#ofc I went with the most popular interpretations

[insectgf]

Hiiii!!! Not to invade your ask box; but I was wondering more about your views on Rhine & Dani’s dynamic/relationship?? Like how you think it’ll play about, your headcanons, theories, etc,,,,,

I know you’ve went over it before; but it’s actually one of my fav things ever and I really love the way that isn’t just the basic ‘oh ya they hate each other ’ dynamic most other people interpret it as— and I really love it💜💜

OMG MONARD UR NEVER INVADING!!!! i read ur ask while sitting in my lecture and i couldn’t stop thinking about it.

so basic disclaimer: i treat rhinedottir and dainsleif like my ocs so everything here is cannon only in my heart. feel free to agree/disagree just be nice. also sorry for any misspelling i don’t have dyslexia im just stupid and english is my third language blablabla LETS GO

before i can talk about their dynamic i will give a rundown on my own interpretation of the two characters.

we know basically nothing about rhine so i went crazy in my head with ideas. one thing im certain about is that she’s the royal alchemist, i can also image her being some sort of wunderkind and extremely hard working/determined. in my head she also DIDNT invent the art of khemia, she merely mastered it. i think alchemy is as old as teyvat itself, together with the idea of creating life forged by human hand. kehmia is popular in khaenriah because well….those mole people live underground and how else will you feed your people.

(sorry for drifting of (it will happen again))

so we have rhine, an extremely hard working prodigy, in the field of alchemy/science in general probably. i think it is also important to differentiate between pre cataclysm and post cataclysm rhine and dain.

i can imagine pre cataclysm rhine being a somewhat normal person. as normal as she can be anyways, she fits into the eccentric crazy scientist stereotype but she isn’t socially incompetent or anything like that. she laughs, she jokes, she relaxes and she obsesses.

post cataclysm rhine lost herself and everything she stood for in that war. the only thing she has left is her obsessive nature.

in my mind i can also image that the royal alchemist stands very high in the social hierarchy.

and that’s where dainsleif comes in!!

dain too is a prodigy, just in fighting and strategies. he doesn’t look old to me? he was already the knight captain of the royal guard, and he’s like…barley 35 in my eyes.

SO two prodigies meet, they both excel in different areas in their life. what happens? they don’t care for eachother.

rhine who can’t do a push up vs dain who doesn’t know how to synthesis anything.

to be honest, i don’t think they were paired up to like balance each other out. i can image them meeting occasionally on dains rounds. they are a constant in eachothers life’s, but do they talk? rarely.

because they don’t have anything in common.

i feel like rhine would be someone who was against rigid structures and rules, since she was constantly breaking the rules of celestial (not being permitted to great (human) life), and probably the king too (that one is more secretly done but she still does it in my heart).

so when dainsleif bows down to her she’s just laughing it off. it’s silly because they are the same age!! and just because she does alchemy somewhat well doesn’t mean she deserves all the respect in the world!!

and now! post cataclysm!

dainsleif failed his country. the twilight sword could not protect those he swore to protect. dain i think was conditioned from an early age to be ready to die for his people and just the fact that he’s immortal hurts more because of that.

rhine is the opposite. death is too easy, everyone can die but life is the truly hard challenge. to live for something.

i also like to think that rhine is actually somewhat open going with information. ofc dangerous/important thing she doesn’t tell but like if someone came up to her to ask her to explain smth she would do it. information is power and to gatekeep information from a certain group of people is not right.

so in that sense rhine talking to herself and rambling is something dainsleif actually copied from her post cataclysm 😭 like he’s constantly lore dropping,,,just like rhine. because he agrees! information shouldn’t be kept away!

NOW TO THEIR DYNAMIC

I think it’s really complex and contradictory in on itself. we know dain joined the abyss order at least for a certain time (i assume) and i think that’s something rhine would be against. yes she likes the abyss and uses the concisenesses inside to fulfill her vessels. no she would never worship a huge glowing rock. she DID NOT declare war against GODS and CELESTIA just to bow down to anything ever again. so she judges him for that decision for sure

i don’t think that dainsleif could even bring himself to hate rhine for what she did. he’s a protector of the people, even if his people did wrong.

yes, he’s wary of her. yes, he’s even scared of her and her power. yes, he thinks the art of khemia should have never been studied the way it was.

no, he doesn’t love her. no, he doesn’t like her.

yes, he would obey every order she gives him.

rhine being the highest ranking khaenrian running around is such a funny image like girl who gave u all that authority….

i think it’s also interesting how the kheanriahn people are still there and still live there but we still haven’t really see any kheanrianhs. (why is that so hard to spell like what)

clothar left because of his son caribert, pierro left to do whatever he’s doing, dainsleif is filled with guilt and probably doesn’t think he’s capable of protecting anyone and rhine is out there….being a menace.

i think also that rhine and dainsleif trust eachother to a degree but to a weird one.

yes dainsleif trusts her with his life, no he doesn’t trust her word.

same with rhinedottir, she’s like somewhere high up and she just goes „catch me!“ and then she just jumps down no matter how far away he is 😭 has he ever failed? nah!!!

but when she asks him about the abyss order she just knows he’s not telling the full truth. she can’t judge him tho, since she’s also a lying liar.

we know that also being alive for so long comes with erosion and that dainsleif has probably lost a good chunk of his memory, but even tho he’s borderline senile he still recognised albedo as rhinedottirs. like the star mark gives it away and dainsleif remembers, that’s her mark. she’s still alive. she’s still creating.

so yeah, dainsleif is ready to stop albedo should the time come, but would he stop rhinedottir? no

he wasn’t able to stop her back then, even though he saw all the warning sings, even tho pierro warned them all. and even now he wouldn’t be able to.

because dainsleif apparates on muscle memory and its ingrained into every fiber of his body to obey the royal alchemist.

i think also pierro and rhine dynamic would be interesting but more in a comedic way

pierro, near his retirement: you should stop with the path you’re on. you will call on the rage of celestia

rhinedottir, who has never passed a psych evaluation or sports test in her life: i can take the archons and celestia in a fight

so yeah that’s my take on them. no they aren’t in love and no they don’t hate eachother. but they are one of the few constants they have left and one thing both are good at it clinging what belongs to them. they have something weird going on in that sense that dain can’t help his guard dog nature and rhine can’t send him away.

i also think they are gossip buddies like dain RAN to rhine when he found out clothar died and that kaeya is in mondstadt. he probably also told her about halfdan and the abyss order trying to purify with the water. rhine furisly writing everything down so she’s doesn’t forgets

[liqsouls]

I have some thoughts and I won't call it "a theory" or "analysis" lol, it's more like product of my obsession with Swift and kaylor combined with me being Greek mythology geek. Also idk if anyone mentioned it before so sorry If I'm late to the party.

So...I rewatched Anti Hero mv and now I have some new thought about this particular moment:

«Pierced through the heart but never killed»

You know who in Greek mythology pierce through the heart but never kills? Eros (Cupid) does. Ig it's already cool symbolism if we consider that moment of piercing with that arrow as falling in love and that love makes her bleed with this lavender thing (which is smth that a lot of ppl in gaylor fandom interpretate as her gayness or whatever). But then I remembered one of the most popular myths abt Eros which is legend abt Eros and Psyche (btw reference to this myth was used in last season of Killing Eve).

First interesting thing is that this myth in some way about secret love or rather love with some secrets. Cause Psyche for a long time didn't see Eros, didn't know who her lover was and they used to meet only at night. And all other ppl knew that Psyche had a lover but they also had no idea who is he.

Lets look up some more info abt myth.

Aphrodite (goddess of love and mother of Eros) was mad at Psyche cause she was incredibly beautiful and 'Dite ordered Eros to use his power(arrows) to make Psyche fall in love with horrible ugly creature. But when Eros saw Psyche «he himself felt his heart pierced by one of his own arrows» means he fell in love with her and ofc failed his mission.

Meanwhile Psyche was worried cause she never was in love with anyone and nobody was really in love with her. This situation stressed out her parents. So they asked Apollo for advice. «Apollo decreed that Psyche, dressed in black dress, should be brought to the summit of a mountain and stay there alone. The husband that was assigned to her, a winged serpent, terrible and more powerful than the gods themselves, would come up and take her for his wife». Ofc it was horrible fate but it's not like they could do smth. But when Psyche did as Apollo told her and was ready to accept her fate...

«While she was shaking and crying in the quiet night, a slight breeze reached her. It was the fresh wind of Zephyr, the mildest of the winds. He felt that she was being raised....She then woke up by the sound of clear stream and when she opened her eyes she faced an imposing and magnificent castle. It seemed destined to a god, with gold columns, silver walls and floors of inlaid precious stones». ( Bejeweled mv vibe maybe?). That's where she "met" Eros tho she didn't see him, but she heard him and understood that castle is her home now and the voice belongs to her lover aka the one she always wished for.

Psyche didn't know much abt him, met him only at night(it was Eros' conditions) and during day she was always alone so she asked to bring her sisters in the castle. Eros didn't like that idea cause he believed her sister will influence her in a bad way but he let her invite them anyway. Sisters were very jealous of what Psyche had (bad sisters bejeweled vibe again?) so they started to sabotage her thoughts abt her mysterious lover and made Psyche more curious abt who he was.

«Indeed, that night, when her husband fell asleep peacefully, she took courage and lit the candle....The light did not show a monster but the most beautiful of men....But while he was leaning on him, a drop of oil fell from the candle on the back of that handsome, young man. He woke up in pain and saw the light. He looked her at the eyes and, facing Psyche's distrust, he left their bedroom without uttering a single word. Psyche immediately ran after her husband. It was dark and she could not see him, but could hear his heartbroken voice: Love can not live without trust.»

Psyche understood that her lover was Eros himself but Eros felt hurt and betrayed. (The great war vibes?).

Psyche was desperate and went to Aphrodite to ask what to do. Aphrodite thought that Psyche wasn't a good match for Eros so, in order to prove her love for Eros, Psyche had to complete three impossible, even dangerous tasks. (The great war vibes again?). Btw one of the tasks was to separate «different small seeds of wheat, poppies, millets and many others».

Long story short, even when Psyche completed all tasks Aphrodite was mad at her and told that she(Psyche) will forever remaine her servant and won't be with Eros. But other gods decided to tell/show Eros what Psyche did to prove her love and he was touched by it, believed that Psyche truly loves him and actually never meant to betray him. So Eros decided to save Psyche: «He left his room and found Psyche exhausted in his mother's garden».

They had their happy ending. Actually it's one of the most beautiful and pure love stories in Greek mythology. And yeah for me this legend kinda vibes with some Taylor's songs but one question still remains.

Who is the archer (Eros) and who is the prey(Psyche?)?

[miniar]

So Apparently Diablo IV is coming in a perfect display of Blizzard's ongoing downfall.

Blizzard Entertainment went and fucked up a while back by banning a Hearthstone tournament champion from competing because he voiced support for Hong Kong protesters in an interview and since then things have only gotten worse.

Diablo 1 and 2 were iconic games along with the warcraft and starcraft series. For a long time these games were praised and loved as reliable good fun and the blizzard servers that let you play with people around the world were... well.. they existed and were perfectly serviceable.

The games ofc would connect to blizzard net by default so when that whole thing was discontinued that was simply that.

Then World of Warcraft happened, and a popular cash cow that was. It fast became the most played MMO around. I played it.

Of course, when you reach late game content it was all a tedious grind requiring multiple hours of multiple days of commitment to attend, and you were required to have the correct gear and correct stats and correct skills to be permitted to attend, and so any individuality or desire to do anything but this meant you might as well be playing a single player game if it wasn't for the (usually toxic) chat.

When Diablo 3 came out, many of us old timers bought it and played it. It had references to the old stories and it was a good time. Fun even. It had it's flaws, ofc, but there are some lines from that game that still play in my head when the situation is about right.

I had no idea Diablo 4 was in the works. To be fair, I'm not paying as much attention as some do, but given how big the Diablo franchise was, it came as a complete surprise to see it suggested in my Steam queue. A tiny nostalgic spark went off in my head and I wondered what direction they'd take the story from where it left off, what kind of heroes would be called, whether maybe I should pick it up and play necromancer again, my go to "bring your own army" build dreamily dancing in the far back of my old goth mind.

And the video trailer gave me absolutely no information what so ever. It was a popular song (you should see me in a crown) playing over the unimpressive "reveal" of a succubus-esque form followed by shots of mid combat chaos.

And nothing else.

Nothing.

No interesting characters, no indication of what the class options are going to be, no suggestion as to what the story is, or why, or anything remotely interesting.

Just, "check out this sexy boss we made, also here's some combat".

It REEKS of half-assed cash-grab mediocrity, at best.

And that's the thing. In the last decade or so, Blizzard's slowly but surely becoming known for shit customer service, product decline, and absolute lack of anything remotely resembling a spark of creativity.

Diablo 4 looks like a knock-off diablo phone game.

Blizzard, by the way, created a phone game, and instead of reworking their earlier games and porting them to a phone where a younger generation could experience the iconic franchise for what made it popular and older players could come back and bask in nostalgia, they built a boring, superficial mess.

And just to make it worse, just like their shitty phone game, it looks like Diablo 4 is gonna force you to be connected to the internet.

And you know, I'm annoyed, because these games were in the stack of things that made playing a game something I enjoyed doing. The stories, the characters, the challenge, it was all a good time. And now we're getting the "sad wankfest" versions from what used to be a pretty good game dev company.

It's like finding they've replaced one of your favorite fruits in the supermarket with an artificially flavored wax version that isn't actually for "eating" but you can chew and spit out pieces of it for the "experience" of what it might be like to eat a fruit as interpreted by a person who's only experience with said fruit was a picture and a third hand description of the flavor.

If you've never had an apple in your life, sure, maybe this'll be a good time for you, but for the love of all that is holy, please, there are better options out there, some of them are even free.

[evelhak]

Hey! For the character ask thing. Kuroko with 6, 8, 20 ;)

Hi! Thank you for your curiosity.

6. Least favourite ship

This was a short fight between Nash Gold Jr. and Momoi. Momoi won quickly. And the reason is because shipping Kuroko with Nash is so out there that I can't take it very seriously even though the thought is disgusting to me. Momoi actually has a personal relationship with Kuroko, so that's why it bugs me more. Momoi's behaviour towards Kuroko is not cool. I know this story has more blatant harrasment in it, but Momoi really gets to me because it's repeated frequently and they are actually supposed to be friends and it's spefically Kuroko she treats this way and no one else that we know, so it makes it more personal. And I don't think Kuroko is too dense to get it, I mean she's going around calling herself his girlfriend. I think he's simply disinterested, and avoids the conflict. (It would make a lot of sense he would think Momoi wouldn't want to be his friend anymore if he spoke up about it considering everything.) I think this is a terrible basis for a ship. I think they have a lot of things to solve before they can even be uncomplicated friends. (Which I took upon myself to write ofc.)

(Since fandom is what it is, I feel like I still need to repeat to anyone who reads this that I am not coming at you if you ship these people. You have your right to do that and I have my right to dislike the ships. No justification or explanation needed on either part. It's a matter of taste.)

8. Favourite outfit

Never crossed my mind. Went through my pinterest board and found this. I think it's really cute.

20. Weird headcanon

Okay, I have so many headcanons that utilize full artistic freedom, but when I think about it, any of my queer headcanons or even my decisions to "diagnose" this character are not that weird, because they are still based on canon. The interpretation or how I chose to draw a cohesive picture of those canon things is evidently not the most popular but I don't think it's truly weird, because it's definitely not baseless.

There's one thing though that is full fancy and not at all canon based: Kuroko's grandmother. She's basically an OC in my fics because we know so little about her but I wanted her to be a big influence in Kuroko's life. I think she's weird, and I meant for her to be so anyway. She's an eccentric, young grandmother who's ahead of her time and knows and understands a lot of issues people younger than her don't. Basically Kuroko's parents are more traditional than she is. She definitely has an echo of a fairytale witch, and shares traits with a lot of women who I admire. Not that she's without faults. She's rather overconfident in her assessment of situations and concepts, and she can be a bit detached from humanity outside of her family and friends in a way, like the world is a fun show for her rather than something she's a part of. I didn't give her a name though, she's just Granny. I'm well aware that she's unlikely, but I'm not here for the likely, I'm here for the outcomes that are the most interesting and impactful to me. 🤷 I know this is not directly a Kuroko headcanon but in a way it is because his relationship with Granny is so important in my fics, she basically taught him everything he knows apart from school and basketball.

[bastardsunlight]

got any recommendations for blogs to write with? looking to expand my genre and it can be any fandom or any type of writing canon or oc. you have good taste and good writing so i wanna ask if you got any suggestions.

//well hell, that’s very kind of you, anon. I appreciate the regard. I’ve got such a list of people—old friends and new ones… I’ll slap a few in here, but if I forget you, please know it’s because I’m decrepit and half-aware at all times. I’ll do my best to list the folks with whom I interact most frequently at the very least… These are all good, honest people whose blogs are genuine safe spaces, so they're high quality.

@justliukang with all Liu Kang all the time--if you're into Mortal Kombat and Liu Kang specifically, this here's the mun and blog for you!

@heamatic / @dyuuku a Mortal Kombat multi and her wonderful OC (she's got other blogs, too; inquire within!) and she is another very good friend

@extraordinarygrrls a multi muse of ladies. If it's girls you want, it's girls she's got. Total fucking sweetie, too. Very good human.

@vehxmence with a variety of OCs with a variety of verses on her multi here; we've known each other for YEARS

@merchantofwhispers with Gemina (and others), the morally gray vampire lady who is also sometimes an eldritch night deity--intensely creative, fun to talk to, VERY kind

@theotherhawk is Kate Bishop and a better interpretation of the character I've yet seen. Seriously, hard recommend!

@realprojectalice is another one I've known for YEARS--she ofc has other blogs, but this here's our main interaction and by GOD we've written some stunning threads.

@fcrrokinetic arguably the most popular Heis--jk jk that's a TERRIBLE inside joke and I'm almost sorry. Almost. Seriously though, she's super creative and what a fuckin' great partner. We come up with the wildest shit and it always seems to work. (Other blogs, too, which I'm sure you'll find)

@noonegetsleftbehind he and I hit it off IMMEDIATELY rapping about weskerfield and its inherent fucked-upedness and then we just kinda went from there. He's got other blogs too, and they are VARIED. The range on these people I stg.

@daughterofnero which is a lovely multimuse and another I've known for years--stuff from FFXV, DMC, RE, I mean shit the list goes on, plus MK, and multiple verses for folks AAAAAAAAAAND OCs, so you know she's got it goin' on

@koikage101-rp-hub is ofc the hub of the great Koi. We've only recently become acquainted but we get along like a house on fire. SO many muses (honestly same) and why not? It's a party, after all.

I KNOW there are more of you with whom I've just not interacted in a minute, but like, anon, if you see me interacting with anyone, odds are they're safe--that is, they're good folks who understand this is a hobby, not a jobby, that it's not real, and that stressing over shit ain't worth it. I'm a slut for communication, which is the biggest criterium I place on RP partners. Everything else tends to fall into place.

[jakowskis]

Day 24 - Discuss Ianto. Opinions? Favorite moment? Least favorite moment? Any unpopular opinions? Any fun headcanons?

putting this under a cut cuz im noivous + i didnt rlly write a good introductory paragraph

iantoooo ok. i have an interesting relationship with ianto, namely bc i love him a lot but i think im enjoying a much different version of him than the one most people like. idk how to explain it exactly, but like, i came to care about him when i started writing in his pov for owento fic, if that tells you anything fhdfjkd. i think that’s a pretty specific and semi-unorthodox way to get acquainted with a character, by sticking them in a kinda toxic relationship that’s not their canon one, + is largely a product of ur imagination + other fic fsdhkfjds. needless to say, i’m immensely fond of the ianto in my head, who i think does exist in the canon character but just isn’t someone we see expanded upon (owento being epic toxic yaoi is such a feasible concept to me fhsdfjksd i think they very well could’ve happened in another life) - but, for obvious reasons, that ianto isn’t a ianto most other people can conceive of, ykwim? long story short, i’m sitting over here cradling my fucked up version of ianto who’s doing some crazy shit with owen, and it makes me feel p detached from other ianto enjoyers (aka, yknow, practically the whole fandom fshdfks).

that being said! i am fond of canon ianto. i found him kinda underwhelming in the first two seasons, he’s just kind of... there, which makes his popularity a bit surprising, if i’m honest. he’s endearing, but not that endearing. but he’s a lot more fleshed out in the audios, which is where i came to rlly enjoy him on his own, rather than just the version of him i’ve crafted as a writer. but i think part of his popularity is that he’s a bit of a blank slate, so people have a lot of freedom to run with him, and that’s definitely a lot of fun when ur a writer (hell, both for the official writers + the fanfic writers). we know his blandness is a mask, which means plenty of things could be hiding under there, and there’s a lot of fun interpretations out there as a result. some i don’t quite agree with, ofc, but hey, we’re all here to have a good time. more on that when i talk about unpopular opinions. 

he does have his moments, of course. i think my favorite ianto moments are the entirety of captain jack harkness (him and owen in that episode really changed my life as i’ve said dozens of times fhsdkjdks. when he pointed that gun at owen smth in my brain shifted HFJKSDHDS), and then “pray they survive” in meat. can you tell i like badass!ianto. of course, i enjoy his dorky moments, too. i like that he’s more comfortable and companionable in season 2 and as a result he’s full of quips. i listened to the one restricted items archive audio earlier this month, he’s soo much fun in that one, so much personality. same with believe, both gave me a lot of insight into him that the show initially really didn’t bother with, and it was such a joy. funky little lad. i’ve said this before, but i often get annoyed by characters (+ ships) that are hugely popular in a fandom, and i’ve had moments where i’ve been mildly annoyed by ianto as a result (seeing as i’m largely a owen&tosh&gwen girlie and jack & ianto so aggressively dominate things) - but i legitimately can’t bring myself to actually dislike him. i’m not immune to ianto jones. sigh. 

but yeah, cyberwoman was when i went “oh, he’s fucked up, ok hi” - but captain jack harkness was when i went “oh, he’s fucked up, ok hi” FJKSDF like that was when he first started to actually intrigue me, and the ianto i’m most interested in is the one we see in that episode. it’s a darker sort of ianto, and that stifled darkness is what i find compelling about the character + what i’m interested in exploring. and that’s why i like owento, bc owen’s such a live wire he kind of forces ianto’s repressed qualities to the surface - and that has a lot of potential. i talked about it here, when i talked about why i ship them - this post is about ianto on his own, ofc, but he’s one of the two characters in my torchwood otp, so i can’t help but mention it. i just find that ship super handy for playing with what i consider to be ianto’s most compelling qualities, that the show doesn’t fully capitalize on. of course, as we know, i’ve yet to watch s3 and i have a feeling it’ll happen there. i’m eager to see! 

i don’t really have a least favorite ianto moment, other than how often he’s simply reduced down to being jack’s boytoy + that he’s underdeveloped and just kind of eye-candy, + then comic relief as well in s2. oh! but i laugh hysterically every time he cries on screen. i can’t help it, it’s so funny the way he wails. but those aren’t ‘least fav’ moments so much as ‘ianto moments i cannot fucking take seriously’. 

unpopular opinions time! don’t kill me

he’s a liiiittle bit overrated ;-;

he’s soooo much more interesting outside of his relationship with jack. jack stifles him a lot.

him and jack have zero chemistry onscreen too like they look very forced to me

...he has 10x more chemistry with owen 😗

fandom j*nto fucking sucks + i have no interest in it

i HATE what ianto’s reduced to in a lot of fics. he's not at all cutesy n ineffectual idk where tf that came from

he’s a dom 🫵 and a top-leaning vers. grr. 

top/bottom discourse is so stupid + immature but my main thing is just. don't be tropey with it ugh. wooby uwu uke ianto is a fucking plague. it's gross n such an injustice to his character. makes me 🤒 every time im subjected to it. treat characters like real humans w real sexual leanings and desires don't just shepherd them into weird fetishy roles cuz u think its cute n hot 😒 im not here to police anyone's fandom experience it just makes my life worse FSDJKF so im allowed to bitch about it. fandom is my hobby tht makes me smileeee and i hate when things make me Frown yknow ffff

love him to bits as a person + he definitely has some rlly good moments but some of gareth’s acting as ianto is laughable 😭 mostly emotional scenes. i make fun of ‘havent you ever loved anyone jack wahh’ a lot SORRY im mean. thats probs also why i liked cjh sm i was like oh shit he can act. IM SORRY it had to be said. b*rrowman’s the other actor i struggle to take seriously and thats probs also why j*nto doesn’t compel me like. they both come at it from such a campy (/neg) angle to me ngl

hcs… idk if i rlly have any hcs for him? none are coming to mind. i’ll probs come up w some as my owento verse develops. i think i peppered a few random ones into my big fic dhfj im sure ill come up with more. 

[spring-demonx]

Finished Raul's route + done Gill's bad ends (spoilers under the cut!)

Raul's Route thoughts

Finished going through Rauls' route, and did his bad endings along the way, and finally the common route ends! (I was surprised by one, but ofc an otome's gotta have some semblance of a harem end lol) I went in pretty blind, the only thing I'd really heard on Raul's route was that it's the spiciest in the sexual scenes and they did not disappoint😳 and the CGs!😮‍💨 I am glad I've played in the order I'm going in, bc BRUH THE TWIST IN THIS IS JUST- I CAN'T! Let's just say it had a little impact on how I view Minerva, bc wth, man...

I was excited for Raul's not just from what I heard about it, but also because I was looking forward to his and Lynette's discussions on mythology! It's cute seeing his eyes light up from Lynette's opinions and theories, and how excited he got when he'd find out the myth's or interpretations of the gods hadn't been that accurateლ(╹◡╹ლ)

I like how the game doesn't shame casual sex relationships, and even goes to explain that it's normal and that not everyone views sexual intimacy the same way, like how Raul first explains to Lynette that sex is just that, it's something fun and it's normal for people in Sillywood, no romantic feelings.

Gill's Bad Ends thoughts

Ngl, I cried (or at least teared up quite a bit) during Gill's "365 Love Letters" bad end. After Lynette runs away back to Celestia after finding out abt the article she doesn't want to believe Gill made (ofc he didn't), she's immediately taken away by some soldiers and locked in a cage because she lost Cupid's golden arrow. As losing a divine artifact is a grave crime, the Dii Consentes decide the punishment which is 100 years of confinement. Jupiter walks in and doesn't seem to be angry, but disappointed and Lynette begs him to let her out to look for the lost arrow. He rejects solemnly, ominously saying that she should trust that this is for her own good, and that it's better that she not use her powers as Cupid for the time being.

20 years pass, and Lynette has gotten a little used to it, and just wants to wait out the remaining 80 years of the sentence as she remembers Raul and Gill's discussion on being 'spirited away' and how those who are, are forgotten. Lady Minerva shows up and gives her a laptop to entertain herself with a movie which had been adapted from a popular novel. Cue me tearing up, because Lynette then realises after watching that the original novel was written by Gill, and that he had never given up on looking for her 20 years later😭💔 She resolves herself to using her leaded arrow to sever their connection to end Gill's painful wait for Lynette's return that will most likely be after he's gone😭😭😭

[naiphyx]

Feeling uninspired, so I drew some cowboahs as cute animals. 💐🦌🦝🐕🐃

[dykesbat]

okok songs from my bruce playlist + reasons

first love / late spring by mitski

“and I was so young when I behaved twenty-five / Yet now I find I’ve grown into a tall child… Please hurry, leave me, I can’t breathe / Please don’t say you love me / Mune ga hachikire-sōde”

pretty self-explanatory! bruce is emotionally immature and just. yeah i feel like he oftentimes does feel the same as he did in that alleyway yknow. maybe he’s realizing the depths of how immature he is right here in the moment of recognizing that the person he finds himself loving right now is also someone he could potentially lose. i think of bruce as someone who loves a lot. maybe here he’s acknowledging how the price of loving is the possibility of pain.

everybody lost somebody by bleachers

THIS ENTIRE SONG BROOOOOOO

“It’s this dream I keep having where I’m begging / Just to give myself a break / But there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to wake up and remember it / I wanna wake up and remember”

Bruce being an avid dreamer is a pretty popular concept n idk I think the concept of his dreams diverging from the nightmares of his loss to a dream of him acknowledging that he’s mourning and wanting the world to stop or like. him having a nightmare where the only coherent words he remembers after waking up is just his internal “i’m so tired” but maybe its survivors guilt maybe its just the desperation to hold on to whatever he can of the people that he lost maybe he's just trying to hold on to all the good and the good memories are just. so intertwined with the pain of loss. but he doesn’t want to let go of it

“I think pain is waiting alone at the corner / Tryna get myself back home, yeah / Looking like everybody / Knowing everybody lost somebody... A reason I see myself in a million faces / A reason I can't stop it all from changing / So come on, motherf*^&r, you survive”

i think these lines can be used to represent him turning his pain into his efforts for making gotham better. basically just. redirecting the love into the city and the people rather than only mourning. obv it would be his entire mission after his parent’s deaths. and for canon continuity reasons—since it's a bit more hopeful maybe it's after jason’s death and after tim comes around? idk i imagine bruce remembering his parents and remember jason around the manor hallways and on the city rooftops. the whole “trying to get myself back home” can be like home = the person lost or just. literally bruce trying to put in the effort to dragging himself back home for (himself? tim? alfred? hmm.) n the other lines are just. him seeing himself in gotham and seeing worth in human life. it connects to his compassion and his no-kill-rule and his empathy and his taking in of his children. and like yeah he can’t stop it all from changing he can't prevent every death but he’ll try to. the survive line is also pretty self-explanatory. 

garden song by phoebe bridges

“I don't know when you got taller / See our reflection in the water / Off a bridge at the Huntington / I hopped the fence when I was seventeen / Then I knew what I wanted”

ok so I'm thinking. him talking abt dick in the first few lines. probably after reconciling with him after they've been enstranged for so long and he’s feeling regretful for the mistakes he made there while thinking of their past times together.  maybe he took younger dick to a place he went to when he solidified his plan to train abroad? 

“And it’s gonna be just like my recurring dream / I’m at the movies, I don’t remember what I’m seeing / The screen turns into a tidal wave”

do I have to explain.. avid dreamer bruce,, the movies,, the dream ending terribly,, gn!

“I don’t know how, but I’m taller / It must be something in the water / Everything’s growing in our garden / You don’t have to know that it’s haunted”

idk how to explain it? but just. bruce growing up in a manor that suddenly feels larger than it ever did before. n it feels like he took his parents ghosts w him and left whatever his childhood was back in that alley. and part of him can pick out what he felt on that day. and so much changed and he’s grown? he’s grown older than his father ever was? and he doesn’t know how that's possible?

class of 2013 by mitski

“Mom, can you wash my back / This once, and then we can forget / And I’ll leave what im chasing / For the other girls to pursue…. Mom am I still young / Can I dream for a few months more” 

ok no he is not financially struggling n i will b honest this is a self-indulgent song to maximize relatability <3 but my decision to put this song was also based on the idea of him just. missing him mom so muchhhh?? maybe a dream? maybe the aftermath of fear gas? who knows but here the “forget” will just be for his parent's deaths. I imagine this to be somewhat akin to the mask of phantasm monologue he has at his parents grave. (spoilers for that: he’s basically asking his parents for forgiveness for potentially abandoning his oath of bettering Gotham as Batman). last line makes me #$%^&*( just. hnnnnnnn imagine him waking up blurry eyed and brain fogged and he’s just grasping onto the false belief of his parents still being there n clinging on to the comfort of his pre-crime alley childhood before he truly wakes up. 

 sick of losing soulmates by dodie

okok this is on my bruce + romance playlist too bc it reminded me of batcat and bruharvey. it can also be interpreted as his fam ig? but I feel like that doesn’t apply for most of the song.

“God knows what I would be if you hadn’t found me / Sitting all alone in the dark… What the hell would I be without you / Brave face talk so lightly, hide the truth… Cause I’m sick of losing soulmates / So where do we begin / I can finally see you’re as f$:$:&ed up as me / So how do we win”

 I just think. that. Bruce would have abandonment issues. first four lines can be taken for all three (batcat, bruharv, the family) interpretations. the truth being hidden doubling both as his identity as Batman and just. the fact that he loves them lol (batcat, bruharv). last three lines lean towards bc and bh but personally they reminded me more of bat cat (probably bc ppl always say they’re so similar). basically I feel like this song could signify their fears of losing each other in whatever way that means (romantically, platonically, death) bc they both care for each other so much and impact each other so muchhsuagdj but at the same time it feels like its bound to end badly. (ofc it doesn't. whether or not they like. break up from a romance or have a falling out between friends i’d like to think some time after they heal they become reconnect n their relationship w each other is stronger and so alike what it was before but different bc its just. so much healthier this time. and to copy and paste from my thoughts on my other playlist: bruce crashes at selinas house sometimes and she makes the him catsit for her bc she thinks it’s funny when he complains abt her cats and calls them mean names and then gets a picture of bruce knocked out cuddling them like 30 m later courtesy alfred)

[its-tea-time-darling]

everything I wanted, 1 & 5, safe & sound, 3

everything i wanted (raris)

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

i'm going to take this as a formatting question, because this fic is the only one i've ever posted in center-aligned formatting.

it for some reason felt like it should be, because it's so eerie and heavily song-based. it's *supposed* to be only in little fragments that are powerful and hurt, that hit you in the gut yet make you ache for what they had--and could have had.

:')

5: What part was hardest to write?

honestly what was hardest was to make the pieces fit together in a way that was most impactful. i'm still not confident i managed, but i had to settle on something at some point.

--there were good things and drawbacks in every combination, but i'm a sucker for things coming full circle, especially if it gives the original scene a whole new interpretation. ending it just with the snow-scene would have been nice as well, i know i came stumbling to you with these problems saph alsdkj.

i guess i eventually just went for more hurt :_)

this reminds me omg, i wanna print out and color the sketches you made So Fucking Bad. hmmmm.

safe & sound (minewt)

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

i scrolled through the fic again, and this one:

Newt’s eyes flutter shut again, and a breath escapes his lips.

“Good that,” he says. The confidence in his voice that used to guide the boys in the glade is only a faint memory.

:''')

i loved incorporating book glader slang. this whole fic was all the more terrible for me to write because i pictured book newt. and book newt is so strong, so savy, in a way that to me hits different than tbs' portrayal of newt. so to have him like that, drugged and losing his mind was ultra painful.

-

thanks for sending these saph, what interesting choices! those are both fics that are among my less popular ones, but ones that have a much bigger comment to kudos/comment to hit ratio than most others. ig it's the Pain and the Pain that explains both (people feeling compelled to comment, and most people not even clicking the fic at all lol). (ofc rachelaris is a magnificently rare ship, but all the same)

it's great to see people enjoy these and talk about them, canonverse angst and devastatingly sad endings are near and dear to my heart.

(yes, my angsty mean and fucked up heart aldksfjas)

(it's great you're aligning with me on those preferences saph, sharing that pain (and the fact i actually seem to manage to get it across) is great <3)

oh!

if you liked those 2, i think you'd enjoy: Footprints In The Sand (Thomesa).

-

send me asks from this list

[urcharactersclasspect]

Light players are mad insightful about these things, so I wanted to ask-- What is the overlap between a Mind and Heart player in terms of being a [Prince]?

All analyses I find on the matter just say that one "ghosts" the opposite, but you can see how Princes of Mind are very Mind-y AND Heart-y, and vice versa. What is your take on this?

Ohoho Flattery will get you everywhere.

Anyways. Princes do ghost their aspects opposite, I do think that's correct to a point.

The thing I think people hold a misconception about is what exactly "ghosting" actually means in this context. Lots of people use ghosting without thinking very hard about how that thought process comes to the forefront sometimes, they just know it makes a lot of sense and it does, don't get me wrong. But Most people only think it means a prince acts in the completely opposite way of what you'd think and that's it, in reality, ghosting just means they are pretenders of their opposite aspect and try to hide and destroy the actual aspect they have from outside sources, and this doesn't always work for them as they think the true aspect they have is a negative trait they must over come somewhere in their personality or lives, even if they have a front of acting oppositely to how youd imagine them to "actually" be. Its never a 100% acting the exact same way as the opposite. And most times it screws peoples interpretations up of where a Princes challenge might be.

Princes by themselves, can be very intense people sometimes having extreme veiws on things- No matter what their aspects are though. And they try to go to great lengths to become the opposite aspect they want to be.

I think the overlaps, in this case scenario, comes from the fact Heart players in general, not just if they have a destruction class, are not actually like how popular fanon loves to portray them as either. And neither are Mind players particularly.

For what we are talking about here, its a good idea to bring up Dirk again. Since ofc hes our primary example of a Prince of Heart which is the aspect opposite to Prince of Mind.

The popularized look at Heart players is usually that if you are a heart player, you will always be an emotional crybaby, you love romance and you basically are fanon nepeta kin or Meulin and always some sugar-coated angel. And you probably don't actually remember how Nepeta acted in canon, or Dirk for that matter if you think that way about them. Heart players can be petty, they can be passive-aggressive and they can be catty (pun unintended). They can be harsh, brutal, biased people and VERY impulsive or compulsive with their decisions.

In fact the Heart aspect i genuinely don't think is just to entail emotions like romance or wanting to cry, the heart aspect is more about passion and impulses, sometimes to a detriment but it can easily work in your favour too(dont get me wrong. Im not ragging on heart players; i respect plenty of them Ive met but to suggest heart players are cinnamon rolls with no flaws is just wrong imo and ive seen the stereotype way too much, so if you think that direction my opinion is useless to you, don't listen to it)

Dirk lived in a position where he needed to constantly keep his emotions in check, because he had lived mostly starved of most interactions so when he finally got them or had felt he couldn't quite gauge himself very well, at least not as well as he thought he was doing it. He constantly thought his own passion, his feelings for Jake and his affection for his friends had to be stifled but no matter how much he tried to hold back he did show he cared- and when he did, it sometimes was a bit much.

He built Jake a fighting robot - not out of some malicious abusive intentions - but because Jake had explicitly spoke a lot about wanting to be able to fight like in the movies and both of them liked those "Man of Action" type characteristics,  and he went a bit overboard with trying to please Jake with it. And despite DIRK HIMSELF never stating everything he wanted to Jake, all his alternate splitters would often make the declarations or advancements for him. He was ASHAMED of his own impulses and passions- so he cut himself into literal pieces over it. but he couldn't quite always hide them in the Mindy and Logical way he prefered, they always spilt out somehow no matter how stoic he tried to be about everything, it wasn't quite enough and wasn't always the best option for him to completely allow himself to let it go either, bc again, princes can be intense and sometimes they just don't know when to hold their horses. 

I know another example of what I mean is Eridan too. He thought he was right and that by joining forces with Jack would save his teammates and friends, and went way too far after people disagreed with him on the matter, and he was hurt by Feferi’s rejections too and definitely went too far in his reactions there too. And simple classism and hemoism went straight to full on the genocide of all land dwellers for the guy too. Which is probably the only exception, since, obviously genocide is bad. I don't think Princes often have bad intentions though. 

Mind Players are usually not always clinical or “emotionless” either. They usually act pretty neurotic and have a lot of feelings, they just decide to hold that back too usually though in order to be logical and precise, so with dirk there definitely is overlap big time.

Anyway I’ll stop here. I'm going off a way further on that beaten path of the question. and I kinda lost my train of thought.

I just feel as though there's a lot of misleading that goes on with these particular aspects. 

[daisyachain]

the niche community of queer-via-fandom tumblr is a) very funny b) very annoying and it’s interesting to think about why. first, this is ofc limited by my own experiences, but i say there’s lineage from superwholock (or whatever the thing is that got people on to tumblr and discussing queer themes in the first place) to bi vs pan discourse.

first, tumblr is a blogging platform with a culture of anonymous content creation/sharing that supports a queer community that largely grew/grows out of pop culture fans, specifically slash fans. most of this community is made up of people who went online to seek out/talk about fiction that wasn’t widely popular in their IRL communities. through factors i don’t know and don’t want to try to explain, the fan contingent on tumblr tended towards the afab.

slash content has been a focus of female fan content (for better or worse) from the K/S zines of the 60s through Naruto through (we hate to say it) Superwholock. the proportional importance of m/m relationships in male-dominated fiction combined with the slash goggles of existing female-majority fan communities makes analysis of m/m relationships into an important part of fandom on tumblr immediately post-livejournal. the first generations of kids drifting on to tumblr following fan content for H**** P***** or Naruto or whatever niche childhood obsession made them seek out other people’s opinions, content, etc.

so we have fiction-addict kids and teenagers joining fan spheres focused on interpreting m/m interactions as romantic. again, for better or worse. with that focus on interpretation/subtext in relationships, said first-time fans get saturated with non-heteronormative content and explanations or rationales for how ostensibly hetero people can in fact be gay, or how that might express itself. this broadly applies to multiple types of queerness, but first-gen tumblr was strictly m/m focused.

anyway, as they internalize this framework for interpretation and let it percolate, your average fan tumblr unconsciously starts applying it to their own life. they map their own experiences with non-conformity, isolation, alienation, and discomfort with cisheteronormative expectations on to fictional characters who they interpret as queer. these people are still teens or young adults and have only experienced queerness through fan spheres online in an anonymous environment saturated with queer or at least nominally queer content. because it’s relatively safe, these people are free to and do come out when they realize that they don’t fit cis hetero norms. this has a bit of a snowball effect, and so tumblr becomes known for a large community of queer content creators with interests in fiction and visual arts.

however, Average Queer Tumblr User by this point has been able to explore their queer identity and come out without ever going to an explicitly queer place or meeting explicitly queer people IRL. their entire context for being queer is the shipping-focused fan community that also is a large part of tumblr’s base, and whatever discourse or queer theory happens to slip through into that sphere. because of the danger of the outside world and the isolation of the online world, your Average Queer Tumblr User may or may not know or learn anything about queer history or queer thought, and if they do it’s entirely coincidental. this community didn’t grow out of existing queer communities, if anything it grew out of straight cis female fan communities without real context for queerness as an identity outside of IRL bigotry and without any continuity from the pre-existing queer community.

and so, the tumblr ‘can’t be a lesbian if you’re nb’ ‘pansexality is biphobic and bisexuality is panphobic’ ‘women who aren’t attracted to men are straight’ ‘amab people can’t be nonbinary’ queer community does have a reason for how it reliably produces the worst takes you’ve ever heard--everyone here is figuring things out from scratch and from the few references to queer history sources they’re aware of. tumblr is the cave, fiction is the fire, and we are watching the shadows of queer people on the wall

[saltys-writings]

Oneus Reaction to you hiding your feelings from them

-----

Ravn:

All you remember is absolutely not liking Youngjo for as long as you can think back. You’re not even sure what exactly made you hate him so much, but it doesn’t matter anymore now, because from one day to the other you suddenly found yourself having serious feelings for him. Suddenly you didn’t only look at him with spite or hate in your eyes, but with curiosity, and somehow you even liked what you saw, liked what he sounded like when he talked, even though you couldn’t stand listening to him before that. And it all confuses you so much, but most of all you hate your own feelings of attraction for him.

And he knows. The moment something changed inside of your heart, he noticed, and it didn’t take him long to figure out that you - as paradoxical as it may have seemed - developed a huge crush on him. So he started testing you, tried being around you more, initiating a conversation, or making eye contact from afar, and each and every time you rejected him with a blush on your whole face and body language that made it very clear you’re not just warding him off, but that you’re fighting an internal battle with your feelings for him.

Until that one day when he’s finally done with you being an exhausting bundle to deal with for both you and him. He makes sure to talk to you somewhere people don’t usually come to often so he could be alone with you, and when you scoff back as per usual, something inside him snaps and he just kisses you. You’re caught by surprise and are at a loss for words, so he speaks up first.

“I love you too,” is the only thing he says. And instead of answering, you go with your urge to feel his lips on yours again and to relay all your emotions on to him, so you reach out for him and continue kissing for who knows how long.

-----

Leedo:

You’re used to falling head over heels for people who seem far out of your league, but Gunhak, one of the most popular guys at your college, was a new achievement, even for you. So this time especially you made sure to hide your feelings well and avoid talking to him. After all, you didn’t want the countless other girls who were after him to hate you, and he wouldn’t like someone like you anyway. So for a good half of a year you’re content with just watching him from afar, and secretly enjoying the sound of his voice whenever he had to read aloud in class.

But then the day came when a mutual friend of the two of you threw a party and invited both of you. You don’t know if she messed with the results but when you’re playing 7 minutes in heaven late at night, you and Gunhak get chosen as one of the pairs to enter the closet together. The first two or three minutes, nobody really says anything, aside from the occasional super-awkward comment, or him nervously clearing his throat five times in a row. But then he finally speaks.

“This silence is killing me. I think I should just use this time and say what I really want to say. I know you barely know me, and I don’t really know much about you either, but I like you…” You stare at him blankly for a while, trying but failing to process what he just told you. So you ask him to repeat himself with wide eyes. He sighs. “I like you.” - “But what about all the other girls?” - “What other girls?” - “The other, prettier, smarter, more popular girls!” - “I don’t see them next to you.” You consider hitting him for the cheesy comment, but he makes it clear that he means what he said, and he carefully wraps his arms around you, pulling you into a warm hug. Whatever consequences this night might have, and whatever might happen from now on - in that moment you don’t think about all those things. All you can think about is him, and how lucky you are to be so close to him right now, even though you never thought you would be.

-----

Seoho:

When you see Seoho for the very first time, you have a strange feeling in your gut. One that tells you you definitely don’t want to fall for someone like him. But also one that tells you it’s probably inevitable… 

The years pass and you two become good friends, until that one day everything changes. You’re not even sure what caused it, but you suddenly see him with different eyes. Maybe it’s because you realized he turned from a boy to a man, or maybe it’s because you found a new side to him. One thing’s for sure though: just thinking about him makes your heart race and fills you with a new kind of warm and fuzzy feeling.

And you hate it. He’s supposed to be your friend, not your crush, and definitely not your lover. So you see no other way but to avoid him, keep all conversations with him as short and emotionless as possible and to try getting rid of your feelings as fast as possible. But how does one get rid of such strong feelings of something a little more than a crush…? Seoho notices how you’re removing yourself from his life little by little, and it makes him very visibly sad, but he also doesn’t understand. Did he do something to upset you? So he sees no other way but to talk to you about it, and even though you’re quite good at running and hiding away from him, eventually he catches up with you and asks you why you’re avoiding him. You want to lie to him, but seeing his devastated expression you decide you can’t hurt him anymore, so you just kind of say the truth and confess to him.

“It’s because you’re in love with me…?” Seoho repeats what you tell him and smiles. “Well… maybe we can try going out then?”

-----

Keonhee:

He’d notice your (very obvious) crush on him immediately, but as soon as you tell him he’s just a friend to you and you have no romantic feelings for him whatsoever he’ll be so confused. Like why would you say that to him when you obviously like him?? Or is he wrong here??? But the way you treat him and the way you talk to him make it seem like you have the biggest crush on him ever? 

It would cause him several headaches to figure out how you feel about him, and secretly you’d become worried about him because he seems really distracted and caught up in his thoughts lately because of it. So you attempt to take care of him and you try to show that he’s important to you a little more (but not too much ofc). But somehow it’s like you both avoid speaking honestly around each other. Until finally you ask him directly what happened and he blurts out the whole truth, that he’s confused because of you and he doesn’t know if you reciprocate his feelings and-

“Did you just say you have feelings for me?” you ask and he stares at you with big eyes. Everything’s silent for a second, before you find sudden determination in his expression and he’ll take your hands and tell you that he loves you. To that you just stutter like the flustered mess you are in that moment. Keonhee interprets that as you liking him back, and finally you admit your feelings and he embraces you tightly. However, you can be sure he will complain several times after about you not having been honest from the start.

-----

Hwanwoong:

This little shit will be so sure that you’ll fall for him from the first time your eyes met. And I mean… he wasn’t exactly wrong, but it seriously hurts your pride that he was right and so cocky about it. Like this one time he literally interlocked arms with you, went up to his friends and was like “so this is my future girlfriend/boyfriend, say hi!” And ever since then you just about had it with him. After that you told him at least five times a day that you hate him, despise him, and that he should just leave you alone. At first he takes it all with a grin and throws his arm around your shoulders, watching you blush madly. But at some point the insults start to get to him, even though he doesn’t want to admit it, and you feel like he’s trying to distance himself from you.

And then comes the day when you neither talk to him nor see him anywhere, and you realize that now’s the time to be honest with yourself and with him, or you might lose him forever. So you ask him to meet you after both your schedules for the day are over. You don’t meet anywhere specific, just next to a street you both often come to, and without words you fall into each other’s arms, apologizing and both confessing to the other, tears in both your eyes. You make sure to forgive each other, call each other stupid, and then share a kiss neither of your wants to break, pouring in all the emotions you’ve been holding in for so long.

-----

Xion:

Having known him since you were kids, you always had a bit of a crush on him. But, as per usual between childhood friends, suddenly starting to date would be very weird. So as you grew older and your feelings for him wouldn’t fade in the slightest, but only mature, you tried to accept them and hide them away in the corners of your heart. You spent your school days as normal friends, until right before graduation when one of your friends pointed out what a cute couple you would make and that you should definitely go to your graduation ceremony and party as a pair. You and Dongju just exchanged awkward glances, but through some turn of events you end up actually being ditched by all your friends and being left over as just the two of you on the day of the party. 

“And now? We can’t really pretend to be dating for an evening, can we?” he remarks without looking you in the eyes, but you see the faint blush on his cheeks. You feel your own feelings resurfacing and your hopes rising, but you try to push it all back where you kept it locked away for all those years. He wouldn’t suddenly like you back, would he? And dating your childhood friend isn’t so easy either… Despite those thoughts, somehow the only words that come out of your mouth are, “Who would stop us?”

So you walk hand in hand to where all the other couples are dancing and somehow you two enjoy yourselves in a completely new way, but with the familiarity you’re used to whenever you’re together. And when you share a kiss at midnight on the rooftop where everyone gathers to watch the fireworks, you think to yourself that maybe dating your childhood friend doesn’t seem so bad after all...

[felassan]

Do you think we're ever again going to hear from Hero of Ferelden or even see them on screen? I mean ik that Bioware said it is tough, because in many cases HoF is dead (ultimate sacrifice thingy) but... Leliana could be dead too, and here she is, standing proud as Inquisition's spymaster - pretty big role for a dead woman. Lyrium spirit you say... Same question about our old companions from DAO and DA2. Well, except Wynne I guess. 😅

Under a cut for length. TN spoilers under cut.

Hello, sorry, I know it is a popular wish but I don’t think we will see the HoF on-screen again :[ The HoF’s story is long-over, both in-universe and irl, and they led 2 whole games and a host of DLC. Compounding this, as you say they can be dead and BioWare have said something along the lines of how bringing them back would be tough and that it’s unlikely. It would be a lot harder to bring back the HoF compared to the lesser challenge bringing back Hawke in DAI was, due to the larger amount of base variables (3 different races as an example, no set voice) and the lack of easily-defined personality (like red or purple). In addition, even with the lower amount of variables involved, the implementation of Hawke in DAI for a large section of the fandom went down like a lead balloon. There were opinions and complaints that Hawke was OOC - for example, genuinely amazing as it was to see Hawke again, my blood mage Hawke went on nonsensical rants about hating blood mages and I was like huh? BW will have seen that sort of response and how it got a bit messy and taken it on-board. If the Inquisitor will return as an NPC like Hawke did in DAI (which is most likely out of the three previous PCs, owing to the obvious Solas connection), I imagine they already have their hands full with this. The other thing to keep in mind is that Hawke could not die in DA2. Hawke was alive in all worldstates. In quite a lot of universes, the Warden is dead. another thing is that around 2017 Laidlaw tweeted that the HoF was never going to feature in any of their products again. ofc things can change in the years since and he has left, but that was a fairly strong statement.

Hearing from them via letter or in dialogue references I think is possible, more likely and way easier to implement. Saying that, even then - the HoF’s story has been concluded and tied off. If they survived Origins, they traveled west on their quest for a cure for the calling. We can tell from romanced Leliana’s Trespasser epilogues that they have at the very least returned (I don’t see why only Lelimance Wardens would have). It’s not clear but from them I also assume that they found a cure.

I know that other main characters such as Leliana could be dead but were brought back, but I don’t see them repeating that trope for a big-name character again. After a few times it becomes over-used and cheapens the deaths that supposedly occurred. It also has the potential to get messy. How many lyrium ghost people or “surprise! this character who died in game actually survived!”s are we supposed to accept before the premise becomes silly, over-used and immersion-breaking, you know? 

About the old DAO and DA2 companions, I mean… that’s a big question, especially if you’re asking “will we see them on-screen” and “will we hear from them again” about each of them. We could easily hear from any of them from among the ones who still live, especially if they bring back receiving letters and a war table-esque type game mechanic.

Alistair, Morrigan, Leliana, Warden Loghain and Oghren have already been seen again in big ways in a subsequent game. His smaller amount of re-appearance content is a sore point for a lot of folk, but Zevran appeared again in DA2. Dog is a no. Wynne is dead. Morrigan might be brought back if they go for the “Flemythal isn’t really dead” or “Flemythal pushed her godhood through the mirror to Morrigan” or “Morrigan has advice on how to deal with this new threat” angles, or if they choose to delve into an end outcome for the person who drank from the Well. Leliana could feasibly be seen again if she’s Divine. If she’s not Divine she might appear as the Inquisition-remains’ Spymaster, although it really depends on the time that has elapsed because she’s clearly been grooming and preparing successors for that role. Whether she’s still a direct part of the “Inquisition’s generals” depends on the specific timeframe I expect.

They leaned quite hard into fleshing out and making prominent-once-again the Crows in TN. There’s a bit of potential there for Zevran to reappear, but I can’t tell how much of that is wishful thinking/reaching. The last time we saw and heard from him he didn’t exactly hold the Crows in high regards (more idle reaching/rambling on the Zevran question here, ctrl-F “Zevran”, TN spoilers at link). Sten is the Arishok in most universes. The Qunari Antaam invasion seems like it’s going to be a big plot point or at the very least a major backdrop/context to the next game. Whether we encounter him I think will depend on what’s going on with the hinted schisms in the Qun, whether it was he that ordered the Antaam to invade, etc. Some more thoughts on the Sten thing here (TN spoilers at link). It would be cool if we (well, us in a meta sense) ended up meeting him on the battlefield or something like he foretold years ago in DAO, or if we could have a meeting with him to try and propose peace or allying to try and defeat Solas or something. Shale… iirc some endings of DAO have her heading for Tevinter, but she was followed up on in Asunder, and was DLC only. I had originally thought she might be a good shout to tap, but that isn’t the case anymore since Solas is confirmed to be able to freeze even golems, and TN also makes a point of hinting at the existence of other intelligent/sentient golems.

Re: the possible return of DA2 companions I have less thoughts, and tbh I don’t really see a need in most cases. Many of them can be dead. Anders in particular can be dead, as in shanked in the back as a story decision cinematic from Hawke-dead rather than just “fought against Hawke after disagreeing with them at the end and ‘died’ at the time” (the latter could be story/gameplay segregation). Aveline has a role and steady job to do in Kirkwall. I don’t know why Prince Sebastian would leave Starkhaven and he’s been back in comics. The siblings can be dead. Bela was already back in comics and DAI. Varric’s done his time as a companion in 2 main games, although I can certainly see us getting reports/info/jobs from him, in the form of letters sent from the Viscount of Kirkwall. Merrill would be interesting to see and might be able to help us given that she’s an expert on eluvians. I would also like to hear what she thinks of the Dread Wolf being a Thing, you know? Find out where she stands on that, if it’s impacted her world view, would she support him or not, etc. Fenris has obviously been moved on the chessboard to Tevinter, putting him in the local area. I could see encountering him as the Blue Wraith in game, perhaps working for or with him a bit or getting a quest or two from him, but I don’t envision him as a DA4 companion. It’s also important to remember that the comics are not supposed to be nor designed to act as a prologue for DA4, like it’s not a direct-set-up situation (see the notes on the podcast mentioned towards the end here).

NB I love these characters! Please don’t interpret this post as not liking them.

[msg refs this post]

[starmakerdotcom]

MISSION 4: MARS is the fourth mini album by smk group SOLAR released on june 30, 2020. it’s their longest album so far, with eight tracks in total, including an english version of the title track, MILKY WAY. the title track was promoted from june 30 to july 20, along with two bsides, PITPAT and DAY BY DAY, from the female and male subunits.

TRACK LIST:

MILKY WAY (title) insp

FLY ME TO THE MOON insp

UNCOVER insp

PITPAT (female subunit) insp

DAY BY DAY (male subunit) insp

SUNSET insp

FLARE insp

MILKY WAY (english ver) insp

STYLING:

ERA HIGHLIGHTS:

bitchhhhh they did not come to play this era fr

there were a lot of more popular groups promoting at the same time so they were a little overshadowed ?? they still managed one win though !

and the mv got 5m views in the first 24 hours !!!

their promotional period was a lil shorter than usual and they said it’s bc w the new bg smk is debuting soon they wanted to give the spotlight to them :((

and there was SO MUCH CONTENT this era we fuckin won

dance practices for milky way , fly me to the moon , pitpat , and day by day were uploaded !! the other songs that had dances they just spoiled a lil on vlogs

at one point leda and milo tried to choreograph in interpretive dance for flare ?? it was stupid

SPEAKING OF FLARE they uploaded a live studio version and they had bloopers at the end and the bloopers were just all of them straight up crying it was :((

that song was dedicated to fans and it just meant so much to them :((((

can i just talk abt how much the hairstyles slap for a second

min cut her hair short and dyed it purple !!

eri still had the same shoulder length hair but dyed it blue !!!

milo lightened his hair to a bit of a lighter brown come on just go blonde coward

leda had bright pinkish red hair and it was GORGEOUS she looked like a mermaid

beth brought back the brown to blonde ombré and all i’ll say is YES

posie was still strawberry blonde but she dyed it light pink a little into promotion ! it faded quickly but it was so cute

mj had dark red hair ! so still not fully black like he wanted but we’re gettin there

and orion went back to light brown !

and THE STYLING ??? MWAH

it was like . vv summery outfits but also kinda keeping w the theme of their last eras ?? just brighter and cuter tbh

the pitpat stages omg . so much pink . and glitter . they looked like they were having so much fun it was so cute

AND THE DAY BY DAY STAGES . it was adorable they’re adorable

they did a fly me to the moon stage aswell !!! but it was just the one but fans ate it up and half of the fandom was like . THAT should’ve been the title track cmon

the makeup was so bright and fun !!!

and ofc their iconic cover stage of signal by twice . that was . adorable and amazing and it was so cute mwah

the vlogs this season were hilarious i swear they started off the season with the maknae line breaking into the food court in the smke building and stealing some sandwiches

that was funny

but also the behind the scenes content for the jacket shooting and mv making was 🥺🥺 they all looked so happy and it was the best

they had a few viral moments lemme just : milo busting a lung on weekly idol playing cleopatra , orion accidentally uploading a cover of a minecraft parody instead of the original song , when they dropped their playlists and leda’s was the entire animal crossing soundtrack , posie almost getting crushed by beth when they were standing near those confetti things on the show , and mj saying “gay rights” on vlive

icons dare i say

even tho this wasn’t their most successful era ? they had fun and tbh that’s all that matters

[blog-sliverofjade]

Of Doms & Subs 8: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Pairing: Angus Hopper x OFC

Summary:  What’s a submissive female to do when she fights her nature and goes on the run as a Lone wolf to avoid being assimilated into a pack?

Word count: 1346

Of Doms & Subs Master List

“Hey, Moira, would you take a short walk with me?”  While I was still bearing a grudge against her mate, I genuinely liked the witch, who merely laughed at me for sniffing her and trying to figure out the strange new nose-tingling smell.  She informed me that it was magic.

“Ok, spill it,” she whispered once we were out of earshot.

“Spill what?”

“I’m blind, not deaf, so don’t try to lie to me.”  She poked me hard in the shoulder.

“I want to test something.  I was wondering if we could wander up the main road,” I admitted.

“You’re trying to bypass the geis by having me act as escort,” she laughed.  Obviously the rumour mill carried the tale of my misdemeanour to her.  “Yeah, he didn’t word that one quite right, did he?”

“I figure ‘proper escort’ is subject to interpretation.  A witch has got to count, right?  Besides, if this doesn’t work, I’ll steal Ian’s Ford Escort,” I shrugged.

“If this loophole works, Angus is going to be pissed,” she warned.

“Just keeping my options open.”

“Is it really that bad?”

“No,” I sighed.  “Angus wants me for the pack.”  Ugh, that was weird to say.  And I said so.  “I don’t like to be tied down.  Outside of the bedroom anyway.”

“Fyi, normal handcuffs won’t work now.  Just saying.”  A faint blush coloured her cheeks.  “Wolves can be just as promiscuous as us humans, but once they start falling for something that’s it.  Done.  Game over.  End.  Finito.  Do not pass go, go directly to mating.”

“Not helping, witch.”  As a human, she couldn’t smell moods, could she?  I was scared to ask how she knew or where she was going with this because I didn’t think I’d like the answer.  “Out of control hormones are not good enough reason to jump into bed with someone.  And certainly not after having known them less than a week.”

“Then try this on for size: you’re afraid to play bedwarmer.  But you’re also too afraid to tie yourself to him in a non-sexy fashion.  Maybe instead of worrying about what he wants, first ask your two halves what they want,” she suggested.

“It’s a little early for a verdict,” I frowned.

“The only two people I know whose wolves chose before their human parts knew within hours of meeting each other.  Tom and I fell the first time we met.”

“I did the whole love at first sight bit, and have no desire to be that stupid again.  Here we are,” I said when our path went from gravel to blacktop.  I dropped her arm momentarily to step back and forth from the pack property to the road with ease.  “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

“I won’t lie, but I won’t volunteer any info either,” warned Moira.

“That’s all I ask.”  I held my arm out to brush against hers so she could take it at her leisure.

“Tom’s going to ask what we talked about, so let’s get our story straight.  Cop and wolf instincts, killer combo when it comes to interrogations.  So how about that popular sports team?”

“When’s football season over again?” I asked mournfully.

“Superbowl’s in February.  But that’s only a problem if you’re stuck at the house on game days.  If you are, you’ll have to come kidnap me.  I’d offer to come rescue, but for some asinine reason they won’t give me a driver’s license.”

“Hey, do you want to drive?  You can take my Jeep for a spin in the driveway,” I offered.

“You’re kidding.”  Dark brows rose over the sunglasses.

“I never kid when it comes to shenanigans.  I take my shenanigans very seriously,” I swore solemnly while fishing my spare set of keys out from under the back bumper and unlocked the doors.  “This is the ignition key.”  I handed the ring to her with the one in question pressed into her fingers.  “Let’s hop in and I’ll show you where to stick it.”

“Ooh, no one’s said that to me since high school,” she smirked.

After we both buckled up, I talked her through starting the engine and shifting into gear, guiding her hand when appropriate.  After getting the pedals sorted out, we inched forward.  Men were coming around the house, summoned by the sound of the engine.

“Turn the wheel a quarter turn to your right.”  We slowly arced so that it was obvious to the spectators that the blind witch was driving.  I blithely waved while continuing to give verbal directions, only guiding the wheel slightly once or twice.  “Now gun the gas and turn all the way to the left.”  We squealed with laughter as we spun around, gravel crunching and spraying under the tires.  Instinct caused her to let off the gas before we continued to spin out and possibly lose control.

“Now put her in park and turn off the engine so your mate and my Alpha can come rip me a new one.”  Even though he wasn’t officially my Alpha yet in any sense of the word, the words felt right, which was disturbing in and of itself.

“Should we make a break for it?” she asked.

“Eh, we’d have to return sometime.  I don’t know you well enough yet to pull a Thelma and Louise.”  I pocketed the keys and propped a foot on the dash.

“Is there a problem, officer?” Moira asked innocently as Tom approached her open window.

“What were you thinking?” Tom bellowed.  At her, not me.  My own personal bane was yanking my door open.

“Out,” he snapped.  Oh, this was too easy.

“Yes, you are outside.”

“Get out of the car.”  He bit off each word.  He must have seen the glint in my eye because he added, “Now.”  He slammed the door behind me hard enough to rock the poor car.

“You would have walked away if she’d managed to roll the Jeep, but she’s human,” he snapped.  There was definitely something wrong with me because the danger and power that rolled off of him when he was mad did very naughty things to my body.

“A) I know far more about the fragility of humans than you do.  B) We never went over fifteen mph.  That little show was really just shifting the weight around.  And C), at most it would have tipped onto the side I was on.  We even wore seatbelts.”

“So instead you put yourself at risk for a little stunt?”

“Or maybe I understand what it’s like to be denied certain freedoms,” I said quietly, but with no less feeling.

“Give me the keys.”

“I already gave you keys.  Check with Shane, he should have the original set.”  I bounced the spares once in my palm before chucking them into the ditch full of murky water by the road.  I could do this submission thing as long as I found enough loopholes.

After her little act of defiance, which had happened with the Jeep between us and the rest of the pack thus obscuring her actions, she mingled quite thoroughly.  Somehow she’d picked up the trick of gauging distance and hearing so as to pitch her voice quietly enough to avoid being overheard.  No one knew of our exchange.  Too bad that she was adept at following the letter of the law if not the spirit.  I’d have liked to punish her.  Thoroughly and publicly.

I didn’t see what pathetic excuse started the fight.  But I knew who started it.  Ellie was standing with her back to Ian and Gordon, who had borne the brunt of Ian’s territorial aggression during the football match.  The next anyone knew, Ian went flying.  Shane had just enough warning to grab Ellie’s arm and try to drag her to safety.

Later, I realized I should have broken up the fight, immediately meted out punishment for putting others at risk.  If I had, the two males might not have survived my wrath.  But I would never regret running to Ellie’s crumpled body, surrounded by chunks of brick and blood splatters.

Note:  I have let a blind person drive my sedan in an empty parking lot before, so it is possible with a lot of verbal direction and a ready hand to grab the wheel just in case. Jeeps are top heavy, although not as much as other SUV's, so at higher speeds on gravel there is a slight chance of tipping. However the parking area that I'm picturing at the Emerald City Pack's house in Issaquah is too small with all the other vehicles to get up to a speed that would present that risk. At least they didn't go mudding in the green space that the guys were playing football in.