#it probably wasn't worth it but thank you anyway i appreciate it

[petew21-blog]

Just a party, part 3

"Number 14 and 16"

"Guess it's you and me again." Ben took my hand and we went to the room we were assigned"

We left Ezra and Jason back there. Poor Jason, he was really fed up with Ezra. Hope he'll survive the night in that pip squeak body.

We opened the door of the room. I went on the bed. Ben right down next to me

It was awfully quiet. We wanted to have a party, we were overworked, stressed and probably needed a drink to loosen up a bit. We knew immediately that we both felt the same way. And we headed to the bar of the building.

The emplyees were serving us, asking about our needs and desires. Creepy but somehow nice. I bet the studio must have pay a massive ammount to get us to this event. But they all say that this one even is worth working for Hollywood. It fullfills you.

"You know, we didn't have much time to explore our bodies by ourselves before. With the Comic Con and so on, giving out all the autographs. I'm pretty sure that all the fans that will try to sell stuff with 'your' signature are gonna be pretty sad. I tried to perfect your signature Henry, but it still looks like someone else did it."

"Even better then. Those who really appreciate it get to keep it anyway and the ones trying to sell won't be as succesfull'

"Henry? You know I'm now the one wearing SUPERMAN's body? You don't have to act like him all the time."

"I don't honestly. I am just being polite most of the time. A decent human being."

"How about you show me how my BATMAN body looks like? You know what? Let's call each other by the name of our bodies, ok? To make the experience worth it. I wanna know what it feels like to be you"

"Ok then HENRY, now I wanna show you now what it truly feels like to FEEL that SUPERMAN body"

Henry in Ben's body lowered down to give Ben a head. He unzipped his pants and took out the beautiful hard cock he was already familiar with:"I think it looks even better from this angle" And the he took it in his mouth

It might have been the fact that I knew my cock so well. The way it responded to my tongue circling around the top, sucking his balls made me sure I was making Ben feel good. But I can't let him cum yet.

Suddenly my phone rang. I just looked up at him. He only winked at me and picked up.

"Hey, this is... HENRY Cavill. Sure, I got time. New TV series? The Witcher? I am not sure about that"

I looked at him aggresively. Playing Witcher is my dream, he can't deny them.

"Jeez. Ok, I really want it. When do we start? Ok, thanks. No, I can't talk that long, there is something I need to take care of. Bye."

My blow job was coming to an end. Then I stopped. Can't let him finish that easily.

"Please, go on!"

"Can't do that HENRY! You got an ass to breed. And I wanna have fun too"

I took his hand and dragged him to the entrance hall.

"The room is too far, let's go to one of the closests, I wanna fuck you there."

We took the first door on the right. Passionately making out on the way. Ben pushed me against one of the lockers. Wait, that wasn't a closet. We must have entered the lockers of the employees. We kept on going.

Suddenly we noticed voices from a room around the corner. We stopped and I showed Ben a finger on my lips to shush him. We went closer to get to hear them

"All right. As I have said before, we are now on the full capacity of our guests. They are very busy right now. Each and every one of you has an envelope with a name of the actor or other famous person they get to swap with today. For those of you who haven't read it, the reason of the swap is the Writers and actors strike. You will get a brand new life of a popular person, their money in exchange for absolute loyalty and diacretion about the swap. I am deeply sorry to everyone who wanted to go back to their bodies sometimes in the future, but we have to get rid of them. The actors in your bodies can't let anyone know about this. Is anyone against this?" nobody responded which led us to believe that they agreed"

"Ok. We now have 48 minutes until the door of the rooms get locked completely, sealing our guests inside making it easier for us. We will be going over some details with each and everyone of you. Starting with Miguel who will be receiving Henry Cavil's body..."

I looked in shock at Ben in my body. He was also horrified about what we just heard.

"We have to warn everyone!" Ben said to me

Suddenly a manly voice above us said very calmly:"Haha. But we won't let you, gentlemen" the man above us was Chris Hemsworth, holding a taser. Something was telling me, that Chris wasn't the one controlling his body anymore, or the one of his friends who swapped with him

To be continued...

Story request from inbox by Anonymous: That Hugh and Ryan story was Great! Maybe you can do a swap involving Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill?

And also continuation for part 2.

Inbox request: Your stories are soo good, love the Chris E. and RDJ swap. Maybe a second part involving some actors from dc, like Ezra Miller and Jason Momoa swapping to try new roles & running into Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck in the rooms?

Part 2:

Part 4:

[restinslices]

Can you write the Lin Kuei boy’s reaction to a surprise spa day by their spouse? Like it’s a rare day off and their partner’s surprised them with a nice day of rest and relaxation?

I’m on meds again and it has me exhausted so this might be short and some may have longer parts than others. I didn’t check. I’m finna go to sleep again

Bi-Han

I wouldn't be surprised if he initially turned it down 

He expects things to pop off and for him to be needed so a spa day seems like it'll prevent him from being ready if he's called upon 

You don't take no for an answer tho

Grumpy the entire time but doesn't hate it 

He just doesn't wanna admit he was wrong and a spa day wasn't torture 

I think he'd enjoy things that don't take awhile or something that allows him to still move around 

Like, you know when someone is being waxed and they gotta lay there? I don't think that’d he something he'd enjoy 

Something like a facemask tho (put it on quickly then he can do whatever else while it dries) he'd enjoy more 

Some people get their nails done, and I don't think he's like “absolutely not!” but I don't see him wanting a color. He's a clear gel type of guy 

Now I will go back and contradict what I said earlier and say he'd enjoy a jet bath 

Has a shorter spa day than the others. At some point he's just like “yeah I'm over it”

“That wasn't so bad, now was it?” “It wasn't terrible”

Just say you appreciate it 

Kuai Liang

A spa day? Sure!

I feel like saying he'd enjoy the hot things (sauna, hot bath, them hot ass rocks) is stereotypical because the whole fire thing but imma say it anyway 

Probably enjoys activities that you can do as a team 

Like sitting in a sauna. You're together and you can chat 

Or bathing together 

Appreciates a bit of relaxation because his life? Stressful as fuck 

Especially if this is after Bi-Han's betrayal 

Definitely open to having another spa day. Whether it's a surprise or not 

I see all of them as clear gel guys tbh 

Also enjoys a jet bath, but honestly who dislikes a good bath?

Dislikes the whole face rubbing shit 

Why do I think this? I'm just tryna make them different. I think it's essential to be truthful in our relationship-

Yeah the spa day is for him but he checks in to make sure you're having a good time too

Makes sure to repay the favor. This could mean taking you out to eat after, taking you out another day soon, paying for the next spa day, getting you a gift, ect. Whatever you want. 

“How was it?” “It was great! Thank you”

Tomas

Him turning down a spa day? Absolutely not. Do you remember when his last day of peace was? He doesn't 

Ignore that this is literally the era of peace-

Enjoys the little vacation and makes sure you know he's appreciative of you thinking of him 

You both wanna cater to the other and do what they wanna do first so you have to compromise and take turns 

You do what Tomas is interested in, then what you're interested in and then it keeps going like that 

Enjoys the steam room because smoke pun obviously 

I don't think he necessarily needs to chat the whole time, but he likes you still being near 

You MIGHT get him to agreeing to a little waxing 

Y'all know how men are. They're all big and strong but squeal when waxing is involved 

Milks the entire day for what it's worth. A jacuzzi? He's in there. Steam room? Yes. Massages? Absolutely. 

There's nothing he misses. You paid for it so he might as well do everything while he can 

Definitely wants to do it again 

“So I'm assuming you enjoyed it?” “You really need me to answer?”

[drdemonprince]

It wasn't the main topic of your most recent post on substack, so I'm sending this here. In passing you talk about left-leaning neurodivergent people on social media, and the guilt and fatigue that comes from the constant avalanche of causes and events being shared.

One thing that stands out to me is how much of what I see is people borrowing grief from the future. This is probably partially due to people wanting to show that they care about it. However I feel it's more than that, because underneath that there's something else. It feels very similar to the catastrophizing autistic people in particular can be prone to. You know, where you get so lost obsessing over a hypothetical possible outcome that you complete lose sight of all the things that have to happen for it to come to pass. Things that are often unlikely to begin with on their own, but combined even more so. And then this gets shared and fractally further catastrophized upon. All pulling grief from the future for things that may not even happen.

Seeing all that is so exhausting, as there's often little to no distinction between what's actually urgent in the here and now, and what's an emotional resonance cascade about what *might* happen (and any actual information to be able to judge it has been lost due to the game of Internet telephone, or was never there (ie. a twitter screengrab.) Sometimes disentangling that mess is possible, but it takes a lot of stress and energy, on top of the stress and energy seeing people upset about it in the first place.

My question is two-fold:

How do you (gently) tell people that what they're doing is counterproductive when just sharing anything without checking whether it's actually urgent, not misleading, not just spreading panic and needlessly borrowing grief from the future? Because with the exception of people you know *well* and even then, that feels like a fool's errand, even if you can avoid the toxic positivity vibes that people might get from you if you try.

Decide if social media is at all worth it. I personally don't follow "big" accounts, but even outside that it's all just so... the enjoyable and interesting parts where people talk about their stuff or share what they do or made feel like they're being snowed over by all the rest. I could quit it all, but that doesn't feel right. It's a tricky question because I feel the specter of the toxic positivity crowd sweeping anything difficult under the rug or disengaging to ~protect their mental~ looming over me. (Not to mention that all the IRL social events around me go through a dizzying array of social media sites, so complete disengagement isn't possible anyway.)

(Yes, I appreciate the irony of asking this on social media.) I'd appreciate any thoughts you might have on this.

Thanks for this all-too-relatable question, Anon! My thoughts:

How do you (gently) tell people that what they're doing is counterproductive when just sharing anything without checking whether it's actually urgent, not misleading, not just spreading panic and needlessly borrowing grief from the future? Because with the exception of people you know *well* and even then, that feels like a fool's errand, even if you can avoid the toxic positivity vibes that people might get from you if you try.

My answer is that you really don't. You can't convince someone to see the world your way or alter their behavior with your words. What you can do is take care of yourself and set an example with your behavior. By spending less time online digesting this bullshit, not involving yourself in petty,dissolve-on-your-tongue internet fights, not reacting when people send some dumb fuckshit to you, and surrounding yourself with more enriching sources of information and ways to connect, other people's online bullshit will bother you less, you'll see it less, and by virtue of contributing to it all less, you may slowly serve as a model for others who are looking to detach from it, too.

You can tell your close friends that you are spending less time online and trying to avoid alarmist bullshit, but not much good usually comes from engaging about it with anyone else. In fact, even posting a bad infographic in order to argue with it/disprove it only gives it more exposure, and some research on attitude change and persuasion finds that setting out to disprove a myth only leads to more people believing in it anyway. I did some laboratory studies on that back in the day. So I'd say it's usually better to just ignore/block/not read the BS.

2. (How do you) Decide if social media is at all worth it. I personally don't follow "big" accounts, but even outside that it's all just so… the enjoyable and interesting parts where people talk about their stuff or share what they do or made feel like they're being snowed over by all the rest. I could quit it all, but that doesn't feel right. It's a tricky question because I feel the specter of the toxic positivity crowd sweeping anything difficult under the rug or disengaging to ~protect their mental~ looming over me. (Not to mention that all the IRL social events around me go through a dizzying array of social media sites, so complete disengagement isn't possible anyway.)

I think my previous answer kind of alludes to the answer to this one. I find that I use social media less and less these days, because it does not help me professionally, socially, or emotionally very much at all. On the professional level, more social media usage does not translate to more readers or more interesting creative/collaborative opportunities. What does seem to pay off is speaking from true sincerity and passion, however often I am so moved, and then not engaging with bullshit in the aftermath of sharing it. So I post and ghost whenever I feel that I have something to say, never checking notifications/reactions/comments/etc for the most part.

Socially, social media use lately has been dismal for me. Seeing everyone's hot takes, bids for attention, trauma spirals, and petty fights makes me actively like humanity far less. And that's something I have already struggled with generally. I do not need to absorb every random person I've ever met's every random fleeting thought. It makes me socially anxious, far too worried about how people perceive me, and viciously judgement and hopeless myself. What social media IS useful for, socially, is finding events, as you've alluded to. So I do hop onto Instagram to check out my favorite party organizers, drag performers, mutual aid groups, trans beach day organizers, bars, etc to see what is going on. I don't do much beyond that these days.

Emotionally/psychologically, social media is stressful, alarmist, distracting, and occasionally informative and fun for me. Again your mileage may vary. My way of coping right now is to spend as little time on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook etc as possible, because very little of intellectual consequence happens there, and to selectively visit the specific tumblrs who put out posts that I like. I don't even scroll the feed. I have also replaced scrolling social media with reading Substacks and Medium articles and that has helped me a TON. I still get exposure to a wide array of humanity, including a lot of takes that I disagree with or find silly, but everything's a bit more measured and intentional and there's less fighting.

I do not know what will work for you, Anon, and I think for many of us this is an ongoing negotiation between competing needs. I consider saying fuck it and deleting everything pretty often. well, everything other than tumblr. I'm here to stay.

[leoneliterary]

Oh gods, I love and adore the new update! My new grey horse Dust (bc it will leave them in the dust, is grey and unassuming at first glance, but also pure diamond) is already a favorite, even if my MC is slightly afraid of horses and not very good at riding. Aretas offering PRIVATE RIDING LESSONS and MC making not even one dirty joke to Merikh about it shows how serious the tension is, though. The cliffhanger is just mean, bc we don't get to sass big bad brother back. Not even a "you smell better, don't worry about me leaving you for him, wow he looks like a paler imitation of you".... I just imagined letting Desma loose on miserable big bro Labadon, but somehow that feels like bullying. ... Is that on purpose? He feels so arrogant and desperate to put down the bastard child, that it feels a little pitiful and insecure instead of evil, though I of course dislike and disdain him a normal and healthy amount, for his crime of a personality. But back to the important bits, Aretas is being smooth right back and I wasn't sure he'd have it in him. But so worth it, bc I already got a shovel talk from his mom! (a pretty mild one for now, thanks Teacher Alim) Aretas looking pained at Daddy Labadon's grand speech about his father's supposed greatness and aspirations and unsubtle attempt at baiting his king was greatly appreciated and the option that simply says "Blame Merikh" when asked why we couldn't ride? It was so .. tempting, I don't know how anyone can choose another. It's just such an impulse control defying little red button that all imp MCs just HAVE to press. And the reaction did not disappoint in the slightest! I laughed so hard! And then it got better, bc Merikh is just as clueless as you and my MC is learning that omg, he's actually just a grumpy little good boy. You just gotta adopt him. Sorry Sutek, sullen grumpy warrior slots are filling up really fast... I also loved cheering for Sefu and Sefu being so friggin POLITE and well behaved. I love when they show that they can be mature and competent at the same time as being total loving idiots. Desma feeling insecure was really hurting my kokoro, but then it got funny again when she asked "but are they REALLY brothers, how can we ever know?" Never change, best sister girl, my MC will steal horses with you and bury bodies. Their own horse, but probably other people's bodies. I do feel a tiny bit worried about Tamu being alone and trying to find the guild traitor preparing a take over without backup, though. Please let him be ok or at least let Gally have his back a little! This whole update had so much comedy potential with the right choices, it was a delight to read and totally worth staying up till after midnight! I love your writing style, it really hits me in all the best feels! Thank you for persevering, even through difficulties and I will honestly forever love your story! May all the cake, coffee and cookies be with you! As well as muses, time and motivation! I would offer a shoulder massage, but I can't reach through my screen anymore! All my love and adoration!

I always love your in-depth reviews, charcoal!! And thank you for such high praise!

Yeah, Merikh's big brother isn't the most well-adjusted, but whether he's just a pathetic weasel or a real threat, you can be the judge.

I wonder how many of y'all picked the 'blame Merikh' button. I had to give y'all the chance for some petty revenge, lol!

Judging by my asks, most of you chose the grey horse that you got to name.

Sefu really was on his best behavior, but good catch about Tamu. Wonder what he's up to while you're away. Desma is going through it, but she's being so mature and putting it aside to come on this hunting trip...

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed it and had a laugh or two at some of the choices!

[hyuckbeam]

hit or miss

you’re given a bet by your own best friend to finally earn you some kissing experience at the ripe age of 18, but what if he’s the one you’ve been wanting to kiss all along?

pairing | bff!haechan x reader

genre | fluff, just a bit of angst

warnings | y/n uses she/her pronouns, both y/n and hyuck are dumdums! kind of slow burn, curse words are explicitly mentioned, cousin!winter, i think that’s all but lmk if i missed anything!

wc | 4.3k words

note | this is pretty inspired by the webtoon “the kiss bet” because i currently have a hyper fixation on it and i absolutely love all the characters ;0; this is also way longer than intended but anyways,, i hope u enjoy! all rbs and likes are appreciated, thank you <3

D-15.

“in three, two, one, happy birthday, y/n!” your best friend, haechan announces aloud for everyone in your apartment complex to hear at 12 in the morning.

“come on! make a wish before the candles blow out!” winter, your cousin, urges you with a big smile on her face.

having just finished your night time routine and prepared yourself for a night's worth of sleep, you were rather shocked to see them with one of those trendy bento cakes and rainbow colored party hats adorning their heads.

despite your confusion, you walk up towards them with a grateful smile resting upon your lips. “seriously, when did you guys plan this?”

“oh, it was all my- ow, hey!” haechan gets cut off midway through his statement because of a nudge from winter’s elbow.

“what he was trying to say was it was all my doing. you’re welcome bubs!” your cousin beams, eyes creasing into crescents. “though i’d wish you’d hurry up. this cake isn’t holding itself up for you, y’know?” she adds on rather playfully but you can tell she truly meant it.

gathering a deep breath, you blow out the candles and cheers erupt from the people you deem closest to you. winter then sets down the cake on your coffee table in relief as your best friend slings his arm over your shoulder.

“sooo y/n, got anything planned for the year? a small resolution or something like that, i don’t know.” he rambles off, suggesting the idea of having a goal to work towards now that you were deemed an adult (though, haechan kept referring to this as the year that marks your jail-ability era).

you feel a little tingly from his touch, even when you know the two of you are just friends and nothing more. what you’re feeling is probably just a phase. it’ll go away.

“i’m not really sure, got any ideas for me?” you ask the two instead, eyeing them both in a back and forth motion.

“we can always work on that dating experience of yours- last i remember, it was up to the high number count of… zero.” your cousin chips in from the side as she slices the cake for the three of you to share, her tone sarcastic while she teases you.

it’s true, you didn’t have a lot (re: any) of experience in the dating sector, but perhaps that could change starting this year. “that… might not be such a bad idea.”

haechan’s interest seems to have been piqued — he’s making that look. that specific expression where the corners of his lips turn upwards, a brow raised, and that glint in his eye. oh, you know it all too well.

“come on.” you urge the boy. “start sharing your idea. i can practically see your mind ready to explode.”

“well, since you’ve asked me ever so kindly. how ‘bout a bet?” he starts, taking a few steps towards you with that cocky expression of his. “i bet you 10 dollars to kiss someone in two months. not that hard, right?”

“what- you want me to kiss some random person for 10 bucks?” you gawk out in surprise.

he only shakes his head, “i never said it needed to be a stranger. just, someone in general.”

you processed the idea thoroughly, running all sorts of possible scenarios in your head. wouldn’t it be much easier to kiss… haechan himself? that just seemed like the most plausible approach for you.

he wasn't a stranger — the furthest from one. you were comfortable with him. the kiss didn’t have to mean anything (though it might mean a tiny bit more to you), and in addition, you’d be making some cash.

everything seemed to check out. the only problem was that you had to ask him to kiss you. still, surely this was better than any other alternative, right?

“i’ll do it but… can’t i just kiss you and get it over with?” you finally voice out your thoughts, pretending to make your question sound playful in case the request backfires on you.

“you’re my best friend, that’s a little odd, don’t you think so?” haechan replies in the same tone, lightly ruffling your hair before going over to retrieve a slice of cake from winter.

ouch. way to have your first bit of “dating experience” be your best friend… friend zoning you. what a lovely start to your 18th birthday.

D-13.

a few days had passed since the bet you made with haechan had been established, but not one ounce of progress had been made.

to be fair, how were you supposed to kiss someone else when all you’ve ever wanted was for that kiss to be with your best friend? that’s tough luck.

you attending classes today doesn’t really help with your thoughts either, especially when both haechan and winter had been asking about said progress one after the other.

you’d be lying if they weren’t starting to give you a headache.

as if on cue, winter approaches you, some lecture books in hand and her bag slung on her shoulder. “y/n! how’s your progress?” here we go again.

“just as i told you yesterday, nothing yet.” you reply with a small sigh.

winter senses the frustration behind your words, encouraging her to suggest ideas to help you. “how about finding someone you like? it might make it easier for you know… to kiss them.”

“i don’t think that’s still a good- actually, you might just be onto something, minjeong.” your gears start to churn in your mind. in order to wash haechan off your mind, you might as well find someone else and maybe get an actual relationship out of it.

the idea was just perfect for you.

“have i ever told you how much i love you? i gotta go but i’ll see you after class, winter!” you excitedly bid her a goodbye, rushing to your classroom so you could better plan out your new gameplan.

though the most ideal situation was long gone, you now had a back up plan and you weren’t going to back down so easily from the bet.

you were now busily scribbling on your notepad, forgetting that a new student was to transfer into your class today. the teacher calls upon your attention and as you look up, your eyes land on a boy with great resemblance to a cute bunny.

apparently he’s the new transfer student.

the teacher gives him a moment to introduce himself. “hello everyone, my name is na jaemin. i hope we all get along!” so that’s his name, you thought to yourself.

surprisingly, he was told to take the seat in front of yours, offering you a small smile and a curt wave, one that you gladly return, before he takes his seat.

actually, maybe you really could forget haechan for just a teensy bit.

D-6.

a week goes by without haechan seeing you once. an entire week. was he always this eager to see you? to bask in the warm sight that is you? he thinks he must be going crazy.

the only time he ever gets updates about you is through winter which aren’t much to go on. he does remember a key detail she mentioned previously about how you’ve been spending time with that new student, jaemin.

what was so special about him anyways? well, he was surely going to find out soon.

as the bell rings to signal the start of recess, he dashes out of his classroom, taking big steps towards yours.

there, haechan finds you in his seat and he’s about to approach you until he sees you’re in the middle of a conversation with the one and only, na jaemin.

“this is how you do this, right?” jaemin asks you, directing your sight to a piece of paper that has a bunch of math formulas written on it.

“yeah! i’m surprised you got that rather quickly.” you compliment the boy in front of you with a small laugh.

your thoughts on jaemin have changed drastically since the first time you met him. he’s a sweet boy, someone you could never take advantage of. it just felt wrong to you so you just dropped your entire plan as a whole.

it was alright to lose the bet. at least you kind of made a new friend out of it, right? you smile to yourself at that thought.

to haechan, however, your smile is so bright in jaemin’s presence, it’s practically blinding everyone in sight. have you ever smiled at him like that? wait- why does that matter?

he doesn’t like you, no way.

you’re best friends, yeah. his love for you is as platonic as can be — at least that’s what he tells himself.

for someone as bold as haechan, he can’t seem to find the confidence in him to walk towards your table and steal your attention. instead, he steps out of the classroom, unnoticed by you.

D-5.

“JAEMIN DID WHAT!?” haechan yells into his phone, winter being on the receiving end of the call.

the girl tuts, “scream one more time and i’m hanging up on you. and yes, i heard he confessed to y/n. i don’t think she gave him an answer though.”

“sorry, look, i was just really surprised.” a deep sigh comes out from haechan before the call goes silent. he takes the time to process the situation, but the idea of you and jaemin being together just rubs him off the wrong way.

“doesn’t she see how bad he is for her?” he finally reasons out.

“uhuh, in what sense exactly?” winter retorts.

“he’s probably just using her to gain attention or something! can’t i look out for my own best friend?” the response is laughable, even to haechan, but he goes along with it.

winter laughs into the call, “are you even hearing yourself? that’s pretty baseless, even for you haechan.” she replies shortly afterwards. “seems to me like you’re jealous.”

“are you hearing yourself, winter? no i’m not! get your head screwed on properly!” haechan answers back in the same incredulous manner as she did to him just a few seconds ago. “who would i even be jealous of?”

“jaemin. who else? i think it’s pretty clear to most. you aren’t that great at managing your feelings, y’know-” the girl’s voice cuts off for a second, “-oh, i’m being called to dinner now but seriously, get yourself together haechan. i know you like my cousin. bye!”

the line goes beep and haechan tosses his phone onto his bed. she really did just leave him hanging like that. how could she after bringing that idea up?!

jealous? not a chance. haechan never gets jealous.

D-4.

haechan wakes up the next day feeling tired, having not slept a wink after winter’s words kept replaying in his head.

i know you like my cousin.

you like my cousin.

you like her.

and these same words follow him as he makes it all the way to school. perhaps seeing you in school would help him understand his feelings better.

he really just wants this to be over with.

with trudged steps, he makes his way to your classroom and luckily enough for him, there you were already in class before the first bell rang.

he blames it on the lack of sleep but you look so ethereal sitting down in your chair as you bop your head lightly to the music that’s presumably playing on your earphones.

the sight is something to behold- that is until he pivots his head ever so slightly and sees jaemin accompanying you. god, why does he have to be there.

so maybe haechan does get jealous. sometimes.

maybe that’s why he acts without thinking, swiftly dragging you from your chair and out to the school courtyard despite your protests.

“hyuck let me go-” you grumble, tugging on your arm but he doesn’t budge one bit. it’s only when you reach a bench in the furthest part of the courtyard he decides to get go of your wrist.

“seriously, what is wrong with you?” you scoff out in disbelief. “this is the first time we’ve spoken in days. i think you could’ve just asked me if you really wanted to talk.” with the addition of those words, haechan finally realizes what he’s done. he knows it was wrong but he isn’t going to back down from the argument that was brewing between you two.

“me? how about you? you’ve been so lovey dovey with mr. perfect all this time! don’t you have yourself to blame on why we haven’t seen each other in so long?” he spat out coldly.

your heart sinks, and yet, you can’t help but feel even more enraged. its true, you’re part of the reason for the lack of communication between you two. after all, communication is a two way system. but doesn’t that also mean he’s also to blame?

“i enjoy jaemin’s company a lot! is that so wrong?” you shoot back, biting your bottom lip before mumbling the latter part of your statement. “at least he isn’t as grumpy as the person standing in front of me.”

ouch.

the boy hears this and gets ticked off even more. maybe it really is the lack of sleep but he seriously can’t understand her reasoning anymore. instead, he assumes she’s just doing all of this for the bet.

“do you really want to win the bet so bad? if that’s what you want, just kiss me and be over with it. i’m literally letting you win. you can stop seeing jaemin now.”

and that’s when it hits you a little.

why is he bringing the bet up all of a sudden when you just want a genuine relationship with jaem- oh. he couldn’t possibly see you as someone like that right? he said it himself! he doesn’t like you and even denied your request to kiss him a few weeks ago.

but, if that were all true, what other explanation would there be to his actions?

he takes your silence as a no, prompting him to leave you in the courtyard all alone.

you couldn’t seem to understand him at all no matter how hard you tried.

as soon as you got home from classes that same day, you rushed yourself back home and into the comfort of your bed and pillows — treating them as if they were your closest confidants and cried while you shared your troubles.

it wasn’t productive on your end but it was much needed for you to at least think straight. you’d been bottling your contemplations all day long after all.

here you are laying lifeless on your bed, using all your braincells to dicern what the fuck happened earlier this morning.

you know haechan doesn’t like you. you’ve said it to yourself so many times now.

maybe he’s just jealous you’ve been spending more time with jaemin because, although you have different intentions before, you realized you couldn’t see him in that way nor had the heart to just use him for your own gain.

haechan was a different story though. you feel flushed just thinking about him, knowing full well the both of you are in the middle of an argument between each other.

remembrance of the frustration hits, making you groan at the thought of having to remedy it. if you and haechan had anything in common, it would be the stubbornness you both share.

the last time you both got into an argument this big was back in junior high. neither of you spoke to the other for an entire month. it got so bad that both your parents had to call each other up to devise a way to get an apology out from the both of you.

though it would make the entire situation much easier, your parents no longer delve into these types of problems — and neither do haechan’s. you’re both all alone to fix this one yourselves and you wish you’d been more grateful to your parents for mending your relationship with haechan.

deep down, you already know the both of you will struggle to find the right timing, but you certainly hope that day would come soon. you didn’t exactly like being away from him either (even if he made you feel like shit for the rest of the day).

you decide to sleep off your worries for the night, hoping and praying that tomorrow would be a better day for you.

D-3.

tomorrow is not any better of a day.

jaemin and haechan both invited you to eat with them for lunch which quickly escalated into a light argument between the two. you couldn’t even bring yourself to butt into their conversation, seeing how they were fighting over something so silly.

“i’m her best friend, we do this pretty much everyday!” you hear haechan yell at jaemin, his frustration for the other getting the best of him. “plus, i need to talk with her. without you.”

“if the two of you are just best friends, then what gives you the right to dictate her answers?” jaemin fires back, keeping a calm and collected appearance throughout.

this shuts haechan up and the entire cafeteria goes dead silent. oh boy, did you want to curl up into a little hole. everyone was staring and you didn’t like that one bit.

nevertheless, you decided to be the bigger person — uttering a small apology to jaemin before walking off to the table you usually sat at with haechan — the latter following you a few steps behind.

neither of you speak as you begin to eat your separate meals, another sign the relationship between you two was starting to fade out into dust.

winter joins your lunch table shortly after witnessing the drama unfold, she looks at haechan with an unreadable expression and the boy stays quiet during the whole meal.

didn't he say he wanted to talk? an apology for the day before would have been nice.

you get fed up by the silence, placing your food back on the tray before picking it up. you mutter a quiet “i can’t seem to understand you at all.” directed at hyuck before leaving and switching over to the table where jaemin and his friends are sitting.

it all happened too fast and haechan didn’t realize you were leaving until you already did. he really did want to talk but how was he supposed to do that after having that situation with jaemin?

he wanted to calm down first but you had other plans. you really left him in shambles this time.

winter can’t help but sigh at the ongoing conflict. she silently wishes she wasn’t involved this much if it was going to turn out like this.

D-2.

haechan knows he truly has to make it up to you (including a long overdue explanation of why he’s been acting weirdly the past few days) but doesn’t know how to do that. apologies never came easy to him. his mind couldn’t help but go blank everytime he tried thinking of a way to approach you without making things more complicated than they already are.

the sheer amount of times he’s hit a brick wall has him calling the only person who probably knows more about you than he, himself, does.

he picks up his phone, searching through his contacts before landing on a single person, now waiting for the phone to ring.

“hello?” winter’s voice reaches him through the call. “i knew you’d call after what happened at the cafeteria.”

it takes a moment for haechan to answer, “maybe if jaemin wasn’t so aggressive–”

“you both were. now spill, have you gotten your feelings sorted yet?” the girl pushes his dramatics aside, getting straight to the point.

“i… think i do. you were right all along.” haechan finishes. although it was hard for him to admit at first, now that he’s actually said it out loud, it might be the first time he’s been feeling a sense of clarity after so long.

winter hums at his confession. “at least you’re finally taking a step in the right direction. now, to win her back…” she smiles to herself, already having a plan in mind.

you, on the other hand, have been seeing haechan and winter together often for the past week. naturally, your mind begins to wonder if your own cousin is the reason why haechan rejected you way back during your small birthday celebration.

the evidence matches up pretty well — he probably couldn’t reject you directly because she was in the room with the two of you that day. he isn’t spending as much time with you anymore because he’s spending time with her.

they look good together.

those words linger in your head more than you’d like to admit.

you feel cast aside by the people you’ve known practically your entire life but you don’t have much of a choice but to return to jaemin’s company. after all, you chose to eat the rest of your lunch at his table instead of the one that brought familiarity to you.

D-DAY.

day after day, the two of you just seemed to grow even more distant and you wondered if the end of your long-term friendship was nigh approaching. you barely saw him roaming through the halls of campus anymore, much less your cousin.

you didn’t dislike the new friend group you had (jaemin introducing you to his friends after you finally told him about your situation with haechan, but you couldn’t help but feel… dissatisfied with your current situation.)

as your class ends, you prepare yourself for another silent walk home. despite having those new friends, you felt lonelier than you ever had. you missed them. you missed him. and yet, life seemed to have other plans for you.

even trudging down these halls filled with other students made you lonely.

truthfully, you would do anything to have them back- a pain to your forehead snaps you out of your thoughts. you had bumped into someone. well, not just someone, but the person you’ve been longing for the most.

haechan. he was right in front of you after who knows how long it’s been.

you felt like crying on the spot but held in your emotions to appear like your life was anything but lost. haechan knew that look on your face, presuming you haven’t been well ever since the two of you have spoken. he takes your hands that have slumped to your sides into his, and the small gesture reminded you of the warmth he’d bring into your life.

“are you up for a short conversation perhaps?” you only nod and he takes that as a signal in the right direction, though, he isn’t used to you acting around him like this. oh boy, this was going to be more than a short conversation.

haechan leads you into the gymnasium and the two of you sit down by the bleachers with no sight of other students in the area.

“before you get mad- i wanted to apologize first. i shouldn’t have acted the way i did. i was childish.” he begins, holding eye contact with you to show his sincerity. “frankly, i was jealous. jealous you spent more time with jaemin, and you seemed to enjoy you time with him more than the times we hang out together. i shouldn’t have made you feel sad in any way, but i did and that’s completely my fault. i’m sorry.” you know his words hold both his feelings and the truth.

he wasn’t going to lie to you. he never once did during the time you knew each other.

however, what he admitted to had you flustered.

he was jealous of you and jaemin? it was a little hard to believe until you remembered the latter confessed to you the past week. oh god, did word of that spread out? nevermind that, what happened between you and jaemin was the least of your worries, the boy in front of you was. what if haechan got the wrong idea from the rumors?

“it’s not completely your fault. we both were pretty stubborn.” you reply, a soft chuckle leaving your lips to ease the tension between you two. “and if… if you’re curious, i never returned jaemin’s feelings back.

haechan gets pretty taken aback by your statement, now wondering why you brought it up. “oh… i know.”

“you knew? did winter tell you?” you question in anticipation. “i guess the both of you are pretty close now.”

“she did but i swear our friendship is nothing like that!” it was his turn to get flustered. “she could never replace your spot in my life.”

“i’m a little confused though after all of this…” you gesture out, referring to the situation that has just recently moved past you two. “what spot do i even have?”

he pauses, taking his time to think of the right words he wants to tell you but they all get stuck in his throat. the expression on your face showed how you took his silence negatively, prompting him to speak. “i like you. i couldn’t admit it even to myself for the longest time and-” having enough of his rambling, you inch a little closer and give him a kiss on the lips.

it’s brief, and yet, it continues to linger on his lips. “you kissed me.”

“why do you think i never gave jaemin an answer to jaemin’s confession?”

“so you were really saving it for me? i’m honored.” he chuckles out, playfully holding his hand to his chest.

“well, you should be.” you add on with the same bright smile he’s seen you flash at jaemin, except this time, it was absolutely for him.

“i guess that also means you won the bet?” he recalls, a brow raising at you.

you give him a light nudge on his shoulder while suppressing a giggle, “oh, shut up and just kiss me. you owe me 10 bucks by the way.”

tags !!

[shallowseeker]

DEAN: *is all watery-eyed and weird when cas dies the first time*

CAS: *returns and is very, very Cranky (TM) and yelling at everyone*

Instead of being happy, relieved, or appreciative of one another's fighting spirit outright, they fall into a pattern of fighting and banter. They're full of fear, fatalism, and their own discordant Hail-Mary-style ideas.

And they disagree with each other. Their fear, in general, manifests in being short with one another and hilariously calling each other's plans stupid.

They're very immature and ill-equipped to handle caring about each other, basically. It's kinda cute.

They could say "thank you," or "I'm glad you're okay." Instead? Cas flies out of the gate, bossily laying into them about needing to be more careful. Later, he arrives at the hospital and calls the plan of fighting Lucifer stupid.

When Dean responds that Cas's plan is even stupider, Cas tells Dean that he wasn't worth rebelling for at all because he's a failure and should shut the Hell up.

Glorious.

There's so much Weird tension getting in the way of what should be a renewed brother-in-arms-friendship. It should be simple, a hearty hug between friends, some thuds on the back—you know, a simple "we made it, brother!" style of camaraderie.

Instead, they're weird about it.

///

And while Dean is usuallyweird (he's a weird, word-vomitey guy at heart), he's being epically weird in 5x03.

I'd say he's being even weirder than Cas is at times, and not just about his nervousness surrounding personal space.

It's everything.

It's even played for laughs a little bit. Cas says a lot of weird shit to the cop, and then somehow gains the cop's trust anyway.

Right after this, the cop calls Dean out, but not Cas.

"Uh, no, Kolchak."

In the end, Cas winds up having the advantage in this bizarre exchange. In a surprise twist, the officer has responded better to Cas's frank honesty than to Dean's sarcasm and indirectness.

///

But anyway, it's no wonder Dean's being odd. Man's Hella stressed.

Per the conversation with Sam at the end of 5x01, Dean is barely hanging in there. "He's trying." But he's also feeling the weight of his own fatalism. "I'll fight, but we haven't got a snowball's chance in Hell of winning."

And I personally think he's still anxious post-Cas's first death.

That's a frightening thing to contend with, that one of your strongest, "seemingly invincible" Superman allies can die. It rocks the tenuous stability beneath your feet, so to speak.

Here's the strangest thing: Cas asks Dean to go on a mission with him. But even after Cas straight-up tells Dean no angel would dare harm him, Dean assumes that they're both going to die anyway.

...

I think this speaks to Dean's issues focusing. His anxiety must be through the roof, because he's usually so good at hanging on to details like that.

There's also his guilt surrounding Cas facing Raphael alone the first time. And it's coming out this way.

This time, he's automatically cast himself in the role of being there alongside Cas, dying alongside him.

It's not until later that his denial falls away and the truth catches up to him, that Cas means to die alone:

Cas repeats himself, that the archangel wouldn't dare harm Dean:

This is not a revelation.

Cas told him as such right off the bat. But like in the scene with Chuck, Dean's brain prefers to dive straight into denial.

It's interesting for a character like Dean. He's VERY used to losing people, but with Cas, there's a creeping denial and disappointment clouding the whole thing.

There's probably already a crush there... it's coming out in watery eyes and hilarious ADHD-word vomit (Thelma-Louise, fussing about personal space and then getting into his personal space, Bert-n-Ernie-are-gay, last night on earth) because Dean doesn't know what to do with it.

He doesn't know how to handle the confusing mix of feelings. He had a lot of them when Cas died the first time. Now, where can that energy even go?

The face journey he goes on as he realizes Cas is expecting to die... again.

It's a little sad, tbh.

///

And then later, when they face off against Raphael, facing him together as Raphael enters "their" kitchen, Dean's fears all come out as jokes and banter again.

It's his preferred defense mechanism against strong emotions. He's worried, but he can't show it.

///

Another thing.

I think it's neat that they're squatting in this cute, dilapidated house.

Raphael appears in a kitchen, recreating the circumstances of Cas's first death in Chuck's kitchen.

Some other cute details about the house they're chosen. Dean has his usual cooler, but here he's put it near the hearth of the home, one of his motifs. He acts as bait, drawing Raphael nearer while Cas moves to attack him.

But the specter of the hearth is still meaningful.

And while Dean distracts Raphael, they lure him deeper into the home, a space they're controlling together.

And still, they banter. Cause they're immature and adorable.

DEAN: "Don't look at me it was his idea."

Aside// The lantern and the beer bottles.

Here, we get another glimpse of their symbols. For Cas, it's this dark lantern on the table; it's been on the table "with him"on his side" since the very beginning of squatting in this house.

It symbolizes both Cas himself and this concept of Dean waiting for him. "Where have you been?"

The fact that this lantern is OUT is a callback to Cas's death, and a nod to his current fatalism.

///

Actually, the house they're squatting in IS pretty cute. The table they sit at together is cute. Here we have the two of them, mutually aching over their absent fathers... and reeling over the painful, complicated brokenness and betrayals with their respective brothers (Raphael, Sam).

The inside of this house is "dead and dusty," but there's new growth just peeking into the window. Greenness. Renewal.

This living room, where they're spending time together, also contains important Dean-Cas symbols: empty chairs, lanterns, and an unlit hearth.

While the two of them are trying desperately to fix their respective families, they're automatically carving out their own living space together, instinctually, almost without knowing or trying.

It's also funny that we see some of the strife that will color their relationship. It looks like Dean wound up doing a lot of waiting around, and he's irritated about it.

Note the prominently lit empty Cas-chair. While Cas runs off to do his suicidal Heaven errands, Dean waits up for him in a room with a hearth and a conspicuously placed lantern.

Cas appears in front of the stairs. Later, these stairs will be prominently lit by the only lit lantern in the entire house.

///

Here we go. Dean and Cas return to face off against Raphael in the house they've come to bond in—in a home they control. Now, the stairs are highlighted by a homey, welcoming light.

It's the only lantern on.

It leads upstairs to the bedroom, or it's a nod to "Heaven" if you prefer that reading.

But it seems to me that this light is conspicuous like, despite the storm and the power outage, these two are carrying a secret torch for each other, a nascent longing to cobble a life together.

Raphael's pyrotechnics are exploding all the lights except this one, after all. Perhaps the lighted stairs represent them as a Heaven-Earth unit, Heaven + home, the one who guards the door + and the one who lights the hearth:

///

And goodness, some of these images are lovely.

Raphael breaks the window, letting the storm into the little nook they'd carved for themselves.

The lantern and the beer bottle.

That's their table!

It's funny. It's almost like they instinctively gravitate to trying to fix/rebuild a home when they're together. They naturally want to fall into this weird... rhythm of life.

It's maybe a bit spooky for them, it maybe unnerves them, and they don't know what to do with that. They've both got so much baggage with their respective families that they mostly try to ignore it, and they get pissy and short with each other as a result of ignoring it and circling this...

...confusing thing.

[genericpuff]

LR is really, really good but I just wanted to say something- this is probably more about the readers than LR itself, but when it's said that LR is so much better than LO artistically (which it is!!), like say in terms of writing, pacing, and art - I think it's also not an apples to apples comparison, since LR has LO to draw inspiration from and a lot of external reactions to LO to learn from for what to do and not to, while LO is both time-constrained and (when it started out), didn't have much basis to compare to.

(The SA plotline is one example.. many criticize RS and say she shouldn't have written it in the first place but that's the thing - she actually didn't know. While I agree it's really shitty and RS has definitely ignored a lot of criticism she should take into consideration, the conclusion that she shouldn't have written it in the first place wasn't something that she knew about until after fans pointed it out. She definitely is mishandling it now, but I think writing that in at the start was born out of actual ignorance - different from her problems now, since she's now actively ignoring and shutting down the feedback she does need to get better. This blowing up educated a lot of people- probably not you specifically- and opened up a lot of dialogue for things that Rachel likely didn't have access to at the start of LO. and has no excuse for now.)

Anyway, yeah - Love Lore Rekindled, thank you for creating it! Genuinely, I do - this ask isn't meant to be a bad thing against you at all, nor do you need to reply to it.

Not a bad thing in the slightest, I honestly agree with you! The reality is that LR wouldn't exist without LO, so to try and compare them feels kind of like... it defeats the point?

Like obviously Rekindled was made with similar intentions, I'm not gonna sit here and pretend like Rekindled wasn't made out of spite over what could have been, but at the heart of it all, it doesn't exist to 'flex' on LO, really it's just to help recapture that joy and beauty that the original comic had that I fell in love with in the first place. It's only because I loved the original concept and foundation of LO so much that it exists. That's also why I call it an "AU" of sorts, as a sort of "alternate reality where LO didn't turn out the way it did" experiment lmao Mostly by maintaining the consistency in the original art style and paying off those earlier plot threads that didn't payoff the way we were anticipating or were dropped entirely. Sure, it's trying (and in some ways succeeding) to be "better" than LO, but that definition of "better" and how it's applied was what we were hoping to get out of LO in the first place.

So yeah, when people say "the art/writing is so much better than LO's!" part of me tries to take it as the compliment it's undoubtedly intended to be, but also I'm like "ack, that's not the point!! the art still doesn't look exactly like LO, I'm failing!!" LMAO I suppose that's part of the magic, but it doesn't fully align with my original goals or intentions. That's the struggle of art stylization, you can try and mimic another person's work as much as you want, but you can never mimic the them that's in their work, just like how you can't remove the you that's in yours. I want to be at peace with my own work and what I put into it, so I try not to compare them too much and just treat them as their own unique separate things (even if one of them is directly trying to resemble the other). It's okay that Rekindled doesn't look or read exactly the same as LO, but in saying that it's 'better' defeats the point of why Rekindled exists in the first place and diminishes LO's part in the process. LO has to exist - all of its best and worst parts - for Rekindled to exist, so putting LO down just to raise LR up... isn't that kind of what we criticize all the time within the comic, how it can't seem to hold up its best parts without putting down others? Why can't they both have their own things worth appreciating on their own exclusive of one another?

This is also why I generally ask people to not share Rekindled with the general Lore Olympus hashtags or post about it in the fan groups (and why I don't mirror it on Webtoons) because I just like... don't want it to come across as some "booo you like LO??? go read this instead!" type deal. I want people to be able to enjoy Rekindled as its own standalone story as an extension of LO, in the form of what could have been. There's a very thin line in the sand between Rekindled being just what it is and it being used against the fans as if it's a crime for them to still genuinely enjoy LO. I can't enjoy LO in good faith anymore, but that doesn't mean I make Rekindled for the sake of ruining that good faith in others. I was a fan too, once upon a time, so Rekindled is just as much for the fans as it is for the people like me who started off loving this comic just to be disappointed in the end and yearning for the "what if" that could have been.

And yeah, it's absolutely an advantage that I have in my court that I have the knowledge of knowing what LO started as and where it went wrong to work off of, an advantage that Rachel didn't have. It's like when I look back on my original pages in Time Gate: Reaper and think "man, I wish I had known xyz when I made these so they could be better!" but if I hadn't made them like that the first time, I wouldn't be able to reflect on them now knowing I've improved. In that same regard, Lore Olympus had to run so that Lore Rekindled could crawl. And I'm forever thankful to LO - and Rachel - for giving us something we could all connect over to such an extensive degree that Rekindled could exist at all.

[corisanna]

Hi! I stumbled across your account/the fact you were on tumblr recently and read through some of your ANAI stuff... and I guess I just wanted to, eh, write you some affirmations, I suppose? Even if you probably won't see them for a while yet.

First of all, it's a wonderful fic and don't let anyone tell you any different.

Secondly, you mentioned feeling, IDK, pressured by how successful it became? Like, you wanted to measure up to people's expectations and stuff for the fic since so many people thought it was so totally awesome?

The thing is --and I'm prefacing this with the statement that I only stumbled onto your fic a few months ago, so I don't know when in publication it blew up-- in my opinion, the entire fic flows together very well and has seamlessly good quality throughout. The first chapter reads just as well as the most recent one, by which time I have to assume the fic definitely became popular.

I suppose what I'm trying to say here is that the people who reading this fic aren't signing up for the best damn thing they've ever read, they're signing up for something good. Dependably good. The same stuff you started with when you thought you had no expectations to measure up to. People don't commit to reading 84 chapters unless the first 5 (or less) manage to hook and reel them in, and you did that wonderfully.

Honestly, the highest compliment I can pay to your writing is that it's like that saying about watching a master carpenter build a porch. They're building a porch, everyone knows they're building a porch, and nobody's going to be surprised when it turns out to be the porch. But the journey there is methodically and masterfully guided --no bells and whistles, just good solid craftsmanship-- so it's still immensely fun and interesting to watch.

Don't let perfection become the enemy of progress, I guess? I suppose that probably sounds preachy.

For my money, I wasn't even looking for your fic --I have a RWBY fix-it that also got hella popular out of nowhere, and when I revealed the time-loop aspect several people commented "Oh, just like As N Approaches Infinity!"

I had no idea what they were talking about, of course, but after some back and forth I shrugged and decided to give it a go, since (in my experience) people rarely recommend fics by name and it was probably worth a skim.

(Friend, it was excellent. I spent around two days reading it nonstop, including at my place of work outside of breaks.)

I know there's really nothing I can say about the mental pressure of readers who have been presumably hanging around since forever, but for your consideration: there's also readers like me who have only recently stumbled upon it and wouldn't really have a hiatus.

Anyway, I hope you have a lovely existence and that someday you awaken the joy you had when writing this fic!

Thank you very much for your kind words. I really appreciate them. (╥‿╥)♡

[ohblackdiamond]

If you have a chance, I would love to hear your character interpretation of Eric Singer.

I know you have a special fondness for the OG, but I also appreciate the detailed insights you provide about the side characters. For instance, I still remember how the detailed descriptions of the other team members at the beginning of 'black and gold' brought me joy and made me feel more immersed in the story. Speaking of non-OG, I also love your depiction of BK in 'careening'.

(It doesn't have to be very detailed! It is nice to hear someone who is not particularly fond of that person talk about them, just as much as hearing from someone who is their biggest fan. And I’d just be interested to hear what you have to say!)

I’m sorry for writing so much, thank you for taking the time. I hope you have a great day <3

Never be sorry and I'm so glad to hear from you! I love answering questions like this, ask away! I'm glad you enjoyed those parts of black and gold and careening-- careening is one of my favorite of my fics, though it didn't get as much attention as some of my other stories. Bruce's position in the band was interesting as was his genuine good guy nature as opposed to Paul's worn-down, fading rockstar aspects. I like Eric and don't have anything against him but I just honestly haven't spent nearly as much time thinking about him as I have the OG!

Eric Singer-- I have met everyone that was ever in the band except for Vinnie and Eric Carr. I have spoken to Eric twice, once when he handed me the mic at a Kiss Kruise, and once when he was... Candleboy. I like Eric a lot. One of the things I noticed about him was that he was very quick-- on Kruise, he would usually do a surprise last song with whatever band was coming on prior to one of Paul's events, and then would scurry off after that through the regular entrance/exit rather than backstage or anything (of course, given this was a ship there probably wasn't a great, hidden exit...). Anyway, when Eric would leave, there was a lady who would sit next to me outside the entrance. He would always press a guitar pick in her hand and leave, so quickly you wouldn't believe. The pick was for her son, who was autistic and couldn't always go on Kruise. He remembered her and him as they (along with her husband) would come every year. He was super kind to them.

When I spoke to him on Kruise it was pretty brief, I had my hand up for a question and was on the end of the row, but I really didn't think I'd get picked, my hand was only like halfheartedly up, but Eric saw me and suddenly pushed the mic into my hand and tapped the back of my shoulder and told me to stand up and walk closer up. I was like "are you sure you want me to have this (the mic)" and he didn't say anything, just urged me to get up closer. I asked my (goofy) question of Gene and he responded, and Eric said he also used to watch the show I'd asked about.

The second time, he gave me and @elrohare the most bizarre lesson on candle safety I've ever gotten in my life, but I'll let her tell that story.

Overall impressions of Eric are that he's very watchful and aware. He knows where his place is, he's got a journeyman sensibility. I feel like in some ways KISS was a constraint to him and his abilities and that in that sense he ended up creatively frustrated. I think that KISS was very much a job for him, but a job with serious perks. I think as his tenure progressed with the band he was more willing to pop off (up to a point) and I enjoy his relationship with Gene especially; I like that he seemed to help Gene loosen up. And he's the kind of guy that really isn't a jerk to fans and so on-- that's worth a lot, too.

[princess-of-thebes-1995]

Ugh. Nov 30 is my big brother's birthday. And my psychiatrist appointment is also on that date. Small world. I was forced to quit thanks to my parents after for maybe almost two years. My mind is disorganized... I am working on my yandere Grindelwald and Love thy enemy series.

A Life Bartered will be out on hold. I don't know how to write the next chapter...

Anyway.... A short random thought. Love thy enemy will probably take years to complete.

I don't want to half ass this like my other works.

But, I love these scenes so much. From other movies. I cannot picture gellert Grindelwald in them but human Miles Quaritch before he came back as s Recom....

Tsk. Tsk. Here it goes.

As you can tell in that picture.... The Colonel was wearing a ring...

You were dating him. after a few mishaps. I mean he was a yandere who acted kind and sweet. But later revealed he was an evil man who wanted to colonize and commit genocide and steal their land.

You felt betrayed. You slept with the enemy. Your Prince charming was rather the beast holding you hostage in disguise. Worst of all is ... You don't think you have any man to rescue you.

You have to fend yourself. You were jealous of Trudy and Neytiri. Jake changed sides for his lover and Trudy helped Norm. You wanted that kind of love. Quaritch wanted to change YOU to be on his side. It should be the other way around. You knew you were morally right.

Before the battle of hometree. You asked him when was his birthday. You didn't want to ask what year. It was rude. You knew Quaritch was a little insecure if his age because of you and those rumors.

The Colonel to your surprise told you causally and was comfortable. He asked why you cared. You cheekily avoided the subject. Then asked for his favorite color.

Quaritch raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning on buying me a gift, sweetheart?"

You looked away avoiding his eyes. Damn it. The Colonel was always too smart for his own good.

You mumbled a "no." The Colonel walked up to you and tucked you underneath him.

"your a bad liar." He snickered.

When the time arrived. You cooked an extra fancy meal and made a small party. His squad and some of your science friends came. It was awkward that scientists and Marines were to be civil.

The Marines and scientists didn't speak to one another only themselves.

The Colonel appreciated the gesture. He didn't eat cake for years. He doesn't like junk food. Especially sweets. He teasingly made you feed him cake Infront of all.

He was amused by your blushing face as you did

And as for his present besides riding him for the first time. He was surprised and he wasn't complaining.

You gave him an antique gold 25 karot and his favorite color gem in the center. Worth 15,000.

The Colonel was touched. He let you be the boss of him that night in his bed. He laughed at how awkward you were. It was cute you were trying.

Since then. He wore it.

As for you... When it was your birthday. He tattooed your name across his chest in big and bold letters. (Please don't ask me how they have a tattoo artist in base. I don't know...)

Then one day. it happened.

Your world turned upside down. Sully was reporting to Quaritch secretly.

Your boyfriend was the whole time keeping secrets. He attacked hometree and lied about peace.

Worst of all, not only was your elderly father dying but died a month ago. His funeral passed.

You tried to break up with Quaritch.

He for the first time. Hit you. He never did this before.

He treated you like a queen and called you princess.

You felt tears down your rosy cheeks and held your cheek. You healed already thanks to your mutant genetics. But, your heart wound of being hit by the man you loved and degraded made you feel disgraced. So many was happening at once. Bad reality checks.

The whole time. Selfridge wanted to steal the natural resources.

He lied to all scientists and other people like Trudy. She said she didn't sign up for this shit.

You sobbed. "If my father was alive...."

Quaritch let out a "tch" in annoyance as he looked down at your pathetic form on the ground after getting hit in the face

"he's dead. Even if he was alive. I am not scared of that old man. Father in law or not."

"You're suppose to be..."

The Colonel rolled his eyes at your naivety. He grabbed your forearm and made you stand up.

He made you look at him. "I am not your prince charming. I'm the warrior who is willing to kill for his prize."

You cried more. Your just like a pretty trophy wife. You thought he was different than the other men and boys in earth. Suitors who wanted to marry you for your looks.

You fell in love with a jerk.

What a fool you were.

Before the Colonel left to the ship to bomb hometree once and for all. He wanted to "touch" you one last time.

He announced to everyone when he bought the entire marines first round at the bar when they destroyed the omiticaya home that he will marry you after the battle is over.

He proposed to you and you were forced to act happy. He went on his knee everyone cheered.

Then... You were locked in your room. The scientists had to leave for Earth. So the labs were shut down.

But, you decided to spite him... You snuck in weapons to the Avatars and gave mad useful information about the Marines plans to invade the Navis.

And gave them keys to the soldiers supply room.

Well... Before Quaritch would fuck you before he wanted to kill Sully. You drugged his coffee. Too bad he noticed something again. Remember, he is too smart for his own good. Nothing gets past him. He spat out his drink. He was only slightly dizzy. He was so angry.

He wanted to punish and rape you again.

"maybe I pump a brat inside you. That will tame your bitchy attitude." He grinned. Your breath heaved.

Before he came. You grabbed a heavy book and hit his head. He bled and howled in pain.

"you bitch!" He knocked the book out. He slapped you. He knew he could kill you easily. So he decided to just tie you up.

But, you used the taiser he gave you for protection against his neck.

He smirked after getting shock. "oh look, doll. A hickey."

He mockingly beckoned you to come closer. "Come to daddy."

You then kneed his balls. He clutched down. You kicked his nose. He cursed and clutched his face in pain.

"who's your daddy now?"

You locked him in his room and ran off.

The Colonel kicked the door down open and then was summoned to Selfridge to immediately start the ship.

The Colonel used his phone to make his men detain you. He will punish you so fuckin bad after he kills Sully.

Luckily, Max and your other scientists friends who were also avatars attacked the base and freed you from your cell.

And from Selfridge. He tried to rape you while the base was in a frenzy and you were alone.

Before Selfridge could touch you. A gunshot missed his head.

"don't shoot!" He held his hands up.

"Give me a reason, prick." Your Avatar friend pointed the gun at him.

You then decided to run to the communication room. You heard Quaritch's voice.

"this is Papa dragon. I want this mission high and tight. I wanna be home for dinner." You rolled your eyes.

You called Jake and told him where to find the ship aircraft of Quaritch.

You never heard of Quaritch again...

But sadly. You felt something moving inside your body. And it wasn't guilt. Damn Quaritch. He always gets the last laugh.

[yanfeisty]

Hello!! Are you accepting requests for the event? If so, could I please request for prompt 14 from the sfw list?

❛ You're my most beautiful creation. ❜

For Ningguang and Thoma ^^ thank you so much if you could do this request, but it's fine if you don't! [I think this is my first time participating in a SAGAU event event haha-]

♡, 🌼

—  PROMPT  : You're my most beautiful creation.

—  A/N :  I love them both so much ‹3 TT, they are so underrated. And glad to be the first, I hope you'll enjoy it!

—  CW :  Religious themes.

⠀‣ Ningguang

"You're my most beautiful creation."

Your compliment left her greatly touched but also curious as to why, was it because of her luxurious apparence or her successful career, anyway she was glad to say she could take the credit, she didn't want to brag or anything, but she was happy that her life work was valued, especially when it was by someone like you. She probably put too much thought into it, but how could she not when you gave her a compliment that was worth more than any sum of mora.

⠀‣ Thoma

"Thank you, I really appreciate you saying what you think about me, especially when your tone seems honest. I guarantee you I'll continue to do my upmost to live up to that compliment."

⠀

"You're my most beautiful creation."

At your praise, he suddenly became flustered, as he scratched his head and looked away from you, but a small smile was forming on his face, you just took him off guard by your sudden flattery. After all he was a simple servant, no one really special and he was just doing his job, but maybe he wasn't so wrong to think if you were kind to the world good things will happen to you back, and it was definitely a pleasant surprise. Sure, it was a pretty simple compliment even if it wasn't one you heard everyday, it really felt like it came from your heart.

"Hahaha, well, thank you for putting so much work into me. You just made my day."

[wa-royal-tea]

I'm back! Kinda + What I've been up to + Timezone Change, Story Posting Update

Heyyyy thur guys! I’m back, kinda. Sorry it took me a while to update you guys on what I’ve been working on, life has been extra busy since July 31st for me 💀 I won't post a story update yet as I still have things to do but I mightttt return by the end of September.

If you wanna know what I've been up to, read under the cut. Just a warning, it's pretty long 💀

I have an update on what I've been working on irl and it's kind of an exciting news, at least for me lol. So, in case anyone is wondering what I've been up to, I'm actually preparing to further my Masters overseas and this plan has been a wip since last year. I've been studying for my IELTS because the universities I've applied to requires me to take it. And then I had my graduation ceremony for my Bachelor's Degree after waiting for SO long bcs of Covid. It was one of the happiest day in my life bcs I got the Vice Chancellor's award!!! Sorry for the bragging there, I'm just so proud of myself :') I worked my ass off to maintain my CGPA every semester so getting that award really felt like all of that hard work was worth it :')

After all that is done, I applied to the Uni's that I wanted and surprisingly, all the Uni's I applied to gave me an offer which is pretty neat! I accepted one of the offers and then I had to look for a sponsorship.

I kept it a hush-hush kind of thing and only told several of my close friends about what I was planning to do bcs it was something that I wasn't sure that I'll be getting so anytime that I was taking a "break", I was actually working on this in the background (had to attend zoom interviews with the Uni's. Doing the tasks in order to get an interview invite etc.). It was a stressful process but yeah, this is what I've had planned for me when I was younger so I was determined to make it happen no matter what! Your girl is not one to give up easily! 😤

So around June this year, the sponsorship that I've been aiming for opened and I applied for it, got the results that I had been offered a full-ride sponsorship on July 31st and everything became so busy for me because I had to prepare the necessary documents to be sent to the sponsorship board. It was an exhausting process as I had to make sure that everything is prepared perfectly so there wouldn't be any problems and so far, alhamdulillah, everything has been going well. I had my visa done, I secured a place to stay during the duration of my studies, all the documents were sent at the end of last week. But preparing all of these took a toll on my energy and I simply don't have the energy to open my game or even open blender to work on my story. But I have been writing the scripts and all so yeah, the story is still running in the background. I did find some little time to work on poses but I worked on a few before I stopped because I was too tired hahaha.

Anyways, only a few people knew what I was working on while I was on this break. Shoutout to Miss Wheat knee and Gigi for being patient with me replying to their discord messages late everyday 😭 And thank you for giving me your emotional support and encouragement! A huge thank you to both Miss Devilled Eggs and Wheat knee for helping me in my process of applying to the Uni's from helping me brush up my English for my IELTS during one of our previous calls, and for helping me with my Piece to Camera video practice for my Uni interviews. I really, greatly, am thankful to you guys for that. And to Wheat knee, thank you for believing in me when I was overthinking stuff thinking I wouldn't get the offers sfkhskl I really appreciate you for that 😢

And with that, I would like to update you guys that my posting time will be changing as I will be moving to London for my studies. So my timezone will no longer be GMT+8 :') It will be GMT+1 as of September 28th. Aside from that, my postings won't be regular too, I'll be updating whenever I can as I'll probably be busy with my studies and all. So, wish me luck! I'm a bit anxious about this so I hope I'll do well :')

Thank you to all my readers who are still there for me since day 1, you all are the best! And sorry that the story will take a while to be completed, I'll try my best to still work on it bcs I love it too much to just leave it like that 😭

That's all I guess! Thank you again for reading this if you are reading it lol.

Love,

Nina ❤

[doiesfav]

*˚:✧Mr. No Name - Mark ||

“happy birthday dear nameless guy”

Pairing: nonidol! Mark x fem! Reader

Plot: After breaking up with your long time boyfriend your friend took you to a party to get over it, you weren't feeling it but when you arrived, you met a stranger there who made your heart feel warm again.

Genre: strangers to idfk! AU, fiction, short story

Contains: alcohol, reader almost giving head and swearing LMAO

wc -> 0,8k

A/n: Happy birthday to Markie poo, hope you have a great day ayeyeyeyye :))))) Thanks for all the support and would appreciate reblog or follow♡♡♡♡

PT.2

MASTERLIST

banners and dividers are self made

''Come on let's go, I swear is gonna be fun'' You rolled your eyes, your friend already insisted like hundred times so you had no more options. ''Okay I'll go, but I'm leaving as soon as I get bored'' Then you dressed up in pretty clothes, nobody wouldn't dress up in pajamas at a party, right? ''Done, let's go'' You two left your apartment and went straight to the location.

''Honey, don't tell me you still aren't over Jaehyun, he literally cheated on you! Look, that's why I'm taking you outside'' She was right, you needed to get over it, it was obvious he was toxic, and you ignored it when you two were in a relationship, maybe because of love? but it wasn't exactly love. Anyways it was all over, you broke up with him and blocked him without giving him a chance to explain himself.

Finally arriving, your shoulders were getting more and more relaxed throughout the night, you drank some alcohol but you weren't drunk at all and most importantly you were having fun that's until you saw a familiar figure. Jaehyun, your ex, was at the party too. Your friend didn't tell you about this, but she probably doesn't know either. Too bad that he also saw you and went directly in your direction, you went quickly upstairs hoping that he would stop following you, then you entered the bathroom and closed the door but he already knew where were you.

''Hey y/n come out, we need to talk'' he said on the other side of the door, you didn't know what to say so you just stayed quiet and stepped back. ''y/n seriously, come fucking out'' and he started to try opening the locked door. ''go away Jaehyun'' finally you said something but he didn't stop, you were so sad because of him just a few days ago and now you are having fun watching him trying to get to you. ''Excuse me what the fuck are you doing'' an unexpected voice came out of the bathtub which surprised both, Jaehyun and you. And before you could say anything he interrupted ''dude go away, she doesn't want you anymore, get it?'' He was a good talker, that mysterious guy that you didn't notice had some charisma.

''Who the fuck even are you, and why are you with me girlfriend'' Jaehyun said but you were sincerely confused, he still treated you as his girlfriend? ''Jae, we are not together get over it'' Said the girl who wasn't over him just a few hours ago. ''man, I don't think is worth knowing who I am and I'm with your ex dumbass'' He caught up on you while smirking. ''y/n come fucking out, what the fuck are you guys even doing?'' Jaehyun still insisted but it was getting tiring. ''dude, go fucking away if you don't wanna hear what are we doing together'' That was it for him, he hit the door hard but what it did was hurt his fist, alcohol had taken over him and it was obvious.

''okay I'm staying until you two fucking leave'' he said confidently, ''Alright bet'' you said and went over to the blonde haired guy that kinda saved the situation. ''Can I suck you off?'' you whispered in his ear lowly enough so Jaehyun couldn't hear it. And the guy whose name was unknown nodded. You unbuckled his belt with the intention for Jaehyun to hear the metallic sound, which he probably did ''What the actual fuck was that sound'' He questioned loud enough, ''I don't know man, probably my belt'' the blonde guy answered. ''y/n are you giving him fucking head? WHAT THE FUCK OH MY GOD'' He screamed which made you startled at first, you never heard Jaehyun screaming before, he was taking all his anger out.

''You better meet me tomorrow bitch'' and he stormed off, you found that reaction of his funny as he never showed his emotions that much. ''Sorry you had to go thru this, um'' you wanted to know his name, ''Yea no worries, no need to know my name, and probably the funniest thing that happened on my 24th birthday'' So it was his birthday then why he was all alone by himself in the bathtub? You were getting more and more curious, ''ohhh, happy birthday then'' you said hoping for more interaction but he seemed like he was going somewhere else. ''Thanks, by the way you are really pretty'' not gonna lie, it made you more red than you already were. ''If so you could give me your number you know'' which he did. ''Thanks for today, hope you can help me tomorrow'' You said with a joking tone. ''Sure, bye see you next time'' he waved ''Bye, mr. no name'' And you waved back, and you saw him chuckle repeating those words, ''Mr. No name''

PT.2

Short cute story for birthday Mark :))))) Also thanks for all the support ive been getting lately, i really appreciate it love you guys <3

[lover-of-mine]

Hi 👋 can I say how much enjoy your blog? reading your opinion it's always a delight to me. And you are never rude so that's always a plus when I follow someone here on Tumblr.

So when you say the writers could truly decide to develop Tommy as a character in which circumstances do you think this could happen? (For me that ship sailed already but it's interesting to think about it) what would need to happen for the writers to make this choice and with what purpose?

I actually don't think LFJ is that bad of an actor (I actually enjoy him on swat) my opinion of him as a person is a whole other issue, but for some reason his acting felt flat on 911, like he's just there you know?

Hope you have a wonderful day today 💞

This is actually very nice, thank you, I appreciate you saying this!

Okay, I will tell you something I don't spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to incorporate Tommy because I just want this to be over with, I don't think he's worth the chaos he created so I don't try to figure out how to make him stay. But there are ways when you look at the fact that he has other openings to the storyline besides Buck. We have the friendship with Eddie that was completely written off after he got together with Buck and we also have the previous connection to the 118. Personally, I think the easiest way to incorporate him is through Eddie but the more effective way would be through Hen and Chim, it would be doing something that makes it clear that his relationship with them improved, yk? It's not just friendly, we worked together and I'm polite type thing, like actually evolving it into something that "oh we're friends now. They've been through shit, we acknowledge the fact that Tommy helped create the toxic environment and we have Tommy actively doing something to make amends, Hen and Chim seal of approval or whatever and then you keep developing his relationship with Buck in whatever way they want. But the thing is that only works if they do like a full 180 of his personality, yk? Like he would have to suddenly become extremely genuine for it to actually work with the general audience when you consider everything that happened and the way that he was used, in the second half of the season.

Because the thing is I don't think the problem is Lou's acting, at least not all of it, he was not doing a lot but the script that wasn't doing him any favors, if you look at him during the cruise and in 704 he doesn't fall as flat as he does during 709 and 710, so it's not fully a Lou's problem, it's probably something about the way that they want Tommy to come off because if they actually needed Tommy to come off a different way they would do different things with the script too, the delivery makes Tommy look a certain way, but what he's saying would contribute to it anyway, Lou's not that bad of an actor as everyone keeps saying he is, if he was 704 wouldn't work and 704 does work, so the thing is I think that they didn't plan on having Tommy sticking around all that much or at all for the rest of the season, and I think that's the main reason that 704 Tommy is so different from 709/10 Tommy because they realized that they had to make him look a certain way because people were rooting for the relationship and they didn't want people to root for the relationship. It all comes down to them actually putting effort into the character as a whole but the only effective way to make him part of the family is making him part of the family literally. It is dealing with the issues that come from his relationship with Chim and Hen. But I also don't think that the show's going to go there because they made a point to show us the deleted scene that shows the Hen doesn't trust him and that he's not interested in her approval so they filmed that scene, and they know that if they incorporate Tommy with more than Buck then Tommy starts existing in the plot and they avoided that at all costs. So much so that the second after they kissed Tommy was kind of like isolated he just doesn't do anything with anyone else even though there is space for that, even all that was the expectation for at least his friendship with Eddie to stick around, so I don't think they're going to go that route but it would be doing something with Hen and Chim if they want to be effective, I mean they just need him to exist outside of Buck and then you can actually start working towards the development of the character, it wouldn't be a thing that goes like it's one and done, I think it would be something that they would have to work with because they made a point that Tommy is a bad fit on Buck's life and we have the the begins episodes that were never addressed (and it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth but they kind of decided that gay excuses complacent which is bullshit) but they could have tried the same way that they tried to redeem Taylor, they didn't but it works if they decide they want to go there. There are ways to write it, I don't know exactly how they would go about it in specifics but it would be they would have to bring Tommy into the firefam for it to work. But he wasn't at the actual wedding, he was isolated during the medal ceremony, he wasn't at the hospital and they released that scene so they know they are purposefully keeping him out, I don't think they'll try to turn this around especially with the chaos.

[dazeddoodles]

Hi, just wanted to let you know that my boyfriend (who is afrolatino and who told me to write this ask since he's unable to send any asks) wanted me to tell you that your post that compared Darius to the chocolate Christmas ornament felt rather racist since he's followed you for a long time. I know it probably wasn't your intention, but the art can be seen racist coming from a nonblack person due to how often said comparison is used against black people in a very derogatory way. No hard feelings, just wanted to let you know about this.

Oh boy.

For what it's worth. The joke was not supposed to be comparing Darius to the chocolate. The chocolate isn't meant to look like Darius at all.

For context I said that originally it was supposed to be Eda seeing the chocolate man and thinking he was hot (which is supposed to be weird). And then Raine comes up behind her and she swallows it whole so they wouldn't see she was staring at it.

The chocolate looks nothing like Raine and isn't meant to. The joke was supposed to be Eda found a literal chocolate bar hot and got worried that Raine would be jealous.

I just swapped the ship to be Aladarius instead (I didn't want to use any ship with the kids cause that felt weird). The joke in this case was that Alador ALSO found the chocolate hot, and Darius got jealous. Of the chocolate.

I changed the interaction to fit the characters because Alador is not as cartoonishly wacky as Eda so I don't think he would try to shove the entire box into his mouth. And Darius seems more of the jealous type then Raine. Although him being jealous over a chocolate bar is meant to be comedically over the top.

However if the immediate interpretation of the drawing seems like I'm comparing Darius to chocolate, then I'll be more than willing to delete the post. It's not at all a hill I'm willing to die on and I apologize.

Anyways, thank you for reaching out and letting me know this. I really appreciate it and hope you have a lovely night.

[cosmicjoke]

I am so glad anon asks are open again. I love talking to you and think you’re a great person but I am shy sometimes :(. Anyway I wanted to know your opinion on Armin. I think he’s a great character and he doesn’t get talked about a lot. Levi put his faith in him when giving him the serum and that was such an important part of Armin’s journey, I wonder if deep down he ever thought about Levi’s choice considering he probably really looked up to him as a leader/captain.

Hi there, and thank you so much for your kind words! That means a lot to me.

I love Armin, honestly. He's truly a great character, and highly complex.

I think his role in Levi's decision during the RtS arc gets severely overlooked and dismissed, usually with the intent to make it seem as if Levi cared more about Erwin than anyone else. But Armin plays a significant role in Levi's choice, which I actually wrote about here, if you're interested:

Basically, I think Armin was always meant to encompass this role in the story of hope. He symbolizes in many ways the hope of humanity, the possibility of a world without conflict, either internal or external. Like his conversation in the Paths with Zeke, he speaks about not needing to see any great purpose or object in life in order to also see the value in it and the value in being alive. Just being here, in and of itself, life's mere existence, should be enough to advocate its worth to anyone and the importance of preserving it. It shouldn't have to mean anything more than what it is to justify fighting for it.

Armin never really wants for anything to the point that it detracts from his happiness. He has dreams, but he's willing to forego those dreams and accept the possibility that they won't come true, too. And Armin's dream is a simple one. He wants to see the ocean. He doesn't want to change anything, he just wants to explore what's already there. There's a real sense of innocence and purity to Armin. He's extremely accepting and nonjudgmental. The world is what it is and he's okay with that.

Not that Armin doesn't have flaws or doesn't make mistakes. Speaking with one of my mutuals recently, they explained to me how while Armin was able to give up his dreams, the one thing he wasn't really able to give up on was Eren, and it's that failure on Armin's part that leads directly to the Rumbling happening. Because he consciously refused to accept that Eren intended to do harm or that his intentions were bad, he convinces everyone else to aid in getting Eren and Zeke to make contact. They actually fight to get Eren and Zeke together, because Armin couldn't accept that Eren was a bad person.

So he isn't able to accept everything the way it is wholesale. He's not perfect. He accepted the world for what it was, but he couldn't, at least until the end, accept Eren for what he was. In the end, though, Armin DOES accept Eren for what he is, and he still loves him, despite it all. That's true friendship, I suppose.

Anyway, yeah, those are just some thoughts off the top of my head, as a general assessment of Armin. He deserves more appreciation, that's for sure. He's vital to understanding so many themes of AoT itself.