often why a lot of non canon ships actually grow more popular than canon ships, because people are here looking for a road the written story will not take them down.

I don't think it's strange or offensive or unhinged that ships other than Azriel or Elain exist and are popular. I *do* think its a little odd that this fandom has taken the stance of proving non-canon things as canon instead of just enjoying crackships, but I can't honestly sit here and say my posts proving "canon" to try to comfort people who want the same fictional couple as me is not the exact same behavior. I think I'm right. They think they are right. There will come a day when Sarah lets us know what she has decided, and it's out of our hands. But the ships will live on.

I love so many non canon ships, and I engage with them here every day. This is what fandom is for. I think this fandom in particular would be a lot less toxic if we would just live and let live and leave each other be. I am gonna keep making theory posts and writing fanfic. They are gonna keep making theory posts and writing fanfic.

Take care of yourself. Rock the block button. Strangers on the internet do not get unfettered access to me or you or anyone else just because we are online. Set some boundaries for yourself. Lurk where you feel good.

I hope my page continues to be one of those places where you can lurk to feel better. And if that ever changes, block me. I encourage it deeply. I actually feel relieved when I can see that someone has blocked me, because I know they are taking care of themselves and also saved me the time and energy of trying to diffuse an argument.

I hear your frustrations. I know it sucks to want to go on reddit if that has been a fun and comforting space for you, and now it feels overrun and not safe and not fun. Grieve that. We obviously all care very deeply, and that's okay. It's nothing at all to be ashamed of.

But at some point, we are all gonna have to learn to live with each other, because no matter what happens in canon, the ships are not going anywhere.

Take care of yourself, anon. And I hope you continue to find comforting spaces to rest.

[jiraisupportgroup]

Hii I'm new to jirai kei n recently I joined a group where there's a lot o jirai / landmine ppl! I was asking some questions abt how to go for the fashion part of the subculture and one of my main questions was "is there any thrift store I can go to? Can I customize some clothing to make it look jirai?" And what I got as an answer was "No. Jirai ppl only use branded clothing, you can buy it second hand but you cannot customize in any way".

Tbh I'm not in a good place economically rn and I don't have a job either, so I'm not sure what I should do. Importing clothing costs 6 times more cause of where I live.

Is it really a rule that jirai / landmine can only wear branded clothes? (Liz liza, honey wardrobe, dear my love, etc)

I know I fit in the jirai lifestyle but I wanted to fit in the fashion too T--T

Thank you for your time♡♡ asking anon cause it's for me and a frien ^^"

I would once again like to preface this (as I preface all things) with the fact that I could entirely be talking out of my ass - this is just my opinion - and I am not a spokesperson for Jirai Kei or other mentioned subcultures / fashion styles as a whole.

I wholeheartedly disagree with that but also I will caveat that with the fact that I spent most of my teenage years in menhera / goth / emo / grunge spaces and those are very DIY-heavy subcultures. I'm also super relaxed about how people choose to label themselves (to the point where I barely claim to be in any subculture because I just don't want to bother with labels so I'm probably not the best person to ask haha~)

To me personally, this feels like an argument that someone coming from Lolita would make? I kind of see a link here in the sense that the two main reasons I think people say these things about Lolita are because it is really hard to make Lolita clothing and buying lolita knock-offs is generally bad for a whole slew of reasons. Similar arguments for both subcultures I think.

Girly kei / dark girly clothing can be really hard to make or DIY. I think it is certainly very possible to do, but it might take some trial and error. Mostly because being a bit over the top is kind of the aesthetic; there are a lot of ruffles and bows and lace and ribbons and buttons and cute little accessories and cut-outs and the neckline is typically very specific with decorated collars. At its base, it is just a blouse, but it's got a LOT of aspects that go into it, and if it's "too basic" then you're not really hitting that girly kei style. The skirts too (I personally think the skirts would be a little easier to DIY but I also have experience sewing with lace / grommets & making corset ribbon designs which is mostly what stands out from them to me?) You also run into a lot of the actual hardware being specific with hearts being a really common theme for belt loops or buttons, and decorated suspenders.

I think it would be difficult to DIY girly kei or dark girly pieces but it's certainly doable. One issue is that depending on where you're getting the materials for that DIY, it might be about the same cost (or more) as just buying a blouse (although this depends on shipping cost).

The other aspect of it is the argument against fast fashion which is a little more nuanced in Jirai Kei but I see where they're coming from? I mean, to be frank, ryousangata is literally "massed produced" fashion (& to be fair the aesthetics that are labeled as “ryousangata” have varied a lot over the years - it’s not just frilly blouses & stuff that’s just kind of what it happens to be right now). It's pretty much just fast fashion. MA*RS, Liz Lisa, & DearMyLove from what I can tell are mostly produced in Japan, although they do source materials from China, like most companies do (not automatically or necessarily a bad thing imo - but I will spare you that side rant bc it’s kind of not related). I couldn't find a lot of information about their production practices? So I'm unsure about worker environments for them? Generally, the big-name brands are going to be more ethically sourced & produced than random AliExpress sellers but by how much is kind of questionable (or at least I could not find a lot of information about the production processes so I'm not sure by how much - if anyone has additional information on this I would love love love to hear).

Now am I saying "Go buy a bunch of fast fashion off of AliExpress because it's cheaper and no one cares"? No. (It's also honestly not much cheaper.) But the reality is that it generally is fast fashion, so it's a weird balancing game. I think one of the main reasons people say "only buy Liz Lisa / MA*RS / DearMyLove" is because they want to avoid fast fashion as much as possible while participating in a fashion with a LOT of fast fashion sellers, and since it can be difficult to find production information they go for the big names because they're easier to trust in that aspect. (I also have fallen into this trap & have sworn my life to DearMyLove because they're the only big-name brand that is even slightly 6-foot-tall-bitch friendly T-T)

All of that being said, if you want to attach some bows and lace to a frilly blouse and call it girly kei I am absolutely not going to stop you (or honestly even judge you, but again that's just me). The shipping costs are part of the reason why I say the clothes are secondary to the jirai kei subculture especially as a foreigner because once you consider that the clothing is significantly more expensive and difficult to obtain in foreign circles it becomes directly contradictory to some of the reasons why those same clothes are so popular in the Japanese subculture: I don't think the cultural context of the fashion translates over to foreign markets (economically or socially, but I'll spare you that entire rant lol).

ALSO! Jirai Kei Subcul is awesome and has a much more obtainable aesthetic for foreign markets. It leans more into punk and you can use a lot of different pieces for it that are more easily obtainable, so I highly recommend looking into it. It might be a good medium for being able to feel fully like you belong, but not breaking the bank for an outfit.

[howlsmovinglibrary]

You mentioned in the tags of a recent post what you’d change about Funny Story to make it a different book. Would you mind elaborating on what you meant by that? I’m curious!

hey anon, thank you for being a massive enabler bc this has in fact been my special topic for the last 48hrs.

I want to state off the bat that I still gave this book 4.75 stars. I really, really enjoyed it. That being said, I'd literally rewrite the entire thing to get it to 5.

Answer under the cut to avoid spoilers! (also shout out to @eldritchcow bc these ideas are not formed alone but through a series of ranting voice notes lmfao)

The premise of Funny Story is that two exes move in with each other after their partners run away together - the main character, Daphne, has her wedding cancelled as a result, and Miles, the love interest, also gets a pretty crap deal bc his girlfriend literally breaks up with him via A NOTE ON THE KITCHEN COUNTERTOP, before running off on holiday with another man (after they hook up AT HIS BACHELOR PARTY. DAPHNE AND MILES DESERVED TO DO VIOLENCE). Miles and Daphne move in together, a series of circumstances means that Daphne tells her ex they are now dating, and that Miles will be her plus to the NEW WEDDING that they have been INVITED TO.

Personally, I think this - two exes move in, fake date, develop feelings - is such a juicy set up for a novel, that it could carry the whole plot. But at about the halfway mark, a bunch of other stuff - family drama, friendship drama - is bought in for the third act conflict. The exes and all their drama fades to the background, and its no longer about this Very Juicy Set Up, which I think is a shame. I think that the premise could've carried the entire plot and that there was no need to bring in additional conflict... except that Emily Henry is known for adding conflicts outside of romance to her novels (creating well-rounded, 'feminist' characters - I'm not being mean, that is just the perception of it and what she is known for) and that this is thus more brand appropriate. By the same logic, it is 'less feminist' of me to argue that the book should've been more about the romance.

But it should've been more about the romance.

If I rewrote/re-edited this book, I would do the following.

Make Daphne and Miles be messier people. These two characters behave like FUCKING SAINTS, while their exes are awfully and affably evil. I've had multiple friends say that Daphne should've hit Peter (her ex) with a car. I don't necessarily think that would've been the way, but I think she should've made much more spiteful decisions. I think Henry is very concerned in stressing that these are Two Very Goody and Utterly Blameless main characters, but I think they should've gotten a little spite as a treat, actually.

And the spite they should've gotten as a treat is - fucking each other.

As is the way with romance books, there are certain 'acceptable thresholds' for smut/romance scenes. So I get it, I really do. But Daphne and Miles only bang once it's a healthy decision... and I'll be honest, it would've been sexier if they had had sex in an unhealthy place. (for the people who've read the book: kiss at the drunk night out with Gil, sex at the truck or before the truck, then Sex With Real Feelings at the point where they actually have sex)

If they had had sex out of spite/petty revenge first, then the entire plot of the book could've been around 'catching feelings' and this would still have been a totally valid character arc. I would've liked to have seen more questionable decisions that are still somewhat about the exes - more of the 'are we doing this for them or for ourselves?' conflict which is microdosed at the midway point - and then feelings developing, and then making the 'no I actually really like you so we can't do this for the wrong reasons anymore' be the final sex scene before the third act conflict

Two things would be vastly improved by this change: 1. a weird scene where Miles sees Daphne in her former wedding dress, and they really should've fucked? but they don't? because that would be the tiniest bit weird??? (like, slightly weird and messy, in such the smallest way, but I think it was sanitised down for that reason) 2. the fact that their exes break up and call-off their wedding off screen. Have them break up at the rehearsal dinner that Miles/Daphne are attending, actually. Then you have your third act conflict.

The third act conflict of Funny Story is insane, convoluted, and unrelated to the story, IMO. Is it still well written? YES. Emily Henry, you will always be famous. But my favourite parts of it were 1. both Miles and Daphne get caught in their exes' orbit as they break up, and this causes them both to doubt their relationship (shout out to Miles having such low self esteem that he automatically thinks they're back together, I understand you king) 2. Daphne fucks up a promise she made to a friend (but bc she's not allowed to be a bad person - see the first point - it's for totally understandable reasons), leading her to wonder if she's just become part of another couple, where she's swapped one man and his house for another man, and his house. I personally think that these VERY MINOR FOOTNOTES in what is ACTUALLY the third act conflict... are a third act conflict in and of themselves. And... if we go back to what I said about Emily Henry being known for Feminism™, the second part of that is a totally valid trope/feminist critique to dig into in depth that would, if given time to breathe, be 'on brand'.

In this book, Miles drives 2hrs to try and get Daphne's shitty dad to come back to her. Where is this energy, for Peter? I think, Miles should've punched Peter, as a treat. And Petra should've had more scenes, so that she actually had a personality beyond 'being hot'.

I think we should've had a messy wedding scene. Daphne and Miles are each others plus ones, but they never get to attend bc the wedding is called off. But that wedding?!!! or that rehearsal dinner?!!! IS THAT NOT THE STUFF THAT THIRD AT CONFLICTS DREAM OF???

TLDR - I think Funny Story should've had more sex, and been more about the romance premise and the kind of fucked up, messy choices and weird feelings that premise engendered. I think the third act should've been connected to pre-existing conflicts, instead of creating new ones. I think Miles and Daphne could've had a little revenge, as a treat. They should've allowed to be sexy and weird about it.

[fujii-draws]

Just found and read your chatot rant and I'm curious. How would you rewrite him to be a more understandable/likable character?

Anon you are the light at the end of the tunnel.

I wouldn’t change a whole lot about him. Personality wise I think he’s funny/well-rounded. It’s more of how many times they made him do needlessly cruel stuff to h/p that’s never addressed again.

I say, let Apple woods stay the same. Like I said before in my rant, I enjoyed the conflict there. My problem only stems from the fact that??? He doesn’t have any real reason to distrust them???

Give him a reason. Show that h/p were fucking up a lot of jobs when they first joined the guild- and chatot (begrudgingly) took their excuses because they’re new. And he gives them a lot of chances despite his callous demeanor.

THEN, let the incident in Apple woods be the moment where he finally decides those two had enough second chances. And doesn’t hear them out. And other than that I’m alright w/ chapter 6.

NOW… CHAPTER 17…

Ughhhhh man. I already made my grievances known with this chapter but I genuinely hated how they handled chatot here. Will start off by saying (again), I LIKE that he’s distrustful about majority of what partner said. The future, Grovyle being good, The “magical hidden land”, etc. IT MAKES SENSE LMAO. ITS SO OUT THERE.

What pissed me off was how he immediately tried to play off that he trusted them the whoooole time. And it’s called out as a JOKE. And never addressed again. I’d do either 2 things here.

1. Let Chatot actually test the guild’s trust in h/p.

Do you know how awesome it would’ve been to have him IMPROVE from Apple woods? Have the entire guild that once had your back— now distrusting our main duo? And have CHATOT be the one to actually stand up for them there???? And HE be the one to point out Dusknoir grabbed those two in broad daylight? (Further emphasizing him as Wigglytuff’s right hand man(bird) and how much more competent he is than his pink leader? LIKE MAN THAT WOULDVE INSTANTLY REKINDLED MY LOVE FOR HIM. But what we got in main game was so much more disappointing.

2. Chatot doubling down on what he said.

Okay this MAY sound weird but hear me out. Having chatot still be distrustful until Brine cave would’ve, in my opinion, also been EONS better than him going “oh lol I trust them hehehe!!!!! I’m so silly!!!!” <<(accused two Pokémon they lied about the traumatic ass experience they went through.)

Have him still not trust a word they said. And that in turn comes with some actual consequence. (Like Wigglytuff being upset/disappointed in him and it driving a wedge between the two until Brine cave) Have him suffer some kind of consequence. Not some off screen rant he had w/ Team skull. Not some random sacrifice that’s disconnected with the stuff he done. A consequence that actually makes him realize “wait am i being an ass” before he continues to double down.

(I’m a sucker for characters doing bad things as long as they get consequences or try to make up for it.) (doesn’t have to be both at the same time.)

AAAND THATS PRETTYYY MUCH IT! I love Post-Game chatot a whole bunch and If I’m being honest???? I still like Chatot when he’s not being a colossal jackass.

I love that he’s stressed and snippy. I love that he’s trying his damn hardest to keep the guild running. I love that when h/p fail the graduation fight— he’s the one smiling towards them like a little shit. I love that he regards h/p in a positive light and acknowledges the good they did for the guild in the rare few moments he’s being honest with them.

It’s why I liked him at the start and near the end. The middle was just waaay too rocky for me. But on my replay of the game I’ll try to keep an open mind for the bird. I wanna give him a chance.

[a0random0gal]

If you had the chance to change something about the dance of the dragons (TV show or book), what would it be? For example, how a character dies, which team a house is on,or an entire character personally. How would you change it to make the story better, in your opinion?♥️🖤💙💚

Ohh anon i've got a list.

When it comes to the tv show there are a few choices the writers made that just don't sit right with me.

Laenor

I do like the characterization they went for, he's a pretty cool dude who really loves his weird, dysfunctional family. What I really don't like is how they handled his death.

See I truly can't stand it when a character is sugar coated just because they're the protagonist and thus must be righteous and always objectively correct.

So to witness the writers white wash his murder, having him flee to essos instead of being killed by Rhaenyra pisses me off. I get that after showing them being good friends it would be very odd to have her kill him.

But that's the thing, they should have opted for a more ruthless Rhaenyra in the first place!

Laenor's death in the books (at least for me) was the first instance of Rhae Rhae making morally wrong choices in order to pursue her ultimate goal. It was compelling! Here she just takes the easy way out, without having to make a tough choice.

Also his survival really fucks her up when you really think about it. Now all her sons are bastards since her marriage to Daemon isn't valid, and for the upcoming season 2, how are they going to handle Addam and Seasmoke? Laenor is still alive, his dragon won't accept a new rider. This doesn't make any sense and just causes plotholes what the actual fu-

Sidenote: After Laenor's very moving speech on how he was done goofing off and was now willing to really step up for Rhaenyra and their family it's super strange to imagine him ditching them all immediately afterwards Lol.

Rhaenys

My gosh, where do I even begin with this woman?

She too is pretty cool at the start, but then episode 9 rolls around and I roll my eyes.

She's so hypocritical. She tries to shit on Alicent for "toiling in the service of men." When that's all she does in the goddamn story!

She wants Baela to get Driftmark, tells Corlys about it, he shuts off the whole plan cause he wants a kid who he's not even related to on the driftwood throne, and when she complains about it he dismisses her.

So what does feminist Rhaenys do about it?

She... submits to her husband, something she conveniently forgets about when talking to Alicent. My god. Just remove this entire exchange, it hurts to watch.

And the coronation scene, Jesus Christ! It was so cool in the books, why did they have to ruin it? Had they replaced it with something better I wouldn't have complained, but this is just, the worst.

Rhaenys shows how badass she is by.... Brutally crushing hundreds of small folks to death and almost slaughtering the greens.

Cool, cool, absolutely necessary. Thanks Sara.

And you know what's even more infuriating? When she flees to Dragonstone to inform Rhaenyra of all that happened. She says she didn't kill the greens cause she didn't wish to start a war. I'm sorry what?

That would have ended the war at the start! As glad as I am that Rhaenys didn't barbecue them it makes absolutely no sense!

If she had killed them there would have been no dance in the first place!

I hate these dumb show only moments. They needlessly complicated an already complicated story and just mess everything up.

There's probably other stuff I could rant on, like how Aegon was made a rapist sorely to make the audience think:

Oh look! The greens are so baad, they believe a rapist alcoholic douche should be in charge instead of our empowered dragon queen, they sure do suck!

Or how house Velaryon was disrespected and mistreated by D*emyra but still somehow decided to support Nyra's claim.

They didn't really have a motive to be greens though, so I think they should have stayed neutral. Their fervent black support makes no sense.

The writers really should have given them more reasons to back up the blacks or had their beloved queen treat them better so that their loyalty made more sense ( I mean holy hell I wonder how they will handle the two betrayers and Corlys's arrest lmao).

But other greens have already shat on these awful decisions and I won't beat a dead horse.

Book

When it comes to fire and blood I surprisingly have very little complaints, except of course, the Jaehaera situation.

My poor baby deserved better, I've made a post about it in the past

(where I ranted and said stuff I kind of regret now, don't post while very angry guys I don't recommend it)

tackling how the little queen was unnecessarily killed off and how her death genuinely adds nothing so why was it added? God I get upset just thinking about it lol.

Some people say George did it cause he needed Aegon's kids to be born after Viserys's, and apparently he couldn't fathom a married teen not having kids until her 20s, which is veery weird.

The more plausible theory is that he got rid of her cause he wanted more Velaryon queens to showcase how close they used to be to the Targs.

Which is something I had understood already thanks to Alyssa, the sea Snake and all the Velaryons who were masters of ships but whatever.

[isnt-it-pretty]

please only read this if you finished cyno’s story quest!

I absolutely loved the story quest and cyno’s dynamic with everyone else but cyrus left me a bit disappointed… not in his character overall but in his actions. he had good intentions but took cyno away from his origins, denied him answers when cyno asked (cyno said he asked many times about hermanubis and the temple and cyrus always avoided answering him) and since cyno suffered under hermanubis it would’ve been his right to know where it stems from since he couldn’t recall… cyrus probably did it to protect him but he cut cyno off from his culture and people. Bamoun and cyrus owe cyno and sethos a lot in my honest opinion and cyrus still kept avoiding answering cyno at the end of his quest (cyno even calls this out) which just shows me he didn’t learn anything at all from the events.

he also had the option to try and reach out to cyno’s biological parents because they might’ve given him away to provide a better life for him (but I have to say as a middle easterner I’m tired of this poor parents give their children away etc etc narrative we had the same with collei)

cyrus also didn’t feel responsible enough for sethos after taking everything away from him or even leaving him behind back then even he knew it’s bad for him.

cyno and sethos both suffered under the actions of cyrus and bamoun and deserve so so much better cyno is a perfect example of ethnic children being taken in by white people and having their cultures and roots taken away from them. not to mention we know that cyno did maybe have a better life in the akademiya but he was still surveilled and treated like a lab rat and discriminated and isolated until he met tighnari

sorry for this little rant. I still appreciate everything cyrus did for cyno but I think this is also an important part of his very flawed character and ideals. in the end of the quest it even felt like he was manipulating cyno by showing him the photos which he “miraculously” found again showing him “look who raised and took you in”

Sorry I just saw this! First, please never apologize for sending me long asks, I love them! Also congratulations anon, I successfully had to log onto tumblr on my PC to type out this response lol. This is... very long, longer than your ask. I'm so sorry, this is the first post I've made with my thoughts on the quest, so it's going to be a bit of a ramble in return and probably not totally coherent.

Okay, so, full disclosure, I am super white. I mean I look like Barbie sort of white. That means that I don't think I can have any constructive input on the trope (arguably cliché) of middle eastern and BIPOC+Asian characters giving away (or selling, in Cyno's case) their children, so I will definitely defer to your discomfort with the concept. It's definitely a pervasive trope (see: Collei, Dehya, Cyno) and not just in Genshin Impact. It's something that is absolutely worth bringing up and thinking about, and I bet most people didn't even consider it, so thank you for voicing it as something you've noticed! Because of this, I don't feel comfortable talking about whether or not Cyrus should have looked for Cyno's parents, because it's very wrapped up in the narrative vs the damage of the trope, which has a lot to dissect and would be better done by somebody more educated.

As for the quest, I think I've gotta split this into two parts to have my thoughts make sense. God this is so long.

-

First, as a basis, the whole thing with Hermanubis is actually so fucked up from the start even before we can get to Cyrus and Cyno. I mean Hermanubis was an advisor to King Deshret, right? (Also that was two-thousand years ago, but he only died five-hundred years ago? Did I misunderstand that? Was he immortal? The timeline in this game could use an entirely different post because between Cyno and the Hearth kids it makes zero sense, but ANYWAYS-). Presumably, having witnessed this, Hermanubis knows the danger of Forbidden Knowledge and fucking with things that should not be fucked with.

After the fall of Tulaytullah, the Temple of Silence moved to the rain forest but left due to corruption, right? So you'd think they would have agreed on the basic Cardinal Sins of the Akademiya. But now, four hundred years later, the Temple of Silence's attempt to ressurect Hermanubis breaks at least one of those sins (tampering with life and death), and arguably two more (interfering with human evolution and/or attempting the forbidden and fearing none.) I really can't imagine Hermanubis would be happy with their actions. This is like the Akademiya trying to ressurect Rukkadevata (and boy do I have a fic I want to write that digs into those parallels of Cyno and Nahida.)

The very basis for the experiment they did on Sethos and Cyno is so unethical and corrupt. This killed adults so they thought, hey! It's not going to kill the children, right? Lets do it on them despite the negative effects (headaches and fevers). Bamoun's children even volunteered Sethos, which, again, is so fucked up.

Narratively, the quest didn't focus on this at all. It was never framed as something negative or messed up like you'd think it would be? I imagine it's because they didn't want to paint Bamoun and Cyrus as bad people or Sethos as indoctrinated. (What's interesting to me is how differently some situation are treated vs others in different quests. Arguably, Wriothesley, Arlecchino, and Cyno have parts in common that are condemned to totally different extents depending on the character, but that could be it's own post too).

We can talk about Cyrus taking Cyno and whether or not that was a good decision (removing children from their culture is never a good thing but we'll get to that) but we also can't really get into it without first talking about how the entire thing was absolutely horrid and wrong from the start. We're starting the conversation about Cyrus from a remarkably low place.

Okay, onto Cyrus and the quest. I actually think it's okay that Cyrus is a flawed character. We already knew he was super strict when he was teaching Lisa and Cyno, and we knew he was into some unethical shit since we already knew he was part of the experiments on Cyno, albeit not to this extent. (Also Naphis knows all about this so what does that say about him? All the Sages are so sus, but, I mean, isn't that just government?)

Here's the thick of it. Was Cyrus taking Cyno to the rain forest a good decision? I don't know. We just don't know enough about why he left and took Cyno. The quest didn't frame the action one way or the other, nor did it give the reasons he left or Bamoun didn't go after him.

There's generally three ways to frame this. 1. Cyrus was a saviour for taking Cyno from an abusive environment. 2. Cyrus was awful and stole Cyno's power for himself. I don't think either of these make sense, since in either case, I think Bamoun would have gone after them. I think most likely is 3. There were conflicting needs.

The one I'm leaning towards right now is that The Temple of Silence was desperate and willing to push harder than they should, even if it was going to harm the children, so as an outsider with a different perspective and more objectivity, Cyrus stopped the experiment. He knew Sethos wasn't at risk of being harmed nearly as much as Cyno because Sethos had a family there already looking out for him. Cyno didn't. People care less about a child who isn't part of their community vs one who is. So he took the child who was far more likely to be harmed, and left. Taking Sethos would have been even worse than just taking Cyno, imo, since it would be taking Sethos away from his family, whereas Cyno was already taken from his family. Bamoun realized the same thing in hindsight, which is why he let Cyrus and Cyno go. But again, that's just a headcanon about what happened.

As for the rest of the problem. While as previously mentioned, I'm very white, I'm also Canadian (I promise this is relevant). A bit of Canadian history here for those who might not know, Canada once had something called Residential Schools. These were boarding school for indigenous children who were forcibly taken from their parents to be "educated." There was a lot of abuses in them and I cannot over represent the amount of damage it has done to the indigenous peoples of Canada and the country as a whole, but the main reason I bring it up here is because of the way the government tried to kill indigenous culture through their children. While I don't think this was Cyrus' intent at all, it is a real world example very close to my heart of the damage it does to children to be cut off from their cultures. We see it in fostering and adopting children as well. Indigenous foster children are best kept with indigenous foster families when at all possible. Foster parents are told to try their best to keep their foster children connected to their cultures in the home but that isn't always achieved, nor is there always even an effort made. Mixed race families often practice both cultures with their children because know how important it is.

The fact that Cyno was completely cut off from the desert is wrong, and it would have been very difficult for him to face the discrimination for being a race that he has no cultural connection to. It's something Cyrus absolutely should have done more about. I mean The Corps of Thirty are eremites even if they aren't from the desert! Cyrus could have reached out to them on Cyno's behalf to introduce him to people who share cultural aspects (young!Dehya and Cyno friendship anyone?). He could have taken Cyno to Aaru Village (young Candace and Cyno friendship?) or at least spent time in Caravan Ribat. The only reasons I can think he didn't is because he was trying to keep Cyno away from the Temple of Silence out of fear they'd come after him (well intentioned but still harmful), he didn't think about it (obliviously harmful), he didn't have the time (willfully neglectful).

Cyrus also absolutely should have told Cyno about The Temple of Silence and Hermanubis, especially when he got a little older (although I'm for raising children with that sort of knowledge. Secrets only hurt later). Assume best intentions, he was pprobably trying to protect Cyno, maybe because he wanted Cyno to find his own path instead of the one the Temple of Silence laid out for him, but I still think that was a mistake to keep it a secret.

Cyrus is a very flawed person, but so are a lot of parents. That doesn't mean that his actions were right or justified, but it does make him an interesting character. It also makes his relationship with Cyno interesting. Canonically, Cyno isn't angry. He's already struggled and come to terms with who he is and what his power means, but I still think he and Cyrus need to sit down and have a long conversation. Cyno deserves answers about Cyrus' motives and decisions and they need to talk about Cyrus trying to protect Cyno vs Cyno not needing that protection, ways Cyrus should have acted differently, etc. I'd love to see somebody explore it; it would be interesting to see since it's definitely overdue, but I don't think I could do it justice.

I don't think it's wrong of Cyno to forgive Cyrus. We as the outside observer can say, "whoa, that's fucked up," but I don't think Cyno is necessarily wrong in how he feels. Like I said, he's already dealt with a lot of this already and is remarkably resilient. I think the hardest part of all this for Cyno would probably be Sethos, because that's definitely going to be a ton of messy emotions, but that doesn't have to reflect on Cyrus. It could, of course, and if somebody wanted to write Cyno as being angry and fracturing their relationship, that would be a valid way to go, but like, idk, I know a lot of people who made really bad decisions when raising their kids, and their kids still forgave them. Not always, and being a parent doesn't mean somebody deserves forgiveness for their mistakes, but I think it shows how resilient Cyno is that he bounces back from this so well. It shows his strength in his how convictions and beliefs, which is really interesting when compared to characters like Sethos and Kaeya (and man are there a lot of similarities between Cyno and Kaeya).

I also don't think finding those photos was intended to be Cyrus manipulating Cyno, but I can see how it feels that way. Since the quest was about Cyno, it felt like a nice narrative way to tie it together by reflecting on Cyno's childhood with Cyrus, but I think it really depends on how you view the entire situation and whether you think Cyrus should have taken Cyno. It's definitely a valid take and something that's okay to feel uncomfortable about.

This is where people might disagree with me, but Cyno grew up loved. He had a lot of challenges and Cyrus made a lot of mistakes, and love doesn't fix how fucked up it all is (lots of adopted kids are loved and still hurt by not having a connection to their culture), but Cyno has already accepted all of this and ultimately, he has forgiven Cyrus for his mistakes. I think that's what the photos were trying to depict.

To me, the entire quest does a very good job of using Cyno and Sethos as foils of each other. They're both paying for the decisions of the people who raised them, and neither are right or wrong, just different. It shows Cyno's growth as a person vs Sethos who hasn't yet found his way. It shows that neither Cyrus or Bamuon made the right decisions, nor were they evil people. They were doing the best they could at the time, and they both fucked up, and now it's up to Sethos and Cyno to figure it out, but they both still love their family despite whatever mistakes were made.

I hope this rambling essay length response is satisfying lol

[duck-takes]

tbh, that other della crit anon was right.

It is impossible to criticize Della duck in this fandom, not without getting a LOT of hate,or people calling you misogynistic.

The fandom often compares her trip to the moon as out of her control, but canonically,she is the one at fault.

It's her fault she got on that rocket, it's hr fault the kids grew up without a mom, and it's her fault Donald had to struggle for so long.

Later on, it's obvious that her parenting is less than ethical. She is bad, to be blunt,but hey, she's been gone for a while so it's kind of okay?? Then she fumbles it all with Louie. The punishment here was absolutely not the problem. The problem was leaving a child around the age of eleven years old alone with a robot with a very high potential to go evil. She didn't even stay to look after him!?!?! Like hello?!?! He's eleven??!

And don't get me started on how the fandom treats Louie's actions compared to hers.

For Louie, it's : He left his family to be lost in time!!! They could have died!!!(They nearly die daily, he nearly dies daily due to their actions, it's not that huge, plus he's eleven, so , still a kid)

For Della? UwU, she girlbossed her way to the moon but got lost(abandoned her entire family for an adrenaline rush, while expecting CHILDREN, at the age of around twenty, I assume? )

I get so mad about this, because so many people say that she 'had her own issues, didn't think she could be a good mom, needed to get away and clear her head, didn't plan the storm's then don't advemture where literally NOONE has been before???? Scrooge warned her about it!! She knew it was a bad idea!!! She was an adult!!! She deserves to face some anger from her family for just leaving, but she does not. She is immediately accepted back, but the LITERAL FUCKING CHILD has to work towards it, and is in extreme danger while his mother deliberately leaves him ALONE.

Don't even get me started on the ETHICS VIDEOS (what do you know about ethics???? You abandoned your fucking 'precious family'!)

She says

'if you wanna be a part of this family, you gotta stop.'

It's not woobifying a character by stating they would be damaged by hearing their formerly absent mother say that about what they consider their best talent.

K, sorry about that rant, but I had to get this shit off my chest, and it's on anon for obvious reasons

I do love your username !

yea i also agree with what ur saying. the show doesn't have time to properly delve into her and yea ppl do have takes where they woobify her. a lot of fandoms have a problem with taking away the nuance of a character to make them their precious baby

the 'if you want to be in this family' comment is vile though. that was her worst character moment for me. it actually pisses me off so much

also ppl can obviously still send long, della takes but i'm gonna be slow with responding to those. it's kinda tiring /gen

[firstkanaphans]

So sorry, just wanted to add one more thing to my already ridiculously long rant about the Ray/Mew non-sex scene because I can't leave well enough alone and that scene is so layered and deserves to be seen as such! Something I think is easy to miss because everyone gets hung up on the sex part is that Ray has already tried twice in that same scene to reach out: first he asks if he can stay over, but in a sweet, almost platonic way given that he relates it wistfully to the last time he did so two years ago when they were obviously just friends, so it felt more like a request for an innocent sleepover than anything else, and when Mew declines saying his mums are coming, Ray then asks if he can drive them, or reading between the lines, can he be part of their visit, of their family, and once again Mew shuts him down. Ray is trying SO HARD to establish any sort of intimacy between them, intimacy that might, oh I don't know, signal the difference between a platonic friendship and a romantic relationship, and Mew is not giving an inch. And it's only after those first two rejections that he goes for the more straightforward physical intimacy which Mew at first seems to reciprocate before shutting that down too. So that third rejection is just the straw that broke the camel's back. They both know what's going on even if they're not ready to verbalise it - it's why Mew accuses Ray of only wanting sex (which, come on, he must know isn't true considering Ray is his best friend and Mew's always known about his feelings), because that would be an easy way out of this disastrous arrangement. They're both throwing accusations at each other in the hope that it leads to someone coming clean or calling it quits. And that's another reason I liked Mew so much in the ending scene, because now he's got all the ammunition he needs to end their relationship, and to throw it in Ray's face, make it be entirely his fault, but instead he confesses his own culpability, gives Ray his blessing, and repairs their friendship. I love that the biggest twist of the ep is actually watching these two messy fools display admirable maturity for once!

Look, guys! We got a follow-up from the same anon (I'm assuming) who sent in this fantastic meta about the whole Ray/Mew situation.

I love this take as well! You talk about Mew reciprocating Ray's advances at first and that got me thinking...

Ray starts the scene wearing a jacket, but loses it somewhere along the way. Judging by the way Mew was gripping it at the beginning of the scene, I'm assuming he's the one who took it off. What this says to me is that Mew was trying to give Ray what he wanted. He just couldn't follow through. Mew's not a bad guy. He loves Ray. Just not the way Ray wants him to.

This part of the scene is also extra interesting when you take into account what we learned today. Top was originally supposed to try having sex with someone else, but not be able to do it because he's still so in love with Mew. Knowing this, that scene with Mew and Ray offers such a nice parallel. Like Top, Mew was trying to move on and, like Top, he couldn't.

Thank you for blessing my inbox with your ramblings, anon. It was a delight to read ✨

[jihopesjoint]

I’m sorry if someone has already asked you this but I just discovered your blog and I have to know what your headcannons are of BTS while high

anon… NO ONE has asked me this yet!!!! and you have my whole entire heart for taking one for the team and doing god’s work. i have treated this ask with the utmost importance and i only hope that i don’t disappoint you. also i'm sorry this took me literally all day LMFAO let me just open this with a blanket statement: the sheer number of bangtan giggles that there would be. i think i would die. anyway. onwards and upwards

namjoon

tbh my boy namjoon already speaks like he is stoned. he is ALWAYS waxing poetic and having an existential crisis, and that would increase tenfold if found holding a blunt. he’s making connections, he’s drawing conclusions. the empty chip bag that he has just devoured is definitely a metaphor for fame and how people take everything they love from you and then there’s nothing left for yourself. he’d sit on that for about five minutes before feeling guilty for thinking such thoughts about HIS army, who always refills his metaphorical chip bag.

seokjin

think of the windshield wiper laughs. OH he would be making the stupidest jokes (yes more than he already does). he gets great pleasure from jokes that make people groan. in seeming direct contrast, our gamer guy would be absolutely COUCHLOCKED. but he’d find that for some reason he just isn’t as angry at failures/deaths as he would be sober. and he thinks, “is THIS peace? have i never known it before this moment?” he didn't think he could get any more go with the flow than he already was. but if you think he’s not paying attention to the room around him, think again. he's making fun of everyone else losing their minds, all with eyes glued to the screen.

yoongi

oh bro. yoongi? he’s already an encyclopedia of useless knowledge, sprinkled with existential dread and hatred of the system. my man is ranting and RAVING about the capitalist machine. he doesn't understand why people have to work themselves to death to survive with no opportunity to enjoy life. he's pissed about the fact that he now benefits so greatly from a system he initially set out to be publicly against. and then he'll go on for 15 minutes about stucco, no transition. he's also hearing the most mundane sounds and recording them on his phone because they'll be perfect samples for a track. and then when he listens back to them the next day, he'll be like "what the absolute fuck was this?"

hobi

hobi for the first 20 minutes of the high is a silent observer. it's a little overwhelming right at the beginning, so he's probably a little in his head. he's just taking everything in. but after he crests the peak, he is loosey goosey. music has never made him want to dance more, and he didn't know that was possible. our boy's taste in music is made for getting stoned to. he's wiggling over to the snacks, wiggling with the snacks in his hand. falling to the floor, shouting with laughter when he sees how absolutely ZOOTED his members are. after he wipes the tears from his eyes, he sees yoongi sampling the sound of the ice maker and immediately goes over to be his ultimate hype man.

jimin

park jimin. my sweet baby. he knows that mama didn’t raise no bitch, so he’s taken extra hits after everyone’s tapped out. his eyes are basically permanently shut. for the life of him he cannot stop giggling. he’s in that every single thing that happens is funny mode. can’t hold himself upright. we’re talking hands on shoulders, we’re talking heads in laps, we’re talking falling to the floor. kim taehyung is the funniest person to exist in his eyes (yes more than normal). usually he cringes at himself speaking affectionately about his members, but all inhibitions are gone. he loves them SO MUCH, and he’s absolutely not going to shut up about it. he’s making grandiose plans for them to never get around to doing together because they’re not actually reasonable.

taehyung

taehyung is also thinking thoughts, putting things together. we're talking about the brain that brought us borahae. of course, for one good realization, you have to have about one hundred terrible ones. think of the highest thought you've ever had, or have ever heard someone else have, and you might have stepped inside the anomaly that is kim taehyung's head. some shit like, "what if birds aren't singing and they're actually screaming because they're afraid of heights?" and of course, jimin is fully ready to take this thought that he accidentally vocalized, turn it into a bit, and beat it into the ground. legend has it they're still figuring this out.

jungkook

on his most productive day, our maknae is operating as head empty, no thoughts. so there's no doubt in my mind that he's staring at the wall. not a damn thing is happening up there, i promise you. he's just realized AGAIN that he has hands, but he has no idea what to do with them. because he's completely unaware of what's going on in the room around him, he's interrupted taehyung and jimin's bit to ask them what he should do about his hand predicament. but while he was trying to get their attention, his hand brushed over one of the blankets on the couch and goddamn is it not the softest thing he's ever felt. so his focus has shifted entirely to feeling this blanket. rinse and repeat.