#just because the fandom has already died down a bit

[sepublic]

            King was definitely under the impression his dad was dead once he learned who his dad was; But can you imagine him finding out his dad WAS alive, the whole time, watching him??? Only to learn that the Titan died, was murdered by Belos as that fucker’s last victim; Yet another genocidal bastard contributing to the Titans’ demise, and further cementing it because now King truly IS the last of his kind. King hoped his dad was out there, then had to cope with him being dead… Then had to cope with finding out he was there, but by the time he got this revelation and could appreciate it, NOW he was gone. Now he was deceased.

            King couldn’t appreciate even a second of knowing the Titan was still alive and watching; That realization was only posthumous for him. There was magic there, magic King took for granted because it was a gift from a Titan, but he didn’t know it was dependent on his dad’s life; That it WAS his dad’s life in his hands and he could’ve engaged with it, felt his dad through him, but now it’s gone before he had the chance to embrace it. King has his own magic to share with others, but that’s not the same as his dad’s life supporting him, and him and Luz know it when she explains why the glyphs no longer work and what that means.

            There was a tangible life present to engage in, there was a tangible beating heart King could’ve listened to; How did he feel seeing Belos latched onto his father’s heart like a parasite? I’m glad he splattered Belos’ brains beneath his foot, made fear and pain and humiliation the last thing Belos felt. Imagine King just grappling with a newfound grief, after already going through it the first time, because that bonding and love DID get to be there. And King had said hurtful things about his father not knowing it. His dad died not knowing for sure if King or his loved ones would actually be safe, if the Titans would get to live on, if his own body would be left un-desecrated, etc.

            The love was still being felt for so long, and King only got to learn about and reciprocate it when it had died minutes ago. The realization that he had it all along came with the realization that he just lost it. Imagine King reflecting on this, the realization, and then the grief afterwards, in the aftermath of the final battle, during the rebuilding, etc. Just this sense of knowing there was still a way, an option, after all; But he lost it and didn’t find out until afterwards.

            Imagine King crying and enraged, at the unfairness of it all, wallowing in bitterness and self-pity because goddamn is this child, this genocide survivor, owed that!!! Maybe he almost feels a bit of resentment deep, deep down that Luz got to meet his dad, but not King; But then King immediately admonishes himself for thinking that, Luz only got that opportunity because she died and his father gave one last gift in giving King his sister back, not letting him lose another loved one who chose to love him!!!

            I want King to ask Luz, again and again, about his dad; I want Luz to draw the Titan as faithfully as she can, and she’s shown she can do that. I want King to see her memory photos of the Titan. I want King to hang up a copy of those memory photos, to have one by him at all times. I want him to honor his father’s magic and each glyph, learn every combo for its sake and mourn the ones lost to time, as King develops his own magic to honor his dad. I want him to grieve and have that grief be appreciated by the fandom, too.

            I’m glad that the Titan’s love still came with one more message, thanks to his sister’s thoughtfulness; A reminder that the love was still always there and DID get to exist while King was alive, that his dad got to see King alive, that King got to feel his dad’s love as a living being, and not just as an egg. King only got to have one message, one actual sentence, only a handful of words from his father to King himself, but they counted. It isn’t much in terms of communication, but it’s such a thoughtful, perfect expression.

            He received that love as King, as the person he was, and his dad still got to see King thrive; His dad received that love and saw and felt it when King hugged his bone. They reciprocated. The Titan died, but was hoping and believing it would continue. And maybe the Titan still got that confirmation because while we saw his spirit pass on, maybe that bit of power left in Luz was a sentient remnant, aware of the triumph and happy ending when Luz released it.

            I’m glad King got a bread pun.

[drachenfalter]

Choose your pint-sized Antagonist!

Who cares about Belos. He's just some "upstart on the carcass-kingdom", after all. No, today we have to identify the real threat

Tibblet-Tibblie Grimmhammer III, also known as Tibbles, of the infamous Grimmhammer family! He still has a feud with the Hextrio, and we can only speculate what he has been up to since the Day of Unity.

Kikimora, the Emperor's Right Hand. Hailing from Palm Stings, this little demon is used to fight above her weight and has so far survived everything the Isles could throw at her. She was last seen trying to build her own Empire and fighting teenagers.

Bill. Yes, that's his full name. Unassuming in size and appearance, this Titan Trapper has Belos beat when it comes to life-experience. While he was last seen on the other side of the planet, he might know a thing or two about Titans and Collectors and should not be underestimated.

So, who is secretly the biggest threat? Who will rule the Isles? Who will the GOAT.

[stealthetrees]

So this is more of an AU of the fandom AU where the Coruscant Guard live in a shitty run down building that’s falling apart. But Commander Fox finds this unacceptable so he clears out a warehouse used for storage and builds a shiny new headquarters. The original building they fix up, but only the lobby, a couple offices, and the med bay so troopers on senate duty can stay there due to its proximity to the senate building. Their new building they can go nuts with, adding all sorts of stuff that they arnt allowed to have.

An entire room is filled with tv monitors so they can slice into security cameras around the planet and see everything. They get a nice rec room, an area for the engineers to play around with ideas, even an office for the medics to make you talk about your feelings. A server room is dedicated solely to storing and orgonizing blackmail collected on pretty much everyone worth mentioning on Coruscant.

But after one secret building, what’s another? Areas of strategic importance are carefully chosen and a new headquarters is established nearby. They are each given code names. The original building is still Headquarters, the new main building is the Barracks. The Office is where they run intelligence and investigations from. IT Department is next to the industrial district. The Kennals are much lower than some of their other buildings, a small station set up to monitor the rancor infestation (Thorn moves down there to become a cowboy after he “dies” on Scipio). The Lobby is set in the lower civilian levels as a way to help the people who arnt rich enough to bribe politicians into getting what they want. The Med Bay started as just somewhere for big surgeries, physical therapy and prosthetics, but which the “generous donations” they acquire it grows into a hospital for civilians as well, completely free, and they start hiring nat born doctors, surgeons and nurses while paying them well and proving a great work environment. Adding a therapist office helped a lot of troopers as well.

The system takes a long time to build and works perfectly. Until Fox figures out Palpatine is a Sith. It’s not actually world shattering news, but it does give him a panic attack after realizing Palpatine though Fox already knew, because he had threatened the chancellor with a slug thrower instead of a blaster. Through questions to his batch mates with Jedi generals he learns that Sith can influence people’s minds and decides that in order for the clone rights bill to pass Palpatine needs to die.

And die he does. The rest of the conservative senators are swayed by a mix of blackmail, bribes, and bomb threats. The bill does pass, and most of them are instantly arrested for sentient rights violations, assault, and various other crimes because government property can’t serve as a witness in a civilian court of law.

The timing of all this could not be worse, as two of Fox’s batch mates where on planet, Cody and Wolffe, and they loved to stick their noses in his business. Which means when a lot of Corries are injured in the fight with the senate guards and private security while trying to make arrests, Cody and Wolffe help get them back to Headquarters, because it’s much closer than the Barracks. But Headquarters has a very small med bay because so few troopers use it. So they are over crowded and run out of bacta.

Also Cody gets turned around in the hallway and discovers how bad the rest of the building is. So Fox has a choice to make. He grabs Cody and Wolffe and drags them outside and back to the GAR barracks while texting Thire and telling him he has an hour and a half to make Headquarters look lived in. Then Fox opens a one way comm line with every Corrie so they can keep the story straight as he answers his brothers questions.

Fox commits to the bit so hard they believe the Guard is suffering horribly from abuse and budget cuts while in reality they just steal money from what ever rich person they have the freshest blackmail from. He could just tell them all the illegal things he’s been up to, but Fox would rather die than tell someone more than they needed to know.

[koipaper]

YANDERE ABBIE CONCEPT (OLD)

Pairings: Yandere! Abbie x Beloved (Yours/Your/Yourself)

Fandom: Fundamental Paper Education

Trigger warnings: Yandere behavior, Paranoia, Overthinking, Obsessive behavior, Worshipping, an OOC headcanon near the end, Manipulation, Guilt tripping, Probably OOC in general hhghd.

A/N: Despite being alive for only a few seconds, Abbie has become one of my favorite characters from Fundamental Paper Education.

‣ Stated in the introduction, Abbie is shown to be timid and the least intelligent in the class, as well as easily frightened in the animation as well. Him being a yandere is rather tame then most others.

‣ You're a student that had enrolled not long before Claire shows up, you never really noticed Abbie until you were paired with him for a partner project. Abbie was stressed and paranoid, what if he annoyed you with always asking for help? What if you just let him fail his part and he dies just like the other students here?? Oh gosh, he was terrified.

‣ The project was a take at home project, so you both agreed to exchange numbers and meet up at your house to get it done in time. Abbie arrived not a minute late, hands shaking like a leaf from his overthinking on the way there. You both greeted each other and sat down on the pillows you set up above the carpet so you both don't get sore. Abble couldn't stop worrying though. Almost everyone who has tried to help him has given up and left, what if your no different? However, to his surprise, you were very patient with him and even offered to work on the things he didn't understand.

‣ The rest of the night was fun, you both got to know each other a bit and you managed to finish the project within two hours. Abbie had told you that he wasn't smartest in the class, how usually his friend Engal would attempt to aid him but would fail because he was just too dumb to understand. So, you decided to help Abbie pass all of his assignments by doing it for him to save him from trouble. You already had his number, so you could just send him the answers before anything major like a test so he could write it down and pass. ‣ He agreed, and from then on, you both became best buddies! If only you knew that your little act of kindness caused an obsession to brew from the young man... ‣ How I write Abbie, his yandere traits would be Obsessive, Pathetic, Worshipping, Harmless, Dependent, Anxious, Clingy, and Tame. ‣ He sees you as a angel that was sent by heaven to aid him during his time at this wretched school, there was no denying it. He often praises you for how smart you are, as well as how kind and patient you are with him. He wants it all to himself... No one but him should be gazed apon with those loving eyes but him. You don't want him to feel like your abandoning him do you? ‣ Seen in official art, he was holding what seemed to be a love letter while Lana was pulling on his cheek teasingly. So maybe he writes love letters that he might one day send to his beloved to confess. These letters are his way to vent his feelings about you, since he gets too anxious to ever give them to you. ‣ SPEAKING OF ANXIOUS, I feel like Abbie would be in a constant state of paranoia that eventually you'll get fed up of helping him with his work. He'll die without your help! You don't want him falling to the hands of Miss Circle, do you?! Don't leave him, please! ‣ Abbie is quite obsessive when it comes to his crush on his beloved, he fantasizes about you, being in your arms, being able to kiss you, calling you his, he cannot wait! However, this is why he writes in a diary to prevent him from confessing too early. He'd die if you found out about his crush on you. ‣ Lana is no help either. If anything she more or so encourages Abbies crush on you (of course, she hasn't seen what lies beneath his lovey-dovey rambles about you, so she assumes that her best friend is just experiencing a normal crush.) If you ever come to her about Abbies strange behavior, She would shrug it off, saying that maybe he's just trying to show how appreciative he is that you stuck around. ‣ A bit OOC here (or just a personal headcanon of mine), Abbie's rather touchstarved, so affection by you feels like a high to him. Just a simple hug? He melts into your embrace. A small peck on the cheek? He's turning into putty as we speak. Holding his hand in the halls so you can get through a tough crowd? His face is flushing at the feeling. Even if the gesture is small, it fuels his obsession like wood to a fire place. He takes whatever he can get although, so there's that... ‣ Although, secrets can't stay secrets forever. You were invited to Abbies house to do another project just like when you first met. And you got curious and began snooping around his room when he went to get a drink for the both of you. Inside a drawer, you find a book labeled "DIARY: PLEASE KEEP OUT". You thought that maybe a itty bitty peak wouldn't hurt anybody, so you decided to read. ‣ Inside the first few pages were filled with words beyond words about you, mostly his thoughts about you. It was cute at first... until it started getting creepy.. The pages would be just word after word about how much he fantasized about you, how he felt every time he felt you were getting tired of him, and how he couldn't live long without you in his life before Miss Circle or any other of the teachers would kill him. He needed you, he wanted you, he would do anything just for you to be his. ‣ Before you could even react, a hand slammed the book shut causing you to yelp in surprise. Abbie stood before you, water in one hand and the diary in the other. His face was hard to read.

‣ His eyes were shaped like pinpricks, and tears were formed in his eyes, on the brink of spilling if you even dared to run. (His face is a ref to this.)

‣ "You didn't... You didn't see much, did you..?" He asked, his voice cracking and ready to break. Surly you didn't see much right?

‣ He hopes you didn't.

‣ He prays you didn't

‣ After all, he doesn't want to lose the only one who was patient enough to stick by him and his lack of intelligence. He NEEDS you to stay.

‣ He'll die without you, remember?

[chiscaralight]

Hello again. Babes we need (I need) more pervy nerdy childe. the way I ate that shit up like it was a pizzokie from BJ's AND HAPPLILY DO IT AGAIN theres something so idk charming....(im running out of adjectives) about perv nerd childe, the way a lot of people in the fandom make him out to be a play boy who pulls bitches left and right.

i miss this one too! i feel like he could pull bitches, he's just a loser loll but he's an adorable one and that's why we love him.

nsfw perv!nerd!tartaglia x reader. alot more perv in this one. hes still a loser. panty theft, smelling, you get the gist. prone boning. best believe they'll end up together I'm a sucker for romance

part 1 here!

nerd!tartaglia who's still in major disbelief that you have any sort of interest in him. even if it's just sex, you're always cupping his face and calling him cute! it never fails to make him a stuttering mess.

nerd!tartaglia who's starting to muster up a little more courage in public spaces. you're facing your locker when he taps your shoulder which catches a few people's eyes. just like the first time, it's none of your business! you're wrapping your arms around his larger frame as best as you can, an action which he graciously returns. he hasn't gotten to touch you in any capacity since the project ended, he's genuinely going insane! but it's like you read his mind, so you ask him if he wants to come over later. he's a bit embarrassed at how fast the response was, but you didn't seem to mind.

now, he's staring at the clock during the last period, the seconds feeling like they're getting increasingly longer as the time is almost over. the bell rings and he almost dies from relief now. he quickly texts you to meet him by his car, and you send him a quick picture showing you're already leaning against the vehicle.

he's studying your room very carefully. by carefully, I mean he's looking for something to steal while you change in the bathroom which he's a little confused about. he's seen you naked so many times before, why is it a problem now? it kinda worked in his favor since he now has a pair of panties that he strongly remembers peeling off you that week in his pocket, but it's still weird nonetheless.

and he forgets all about them when you nuzzle into his side. you whine about how you missed him, fake pout tugging at his heart while you ask why he didn't text back. you know he was just scared, but you're wondering why his breath is catching in his throat from such a simple question. is he still so shy? or is it because your finger is rubbing soft shapes into his strong upper arm.

and you have to guess the latter because when your leg slides off of his, you can feel the breath he was holding let out. too bad for him, maybe if he finally stops acting like you're some scary witch, you'd actually ask him on a date so you'd both be able to stop treating each other like strangers in public.

this will have to do for now though, guiding his head between your legs as you tell him just what to do. like the perfect lap dog he is, he's doing such a good job! you'll make sure to reward him with your cum.

nerd!tartaglia who goes dead silent when your panties slip from his pocket as he tries to get his pants down. his heartbeat is pulsing in his ears as you roll your eyes.

"these are my favorite pair. you want them that bad?"

and you're a little surprised when he nods in response. who are you to tell him no? you'll just give them to him in a way you deem fit.

that's stuffing them in his mouth while he's under you, by the way. you know he won't feel as good as you do when you stop bouncing and start grinding against the base of his cock, but he tried to steal from you for god's sake! he's lucky he's cute, or you would've sent him straight home. when you pull the panties from his mouth, you tell him you have one more request, and then he can rob you as he pleases. he flushes at that, but the eager interest in his eyes tells you he's ready for what you have to say next.

is he just naturally strong, or does he go to the gym? because he's been prone boning you for hours straight and he doesn't seem to show any signs of stopping. he's taken his glasses off this time, and you're craning your neck back to get a good look at his face. his eyes are shut and he's just so gorgeous you can't help but moan at the sight! he opens them to meet yours, and for the first time since you started fucking him your body freezes up. the corners of his lips are curling up as he notices.

"what, you're the one getting all shy on me now?"

and you clench around his hard. he's got you figured out now, so he digs both his knees into the bed so he can free up an arm to grip your face. now you're breath is falling short and your eyes are full of something he's never seen from you; embarrassment. you're trying so desperately to pull your head away from his gaze, but he's just too strong! you're whining for him to stop, but why would he when he has you just where he wants you?

your gasp is weak when he flips you over. his arms are tucked under your knees, pushing them up high so he can get a good view of you. he's thanking his stars for whatever god in the sky gave him this surge of energy and confidence because you're an absolute mess under him right now. his cock is twitching hard in you, bullying every sensitive spot that adorns your sweet walls. alas, you can never truly escape your roots, because once his orgasm starts to roll in, he's heaving, begging for your permission to fill you up. you're in no place to deny that request.

and when his eyes open again, you're sitting up in your bed, wearing his shirt on your body and a sad pout on your face. who wouldn't be sad? you're losing control of the cutie you once had and it's breaking your heavy heart. he can only laugh and wrap his arms around you, because he knows 'who he belongs to.' that was apparently enough for you. after all, you're sliding back down into his warm hold without another word.

the next day in school, you're the one approaching him in the halls. the bell rings and he's sad he won't get to see you in any of the classes today, but the warm kiss you press on his cheek before heading off in the opposite direction leaves more heat spreading across his face and a few people staring at him. he's giddy as he walks to class and the friend he was standing with before you came over us punching his arm. he has a lot of explaining to do.

[cal-writes]

I thought about Zoro, again. And how he stays calm when all other mugivaras are in disarray. How he has to be the last pilar standing, because if not him than noone. And how some people deam him emotionless and uncaring because of that, because he keeps his cool and talk logic in hard situations. (Like whan they had to leave Vivi behind, or all this mess in inies loby). And I thought how I want someone to see it, and hug him and let him be vulnerable for a bit.

I dunno if I mean it like a prompt, or just want to cry with someone over Zoro. Maybe both. Anyway I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter in any format :')

god yes i knooooow. going insane over him tbh. like i went into this in my previous meta post about him, esp in enis lobby/water seven arc where he is so clearly affected by everything going on but can't show it. (or feels like he cant)

this reminded me of a thing i havent seen many people talk about, which is that zoro is very often 100% spot on with his predictions, gets ignored, and eats shit for it.

like zoro isnt stupid (despite what some characters and parts of the fandom think) hes incredibly perceptive and his cold read on most people will be accurate. theres several moments where he will predice something happening, rationally explains it to the crew how the best course of action is one thing and then luffy being stubborn and the protagonis does what he wants

not to say that thats a bad thing! i think its awesome to show their dynamic

like back on zou when they find out sanji left to marry big moms daughter and everyone wants to go and get him back

zoro is harsh in his wording bc he always is but the core of the matter is this: if they go mess with big mom, while they are already anatagonizing kaido, they'll end up having to deal with two emperors. he understands that sanji knew that which is why sanji left the way he did (partially).

and we all know how that ended

not only that i think this fight is a fantastic display of zoro's core character trait. unlike the three captains in this fight, he doesnt have an ego about it. he's not posturing or peacocking, he knows immediately shits gonna go down (killer too probably but with the mask its harder to tell what killer is thinking) and he's the one person that keeps an overview of the battlefield that includes everyone. law eventually does once he gets over his control issues

and of course thats not the end of it in wano

"ill suffer twice as much after" and he doesnt care, beats king, nearly dies or maybe does die and nobody knows about that whole thing

then of course in more recent chapters (spoilers for egghead below)

we have his fight against lucci which i find striking in how the other characters perceive it

like jimbei can be excused, he doesnt know zoro all that long but the crew acts like this is a point of pride to zoro, to finish the fight. when we've seen zoro run away from fights plenty of times. and to me what he doesnt get to say is exaclty what ends up happening

if lucci isnt taken out, he will tell the elders about the plans he was privy to in eggheads lab. which of course he does when zoro is dragged away

if the vegapunk hadn't stepped in

zoro would have fought the elder and most likely lost

same way he knew he'd not be able to win against kuma

he's telling everyone to stay out of it because he wants to protect them. its not an ego thing for him. he knows the second he stepped up to that fight hes probably going to lose. he's going to do his best to win but he's not delusional

and i find it noteworthy that we are continuing this plot line of the crew not understanding zoro or not trusting him and not to mention this

lucci telling zoro he's dead weight

and a little bit later, sanji telling him the same thing

like, thats not their usual banter. this doesnt make zoro angry to like be able to fight off lucci better or sth. the panel of him standing there just, flinching honestly haunts me. (i eat it up oda please do somehting with it)

esp curious paired with my above example where i think zoro understands sanji quite well where i dont think sanji does in return. (another reason why i cant see them romantically im sorry itd require so much legwork for me to make that work)

i think it can definitely be read as a setup of zoro feeling apart from the crew. i think part of that is just due to the nature of his position as first mate in everything but name. like in a literal sense he is their superior the same way luffy is all of theirs. and we know from the usopp argument that he takes that a lot more seriously than the others. so i dont think - at this point in canon - zoro would open up to anyone except maybe luffy but even then thats not really the kind of relationship they have - and i dont think any of them actually see whats going on or what zoro has been doing basically the entire time.

zoro hasn't been vulnerable since his fight with mihawk

[randoimago]

I always wondered how the romanced companions would react if Orin kidnapped the player character. Especially Astarion, Gale, and Halsin. Any thoughts?

Reactions to Romanced Tav Being Kidnapped by Orin

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Character(s): Astarion, Gale, Halsin

Type of Request: Headcanons

Note(s): Idk if you've played Dragon Age, anon, but the first game (Origins) has companions rescuing the main character and that's very fun. I feel like for BG3 it'd be much less lighthearted 😅

Also, alternatively, if Player Character is Dark Urge I can just see an "Oh no!... Well anyways..." cause the companions figure Orin's head will just be eaten off or something

Astarion

While he has all the confidence in your abilities (you did capture his heart), he does feel that deep seated fear of what may happen. Wyll's father be damned, he'll play along with Orin's plan to deal with Gortash if it means getting you back.

Doesn't care who he has to manipulate and bribe to get extra help. So many innocent people have already died in this stupid fucking conflict, if more die from him trying to save you then so be it. He'd burn down this damn city to get you back to him.

Depending on if Cazador has been dealt with or not, he also has fear of not having you by his side because Cazador might find out and use that to get to Astarion.

If he's become an Ascendent vampire, then he finds it hilarious that Orin thinks she can steal his prized pet from him.

Gale

Tempted to just activate the orb at Orin's mere appearance and the information she gives, but knows that that would be a bit too much of an overreaction (and he doubts you'd end up safe due to the blast radius).

While Gale is a very intelligent and capable man in spellcasting, he knows that it's best to rely on Wisdom for something like this, as much as he wants to immediately run to your rescue.

There is fear for you, of course there is. Fear that Orin will kill you anyway, fear that he won't be in time to save you.

But he knows that he has to stay calm while using time in camp to practice his magic and prepare whichever spells he thinks would be best.

Halsin

Oh he is livid when he learns that you've been kidnapped, but he knows that acting on his rage won't solve anything. There's obviously a time limit on this, but he knows it's best to make a plan first and decide what to do.

While Gortash is an obvious evil that'll eventually be dealt with, Orin is a disgrace upon nature. He'd prefer to strike the snake in her home, but he also understands that it could prove risky to your safety.

But he remains calm as he strategies with the other companions on ways to get you back and the best course of action.

Although, he can't help losing his temper due to some of the disagreements and arguments from the others when your life is on the line.

Taglists: @reo-the-leo @unhelpfulnpc

[perseas-wellyboots]

The Luke Castellan problem in PJO books and Fandom

I just finished rereading the pjo series for the dozenth time and I have so many thoughts about Luke and how the fandom woobified him.

Like no Luke did not have the right idea and executed it in the wrong way. He wasn't a misguided victim, although there is no doubt Kronos manipulated him. But him being manipulated does not absolve him of his wrongdoings. Hurt people can still hurt people, you can be abused and still become an abuser.

Most of Fandom's idea of Luke being a 'hero' because he did the right thing in the end is extremely doozy like ok he killed himself to stop Kronos but that does not absolve him the blame of killing innocent people.

While Luke's main goal was the destruction of Gods, that was not because he wanted the demigods to have better lives. He actively killed demigods.

In the Sea of Monsters, when Percy, Annabeth and Tyson snuck into Princess Andromeda; they saw 12 year olds being trained how to kill a 'dummy in camp half blood tshirts'. He was actively exploiting children and manipulating them into killing other children and saw nothing wrong with it.

He only considered deflecting from Kronos when he found out that he was going to be possessed by him.

He only worked and cared for him, he was so lost into power and revenge that HE became a monster.

"Oh but he cared for Thalia and Annabeth!!" I'll get into that later too

I think Luke's fatal flaw contrary to the opinion of fandom is The Urge to Prove Himself.

He had one conversation with Hermes which made him angry and bitter and Thalia even notes that after that conversation Luke got into more and more fights with monsters like he had something to prove which Annabeth didnt seem to see as a problem since he was her hero. They got into more skirmishes because of his recklessness, fighting more monsters since Luke wanted to pick a fight with each one he came across.

(Conversation from PJO, The Last Olympian)

His fatal flaw being to Prove Himself would explain why he took the failure of his quest so hard that the night he returned from the quest was the same night Kronos started speaking to him for the first time. It didn't help that when he returned from his failed quest, the campers treated him with pity.

He wanted to pull Olympus down stone by stone because He failed his quest that he didn't want to do because it was already done by Hercules once. 🥴

His endgame has nothing to do with wanting to help ANYBODY. He wanted to take down gods because he had a grudge against them and wanted to Prove that he could do it. Everything else comes secondary if it fits his agenda.

This is one of the reasons why it bothers me so much when people say that Luke had the right idea or that Percy would have joined Kronos if Sally had died like you fundamentally misunderstood the character of Percy if you think he would have joined Kronos.

He talks about "driving humanity back into caves, all except the strongest - who would serve him" THIS IS LITERALLY FASCISM???

(According to Merriam-Webster, Fascism is a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression)

Now onto the topic of Thalia, Annabeth and Luke

First of all, I absolutely hate that 'Thalia and Luke had a thing before she got turned into a tree bit' because Thalia was 12 and Luke was 14 when they met and Thalia was 15 and Luke was 20-21ish when they meet again in TTC ugh hate that.

Now TTC, where to begin, here I used to believe Luke had already bathed in river Styx as there are some narrations where Percy notes that Luke looked worse and like his scar was reopened and would certainly explain how he survived the cliff fall but on my rereading I realised that Thalia and Luke fought when Percy was holding the sky and Thalia injured Luke so nvm then.

It is however in this book that Luke began to realise Kronos's plan for him as it is implied by the General and he starts to fear for his life.

Mind you, what did Luke think would happen if Thalia did agree to join Kronos when he knew Kronos was looking for a host of body...

Luke is many things, he is cunning, manipulative, a great swordsman but what he is not is stupid. If Thalia would have agreed then Kronos would have used Thalia as a vessel 😬

And oh boy the can of worms that is Luke and Annabeth. I've seen many Luke fans/apologists deny that there is no canon evidence of Luke being romantically interested in Annabeth BUT THERE IS?? they refuse to believe and call Annabeth an unreliable narrator because otherwise their uwu white boy would be a Pedophile. Even if he wasn't a Pedo, he manipulated Annabeth so many times to make her sympathise with her and use her emotions against her.

(excerpts from various books: TLO, TLO, BoTL, MoA annabeth's pov)

^ Annabeth was 15 almost 16 or already 16 I believe when Luke asked her to run away with him in a romantic sense and he was 21-22.

also another evidence adding to the theory of his fatal flaw having proving himself.

Now, onto the topic of CHB and Luke:

Luke being hesitant to attack camp half blood in BotL has less to do with him suddenly growing a spine (as some fans suggest) and more to do with the inevitable possession.

When Kronos informs that he will himself lead the attack, Luke advises to use Hyperion instead because he knows for Kronos to attack it in person, he would finally possess Luke.

(first one is from TTC, the other two from BoTL)

One of the last things I wanna talk about is Silena Beauregard & Luke and Luke's portrayal in the new Percy Jackson series:

Luke was 17 when Kronos started speaking to him and 19 when he left the camp. Silena was 17-18 when she died which makes her 13-14 when Luke left the camp in TLT and 11-12 when Kronos first started talking to him. Adult Luke charmed an underage girl, and promised her that she was helping the demigods and then when she tried to stop, he started blackmailing her. [excerpts from TLO]

According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children UK, Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them. The relationship a groomer builds can take different forms. This could be: a romantic relationship, as a mentor, an authority figure, a dominant and persistent figure. They might use blackmail to make a child feel guilt and shame or introduce the idea of 'secrets' to control, frighten and intimidate.

So canonically, Book!Luke is a fascist groomer pedophile.

Now on the new Disney+ Percy Jackson show, it seems that Rick Riordan is subtly rewriting the character of Luke and removing the more problematic aspect of him (pedophile and grooming). Let me explain why I think that:

Even though in TLT the book, Luke describes Annabeth as his little sister we know how well that lasted but I don't think they are keeping Annabeth's crush on him on the show from what I've seen (though I could be wrong).

Secondly, the casting of Dior Goodjohn as Clarisse puts Clarisse on the same age range as Luke, maybe a year or two younger but in the first book Clarisse was 13-14 and she was 17 in TLO, so they have aged her up. It is my assumption that they will also age Silena by casting a 17-19 yr old actress as her.

And they have made Luke far more sympathetic in the show than the books (him not calling a hellhound during capture the flag and no pit scorpions in the finale), but we wouldn't know how sympathetic or villainous they are making him until season 2 comes out. Charlie Bushnell gives an excellent performance imo

Though this again reflects the double standards it comes to PJO, they have given much grace and praise for the changes made to Luke's character and little to no complaint for ageing up Clarisse but the hate Walker and especially Leah are given is so cruel. Leah has been so much racially targeted though I think she's an excellent Annabeth, just something to think about.

Also, before I forget-

We don't give enough flack to Rick Riordan for writing two weird age dynamics without recognising as grooming and pedophilic nature. (Lukabeth and Caleo/Capercy)

The characters are never made to realise (especially Annabeth) that an older person having feelings for them as a minor is not a normal behaviour.

Especially in regards to Calypso who may take the form of a 15 year old but is actually more than 4612 (according to the riordan wiki) and her having a crush on 14 year old Percy and 15-16 yr old Leo Valdez, not to mention how rudely she treated Leo. Also her cursing Annabeth because Percy left her. Not only is it plain nasty but she's never called out. Its actually so disgusting🤕.

Anyways this turned into a long rant but I would love to read your opinions, especially on Luke's fatal flaw.

I know for some people it may seem like I'm too hard on him but this is just my opinion.

IMO I have no problem if you like a morally bad or gray person, an antihero or a villain as long as their bad deeds aren't swept under the rug and pretend they never happened or glorify their good deeds.

I actually think villian's bad things make them more interesting.

Luke is an antagonist and a villain of the PJO series and a part of being a villain is that some people are going to hate you and that's ok.

Me personally, I was never a fan of his and that's ok.

I know some people are going to bring up the fact that Percy in MoA sympathises but the PJO characters are complicated and Luke was very skilled at making others think of his reason to destroy the Gods the way they would sympathise the most and we see that multiple times.

[omegalomania]

face in my hands. listen to me. no just. just listen. like. i think on the whole fandom tends to heavily mythologize what certain songs are "about" despite this never being solidly confirmed to be the case and fob (pete in particular) generally try not to say without question What Songs Are About because they want people to take whatever meaning they can from it. but from now on we are enemies is one of the exceptions to this rule to a very limited extent and by that i mean that on two separate occasions, during the hiatus, patrick and pete shared a little bit of what the song was about on twitter, independent of one another.

if you haven't seen the film amadeus it's about a rivalry between two historical composers, wolfgang amadeus mozart and antonio salieri. salieri loathes mozart and finds him supremely childish and annoying...but also irritatingly brilliant beyond words. salieri obsesses over wanting to see mozart fail and even plans on killing him, but they do eventually form a friendship. then mozart gets sick and dies. salieri essentially breaks and loses his mind and years down the line will claim that he murdered him.

the name of the song, "from now on we are enemies," is a direct quote from the film. but it's not talking about mozart. it's a furious diatribe that salieri flings at god himself. he's so wildly and deliriously envious of mozart that he feels like this is divine punishment and so he declares god his mortal enemy for bestowing mozart with such brilliance. from now on we are enemies, you and i.

this is, i should note, one of the last songs fall out boy wrote before the hiatus. this and "alpha dog" were considered "new" for the believers never die greatest hits compendium, but alpha dog was technically debuted before folie released, on the welcome to the new administration mixtape. then fall out boy went on hiatus and there was no guarantee of return.

like i dont know what to say about this song that hasnt already been said. its fucking deranged as all get out ill tell you that much. its fucking unhinged that this song, this song with this central thesis statement, is one of the last songs you wrote together as a band before going your separate ways without any guarantee that you would reform again. and it's THIS. IT'S THIS SONG. a song that laments about whether anyone will remember you when you're gone (reminds me of flu game, reminds me of so much (for) stardust the title track, reminds me of .... so many of the themes inherent to their eighth studio album. actually.), and a song that practically lays out its inspiration for all to see. for a band that seldom if ever discloses with actual intent the Meaning behind their songs, this is a song that discusses a HIGHLY FRAUGHT ARTISTIC RELATIONSHIP and it's hard, it's real damn hard, to see anything but what is clearly all on display. composer but never composed (patrick has always considered himself a composer first and foremost). singing the symphonies of the overdosed (pete played a song that was named after the drug he tried to overdose on with his band mere nights earlier). i'm just a man on a balcony singing no one will ever remember me (again there's the fear and dread about the legacy you leave behind just before the band goes their separate ways).

can't fucking lay out the sheer psychological damage this does to my soul just thinking about this. they played MISS MISSING YOU the night before. just, you know, one of the other Songs that's so hard to disentangle from the hiatus because of the way it was written (patrick wrote the music while making soul punk, felt like it wasn't for him, and set it aside...despite there being, again, NO guarantee that the band would ever reform at this point, and then the song was only completed once fall out boy decided to come back, with joe and andy adding instrumentation and pete adding the lyrics) and whose music video features patrick and pete literally KILLING EACH OTHER. from now on we are enemies. i need to walk into the ocean. i need to lie down. im inconsolable.

[wutheringmights]

I finished rereading The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce a couple of days back. I already talked about the first book in a post that garnered more attention than it deserved. I guess we were all happily reminiscing about the menstruation scenes together, or Tortall fans are so starved for content they (we) will reblog anything.(Understandable. I too am starved for a thriving Tortall fandom.)

I'm too lazy to make separate posts about each book, so we're just going to do a mega post covering the second, third, and fourth book.

Unlike last time, I will be giving a little criticism to this series. I still love it endlessly, but there were a few things about the prose I thought was interesting that I want to talk about a bit.

So, without further ado~

In the Hand of the Goddess

I think this one is my favorite one, despite how rushed the plot it. It contains all of my favorite plot points, like awkward romances with George and Jon, attending knight lessons, and a little summer war. Fun stuff.

But it definitely feels rushed. I really wish someone told Pierce to make this a 12 book series, expanding on Alanna's years at the castle. It would have gone so far to better develop the romances and the friendships in these books.

I am fascinated by what Pierce chose to skim over. Characters would die or kiss for the first time off screen, with the prose resuming with Alanna reacting to it. It demonstrates an understanding of character work that I personally adore and try to emulate in my own writing-- the real bones of a story being in how characters respond to fantastic events as opposed to the fantastic events themselves.

Also, the whole veil spell Roger cast in objectively stupid, and I mean that in the most affectionate way possible. You're telling me that Roger used magic to make Alanna lose interest in doing anything about the obviously evil things he was doing? That's fucking hilarious. You know an editor came back to Pierce and asked her to come up with a reason why Alanna wasn't just going to spring into action at the first sign of Roger trying to kill her, only for Pierce to come up with this. It's so silly. I love it.

Woman Who Rides Like A Man

Did this book age poorly? Yes, but not as badly as I remembered. That's not a stirring defense, and it's really not meant to be.

The Bahzir are a mess of Orientalism, and Pierce definitely deserves criticism for not only the way she wrote them but for the ways in which she frames their cultural practices as something that needs to be fixed. Having Alanna want to force them to change their culture to suit her beliefs is not a great look for both the character and the writer. And that's not even getting into the whole assimilation plotline.

But I did enjoy Pierce's attempts to expand on the definition of womanhood, especially as a part of Alanna learning to embrace femininity. There is this running thread in these last two books of Alanna learning about all the different ways to be a woman and choosing for herself what her gender means to her. It's not done particularly well, and anyone looking for a revolutionary examination of gender roles and identity is going to be sorely disappointed. But there's an attempt here that I can't help but appreciate.

This book is also where Pierce starts to slow the plot down, which lends it to having the most reasonable pacing out of the bunch. That being said, it's also the book where the lack of development for a bunch of the side characters start to hurt. I really wish Gary or Raoul joined Alanna in the desert. Raoul gets his moment in the sun with the Protector of the Small books, but Gary remains largely forgettable. In fact, I spent this entire read-through convinced this man dies at the end of the last book, if only because I can't remember where he appears in any of the other books.

Lioness Rampant

This book somehow has the improved pacing of the third book while still feeling rushed. The quest for the Dominion Jewel really should have been it's own book, if only to give Thayet and Buri more room for development. Thayet in particular really needs her moment to shine, especially when she continues to be an important character in the other series.

But do you know who did get a lot of screen time? Liam.

Remembered shit about this guy before going into this book. I could only vaguely recalled disliking him as a kid, but not as much as I venomously hated Jon. (Speaking of which-- I love the way this man is realistically shitty. Him getting dumped by Alanna is always my favorite scene.) But Liam? Fuck that guy. Holy shit. I give full applause to Pierce for portraying the important milestones every girl goes through growing up, which includes having a situationship that is so shitty that it becomes essential character development.

Roger's return feels very... cheesy? I think Alex should have stepped up to be the final villain on the story. Unlike Roger, Alex was Alanna's friend. They have history. The betrayal would have imbued that final fight with so many more emotions than it ultimately had. I also would have liked Alanna to have at least meaningfully talked to Alex sometime before the climax.

Honestly, it's impressive how reactive Alanna is as a character in the last half of the book. She doesn't seek out how to stop Roger's plan, or fix Thom, or anything. Other characters make plans and she just... waits for something to go wrong.

That being said, by virtue of Alanna's relationships with George, Liam, and Jon all happening sometime in this plot, this book becomes a good place to look to get the full berth of how Pierce handles romances. Which, I love her approach. The romances are never over the top or, for lack of a better word, too romantic. It's very down to earth, with characters dating, marrying, or breaking up for realistic reasons.

Jon and Alanna were friends who broke up because they had different life plans. Liam and Alanna broke up for having fundamentally different values. As much as I bitch about how shitty Jon and Liam are, they're not cartoonishly evil. They're just a little shitty the way most of your exes will be. Jon and Liam are men could find love with someone else. They just aren't suited for Alanna.

Meanwhile, the most romantic things George does are wait for her and be supportive. He doesn't fight or get territorial. He makes his feelings clear, then waits for Alanna's cues. Alanna definitely loves him, but she ends up with him in the end because their lifestyles and core beliefs meld together. There's no grand romantic gesture or whirlwind affairs. They are just a good pair.

I have read stories with far heavier focuses on romance, and none of those couples feel as perfect as Alanna and George. Those stories prioritize all the gooey moments over showing why the main couple should get together. For how little romantic interactions they have, you believe these two could have a successful marriage. Perfect stuff.

---

Over all, I really enjoyed rereading these books. For all my griping, I still love the story. I love Alanna. She's a character who is fundamental to my soul. No matter where I am in life, I will always want to open these books and find her again, to walk back into Tortall and join her on her quest to be a lady knight.

My copies of the series come with forewards from a previous edition. In one of them, Pierce wrote that this series started off as an adult fantasy story that was much darker and edgier. I need to know what that story looks like, what happened in it. Pierce can claim as she wants that she hardly remembers what it looks like, but I refuse to believe that. Release the unedited first draft, Pierce. I am begging you.

[wispscribbles]

Mw3 spoilers (just a long personal ramble)

Hiii. So

As soon as the pre-release came out on, I hunted down spoilers, because I know myself and knew that if someone died and I got that information out of the blue, I wouldn’t take it well. Jokes on me, because I still haven’t been taking it well lol

I won’t talk about how Soap’s death was handled or the quality of the game. Plenty of smarter people are doing so.

I try not to talk a lot about myself and irl stuff on here, but will just say: I am very unwell, mentally. (Cue silence because that’s not surprising at all) Something I am very aware that I do, is that I latch onto fiction with my whole being, usually one specific character. For some reason, I always latch onto the character that ends up dead, usually in a way that make them only exist to further the motivations of other characters. It sucks.

So my hope for Soap has never been great, but for some reason I was still so shocked?? I don’t know, I tricked myself into thinking this time was different. Such an iconic character with so much good setup for great character development. I knew someone would die, but ow. To me, he was the element that made 141 seem more like family than coworkers. Soap’s interactions with the rest just livened up the games so much and made them all shine. Especially Ghost. Their dynamic, man.

Soap was the character that intrigued me enough to jump into the cod rabbit hole. It feels very hollow without him.

I keep telling myself that it’s silly to be so hurt over something fictional, and that I can just treat it as a mcd fanfic and move on, but nope. Brain’s stuck in the bad stuff. It’s a bad habit of mine to let something like this affect me so much, but well. Logic vs feeling and all that.

I really did find so much comfort in Soap this last year, that I severely needed. It feels a little like losing someone I know, someone who helped me through a rough time. I related to something in him and felt inspired. I only started writing after getting into ghostsoap, I started working out and I got back into art after a very long burnout. It may be fiction, but the impact is not.

So that was pretty much the worst case scenario of what mw3 could be to me. I always knew the risk, but, once again, ow. But there also seems to be plenty of good stuff in the game that I enjoy. I’m happy with the Ghost and Soap dialogue, the whole team working together and seeing Laswell and Farah and Alex and Nik. I hope I can be inspired by some of the new content once I’m calmer.

And I was worried they would ignore Ghost and Soap’s relationship after their development in mw2, but they genuinely seem to have gotten real close. It’s nice. I thought the shipping might scare the game devs into never having them appear in a scene together again, so that’s a plus.

Bottom line to all this is: I probably need a little break to get my head sorted. The grief is surprisingly real, it’s triggered some old stuff for me (haven’t been sleeping or eating, been stuck in some old thoughts). I’ll need to calm down and become a bit more normal about this again. Part of the grief isn’t so much about Soap himself, but also just the safe space that this account has been. The very nature of how the fandom is going to interact with Soap and Ghostsoap is going to change now, and man… I liked how it was, y’know? Could’ve used a little longer in that bubble. There’s going to be plenty of new fics and art, lovely stuff as always, but many of them will be tinged with grief, and I’m not in a place where that won’t break me a little.

I will hopefully come back to posting and making stuff once my brain settles down. I have so many drafts for fics and ideas that I hope I can return to. I’ve gotten so used to drawing these lads that I doubt I can stop tbh

The version of Soap that we love is already evolved from the games due to all the time and care the community has put into the character. The games may have killed him, but luckily, he’s fictional. We can do what we want, same as before.

I’m not even saying that I wish they hadn’t killed him. The games are crafting a story that fits their audience. It makes sense.

But I will choose to live in one of the many universes we’ve created for Soap, where he is alive and cared for, with a found family and a spooky lieutenant with a soft spot for him. Good for him.

Hope you’re all taking care of yourselves. RIP canon Soap (again). Thanks to Neil for a wonderful portrayal. And no matter where we go from here, thanks for a wonderful year of creating with you lovely folks. Seriously, some of the kindest people I’ve met in fandom. <3

Lastly: fuck you Kevin O’Reilly, but more importantly, sincerely thank you. (CallMeKevin video about mw2 got me into this mess. Otherwise I was keeping cod at an arm’s length, but he’s my fav youtuber, so I watched it. And here we are!)

[the-music-maniac]

How fucked up would it be if Sefikura got Hanahaki? Either one of them. That ship is already toxic AF (affectionate) but imagine the HAVOC.

I'm gonna ramble a bit so I can get the brain worms out but feel free to correct me on any plot points, or character interpretations: I've absorbed all this shit from watching walkthroughs (cause I'm broke and video games are expensy) and I haven't finished watching yet. I'm also playing it fast and loose with when this occurs in canon - I have no idea tbh. My interpretations are probably influenced by fandom already cause I've been reading posts and fanfics, and I am aware that this is SO self indulgent, so again. Biased viewpoint here.

Also since I'm aware that sefikura is a controversial ship even with the ship's popularity and age, if you don't like it, that's fine, just block me or scroll on.

I can see the story being more interesting if Seph is the one to get the disease. Mostly because, while I understand his obsession with Cloud is quite complex and not really there bc of romantic reasons (Cloud has S-cells, Seph kinda just views Cloud as his to control I assume, plus Cloud is useful to him, and the fact that Sephiroth has a god complex a mile wide and Cloud was somehow able to beat him as a mere trooper, etc. etc.) I do think for an individual like Sephiroth, that level of obsession is likely the closest he's going to get to love, or at least a blurring of the lines between love and hate. I don't think he really feels that emotion much anymore, especially not after the first time he died, but whatever he DOES feel for Cloud could be strong enough and close enough in shape for something like Hanahaki to latch onto.

Sephiroth's course of action in response would be interesting to see. Hanahaki weakens the individual, which is something Seph is probably not gonna stand for, even if he has enough hubris that he doesn't think he'll die from it. Maybe similar to the degeneration Genesis was experiencing? There's a thought. I honestly think Sephiroth would find it more intolerable if he reaches a stalemate with the disease, not enough to kill him, but enough to weaken him to the point where it hurts his pride and gets in the way of his plans. That seems like it would grate on him more than the threat of death, which doesn't stick anyways.

Sephiroth's go-to in that situation (upon exhausting other avenues - the first and easiest being, y'know. Murder) would probably be to try the puppet route - force Cloud into feeling that reciprocating emotion. Which like. It doesn't work like that Sephy. And here's where it could get really dark if you were so inclined to write it that way, but I'm not in the mood for that right now so I'm gonna say this - that course of action would bring up a lot of PTSD for Cloud obviously, but a perplexing point would be if Sephiroth just y'know. Succeeded in controlling and forcing that emotion for a bit and then upon realizing Hanahaki doesn't work like that - immediately releases his control. Cloud is left there, sound of mind again and fucked up in the mental health but ultimately unharmed and very confused.

Second course of action, good old fashioned manipulation. Here is where it would probably get convoluted though, while I don't think Sephiroth would go down the full on cracky shit of trying to woo Cloud or anything like that (keep in mind up until now, I don't think the nature of Sephiroth's emotions for Cloud are necessarily romantic, so that's not where the Hanahaki is stemming from, or at least not at the beginning - since we are talking about Sefikura and I do like the romance even if I acknowledge it's a little out there in terms of canon. I'm aware he says some provocative shit, but I think that's to get a reaction - it's taunting more than flirting. So, I don't think it would necessarily occur to Sephiroth to do anything romantic here), I do think Sephiroth would be forced to do shit that's actually helpful. His world domination plans are at a standstill cause he's too weak to enact them, and he's trying to get some sort of reciprocation that's enough for the disease to be satisfied, so even if he doesn't give a shit and thinks it's stupid and a waste of time, he studies Cloud and his friends and their movements and acts accordingly to help. Probably in the most violent way possible, granted. Sending Cloud into more confusion.

What I do find interesting is if Cloud finds out what's happening. Fear in response to learning about possibly romantic feelings on Sephiroth's end is probably unavoidable with how fucked up their in game relations are (Sephiroth's attentions are not exactly kind), but once Cloud realizes the nature of those emotions are not romantic (and therefore not r*pey - while I do have a vested interest in avoiding that, I also don't think it's in character for Seph. He always struck me as someone who either didn't have interest in intercourse for its own sake or just never felt safe enough to try when he was still sane) ironically? I can see Cloud eventually feeling guilty. Because his first reaction would obviously be relief or even happiness at the fact that this is weakening Sephiroth and may potentially lead to his death, and I do believe that would be genuine relief. At the beginning there is no guilt. Just fury at the audacity and a vindictive type of happiness. And then the guilt stems from the insidiousness of a disease like this, as Sephiroth keeps being helpful, and seeing the reality of an individual who no longer acts untouchable like a God, suffering. Not beating the enemy by any honest means but by the simple fact that Cloud despises Sephiroth, and something is responding to that and doing the dirty work for him. And then, feeling guilty about feeling guilty bc he should be happy about keeping Seph contained and unable to hurt others by any means necessary, but he's not. He seems like the type of hero to spiral like that.

And then of course, as time progresses on, the hatred lessening the longer Sephiroth isn't doing any heinous shit, the worry of no longer being able to hold onto enough of that hatred to keep Sephiroth contained, because Cloud isn't stupid, he KNOWS Sephiroth isn't doing this out of anything genuine, but it's still working because humans are humans who have sympathy for those who look like they're suffering and memories that fade and get overwritten with time and new information. And so Cloud knows the second he lets go of that hatred, Sephiroth will go back to killing, but in the same breath he can't help feeling sympathetic. Knowing the manipulation and still falling for it despite yourself is probably uniquely infuriating and seems like the mindfuckery Sephiroth would enjoy.

Here's the kicker though, Cloud's response to that "not-hatred anymore, but not nearly indifferent enough to be neutral" emotion would probably be paired with him treating Sephiroth better than he was treated by any of the Shinra personnel, barring of course Angeal, Genesis and Zack, without even realizing it. Like Sephiroth was dehumanized for so long, both as a weapon to be used and feared and as a public figure to be idolized and adored - none of that was his own to control - so Cloud extending basic courtesies and concern is going to feel different. Maybe it reminds him of Angeal and Genesis, I dunno. It wouldn't be out of the left field, the disease probably already reminds him of the degeneration. So now he's reminded that he was capable of loving people, once. We don't got time to unpack Sephiroth's mile long list of issues in this post but let's say it actually makes Seph come to a couple epiphanies. If Sephiroth's feelings eventually shift to romantic love while Cloud's feelings are shifting to that not-hatred, not-quite-romantic-yet, but not-indifferent, Sephiroth is y'know. Still gonna be stuck with the disease cause it's not technically reciprocation. That would be hilarious wouldn't it. So let's say that happens and Sephy is confused and Cloudy is also confused at the fact that he's beginning to feel charitable towards Sephiroth but he's still not getting better.

On the contrary, I think he would get worse. Because NOW what the Hanahaki is latching onto is real and genuine love. Yeah, that previous weakening wasn't even the disease at full strength, have fun with that.

I can see Sephiroth getting frustrated at this point cause he doesn't seem well adjusted enough to notice his own feelings shifting and put two and two together, so upon realizing that Cloud feels some level of reciprocation and the disease is getting worse, he probably would just. Leave. And at this point in the story I think what would disturb Cloud the most is if he sees Sephiroth give up entirely. Because consistently, the man has never done that before. Sephiroth has never in all the crazy shit that he's done - given up.

Keep in mind, it's only really possible at this point cause Sephiroth has been feeling like absolute dogshit the entire time. Chronic pain wears on you, and for someone who has been inhumanly healthy and then the equivalent of a God, that constant exhaustion and weakness, the choking on your breaths and pain in your chest, and then being so sure of a solution and having hope, only for it to not work and to even get worse - also Seph doesn't have good coping mechanisms clearly - he gives up. And I think this is the push Cloud might need for his own feelings to shift.

And how fucked up would it be if the hanahaki flowers were sent by Aerith though. I don't think she would do that maliciously, but as a way to test if there's any hope for Sephiroth. She maybe didn't necessarily know it would manifest for Cloud, but just some type of reaction. A way to keep her loved ones safe from him? Weakening but not killing him because Sephiroth pollutes the lifestream if he enters it, and he also won't stay dead and everyone keeps suffering because of it and - basically they're at a stalemate. If there is no hope for Seph, then the flowers would do nothing. If there is, then the flowers may be a chance to change things. Imagine that. Whether or not it's in character for Aerith is up for debate but it would be quite interesting.

So Cloud talking to Aerith and learning that? Learning that things aren't as hopeless for Sephiroth as he had assumed? Another point that may cause Cloud's viewpoint to change. It's hard to deny the authenticity of someone's humanity when it's literally killing them.

And since my entire reason for liking Sefikura is partially because Sephiroth's backstory upsets me (most of it's because it's just an interesting dynamic, but the fact that Seph was made to be a weapon, abused throughout his entire life with little to no bodily autonomy nor freedom, thought he had been betrayed by two of the only people he loved, and then manipulated until he went insane, and is now never going to be free of Jenova or his anger and hatred because he gave into his worst demons - that makes me sad. So, admittedly I got into sefikura because of time travel fix-its where Cloud goes back and tries to fix things - which often includes people gradually realizing just how much abuse Sephiroth had suffered, and all the factors that were pushing Seph until he snapped. I mean granted, that doesn't excuse the awful shit he did by any means, but the odds were by every definition, against him from the beginning. The romance was just a large bonus of those fix-its) I'm going to give them a happy ending. Cloud stays there and tries to get Sephiroth back to how he was, and in the process with the amount of time they spend together, and the worry he's been feeling at how Sephiroth is deteriorating, helps push the feelings that are there into fruition. The Hanahaki clears, and Cloud expects to need to fight Sephiroth, expects that he would have to kill him. Sephiroth doesn't - not because he now values humanity or anything because I don't think any amount of redemption is enough for Sephiroth to reach that point, at least not that quickly, that shit would be a lifelong battle - but because he knows Cloud, and he knows he would kill him if he went back to how he was. If it really came down to it, to save the world, Cloud wouldn't hesitate. And once he crosses that line after they've had this dynamic, that's the last betrayal and there would be no going back, no returning. That would be the end, permanently. And he actually wants to stay by Cloud's side. There could be a moment where Sephiroth contemplates it, but in the end his better demons win out, if you wanna add more drama.

I have also thought about what it would be like if Cloud had Hanahaki and it would also be interesting, although the disease type wouldn't quite be the same as for Sephiroth, because Cloud does genuinely hate Seph. So, it would probably be more fucked up - if Sephiroth succeeded in keeping Cloud as a puppet, and that results in a manifestation of Hanahaki because of that forced devotion, since Sephiroth is only using Cloud as a tool. And it ironically weakens Cloud enough that he's no longer useful as a puppet and Sephiroth has to let go. Rinse repeat. Or if Sephiroth is somehow able to use his cells to induce a similar disease in Cloud. That'd be pretty damn fucked up, huh. Compels me though.

Anyways, I dunno if I'll ever use any of these ideas for anything, but it was still interesting to think about. Thank you for reading!

[soup-of-the-daisies]

Controversial Opinion:

Sirius is the most responsible and mature of the marauders

ohhhh look yeah this is an interesting one 👀

so like, do i think that sirius is the most mature and responsible one? yes. but mainly because the bar is on the floor during the canon events, what with peter’s betrayal and constant fear, james being dead, and remus having completely retreated into himself.

i suppose it can be argued that remus is the more mature and responsible one (disapproving of sirius and james bullying severus, telling sirius to sit down in OotP, trying to deescalate fights, disliking the childish hostility between sirius and severus), but his maturity & responsibility is imo more akin to that of a child being obedient to authority figures. it banks on sirius’ and james’ explicit arrogance and loud confidence in SWM, sirius’ depression and mood swings during OotP, and his own position of authority + sirius’ singular focus on revenge and protection during PoA. after sirius dies the sense of maturity and responsibility we get from him lessens, in a way: he’s more “mature” than the trio, but only because he’s older; and he somehow isn’t as responsible, because he keeps running.

his maturity is in his demureness, in how much he turns into himself. the one time he genuinely appears immature and irresponsible is when the idea of “lupin, the authority figure” entirely drops: when harry, 20 years remus’ junior and still a teenager, has to tell remus to get a hold of himself and remain with his growing family, because the damage has already been done and running away is not going to help. it’s the moment remus’ fear and hatred of himself wholly takes hold of him during the events of canon, and it establishes his sense of maturity and responsibility as nothing more than a thin veneer. he doesn’t know what he’s doing just as much as the trio. he just has more life experience.

sirius’ maturity and responsibility is based on how he acts around and towards harry. like for remus, with him it’s a thin veneer: he’s messed up and covers that up with trying to be there for harry, by trying to protect him in the way he deems best, and by being harry’s soundboard. azkaban damaged him beyond repair, but he tries to be responsible rather than appear responsible. he admits he was a massive prick during school, that his arrogance caused him to make horrible mistakes—he tries in any way he can to keep harry safe and prepared, and also relatively happy. and in that case, i think responsibility and maturity go hand in hand: being willing to admit fault is far more mature than, say, admonishing someone for arguing a bit too harshly about a sensitive topic. similarly, judging that the best way to protect an irate teenager in mortal peril is to prepare him by being honest is more mature than trying to keep the wool over said teenager’s eyes. sirius sees the reality of situations and acts accordingly, not always sensitive to the emotions of others, and when that’s in regards to harry’s safety… well, his responsibility and maturity is higher in that way.

i’m not going to pretend that sirius was the paragon of maturity and responsibility at hogwarts, but i think that it’s likely he was the ‘more’ responsible and mature one of the group—purely through his willingness to admit fault. he’s not pretending not to be an aggressor. he’s not scared of his own cruelty and accepts it. he hasn’t been raised in a cushiony environment and was, i think, very quick to absorb and process the gravity of the burgeoning war. even The Prank (which i think is FAR less serious (forgive the pun) than fandom likes to pretend for drama’s sake) is likely to be a small slip-up in the grand scheme of Sirius’ Seven Years At Hogwarts, a situation swiftly rectified by james. remus pretending that he totally disapproved of all the bullying the marauders did but also being an active and trusted participant in their shenanigans doesn’t mean shit on the maturity and responsibility front, nor does him being appointed as prefect.

neither peter nor james were the responsible mature ones, obviously, just based on the way they acted: peter’s obvious adoration (and later, utter betrayal), and james appearing forcibly (and purposefully) oblivious to Not Being Liked. james takes responsibility later, when he and lily start dating, marry, and have harry; when he gives up the cloak temporarily because he knows himself, and knows he’ll be tempted to take it for a spin; when he’s slightly panicked in the photograph about harry’s sudden skill on his first broom and chases after him. at that point, briefly, james would’ve been the most mature and responsible one—but he died too soon to keep and relish in that title.

[sheeple]

Lady Strong | Part 1

PHOTO NOT MINE. THIS IS ALL FICTION. Genre(s): Strong!reader / Angst? Fandom(s): House of the Dragon (TV series) Pairing(s): Aemond Targaryan x Strong!reader / Jacaerys Velaryon x Strong!reader (platonic/siblings) Summary: It's not easy being a Strong; with a mother who committed suicide, a father who sired three children out of wedlock and then died for it, and a creepy uncle who has nefarious plans for his niece, it's hard to find people who truly mean the best for you. Luckily there are your brothers and your fiance... right? Warning(s): SPOILERS / Mentions of suicide / burning / infidelity / English isn't my first language and I never wrote this much in the past tense. A/n: Guess who’s still alive? This show pulled me out of my writing slump (kinda) [Masterlist] [Mini masterlist] [Part Two] [Part Three]

The last thing your mother said to you was that it wasn't your fault. And that it wasn't that of your father. But mostly that it was not yours. 

She said she loved you before throwing herself off the highest tower of Harrenhal. You were a mere four years old.

That was many years ago and you can bearly remember her face. There was one portrait of her, but that burned down.

As soon as the news that your mother had passed reached your father, he brought you to the capital. It was said that the king pitied you. And he also saw you as a potential friend of princess Heleana.

Life in the capital wasn't that bad. The princess and you turned out to be fast friends quickly. Yes, she was a bit weird, but she was kind and, above all, she doesn't judge.

When you first arrived in the palace, your father introduced you to Princess Rheanyra, Ser Leanor Velaryon, and their two sons. You quickly noticed that you looked like each other. The same hair, the same nose, the same lips. All that of Harwin Strong. Except your eyes were different. They got them from your father, and yours mirrored your mother's.

You knew what that meant. Especially since Jacaerys was only born two moons before you. 

At that exact moment, you knew what mother implied with her words. It wasn't your nor your father's fault that it didn't work out. It was an arranged marriage, and they did their duty. But along the way, your mother fell in love with him. She couldn't stand the thought of him being with another woman, and she knew he did not love her. So she took her life.

For the fact that she made your mother kill herself, you did not resent princess Rheanyra at all. For the two years you lived at King's Landing, she treated you like a daughter. She allowed you to join Jace and Luke's lessons with the Septa. You even sometimes joined them during their training. Your father always had this big grin when you kicked any of the prince's arses.

Your happy little life all came to an end when Joffrey was born. It was clear that the babe was not fathered by Ser Leanor. 

Suddenly, you were told to pack your bags because you were leaving for Harrenhal. You cried while hugging Jace and Luke, not knowing when you would see them again.

The journey was long and your behind was sore at the end of the horse ride. Grandfather was angry at father and didn't speak for the whole ride. Father tried to cheer you up, knowing what it meant for you to go back to the place where your mother died.

He stayed silent when you tried to ask if it was true that Jace, Luke, and Joffrey were your half-brothers. But the look from Grandfather confirmed what you already knew.

Getting back situated in your old room, you noticed a new piece of decoration; a painting of your mother. It hung above the fireplace. Father said nothing but just stood beside you, laying a hand on your shoulder that meant a thousand words.

That night when you almost fell asleep, the smell of smoke hit your nose and orange lights seeped through the cracks under the door. You immediately sat up and jumped out of bed. You tried to open the door but it burned your hand, the knob scolding hot.

Soon, the flames destroyed your room and you watched how the last reminder of your mother got engulfed in the flames, the paint melting in the heat.

You do not remember how you escaped with your life. You passed out because of the smoke and woke up on a stretcher, your skin covered in soot and the smell of burning flesh in your nose. Your left arm had a huge burn that scarred over, turning the flesh hideous.

When you tried to ask for your father or grandfather, nobody answered, but they all had sullen looks on their face. You were the lone survivor of the fire.

The new Lord of Harrenhal, your uncle Larys, quickly became your ward. You moved back to court. But it turned out that Jace and Luke left for Dragonstone with their mother once they heard of the fire. You received a secret raven delivered by Ser Erryk from Rheanyra that she mourned the death of your father and hoped that you could visit her and her sons any time soon.

You didn't have to wait long to see your brothers again. Sadly, lady Leana Velaryon passed by dragon fire, almost the same night as the fire of Harrenhal.

Uncle Larys dragged you to Driftmark with him to pay your respects to the family of lady Leana, her husband prince Deamon, and their children.

You stood facing the ocean, blinking rapidly to fight back the tears. This isn't the right moment to mourn your father's death, your uncle told you.

Someone announced their presence beside you and you looked up. "My prince", you muttered softly whilst bowing.

Prince Aemond looked over the sea and down onto ser Leanor, who stood up to his knees in the water motionless. "Rather pathetic, isn't it?"

"What is, my prince?"

The white-haired boy scoffed. "Acting in such a shameless manner. I would get revenge on the one who wronged me." The prince glanced at his uncle, who leaned nonchalantly on a wall, his eyes focused on princess Rheanyra. 

You hesitated for a moment to speak. "Not everything is resolved by violence, my prince."

Princes Aemond turned his gaze on you. His eyes fell on your gloved hands. "Are you sure about that?"

His implications were clear. Someone had started the fire. The slightest mention of the death of your father and grandfather being on purpose, made your eyes water. Lifting your skirt, you hurried away to safe face in front of almost everybody important in court.

Hiding in a random alcove, you heard steps getting closer and you feared what your uncle would have said. Instead, the Queen appeared.

"My child", she said softly, taking your tear-stained face in her hands. There was pity in her eyes, and sorrow. She knew what it was to lose a parent, so she could imagine how it must have felt to lose them both.

You quickly bowed, wiping your face. "You-your Grace. I must apologise for my behaviour, it will not happen again." Looking down, you tried to not cry more. But the tears just kept on coming.

Queen Alicent sighed deeply, pulling you to her chest and hugging you. It was the first hug you received since the passing of your father. That broke you, and you cried like a babe in the arms of the Queen. She stroked your hair and let you grieve for a moment.

After a while, you took a step back and did not dare to meet her eyes, afraid of what she would say and ashamed of your demeanour. Before you could apologise again, she silenced you with a motherly look. A look that said that it was okay. 

Wiping away the tears on your face, she called for a maid and ordered her to take you back to your room and put you to bed. She maid compiled without a word and lead you to your chambers.

You slept the remainder of the day. Once night fell, you awoke from your slumber and decided to sneak to the kitchen to try to find something to eat. Except, you found your brothers, their cousins, and prince Aemond in a standoff, screaming at each other.

"What's going on?", you asked unsure, not knowing if you were overstepping the boundaries.

One of the twin girls turned towards you. "He stole my mother's dragon! She belonged to me!"

"Your mother is dead. It is in my right as a dragon to claim one. Maybe your cousins can help you find a pig to ride, it would suit you." Prince Aemond had a smug look on his face.

The girl screamed and charged at the prince. But he fended her off easily. Her sister now joined and hits him in the face. Aemond returned the favour and punched her so hard that she fell to the ground.

Now your brothers joined, getting in on the fight. A scream escaped your lips as you watched how all four hounded up upon the prince. You tried to intercept, pulling anyone you could manage off of Aemond, but you got thrown to the side yourself. Aemond managed the kick them off, blood is flowing and whines of pain are heard as the children fell to the ground, hitting their heads. 

He held Luke by the throat and lifted up a rock. "You will die screaming in flames, just like your father did. Basterds." Aemond looked at Jace, venom in his words.

"My father is still alive!", cried Luke, his nose bleeding.

Aemond drops his arm to his side. "He doesn't know, does he? Lord Strong."

Jace unsheathed his blade and goes to attack Aemond, the girls crying out his name. The white-haired boy pushed Luke towards the eldest and Jace easily caught his brother and pushed him behind him.

Jace goes to swipe his blade towards Aemond, but the latter hit him with a rock and Jace fell to the ground. Jace throws sand into Aemond's face as he notices his younger brother grabbing his knife.

At the moment Aemond's distracted by the sand, Luke goes to swipe.

You jumped in between them, attempting to stop your brother from doing something incredibly stupid. 

But while Luke cuts out Aemond's eye, he managed to also slice your face. The white-haired prince cried out in agony as his eye gushed with blood. You dropped to the ground and hold your face yourself, feeling the sticky blood cover your hands.

Your brothers screamed out and rushed towards you, both had tears on their faces and panic in their eyes.

Not a second later, royal guards arrived at the scene and take asses the situation. They took the children inside and called upon their parents.

While the King demanded to know what happened, a maester tended to your wound. "It might scar, lady Strong, but the wound is not too deep, so you might be lucky", the maester mumbled while king Viserys and queen Alicent argue about Aemond's eyes.

As the King moved away, queen Alicent grabbed his blade to take an eye for an eye.

A primal instinct inside you suddenly came and you jumped up from your chair, pushing past the maester and your uncle. You jumped in front of the Queen, just as she was about to strike. The blade wedged itself in your shoulder and you cried out in agony.

Screams are heard from around the room and people rushed towards you. Panic was in the eyes of the Queen as she realised what she had done.

As you slowly slid down into the arms of someone, your eyes felt tired.

"I'm sorry, your Grace. I'm sorry...", you mumbled out the same words as that afternoon, a single tear rolled down your cheek before you lost consciousness from the pain.

[chubs-deuce]

Haaard agree on anti-Chaggie post (so sorry Chaggie shippers. We love you)

Alastor is known to steal the attention of people whenever he is on screen. But when he is with Charlie it makes it more interesting! They bounce off of each other in an entertaining way. Even if you don't ship them they are funny. Alastor is getting a kick out of just talking to Charlie. He finds her amusing (probably in a mean way lol). And Charlie while thinks he is an asshole, (cus he is!) she sees he tries to help her even with an obvious hidden ulterior motive.

They don't see eye to eye in their goals but at least they are both real characters with their own motivations and that makes them very dynamic with each other. Also they are both goofs, love 'em

Chaggie has fans within people that just want cute and non-dramatic relationships. Or just a queer couple that is wholesome without any dramatics. Valid!

It's just awkward that Vaggie is all about Charlie. This one thing puts me off. Considering my previous experience with it was in Steven Universe (Rose and Pearl, anyone?). But it's just personal thing. Sometimes things like that are funny like "they are obsessed with this person lololo" or "they are... Uncomfortably obsessed with this person"

[I think it depends on if the other person is on the same level? Charlie seemed somehow dismissive of Vaggie but it can be explained that the plot was just more focused on hotel than them (ugh 8eps. waiting for S2 to have fillers).]

Shipping is all about preferences and that's okay! My friend is a Chaggie shipper and I am a Charlastor shipper. I asked her to explain to me the appeal and she explained it as "a cute couple that has no conflict whatsoever. People like that exist and it's more common than very dramatic or action-driven couples". And I just like a bit fucked up dynamics where I watch someone in that dynamic go through some emotional turmoil (mostly Alastor<3) and also co-workers/housemates dynamic (when I need something cute and simple)

Some people just prefer down to earth things, especially if their life is a rollercoaster. What's important is to respect each other!

Sorry for a lil essay. I just think sometimes it's important to say "these are prefrences. We don't hate you for not liking your thing and the same goes in vice versa"

All fandoms have a group of people that is.... A bit too devoted to something. Respect others even if they don't like the same thing you do. Instead ask them to explain to you why they like it in a non-hostile manner or don't interact at all.

We're all tired of shipping wars, especially when some companies add oil to this fire to monetize more. I just want to get back to old fandom days when you both would be shopping different things and then end up in a make out session /j

Sorry for an essay again. Love your art, especially when you draw unhinged or going insane Alastor because Charlie makes him "feel". Thanks for all the content<3

This!!! So much this!!!

I hardly even need to add anything to this tbh, you already said everything that needs to be said perfectly!

I often like to think of shipping as the more adult version of playing with dolls, and that different people will play with their dolls differently! Some may prefer to follow the instructions on the packaging, playing with the toys exactly as intended, whereas others might find that boring and instead prefer to mix things up and do their own thing!

How I play with my set of dolls should have absolutely no impact on how you play with your own.

Thank you so much for writing out this ask, I'm honestly really glad to see that common sense and critical thinking skills within fandoms haven't completely died out yet lmfao

[randoimago]

Hi there is it okay if I could please have some headcanons on how yor yuri and loid from spy x family would react to meeting their younger siblings s/o for the first time the reader in this scenario is their younger sibling and they've just been invited to meet their partner for the first time how does it go down ?

Meeting Their Little Sibling (Reader)'s Partner

Fandom: Spy x Family

Character(s): Loid Forger, Yor Briar, Yuri Briar

Note(s): Ngl, this is so interesting. Especially since Loid is a spy on enemy lines so meeting your partner means you're also in the same country as him. (I mean I could've written before the mission, but that's no fun).

I also wrote Yor and Yuri together because that sounds like a chaotic mess and I'm here for it.

Loid

He only had you after mom had died. You were the only one left and he promised to keep you safe and alive. Learning that you moved to the country that he's infiltrating as a spy made him want to tear his hair out. But then he learned that you were dating someone here too.

He feels a mix of emotions, none he outwardly displays. But there is a bit of coldness radiating from him towards you and your partner when he meets them. Of course, he brings Yor and Anya in hopes those two help scare your partner away.

He pretends to be happy, smiling at meeting your partner, but in his head he has all the details of them. He knows all of their previous relationships and how they ended. All of which he had looked into before meeting them so he knew rather this person is good for you or not (considering you're both on enemy lines, he already has them as a no).

Might have a long talk with you two after this meeting. Just because, this country is the one that caused your mother to die and now you're dating someone here? Yes he's married, but it's for his job (which he kept all details away from you). Seriously, Loid would've put up with you pretending to date Franky (a thought that he hates) if you were just trying to not be suspicious too. He just can't help feeling a bit betrayed.

Yuri + Yor

One is an assassin, the other part of the secret police. Both of them have it as a secret from you, but man do they use their jobs as an advantage when they hear you have a partner.

Yuri wants to arrest your partner. On what grounds, who knows. Hell, he would plant fake evidence if he didn't care about his job as much as he does. He doesn't even pretend to like your partner.

Yor does. She smiles and acts nice and sweet, but she probably breaks a couple bones when she shakes your partner's hand. When you're put of the room, she is still smiling as she promises to end them if they hurt you. Yuri thinks she's being an overprotective sister and he joins in with the threats.

The threats end up being a bit too detailed and specific, but your partner is too terrified to piece anything together. And the two are idiots. Then you walk into the room and it's more happy smiles from Yor while Yuri pouts and tries to find a bottle of wine.