#loving male friendships... its what we deserve

[personasintro]

A part of Mutual Help series!

pairing: mh!jungkook x reader

warnings: explicit language, Kiko is mentioned (this deserves it's own warning)

genre: fluff

word count: 1.8k+

a/n: Merry Christmas! ♡

Mutual Help Series

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“Oooh, what could be in here?” Taehyung muses, pursing his reddened lips that has gotten its own intense color thanks to the cold weather outside. 

What was he doing outside when you've been at this place for around an hour? Flirting, of course. 

“Knowing you, probably tons of condoms.” you answer, causing Taehyung to stop shaking the present he's just gotten from Jimin. It stops rattling under his grip as he shoots you a glare across the table. 

Unfazed, you reach with your chopsticks for a piece of meat before you put it in your mouth. Next to you, Jungkook cackles under his breath and Jimin looks proud by your little comment. 

“Well, miss I-don't-need-anyone, we all like to have our fun. Maybe you should try it.” Taehyung bites back. Though his tone sounds serious and deep with his thick accent, there's a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. 

You know how far you can take it to joke with each of your friends. Taehyung's got a thick skin and there's only so little you could actually say to offend him. Not that you would ever want to. Taehyung loves jokes and fun, he loves teasing and most of the time he's the one who takes it too far but never to actually cause a damage to your friendship. Whatever he says, you know should not be taken to heart literally. Therefore, no matter what he says about your single life – you don't take it as an insult. 

“Hooking up with a bunch of strangers? No thanks.”

He grins, “Maybe you should try it.”

“You offering?” you shoot right back, Jungkook choking on his soda as Jimin laughs out loud.

“You know what? Once you grow up a little, text me.”

You snort, “Stop acting as if I was a child.”

Taehyung shrugs, “No, but you're the baby of our group.”

Groaning, you frown. “Don't call me that.”

“Deny it all you want, Y/L/N but we all know the truth.”

“You guys scare almost every guy that looks at me. It beats the point of having fun.”

“Don't say shit like that, now! I'm all for you exploring and having fun.”

“Our point of fun is slightly different than hers, Tae.” Jimin comments, putting more meat to your plate as you thank him with a grateful smile. For the meat, of course. Although, he's not that off about the entire fun topic. 

“We all know what kind of fun we're talking about.”

“Alright, let's move on, yeah?” Jungkook calls, shaking his head at Taehyung.

“Here we go, protective Jungkook.”

“Why do you always somehow bring up sex in every conversation?” Jungkook scolds him.

Taehyung gasps, feigning offense as he points his finger at you. “First of all, she started talking about condoms!”

Jimin laughs out loud while you shoot him a glare for being too loud. God, you hope the owners won't kick you out. Talking so publicly about sex is often frowned upon. No one who wants to enjoy their meal wants to hear someone talking about sex from the other table. Unless those people are… open like Taehyung. He's always been a bit shameless. 

 Jungkook glances at you upon Taehyung's finger that's directed toward you. You shrug innocently. “So what? You automatically got into it.”

“You know it doesn't take too much for me.”

“That's true.” Jimin nods along with Taehyung's response. 

You laugh, “Just open the goddamn present, Tae.” 

He cracks a grin and starts laughing before he rips the package open. Surprisingly, it's not condoms – you would seriously laugh your ass out if it were – but it's a box of popular male fragrances in smaller versions. You recognize all of them, silently praising Jimin for this year's present. 

You all exchange presents for each other. There was an idea coming from Jimin, you think, last year to pick up a secret Santa for each year. But there's something special and thoughtful about buying everyone a gift. And it makes a slight burden to all your wallets, but nobody said the presents have to be expensive. Yet, they're always meaningful and nobody gives shitty presents here. 

You meet every year before Christmas since all of you spend it with your families. You've decided to make your own and celebrate it together, even if it's beforehand. This year it has to be because you're flying back home sooner than usual. 

They were kind enough to meet no matter what, said it wouldn't be the same if you weren't here. 

After that is done, Jungkook is the one to take you home since Taehyung came to pick you up. There's fog everywhere with snow sitting down and not melting anytime soon. You love when there's snow around Christmas time.

On your way home, it's not that late by the time you arrive. Jungkook helps you with your presents upstairs and accepts a cup of tea you offer him with a stern look. You're quick to shed the layers of clothes and make yourself more comfortable. You bring Jungkook his tea and make a hot chocolate for yourself.

“What you got in there?” you ask, plopping next to him as the warmth and scent of home hugs you. 

“A little something,” he says with a cheeky grin. 

Spotting the same Christmas wrapping paper he has used for all his presents, you give him a knowing look. You're about to protest and scold the shit out of him when he shakes his head with another grin. 

“Stop.”

“No, you stop!” you whine, “You already gave me your present.”

And it was great. Jungkook has given you two tickets to a water park that's located on Jeju Island. That alone tells you it wasn't quite cheap.

“It's not much, I swear.” 

“But why? We all decided on one present.” 

Grateful that he's so thoughtful, you're slightly annoyed that he broke the rule that perhaps never was so serious but it makes you feel bad. 

“Just because.”

“That's not a valid reason.”

“Sounds very valid to me,” he sings out, teasing you a little further as you both giggle. “You'll understand it once you open it.” he finishes it with that, urging you to open it.

Hiding the heat in your cheeks, you playfully roll your eyes and start unboxing the little box he has managed to sneak in his jacket. Curiosity and excitement takes over you because Jungkook's presents are always something else. You rip the package and gasp as soon as you recognize the familiar box.

“Kook!”

“You told me you ran out the other day.”

“Did you–”

“Bought it when Jimin bought Taehyung's present? Yeah.” He answers, already knows what you were about to ask. But you're too stunned to scold him for interrupting you.

You open the box and pull out your favorite perfume. A few weeks ago, you don't even know how that conversation came up but you mentioned to him that your perfume is running out indeed. It wasn't anything intentional of course, more of a whine when you were about to spray a tiny amount as you were about to go out. You thought he was barely listening to you, urging you to rush out your ass outside. His exact words. 

But he's always listening. 

“I think I'm gonna be more careful what I'm about to say in front of you. You're gonna buy me everything I mentioned.” you chuckle, taking a good inhale of your favorite flowery and powdery scent. You mostly use it during warm seasons but it's a good one even in the winter.

It's your staple scent. Everyone knows it. It's special. You were using it back at home and it not only smells incredible, it also holds a certain emotional attachment you have with it. 

“Don't worry about that, you're out of my budget.” 

You kick the side of his thigh as you cross your legs under your butt, carefully placing the bottle on the table next to the ripped wrapping paper. “I wanted to buy it after Christmas.” 

“You don't have to anymore.”

You give him a look, questioning his answer for everything as he simply justifies his thoughtfulness in the most basic manner. He always brushes it like it's nothing. But it's very special to you. He is. 

In seconds, you wrap your arms around him and hug him tightly. He lets out a surprised gasp, a low chuckle escaping his lips as he hugs you back. He's warm, smells like a mixture of his wooden cologne and winter air. 

“Thank you.” you mumble into his shoulder before you slowly pull away. “But seriously, you should stop spending so much money on me. Don't you have a girlfriend to spend money on?”

As far as you know, she's fine with it but who knows. Jungkook isn't the type to let anyone get into your or guys' friendships. But he's also in love and people in love tend to be slightly blind, if you must say so. Not that you speak from your own experiences but well, it's quite known. And Jungkook is definitely in love. 

“Don't worry about Kiko,” he assures you, “She'll get a good amount of presents too.”

“Well, I hope she loves you for you and not for your bank account.”

He scowls, causing you to give him a childish toothy grin that acts innocent. “She's not like that.”

“But I'm serious, you should stop spending so much money on people. Especially on me.”

“I spend my money however I want and you know what?” he asks with a grin, leaning closer to you as you watch him with wide eyes. “It's none of your business.” he flicks your nose with his thumb causing you to cuss him out as you push his forehead to get him away from your proximity. 

“So really, just accept it.”

“You're stubborn.”

“You're telling me?” he laughs out loud as if you just told him the biggest joke.

Rolling your eyes again, you purse your lips. “I wanted to be nice, you moron.”

“Be nice by just accepting it. And the simple thanks is just enough, not needed though. The hug was very nice.”

You slap his arm in a teasing manner which causes him to laugh even more. “I'll hug you for the rest of my life.”

“Promise?” he smirks. 

“I promise.” you giggle, nodding.

“Well, then Merry Christmas.” 

“Merry Christmas, Kook.” you smile, the warmth spreading all over your heart. Even though this year hasn't been all rainbow and sunshine, it's alright as long as you have these people right beside you. 

Who cares about presents? They're nice and show the thoughtfulness behind them by each of your friends. What you need the most is just them. And the special relationship you have with each of them will hopefully last your lifetime. Because if it doesn't, nothing will ever be the same. 

Without them you would feel lost. At the moment, you're anything but lost. You have your second family, hoping this tradition between you never dies and will continue years and years.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 4

Joan Watson

How were BBC Sherlock shippers so rancid about a WOMAN who wasnt even in the SAME SHOW?????

Martin Freeman of BBC Sherlock insulted Elementary and specifically Lucy Liu in the press. He straight up called Lucy Liu a "dog" in an interview APPARENTLY as a joke, because calling female actors ugly is hilarious. Benedict Cumberbatch was more measured about it, but he still said he was cynical about Elementary because it would lose the "male friendship" dynamic, which of course Johnlock shippers used against Joan Watson fans. Even the lead BBC Sherlock actors got in on the yaoi victimization of Joan Watson... 😔

she wasn't even in the same SHOW as the yaoi I've been convinced she deserves to win the entire poll. I was a Johnlocker but I did watch the first season of Elementary and it was fine????? It was totally okay????? Especially in hindsight given how hard Sherlock season four flopped. Also Lucy Liu is a queen and deserved zero vitriol for *checks notes* playing a character???? A fucking fictional character???????? Oh my god we were all SO mean to this show and we (or at least I) thought it was like The Good Fight™️, like we were defending BBC Sherlock against copyright infringement and straightwashing and Jonny Lee Miller's bizarre scarf, (it wasn't a good scarf I do stand by that) but then Elementary didn't make Holmes and Watson a couple either???? And also it didn't insult its audience constantly etc etc we've all seen the Hbomberguy Sherlock is Garbage video. This is really long sorry hashtag justice for Joan Watson.

Misa Amane

she gets treated in-canon the way fandoms treat female characters that Threaten an m/m ship. it's like, "oh why don't you go sit in the corner and be pretty, misa, while the Men have intelligent conversation and pretend they aren't ten seconds from fucking each other, doesn't that sound nice?" it's infuriating. and MAYBE it's better now but i remember her getting treated the same way in fanfiction too, like we all need to do just as badly by our female secondary characters as fucking tsugumi ohba, but with the added insult of making her be alternately oblivious of the relationship between light and L or actively trying to sabotage it—incompetently, of course, because god forbid misa be allowed dignity or moments of cleverness.

she's one of the first characters I think of when I consider old school fandom misogyny. The annoying bitch and clingy crazy gf allegations were AFTER HER ASS. She's also a lot more intelligent than people gave her credit for, but most seem inclined to take the Very Biased word of our unreliable, narcissistic narrator and his homoerotic arch nemesis and claim that just because she's bubbly and into romance that she's also a complete moron. Which is blatantly untrue. Everyone was afraid of Misa girlbossing too hard. Killing people and devoting yourself to the deranged twink of your dreams even though you know he'll never love you back??? Having a hardcore goth aesthetic and being so Hot even literal Death Gods are into you?? God forbid women do ANYTHING!

Not only is she the victim of yaoi culture, she is the victim of early 2000s misogyny by an author that wanted to introduce a girl character because he knew his male rivals were getting too homoerotic. She is a goth bimbo icon who portrays what I think is one of the few callouts for stan culture and what parasocial relationships can do to both the stan and the idol. The fact that she is a toxic fan of Kira and also hot, funny, sociable is tragic in its own way, which I think the author did try to touch on but was too misogynistic too really get through. Of course, she was reduced to villain status by the fandom and anime alike because she got in the way of the supposed romance in their psychological horror anime.

[sloane-kdramas]

Hiii!

You got me curious and now I have to ask. What are your all time favourite kdramas? Or the ones that you would recommend without hesitation?

Have a great day! ♥️

Thank you for waiting for me to compile my thoughts, choosing dramas that mean a lot to me isn't easy. But here are the ones I enjoyed and aren't talked about enough:

Encounter: Subversion of popular tropes will always be more interesting to watch. Here we have a heroine as the isolated CEO and male lead as the sweetest man to exist, sweeping her off her feet with adventures while completely respecting her position. Song Hyo Kyo gives a subtle but excellent performance, which made me love her acting way before she cemented it with The Glory

Guardians/ Lookout: I can't believe this wasn't as popular as Vincenzo, cause it damn deserves it. It's a story about blood-filled revenge, but from a woman who uses her pain to serve other people. Lee Si Young is phenomenal.

I Need Romance 3: Kim So Yeon can do anything, but seeing her as a careless 30-something as executive with a pet giraffe and a closed heart did something to me. She's the most imperfect, funnily relatable, brass and interesting. She just needed the annoying kid she used to babysit -now turned hot musician- to unlock her loving side. Sung Joon is the hottest a man has ever been.

Something In The Rain: Take all the societal problems Korean women are facing and weave a precious love story around it. It should be impossible, but they've made it work. The show excels in its depictions of casual intimacy, work life and friendships, nothing is exaggerated for effect. It flows through you like a song. And the ending wasn't bad, if you expected a fairytale you should grow up. It's a horrible reality, wherein lies love.

Search WWW: the ultimate story about women. This made me love kdramas. Three main players whose agendas clash with their ethics in the war of capitalism and surveillance. Three love stories, each hitting different strings. The ultimate modern classic. Memeable to death.

Ms Perfect and Woman of Dignity: it's not accurate to put these two together, but they represent the best that makjang has to offer. They're truly about how a woman finds her voice after being betrayed and how to take revenge on the people you thought had your back. And find a hotter man in the process.

The Penthouse: all its success made people forget it had the tightest script for two seasons. The writing was unmatched. It gave me my genius revenge queen Su Ryeon, who ran circles around every opponent, while keeping her warm heart and kindness intact. Don't watch the last three episodes, but other than that, it deserves its spot on the drama pantheon. The sweetest unexpected romance as well.

Honorable mentions:

Flower of evil

Weightlifting Fairy

Romance Is A Bonus Book

She Would Never Know

Why Her

Melancholia

Witch's Romance

Branding in Seongsu

I had to keep it to korean dramas, but I've watched japanese, thai and chinese as well, for another time.

Thank you for the question @troubled-mind, you made me revisit my love for these

[kuureii]

We all die someday dont we?…

(riko!yuu au)

Yuus 18 in my au

Warnings: Angst, Blood, Gore, No happy ending,

Side note: riko amanai does not belong to me, she belongs to gege akutami and jjk alone, i only use her as a oc claim in my au

———————————————————————

They say you never know when your going to die in life, its either two things: You can grow old or die early. Thats the cycle of life isn’t it?

I knew from the moment i was able to comprehend what my purpose was is that i was nothing but a placeholder or a vessel for someone on the jujutsu society…. Yuu Amanai…the “Star plasma vessel “ for master tengen, he has a reputation for a god-like figure on the jujutsu society.

How unfair.

Is that my true purpose in life..? Just a vessel for him?

I always wanted to see the world..i wanted to see its beauty..i want to see everything it hides.

I wanted to live the life i truly want to live…with misato by my side, gojo and sujuru too… i want to run away from the fate that waits for me..

But not every wish can be granted right?

I died young…the fate that i so wanted to run away from made its choice.

Yuu amanai..age 18.. a shot to the head is the cause of my death…killed by toji fushiguro.

Unfair.

HOW UNFAIR.

Selfish bastards from the jujutsu society rejoiced for my death. Some mourned

I know its Gojo and Suguru.

I know my death affected them.

After all, they were the ones supposed to protect me aren’t they? I dont blame them.

I never did.

They cared for me like im their sister, not a vessel or a placeholder for master tengen, they see me as yuu amanai and fulfilled my last wishes.

I wanted to run away with them

Unfair….

Its so unfair….

WHY IS IT SO UNFAIR..?!

I WANTED TO LIVE.. I WANTED TO GROW OLD..I WANT TO RUN AWAY WITH THEM. IS THIS MY FATE TRULY MEANS TO ME?! TO DIE SO YOUNG AND BE OFFERED TO SOMEONE SO POWERFUL AS A VESSEL??!! ANSWER ME GOD DAMMIT!!!

Somehow, its like the gods pitied me and gave me a chance..they placed my soul into a new world…and made me attend a new school

Night Raven College

A school that worships the villains (Great 7).. Can’t say my journey was quite unique during my time there.. waking up in a coffin and being nearly burnt to death by a raccoon. And also being known as the “magicless prefect” and the only girl in an all-boys school..

Turns out that raccoon became my familiar and soon turned into the closest family member i have in this world.. Grim..oh how i love him..

I made many friends in that school. Ace and Deuce being the closest friends i have..our friendship started rocky but in the end, im happy i met them..

I wasn’t lying when i said my journey was eventful in that world haven’t i?

Somehow people had mental issues in this school. And being the magicless prefect i am, i had no choice but to help them.

Overblot followed by another overblot

The cycle never ends. But in the end i was able to help and become friends with them along the way..

Along the journey i made,i gained a lot of male admirers from this school my friends slowly being some of them

I tried to ignore it seeing as they haven’t had any female contact for once in a while

Besides they look at me like im the prettiest girl they have ever seen

Im pretty I admit, but not that pretty

Why cant they understand that…they’re liking someone who’s originally dead..?

Months pass by as the overblots have somehow reduced in this school, i was finally able to get the rest i deserved..i was finally happy

But that happiness didn’t last long.

The final overblot happend, Much to everyone’s nightmare

The 7th overblot being Malleus draconia.

He put everyone to sleep including me, so i gotta do what i gotta do.

I have to fix it.

To my suprise, i found out a lot about malleus.His past, his secrets,his origins, his mother, everything about him.

After a while with the help of sebek and silver, i was able to snap him back to reality.. i saved someone again.

I saved everyone again. I was finally able to wake up everyone, I was finally able to wake up again.

wait….

What…?!

Why cant i..!

Why cant i wake up…!?

This is bad…did my fate caught up again..?!

Am i dead too in this world…??!

UNFAIR…!

ITS SO UNFAIR..!

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I CAN FINALLY HAVE THE LIFE I WANTED..!!

NO..!! WAKE UP…!

I NEED TO…

I…!!

I WANT TO LIVE..!!

PLEASE..!

LET ME LIVE..!

ONCE AGAIN..! PLEASE ILL BE GOOD..! I WANT TO STAY!

My pleas went deaf to the ears of the gods.. i sobbed as the darkness finally ate my body whole..

I wasnt….able to…say goodbye…Again.

Soon enough the darkness flooded my senses, enveloping my soul whole, like a blanket of despair and sadness…my soul sinked onto the abyss once again…killing me entirely.

Yuu amanai..dead at 18 reborn onto another world as a second chance..died once again at age 19. Closed eyes like she was sleeping but this time.. She wont be waking up ever again as her soul passes away at an eternal slumber.

“Good night yuu..its time for you to rest”..a voice whispered so sweetly at her ear as she took her last final breath in the world of twisted wonderland

———————————————————————-

[daisymylove]

Hey can we discuss the lack of sapphic representation on the tsc chronicles and why I think we're too harsh on cc for it? I'm a queer woman btw, nit that should matter tho

In the past I briefly entertained the idea of CC being bi and private about it bc being married to someone of the opposite sex affords you the assumption of heterosexuality and she just didn't want the public scrutiny.80% of the cast of swordcatcher being bi is what mostly made me think about it, but now I'm 100% convinced she's a a straight girl with a shit ton of queer friends and is a staunch supporter of the community and her work reflects that in many ways

She has a total of two sapphic couples so far, and I think there are two main reasons for that

First and foremost bc we live in a patriarchal capitalistic hellscape and male gay couples sell considerably more than female amongst an audience composed mostly of girls and gay boys, so she would be urged by her agent to favour that kind of rep, its only natural.

But the second and perhaps most important reason is that she, as a straight woman, doesn't understand what it feels like to desire a woman sexually, a relationship that doesnt involve a man is foreign to her (lets also not forget she is a gen x, shes fantastically open mided for that age bracket) so its not that she doesnt want to include it, but she has a harder time writing about it than, say, two men desiring each other, which is common place for her as a person attracted to men.On that note, that's why we should hype the works of queer women

Maybe it's naive on my part, but I genuinely think that woman loves the gays in general, she decided edwardian london wouldn't be homophobic anymore cause she felt like it, in her new world everyone is gay and thats not taboo.What I do complain about is the lack of female deep friendships and parabatai duos. She has plenty of female friends, she knows what it's like, so there are no excuses.I have high hopes for thais and dru, they are the all female parabatai duo we deserved ( Cordelia and Lucie weren't really friends.Matthew, who wanted to fuck her from day one, ended up being more of a friend to cordelia than her future parabatai, and if lucie had a bff in the series, that person was Grace, so yuck)

[writers-wrongs]

I'm begging please yandere gotham oswald cobblepot with a male readers hc

For a queer character there is surprising lack of male reader stuff with him

i think thats bc you can just pretend youre eddie for the experience lmao. but yeah, we need more ozzie content. btw, this is only gonna cover season oneish, mostly bc this man goes through so much and i cant possibly cover it all in one post

yandere!gotham!penguin x male!reader

-you work at fish's club as a waiter, so hes known you for a while. youre one of the only people who treats him with any kindness, the only others being his mother and (sometimes) fish, so he spends most of his free time with you

-he falls for you hard and fast, but he takes a while to recognize it as love. hes been bullied all his life, so he assumes that his feelings for you are just friendship. of course, his mother recognizes her son is in love and gives him a little talk (she assumes its a woman, but her hearts in the right place). once he knows hes in love, he does absolutely nothing with that knowledge

-dont get me wrong, he utterly adores you. youre on his mind constantly. he just doesnt feel like hes important enough to have you yet. why would you ever want a pathetic little umbrella boy? so he stays friends with you, and he starts planning. if he doesnt deserve you now, he'll have to work to earn you

-then the whole "fish tries to have him killed for betraying her" thing happens. and up until he takes over her club, theres not much he can do about you. hes moreso focused on survival at the moment. but when he takes the club, he keeps you around and promotes you to co-owner

-this man spoils you constantly. you want a new suit? he gets you a personal tailor. you say you like a color? the club is covered in it within the week. you say you dont like someone? theyre found dead the next day, and zsasz has a new tally on his arm. anything you want, he takes to the extreme

-aaand now hes fighting for his life again. my poor boy, hes suffered more than jesus and weve only just finished season one. hes now the self-proclaimed king of gotham, and his ego is through the roof. his first act as king? shows up at your doorstep with a bouquet of purple roses and begs you to be his

-if you accept his love, you rule gotham by his side. directly by his side. you two share the throne in the most physical interpretation of the phrase, this man is so clingy. youre never out of his sight for more than an hour, and if you are, all of his men start searching the city for you. oswald practically worships you. to the gotham underworld, youre known as his better half. if someone can convince you to let them live, oswald will listen because thats what his lovebird wants, and what his lovebird wants, he gets

-if you dont, he does his best not to cry. in front of you, that is. he rushes to his mom and sobs for hours. once he calms down, gotham becomes a dark place. no mercy is shown to anyone who messes up, infighting is almost encouraged, and the only rule of the penguin is that youre not to be hurt. people are allowed to affect your life, though. any partners of yours tragically die, youre constantly put into (controlled) danger, your apartment even gets broken into so you dont feel safe at home. if youre not going to embrace oswald willingly, he'll just frighten you into running into his arms

[strangertheories]

the biggest reason I don't rlly like romantic ronance is because I don't really ship nancy with anyone - I am a firm believer in Single Nancy Supremacy! I think that the two romantic relationships we see her have (with steve and with jonathan) both struggled because of her grief in relation to barb - its much clearer with her relationship to steve as it literally breaks down as a result of her grief and guilt and that idea of faking happiness, and I think that may also be the case with her relationship with jonathan as well, and we know that she's been questioning things about the relationship and hiding that she feels unfulfilled, though in her eyes she feels like she wants steve, but i think she just remembers how easy things were with steve before all the upside-downy stuff and wants to go back to how things were back then. I feel as though she struggles in those relationships because the type of companionship she is searching for is the easy, comfortable, platonic love and closeness she had with barb back then, and its clearly a huge part of her character arc, since losing barb is what caused her to become actively involved in all the upside-downy stuff and piqued her interest in journalism through her work with murray (alongside her clear desire for solving mysteries and the like). what nancy needs right now isn't a romantic relationship, but a platonic female friendship, a connection that is not fueled by anything sexual at all - hence my stance as a Platonic ronance truther!! we already see the closeness and trust the two of them have with each other as they scheme to break in to see victor creel and as they work together later on, and I think that kind of platonic connection between two women will be wonderful for the both of them, and robin as well deserves a platonic friendship that isn't just with the guy people keep thinking she's in love with. I really hope the show does take it that way, especially since platonic relationships have played such a key role throughout the show (the party's dedication to each other (excluding byler and their romantic love for each other but thats a whole other thing), dustin's relationships with steve and eddie, platonic stobin ofc, jonathan and argyles friendship (this one is so important to me as well as robin and nancy because of how dedicated they are to each other), and especially the friendship between el and max (I could write a whole nother essay about that tbh)) and I think it would be a wonderful ending for both robin and nancy to find that friendship with each other!!

This is completely fair and valid, plus a good analysis. For me personally, I prefer Ronance to single Nancy. Firstly because I just like their dynamic being 80s sapphic enemies/rivals to lovers. Secondly, I think Robin dating an established character is easier writing wise cause the show adds too many people and has less time to flesh out Vickie because of it. However, I also like it because of Nancy's character arc.

I think her character is very male centric and the writers seem to abandon her life goals to push her into the box of being Steve's suburban wife or in other words, her canon worst nightmare. Despite being the badass feminist character, she feels so focused around men and Steve and it's really odd to me. Especially how weirdly confrontational she was to Robin because she assumed she was dating Steve. They broke up two years ago and Nancy never even loved him, it's so odd.

Anyways to circle back to my point, I like the idea of Nancy's ending not being her settling down with Steve. I'm very anti-St4ncy if you can't tell. I'm less opposed to Jonathan and Nancy but even then, she's still at risk of falling into her nightmare with him. I think this is part of the reason why single Nancy is good and canon wise, I think that's her best outcome.

However, Nancy says right from the start that she wants to truly rebel. She dates Steve as an act of rebellion but because she's rebelling in the way everyone else does, it's ultimately a way for her to safely fit in and tell herself she's doing something radical as Jonathan points out. She hides her true feelings because whilst she knows she won't be satisfied by the life she's heading towards, she's scared to do anything otherwise.

I think 80s badass sapphic feminist Nancy dating a woman would both act as her embracing her true feelings and rebelling away from the trap of being a suburban housewife that her mother fell into. Single Nancy can work for that too, but I think having Nancy canonically like girls would perfectly fit into her framework of actually truly rebelling against expectations instead of seeking safety in a boy she tried to force herself to love.

I think these two opinions can coexist but that's just why I think romantic Ronance is great for Nancy. I do agree that platonic relationships would be good for her, but I also think that this relationship romantically would work with her character arc too. Thanks for the ask!

[dtmsrpfcringe]

So I came across this post on my dash and I would love to hear your take on it: ❤️

https://www.tumblr.com/irvinis/751566583397285888/angelsadvocate96-thank-you-for-this-detailed?source=share

In my opinion the art is beautiful and hurts no one, I don't believe it deserved that reply on twitter. What bothers me is the comments and theories. What is crazy to me is calling anyone who doesn't believe Michael and David are dating a homophobic. Also the whole "Michael never called Anna his wife" yeah because they're partners, not married. They've dated women as far as we know all their lives. Again, they also quote all the sexual comments Michael and David make to eachother as proof that they're dating.

There's also a very amusing comment that I must highlight: "They deliberately cropped a photo to just include David and Georgia, and ignored the "Michael is my work wife" quote by david in order to fit their narrative that Dt and Gt are in love."

I found it funny because they do the same. They ignore the many posts with their children looking happy, the videos with anna and georgia looking in love, doing stuff together, the quotes of them praising anna and georgia in interviews, talking about how much they love them and their kids, and only focus on the comments/pics/videos of Michael and David talking about each other 😂 why can't both loves coexist?? Why can't they be in a loving poly relationship? Why can't they be in love with their partners and just have a close friendship with one another? No, the only option they entertain in their brains is "gay couple/affair"? And we're the ones who are homophobic and close minded? So before they met they were doing what for years and years? Pretending to be in love and having kids "just cause"? 3 of the kids were born after they met on go if I'm not mistaken so how does that fit the timeline? 😂 I'm not gonna get into having sex just for making babies cause next thing we know we are demanding celebrities to make sex tapes each time they do it to prove it to us \0_0/

(When I say "us" I'm not talking about the person in the tweet, but the fandom in general whom they usually call antis or Georgia and Anna fans lmao)

I'm not saying them being in a romantic relationship with each other is impossible. As a bi woman, i never assume anyone's sexuality. But when you have female partners, and fall for a male, that's called being bi! I'm sorry everyone but these men are not gay as in homosexual! They can very much be bisexual and believe me, if they one day came out I would be the first person to say: they were right, we were wrong!

But please, don't be someone who simply denies bisexuality to exist. Anyone of any gender can be bi and be in a monogamous relationship, a poly relationship, with both men and women. It doesn't invalidate or make the other relationship less than!

My opinions aside, their sexuality is none of our business. Sure, I know fans like to speculate and I understand it, but we can't simply choose one option and claim it as reality above all else and brush off the other ones. We don't know what goes on behind closed doors so it's really dumb to claim we do based off of the little we see on tv/social media! - and yes I am including my view as well! By the little I see, they can be 2 happy straight couples, a poly quadruple (sorry if that's not the term), a bi couple (ignoring the ladies), but what they 100% are is 4 friends who love eachother and seen to be quite happy. And I'm very happy about that too.

I'm sorry for the long rant I've been awake for 2 days and am a zombie

sorry if this seems like it doesn't make sense I just woke up....

lmaoooo sorry I read this post and then had to read it again. Let me say this right fucking now: ITS NOT HOMOPHOBIC TO RESPECT BOUNDARIES THESE GODDAMN PEOPLE ARE GONNA KILL ME!!!!!

Also you're so right. There are a multitude of reasons the photo could have been cropped as well. When you post specifically about a couple you probably want the photo to be...well...about that couple. It's not that hard to figure out. There's a really funny thing here, where they say they're trying to make David and Georgia seem in love. There's no seem. They are in love here. I hate it when people pull this shit because what in the hell do you mean seem?! Things could be different if they were shit talking (joking doesn't count, bc if we wanna bring up jokes David and Michael have made about each other then we can, I'll be overjoyed.) or getting a divorce, but every indication they have they just completely made up.

The homophobia thing. I am bisexual. Nova, when she helped me run this was a gnc lesbian. Respecting the boundaries of complete strangers does NOT make you a fucking homophobe.

[nonameidentified]

I'm bored...

Here

An unabridged guide yuri history

Yuri yuri yuri yuri. Cute girls being gay, my beloved. But where does it come from?

Before the yuri we know and love today, there was Class S. Class S, also known as S kankei, is a subset of Japanese literature that popped up at around early twentieth century. They showcased "affectionate friendship" between women.

These literature reflected the views of wlw relationships at that time, as something that is normal and natural for young girls to go through, but something they need to grow out of eventually. (It's just a phase mentality). Its roots can still be seen in present-day yuri (ahem sayaka's backstory).

All of this is just a backdrop for what came next.

We skip forward in time to the 1970s, when manga depicting homoeroticism began to popping up all around the place. This is the birth of our beloved yuri as we know today. All these early yuri works can be attributed to the Year 24 Group.

The Year 24 Group are not only responsible for yuri, but also yaoi and for revitalizing shoujo manga publishing in general. Their works were so influential that it brought shoujo manga into it's golden age.

What in the 50s and 60s was just simple stories marketed to young school girls became A LOT more complex and works begin to explore themes of psychology, gender, sexuality and whatnot. (They need an essay all to themselves, I will blab about them again when I'm bored maybe)

Some of the notable members of the Year 24 Group in regards to yuri would be Ryoko Yamagishi and Riyoko Ikeda. Ok, let's focus on Riyoko Ikeda alone for a sec, their most famous work, The Rose of Versailles, is set in pre-revolutionary France and is about Marie Antoinette and Oscar François de Jarjayes, and it is of course, very gay. Not the most relevant but thought it was interesting enough to plop it here.

After gaining a lot of popularity, yuri got itself its own magazine!!! Yuri Shimai was yuri anthology magazine, which ran only from June 2003 to November 2004. But it was succeeded by Comic Yuri Hime in July 2005. Which is still being serialized today! All of our beloved yuri (that isn't self-published) comes from this magazine.

Side Note: One of the first stories to be serialized in Comic Yuri Hime is kisses, sighs, and cherry blossom pink, written by Morinaga Milk. They deserve an essay to their own. I will most certainly gush about them in the near future. This is a warning.

Comic Yuri Hime got itself a sister magazine in Comic Yuri Hime S, which was targeted at a young male audience.. But it did not last long as it merged back with Comic Yuri Hime in 2010. The only reason I bring this up is because YuruYuri was serialised that magazine.

Which brings us to present da- Wait! Did we skip over something? We did! We forgot to mention the revolutionary girl herself, Utena Tenjou. Well, not necessarily forget. No words I can use can properly explain how influential Revolutionary girl Utena was and still is. Someone who is more of an Utena expert can cover it's speciality.

Which FINALLY brings us to present day, where yuri is still a relatively niche genre. But it has VERY dedicated fan base and idiots like me who write out it's history for funsies ^-^. There might even be a religion around it, who knows,,,

If you read through all of this... what is wrong with you?/lh.

[cut-content-contest]

Yosuke Hanamura's romance route

persona 4 has got this friendship/romance mechanic called "social links" which is basically just 10 events that you can choose to gradually level up for each sociable character in the game where you raise your relationships with said characters, which gives you various in-game boosts. most of the women in the game are able to be romanced. however, there is cut dialogue which implies that at some point, one of the male characters was meant to be a romance option as well! yosuke hanamura, the main character's best friend, has cut dialogue for his social link rank 10 event which is voiced (VOICED!! IN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE!! WHILE PEOPLE HAVE DENIED THIS SINCE THE ENGLISH VOICE LINES HAVE HIM SAYING "I LIKE YOU," IN THE JAPANESE VOICE LINES, HE IS EXPLICITLY CONFESSING TO YOU I'M PRETTY SURE!!) that implies that there was at some point going to be an option to romance him. it's assumed that this was cut somewhere later in development due to the lines being voice acted, though i believe that the reason this was cut has not been confirmed yet (though, seeing as how persona 4 was made in the 2000s....... you can probably just guess why lol)

there were unreleased voice lines that showed what was supposed to be a gay route for Persona 4 (there ARE Japanese lines for this as well, and the way in which the "I like you" part is said is the Japanese version of confessing to someone you have a crush on) and a lot of fans do agree that the protagonist is best paired with Yosuke for character development purposes, but it was probably scrapped because of homophobia 😭

Exactly what it says. Was likely scrapped because Atlus are COWARDS who didn't wanna give us the gay romance we deserved. It would have been so cute though I'm forever pissed it was scrapped...

We know it was programmed it. Yosuke is the only male character with dialogue flags, meaning you can fail his social link. The only other characters with these flags are the female love interests. Yosuke also has recorded, in both English and Japanese, final confession lines, something unique to max rank romance social links. This means it was likely scrapped very late in development. As the game also covers (badly) gender and sexuality, we can hypothesize that Yosuke's character arc was supposed to be overcoming internalized homophobia. Instead he just kinda stays "jokingly" homophobic and never grows past it.

The player would have been able to enter a romantic relationship with the character Yosuke Hanamura— text and voice lines for this option still exist within the game, and can be activated via modding. They even have proper translations, and the English versions of the lines are voiced as well, implying that the cut was made rather far into development. While this is a sad loss in its own right, it also has devastating implications in regards to the original state of other pieces of LGBT+ representation which may have also been scrapped and/or heavily modified to appear. For example, Kanji’s attraction to men and Naoto’s gender situation were both downplayed and/or walked back in the final version of the game, but it’s highly likely that Yukiko’s arc was originally intended to include more bisexual overtones, and arguments can be made for Rise’s arc being meant to center on the struggle to come to some sort of terms with her own sexuality and presentation in an industry that keeps such a tight hold on those aspects of its workers lives.

throughout the entirety of persona 4 (+golden), yosuke is portrayed to be the best friend of the protag, but also extremely homophobic towards another male character who was hinted at being gay (before atlus fucked that narrative up too). his social link hints at him having a crush on the protag, and he was intended to have a romantic route just like the female characters, but that was cut (not sure why). the whole game is about embracing the truth, including your hidden sides that you are ashamed to show to others, and having yosuke come to terms with his repressed homosexuality (& realizing that he has internalized homophobia) would have fit perfectly within that theme, but atlus said fuck that shit and cut that entire romance out. the cut dialogue can easily be found on youtube. the thing with this being cut out is that without the romance and coming to terms with his homosexuality, the only thing left of yosuke is being very homophobic. no one condems yosuke for what he says to the other male character, and it is never addressed beyond mere gags or jokes. it's horrible to sit through and honestly it was such a missed opportunity. it's such an issue that people have made a mod implementing a romantic route for yosuke just because of this. every day i mourn thinking of what could have been

This game explores many queer themes, but lacks any explicit queer relationships. The fact that file scrapers and modders discovered an unused voice line for one of the male characters that implies a romance option for him was cut from the final game makes queer fans feel let down, regardless of how groundbreaking the other queer plot points were at the time of release. It's speculated that it was cut because devs or localizers thought that it would be too much queer content in one game, and that it would affect sales and create too much controversy. I, however, believe that anyone who manages to get through the mandatory gay sauna dungeon would have had no stones to throw about an optional mlm romance.

The first party member in Persona 4, Yosuke Hanamura, was originally going to be a viable romantic partner once the player got far enough into his Social Link. This was removed rather late in development, as voiced lines for a scene where he and the protagonist begin dating were recorded in both Japanese and English. To this day, Persona 2: Innocent Sin remains the only Persona game where the protagonist can enter a gay relationship with another boy.

In this game you can choose to romance several people. There is cut voiced dialogue for a romance route for Yosuke, the main character's best friend, but in the final game he is not a romanceable character. Some are of the opinion that taking out the romance option for Yosuke removes the complexity from his character.

article: https://gamerant.com/persona-4-golden-mod-yosuke-romance/

Devil Joker boss fight

In Persona 2, an important story/game mechanic is that rumors are becoming reality in the setting. You would have been able to spread a rumor that Joker, the leader of the Masked Circle cult, was an angelic or demonic figure, and that would have determined the corresponding boss fight when you reached a key point in the game. The ability to spread that rumor was never implemented (probably due to time constraints? or maybe because Devil Joker ripping himself in half was determined to be Too Much), and so the citizens of the city default to Joker being "as beautiful as an angel", leading to the Angel Joker boss fight instead.

recreation of the boss fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uz24UqZfYk Angel Joker for comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UPtkrsvI20&t=1227s

[stormblessed95]

Did you see some videos going around TikTok claiming that Jungkook was talking to somebody (supposedly Jimin) during his sleeping live? I did hear a softer, male voice than his in the background and it does sound like Jimin, but it could be just Jk mumbling to himself (as we heard him talking to himself abt Jimin messing with the lights)... However, there's this part of the live where Jungkook hears some noise, looks up to see what it is, and then gets up and that's when the "talking" begins...

Why would there be noises if he was alone? I don't think Bam lives with him 👀

No, I didn't see those videos. I'm on the side of tiktok where the only BTS videos I get are like concert clips and some funny moments or the occasional cute friendship edit. My algorithm lucky keeps all the shipping edits far away from me. And I prefer it that way. Lol like videos like this are the types of edits I get from bts on tiktok... (enjoy the bonus vmin edit here lmao)

I don't know if anyone was there or not. Who knows. I personally don't think so. It was early in the morning, JK had yet to sleep and came to just find comfort in being around ARMY while he drifted off. Ease his mind from running in circles or something. Give him something to focus on and enjoy doing while he relaxed and luckily did manage to fall asleep for a few hours. Love that he has that trust in us as fans and I hope we can do more as a fandom in its entirety to deserve that!

Personally, I think that sometimes noises just happen, I honestly didn't really notice anything and don't think anyone else was there. If anything, i agree that it mightve just been JK mumbling to himself. But that's just me and my opinion!

[real-total-drama-takes]

Okay I think rather than replying individually to every single person it would be better if I complied everything into one take

if you guys can't handle me at my coderra takes, you don't deserve me at my reboot takes /j, but in all seriousness while no I don't "love the male stalker trope"/think coderra is the healthiest ship (or healthy in canon whatsoever aside from the last 3 or so episodes of WT)/whatever other bs people tried to impersonate me with back in december, I've always been a coderra shipper & will bring up my defenses of the pairing if prompted, idk why this is news to some people

first off, worm anon & watermelon anon, yes I would ship them if the genders were reversed. Genders aren't really a factor when it comes to my opinions of ships, like as a trans person I don't really like hearing "oh I'm ok with x if one gender does it but not another" because like I'm the same person I was prior to me transitioning, I don't want to be treated any differently because I present masculine instead of feminine now. I absolutley would ship coderra if everything was exactly the same but Sierra was male and Cody was female. The closest thing we have to a genderswapped coderra in canon is gwody and while I don't care about gen 1 enough anymore to activley ship any gen 1 pairings aside from coderra and maybe gwourtney, I do find gwody kinda cute actually and like it as a secondary ship/brotp

https://www.tumblr.com/real-total-drama-takes/757942733215301632/not-to-add-to-proshipcourse-bc-its-driving-me-nuts?source=share this anon is particularly based and kinda already said a good chunk of what I want to say, but TLDR, so long as a pairing isn't activley harming anyone you shouldn't really be shitting on people for liking what they like. Literally the most I've done for coderra is write a couple fanfics about them, comission coderra fanart and create a list of hcs and I really fail to see how that's somehow problematic. Again, if this was like an incest/pedo pairing or some shit like that I'd get it but coderra hurts no one

gonna be real with you guys I started shipping coderra back in 2016 when I was a literal middle schooler who just didn't really understand the negative connotations with it because I didn't know anything about stalking; Sierra was my favorite character because I thought she was funny and occasionally relatable and thus chose to ship her with her canon love interest because I wanted to see her happy. Yeah I lost interest in TD in mid 2018 and didn't get back into it until late 2021 but I've still been shipping coderra for a long ass time and it's kinda hard to let pairings go when you've spent years creating a version of them in your head that's special to you, even if you've grown to realize they have problematic elements to them with time. I'm sorry if my coderra defenses have offended anyone and I've met some really cool people through this app and blog (tbh I wish I could actually like start friendships with my moots I just don't have the balls to ask), the last thing I want to do is like activley hurt anyone and I can stop sending in coderra takes if it's really bugging people that much. Regardless tho, I'm not gonna stop shipping the pairing itself over pointless discourse lastly "catnon has been really quiet huh" I'm not trying to be rude but have you considered I'm 21 years old with a life outside of social media. Like I get some of you are young and have a surplus of free time currently with it being summer break and all but please like in general can we normalize giving people at least a day to reply to stuff? thanks

-🐈

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 3

Propaganda Under Cut

Joan Watson

How were BBC Sherlock shippers so rancid about a WOMAN who wasnt even in the SAME SHOW?????

Martin Freeman of BBC Sherlock insulted Elementary and specifically Lucy Liu in the press. He straight up called Lucy Liu a "dog" in an interview APPARENTLY as a joke, because calling female actors ugly is hilarious. Benedict Cumberbatch was more measured about it, but he still said he was cynical about Elementary because it would lose the "male friendship" dynamic, which of course Johnlock shippers used against Joan Watson fans. Even the lead BBC Sherlock actors got in on the yaoi victimization of Joan Watson... 😔

she wasn't even in the same SHOW as the yaoi I've been convinced she deserves to win the entire poll. I was a Johnlocker but I did watch the first season of Elementary and it was fine????? It was totally okay????? Especially in hindsight given how hard Sherlock season four flopped. Also Lucy Liu is a queen and deserved zero vitriol for *checks notes* playing a character???? A fucking fictional character???????? Oh my god we were all SO mean to this show and we (or at least I) thought it was like The Good Fight™️, like we were defending BBC Sherlock against copyright infringement and straightwashing and Jonny Lee Miller's bizarre scarf, (it wasn't a good scarf I do stand by that) but then Elementary didn't make Holmes and Watson a couple either???? And also it didn't insult its audience constantly etc etc we've all seen the Hbomberguy Sherlock is Garbage video. This is really long sorry hashtag justice for Joan Watson

Nyota Uhura

She's Spock's canon partner in AOS, and I get it because they're not a great couple, but she gets villianized in fic so much. They constantly make her an asshole (which totally has nothing to do with her being black /sarcasm) and abusive just for the crime of dating a man headcanoned as gay. And I mean, I think Spock is gay and her being a love interest was unnecessary but still! She's cool!

Oh my god so in the Star Trek reboot she’s Spock’s girlfriend and the fandom has no idea what to do with her??? Like she is ALWAYS either such a bitch or like the mom friend? And there is so much more to her character than that? But they always break down her character AND find a quick and easy way to break up her and Spock. I’m not even mad at that but at least treat their relationship with some weight instead of just being like ‘it never mattered’. People can love multiple people throughout the course of their lives. You know that right? Just because you loved someone before doesn’t make your new love any less special. And even headcanoning Spock as gay… you realize he doesn’t need to be attracted to Uhura for their relationship to have mattered, right? Even if he confused friendship for romantic attraction, him feeling such strong friendship and openly expressing it is so monumental for him!!! 

she's dating Spock, who people ship with Kirk, so fans have decided that it's horrible writing and "really, they're just defending her, the movies turned her into just a love interests," which is not at all true. The movies do so much more for her to the point that the fans who have only seen the movies think that the main characters are Kirk, Spock, and Uhura instead of the Kirk, Spock, McCoy of the original series. Also having a black women being shown as being desired and loved in mainstream media, particularly by one of the most popular characters of all time, is a good thing, not making her "just a love interest"

[msfbgraves]

What did you think about the 6 trailer? I was totally and hugely disappointed.

Kreese’s arc is so cringe and stupid, his story was over in the season 3 finale. I especially hate how everyone is apparently buddy-buddy (Sam and Tory pullowfight?? Robby and Miggy beat buds??) and also Daniel and Johnny at odds YET AGAIN. I am so tired of their snippy “friendship”; the writers really have run out of ideas for them.

I’m also just dead sick of alcoholic, deadbeat, never wrong Johnny, he hasn’t been interesting and hasn’t developed since the beginning of season 3. And now he’s got a baby too! What about your biological son???

Also: where is best character Terry??? Chozen should be back in Okinawa wooing Kumiko but he’s in Cali with cutiepie Daniel san. Again! And Mike Barnes…did his wife forgive him? Did he get his life back?? Talk about dragging everyone into the mix. The season looks bad.

I’m so sorry Danny boy, you deserved much better!

I'm going to repeat what I've said before, Nonnie, and that is turn your brain off and enjoy Daniel and Johnny get karate married. I'm glad that Ralph, Billy and Marty did well out of it financially - they've shouldered this legacy for so long, they deserve it. Other than that... I hate the mystification of Miyagi. He was a kind fisherman turned handyman who was also a war hero sergeant and a surrogate father to a lost boy. That is enough. He doesn't need to be more. For the rest of it: the writers have fallen into the first pitfall of fanfic. Ooc ness. You can't treat characters as if prior characterisation doesn't matter. They're not yours. Johnny Lawrence isn't working class because you feel that's more sympathetic. He's the King of the country club! Daniel LaRusso isn't closed minded, I'm sorry if that upsets you. The Karate Kid was remarkably non-sexist for its time. Aly's friends were well enough drawn to stand up to Daniel, let alone Aly herself. Cobra Kai's treatment of its female characters makes no sense. Its refusal to let Johnny take any responsibility towards the son he abandoned... while cheering him having another baby (because HUR HUR, real men impregnate), is atrocious. That man, as written, is an a grade loser. He even abandons his business to Kreese. It doesn't matter that Billy Zabka is a better athlete than Ralph Macchio. All of these men, even Terry and Chozen, act as if they have no responsibilities. It's supposed to be a cool male fantasy but at its core, the way the writers glorify Johnny's immaturity is pathetic. I was promised the story of a man who never took responsibility, screwed up his whole life because of it, and now, late in life, through passion and love really tried to get his life together. The drinking and the random fighting not aspirational, but signs of someone in trouble. Him being enough of a free spirit that he can unstuck Daniel, who has become too set in his ways, and Daniel, through Robby, teaching Johnny what it means to be a father and an adult. By the end of S2 nobody should have been teaching karate in the Valley. I thought that it would have been about that. Whatever does Johnny even do for money? Mooch off of Carmen? Do any of these students pay? It's escapism but it's also ridiculous. I would have loved to cheer Johnny from deadbeat boy to adult man but we didn't get that. He's not grown at all! He still drinks, he still fights, he still neglects his son and he's sabotaged the relationship between Daniel and Robby. When Daniel needed help against Terry, Johnny wouldn't listen to him. It took Daniel nearly getting murdered and their great plan? Breaking and entering and massive vandalism. How is only Terry in jail? It's men playing at being boys and making taking responsibility into something unmanly. Do Carmen and Amanda get to play? No. Women take responsibility, not men. Men should be allowed to stay children forever on account of their somewhat larger genetic ability to cause internal bleeding. OK boomers!

[grandgreengrapes]

A Drop in the Sea - Chapter 3: Contemplation

Aonung x F!OC

The Metkayina and the Ta'unui reef clans have long had a close relationship. Ever since Aonung was born, the clans have come together every two years for a fortnight-long celebration. Following the attack on the Ta'unui by Quaritch and his men, tensions have been high between the two clans. In hopes of righting past wrongs, Tonowari invites the Ta'unui back to Awa'altu for the first time in four years. With the celebration comes the reunion of friends old and new.

It has been four years since Aonung has seen Payiva, the second daughter of Ta'unui's Olo'eyktan. They have known each other all of their lives, but things are different now. Aonung is eighteen years old and learning how to be a good leader. How will Payiva react to seeing him after all this time? Will they be able to rekindle their friendship, even as his clan harbors the man responsible for the attack on her own people?

CH1, CH2

Awa’altu was larger than Payiva remembered. As a child, she loved to spend her days running around the village and its surrounding biome. There was always something new for her to discover, a new place to hide from her mother. 

Now, all Payiva could do was compare Awa’altu to her own home, Seya’altu. The Ta’unui village had always been smaller, though never had it been more obvious to Payiva than it did now. 

“We just built a new section of maruis for this year’s celebration,” Tsireya was telling Pxe’ali and their mother. “Everything should be prepared for you already, but do not hesitate to let us know if you need anything.” 

Payiva resisted the urge to assure Tsireya that it did not matter if there was a hole in the ceiling, Ley would not be complaining about a single thing. It was not in Ley’s nature to complain to her hosts, it was much too rude for the Tsahik. Instead, she would air her grievances to her family, who had no choice but sit and listen.

The rest of the clan trailed behind them, waving and calling out to old friends as they passed. Payiva was happy to see them so joyous, the past few years had not been easy for her people. This celebration was a well-deserved reward for the Ta’unui. 

Behave, Payiva’s father had whispered into her ear after they dismounted their ilu. And be nice.

Payiva was not as politely demure as her sister, or entirely concerned about decorum, much to her mother’s dismay. She had a track record of being blunt in the most inappropriate of situations and an issue of not knowing when to hold her tongue. On more than one occasion, Ley had been heard saying that the Great Mother had blessed her with two daughters and thankfully, Pxe’ali was first. 

Payiva was not fit to be Tsahik, and everyone knew it. 

“Aonung was actually the one who made most of the maruis you will be staying in,” Payiva heard Tsireya say. 

Tsungetsa clapped the boy on the back, rattling on about the importance of an Olo’eyktan knowing craftsmanship. The scene almost made Payiva nauseous. Aonung was the son her father wished he had, and Tsungetsa was nothing if not obvious. Ley was no better. Payiva was certain she heard her mother coo something at Aonung as well. 

They treated Sreng, Pxe’ali’s mate, the same way. The young male had been chosen to become the next Olo’eyktan almost ten years ago, and Ley still treated him like he was an Eywa-given gift. It bothered Payiva more than she would like to admit - the amount of adoration her parents gave to Sreng over their own child, but it allowed her more freedom to do as she wished. 

Aonung’s back was to her, so Payiva took the opportunity to observe the boy while he was not staring at her like an ilu watching a fat fish. 

He had grown, both in height and in muscle definition. The last time they had seen each other, Payiva was the same height as Aonung, if not taller. She now only reached his shoulders, and he was likely to grow more. Payiva could not say why, but this annoyed her. 

She did not quite know what to think of him. They had been friends as children, such was the nature of being the children of clan leaders: you tended to gravitate toward one another. Aonung was never friendly by any means. Payiva actually remembered him being ornery and selfish, unused to not getting his way. But he would play games that Pxe’ali had long since grown out of, and that was all that really mattered. 

He was handsome, Payiva supposed, in the way that most Metkayina warriors were: tall, strong, and proud. Aonung had long curly hair like his sister, though his braids led back to a topknot, with half of the strands falling freely. Payiva rarely wore her hair unbraided - something that bothered her mother. While she liked the typical fashion with which Ta'unui women wore their hair, wearing her own hair like that annoyed her more often than not. Payiva could not understand how Aonung or the other Metkayina hunters dealt with their long tresses outside of the reef. 

Aonung glanced back over his shoulder at her, but Payiva quickly turned her gaze toward the village. The last time they had seen one another, Aonung practically overflowed with pride and arrogance. There had been times, between just the two of them, that he had been open - vulnerable even, but Payiva was not sure that she wanted to test those waters again. She most certainly did not want to add to what was likely an already overinflated ego.  

Tsireya led them to their maruis, which Aonung supposedly built by himself. Payiva would have to make sure the structure was sound before she could comfortably fall asleep tonight. 

Their party came to a stop. “We will let you settle in before the feast,” Tsireya said, her cheeks dimpling with a sweet smile. “Welcome back to Awa’altu.”

As the Metkayina siblings departed, Payiva did not gush over them as her parents did. She gave Tsireya a kind smile, but gave no such gesture to Aonung.

Truthfully, Payiva had no reason to ice the young man out. They had parted on good terms, but she did not know how to interact with Aonung anymore, and it was an awkwardness that Payiva did not appreciate. It felt like she was in unfamiliar territory. Being overly friendly with the next Olo’eyktan was not looked upon the same way at eighteen as it was when they were adolescents. 

Payiva had already squashed a number of rumors two years ago, when she became an adult, about her friendships with the young hunters in the clan. While she recognized the fact that she would likely end up mated to one of the young men eventually, Payiva did not intend for that to occur any sooner than necessary. 

Admittedly, the rumors were not helped by the fact that Payiva occasionally liked to experiment with one or two of the boys. 

Either way, Payiva was still deciding if resurrecting her friendship with Aonung was worth the potential hassle. She did not have as much patience for spoiled princes as once before.

Ley would have a field day if she heard that her youngest daughter was sweet on the Olo’eyktan’s son. Having not only one, but two daughters as Tsahik would be a dream come true for Payiva’s mother. Payiva’s ability to be a spiritual leader be damned.

The last thing that she wanted was to be shackled to such a position. Payiva had seen the life of a Tsahik through the eyes of her mother and sister, and it was not for her. Payiva lacked the patience for healing and the discipline for leadership. Even skills like weaving and cooking evaded her. 

Hunting, however? Payiva was born to hunt. She relished in the feeling of an early morning hunt, the cool waves beating against her skin as she cut through the water, and the silent moment right before catching her prey. Payiva did not care if she was using nets or spears, hunting was the one time she felt right.

There was no joy in killing the creatures, as Payiva once explained to Pxe’ali. It was more the thrill of being in the water and providing food for her clan. The knowledge that her people would not go hungry because of her handiwork was something that no one could take from Payiva. 

By no means could a Tsahik not be a warrior - Ronal was a prime example of such. But being Tsahik would always come first, and Payiva could never do that.

“Stop being so grumpy,” Pxe’ali whispered. “We are here. Let us enjoy the celebration.” 

Payiva took a deep breath in, then nodded. Being cordial and standoffish were two different things, and it would do her no good to be the latter. 

She put her things down in the marui before turning to her older sister. “I just hope our sister clan makes food as well as I remember.”

taglist:  @holysaladapricothero 

[aldbooks]

I saw an ask response earlier where the ask was basically implying that Azriel had mercenary intentions with both Mor and Elain, whether he was conscious of that or not, and my response got me thinking about the bat boys.

So, let's do a little analysis...

First off, it's important to note that in some form or other, all three are considered 'bastards', Cassian and Azriel literally, Rhysand because of racial biases. All three of them had some similar experiences because of the connotations that word carries (though obviously to very different degrees) and all had vastly different experiences as children that, even after they began living together as brothers, really shaped who they are as grown men.

Cassian

The bastard of a low born female with an unknown male, Cassian was perhaps the most hated among the three of them, at least from what we know so far. He was forced away from his mother very young and forced to fend for himself in the war camps.

We're told that bastards are given nothing when they join the camps. They're left in the cold without even shelter and have to earn, win or steal everything. Which Cassian does. He fought other boys in the camp to win the clothes he wore.

Because of this, Cassian, despite his obvious power and talent and intelligence, now feels he has to work to earn every bit of pride, praise, respect, and affection he receives. He worked his way through the ranks of soldiers starting from the very bottom to become their general. Which is... insanely impressive on its own. Yes, Rhys made him the general, but he definitely earned it, just like he earned the seven siphons he wears. Siphons that are basically never given to bastards. The Illyrians hate him, but begrudgingly respect and obey his orders because he fought for that respect.

He allows himself to become the emotional punching bag for his friends because he feels it's how he earns his place in their circle. Even Nesta comments on this.

Still, he believes himself unworthy because that's what he's been told his whole life. And in spite of all of that, he remains kind and compassionate and giving. He fights for those who can't fight for themselves, because, until he met Rhys, no one was there to fight for him.

Rhysand

Rhysand is the son of the High Lord and his mate. Born into a privileged life, that would have been mostly devoid of love if not for his mother. Hated by almost everyone outside of the Night Court because of the reputation of his court. Hated by the Illyrians because of his mother's elevated position and refusal to conform, but also because they chaffed at being ruled by High Fae who thought themselves better. Hated by the citizens of the Hewn City who considered the 'half-breed' a bastard and unworthy of his title. They only bow to him now because they fear him and they've seen what he will do to those who try to usurp him.

As a child, Rhys himself tells us that he hadn't understood what it was to be without until he saw Cassian trudging back to his little tent in the rain/snow (can't remember which but it was wet and cold). At this point, he still doesn't like Cassian but he feels guilt for the luxuries he has that Cassian does not and begs his mother to let him stay with them and they later adopt Azriel as well.

This begins a cycle of Rhysand feeling like he doesn't deserve the things he's been given because of his birth, and why he tries so hard to make sure his friends stay comfortable and well paid, giving so much of his wealth and himself to them. He does it with Feyre too, feeling like he has to compensate her for staying with him and giving up the chance at a life where she would not be hated and hunted because of him.

He wants to be liked. Wants to be loved. This is very evident, not only in how he acts with his family and his mate, but with others too. He befriended Tamlin when he was younger, and only abandoned him after he was betrayed. That betrayal and lost friendship still hurts him. He was so hopeful about a friendship with Tarquin and was genuinely disappointed when he realized the consequences of the choices they made in Summer meant he would likely never be trusted by the man the way he'd hoped.

He has a tendency to make plans on his own, sometimes without fully thinking through the consequences, or who will get hurt, and constantly puts himself in front of the figurative blade to spare those he loves pain. Again this all seems to come from guilt.

Azriel

The bastard son of a Lord and a servant. Hated by his stepmother and brothers who treat him abominably cruelly simply for existing while his father does nothing to stop any of it. He's acknowledged, but not given the privileges of a son and is only set free from his personal hell when he develops a rare gift and suddenly becomes 'valuable.'

We don't know much about what the war camps were like for Azriel, other than he had to learn to fly at a much older age than other boys and was probably bullied for it. We know Cassian taught him, so it may be safe to assume he and Rhys took him under their wing relatively early. He was probably decently well protected by the two of them. He now has a massive hero complex, always wanting to be the savior and have the glory.

After the war camps, Rhysand's father takes Azriel as his personal Shadowsinger and forces him to spy for him. This is likely where Azriel learned most of the skills he now uses today as Spymaster, including the torture. Again, we don't know much about what those days were like for him, but it's implied he both witnessed and was made to do some terrible things. However, he'd once again been deemed 'valuable' and given a prestigious position in court.

Azriel's entire reputation is built on fear and intimidation, fed by rumors both of the power he/his shadows wield and what everyone knows he does (i.e. 'interrogations') and he not only has a very high opinion of himself, he also seems to feel he deserves the awe and 'respect' because of who he is. He's very prideful and we mostly see this when anyone questions him. He seems to believe he's owed things because of everything he was denied.

This is where I diverge from 'canon' and get into my impressions of who Azriel is based on what we do know...

Azriel is a font of contradictions. He craves love, but because he received so little of it in his life thus far, doesn't truly seem to comprehend or recognize what love is. He has an obsessive personality and confuses infatuation, jealousy and feelings of possessiveness with actual affection. He seems to believe there are (overly) simple solutions to complicated problems despite all the things he's observed over the years and all the political intrigue he's participated in.

Examples: Kill Beron (all the Vanserras most likely) = Autumn will be a better place and Mor will be avenged. Illyrians/CoN aren't cooperating? do whatever tf you want and kill whoever disagrees/opposes. Kill Lucien = Elain is 'free'. Find a mate = be happy.... there's a lot of killing involved there. I imagine this is also something he's learned from his time as Spymaster. Sometimes the easiest way to stem the flow of information is kill anyone who knows.

Azriel was treated badly and shunned by his own people and doesn't hold any compassion towards them for the prejudices they were taught or try to teach them different, as Cassian does. While Rhysand and Cassian try to find ways to move forward and create peace with as little bloodshed as possible (despite being the general, Cassian would rather avoid war if he could), Azriel would just as soon see the world burn.

All three have both good qualities and bad.

Rhysand- I think mostly because he feels trapped by the reputation he was practically born with- can be cruel and overly arrogant, and can be selfish in that he only seems to consider how his decisions affect his own people and no one else. But, he genuinely wants to make the world better, even if he doesn't always understand the best way to do that.

Cassian - deeply underestimates himself. Despite being the most emotionally intelligent of the three, he often missteps in his interactions with other people. He takes insults to heart, which can lead to him lashing out when hurt. (hello destroying an entire village because of what happened to his mother, or the things he said to Nesta when she insulted him) He gives too much of himself, but always chooses to see the best in people. We especially see this with his thoughts on Lucien while others in the IC are disparaging him, and the last words he says to Eris in ACOSF. Also with how he views his own people.

Azriel - Is angry at the world. He is capable of compassion, but only seems to extend it to those he believes are 'deserving' of it. Thus he hates the Illyrians, the Autumn Court and the CoN for the actions and opinions of a few, as though they were one entity and not made of individual people who do not all share the same thoughts and prejudices as the worst of them. As much as he hates himself, he also seems to have moments when he revels in his own bloodlust and darkness. He has the most healing to do of the three of them.