#like his stories are obv focused on. well himself but they have a lot of nice lore details like his contract w changsheng and some immortali

[welcometoteyvat]

read baizhu’s stories. he wins for most balanced character of all time

[moon-alight]

Can I request how would &team comfort theyre s/o panic attack?

Thank you for requesting, here you go!! :)

&Team reaction to their s/o having a panic attack

Warnings: panic attacks obv, fluff

Word Count: 625

Masterlist

-K:

I feel like K has had many panic attacks during both i-land and &audition, so he would know what to do.

He would find you crying and trying to stabilize your breathing, he wouldn't even panic himself, he just sits down next to you and wrap his arms around you. Talks to you in a soft voice and calms you down easily. He is a professional at calming people lmao.

-Fuma

Why do I feel like older members are good at this? He would do the same as K but a bit less calm. Seeing you cry breaks his heart, especially when he realizes you've had a panic attack.

He would know every trick in the book, every word to say and every gesture to make to help you calm down. He has a way with comfort.

-Nicholas

He would ask a lot of questions, not sure if he is doing anything right. He would ask you if he can hug you, if he can get you anything to help.

If you can't get any words out, he wouldn't mind standing beside you and holding your hand, rubbing comfortingly with his thumb over your skin to try and calm you down a little. (He would be a bit awkward)

-EJ

Not physical and also not vocal. He strikes me as a guy that doesn't want to make it worse and he knows too much noise or contact could.

EJ would just sit next to you, waiting patiently for you to give him a sign that you do want him to hold you or talk. He's very patient so he would have no problem just sitting near you to let you know you're not alone.

-Yuma

ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE! He would see you panic and start panicking too. He really tries to stay calm but when you try to breathe and it doesn't go easy, he would freak out.

I think he would go ask Fuma for advice tbh. Yuma would fall in the process making you laugh a little and when he realizes you're calming down he would crack joke after joke to distract you from whatever made you panic in the first place.

-Jo

Oh, he hates to see you like this. He gets really sad by seeing you struggle. Would be by your side in seconds with some water.

Jo would just like EJ just sit next to you, not really sure if you want to be held or not. If you do, he's on you immediately, holding you and rubbing your back comfortingly.

-Harua

He gets it. I don't know why or how but he does. Harua knows you like the back of his hand so when you get a panic attack he's right there with you.

I feel like he would be very good at it, despite his age, and settles for holding your hand while sitting in front of you. Harua would tell a story, distracting your thoughts a little.

-Ta-Ki

Panicking! While he looks calm and collected, believe me, he's not. Has no clue, at all. He is so stressed.

Of course he wants to help you calm down. Of course he would do anything for you but he's just incapable. He would reach out to K for help, just to have options on what to do.

-Ma-Ki

Actually really well collected. Has his mind focused on one thing at a time. When he sees you panicking, he would do breathing exercises with you.

Maki is someone with a lot of chill, he would know what to do and how to do it. After you've calmed down, he would get you some water and snacks just to keep you hydrated after all the tears you've spilled.

[hoardlikegoldenirises]

blurple time.

finally finished this~ months after he appeared 😅

you can tell there's a bit of a punk/industrial vibe infusing the whole design. i also drew from various details in the comics, and other random things like bulletproof leather jackets.

closeups, ramblings, (and a version with a cape) under the cut:

i was originally not planning to add a cape cause i wasn't sure if i could make it work and tbh. still not sure. i like the way the purple cape looks from behind but the inside is like. idk. if it's purple then it looks weird, but the black feels off to me too... I don't think any of the other colors would work.

oh also i decided this glows in the dark (predictable as always)

Helmet's been through some sketches and stuff, spent a while figuring out the mechanisms and so on and settled on this design in the end.

Obviously you can see here the top is leather, it's based on a combo of a motorcycle cowl (with an angled zip you can just see there, and then the shoulders from an armored motorcycle jacket i was looking at. then the blue is meant to be a (heavily) modified like, boilersuit or whatever those are. mechanic's jumpsuit.

Plus all the spikes. Obviously there's no spider-punk in this setting but I like the aesthetics, and I like giving Hobie like a little thing of his own in terms of hobbies/interests so I thought adding that punk aspect would be fun, esp as it ties into his whole thing with being unsure of himself and being a little different and so on.

the lenses are one piece each, just with different colors of film on them, like you see on a variety of custom motorcycle visors. used chrome silver for the white "eyes," which i think would look cool and matches the metal hardware. very reflective. hobie prob won't be the only design with chrome/mirrored lenses for reflective purposes (thinking about the hobgoblin) (well. technically peter will also have aluminized lenses at one point but that's a spare mask for fires, not a main look)

earlier concept which i drew on my phone actually lol. some of this i obv jus copy-pasted cause it was fine as is, other stuff got tweaked, like i ended up changing the lens shape to look a little more like the comics and i did end up scrapping that shape for the faceplate/chin.

and you can see there i edited a pic from the comics playing with what colors i wanted to use. i liked the steel blue that showed up in some of the older painted art from the Prowler's earliest appearances, and I felt like I wanted to give him a color other than purple and green, though I didn't wanna ditch the purple either, so I ended up with this kind of neon blurple + navy combo that I liked a lot. And the silver too.

back of the jacket and helmet. Didn't originally plan on adding all those spikes but then I was sketching this out and I was like, oh... that would look cool... so i committed!! i like how it looks.

Originally I also had no logo/symbol on the front of the chest so I decided to put one on the back. Then I ended up adding that flat panel to the chest and added the symbol there too, and decided to keep the back one as well. i can def see a 19 year old being like, hell yeah... sick... people will definitely take me seriously now. and you know what. he's right.

i will admit i ended up a little dissatisfied with the story i told involving the Prowler in the linked fic, but... I also probably shouldn't have tried to wedge it between like five warring subplots. But it was like, the spot that made the most sense. If this was a cartoon I think it would be a like... 1-2 issue special focused more on him. And also peter would jump out the window. (The real tragedy that I didn't include cause it's hilarious, poor Hobie XD)

Anywho. Is this mechanism needlessly complex? Perhaps. I tried to simplify it at one point but then the more I thought about it the less the simplified version worked so I stuck with the OG idea here. I mean, i guess I could have ditched the locking mechanism entirely but i thought it would be fun if the helmet was self-locking! I also wanted a way for it to rotate/go visor up even with the spikes, thus it being a pretty large rotating faceplate with the spikes on it instead of elsewhere. not that he ever puts it up in the fic. peter just takes hobie's helmet off there 😂

He's also wearing a balaclava under there which I didn't bother really drawing, mostly to protect his hair (which I put in twists for related reasons of helmet-wearing) (I briefly had been considering braids but then, well, ATSV and Miles G. happened and I said, well now I cannot do that XD) (I mean I COULD have but I wanted to do something else here lol) Anyway. The idea here is that it's a kind of slide lock with a spring-loaded peg that slots into the holes, and the square hole with the square peg locks the faceplate in place and prevents it from rotating, but when the square peg is in the round hole, the faceplate can rotate freely. The only wrinkle here would be that Hobie has to pull on both locks simultaneously or as close to it as possible or he'd risk cracking the helmet (i assume? stress and pressure etc.)

Sliding the lock forward also slides the whole plate forward, which lets me (in theory) have a flush, smooth silhouette while still allowing it to come forward enough to push up. It's not vacuum sealed or anything though. But it does have like... air filters and a voice modulator and some other things. MOST of the suit is super low tech and doesn't require electricity but the helmet probably has batteries or something. (peter's new webshooters at this point are also battery powered lol)

Helmet is pretty typical fiberglass construction with foam pads inside. Idea there is that Hobie made a lot of this stuff using campus workshop resources like autobody or machining shop on campus, for stuff like getting fiberglass, having a space to work in, making polycarbonate lenses etc. Though it's totally possible to do fiberglass work at home too. (peter also uses campus resources for his lenses specifically btw)

Gauntlets!!! Uhhhh ngl very difficult. Trying to design armored gauntlets that don't look like knightly armor is very hard for me cause I always just google reference pics of knightly armor. LOL. I think these came out alright. There's a hint of motocross influence there too (though really even in modern days armor is armor so there end up being shared traits) The gloves ended up being mostly leather with some armored parts, though there is probably some inner armor which is not visible. The claws I left bare since you would not be able to sharpen claws coated in plasti dip—

oh yeah the purple color on all the hard parts is plasti dip, which is basically rubber paint.

The wrist gauntlets are very very very loosely based on a guy's grappling rope web-shooter thing which you can see in this youtube video: link. though i didn't wanna just rip him off so i mostly just said, alright, tubes and a harness—which the prowler already has in the comics anyway, albeit smaller. so really it's pretty much like the comics anyway.

Right wrist has the green laser dazzler, both have grapples, left wrist has EMP (not pictured) which Hobie uses in the scene I have him and Peter fight except then I realized recently I didn't actually explain what that was or how it was working 😂 I probably should have done that scene from Hobie's POV in retrospect. It's an EMP though and it scrambles Peter's spidey sense via interference/signal noise.

(electromagnetic signals being responsible for several cases of irl "hauntings" —> spider-man's haunted)

waist utility belt... I like the way the silver belt on the old art looks! So I decided to make these hard silver hinged cases instead of soft pouches (originally were soft but I changed my mind while coloring) — IDK if these really are metal or if they're just fiberglass with chrome paint lol but either way, shiny chromey, hinged to open, the insides are probably padded... buckle is actually metal though.

Boots—modified snow boots. These are loosely based off of a real thing btw: link to blog post

The silver things are the magnets. Gauntlets are probably also magnetic but those are not visible like the boot ones. I also read some comments saying certain kinds of electromagnets would be preferable for something like boots but ultimately, IDK how to draw that, so I just drew it like they look in jen foxbot's prototype.

There was some other stuff I initially planned on including that didn't make the cut, aside from the cape. I was toying with stuff like a jetpack (or really, a jump jet), gliding/wingsuit, etc. but... I didn't use any of those. Kept it simple and streamlined for the most part. so no gliding for this Prowler, but hey, he's got magnet boots.

maybe in the future if Hobie ends up with an Iron Man-esque collapsible suit, perhaps he'll be able to fly, but for now, he's a college student making a supervillain persona so he can keep himself from getting evicted...

And his face!!! cutie :3 loosely inspired by Greg Eagles' face (the voice actor for grimm from billy and mandy) Not that ATSV had no impact on this design but that was the main thing. Twists to keep his hair protected in the helmet under the balaclava etc. and something he can do himself, and then a twist out afterward.

plus you can see the nose rings I mention in Creep here.

[yeetlegay]

Shifting power dynamics in episode 4: a stupidly long meta

I've already talked about episode 4 in two different posts, a vocal analysis for Kinn and an analysis of the ownership/possession motif in eps 1-4. Even with those two posts (which I wrote and posted in the span of like 48 hours, rip my brain), there was still so much that I wanted to talk about in episode 4, so here goes my third meta of the week. Buckle up besties, this is a LONG one.

Disclaimer: I don’t want to get into the whole dubcon discourse piece of this. I get that people have Opinions, but I am here for shenanigans only and I think I’ve answered the amount of asks about it that I really care to. To sum up: I don’t mind dubcon in fiction! I can get behind just about any fictional relationship no matter how problematic as long as they give me a compelling story with compelling characters and the problematic elements serve a narrative purpose and are handled well. Fiction, for me, is ultimately just that: fiction.

With the above disclaimer in mind, this post isn’t so much about power as it relates to consent, but about how power made a pretty dramatic change of hands in this episode, and what I think that means for the story to come. I’ll be focusing a lot on body language, but also on how certain scenes and shots are framed, and referring back to my vocal analysis a lot so I don’t end up just rehashing what I said there. Fair warning, my background is in sociology, specifically micro, so I tend to run away with details when talking about this sort of thing lol.

I talked about this here after episode 3, but as I hoped, that kiss on the pier (which didn’t happen in the book) completely altered the build-up to their first time.

That kiss on the pier is actually kind of genius bc from the preview we know they’re still doing the roofie scene, but by having them kiss before that (albeit a little drunk) they’ve given a totally different context to build from. Kinn and Porsche have already had a moment where they acknowledged their attraction to each other, even if it wasn’t out loud, so it means when that scene does come, it’ll be clear for both of them that even if the drug is affecting Porsche, it’s not actually making him ask for something he doesn’t already want.

This doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s still dubcon. (Again, not getting into it, but wanted to make sure that’s clear.) But it means a lot for how both Kinn and Porsche approach that moment through episode 4.

We open with Porsche waking up the next morning, vaguely remembering a kiss and not seeming bothered by it, more intrigued than anything else. Mirror that scene, where Porsche more or less shrugs off the encounter, with Kinn’s morning. He’s looking at himself in the mirror, lost in his thoughts, conflicted and confused by what happened the night before. We realize later on that some of that confusion is because he gave Porsche an intimacy that he doesn’t seem to give anyone else he’s involved with: a kiss. His internal turmoil isn’t just because he’s attracted to Porsche, which comes with its own problems, but because he wants him in a way he hasn’t wanted anyone in a long time, maybe ever. The kiss, and even the fact that it didn’t go further, is proof of that.

Kinn's body language in this scene is...unusual. When do we ever see his shoulders hunched forward like that, leaning his weight against something? It ruins that perfect, confident posture and makes him look more vulnerable. We're also seeing him shirtless, which obvs yay for Kinn tiddies, but we haven't really seen that a lot from him either. He's always wearing a suit, casual clothes, even a fancy pajama set that makes him look like a sexc grandpa. But we're literally seeing him more or less naked here (the towel doesn't want to be there either, bless it), stripped literally and figuratively. He doesn't look like a powerful and untouchable mafia prince here. He looks conflicted, fallible, and painfully human.

@luckydragon10 wrote a little meta about the use of mirrors here and even though that post is about a different scene, she brings up the GREAT point that we have yet to see Porsche in a mirrored surface by himself. Kinn, meanwhile, is here in this scene fully exposed, staring directly at his reflection. I'm not a color theory expert AT ALL (that would be @antique-forvalaka) but the gold sconces are very eye-catching here; since gold is the mafia's color, maybe that's a hint as to where Kinn's headspace is at in this moment.

But anyway, my point is that we're seeing Kinn's confusion and inner conflict here very clearly. We see how seriously he's thinking about the previous night, how much it presses on him. That wasn't "just a kiss" for Kinn. The mirror, the body language, the slightly vignetted flashback, the music choice, the lack of clothing, all tell us Kinn is feeling vulnerable in this moment over that kiss. Which by extension tells us quite a bit about how much he feels for Porsche already.

Moving on to the cigarette lighter scene (idk what else to call this lol).

The blocking here is interesting. I don't want to read too much into it, but notice how Porsche is in the foreground, the sunlight angling down from the top right toward him. His hands are crossed in front of his stomach, making him look casual but reserved, as though he's placing a barrier between him and Vegas. He doesn't fully angle his body toward Vegas, just leans his head in a little. Vegas, meanwhile, is standing with his back to the light and is a step or two further away from the camera. He looks physically smaller, which he is, but the shot exaggerates it just a little. He's reaching his whole arm out, staring at Porsche, bringing the lighter right to his mouth, his torso open but angled away a little like Porsche. And the shot doesn't fully capture his body like it does Porsche, cutting off an arm and part of his shoulder.

This shot centers Porsche, makes him look powerful. Everything in the shot leans into him—the lighting, the camera, Vegas himself. He doesn't look like Vegas's equal; he looks like his superior.

I'll also say the optics of Vegas bringing the light to his cigarette is a neat little metaphor for how Vegas not only approaches Porsche with malicious intent (fire is, uh, kind of bad unless it's in a fireplace or a BTS song), but how he also brings conflict to Porsche and sets off trouble between him and Kinn.

(Also once again referencing @antique-forvalaka's incredible color theory series because look at all the green in this scene. Porsche literally has a wall of green behind him, which as noted in her post here seems to indicate danger.)

I told y'all I was gonna dig into this episode, didn't I? 😂

This shot of Kinn feels odd, doesn't it? We're not used to seeing Kinn hide. In fact, aside from that gunfight scene in episode 1 when he (very understandably) ducked behind some boxes to avoid getting shot, I can't recall him ever being an observer or hidden presence in a scene. When he's on the screen, everyone knows it. It's hard to fit his power and charisma into a room.

But here, he looks...small. He's outsized by the rest of the frame, surrounded by (interestingly imo) an awful lot of glass. The plant in the foreground adds to this effect (and once again, it's green!), and even though he's in focus, he still feels almost like part of the background.

Kinn just doesn't do this sort of thing. He doesn't make himself smaller, he doesn't eavesdrop, he doesn't sneak. And yet here he is, trying to be invisible, all so he can watch Porsche and Vegas together, all because he's jealous and out of his depth.

The pool scene is really where we get the first big flashy sign that that something is shifting in their power dynamic. I chose the screenshot above as an example of what's happening here, but I could've picked like 20 different frames that give the same information from a different angle.

Look at their body language first. Porsche, standing tall, shoulders back, looking relaxed and comfortable, if a little annoyed. He's taking up space, arms at his sides swinging a little carelessly as he turns. He's looking at Kinn over his shoulder, body angled away from him, ready to leave, not at all cowed or diminished by Kinn's attempts to scold him. Honestly, he looks like he's only barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes.

Then we have Kinn, one hand in his pocket (does he usually put his hands in his pockets? I feel like I haven't seen him do it very much but no time to go back and comb through 3 episodes to find out), the other hand resting a little awkwardly on the railing. His whole body is directed at Porsche, chin tilted up when he usually keeps it tilted a little down, which adds to his usual aura of understated power. Because of this angle, his figure is much narrower than Porsche's. He takes up much less space in the frame.

Now look at their backdrop. Porsche is standing in front of empty space, buildings framing either side of him but not crowding into his figure directly and making him look compressed. Kinn, meanwhile, is standing almost directly in front of what looks like a skyscraper in the distance, with other slightly shorter buildings closer behind him. The effect is stark when you notice it. He's crowded in, almost dwarfed by that backdrop. He looks even smaller with that tall building stretching over his head.

And I'm not done! I saw some discussion about mirrors and reflections this week, although no full meta posts that I've come across yet (please link if there are any, I'd love to read it!). But look at their reflections in the water in this shot. It exaggerates what we see even further. Porsche is bigger, wider, more clearly defined, while Kinn is smaller, narrower, and and more vague.

That's not even touching on the dialogue, which is a whole thing in and of itself. I talk more about this in my vocal analysis for episode 4, but basically Kinn is messy in this scene. He doesn’t have a plan for what to say to Porsche when he gets there and it shows. He uses filler words, he hesitates, he fumbles for what to say. He calls out after Porsche (”Wait!”) with none of his usual authority or confidence. Kinn is out of his depth. He wants to know what Porsche is thinking about the previous night, but he doesn’t know how to ask. If Porsche’s answer didn’t mean so much to Kinn, he’d have less trouble asking for it. (I’m reminded for some reason of that quote from Emma: “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.”)

All of this gives us the overwhelming sense that Kinn is the one standing on sand in this scene. He’s the one floundering, trying to make sense of that kiss, trying to behave like it doesn’t matter while at the same time seeking Porsche out the first chance he gets to talk about it, to determine what to do based on how Porsche is reacting. If he’d already decided to forget the kiss happened or brush it off and move on, he wouldn’t need to talk to Porsche first thing the next morning. He wouldn’t need to couch his questions in vague terms. In doing both of those things, he’s giving Porsche power, power to determine how Kinn feels, how he acts, how he interprets that kiss.

After the scene by the pool, Kinn has his feet under him a little bit. Now he knows where he stands with Porsche. Even if his feelings are still confused and chaotic, they’re his to deal with alone. He doesn’t have to worry about Porsche’s reaction, about how Porsche’s perception of him might have changed. He knows he made himself vulnerable with Porsche through that kiss, and he’s relieved Porsche doesn’t have the memory to turn over in his clever head until he figures out what it means.

So here in the sauna he’s more relaxed, settled back into his skin. That confidence and charisma is back. He fills up the screen, makes Porsche be the guest in his space, even though Porsche was there first. And he wants Porsche to stay, despite how affected Kinn is by him. Simply put, he likes Porsche’s company. He still feels that pull to be around him even if it doesn’t help his feelings resolve themselves.

I go back and forth about the framing in the first part of this scene. Porsche is still in the forefront for the most part, but Kinn is just as much a focus point as he is despite not being centered in the shot. The height of that upper seat gives Kinn an edge. He chose it on purpose, to be above Porsche. He spreads his arms wide and relaxes, but his legs stay crossed as opposed to Porsche, who spreads his whole body wide. Kinn is still, on some level, making himself a little smaller, drawing in, even as he tries to exude his usual controlled power.

And Kinn is the one to look down at Porsche, to start up a conversation, to open up a path for them to talk casually. He’s the one who, almost immediately after that conversation begins, gets down under the guise of adding more water, just so he can sit next to Porsche, be level with him, close to him, equal to him. He’s the one who asks about Porsche’s little brother.

Again, I go into the dialogue more in my vocal meta, but basically what he’s doing, as the scene goes on, is a form of mirroring. This is a way of echoing people’s speech patterns and mannerisms to make yourself seem more likeable to them. It’s a very natural, unconscious social behavior that we do from a young age. The fact that Kinn does it so much with Porsche is telling, because he doesn’t seem to do it much with anyone else. He’s used to being the one everyone else mirrors, being the star at the center of his solar system.

His body language, when he sits down next to Porsche, enhances this effect. His arms are again spread wide, legs uncrossed now, his head turning again and again to look sideways at Porsche, which in the process of trying to appear unaffected, makes him look even more affected. Porsche meanwhile keeps his arms at his sides or bent at the elbows against the upper seat, and he doesn’t turn his torso toward Kinn to talk.

Essentially, Kinn is trying every trick he knows to find intimacy with Porsche, not even physically but emotionally. And in doing so, he’s giving up some of his power. He’s letting Porsche in, despite his rational instincts telling him not to.

And then this dumbass, so easily pulled into Porsche’s orbit despite Porsche doing literally nothing to encourage him, starts nosing around Porsche’s love life. I’m gonna make fun of him for this forever, because it’s just so hamfisted and juvenile. “You being here doesn’t make your girlfriend angry?” “If you were a girl, would you like a guy like me?”

Absolutely humiliating and I hope when Porsche realizes later on what those questions were about, he teases the fuck out of him for it.

But his approach to Porsche, stupid as it is, shows that despite how confident he is in everything else, he’s really kind of shit at communicating in general, and even worse at flirting. He just can’t help himself. He gravitates toward Porsche. Even after seemingly finding some sense of closure on that kiss in the previous scene, he’s still giving into these little urges to know more about Porsche, to poke around for possibilities.

A little note: I don’t have room for a screenshot, but the first shot of the sauna scene has Kinn peering through a narrow glass window into the sauna. It makes him look smaller, surrounded on all sides by a fuckton of wood. I just think that’s interesting.

A second little note: When Porsche is staring at him, leaning in for a kiss to faceplant on his dick, Kinn doesn’t move away. He’s once again letting Porsche lead, hoping Porsche will make his own feelings clear somehow.

So I’m actually not gonna talk about the Kinn/Vegas pissing contest scene because while Kinn and Porsche are both present, I’m more interested in discussing how their dynamic is shifting just between themselves. Kinn behaves differently in this scene, much more like his usual self, because they’re not alone. If you want to hear a bit of my thoughts on the scene though, I do discuss it in my other two ep 4 metas (linked at the beginning of this post) a little more.

But I do want to talk about the scene above. Once again we see Kinn hiding, eavesdropping on Porsche’s interaction with someone else. We see him through all those little flecks of gold (once again, color theory taking over my brain lol) as he listens to Porsche tell Big off.

The thing is, why is he there? Why does he leave that guy (I’m calling him Angel since we don’t have a name for him yet) alone in his room to follow after Porsche? Is he planning on stopping Porsche, and if so, what for? To ask him if he’s okay with Kinn being gay, to scold him, to say it wasn’t what it looked like, or something else?

I don’t really have an explanation tbh, and maybe that’s intentional on the writers’ part. Maybe Kinn just had a gut reaction to follow Porsche, without knowing why. And by following him, once again he’s playing into that power shift, instinctively chasing after him to find out what he thinks and feels, concealing his presence when it means he can watch Porsche and potentially understand him better.

This scene is more about Porsche and establishing his lack of homophobia than moving Kinn in any particular direction, but it still tells us a little bit about Kinn. He hasn’t managed to smother that need to follow Porsche, to hear his thoughts and feelings.

We then jump from the “hiding in the curtains” scene into a scene with Pete and Porsche where Porsche realizes Kinn was the one he kissed. I think it’s interesting that he asks the question “Can two people who don’t like each other/aren’t a couple kiss?” (Something might be getting lost in translation here, as Porsche seems pretty well-versed in casual sex so it wouldn’t make sense for him to clutch his pearls over a kiss between two people who aren’t in love or a couple. I’m wondering if by “like” they just mean “are attracted to” or if it does connote Feels.)

That little scene sets us up for the shirt-off scene (I genuinely don’t know what else to call it lol). I know this has had a lot of people kind of confused and I personally got some questions about it (@ladyoftheinternet and @biochemjess​ are the ones I remember but I may be forgetting someone else).

I don’t know if I have any genius insights to offer lol, but I do think we can chalk up some of the tension in the first part of this scene to just straight-up awkwardness. I mean, the last time they saw each other Kinn just about had his dick in someone else’s mouth. I’d be a little awkward too the next time I saw him, no matter which character I was in that situation.

I do think it’s interesting that Kinn, when he first walks in, is very much inhabiting his usual self-assured, charismatic prince persona. He’s not bothered by Porsche knowing he’s gay, and he’s probably trying not to be awkward about what Porsche saw, so there’s a little bit of cover-up happening here too. I think we may be getting so used to him being different around Porsche, softer, more dynamic, less well-controlled, that when we see him stepping back into his typical aura and mannerisms, it feels wrong somehow, like a kind of tension or stiffness. If you compare the Kinn in the first part of this scene to the Kinn in episode 1, there isn’t much of a noticeable difference.

That’s how we know he’s lying through his teeth and with every part of his body.

I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on what makes him feel the need to make that shift, to try and regain the upper hand with Porsche. I suspect there are a lot of different contributing factors here, such as:

Porsche saw him a little more vulnerable (crucially, without Kinn’s consent), talking about how he has something on his mind, seeing him shy away from kissing Angel.

He’s approaching Porsche now to inform him he’s been traded back to Kinn. We don’t know how that decision happened or what Kinn did to get him back, but I doubt Tankhun was easy to convince. So some of that emotional/mental journey from the bedroom scene to now might simply be missing.

This scene also reminds me a little of earlier by the pool, when Kinn is posturing and trying to seem nonchalant and in control in front of Porsche, all the while reeling inside. Kinn is a little more secure now, but as he said himself to Angel, something’s been bothering him. He’s just gotten better at hiding it from Porsche.

Interestingly, Kinn is once again approaching Porsche, seeking him out, even as he works to exude that usual power and ease. He enters the scene with the intent to treat Porsche like he would anyone else.

But Porsche isn’t on the same wavelength. He greets him casually, not like his boss, slumping and smiling a little self-deprecatingly, making a joke about Kinn always catching him lately. He’s ready to pick up where they left off in the sauna, comfortable and friendly.

When Kinn tells him to stand up in that firm, controlled tone, you can see the way Porsche shifts into a different mode, basically thinking, “Okay, so it’s like that now.”

When he takes his shirt off (after initially saying no, seemingly moreso out of confusion than anything else), he looks around to make sure they’re alone, but I don’t necessarily think he has Kinn making a pass at him on his bingo card in this moment. Taking his shirt off for his boss would look odd no matter what the context. I personally don’t read too much into it, but others may have more thoughts on it.

I want to talk about the body language here though. Porsche is being...shifty. When Kinn reaches out to touch his arm, he goes with it without resistance, but he can’t meet Kinn’s eyes. He’s looking everywhere but at Kinn’s face. Combine that with how his jaw is working, his torso going a little stiff so even as Kinn pulls him forward, he’s still not facing him directly.

He looks pissed off.

He got comfortable with Kinn, friendly with him, and now after remembering their kiss, he has a better idea of why Kinn’s been so off, even if he’s not really sure if what specifically is going through his mind. So with Kinn treating him like this, with distance and emphasis on the power imbalance between them, it confuses him further. If Kinn likes him, why would he treat him like this? If he wants him, why isn’t he doing something about it?

Porsche is waiting for Kinn to tell him what the kiss meant. And Kinn has been waiting for Porsche to tell him the exact same thing.

Porsche is understandably frustrated, and it shows. He keeps his body angled a little away from Kinn, posture loose and almost confrontational, agitated, his expression tense. He wants Kinn to explain himself, and instead all he sees is the Kinn who kidnapped him from Yok’s bar and choked him in front of a crowd of people to prove a point. He knows that Kinn and the one who kissed him on the pier don’t add up. But he also knows he can’t be the one to bring it up, not with how badly it could go for him as Kinn’s employee.

So he asks the only question he can ask: “If it weren’t for Tankhun, would you have taken me back?”

But let’s talk about Kinn. Like in the pool scene, even though he starts off controlled and distant, it’s an effort he can’t maintain for long. Over the course of the scene, he gradually grows more expressive, gets closer to Porsche, faces him directly.

Pay attention to Kinn’s microexpressions as he delivers the line above. Notice how he leans in. How his brows lift and pull together slightly. He’s stepping into Porsche’s space, putting his full focus on Porsche, speaking softly and almost intimately despite what he’s saying.

This isn’t him dismissing Porsche or putting him in his place. This look? Is him begging. When he says, “To me, all of our people are the same,” he’s not telling Porsche this. It’s more like he’s pleading with Porsche, with himself, for this to be true. He’s not holding power in this scene, despite his best efforts. He’s gravitating toward Porsche, his whole body oriented toward Porsche. He’s trying to push Porsche away, but only succeeds in bringing himself closer.

Porsche, meanwhile, is angled away. He’s keeping a distance that Kinn isn’t, acting almost aloof from him. He’s much more serious and muted in this moment than he has been previously, and even though he’s clearly confused over that kiss on the pier and Kinn’s potential attraction to him, he doesn’t understand his feelings yet, not the way Kinn understands (and continues to deny and reject) his. In this scene, Porsche holds the cards, even if he doesn’t fully know it yet. (He won’t know it until Kinn kisses him again.)

Why this all feels incredibly kinky

This post is getting stupidly long, literally longer than a lot of my college papers, so while I want to talk a little more about the ending, the scene-by-scene stops here. (Sadly I couldn’t even get to the Kinn/Tay/Time scene, but there’s some stuff there that could be unpacked too!)

The sex scene has been turned over and analyzed by a lot of brilliant people here, so I don’t think there’s anything I could say that hasn’t already been said much more eloquently. But I do want to end by thinking about how that sex scene provides a sort of breaking point or climax for the shift of power from Kinn to Porsche in this episode.

Another disclaimer: I’ve dabbled, but I wouldn’t consider myself part of the kink community, so while I do want to talk about what these shifting power dynamics mean in terms of Kinn and Porsche’s building D/s dynamic, I’m by no means an expert so I’m trying to stick to what I know. There are some amazing people on here who are way more knowledgeable about this so if you’ve talked about this or know someone who is, please lmk because I want to read aaaaall the meta on this. @lutawolf has some incredible insights about the D/s dynamic here, and I’m sure there are others I haven’t seen yet. And if there’s anything you see below that is incorrect or off-base, please reply or DM me and I’d be more than happy to delete/edit whatever it is.

It’s pretty apparent that Kinn and Porsche have the beginnings of a D/s dynamic unfolding between them. Kinn is constantly trying to put Porsche in his place, and Porsche is constantly acting out in ways to catch Kinn’s eye and keep his attention. The manhandling in the shirt-off scene, Porsche’s persistent needling about Kinn trading him away, and of course the sex scene itself, where Porsche basks in Kinn’s attention on him, soaking up all those touches and visibly craving that intimacy with Kinn. All of that is giving very kinky vibes and I’m sure it’ll only get more obvious as we go on.

So it might be a fair assumption to make, when I talk so much in this post about how Porsche is the one with the power in this ep, how he’s taking the lead in their relationship while Kinn follows, that I’m rejecting/downplaying that D/s dynamic or even trying to flip it. But I’m actually saying (or at least trying to say) the opposite.

Power in D/s is extremely layered and complicated. It’s not just about who’s in control of a scene or who takes the tangible lead or who’s on top or who’s giving orders etc etc etc. Power is ultimately, I would argue, in the submissive’s hands for the simple reason that they are the one consenting and submitting to control, and that consent can be withdrawn at any time. It’s a power exchange, yes, and of course has to be mutually consensual, but a good Dom sees control as a gift rather than a right, and understands the value of the trust and vulnerability being given to them. They pay attention to the sub’s needs (physical, emotional, mental) and base their actions around ensuring those needs are meet. It’s a big part of why submission can be so empowering, because at its core it means willingly surrendering control to someone else.

That’s all to say that while Porsche may hold more power in this episode and Kinn less, it’s a part of that early, unspoken negotiation of boundaries. Kinn doesn’t want to overstep. He’s giving up some of his power to Porsche, albeit not entirely realizing it, because he wants Porsche to set his limits, to determine where they go after that kiss. Kinn is already so confused by his own feelings, so out of his depth, that if he’s going to move forward, he needs Porsche to tell him how to do that.

It’s really…he’s just a really good Dom imo. (Or will be when he fully gets his shit together.) However you feel about that scene at the end, you can tell that Kinn is trying very hard to respect Porsche’s boundaries. He immediately withdraws his hands when Porsche slaps him away. He gives Porsche space while trying to take care of him because even if Porsche is flirting and openly making a pass at him, he has no way of knowing if it’s just because of the drug in his system or if it’s something he actually wants. He only gives in after Porsche brings up their kiss, because that’s what he’s been trying to ask for the entire episode. He realizes that Porsche is asking him for this fully aware of what they did, fully aware that it’s why Kinn’s been acting so strangely, and fully aware, finally, that he is the one holding all the cards right now.

And Kinn caves.

That’s what the entire episode has been building up to through this shifting power dynamic: Kinn being vulnerable, having his weak points poked at literally and figuratively. In this scene, he lets go, taking back some of his power just by virtue of being honest with himself and with Porsche for the first time.

I don’t think this shift will last long. I think, especially as we get into episode 5, that power is going to snap back hard in Kinn’s direction as he tries to regain control of his feelings and push Porsche away. I wouldn’t be surprised if what Porsche goes through in the next episode looks a lot like a prolonged, brutal subdrop, exacerbated by the trauma of what Vegas did.

Again, I’d love to read some more meta on this from people in the kink community, and if you do see anything above that is wrong/needs clarification, please let me know.

***

Okay, I really think I’ve rambled on WAY too long at this point. This is an absolute monster of a post that totally got away from me and I hope the other episodes are a little less interesting because the amount of thoughts I have about episode 4 is kind of bananas. Please feel free to add your thoughts because I know there’s still SO much stuff I missed and I’d love to hear everyone’s interpretations of what went down (the meta this week has been crazy and yet somehow I still need more 😭).

[demonicintegrity]

Got around to watching the new Helluva Boss and I’m pleasantly surprised at the turn around. Season two has had a wild flux in writing quality imo but I think this episode is arguably one of the strongest ones yet (outta both seasons.)

It also seems to be the longest episode so far, surprising considering it’s not a finale, but they make good use of the time.

Honestly a lot of the episode reminds me of how season one was set up. With a center clearly around Blitzø but still checking up on Stolas. And it’s very episodic and self contained again, which is great because that appears to be the crew’s strong spot.

Speaking of which, this is the first we’ve seen of Stolas since s2e4. I’m surprised it took until e6 of this season to circle back to him, but at least we’re not ignoring him. I personally would’ve at least teased how Stolas was doing after such a big blow, especially considering how the s2 is set up to be extremely focused on him and Blitzø’s relationship, but this works well too.

It works because we’re getting a little insight on Stolas’ frame of mind without causing pacing issues. He’s clearly recovered but focused on getting Blitzø out of his life again. He’s trying to distance himself from Blitzø still. Likely still in that “this was never going to work he doesn’t deserve to be tied to me” type mindset after the season opening.

But we see him briefly really appreciate what Ozzie and Fizz have. He seems genuinely happy for them, and likely is because Stolas has always been a hopeless romantic and a decent person despite things.

Speaking of Fizz, delightfully surprised out how his character is. I didn’t go in with anything specific in mind for him besides knowing he genuinely loved Ozzie but we have a really rounded out character with depth in a very short amount of time. I genuinely like his character.

(And someone’s made a separate post on this, but how Fizzy’s disability is treated is both done well and a bit of fresh air from the usual rep we see. He never denies that being disabled pained him greatly, but the tragedy in his past isn’t being disabled but being betrayed and heartbroken. Nor is he helpless because of it or overpowered because of his prosthetics. It’s not explicitly ignored I think the crew handled this really really well.)

But along with his character, my biggest interest is in how Fizz is now set up to be a foil to Blitzo. Like it's pretty obvs what he and Ozzie has is meant to parallel what Stolas/Blitzo could or even want to have. (Which in turn could mean Stolas/Blitzo is the kinda reputation Ozzie/Blitzo were trying so hard to avoid. A weird power dynamic and piss poor communication on top of the general perception those two have from outsiders.) They're in very similar boats but how each character addresses it that makes the circumstances so different.

And I think we have something really interesting being set up between Fizz and Blitzo. Both of them got enough closure for Fizz to genuinely want to let go some of the grudge. And I think theyre are some options on where to go with them, cuz I doubt this is the end of Fizz we're seeing.

I could see Fizz getting bored one day and reaching out in curiosity to see whats become of Blitz. Maybe the two can piece together the more correct timeline of events of the old circus since the fire. I can also see a potential plotline of Fizz getting I.M.P to be his bodyguards if he has to go out again for this or that reason.

I would also love more Ozzie and Stolas interacting. It would be good for Stolas to have Literally Just A Singular Friend. Cuz he doesnt seem to have any, and Ozzie doesn't seem to have anything personal against Stolas. He could probably be a good rational neutral voice for Stolas to bounce off of. He also just needs a friend if he ever wants a hope of his mental health improving. He seems to be trying to improve himself, but thats also the kinda thing you need a support system for.

Overall, I like this episode. The pacing and story itself was contained nicely and was a good watch. The humor stuck. And we have great leads to pick back up on later.

[callsign-bunnie]

hi idk if i read this correctly but can you do mateo dressing/acting like alejandro for the first time so he could get Rudy to notice him (obvs) , ty ♥ !

Yep! Here you go!

--

Rodolfo was trying very hard to focus on his homework. He was. 

But, his mind was distracted by… Alejandro. It was always Alejandro. He wasn’t dumb, he knew why. His mind had chosen the absolute worst fucking person and decided to get a crush on them. Why Alejandro?? Why his best friend??

Rodolfo tried to shake it off and turn back to his notebook, sighing and putting his chin in his palm. Well, he could list off the reasons. Alejandro was sweet… and funny and confident and… Well, maybe him being an alpha while Rodolfo was an omega had something to do with it. 

He believed in equality, don’t get him wrong, and he understood that he and other omegas could still count as oppressed but… he’d always been a bit more traditional. Maybe it was his family, maybe it was just him, but he was. Alejandro was, too, but not in an asshole way. He just believed in holding the door open and paying for dates and stuff like that. Rodolfo liked that. 

Your homework, Rodolfo! Fuck! This was completely unbearable! He groaned and laid his head on the table, closing his eyes. Give him five more minutes and he’d be twirling his hair and giggling in the middle of a library. Ughhhhh. He was 16, he needed to get it together.

So, he lifted his head and completely pushed Alejandro and the black leather jacket he’d gotten for Christmas and the loose jeans he usually wore, and- He was hopeless. Completely and totally hopeless. 

Homework. Now.

Finally, Rodolfo managed to point his head in the direction of his homework and he blissfully managed to get Alejandro out of his head, focusing on the absolutely boring subject that was creative writing. Look, he got no enjoyment out of it. To each their own; Rodolfo wasn’t a writer.

Maybe that was partially the reason Alejandro was stuck in his mind like a broken record. He hated this subject, it made sense his brain was desperately trying to escape it.

Someone came up and leaned against the counter and he blushed as cinnamon and honey washed over him. Telling himself not to get too excited, he looked up, checking for blue or brown eyes. He was greeted with warm brown eyes and relaxed, smiling. “Alejandro.”

“Hey.” Alejandro smiled at him, crossing his arms as he leaned against the table. “How are you?”

Rodolfo snorted. “I’m great, thanks. When did we start trying to make small talk?”

“Eh, first time for everything.” Alejandro paused and looked away and Rodolfo frowned. “Just thought I’d ask.”

Rodolfo winced, feeling bad for immediately jabbing at him, now. “Sorry. Thanks for asking. Yeah, I’m fine. Sick of this creative writing assignment, but… eh.”

“Oh, the one about how penguins mate for life??” Alejandro perked up.

Rodolfo nodded, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah. How did you know about it? We just got it, yesterday, and you don’t have that teacher.” He and Alejandro hadn’t spoken since a few days before, either, and Rodolfo didn’t have minutes left on his phone. Liliana’s fault. He was still tempted to beat her ass for it.

“Oh.” Alejandro blushed dark. “Mateo was complaining about it. You know how he is.”

“Yeah.” Rodolfo nodded, relaxing, since he did. He liked Mateo, he thought he was fun, but… Mateo liked to complain a lot. And Mateo did have the same teacher. “Sometimes, I think he’s not happy if he’s not complaining.” He joked. “It’s like a hobby for him.”

He frowned, watching Alejandro seem to tense and clench his hands into fists. Then, he shrank back. Mateo was such a touchy subject… he never knew what would piss Alejandro off. “A-Anyway,” he quickly said, not really wanting to get into another argument. They’d been fighting more and more lately… “I’m really just not a writer. I don’t know how I’m supposed to write a love story between two penguins.”

“Everyone else is doing something basic, you should do something creative.” Alejandro slid into the seat beside him. “Maybe… a penguin falls in love with another penguin, but the other penguin likes a different penguin?”

Rodolfo thought it was creative but… “I don’t know, that seems convoluted.” He sighed and shook his head. “Kind of sad, too.”

“The main penguin could win the other over. I mean… how do you think he’d be able to do that?” Alejandro shrugged, folding his hands on the table beside Rodolfo.

Rodolfo looked at his hands and then raised an eyebrow. Mateo did that, not Alejandro. But, he shook it off. Alejandro had a tendency to pick up others’ mannerisms. “I don’t know… Maybe with gifts. I know I like gifts…” Sort of. He didn’t like big or expensive ones, but he liked when Alejandro found random things that he said made him think of Rodolfo. “Can penguins sing?”

“Yes!” Mateo nodded. “They sing to attract mates.”

Rodolfo raised his eyebrow at Alejandro’s fast answer, expecting an I Don’t Know. You know, come to think of it, Alejandro was putting a fair amount of thought into this creative writing assignment. “I like music. I think if someone sang, it might win me over.” Maybe… Alejandro was trying to take an interest in him? The idea flattered him and he found himself flushing. “You know. That’s just my preference.” He smiled, fidgeting under the table. 

Alejandro watched him, for a bit. “Mateo sings.” He finally said.

Oh. “Okay?” Rodolfo snorted, though his heart kind of sank. “I’ll keep that in mind, I guess.” Alright, maybe he’d misread the situation. “I’ll think about the penguins, I guess. Hey, since when do you care so much about my creative writing assignments?”

Alejandro shrugged and then gave Rodolfo a half smile, one that Rodolfo recognized and also adored. “Just trying to help my best friend out.” He nudged him and Rodolfo found himself blushing dark, despite the “best friend”. “If um… you need more help, you know you can ask Mateo?”

Huh. That was the second time he’d brought him up. What was with Alejandro?? Don’t get Rodolfo wrong, he was glad Alejandro was making an attempt to get along with him better. Rodolfo and Mateo were friends. But… this was odd for him. “I’ll think about it.” He smiled, anyway. “Thanks for the help, Alejandro.”

“No problem.” Alejandro nodded and then looked up. “Shit, I gotta go. Bye!” He rushed off before Rodolfo could say anything. Rodolfo just rolled his eyes, though, hating the way Alejandro tended to just leave. 

Whatever.

He turned back to his notebook, writing down Alejandro’s idea before also writing down some basic ideas for how it could go. Why fucking penguins, anyway??

Ugh, whatever. 

“Hey, what are you working on?” 

Rodolfo blinked at the smell of cinnamon and honey washing over him and looked up, greeted with… warm brown eyes. “Funny.” He joked. “Where did you have to go to?” He asked, looking around. 

“Go… to?” Alejandro raised an eyebrow and blinked. He sat by Rodolfo and touched his head. “Are you okay, Rudy?”

“I… Yeah.” Rodolfo blinked and shook his head. “Are you?? You were just here, talking to me about my creative writing assignment.” He huffed, moving away from Alejandro. “Don’t fuck with me.”

Alejandro tilted his head before almost appearing to stiffen. Rodolfo made a face, not liking how he was behaving. Then, Alejandro just shook his head. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I was… just trying to joke. I forget you don’t like those kinds of jokes. Hey, listen, I was thinking we go to the movies this weekend. Just… you and me?”

Rodolfo blushed dark. Oh, maybe he hadn’t been misreading it… “Like… Like a…” He trailed off, flustered.

“A date?” Alejandro confirmed and nodded, then he was also blushing and rubbing the back of his neck. “If you’re okay with that, that is-”

“I’d love that!” Rodolfo burst out before covering his mouth and blushing even darker. Oh shit, that was embarrassing. “I’d… I’d love that.” He tried again, glaring at Alejandro when he laughed softly. “Nevermind, I take it back.” He huffed.

“No, no, Rudy!” Alejandro quickly defended, though he was laughing more. “I’m sorry! I just- Fuck! I was so nervous you’d get weirded out and tell me to fuck off.” 

“Well, I didn’t,” Rodolfo answered. “Don’t like being laughed at, though.” He lightly shoved at Alejandro, not actually that mad. “Asshole.” He added.

“You think I’m funny.” Alejandro half grinned and then leaned over, kissing his cheek. “I’ll pick you up-”

“No.” Rodolfo shook his head, immediately, remembering the last time Alejandro had drove them somewhere. “I have my license, I will pick you up.”

Alejandro feigned offense, touching his chest. “Does my driving not suit you, Rodolfo?”

“It does not. Not at all.” Rodolfo answered, honestly. “In fact, it makes my heart beat ten times too fast.”

Alejandro laughed, again. “Alright, alright. You can drive.” He shook his head. “I’m still paying, though.”

“Good, you can spend your money.” Rodolfo teased, though inside he was so incredibly happy. Alejandro was taking him on a date! Ahhh! “Hey, while you’re here, what should I name the penguins??”

“The penguins? Oh, the creative writing assignment?” Alejandro raised an eyebrow and took Rodolfo’s notebook, looking at it.

Rodolfo raised an eyebrow. “Your memory is getting worse, Ale. I’ll have to start calling you Viejo.”

“Ah, shut it.” Alejandro snorted and threw him a look. “Umm… I have no idea.”

“Eh, maybe I’ll take your advice and ask Mateo.” Rodolfo sighed, honestly just grateful to have gotten the help he already had. “Thanks, anyway.”

“Anything for you, Rudy.” Alejandro grinned at him, though his tone was teasing so Rodolfo shoved him again. "Also, I think I have names. Daniel, Gabriel, and Isabela."

"Of course you'd find a solution so quick when I mention Mateo." Rodolfo rolled his eyes, not even shocked. That made more sense.

Alejandro just grinned.

-

Rodolfo tilted his head as Mateo stepped into their language arts class, noting the bandage on his nose. 

Huh.

Odd.

--

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@sinclairbrosbathmat @The_pluto_828

[qqueenofhades]

I always thought the Prequels were good Star Wars stories told less well than they could have been, and one of my pet peeves (obvs. YMMV) was that GL forgot they were prequels and so spent far too much time teasing Anakin's inner conflict when everyone already knew how that was going to end. We did need that taste of what was to come, but the better movie would have been less in Anakin's headspace and more in everyone else's. We all know Anakin's going to fall. Focus on making it hurt. I think Obi-Wan Kenobi's got it figured out. They don't need to explain the obvious over and over again, they just need to stab you in the heart with it in new and cinematically pretty ways.

I mean... yeah, pretty much. The prequels were underwhelming for a few reasons, firstly because George Lucas insisted on writing all the dialogue himself (he had done it for the other films, but there were multiple co-writers and script polishers and actor improvisations that saved it) and it was.... bad. Ponderous, self-important, clunky, and in the case of Anakin and Padme's romance, inadvertently and unfortunately hilarious. This was compounded by his insistence on directing it as a dreadfully grim and wooden tragedy (Hayden Christensen got panned for his performance, but he said that he tried to lighten it up/act in a different way, but George didn't want it), when SW works best especially in its moments of lightheartedness and self-aware gentle mockery of itself. It's a soap-opera fantasy/sci-fi popcorn universe; it doesn't need to be written and directed like King Lear, and the prequels were weaker due to George's insistence on playing them completely straight.

So... yeah, we all know that Anakin is going to fall to the dark side, and I have said before that the whole thing where Padme dies in childbirth because lady parts (apparently there are no gynecologists on Coruscant but Luke can get a totally realistic fake hand?) and that's what makes Anakin go evil is also Bad. The parts and components are there-- Anakin's deep attachments to his mother, Padme, and Obi-Wan, and his problems with anger and desperation to fix the injustice that he experienced as a child slave -- but they're never given enough narrative elbow grease and genuine emotion to make them really hit the way they should.

This is especially obvious because yes, we are now all suffering buckets over Kenobi in the way that we came the closest to doing in Revenge of the Sith (which is by far the best of the prequels, despite its problems). We already know the story backward and forward, we know what happened before and what's happening next and how everything ended up this way, but because it focuses on emotions and character relationships and love and trauma more than clunky exposition or cliché narrative gimmicks, it still hurts a lot anyway. Yet again, it shows the idea that you constantly have to Shock The Audience to tell a good story is total hooey. If you're not necessarily shocking them, but you're still landing your emotional punches because your storytelling focuses on GENUINE feelings and respects the decades of engagement that fans have poured into this story and these characters, you don't NEED schlocky gratuitous random "twists" and the wanton Grimdarking of everything.

Basically, that was why I hated the sequel trilogy so much: the sheer disrespect shown to Han, Luke, and Leia, the destruction of their story arcs and narrative goals from the original trilogy, and the way this was all done in the name of Game of Thrones-ifying Star Wars and never felt authentic to the tones and themes of the original. As a SW fan for my entire life, I simply can't enter or engage with that take on it, because it is so disrespectful and destructive from what the story always was about before. Even the prequels, while they're technically and narratively underwhelming and I wanted them to be much better, still are Star Wars movies. The sequels on the other hand feel shoehorned in from an entirely different franchise, and the fact that mediocre white men can just make up shit and not even properly plan out, script, or plot their addition to one of the most beloved properties of all time will never not make me see red.

That being the case, the obvious adoration that Kenobi has for the characters, the way it tenderly focuses on their love and their relationships and their agonising pain, while still centering hope, Obi-Wan's rusty but deeply rooted compassion, his desperate desire to rest but his equally grim determination to fight for what's right even when it's totally hopeless and his heart is broken... that got me feeling Some Kinda Way. Because at its heart, that is what SW has always been about, and I think the reason people are responding to it so strongly is exactly because they recognize that.

[sirenofthegreenbanks]

hiiii really enjoyed your chenglingposting i was thinking about how sometimes the kids in adult stories function as a sort of barometer for optimism about the future in their views and options in life... obviously the alliance wants to continue the cycle of antagonizing and vengeance and conflict with the veneer of "honor" but. zcl gets to choose not to. its been a while since I either read or watched, do you know if zcl was ever onboard with actually wanting vengeance or if that was just being pushed on him? Obv its not super in line w his personality but grief could be a factor. i just thought it'd make a lot of sense if he changed his mind on that due to the influence of wenzhou and how they prioritize enjoying life w your people and following your own path over expectations. priest really took one more chance to emphasize breaking cycles/"if it sucks hit the bricks"

hi!! omg!!! thank you and im glad you enjoyed it! honestly this is a question i have been thinking about since at least two rereads ago. the show and the novel are handling this issue of zcl picking up his legacy / giving in to external expectations / finding out what he really wants in life a little differently, i think, as befitting of what they both focus on. ive said in my chenglingpost that the show is about legacy and inheritance in my eyes, while the novel is about martial arts and freedom of choice. obvs freedom of choice is a high priority in word of honor as well, but word of honor seems to have an overarching look, kind of focusing on the big picture and what a generation / a community needs rather than a few individuals, while the novel focuses exclusively on wenzhou and their little group and seems to handle the rest of the themes in priest's usual style. the show is about something "grand", the novel is about the mundane, almost boring human experience. martial arts play a bigger role in the latter too because they are a stand-in for many things that are hard to grasp, like autonomy. in chengling's context, martial arts are irrevocably linked with seeking revenge. i think that is specifically in the novel the case, not so much in the show. in the show seeking revenge is pushed onto him by others as well as inheriting his sect's legacy and becoming worthy of being his father's son. in the novel, the idea of seeking revenge is first presented to him by gu xiang, and it is actually this huge contrast to how others treat him because others "generously" offer to take revenge for him, while gu xiang tells him he can do that himself. we see with wen kexing that getting revenge does not make u happy. it gives u closure but it does not make u happy. i think that is something chengling learns during the novel. he gets closure in the end but it does not look the way he had imagined it would. i think he imagined himself to get super strong and then single-handedly slay his foes. yknow, as u often see in wuxia and as wen kexing literally does. then he starts learning martial arts and realizes getting super strong is actually not that easy, and this chasm between what he expects of himself and what he is able to achieve gets wider and wider and he falls into depression spirals, because to chengling, seeking revenge was taking ownership of his life and his trauma, and what use does he have when he cant even do that? that is the path wen kexing walks and it hollowed him out and it would have him kill himself if he hadnt met zhou zishu; wen kexing viewed himself as an instrument for a very long time rather than as someone deserving of having his own life. so obvs, that path is rubbish by itself (wkx gets his revenge and his closure and his life, good for him!) and its far too much for a kid. and i think, that is what chengling learns here: he only needs to do as much as he can, only bite off what he can chew, and the rest should not be his concern. and there really turns out to be a way to get everything he needs without walking the same path as wen kexing, as the novel proves, because wen kexing had nobody when he was in the same situation while trying to survive the valley, while chengling has wenzhou who guide him and shield him and love him. (crying myself into a huddle over wen kexing and chengling and them being foils of each other.) so in that sense youre already putting it into words. chengling seems to have changed his mind over the course of the novel, he doesnt have that same outlook on vengeance as he as in the start. i think thats different for the show. in the show, there is this weighing of the concept of revenge against the concept of getting justice, and what both these things do and require of a person and what they can offer u as an individual, but also u as a collective, in the long run. they are seen as two different things and are explored and qestioned individually. i think that can be seen in the conflict with chengling and all these expectations everyone has of him and how he handles that.

[jacksgreysays]

Fake Fic Summaries 32/?, the Putting the Romance in Necromancer edition

I’ve been having a recurring narrative dream and I gotta write down what I have before it forever leaves my mind and also I told my friend how I would frame it and laughter was induced so let’s gooooooo!

~

The framing device is: you know those extremely long isekai titles? Well…

I’m a Hitchhiker Who Fell in Love at First Sight with a Necromancer on a Mission to Resurrect His Boyfriend Whose Dead Body Is Being Experimented on by a Shadowy Government Agency Because He is a Prince from an Alternate Universe A love story

So, as the title would suggest, it starts with a hitchhiker on the side of an empty highway. There’s nothing around. It’s snowing. He’s not particularly well equipped for the weather or for roughing it. He may or may not have a guitar, I haven’t decided.

He thinks he’s going to die. He’s probably going to die. He may be experiencing hypothermia. He’s in Canada.

Like a mirage, a vehicle approaches far in the distance. This is his last chance at survival. He needs to get out of the cold.

Is it a bus? Is it a truck? Is it a manifestation of death to free him from this snowy hell?

Whatever it is, it slows for him, and when our hitchhiker focuses on the driver, he sees an angel and falls in love.

He will soon find out that the driver is not an angel, but he will not be any less in love.

they get to the secret government base, split up to find boyfriend’s body, of course it’s hitchhiker who finds him, extremely restrained to a gurney even though he appears to be dead? hitchhiker is very complimentary and chatters a lot to boyfriend as he releases restraints and tries to find something with wheels to convey the body and maybe a blanket (lab coat?) because it’s pretty cold (and obvs the body is naked, lol) (and maybe there’s a box/bag with important items or files? unsure)

anyway, on the getting back to the RV, hitchhiker with boyfriend on wheels are spotted, hitchhiker totally expects to die (and does not think he has endeared himself enough to necromancer enough to be resurrected with love) but the dead(?) boyfriend moves so fast to protect hitchhiker and over all hitchhiker may very well fall in love yet again but now he’s extremely crushed by knowing they have each other.

they escape—maybe dead(?) boyfriend goes back to being catatonic after dispatching the immediate guards—and hitchhiker is so out of his depth that he’s now just abiding by the plan because head empty no thoughts. thankfully, nothing deterred necromancer in returning to the RV so they all reload and get back on the road ASAP.

Hitchhiker offers to drive so that necromancer and boyfriend can properly reunite/necromancer can finish resurrection ritual, etc. and he’s just driving slightly heartbroken and trying to both eavesdrop and not on the two behind him. he can’t hear much. so they’re not passionately reaffirming their love for each other which is nice. but also, maybe that’s because they’re so confident and steady in their devotion to each other that nothing needs to be conveyed passionately? ahhhh so heart broken.

then after a while, necromancer says boyfriend can drive since he doesn’t need to sleep and at this point he just needs time to come fully back to life. hitchhiker is like, coolio, i’m going to sleep (and be heartbroken) maybe he overhears necromancer talking to boyfriend about opinion on hitchhiker, but mostly he just goes to sleep.

he wonders if they’ll drop him off in the next city. the sentimental heartbroken part of him hopes so, because he doesn’t want to third wheel it so spectacularly. but the logical part is like: hey, we were dying of hypothermia before, a little yearning will not literally kill you, also it’s not like you’re a master thief, the secret government agency probably had cameras up and they know what you look like.

and then the RV slows because there’s something in the road. a car broken down or something? suspiciously damaged considering theres no signs of other vehicles anywhere. (perhaps tires blown out?) where a couple of people are sheltering from the ongoing cold weather.

hitchhiker wakes up enough to get involved—ie, with trusting, optimistic heart say that he thinks they should help this couple, the same way that necromancer helped him. and necromancer certainly can’t say no to that—so they let the couple and their strange amount of duffel bags into the RV and hitchhiker goes back to sleep with the sounds of both couples seemingly getting along fine. he wonders, again, if with this new couple they’ll get rid of their awkward fifth wheel.

and then, after what seems to be a mere blink of sleep, hitchhiker is rudely awaken by the man of the couple yanking him out of bed and holding a knife to his throat. uhoh, the couple were bank robbers fleeing from the city whose getaway car broke down on the road on the way out and who certainly don’t want to go into the city where they are highly wanted, nor do they want to split the loot five ways so they’re trying to commandeer the RV to finish their heist.

the scene: hitchhiker with knife to throat as the male robber makes his demands. necromancer, also with knife to throat, as female robber escorts him out of the stopped RV. recently resurrected boyfriend holding back and staring silently because he doesn’t have all of his mental faculties online yet nor does he want to risk a knife in a throat.

a noise, the female robber screams from outside. the male robber, distracted, moves his knife enough that boyfriend makes a move. one second absolutely stock still, the next the male robber’s hand holding the knife is ripped off his body, the next blood sprays across hitchhiker’s face as boyfriend bites into male robber’s neck, the next male robber is dead on the floor of the RV and the boyfriend is reaching for the hitchhiker.

hitchhiker, understandably, flinches away. boyfriend, covered in blood, flinches away from his flinch. necromancer, absolutely blasé, walks back into the RV with a human heart in his hand, complaining about the mess. he admonishes boyfriend for being such a messy eater, but equally hands over the human heart (presumably female robber) to boyfriend. as a treat.

hitchhiker, realizing that the violence was defensive in nature and somehow no less in love with both of them, thanks boyfriend for saving him and also apologizes for flinching. boyfriend, still without words, just kinda… leans up in hitchhiker’s space and immediately gets his face shoved away by necromancer who is fondly exasperated with him. you’re going to be so embarrassed when your brain comes back.

hitchhiker thinks for being so affectionate with someone who is not necromancer. necromancer knows it’s because boyfriend is a gentleman and such brazen behavior without getting hitchhiker’s explicit consent would be absolutely shameful.

anyway, now they have two dead bodies (which boyfriend will eat to speed up the revivification process and also hide the evidence) and four duffel bags full of cold hard cash so… they can now have the weird poly romcom roadtrip that my dreams wanted me to set up but not actually finish without having to worry about logistics of resources and such.

putting the romance in necromancer

if you read all of that, i’m sorry, lol

[lily-blue-blue-lily]

oh 911 hot takes poll, i loved yours!! what price do i get when i agree with all of your hot takes? the only thing that i am mostly neutral about is henren being the best ship, but that's mostly because i enjoy it the same way i enjoy bathena and madney. they're all cute, but not ships i actively ship if that makes sense?

i think there should be more talk about bobby literally lying his way into the position of captain of the 118 and not only facing zero tangible consequences for his actions but also being allowed to keep the fucking job lmfao. y'all be hating on female characters who are career-focused for personal reasons (cough taylor cough) but when it's a white dude, it's because he's such a poor misunderstood soul boohoo <3 the double standards make me sick <3

buck filing the lawsuit had a point, he literally won the case. like, in canon, the show canonized that buck was in the right. buck's doctor had approved him to go back to firefighting so bobby had no legal ground or evidence to just forbid him to come back. an "inkling" or "feeling" is not a reason for an employer to do that? idk why people were pissed at buck for going the legal route – we have unions because of employers frequently use their power to push you out of your job and shit whenever it suits them. bobby is not buck's doctor nor therapist, so why does anyone think that he can just do that? maybe it's an american thing idk about lmao. buck obtaining millions of dollars as damages said enough, and i need people to swallow that pill.

bless, i am not alone in thinking that eddie was (and obv the buddie shippers were) clearly being kind of an ass to ana! people were at her throat for calling him "edmundo" of all things, as if he cannot speak up for himself or isn't allowed to like his first name lmao. how ana was demonized and eddie was babyfied by the fandom is my villain origin story. on that note, i also must point out that the only reason eddie did not face a trial or any other severe consequences after beating up a man is because that man just conveniently dropped the case. could have easily lost custody over chris because of that, but sure, ana was the disrespectful toxic troublemaker. double standard rgrgrgrgrg

also taylor and bucktaylor my beloved <3 the end of the relationship was so abrupt but what else is new with the wonky 911 writing. i still love her, i love that she is clearly thriving after the breakup, and i think the ship could have been developed instead of broken up tbh. their different values were interesting and challenging, finally somebody who did not appear to only play the role of "buck's girlfriend who must agree with everything". i get the breakup, but taylor was willing to change to make things work, so like, big missed chance imo. i'll keep enjoying them in my heart tho <3

omg thanks for typing all this out and validating my opinions haha! its like we share a mind!

honestly i dont have much to add to this, you summed up a lot of my thoughts so well!

in terms of the lawsuit stuff, i dont necessarily completely agree with buck filing the lawsuit, like i get why the others were mad, but i do think that bobbys reaction to it was not great, plus like buck did have a point, he wouldn't have won otherwise and also i think there was a double standard, like other characters who got injured (like when chimney got the freaking rebar through his skull!!) came back to work pretty quick with no issue, but for some reason its different for buck?

my biggest issue with the 911 fandom is how any love interest buck and eddie have are treated. like, dont get me wrong, i love buck and eddie and i do ship them, but also the way fans treat the female characters is gross. i love taylor, like shes not perfect and im not saying she did nothing wrong, but also every other character in the show has fucked up on multiple occasions yet they arent treated with the same hatred she is, i truly dont get it! i do think it was right for her and buck to break up at the point they did, but for the majority of their relationship i did really like them as a couple!

im not gonna go into any more detail here cos this post is becoming insanely long and i have so many thoughts, but like, anon, you get it. thank you!

[roobylavender]

this is a completely random thought but one of the funniest things about comic fans is how they’re utterly incapable of conceptualizing that writers can have preferences and priorities that in turn impact how the narrative moves forward at large but not necessarily in an inherently negative way. like re: whether selina is essential to the core batman mythos or not there’s one camp that seems to believe denny o’neil hated her guts and thereby decided to make her non-essential, and another camp that seems to believe bc he greenlighted her solo it’s obvious he had to care about her but nonetheless took the same decision as above out of some logical reasoning as to her importance or whatever and like.. i think the reality is that he respected her as a character enough to realize there was a lot of potential with greenlightning a solo but he wasn’t necessarily invested in her himself. if you look at the number of batman comics denny has written over the years selina is only in two from the seventies (at least if i have my numbers right. correct me if i’m wrong). and they’re well-written appearances! some of my favorite in fact and that serve to establish she has a potentially very significant meaning to bruce despite that antagonism. but i don’t think denny necessarily had an investment in her to the point that he was actively trying to make her a driver in the major story arcs he oversaw. that on its own isn’t a bad thing, rather i think it speaks to a preference he had with the stories he wanted to tell, which every writer will obv have

having a preference with who you want to write about in comics isn’t inherently bad nor does it act as a barrier to circumstances changing in the future and a writer who maybe does have an investment in that character entering the scene. that’s the novelty of comic writing. so i find it very odd when people use this whole phenomenon to argue as to whether characters are definitively essential to a mythos or not bc ultimately that essential nature is crafted or it isn’t, it can be crafted well or it can’t be, etc. do i think the way selina was written more deeply into the mythos after denny left was well executed? not remotely. but i don’t think that automatically means the way she existed under his tenure was automatically damning in comparison, whether that’s an opinion that comes from the camp who hates her or the camp who loves her. he may not have focused on her heavily in the story arcs he was crafting, but that’s not to say exploring her and her relationship with bruce in any more depth was forbidden, or that it could never have been done meaningfully with respect to her and bruce’s clashing ideologies. the right writer just needed to come around and.. in my opinion they never did after mindy newell left 😶

[toastess-with-the-mostess]

The Galaxy Garrison sucks ass and this is why I think so Part 3

This is my OWN interpretation, Voltron as a whole never gave enough context about the GG to ever show it in a purely positive or negative light. I'll be excluding VLD, Beastking Golion, Armored Fleet Dairugger XV and any comics here since that's a hard reboot, the original Japanese dubs have nothing to do with each other, and because the comics are their own beast to deal with.

This part will be focusing on Voltron Force and Voltron The Third Dimension

Parts: 1 2 3

Rant after the cut for dash reasons, feel free to add your own opinions and/or additions to the post, I really want to hear about other interpretations of the GG!

Starting off with Voltron The Third Dimension (V3D) as my thoughts on it are short Say what you want about the 3D rendering but the story absolutely hits, I'd listen to it as a podcast AT THE LEAST because it's so good V3D made some good points by having the Garrison be a villain to the newly reinstated team! I will cut them some slack and admit that Zarkon tampered with Amalgamous (a robot built to be the decision maker for the entire alliance with all their stances programmed into him) which made him a lot more crappy However that doesn't stop me from tearing into him! Amalgamous is supposed to be the love child of the alliance yet still got tricked by Zarkon when most if not all those planets were harmed by him in some way? I don't believe it He repeatedly caused issues for the force and at one point ORDERED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE LIONS because "it's what the leaders would've voted for!" Not to mention he held a vote to permanently disband the force because THEY WERE DOING THEIR JOB, and it almost worked too if the actual alliance leaders weren't actively voting Now he did get a lot nicer after the tampering done to him was reversed, but he was still an asshole, and it also irks me that NOBODY THOUGHT TO TAKE IT TO DEBATE ABOUT SERIOUS THINGS LIKE THIS INSTEAD OF LETTING A FUCKING AI DO IT

Next is Voltron Force! Don't come to me trashing the bad 2d art and 3d rendering mix, I will make you cease to exist from my blog. Obv I love this show a lot so I have many things to say as I focus heavily on the story One of the main antagonists once again IS the Garrison, except this time it's not an AI, it's some wack politician! The show made an amazing choice with that, because the GG BREEDS those kinds of people, will cut some slack as it's Wade specifically causing ruckus but with the power of a multi-planetary military under Wade, the villain, only held the top seat of the military division, the division that is absolutely the most funded of them. Not only did he have full control over the raw firepower but he eventually took over the GG ENTIRELY It shows that the GG is either weak willed as hell or the rest of the leaders were only a little less bad than him if he could take over so easily Episode after episode shows that Wade is power hungry and will do anything to take Voltron down. We learn that Wade sabotaged Voltron and basically outlawed it only to steal black for himself in order to experiment in making himself stronger Nobody besides the planets allied with Voltron chooses to stand up to Wade, except the planets we do hear attempt to do so never have it end well for them For example, he forcibly mines a precious resource from a planet called Arial even after its spiritual leader forbids him too and causes the area and presumably the PLANET to go wack as it's thrown off balance Planet Ebb (a planet that's sustained on trade) is placed under blockade, its people are starved to the point where it's ruler works with Wade in order to get any food he can to them, and even when he does his part Wade still says he won't lift it causing the leader to switch sides and worth with voltron In the same episode, he takes a page out of the 9th kingdom's book and PRACTICALLY ENSLAVED PRINCESS ALLURA, HER NIECE DUCHESS LARMINA , AND CORAN, THROWS ALLURA AND CORAN INTO A GLADIATOR RING AS HE LIVE STREAMS IT TO THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE WHILE FORCING LARMINA TO WATCH Another side character mentions that his home planet was invaded with the cloaking technology he made because Wade forced him into manufacturing it on a military level, only for Wade to turn on him in the end. With what he says, we can only assume his planet was wiped out, and he is one of if not THE sole survivor. This guy works in a secret prison btw, housing both the worst criminals and political prisoners of Wade, especially those who go against him Only after the gladiator incident is Wade taken down, but not before WADE TAKES OVER VOLTRON AND ACTIVELY DESTROYS THE CITY AROUND GG HQ JUST TO PROVE HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE ROBOT BEING DANGEROUS And the force themselves (minus allura but plus their three cadets) have to take him down because nobody else in the alliance WOULD DO ANYTHING TO STOP HIM OR EVEN VOICE THEIR CONCERN

I should point out that both V3D and VF are pseudo-sequels of dotu, meaning both shows happen with dotu already in its timeline! So these points of interest are just layers on top of layers of issues that the Garrison has

TLDR: I hate the GG with a passion because they're useless and the only time they ever do anything is when they're backed into a wall. The only good to come out of the GG was the LV and VV teams as they were misfits that were gotten rid of but somehow all came back as saviors of the universe and to an ENTIRE RACE OF PEOPLE WHO'S PLANET ALSO EXPLODED respectively

[imjeralee]

Not the same anon but I really liked your adhd hcs! Could you the same but with Diluc, Kaeya and Xiao please? (could you also add the fact s/o absolutely can't focus for shit on anything more than 5s before zoning out and they tend to be overstimulated very easily by their environment lol)

hi anon!! thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it :) Not a problem, I guess this can be a part 2 ehe. I hope you like this one too. Please see below - 

Diluc

You’re actually one of the best workers he has in Dawn Winery, because you’re efficient and smart and bustling around like ♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ

But you do tend to zone out a lot and sometimes you end up working so late into night and you don’t realise it but you had forgotten to eat dinner so you go to the kitchen and it’s like 3am and Diluc is there because he works late too and he’s also just finally getting the chance to eat so you are always having food together whilst everyone else is asleep :3

At work though, if you had forgotten to do something such as paying the bills, no worries, Diluc has a backup plan - the maids usually help with this 

You usually ramble away to Diluc about anything you think of, even when he’s working at his desk. He’ll just be sitting silently and occasionally throwing you glances every now and then as you pace the study up and down and gesture with your hands. You know he’s listening. 

You may be messy, but the maids help clean up after you 

If you can’t focus, Diluc will help organise your day because he is organised himself and has lots of deadlines and also he has trustworthy employees like Adelinde and Connor who can help come up with a schedule for you on a daily basis but Diluc keeps you close by his side which also means you most likely do a lot of things together and you work/stay very closely with him

In order to help you stay focused and on task, he wants you to accomplish one thing at a time and often Diluc will do this with you personally 

If he was in the middle of doing something else, he will pause to head over to assist you. If he’s not able to, he’ll get Connor or Adelinde to help

When you’re overstimulated because there’s too many people visiting the Winery or feeling really uncomfortable in general and your thoughts are darting all over the place, Diluc will take your hand and lead you away and to your special, quiet place where you can just focus on him and look at his face which helps you gradually relax and calm down

You might zone out a bit when he starts talking but then you notice the intricate details on the buttons of his shirt and the buckle on his belt and you’re like ‘cool’…. And start pressing your fingers over them and he’s like “…….”

He still loff you a lot though 

Kaeya

Somehow everything you lose always end up in his possession??? Like you might go up to him and go ‘Kaeya! I lost my sword! I don’t know what happened to it! Its just disappeared!!” And he will just whip it out from behind his back and be like “You mean.... this sword?” And you’ll be like “YESSSS gimme.”

“Nuh-uh, not yet.”

“Whaaaat?”

“You have to give me a kiss first.”

“Okay.”

It’s actually pretty cool and reassuring because you have no idea how he does it

And this is the kind of relationship you have with him so you’re never bored around him because of how unpredictable he is 

You tend to zone out a lot so he likes making up little puzzles and brain teasers for you whenever you’re with him and keeping you guessing all the time

If you ask a question he’ll answer your question with a question. Can be either infuriating or very stimulating. Hmm.

Also enjoys telling you ghost stories 

I suspect you and Kaeya may actually be a pretty messy duo because you’re both busy with knightly duties and shit and your house will be utter chaos. Kaeya has arranged for a knight to come around twice a week to clean up tho

He loves to act as your own personal assistant and remind you of things so you don’t forget, usually by coming up behind you and leaning down to whisper in your ear 

If you zone out again, he’ll feed you some candy or hold your hand so you can play with his long fingers and the studs on his gloves or he’ll make little ice crystals with unique patterns and make them float around in the air for you 

He’ll also allow you to play with his ponytail

He’s quiet on his own so he’ll be a good listener

When you are experiencing sensory overload, Kaeya will usually sort it out for you one way or another. You’re in good hands. Then you will go and take a nap together.

Xiao

Xiao is your mentor. He speaks so fluently and to the point and also expects you to be clear and concise when dealing with him and so unceremoniously end up helping you organise your own thoughts 

Otherwise, you might zone out often and very easily because there’s too many things going on in Wangshu Inn and it’s too much to handle but then the smell of almond tofu being cooked in the kitchen helps kick you back to reality and you’ll realise Xiao was standing there by your side the entire time 

Ok ok so we know from Ganyu that Xiao is punctual and hates tardiness so he’s good at reminding you about appointments/deadline if needed.

I mean he will drill this into your brain with an iron fist. Defy him if you dare

It also means he will inevitably come up with some practises and teach you how to be mindful, how to increase your awareness and also various breathing exercises

Aside from that, he will notice you lose things a lot esp when he finds random stuff littering the Wangshu Inn ranging from cheese and vials of whopperflower nectar so he will keep an eye on you from now on.

Or if he’s not around, he will ask Verr Goldet to take note of what you lost so she can easily and quickly replace it thanks to Wangshu Inn’s connections

Xiao observes what you do on a regular basis from the shadows and then returns to the inn and also ask Verr Goldet to check up on you every now and then and remind you when it’s time to eat because he noticed you often forget to eat

One day you might return to your room and discover that he’s actually left some food for you and there this note on it with the word “EAT” scribbled on it 

Your impulsiveness and the hectic and chaos that surrounds you works well with him because it’s not like he has a schedule either, I mean he often turns up in your room at 4am after fighting so many demons after 3 days straight and he’s in agony from all that bad karma but there’s you and you’re awake because obv you forgot to do something and went back to it hours later but now that he’s here and in your presence and you want to talk to him about your day and he’ll be listening to everything

And listening to your voice and the way you speak is actually really soothing/comforting to him and even makes his pain goes away

Then you’ll remember what you were doing and rush off and he’ll be back up and running and go off to destroy more demons so the world can sleep better at night 

or if he’s free, you drag him outside to go on an adventure and explore the area around the inn and beat up some hilichurls 

If you have some trivial task to do and need his help, he’ll just offer his assistance at no cost, quite simple as that

During his free time, he’ll try to find out more about stim toys to help you. 

Xiao will learn what triggers your overstimulation and purposefully help you avoid it or get rid of the problem before it actually happens.

[plush-rabbit]

Asmodeus Comforting A Chubby Partner

Request: i was wondering if you could do hc's maybe for an insecure/chubby!reader x asmo? (both n/sfw are fine. whatever you're more comfy with) he's my favourite/comfort character but he very clearly loves beautiful things... as someone who isn't "traditionally/stereotypically beautiful" it makes me feel very insecure that he probably wouldn't be attracted to me. cellulite, stretch marks and scars riddle my body from years of extreme weight loss and gain from various eating disorders and harmful, unhealthy coping mechanisms. it's a lot of projection but ig i'm just worried he'd see like my loose tummy skin and be repulsed by it or the stretch marks on not just the "typical" places like thighs, stomach, bum, etc. etc. but places like my arms, shoulders and sides too.

Warnings: eating disorders + scaring briefly mentioned, allusion to self harm

A/N: Don’t ever worry about what I write for!! I’m willing to write a lot (also babes, i obvs don’t know you but please believe that you’re gorgeous, beauty standards fuck us all over and i need you to understand that your marks are all kisses from your body and marks to kiss. I’m sure you’re lovely and i hope you find love within yourself xoxo)

-

Absorbed with his beauty in the first few weeks that you’ve stayed with at the House of Lamentation, Asmodeus hadn’t noticed your lack of self-love. It’s only until later that he can see your forlorn glances at a mirror, the way you try to hide yourself under baggy clothing or long sleeved shirts. Of course, it’s a bit chilly in Devildom, but it doesn’t sit right with him. He brings you to his room that smells like lilies and strawberries, letting you sit down beside him as he grabs your hand, painting it a matching set as himself. With you in hand, he’ll ask you about yourself, slowly prying into your view about yourself. A deep frown will tug against the corners of his mouth and he’ll furrow his brows. He’s been aware of beauty standards in the Human Realm but he had never thought it was so dire to affect your own perception of yourself.

As the love and relationship between the both of you progresses, he’s focused on trying to make you feel better about yourself but in doing so he has to open some wounds. He knows that it hurts, and he’s pained to see you cry, looking nervously at you and fiddling with the ends of his hair but he means well. He tries to understand you, to feel a deeper connection with you and he’ll hold you as you cry onto his shirt. Once you’re done, he’ll let you calm down for a few minutes, offer you some water and dry your eyes, his fingertips grazing against your skin ever so slightly. With every word that you spewed with hate, he’ll counter it with adoration. He’ll hold your hands and comment about how they fit into his perfectly, the soft plush cheeks that you have, your lips that taste of sweet nectar and the marks against your skin that are perfect kissing spots.

He adores your cellulite. You may not think much of it and see it as a hindrance but to him, it reminds him just how soft you are. While demons and the alike are fun and he enjoys the time that he has spent with them he adores you. You’re a human, you’re soft and always changing. He likes to see your body, the way that it has changed, the pale lines marking over your skin like lightning bolts against the night sky. You’ll often find him tracing over it, his fingers walking over your skin and letting the stretch marks take him where they need to be. The stretch marks that lace over your stomach, the ones that pull and wrinkle your skin are something that he enjoys to look at. The groves trace under his fingertips and he’s reminded that you’re human, that you trust him with your plump body despite the mannerisms that he shows at times. Your worth is not put onto your body, it’s put against who you are and he loves everything sweet about you.

The Avatar of Lust is many things and loves many things, and one of those happens to be you. His charm doesn’t work on you and while it was a disappointment at first, it was also a grace hidden by it. You grew to care for him, for him. You loved the sweet nature of him that is hidden by childish jealousy, you adore the way that he tries not to cry at movies, less it ruins his makeup. You adore the small things about him. He fell for your beauty and soon fell for you. He loves beautiful things and his past partners might share a similar type but it doesn’t dictate his only standard of beauty. Beauty comes late at night when the moon is bright, beauty comes at seeing a lover wrapped in a silky bathrobe that’s matched with the other. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and he beholds many things that are beautiful. He seeks you out because you care for him in a way that he hasn’t realized he wanted- you hold his hand and you seek him out for pure enjoyment rather than lustful reasons.

His lips will trace against your body, his hands held tight in yours and he reminds you in all the ways that matter that he loves your body. You’re human, you change and that’s all right by him. Your loose skin is soft, plush and squishing under his slender fingers. If you allow him to, he’ll kiss your skin, let his pink lips pepper against your burning body and he can feel his sin tug at him. He wants to care for your body, to let you feel the pleasure that roams throughout him. His hand will curve over your tummy, his lips close to yours as he tells how delightful you look under him.

Perhaps it's because a few of his past lovers have looked a certain way, but he truly does love your scars. He likes to see your scars of tales from the time before. He might not know how you got them, but from the way you become nervous, he can only guess. He sees your scars as growth, you are in a different place, you are healing both physically and mentally. The scars are from someone long ago, from some cruel and uncaring, and now he’ll kiss them with a cheeky smile, merely telling you that he enjoys kissing your skin. In a desperate attempt to change the subject, he’ll pull you to another part of the house, commenting how he needs help with a class.

While he does love your body, your own happiness comes before his own pleasure. He wants to know that you truly do love yourself and if you don’t, he’ll pout but your happiness means much more. If you really do feel so bad about your scars, he’s willing to go and buy whatever cream is necessary to help aid in fading your marks. He’ll rub the cool cream against your belly, his smile melancholic as he tells you a story. He isn’t fond of changing you, but if it makes you happy and helps erase the scars that you try so desperately to hide, then who is he to complain about your body? He will remind you throughout the process that he does love your body, that whatever you do, is for your happiness because no matter what, he’ll be happy with you.

When he learns of your rather unhealthy coping mechanisms, he heart aches. He becomes rather dependent during this time, wanting to stay close to you for fear of hurting yourself in some type of way. He trusts in you but knowing that you would have harmed yourself makes him rather jittery. He’ll use the title that he has to find someone to talk to because while he would love nothing more than to listen to you, he is not qualified to be the one giving you advice. He’ll still spend hours scouring the internet looking for a way to help you- different medians, alternative ways to feel the sort of satisfaction that you might derive from it and anything else he can understand and see it fitting for you.

He rather have you do things in a healthy way that won’t ruin your body and mind. If you are keen to lose weight, you’re going to do it carefully. As the relationship unfurls into a blossoming flower, he becomes bolder in his actions. He won’t assume what you want to look like, but he wants to help so he’ll find a plan perfect for you and work alongside you. He loves beautiful things and he finds you to be beautiful and if you want to alter a few things about yourself, he’ll support you. Whatever disorders you had in the past, he knows how to care for them and you, he’ll make sure you eat well and treat yourself. You’re his and he isn’t going to let human standards take you away from him. Body image is something that he tries to keep perfect as much as he can and the clothes that you wear are an important factor in how you feel. He’ll change your wardrobe- steadily, of course- and allow you to feel better with what you wear. The clothes will be there to help frame your body in a more flattering way than anything baggy could ever, and he’ll have you model for him, taking pictures and uploading them to Devilgram just to show off how cute you look.

Asmodeus is the Avatar of Lust. He’s the narcissistic fifth born who loves himself and everything beautiful second to only himself. He values how he looks and takes great care of his body. He can be catty and whip out insults in less than a second. But, he is a caring lover, someone soft and sweet, attentive to the needs of his lover. Human beauty standards are something that he understands but he is a demon. He is monstrous and ugly, blood pouring from his hands and forever fretting over how he looks. You, however, are none of those things. You are soft, caring and sweet. You care for him, not the lustful part of him, but for the demon that he is. He’s sorry that he let you believe that he wouldn’t love you, that your marks are blemishes that stain your beauty, but you have to understand that they aren’t. He'd never reject your body, he’d hold you close and let his hands soothe over the parts you dislike while he tells you how gorgeous you are, muttering his praise until your heart beats against your chest and he’s giggling at your reactions. Until you’re gone, he’ll lay in his bed, arms spread wide that his fingertips can barely reach the edge of the bed and he’ll smile to himself, his heart fluttering and chest feeling light, knowing that he made you smile.

[azurevi]

I love the drunk s/o hc that you wrote. Can you write it for the Heartslabyul boys but since you said max is 4, you can remove one boy. But if possible you can do all 5 then okay.

Thank you for requesting! I included all five of them because I'm not going to break them up obvs, hope you enjoy ^^

Heartslabyul with a drunk s/o

Riddle

Riddle doesn't really like being in an unfamiliar or difficult situation so you coming to his room at 3am drunk as a skunk isn't at all appreciated, but hey, he loves you and no matter how much he hates the smell of alcohol he isn't going to leave you out in the corridor.

He is mostly clueless. He has probably only drunken alcohol two times and he stopped at the first sip. The first thought he has is to call Trey for help but he decides to just handle this himself, so he carries you to his bed and lays you down. You're not the most cooperative person when you're drunk though, so he has to physically hold you down until you're too tired to fight back.

If you're thirsty he'll immediately grab you a bottle of warm water, and whenever you feel the urge to throw up he's gonna be by your side moving your hair out of the way. When you're finally passed out soundly, he stays up for a while more just to research for food or drinks that can soothe your hangover in the morning.

The moment you're awake he's next to you, complaining about your less than appropriate actions from the night before and nagging you about how you shouldn't drink so much alcohol. It may be annoying but it all stems from his care for you.

Ace

Let's be honest, Ace was probably drinking with you. He may drink alcohol from time to time moderately, so he invited you to accompany him this time, but he didn't expect you to have such low tolerance.

Great, now date night is ruined and you're mumbling nonsense while spraying out on the floor. What is he gonna do? He's never dealt with drunk people before.

After just sitting down and watching you go on and on about raccoons and why you shouldn't wash rice with a colander, Ace finally decides to take you to bed first. It was foolish of him to think that it would be easy, because with your flinging arms and wiggling body it definitely makes the few steps to his bed seem like a long trip. But finally, after much dedication and a bit of swearing, he rests you on his bed and slump onto the floor immediately.

It is only when you ask that he realizes that he should bring you some water (don't blame him, he's very unfamiliar with all this). If you're still too energetic to sleep, he'll sit next to you and listen. At some point he realizes that this can be a good chance to get some secrets out of you and he'll start asking questions like 'What do you like about me?' and 'If Deuce and I fell into a river, who would you save first?". He'll also take note of any funny things you say or do during the night and tease you about it later.

Deuce

Deuce has been watching you for the entire night, making sure you don't drink too much. He only walked away for a moment to get some snacks, and when he's back you're… breakdancing in the middle of the room?

He immediately drags you away from the scene and brings you back to his room where he can take care of you. When you first started dating, Deuce researched a lot about how to be the 'perfect boyfriend' in different situations, so he's quite confident that he can handle this well.

… Or not, afterall things are easier said than done. You're just so active when you're drunk -- always stumbling around and touching things while sharing a story that you've been repeating for the past hour. It's a real challenge trying to keep you in a single spot. If you happen to be a touchy person when you're drunk, he's just going to straight up malfunction.

But ultimately he collects himself and gets you to the bed, placing a cup of water and some medicine near your reach. He stays close until you're asleep and snoring, just in case you suddenly feel unwell or get all hyped up again. 

He may not be the best caretaker, but he sure gives his best.

Cater

Oh, now this is a great chance to see a different side of you!

If you don't usually mind him taking your photos or filming you when you're conscious, he's going to record everything you say and do when you're drunk. He's not gonna miss any of your hilarious (or really bad) jokes or poses. After a while though, he finds it a bit difficult to film and watch over you at the same time, so he just places his phone down and focuses on taking care of you instead.

Cater doesn't always find himself in situations like this but he does have a few ideas of what he should do. He gets you some snacks to munch on as well as a glass of water, staying by your side and listening to your incoherent words.

He's just going to find the whole thing adorable, really.

He definitely doesn't mind if you get affectionate, he always likes to hear you proclaiming your love to him. If you get emotional, he's going to pay extra attention to you and make sure that you know he's here. He sees it as a chance to get to know you more deeply. Of course, he's not going to make you spill everything, but he'll listen to whatever you have to say respectfully.

Trey

You're drunk? Well you're in luck because Trey is your boyfriend and he's probably the most well-rounded person you've ever seen.

He first makes sure that you're somewhere safe (whether that be your room or his), then he makes you drink some water and eat some light snacks like peanuts and chips. 

No matter how energetic or exasperating you may get, he's ever going to lose his composure. He treats you with grace and gentleness and doesn't even break a sweat. You want to chat? Sure, he's all ears, but he's going to make sure that you still get enough rest. Oh, you want to go play soccer right now? He manages to turn you down without hurting your feelings. No matter what you throw at him, he handles it perfectly well.

When you wake up with a throbbing headache, he'll be ready with another glass of water and some pills, as well as any other things that you may need. If your hangover is really bad, he's going to spend some more time by your side. Just say the word and he'll be ready to help.

[birb-tangleblog]

Hello! I've been wondering what the origins of each of the members of the Brotherhood could be. Like, if they are native to the Dark Kingdom, if they are noblemen/peasants... What do you think?

Hi anon!! Thanks for the ask!

I tend to headcanon that Adira and Hector are both orphans in some way, and probably share pretty similar backgrounds- just with Adira having more social/community support, and at least some people who looked out for her, while Hector was left on his own.

And I think that's prob a pretty common take, but like with Hector in particular (and Adira, to a lesser extent) I think it's honestly just hard to imagine someone with a well-adjusted, stable upbringing growing to be so extreme and intensely dedicated to their cause.

(Like if you assume Edmund or another royal took Hector in, gave him a home, fed him, and made him into who he is, then of course he's going to put him on a pedestal and not want to go against him. In comparison, Adira and Quirin having more external support and a wider perspective gives them more to base their sense of identity off of. And you can kinda see how that plays out w/ where they each ended up.

+ I think Hector having that added emotional baggage to unpack is interesting. ANYWAY-)

So my take is that both Hector and Adira were orphans, who became wards of the DK after someone saw a spark of potential in them and gave them the offer to begin training as squires.

Before that, I think Adira did have people in her life who loved her- parents, extended family, or other members of her culture/community- but they just weren't able to take care of her, or they passed away. Maybe she left so as to not be a burden on them? With Hector, idk if I think his bio parents even died early on so much as they just didn't want him- him being a street kid is my hc.

They lived at the castle (where they met Quirin), received an education, and worked their way up to knighthood/formal initiation into the Brotherhood. I imagine Brotherhood training is... a very encompassing and rigorous process, so that exp prob brought the three of them together, and their bond helped them to succeed. :>

I think it'd make sense if they met as little bby knights adjusting to their new lives, but I'm also very fond of the idea that Adira and Hector knew each other prior? And were this pair of urchins scraping by together. Only ever having each other to depend on really just adds to that childhood best friends, "nothing will ever come between us" dynamic that I'm a sucker for. And it makes for an enduring bond- there's obvs still a lot btwn them even so many years later.

The Flynn book also gave us Maeve! And I'm totally here for her being this figure in their upbringing later on- a matronly lady getting after them for being scamps, but still slipping them extra bread rolls and pulling strings for them on the sly. Maybe teaching life lessons or helping them out socially, too.

Based on Adira's Korean-inspired char design and the presence of Hector's binturongs (which are native to South and Southeast Asia) I actually kinda lowkey HC that one of the DK's neighboring countries or trade partners is analogous to SE Asia? And that Adira's family either moved to the Dark Kingdom from there before her birth, or she's mixed!  (Maybe they moved due to war/sickness/famine  and that's also how she lost her parents?)

Quirin and Hector both have that archetypal DK look, like Edmund- tall, dark hair and eyes, widow's peak, prominent cheek bones- so I assume they and their parents were native to the DK.

Re. Quirin, I've said this but I like the thought of him coming from lesser nobility? Maybe a distant cousin of Edmund's. Or just having a background of more privilege and stability relative to the other two, with his parents there for him, and that giving him a bit more emotional distance from the Brotherhood and moonstone, along with more of an ability to envision/want something else for himself in the future. 

Quirin’s family name is on the side of a building somewhere in the DK, and Hector and Adira are the scholarship/grant kids of the Brotherhood.

(And I think having that bg in addition to being a knight also adds more meaning to him rejecting all of it, and choosing instead to settle down as a farmer later.)

Though, even if his parents weren't nobles and were... craftspeople or merchants or what not, I can still see him being a bit closer to Edmund/having more of a peer relationship with him, and just naturally picking up on court life + focusing on studies/politics more than the others, which eventually leads to him becoming a leader and Ed's advisor/right hand man.

I hope this whole thing wasn't too disjointed lmao. Everything about the Brotherhood's origins is pretty much fanon and personal pref, and I'm p flexible w/ HCs! But I'm always gonna go for the origin story and beats that have the most emotional pay off to me, yk?

I'm pretty picky abt the popular trend of treating the bros as literal siblings, but I do get a kick out of how much speculation and different ideas there are about their pasts- it's prime free real estate!