#okay congrats I’m glad you are doing well in the world! doesn’t mean other people aren’t hurting

[lucysweatslove]

I told my best friend about some of the school shit and how I’ve felt a little micro-aggressed and discriminated against bc disability.

Her: “I will fucking slap a bitch.”

Me: “At least I have two friends who actually care and value me for me and don’t suck and aren’t performative and just like, value being a good human.”

Her: “I mean, I try. It’s hard when others suck and you want to punch their face.”

☠️☠️☠️

[fruitcoops]

Accidental Family

Hey folks! This is one of two fics for the six month celebration of this blog! Woohoo! Blood on the Ice is one of the most popular series I've written, and expanding it into Josie’s (@prohibitionincurls ) Winging It world with her was unbelievably fun. Disclaimer: one of the OCs has ADHD and it is a central theme of the story--while Josie based some of his characteristics on her own experience, we both recognize that this is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Thank you again for six amazing months, and I hope you enjoy!

Lots of love,

Eve <3

TW for mentioned injury

“Oh my god, they’re gonna kill me,” the kid whispered in a wavering voice, sounding much younger than he actually was as he left the penalty box.

“They’re not going to kill you,” Bowie soothed, still watching the tunnel where Remus had disappeared mere minutes earlier. From what he saw, there had been a bit of blood, but the bruising didn’t look too bad. Then again, there had barely been enough time for anything to visibly swell before he was whisked away.

“Can I just stay in the box?” Felix cast a look toward the Lions bench and his voice cracked. “They can’t yell at me in the box, right?”

“Hey. Look at me, Marty.” Bowie took him by the shoulders and gave him a gentle shake. “The Lions are good guys. They’re not going to hurt you, but you did just fuck up one of their best friends. What would you do if someone hit me in the face?”

“Come on, man, I’m a terrible fighter. I don’t know how well I’d be able to defend your honor after something like that. It was an accident. Do you think they know it was an accident? Should I go tell them?”

“I know. They know. Loops definitely knows. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re a little cold at first.” He ruffled the rookie’s hair and turned back to the game; the Lions were moving fast and brutal, slicing right through their defense for yet another goal. Shit. Felix clearly felt bad enough already--losing the game wouldn’t make him feel any better. 

They ended up losing the game.

Bowie had figured it might happen; he would have had the same fire if it had been his teammate that got clocked like that. Hell, he used to have the same fire when he and Remus had played together, so he completely understood. 

That did not change the fact that once they got home, Felix was still borderline inconsolable. The 18-year-old wasn’t technically billeting with them, but the apartment he was renting just so happened to be in the same building, on the same floor, and right across the hall from his and Simon’s. This led to an informal adoption of the rookie and he was around their house at least five times a week, if not more. 

Felix Martin was a good kid, and that idea was confirmed when Kronk immediately took a liking to him; the cat loved nobody but the three of them. Bowie was grateful that he and Simon were there to quell some of the homesickness that came from moving out to a new city on his own for the first time. The transition was always tough, but they could provide a little support.

They parted ways from the team when the bus got back from the rink and drove to their building in silence. Once they made their way up the stairs and down the hall, Felix moved to go back to his apartment. 

“Nope,” Bowie said immediately, placing a hand on his shoulder and steering him through the door to his and Simon’s place. It wasn’t a good idea for Felix to be alone right now--there was nothing to do alone after a loss aside from beat himself up about it, and Bowie would be damned before he let that happen. 

Simon and Kronk were perched on the couch, but they both moved into the kitchen as soon as the door clicked closed. Simon took one look at the pair and carefully wrapped his arms around Felix; the kid practically melted. The three of them stood there for a moment until Simon pulled back a bit and tilted his head toward the living room. Felix nodded and Bowie followed the two, sharing the couch with Simon while the rookie curled up in the large armchair diagonal to them. 

He...well, if Bowie was being honest, Felix looked like hell. He chewed his lower lip like an anxious beaver and fiddled with the loose threads of the closest armrest; everything about him screamed discomfort. Bowie caught Simon’s worried glance in his periphery and let out a slow breath, trying to relieve at least a little of the tension in the room.

“You don’t have to relive it if you don’t want to. I saw the game. But if you want to talk about it…” Simon trailed off with a significant look.

Felix sighed and his shoulders caved in a bit. “It was just one of those moments. All of a sudden, I didn’t really have a grasp on what was going on, which feels like shit because I’ve been doing pretty well so far. I dunno. It was just...bad.” 

That was it. Bowie knew Felix had seemed a little off. When Felix mentioned he had ADHD at the start of the season during one of their ‘getting to know your neighbor’ chats, Bowie hadn’t thought much of it. But as they grew closer, he began to notice when Felix forgot to eat or drink, or got overwhelmingly excited about something, or when he suddenly spaced out. It wasn’t just Felix being Felix.

The whole team stepped up and became intensely protective, of course. They not only helped him remember meal times, but also scheduling, directions, and everything in between. Bowie felt especially responsible for reasons he didn’t entirely understand--there was just something about the kid’s sweet heart that struck a chord.

He also knew that Felix was highly emotionally intelligent, but had no concept of whether people liked him or not. He was someone who assumed the worst, all the time. So, Bowie decided to do the only thing he knew would work: after a few more beats of uncomfortable silence, he pulled his phone out, tapped a few buttons, and pressed ‘call’.

“Hey, Remus, are you alive?” 

An amused snort came from the speaker even as Felix blanched. “Hello to you, too, Bowie. Jeez, you’re worse than Sirius.  I’m one hundred percent alive, just a little swollen. Your rookie’s got a helluva shot, but maybe tell the kid to hit the puck and not my face next time.” 

Felix flushed red and put his face between his knees, though hearing the laughter in Remus’s voice and knowing that he was okay clearly took some of the weight off his shoulders. Bowie whooped internally and shot him a quick, reassuring smile.

“Yeah, the kid’s got spirit, but he’s also got ADHD. He’s great most of the time, but sometimes under extreme pressure he can’t figure out where the fuck he--or anything else around him--is. Something about focusing or neurons firing the wrong way, maybe? Either way, it’s why he’s a terrible fuckin’ driver.”

Felix flopped back against the chair with a groan. “How the hell am I supposed to know how far away the cars around me are based on the mirrors? And how am I supposed to park?!” 

Remus’s laugh echoed once again. “Don’t ask me, kid, I’m not allowed to drive, either. Not because I’m ADHD, but because I’m terrible at it.” 

“You can say that again!” a muffled voice called from behind Remus. 

“Please excuse my fiance,” Remus said politely. “He’s a jackass who’s trying to make me lay down again.”

Felix smiled, though it was a bit pained. “I didn’t get a chance to apologize earlier. That stick was totally on me. And--I mean, I heard some of the guys talking afterward and it sounded like you got pretty banged up, so I’m really sorry. Like, really sorry.”

“Hey, woah, you’re fine,” Remus soothed. Bowie recognized his ‘talking to newbies’ voice and hid a smile in the cuff of his hoodie. “It’s the name of the game, after all. Did Bowie ever tell you about the time I accidentally checked him into a wall? Or when I broke his visor with a puck? For context, this was when we were on the same team.”

“Or that time you kicked my legs out from under me and sent me sprawling across the ice during practice.”

“That one was on purpose.” 

Bowie glared at the phone, but Felix was snickering and his grin was genuine. It calmed him a bit. “Thanks, Loops.”

“No problem, kiddo.” Remus paused for a moment, then mumbled something inaudible to someone in the background before clearing his throat. “Bowie.”

“Yes?” Remus had never been a wild card, per se, but he certainly had a knack for asking strange questions out of the blue.

“Did you accidentally adopt a child or do my ears deceive me?”

Bowie was about to laugh at the absurdity of it, but then he took a moment to think, looking back and forth between Simon and Felix. “Fuckin’--maybe I did, Re, but he’s ours now. And if that’s the case, I’m going to formally request that you tell your fiance to quit being mean to my son.”

Remus laughed on the other end of the line. “Will do. Felix seems like a sweetheart, I’m glad he’s got you two.” 

Bowie nodded with a slight smile, even though Remus couldn’t see him. “So are we. I can practically sense Sirius hovering, so go let your boyfriend fuss over you for a little while.” 

An offended noise came from Remus’s side, followed by a lower laugh and the click of the call ending. 

Simon looked Felix dead in the eyes. “I’m seconding the ‘kid’ thing. You may just barely be a legal adult, but it doesn’t mean we can’t adopt you. Congrats on your new gay dads.” 

Felix’s bright laugh sent a wave of relief through Bowie. “You guys are only, like, eight years older than me.”

“Silence, spawn,” Simon said, pointing a playful finger at him as his grin widened into something sweet and lopsided. “Now both of you need to come eat something. I made cookies while you were getting pushed around for a living.”

Bowie was still worried about Remus’ face--he made a mental note to call the next day to check in--but all his concerns disappeared as Felix scooped the cat up for a snuggle and followed Simon into the kitchen. They may have lost the game, but he would lose a million Cups to keep that moment forever: his Simon fussing over them both, his cat purring in pure bliss, and his kid settling into place at last.

[kikyan]

Stuck With You (Shizuo Ending)

Disclaimer!! I wrote this back in 2018/2019, like literally 2 years after I started writing fanfic so if this sucks yeah. . .that’s why. It’s also not really that inclusive at all so I apologize. This upload is really meant for those who were curious with the fanfic I wrote and I promise I will right a more inclusive fanfiction later on in the future with these characters to make it up!! 

“ Oh? It seems he even has the Dollars searching for you!” 

PART ONE

“ Izaya, please I apologize for anything that I did that caused you to do this, but I need to get back to Shizuo!” 

“ And do what? Apologize for my actions and say everything is fine? You truly are different than other humans (Y/N)! Besides, does Shizu-chan know?” 

“ K-know what?” 

“You can drop the act. I know who you are (Y/N) or should I sa-?!” 

“ Izaya, I won’t ask you again. Please, I apologize for what I said or did but I must return to my fiance.” 

“ I can’t do that (Y/N). You thought you had me fool, no you thought you had the whole world fooled, but unlike Shizu-chan, I know the real you. You are far too unique, too precious to be in the hands of that brute, that damned monster!” 

“ IZAYAAAAAA! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE AND GIVE ME MY DAMN FIANCE!” 

“ Speak of the Devil, he really did arrive, didn’t he? (Y/N) it’s better if you stay, wait no- I want you to see God punish his worthless creation, than have his Goddess forgive him and the cycle continues!” 

Grabbing her arm, (Y/N) was dragged to the door where Shizuo lay in waiting/ Shizuo’s eyes lit up with hope as (Y/N) arrived, quickly scanning her to ensure that she was not harmed by Izaya. 

“ This is low, even for you Izaya. What the hell do you want anyways?” 

“ I want (Y/N) of course! How rude of you to keep her from society, from me! She is too perfect, in fact, she is perfection! I can’t stand you of all people, a damn monster near her!” 

“ If I am a monster, what the hell does that make you?” 

“ That hurt Shizu-chan, but I’m sure my goddess, (Y/N) would forgive you nonetheless!” 

Grabbing a stop sign Shizuo prepared to swing at Izaya before seeing (Y/N) duck down. 

‘This is too dangerous for (Y/N)! I have to lead him away. . .’ 

“ You see (Y/N)! This monster swung at you! I told you, he would only hurt you! Stay with me, my Goddess!” 

Taking his knife out, he swung it at Shizuo cutting him horizontally across his chest. As Shizuo remained unfazed he swung the sign hitting Izaya as well sending him flying back inside the apartment complex. As Izaya got up and grabbed the knife and (Y/N), before placing the knife under (Y/N)’s throat causing her to panic slightly. 

“ (Y/N)! Izaya you damned bastard! Let her go, that’s low. . .” 

“ It’s fine! Besides, my Goddess is so forgiving, I'm sure she will let this slide! In fact, I feel as if instead of the way I initially thought, it was you Shizuo who used (Y/N)!” 

Shizuo looked down before clenching his fist and looking at Izaya with a crazed expression. 

“ SO WHAT? YOU MESS UP WITH EVERY OTHER PERSON OUT THERE. (Y/N) DOESN’T NEED THAT IN HER LIFE! SHE LOVES ME FOR WHO AND WHAT I AM! SO I AM A MONSTER, SO BE IT! AS LONG AS (Y/N) IS FINE WITH THAT, AS LONG AS SHE ACCEPTS THIS SIDE OF ME, THEN THAT’S ALL I NEED!” 

“ So you’re a leech, a filthy parasite-” 

“ (Y/N) NOW!” 

Izaya was dumbfounded as he turned to see (Y/N) duck down and Izaya was met with Shizuo’s fist. As Izaya grunted in pain, he turned to see (Y/N) looking at him in horror before turning to see Shizuo waltz up with a sturdy bookshelf and smiling at Izaya. 

“ So I guess today is the day I squash this damn cockroach! That has been infesting not only the city but our lives!” 

As Shizuo began to throw the bookshelf at Izaya he proceeded on hitting him repeatedly with immense force, causing Izaya to cough up blood and other fluids. 

“ If you kill me. . . Shizu-chan. . . w-will. . she forgive you. . . ?” 

Showing no sign of stopping, Shizuo proceeded to mercilessly hit Izaya while explaining, “ It doesn’t matter if she forgives me anymore. . . because I don’t plan on letting her go either way!” 

Letting out the last punch Shizuo looked to admire his work, a beaten and bruised Izaya no longer breathing. As Shizuo turned around he was met with (Y/N) looking in horror at the state Izaya was in before looking back up at Shizuo. 

“ WHAT’S WITH THAT EXPRESSION? I THOUGHT YOU WEREN’T SCARED OF ME (Y/N)? WAS THAT A LIE? ARE YOU GOING TO CALL ME A MONSTER AND LEAVE ME LIKE EVERYONE ELS-!?” 

“ No, I won’t. I am sorry Shizuo, I wasn’t able to stop Izaya and you had to get your hands dirty! O-on the bright side. . . well. . . you can start your life violence free now peacefully!” 

“ Honestly. . .how did I. . .eVeR gEt StUcK wItH yOu?” 

After the whole incident, Shizuo was more protective of (Y/N). He rarely let her be by herself so whenever she would want to go anywhere he would go with her or sometimes even ask Celty to go with her as he feared she would get hurt or taken away from him. Currently, Shizuo is working as (Y/N) was at the park with Celty discussing certain things. 

“You’re quite pale. . . is everything alright? Are you feeling okay?” 

“ Of course, my pale complexion is because Shizuo didn’t let me leave for a week until after the whole Izaya incident. I do feel a little sick but that’s what I wanted to talk to you about!” 

“Sick? That doesn’t sound good. How sick are we talking about? If you need to see someone for it, I’m sure Shinra would be glad to see you.”

“ W-well. . . I wouldn’t say I'm that sick it’s just I wanted to know if these are possible symptoms of. . . well, how about I just explain it! I get these sudden food urges and most of the time I tend to throw up certain foods! I think, well what do you think Celty?” 

“Hm. . . You know, Y/N, I think I’ve heard of these exact symptoms before. Is it possible that  you’re pregnant?”

“ W-W-WELL U-UM M-MAYBE B-BUT T-THAT WOULD R-REQUIRE FOR ME A-AND S-SHIZUO I-I! WHAT SHOULD I DO CELTY!” 

“Well, the first thing you should do is to confirm our suspicions. Then, I think you and Shizuo have a big conversation to have.”

“C-c-could you come with me to the store to buy a test? I... I don’t want to go alone. . .” 

“Of course, Y/N. But I think we should walk to a nearby store, I don’t think my motorcycle would be good for the possible baby.”

“ Aww, I wanted to go on your motorcycle. . . okay! So onward this great adventure!” 

~~ 

“U-um Celty, I could be reading this wrong but if it’s pink. . . does that mean. . .” 

Celty jumped at (Y/N) as you could see her jumping in glee before taking a picture of the test and rapidly writing on her phone. 

“You did read what pink means, right? I may be wrong. . . But it would appear that you’re pregnant! I’m so happy for you two!”

“ W-W-WELL H-HOW SHOULD I T-TELL SHIZUO?” 

“Don’t freak out! Let me send the photo to Shinra just to confirm our suspicions. Afterward, we can make a plan for how you’ll tell him.”

“ OKAY, HURRY ASK HIM!” 

To: Shinra 

From: Celty

*image of the test* 

Big Emergency: Is the test positive or negative? It looks like Shizuo and Y/N might be expecting.

To: Love of my life

From: Shinra

Hm. . . well, it seems they are expecting! Tell them I congratulate them! Does Shizuo know? 

To: Shinra

From: Celty 

Now that we know, how should Y/N approach this with Shizuo?

To: Love of my life 

From: Shinra 

Leave that to me! Just tell (Y/N) to prepare his favorite meal. I’ll tell Shizuo that he has a surprise at home and to hurry home! I’ll see you soon as I need to help someone right now but take care Celty!

“ So he is going to tell him... .? I hope this goes well! I don’t know what to say or do...Celty want to go shopping with me for ingredients?” 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure it will go great. Both of you love each other and will be great parents if you decide to keep it. Now, let’s go shopping!” 

Soon leaving the store they headed out to purchase the ingredients needed to make Shizuo’s meal and discussed among themselves how to approach the situation. 

~ 

Tom looked down at this phone as he smiled in glee before telling Shizuo that there were no more clients and that they should head home. 

“ Are you sure? I don’t want to leave (Y/N) alone but if you still need me I could stay longer-!?” 

“ You, my friend do not understand, (Y/N) is waiting for you so go home. Besides she has a surprise for you, Shinra told me! Now head home!” 

“ A surprise? Well if you say so, Tom. . . see you tomorrow!” 

“ Also Shizuo, congrats!” 

“ On what?” 

“ Just go home and you’ll see!” 

As Shizuo was walking home he pondered about this so-called surprise as he noticed that Celty’s bike was parked outside their home. As he went inside he looked to see his favorite meal scattered along with the table as both Celty and (Y/N) were cooking and talking. 

“ Oh, Shizuo! Good afternoon! Dinner is almost ready and Shinra is almost here! He said that our close friends should be here today!” 

“ That’s cool but what’s this surprise I keep hearing about?” 

“ Silly it’s not a surprise if I tell you! Wait till Shinra gets here!” 

Soon after Shinra arrived and that’s when they all were in the living room in silence before (Y/N) pulled out the test she had and Celty pulling the message in case of a confirmation. 

“ S-shizuo. . . remember what you told me the day before the incident with Izaya... .?” 

Blushing slightly he nodded before letting his mind run loose, could she be-?! 

“ Well, it seems you might get the chance to be a father and I a mother!” 

Holding the test out for Shizuo to see the pink line indicating that (Y/N) was pregnant, he grabbed it before setting it down and jumping to hold his fiance. 

“ I won’t let you down, I won’t let us down. I promise I'll change to be the best father I can be, I swear (Y/N)!” 

“ Silly, you are already the best person you can be! I’m sure we will be the best of parents!” 

Exchanging a kiss, they all laughed and gathered around the dinner table to consume the food made by both (Y/N) and Celty. (Y/N) was with child, Shizuo’s child and he vowed to protect you both no matter the cost. He didn’t care if you looked at him like a monster in the near future because he wasn’t letting you or the child leave him, after all, it was possible for a monster like him to be happy, but he wasn’t going to let this happiness leave and be destroyed. The child was born healthy, it was a boy named Izaya, ironically. Izaya was gifted with many things such as friends for his kind behavior and kind mother. He never had problems and if he did well they would disappear the next day, like his principal when he chose to falsely accuse him of attacking someone using his father as an excuse. Well, let’s just say he isn’t alive anymore. Any friend that double-crossed him would immediately come back and apologize saying how their mother told them that what they did was wrong. It didn’t matter if Shizuo was a monster because he had (Y/N) and his child was the red string that binds them together. Seriously, how did Shizuo get to be so lucky and get stuck with you? 

[sword-brainrot]

I’m super glad to see you back and that requests are open. ^^ If it isn’t to much to ask, could I maybe get some relationship headcanons for Kogi and Kuwana (separately)? Welcome back and remember to take as much time as you need with requests! Lord knows life can get hectic and creators block can act up. So just be kind to yourself and go with the flow. ^^ 💜

I’m so glad to be back! It’s been a lot of fun writing since coming back. It’s also been super nice to have such kind people, like yourself, rooting for me and letting me it’s okay to take breaks! So thank you so much for the request and such kind words! ❤️

I hope these headcanons makes you smile!

Kogitsunemaru and Kuwana Gou Relationship Headcanons (GN Reader)!

♡  Kogitsunemaru is a very affectionate and loyal fox. Even before the two of you date and become a thing. He doesn't shy away from physical touch and actually really prefers it. It is the easiest way for him to get across his truest feelings. Every touch is gently and full of love. He does have a bad temper deep inside that he hides away but they would never come out towards you or grab you harshly. He would never be able to forgive himself if he accidentally hurt you.

♡  Kogitsunemaru does have a special spot that just makes him automatically relax, and that's his hair. If you play with his hair or brush it, he is putty in your hands. His eyes will close and he will lean back in your gentle, soothing motions. All his worries slipping away from him as the world begins to just shape around the two of you.

♡  He will also love to do anything with your hair! If you wish to him to wash, brush, or style it! He will feel so honored that you trust him so much to take care of your hair. Kogitsunemaru treasures hair very much. Not just his own. He will often comment how silky his fur is and how he often needs to groom it. In his mind, if you keep your fur(hair) clean and well kempt, you are a very good person in his mind. Also means he often shys away from those that do not take proper care of their fur(hair). 

♡  He enjoys laying on your lap as you softly stroke his fur. That is his favorite spot in the whole world. It's probably the fox part of him that transferred over in his human sword form. Affection like that just fills his heart with joy and he does not care who sees. Kogi will be overjoyed to have your attention and a permanent smile on his face as he enjoys your touch.

♡  The last thing he really enjoys, other than you, is fried tofu. You can very easily have him on the fence about something and wave some fried tofu in front of his face and his brain waves suddenly just stops. He will agree to almost anything as long as you have that in your possession. It is a double edge sword, however. He will be so happy that you made/got that for him and follow anything you say... but it also doesn't last long. He will sneak into the kitchen when no one is looking and start to munch on all the fried tofu in the citadel. It does not last long as long as Kogitsunemaru and Nakigitsune are around. The foxes are ferocious about fried tofu.

♡  It is very easy to tease this poor fox as well. He leaves his heart on his sleeve. The swords will often use it against him. They will mention how someone has the most beautiful eyes in the citadel and just wait until Kogitsunemaru suddenly sighs and goes, "Ah, Nushi-sama."

♡  They all give him a teasing smile and just look at him as he realizes what he just said and blushes. He doesn't talk to them after and avoids them. It's normally Mikazuki...

♡  Your relationship would never be able to keep in secret because Kogitsunemaru is way too much in love with you and lets it slip any chance there is. He is complimenting you to your face and behind your back. He can't help it! You are just perfect to him!

♡  Big fan of petnames! He loves to call you sir, dear, miss, sweetheart, or my beloved.

♡  If you are ever upset/have things on your mind, Kogitsunemaru will offer to dance for you. He will do a traditional dance and may even tell a story through it. Anything to take your mind off whatever is bothering you. He may even tell you the story of how the fox spirit found the sword smith and he came to be since it was a popular folk story told through dance and plays.

♡  If you prefer to be held instead, he would have no problem with that at all. He will often times open his arms to you while he is sitting just in case you want to sit in his lap instead. His arms naturally wrap around you in a very protective manner, no matter where you two are.

♡  At night he enjoys when you lay your head on his chest so he can stroke your hair as the two of you slowly drift off to sleep but if you want to be held more, he will have you sleep on top of him and just hug you tightly to him as you sleep. He won't let any bad thoughts get to you! His name might mean small but there is a reason they gave him a strong body as a human, and that is to protect the one he loves the most.

♡  Kuwana is a very quirky person, to say the least. He will say things that will not exactly make sense to you and he will not explain what he means by it. You will have to be very understanding and accepting towards him. He is a very gentle person who thinks everything he says makes total sense. So when he tells you that the soil/earth told him something, you will just have to roll with it.

♡  Unlike Kogitsunemaru, who praises cleanliness, Kuwana is the total opposite of that. It isn't like he wishes to everyone to be covered in dirt (maybe) but you will see him all dirty often. The only time you will see him completely clean will be after a bath and right in the early morning before he goes outside. That will be the only time. Sometimes he will forget to take a bath, so please remind him!

♡  He is a very big workaholic. Mostly with farming. You will not see him most days due to him being so invested in his craft and working hours on end. If you wish to spend time with him, you will have to go find him instead of the other way around. Honestly, even when you get out there, he may not notice you right away. He is constantly tending to the field and talking to the soil. If you offer to help, he will gladly accept your help and teach you everything he knows.

♡  Kuwana is someone who keeps to himself often and doesn't talk much unless talked to first but you will see him overzealous when he begins to explain everything about agriculture and tells you every little detail about any plant or flower you may take interest in. A smile on his face and he will ramble hours on end. He is just so excited that someone is taking interest in his hobby. This is what really gets him to start to open up to you.

♡  As the two of you start to get close, he will make groundless threats towards you if you tease him too much. If you happen to poke him too much to get his attention, he may say something along the lines of; "Ugh... if you happen to wake up tomorrow morning buried up to your neck in the dirt, don't blame me". He would never actually do it but it is just to throw you off your guard. Sometimes small things just happen to get under his skin a little and he jokes it off with a small threat. Don't be scared, he really is like a big teddy bear and would never harm you.

♡  Sometimes, Kuwana will not show up for dinner. If you go searching for him, you will always find him in the field under a tree, fast asleep. Sometimes the sun gets to him too much and he ends up taking a nap after he finishes most of his work. He is a pretty heavy sleeper when he is totally relaxed in nature. Be sure to wake him up gently. He will either wake up rather easily to you and tell you good morning, not even noticing the moon now in the sky. Or, if he is still very tired, might pull you down with him and cuddle with you. Congrats, you are now cuddling with a very tall teddy bear... and also covered in dirt!

♡  Kuwana doesn't mind physical affection that much. He doesn't initiate affection too often but isn't opposite to it either. Most likely he will take you out on a picnic date and hold your hand as the two of you adventure off into the forest.

♡  He is a great cook! Especially with fruits and vegetables. He will learn anything you like to eat and prepare it for you to show that he listens to you even if he doesn't say too much. He will make sure to get it just as you like it so he can see you smile.

♡  If you don't know how to make flower crowns, he will teach you! He will make you a flower crown of all your favorite flowers (or the flowers he thinks match you the most if you don't have a favorite), and he will proudly wear the crown you make, even if you may not think it is the best.

♡  He will show all his brothers after the date with a smile. "Look at what Y/N made me". He will wear it as long as he can because he treasures it a lot.

♡  It is not a surprise that Kuwana is very strong physically but he will not act it. Every touch will be gentle. However, he will easily lift you with ease. Often times putting you on his shoulders when the two of you are alone and hanging out.

♡  He isn't just gentle with you but also with other creatures. He loves animals and will feed them when he has alone time. He also really likes insects. If you are scared of them, he will quickly take them outside so you don't even see them. He doesn't want them to scare you!

♡  Kuwana might not know exactly how to express his feelings towards you because he doesn't give too much verbal affection towards anyone but will subtly compliment you. "The soil says that you are very pretty and the soil would never lie."

♡  He also eats soil, please stop him if you see him trying to eat the dirt.

[goshi-kun]

Nekoma with an Intimidating Manager Who's Actually a Softie

Summary: you have a pretty intimidating aura but that doesn't stop the train of love that comes with managing the nekoma high volleyball club!

Nekoma x gn reader!! :)

Warnings: kuroo tetsurou 😐 jk i love him haa ha 

When you first started managing for Nekoma things started off really weird. There was some kind of tension between you all that you didn't quite understand.

The day you had been introduced to the team is when the tensions arose. You had known Kuroo since he was in one of your classes and he was extremely good at getting on every last nerve in your body- 😭 He finally got you to agree to become their manager after many weeks of pestering on his end.

***

"Oh, just so you guys are aware. I got someone to be our manager." Kuroo really didn't think it was gonna be as big of a deal as it was but everyone was immediately interested in who the new mystery manager was!

Questions like, "WHO!!??" "How do you know them?" "Are they cute??" "What's their name??" flew through the gym.

"Calm down jeez. Their name is Y/n and I advise against bombarding them with questions when they come by after practice tomorrow." Kuroo then left it at that. Only bothering to answer one of the many questions lmao.

It was the day after Kuroo brought you to the team's attention. You were kinda nervous about meeting them. They were all huge volleyball boys 🧍...you weren't scared exactly but you were worried that they would be put off by you. You had a bit of a reputation…

You didn't really talk to people. Not because you didn't like them just because you didn’t really care? You didn't need socializing to survive so you kinda kept to yourself most of the time.

People started to become pretty intimidated by you. You had no clue why, but you also didn't mind at the time and just let people think what they wanted.

So you can expect that when you walked into the gym for the first time your intimidating aura was the first thing the boys noticed.

You stood by the door you had just opened kinda confused on what to do next. All eyes were on you instantly and you were desperately trying to find Kuroo in the small crowd of GIANTS! You did eventually and Kuroo jogged over to you so he could introduce you to the team properly.

“Okay guys this is Y/n. They're gonna be our new manager so be normal please.” The gym was quiet for once. Everyone was giving you strange looks. They weren't necessarily glaring at you, but it was definitely uncomfortable in a way. You, wanting to make a good impression tried to lighten the mood.

“Woah, stare daggers at me any longer and I might bleed out.” Okay yeah it was morbid, but c’mon you were trying here!

Yeah things were definitely awkward to start out. No matter what you did the team was always so..intimidated by you? You weren’t quite sure. All you knew was that Yaku avoided you, Teketora was 10x more anxious near you than any other person you’ve seen him around, and Kenma wouldn’t even dare look your way. Kai and Kuroo tried to reassure you by saying that it was normal behavior for them, but you knew deep down what was up.

But, at the end of the day, you needed an extracurricular activity and you told Kuroo you would be a manager. Not wanting to go back on your word you decided to stay.

In the beginning of your volleyball journey it was like the manager and the team were in two separate worlds. The most interaction that would be between you all would be when you gave them water bottles. Jeez you even made that look scary. You didn't mean to be so intimidating or whatever, but it was just your pure nature as a person.

It worked for you in the end. You weren’t bothered by the lack of people's presence and actually felt unburdened by it at some points, but that didn’t mean you didn't want to at least become acquaintances with the team you would be spending a fair amount of time with.

You left practice early one afternoon and Kuroo took this as a chance to talk to the team about the awkward aura that was there every practice. It had been a week since you became manager and Kuroo couldn’t help but feel guilty. He was the one that got you into this predicament after all.

“Alright everybody! Gather up we need to talk about a few things.”

The group conversation started off with the “rudeness” that the team members were displaying. Leave it to Kuroo to add a lecture into what was supposed to be a simple conversation.

Kuroo placed his concerns and was curious as to why the tensions were so high. See Kuroo never looked at you as intimidating. A loner? Well sure, but that’s nothing he’s not used to. He meshes well with people like that. So you can only imagine his surprise when the team confides that they are actually pretty scared by your presence.

He totally thought they were dumbasses- cue another Kuroo mom lecture.

At the end you can say the team started looking at things from your perspective. They didn’t have much to say on the matter and the situation seemed to end there. That is, until next practice.

When you walked into the gym the following day you were greeted by one awkward wave from Inuoka. You waved back, but you were still confused. The energy between the players and you was still awkward, but now it kinda felt like..pity awkwardness? Whatever it was, it seriously weirded you out at first.

You decide to brush it off and continue with your manager duties. Until you get a call from your younger sister's school.

To your surprise it was your sister on the other end of the phone, not the school officials. She had gotten really hurt during her break period.

“What? Are you okay? Oh my god breathe it’s okay-” The panic in your voice could be heard throughout the gym and caught everyone's attention.

The conversation was mostly you worrying for your sister and making sure she was okay. After you were reassured you ended the call.

You were startled when you realized half of the team was looking at you with unreadable expressions. Was that- Was that shock on their faces?

“Um..uh Kuroo-san I’m sorry, but my younger sister needs me to pick her up. Our mother isn’t available. Is it alright if I leave?” You rush the words out of your mouth. You were made uncomfortable after realizing everyone heard you become your softer self while on the phone with your dear sister.

“Go ahead Y/n, no worries.” Kuroo was even surprised by your parent-like nature when it came to your younger sibling.

You exit the gym leaving the team beside themselves. Had they really read you the wrong way this whole time? In all honesty they felt extremely guilty. Even Kenma thought about how he had avoided you.

Now the next day was something else-

You enter the gym after your last class like normal, but somethings different. Your body is being pushed to the floor by..one..two..seven?? People?? Or maybe more! You couldn’t quite tell because you were being smothered in a group hug right as you walked through the doors.

“We’re sorry Y/n!!! We appreciate you!!” “We’ll never avoid you again!!” Yeah, they were babies and most certainly dumbasses, but you couldn’t deny that it felt good to have some support on your side. You finally felt accepted into this group of unique characters and it made your heart happy.

After that day things start becoming amazing. Your dynamic with the team is something people envied. You would help them practice and they would help you study, babysit, vent, whatever you needed they were there!

It’s known Nekoma isn’t the most popular group in the school, but the people who were more than non supporters made themselves less known when the school found out you were the manager. The team was grateful to say the least.

You were there to protect them from harm like some kind of hero and you were perfectly fine with that. It’s not like you were gonna go rumble with random kids to “defend the team's honor” -Kuroo’s words not yours. But it did feel nice to be somewhat of a protective blanket and they would give you the same energy in return.

Some weirdo bothering you? Well congrats you now have about 10 bodyguards. You’re welcome.

Kenma even lets you play his games when you’re bored during practice. He always reminds the team that you're the only one he tolerates-

Kuroo is still Kuroo and you were glad to have him a solid supporter during this whole thing. Yaku and Teketora warmed up extremely quickly. Yaku because you were another strong minded person he could agree with and Teketora because he thought you were “badass”.

The first years warmed up to you as well! You were honestly a parental figure and yeah it was weird getting used to having a whole volleyball team as your children, but hey that’s life.

In the end the team and you create an amazing dynamic. Yeah it was a bit of a rocky start, but that’s the past. You had many more memories to make with your new found family. <3

Thank you for reading 🤍

~~~

well um- yeah this is a thing. idk i had the urge to write something random so take this- 😭 okay love ya’ll stay hydrated 🤍

[discotreque]

LwD 1.10, “No Small Parts”

Well, that was the most fun I've had watching Star Trek in literally a quarter of a century.

I had high hopes for this series. I love TAS, largely because of its wacky outsized concepts that could only have worked in animation—not that they all did work, but the potential was so apparent to me, even as a kid reading the Alan Dean Foster novelizations—and as an adult, there's something about the imagination of Lower Decks's FX setpieces that transcends even the glorious CGI bonanzas of Discovery.

Pause for a confession. I've long pushed back against criticism of serialization in new Trek. That's just how TV is now, okay? Might as well complain about it being in widescreen. But I'm backing down a little, because I've realized there is something about Star Trek that's inextricable from at least a partially-episodic format. And while Picard was telling a different kind of story, I can't deny that my favourite episodes of Disco have been the ones with a mostly self-contained A-plot. After 10 delightfully episodic instalments of LwD, its focus on long-term development of characters instead of a season-spanning puzzle-plot (okay, mostly just Mariner, but we only have 10 × 22 minutes and she is the star) has been downright refreshing.

So here we are, at the end of the most consistent and well-executed Season 1 of a Star Trek series since, arguably, Those Old Scientists. And sure, if they'd had to produce another... yikes, 42 episodes? Then sure, they probably would have dropped a clunker or two—but they didn't, and winning on a technicality is still winning. I'm practically vibrating with excitement for Disco to come back next week, but damn, I'm going to miss this little show while it's on hiatus.

Spoilers below:

Something I've been keeping track of finally paid off this week! (Which never happens to me, lol.) The destruction of the USS Solvang marked the first present-day death(s) of any Starfleet officer on Lower Decks, the only other on-screen killing at all being a flashback in "Cupid's Errant Arrow". Which makes sense, being (a) a comedy, and (b) about typically "expendable" characters: it hasn't been afraid to flirt with a little darkness here and there, but killing people off at Star Trek's usual pace wouldn't just be wrong for the tone, it would be downright bizarre.

But... people die on Star Trek. That's one of the core themes of the show, really: space is full of knowledge and beauty, but also danger and terror, and believing that the former is worth the risk of the latter is (according to Trek) one of humanity's most noble traits. I'm the least bloodthirsty TV watcher I know, but the longer we went with a body count of nil—ships completely evacuated before they were destroyed, main characters hilariously maimed without permanent consequences, etc.—well, I didn't mind per se, but the absence of truly deadly stakes was definitely getting conspicuous.

Turns out they were saving it up for maximum impact. And holy fuck, I've never felt such a pit in my stomach watching a ship get destroyed that wasn't named Enterprise. It felt grim and brutal and somehow both much too quick and dreadfully inevitable—and yeah, it looked extremely fucking cool—and I'd like every other Star Trek property for the rest of time to take notes under a large bold heading labeled RESTRAINT.

Comedy doesn't need to do this, but my favourite comedy does, and in a way that few other art forms can even approach: lower my emotional defences by making me laugh, endear character(s) to me with goofy-but-relatable antics—then BAM, sucker-punch me in the motherfucking feels. M*A*S*H is probably the classic example on TV, Futurama was notorious for it, and even Archer has pulled it off a few times; it's also a staple of some of my favourite standup. I wasn't sure if Lower Decks was going to go there in Season 1—and wasn't sure if they'd earn it—but I knew if they did, that they'd nail it, and damn. Feels good to be right.

Last batch of notes for the season!!! I rambled enough already, so let's do it liveblog-style:

I fucking KNEW they were going to use "archive" visuals from TAS at some point, I KNEW IT :D

"THOSE OLD SCIENTISTS" ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I like chill and confident Boimler a lot? You can really see—

oh bRADWARD NOOOOO

That opening shot of the Solvang tracking down to the red giant was extremely Discovery-esque... minus the motion sickness, that is

A lady captain AND a lady first officer? That's—oh hey, it's Captain Dayton's brand-new ship. Hahaha, that means they're totally fucked, right?.

Yep! They sure a—umm, wh—shit, okay, but—oh no—no, you can't—wait DON'T

...fuck

FUCK.

Narrator: "And then Amy needed a five-hour break."

[live-action Star Trek showrunner voice] "Gee, Mike! Why does CBS let you have two cold opens?"

Okay, yes, the bit with Rutherford cycling through all the different attitudes in his implant was transparently an excuse for Eugene Cardero to vamp while waiting for something to do in the story, but as far as I'm concerned they can contrive a reason for him to do a bunch of different silly Rutherfords in a row any time they damn well want, because that was classic!!!

EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP

AND THE EXOCOMP IS PAINTED LIKE THE EXOCOMP IS WEARING A LITTLE EXOCOMP-SIZED STARFLEET UNIFORM

EXOCOMP!!!!!

The slow burn and now the payoff of the Mariner-is-Freeman's-secret-daughter plot has been executed so well. I'm beyond impressed with this writer's room, y'all—they are threading a hell of a needle here

"Wolf 359 was an inside job" would have been a spit-take if I'd had anything in my mouth

...how many memos do you think Starfleet Command has had to issue asking people to stop calling the USS Sacramento "the Sac"?

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'VE DECORATED THE SHUTTLECRAFT SEQUOIA THOUGH

Is, uh, is it weird if I'm starting to ship Tendi and Peanut Hamper a little? It is weird, isn't it. I knew it was weird...

Coital barbs??? I take back everything I said about wanting to know more about Shaxs/T'Ana.

The "good officer" version of Mariner is... kind of hot, tbh! But Tawny Newsome has done such a great job of building this character all season that her voice getting uncharacteristically clipped and martial and "sir! yes, sir!" is also deeply, deeply weird

Ah, so this is literally exactly like when TNG (and DS9) would bring in, and then blow up, a never-before-seen Galaxy-class ship, just to underscore that we're facing a real threat this week, baby. And hey, it fucking worked—my heart was in my throat, omg, for the reveal of the—

PAKLEDS?????????

The fucking PAKLEDS have been gluing weapons to their ships for the last 15 years. GREAT.

(We interrupt the SHIP BEING SLICED INTO SCRAP for an interesting bit of world-building: on Earth, the traditional First Contact Day meal is salmon!)

"I need a dangerous, half-baked solution that breaks Starfleet codes and totally pisses me off! That's an order." I'm starting to think Captain Freeman might actually be overqualified for the Cerritos, y'all—she's REALLY awesome

OH SHIT IT'S BADGEY, this is a TERRIBLE IDEA

"How much contraband have you hidden on my ship?" "I don't know! A lot!"

Awwww, Boims!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA, FUCK THIS, PEANUT HAMPER OUT

BADGEY NOOOOO

AUGHHHHH WHAT THE CHRIST DID HE JUST—BUT—RUTHERFORD'S IMPLANT????

RUTHERFORD!!!!!!!!!!

SHAXS!!!!!!

F U C K ! ! ! ! !

ahaIOPugdfhagntpgjrq90e5mgu90qe5;oigoqgw4ouegrw5SP;IAEHURVa IT’S THE TITAN???????????

IT'S CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. RIKER ON THE MOTHERFUCKING TITAN??????????

i'm screaming I'M SCREAMINGGGGGG​TGGGTGQER;​LBHAOIBVNV;​OAPBIJNVagr;h;​oagruipuwtnaetbaetgq35ghqet

I'M SO GLAD THIS WASN'T SPOILED FOR ME WTF

I AM WEEPING LIKE A CHILD

...

(Just a brief 20-minute pause this time)

And oh wow, seeing Will and Deanna hits different after Picard too, in a few different ways, which I may even get into later now that my heartrate is back to normal, lmao

Oh, I am always here for some jokes at the expense of the Sovereign class. The Enterprise-E sucked. They should have built a new bigger model of the D and new Galaxy-class interiors for the TNG movies, and I will die on that hill

OKAY, FINE, YOU GOT ME, RUTHERFORD × TENDI WOULD BE ADORABLE AND THIS IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD SETUP FOR IT

Awwww, Shaxs though :( Congrats on the single most badass death in Star Trek history, dude. The Prophets would—well, the actual Prophets would probably be slightly confused about most of it, but Kira Nerys would be proud of you and I feel like that probably counts for more. RIP, Papa Bear

I am here all damn DAY for the Mariner–Riker parallels, ahahahahaha

Pausing it to record my prediction that Boimler's commitment to not caring about rank anymore is going to last 3... 2...

Yep.

Bradward, how DARE YOU.

"Those guys had a long road, getting from there to here." OH FOR THE LOVE OF—

What a brilliant way to resolve and renew the various character arcs and relationships moving into Season 2! The writers could easily have brought everything back to status quo—chaotic Mariner fighting with her mom and being a bad influence on Boimler, etc.—and done another 10 just like these, but I suspect that wouldn't have been ambitious enough for these writers. What a blast. I cannot wait for more.

Thanks for following along, friends! Stay tuned for my (similarly patchy and amateur) coverage of Discovery, starting next week!

[fangirlovestuff]

Cycle - Steve Rogers x reader ch.4

Previously:  ch.1 ch.2 ch.3

Summary: Steve and you get closer, but it’s in order not to get too close. you both believe you know what you want, but... do you?

Word count: ~2,600

Warnings: SMUT, explicit language. 

a/n- hey lovely people! another weekend, another Cycle chapter😌 i’m so glad i managed to get this out today:) as always, italics are for thoughts. awesome divider is by @whimsicalrogers​. Enjoy! and well, thank me for the gif later;)

The morning after you went out, you got to work with your spirits lifted. Having gotten to know some more of your colleagues, you entered into the lab with a spring in your step, greeting everyone good morning.

Kate came up to you, asking how as last night. She was invited, but couldn't come, so she wanted to hear from you.

"It was great," you told her sincerely, "I wish you could've joined us, but I actually ended up having a really nice conversation with Steve," you smiled, expecting it to be the end of it.

Kate frowned. "Steve?" she asked, confused.

"You know," you looked at her incredulously, "Steve Rogers, Captain America, pretty tough guy to miss," you gestured with your hands to symbol a tall, wide frame. "He was really nice," you concluded.

"Oh, that Steve," Kate laughed, "sorry, I'm just not used to anyone calling him by his first name and not, you know, Cap," she giggled a tad awkwardly. "You know there are a lot of rumors going around him though, right?"

"I mean, I would expect there to be, since he's a superhero."

"They say he has a secret girlfriend he's keeping from the world. Or boyfriend, opinions are divided on that one," she laughed.

"Well, I'm pretty sure he doesn't," you chuckled, remembering last night's conversation.

"It’s just office gossip anyway, and we should probably get to work," Kate said and you nodded in agreement, starting to work on your current project.

"And you didn't even ask for her number?" Bucky asked. "You're even more of a lost cause than I thought."

"What?" Steve asked defensively, "It never came up," he shrugged. He made another move at Bucky, who dodged him expertly and caught his wrist, flipping him onto the training room mattress.

"Steve, let me ask you something, and please be honest with me. I'm your best friend, you can tell me anything. Do you even like women?"

"Yes!" Steve said, not particularly amused at Bucky's antics. He got up and got into position again.

"Then why, for the love of god, are you so adamant to never ever sleep with one?"

"That's not-" Steve sighed. "Look, I don't think she was actually interested, okay? She was giving me advice on how to get other girls, I mean, why would she—"

"Oh my god, Steve! She just told you how she'd like to be treated and you think she's not interested?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" Steve grumbled.

"Tell you what, there's only one way to find out. Ask her out, worst thing she could say is no," Bucky suggested.

"Whatever," Steve said, grabbing his jacket and leaving the training room, leaving a smirking Bucky in his wake.

You were just in your office close up for the day when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," you said, not knowing who it could be, since you told the others to go ahead without you.

In enters one Steve Rogers, looking slightly disheveled, and yet just as handsome as ever. You shook that thought right out of your head. "Hi Steve," you greeted, "what can I help you with?"

"I was just coming by to ask if you might be hungry," Steve smiled timidly.

"After a whole day of lab work, I'd say the answer to that is a definite yes," you smiled back at him.

"Great, well, I just wondered if you'd like to grab dinner… with me," he chuckled. "I know a good spot down the street if you want."

"I'd love to!" you exclaimed. "Let's go," you said, grabbing your jacket from the chair and following him out into the chilly New York air.

"So, you've come to collect those flirting lessons I offered yesterday?" you chuckled as you were walking side by side.

"Something like that," Steve smiled.

You got to the restaurant and ordered. "So, humor me here," you said, "but how does the great Captain America not know how to flirt?"

He chuckled. "Well, for starters, because he's a righteous symbol of justice and liberty, flirting is more Bucky's thing," he admitted with a smile, "and I'm just Steve, not Captain America," he added.

"Wait, so it wasn't you who saved the world from these aliens a few years ago? Shame, you look just like him," you laughed and so did he. "But I get what you mean," you said, more serious this time, "I guess the entire world seeing you as a… how did you put it? Righteous symbol of justice and liberty?" you chuckled. "That can probably be a little intimidating."

Steve hummed in agreement. "Sometimes it is," he admitted. "Truth is, it makes you wonder how can the world buy this image so easily when I don't see myself that way at all. Not even close," Steve chuckled.

You felt a warmth blossoming in you at his open, honest demeanor. "Well, that doesn't disprove the fact that you're a hero, Steve," you said.

"I know it doesn't but… okay, you know when I grew up I was small and sickly, right?"

"It’s public knowledge," you agreed.

"I still feel like that guy, the guy who lived in Bucky's shadow, literally, and couldn't get what he wanted," Steve said with a far-off look.

"Steve," you said, reaching across the table and covering his hand with yours. His look returned here, locking eyes with you and words evaded you at his clear blue eyes meeting yours. You quickly regained your senses, "You don't need to live in anyone's shadow anymore, and for what it's worth you can have anything you want. I'm sure a baby would hand you his candy willingly," you said, and he chuckled.

"Hey, did I just Steve Rogers you?" you smirked.

"Oh no, we can't let that happen. Quick, tell me something about yourself before the sky falls down on our heads!" Steve exclaimed and you laughed.

"Okay, okay, let me think…" you furrowed your brows exaggeratedly. "In the future, I would really like to get married." You looked around suspiciously, "phew, I think we're in the clear," you joked. Shit, why would you say that? Congrats, you just managed to scare him away.

"Why?" Steve asked, his gaze resting intently on you.

"Because… sharing your life with another person is something I want to experience," you explained. "Being there for someone who loves me, heart and soul, no matter what, is very appealing," you chuckled. "And well, I guess there's still some little girl in me that wants a fairytale romance. Someone to sweep her off her feet and be her one true love. After all I've been through, it’s bizarre I still believe that, but I do," you concluded with a smile.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one who still believes that," Steve said with a reassuring look. "But… why do you think it's bizarre to believe that?"

"Besides the obvious reason that fairytales aren't real?" you asked, and he just smiled, nodding at you to continue. "Well, I guess every man I've been with has disproven that theory. People who I thought would actually be there for me, who wouldn’t only want me, but also love me, ended up walking away. And at a certain point, you just have to go with the flow. I did one-night-stands for a long while. But lately I decided I can't keep ignoring what I want any longer. So, I have to keep believing, even though it doesn't seem achievable," you smiled sadly.

"For all it's worth, I think you'll succeed," Steve smiled back at you, squeezing your hand.

"You think I'll succeed with anyone in particular or…?" you trailed off, and he blushed.

"Whatever you choose to," he answered.

"Well, I think the universe is definitely repaired since I shared all of that and our food hasn't even arrived yet," you chuckled, changing the subject.

You kept the chatter light until your food came and ate in relative silence, but it wasn't an unwelcome one. Every once in a while your eyes would meet and you'd simply smile at each other, gladly eating the delicious food. At the end of the meal Steve insisted on paying, and after a lot of convincing you managed to get him to split the check.  You left the restaurant as you entered it, side by side.

"My apartment is actually a couple of blocks from here, so if it's in your way you can come up for a coffee maybe?" Steve suggested.

"Yeah, sure thing," you agreed, surprised at how easy it was to be around him.

You went up to his apartment, chattering about work and life the whole way. Steve matched his pace to yours, so you were casually strolling through the streets of New York with Captain America by your side.

"Manhattan's probably a shock after living in Brooklyn, isn't it?" you inquired.

"You get used to it," Steve shrugged, unlocking his apartment door.

You let your eyes wander around his apartment, taking in the orderly state of it, the warm, simple environment that seemed to surround Steve wherever he goes, and his house reflected that. There was a canvas right in the middle of the living room, propped up against an easel. There were paints strewn around on the coffee table, but for now all the canvas held was a pencil sketch of the New York skyline. You let out a small chuckle about how… Steve this all was. This is when you truly understood what he meant before – how different Steve was from Captain America, because this is when you started to truly understand Steve.

"I'm so sorry about the mess," Steve said, starting to pick up the paintbrushes and paints.

"It's okay," you smiled, tracing the pencil lines with your fingers. "It's beautiful," you looked at Steve.

"Hopefully it'll look even better when it's colored," Steve said. "Here, I wanna use this color for that building and…" Steve started describing his plans for the painting, but all you could see were his lips moving, his eyes shining with excitement.

"That's great," you said, your heartbeat racing.

"Here, I can show you how to do it," Steve suggested.

"Sure," you agreed.

Once Steve showed you how to hold the brush, you started painting a bit of the background like he told you and he let out a chuckle. "You're doing it wrong," he said, and before you had the chance to be irritated his hand was covering yours, his tall frame against your back as he started showing you the right brush movements, the right amount of pressure to apply on the canvas.

"There you go, see? It's easy," Steve said, and you could hear the smile in his voice. You turned around to see it too, and your breath hitched. He was smiling, but you hadn’t realized how close you got. His face was just within reach, and if you just tilt your head upwards a little…

Steve made the first move, bending down to capture your lips with his, his tongue seeking permission into your mouth, which you granted readily. Your tongues explored each other's mouths and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, while he wrapped his around your waist, pulling you close.

Suddenly he broke away from you and you chased his mouth with yours but he put a hand on your shoulder. "I… we work together," he said, "and I don't wanna be another shitty dude," he added, smiling a little.

"Well, you raise good points. But, we don't actually work together that closely, and it's not shitty if we're both on the same page. Besides, if we don't do this right now we're gonna regret not doing it and that will just create more tension," you reasoned.

"You're probably right," Steve panted a little.

"Thank you, I watch a lot of rom-coms. Now, are we on the same page? We get it out of our system and that's it?" you knew it sounded a little harsh, but that's what needed to be done so no one got hurt.

"Deal," he said, and in an instance his lips were back on yours, more feverishly this time, his hands traveling down your waist, your ass, your hips, which he grabbed onto and lifted you up, and fuck, super-strength came very much in handy.

He led your way to the bedroom, one am supporting you up and one sneaking into your shirt to unhook your bra while your hands tangled in his hair, pulling a little, just enough to hear Steve groan into your mouth.

He pretty much tossed you onto the bed and you got rid of your shirt and bra while he threw away his shirt as well, revealing his toned chest and abdomen. You stared, practically drooling before he climbed on top of you and you started kissing his neck, his jaw, nipping gently on his sweet spot.

His hands found your breasts, teasing your nipples and you arched your chest against him at the touch. You started working his belt, and he looked at you one more time. When he saw the wanting look in your eyes it was all the confirmation he needed to take off your pants and your underwear, and kick his away too. He started trailing kisses on your collarbone, down the valley of your breasts and your stomach, every nerve in your body lighting up at his touch.

He finally reached between your thighs and looked up at you before licking a long stripe between your wet folds. You threw your head beck and moaned, because who knew America's golden boy can eat pussy like a fucking god.

He continued licking and sucking swirling his tongue around your clit and around your entrance, lapping at your folds, driving you crazy with every flick on his tongue, and it didn't take long before you fell apart at his touch, waves of pleasure coursing through your body as Steve continued his assault until you came down from your high.

He made his way back up your body and you pushed your hips up against his, feeling his hard length against you. "Steve," you looked at him in a silent plea.

"You sure you-"

"Yes, yes, yes please, I'm so fucking sure," you cut him off and he smirked a little before climbing off you, and you were about to whine when you saw him reach for a condom, and well, he's not America's golden boy for nothing I guess.

He put it on and climbed back on top of you, capturing your mouth in a breathtaking kiss, so much so that you didn't notice him lining up with your entrance until he pushed his tip into you, and started driving deeper and deeper inside your sensitive walls. The stretch was a lot at first, and you gasped, but then it turned into a moan when Steve started really moving, driving into you in slow, deep thrusts that caused you to claw at his back.

"Feel so good around me," Steve groaned, and you could only moan in response, clenching around him. He pushed your leg up a little, and the new angle had him hitting that sweet spot inside you with every thrust, and in no time the coil in your stomach snapped again, and you milked him through his orgasm too.

You were both panting as you laid down next to one another. You were silent for a moment before Steve spoke. "Think it worked? We got it out of our systems?"

"I mean," you smirked as you straddled his hips, "we can't be too thorough…"

Bucky is slowly but surely slipping away from me and becoming quite OOC, but it’s cool we love him anyways. please tell me what you thought and thank you so much for reading! <3

Taglist:  @horny-nd-bored​ @shannon124 @perfectlyharolds​ @wintersoldierslut​ @iceebabies​  @sleepingpapermouse @steverogerswasalwaysworthy @holtzkinnon @angelicl-y @stydia-4-ever @thatoneperson5000 @fangirlfree​ @kaitcordx25 @bequeening​ @steve-barry-damon-logan​ @itscrazycherryblossomcollection​ @hollandxmarvel​ @stargazingfangirl18 @readsreblogsfics @onetwo3000 @beritmetal @harrystylesholland@jazbot2000

Cycle Taglist: @dee-vn @alex747

if you wanna join / be removed from these taglists, comment/message me! much love <3

[techouspeaks]

Healin Good Precure Final Verdict and thoughts on Tropical Rouge Precure!

First off, sorry I haven’t been around that much to even talk about Healin Good. First, I just kinda lost interest in doing reviews for a while and then some personal snit just had to be thrown in when I really wanted to discuss somethings. So this review is kinda gonna be slightly unorganized but I’ll do my best and I’m really sorry about Precuruary again not being this year. This past year has been whoo! Just yeah...Anyway! I will try to be more active when I can be but I can’t make any promises right now. So onto the review! 

I know every year I’ve said that each precure seems a little better than the previous ones in some aspects. Like for example, Star Twinkle I felt was a little better than Hugtto in terms of overall enjoyment and characters, but it lacked developing the plot and the lackluster in the personality of the princesses. They could have had each princess have the certain traits expected from their signs such as Virgo being a perfectionist and Aries being hot tempered. 

Than again, maybe it’s cause I just think anything is better than Kira Kira! lol! I know I get a little harsh with that series. Given the other series that came before and after, can you blame me? There are better series than that. (In my opinion, anyway.)

Healin Good, I can definitely say this was a good ride for both plot, character, music and animation! Yes, the designs for the cures were a little lack luster and I still can’t help but get Cure Flora vibes from Grace, but eventually, I got used to it. In fact, while I know it was the anniversary of Yes Precure 5 Go Go!, I almost felt like they should have just made that into a separate movie and have Healin Good meet Go Princess since the cures there have a lot in common!

But of course being their own thing. They’re not copies of the GoPre girls, but they share definitely some things in common such as Cure Grace and Cure Flora’s flower theme, Cure Sparkle and Cure Twinkles love for fashion and star themes and Cure Fountain and Cure Mermaid for the water themes.

In terms of plot, it wasn’t like the most amazing plot ever, but it was decent and coherent. It was a serviceable plot that did the bare minimum and not be too crazy and outlandish and the morals at least made more sense unlike Twinkle. There was no getting grumpy dog people to learn to smile and be happy. 

Yes, the one thing that doesn’t make sense is how Cure Earth came to be and I will admit she as well as Fountain are the least interesting girls. I know people love Fountain/Chiyu! For me, blue cures have interesting stories but a personality that doesn’t fit it. They’re okay but I always feel like they’re just the cool kid that’s typically the responsible role model and nothing more, with the exception of Cure Marine and Cure Beauty, the later fits that role but she also has a bit more to her in terms of personality. The backstory for Fountain/Chiyu doesn’t make sense either. She sees the horizon line between the ocean and the sky and wants to jump that high. Then at first she’s just sees high jump as fun, which annoys a rival of hers and thus she’s pressured to like it more than just a school thing. It’s weird and almost complicated...

Cure Earth/Asumi is sorta a motherly kind of character since she’s in her 20s in appearance, but still a fish out of water. I’m glad they didn’t make her a teen so she had to go to school with the girls and she’s like the first adult main cure (Like I get Cure Flower, ancient cures and the Hugtto Cures, but I’m talking as in the main team member and not a side character type thing.) Which is nice, it shows that yes adults can be heroes. I mean we had adult superheroes all the time and the teen was just the less experienced side kick. 

As for personality, she’s a bit of a blank slate but I love her design! I know Green Cure and all wah, but hate to say it, the more people complain that there isn’t a green cure in every season, the more I’m kinda glad cause people get sooo uptight like they’re whitewashing a character or something. Like stop! It’s just a team color for Pete’s sake! Like even if they did her as a green cure, she’s kind of bland in personality so would you be happy with a green cure that’s sorta the blank slate?

I’m not saying she’s bad. She can be funny and it can be enjoying to watch her understand feelings and things since while an adult physically, she was basically born out of a whim and only knows how to talk and understand the basis of the Healing Garden as well as Princess Latte and Queen Teatinu. Shoot, she couldn’t even eat on her own.

My two favorite characters by far have to be Nodoka aka Cure Grace and Hinata aka Cure Sparkle. Hinata is just a fun character. She’s emotional, got a go getter attitude and I like the fact she’s into fashion but isn’t over the top annoying or particularly snobby, kinda like Cure Twinkle but different that Cure Twinkle has more of a professional attitude and higher skills, while Cure Sparkle is a bit clumsy and overly excited about everything. She has insecurities and flaws but thanks to Nodoka and Nyantoran, she gets over these rather quickly.

As for Nodoka, I know people are disappointed that her illness turned out nothing more than Daruzen, I don’t blame them for going this route. Yes, it kinda gives an unrealistic impression that the disease just simply needs to jump out of someone and they’ll be okay. I can’t help but think it might have backfired especially given the time since we had the you know what virus. So many kids were watching their families get destroyed and while, yes, it would be good to teach kids to stay strong and fight through it and that it takes time for people to recover fully, it could also be too overbearing for them as well if they happen to have a loved one who is sick or they themselves and are just constantly reminded of the suffering.

Put it short, there’s kind of no best way around it. You can either do it this way and there might be some kids that think well the virus can just jump out or do it the other way and risk kids getting depressed and anxious, which would be bad as depression and anxiety in kids has risen a lot since 2020. For me, I think kids are smarter than we give them credit. They are gonna be aware that stuff in cartoons/anime works differently than in the real world, so I feel like the route they took was better. It was already risky having the main character be sick and being put in the hospital to begin with.

With that being said, Nodoka is a good character for more reasons than her being sick and fighting an illness. She wants to be supportive because she needed support. Just because her illness turned out to be some alien germ from another dimension, doesn’t make her desire to help any less meaningful. She did suffer a lot, fought through pain and suffering through an unknown amount of time. Just cause she healed miraculously doesn’t make her suffering not real and her inspiration and influence on others less so.

Bottom line, it doesn’t matter how she healed, she still suffered, got inspire by those who helped her and thus inspired those to work hard on getting better. The message is still there.

But there is another thing that makes her special and that is when Nodoka told Daruzen off! That alone was the most inspiring thing ever done in a Precure series in a LONG time! It’s not just her standing up to a bully. She stood up to her abuser! And yes, I do like Daruzen and at first I thought they would be a cute couple, but I will admit when Daruzen took things too far and as someone that’s been sexually harassed and known people who were forced on, I can’t push forward with the ship or Daruzen for that matter. 

When Daruzen needed help, Nodoka pushed him away and then he outright made her feel bad about it. “I thought you were about helping others.” This is a tactic used by abusers, taking advantage of the kindness their victim usually has and congrats to Rabirin for being the best partner to a Precure. 

Nodoka holds no responsibility for Daruzen. He used her thus abused her, he caused so much pain not only onto her but to those around her. Put it short, Nodoka doesn’t owe Daruzen anything! That to me is one of the most important lessons to teach anyone especially young kids. It’s good to teach others to be kind and forgive folks, but if you don’t want to than don’t especially if they have done nothing but hurt you. Your health including mental health comes first above all else. It’s not selfish especially if the one needing help was selfish first and didn’t think about you in the long run.

So as much as I think that Daruzen X Nodoka could have been cute, I can’t help but applaud Toei for going this route instead. Especially these days, I feel it’s really important teach kids that it’s okay to think of what’s best for you, including putting a limit on helping people and setting boundaries. I’ve known even family members and friends that were in this situation where they had to stop helping someone, because that person took advantage of them and they had to put their foot down, cause they had to finally think of their own health and well being. It’s not selfish. It’s important to take care of yourself first!

Speaking of mascots, all the mascots are useful including Latte, which is the main mascot that is in peril the most since the villains make her sick. However, she is far from a passive pup as some people pass her off as. She does know when to put her paw down and even in the midst of her suffering, she does try when she can to help. Even go as far as refusing Nodoka’s care until she and Rabirin settle their differences to work together. She also has the ability to sense when the earth needs help and is the only animal that can do this. She also refuses Cure Earth’s/Asumi’s overly servitude towards her, showing she knows when to speak out about her own well being. True Latte doesn’t get too much to shine but when she does it’s rather welcomed.

Normally with mascots, I don’t care for them since they tend to be typically one note. The mascots for Healin Good are all memorable with their own personality  and they grow along side their respected cures. The only mascots I know that grew a lot was Yes! Precure 5/Go! Go’s Coco, Nuts and Milky, Go Princess Precure’s Aroma and Puffu. Mofurun only showed much growth in the movie where they became a cure. Though Mofurun is still more useful than the mascots in Kira Kira. (Yes, I will always take the opportunity to slam on that series!)

Speaking of Kira Kira...Oh boy. Well I was a little excited to finally have an ocean themed precure series with a mermaid, my excitement kinda dropped when I noticed the transformation compact and transformation. I’m gonna go a head and review the first episode since I watched it. 

I’ll first start off the with positives and move on to what I wouldn’t say are horrible things, but more so my overall concerns with it.

First, like others, I’m glad we got a lead cure that isn’t pink for once. This is a first since Splash Star Precure, whom I don’t think Cure Bloom counts. I mean in the first season, she kinda is pink, but then when she becomes Cure Bright her colors change so I kinda count her as being mix color, while Cure Dream was the first official Pink Cure.

I also like that while Manatsu/Cure Summmer is another happy go lucky type, she does have a bit more zest and isn’t the overall cutesy happy go lucky cures we’ve come to know. She’s different from Cure Star and Cure Yell, in which she’s happy go lucky in a more of a hot headed sense, than the cute, been bullied but still brave kid which was Cure Star and Yell.

Manatsu/Summer reminds me of Lina Inverse from Slayers and other similar red head characters from that era, which makes sense she is a red head. (Least Manatsu is).

The transformation and battle scenes are better too. I was worried that because the pact and start of the transformation looked so similar to Kira Kira, I was worried it would be exactly the same but it’s different enough it seems. My only gripe is that maybe Cure Summer’s final pose at the end for her transformation sequence could have been a bit more dramatic. Her pose look lack luster compared to the rest of her transformation.

The animation in Cure Summer’s attack is amazing but the 3D part of is a little distracting somewhat. I feel like the sun could have been done in 2D. Other than that, animation is gorgeous! Bright and colorful with nice detailing within the characters and background.

I also can’t help adore Cure Coral/Sango’s design and character. She hasn’t appeared that much, but already I kinda already adore her! She’s so precious and I can tell she’s already gonna be a fan favorite among many! I also like how she seems sweet and quiet but isn’t shy either. She’s rather just down to earth, just doing her own thing but still being polite. Refreshing take especially on a purple cure!

Now onto my issues with it. Starting with a bit too many similarities to Kira Kira such as the transformation pact and the overly energetic, silly theme. I don’t mind silly when it’s balanced out right. For me, it’s a bit too crazy and kinda the issue I had with Cure Princess and sometimes Cure Marine. I get that it’s about motivation VS procrastination. I hope they work it out to teach kids there’s an importance of both. Just teach that you need a bit of balance. Right now, it’s just not. Manatsu kinda gets on my nerves a little bit and then you have Laura...

I kinda have mix feelings about Laura. On one hand, I do relate to her. She’s a little vain and I like the fact that despite being a main character, she’s actually quite selfish! Her whole desire to do this mission is out of hope that she’ll be the next Queen, which apparently, the current Queen isn’t her mom I guess, but she’s chosen to be in line and she seems to want to be Queen simply for the selfish reason to be praised and adored, not cause she wants to help her people. I like this for the fact that it makes her far different from Cure Milky/Lala, whom many have said she was probably a little too responsible for her age, but I digress, Lala/Cure Milky is one of my favorite cures. 

What I’m concern is the fact that Laura will outshine the cures and take over the spotlight especially when she becomes a Cure. There’s no denying this will happen especially since it’s been confirmed the Midseason Cure is called Cure Le Mer, which is her last name. She seems to already outshine the mascot for the series Kururun, who is the first mascot to not meet the lead cure in the first episode because the poor thing barely gets any screen time!

I noticed this especially when the products for the series came out that Kururun is barely in any of the merchandise. I guess after focusing so much on the mascots for three seasons, having at least one be the token mascot to save all humanity, they decided “Eh, lets just make a mermaid the star seller and just have the mascot be squeezed in for those who want a stuffed animal.”

I get that the Midseason cures tend to take over the spotlight anyway, but I don’t always agree. Cure Scarlet and Cure Earth kinda grew along side the other cures. Taking time for both them and another Cure or character to shine as well. With Laura, because she’s already part of the group, hopefully won’t  outshine  the cures, but being how much they merchandise and show her off, it’s looking a bit bleak for anyone who isn’t Manatsu/Cure Summer when Cure Le Mer takes the stage.

I also fear since the series was announce that Asuka/Cure Flamingo maybe too much like Cure Chocolate given how her design is similar. I love her design, her’s is my favorite design of the bunch, but you can’t deny she looks like Cure Chocolate with longer hair. I hope they give her and the other cures more personality and growth especially before Laura becomes a cure.

Other than those gripes, I don’t hate it and do like some things about it. Maybe I’m just used Healin Good’s more relaxed theme that I’m kinda skeptical for this more wild, eccentric series. Maybe it will grow on me in time. Hoping it does since as said, been wanting an ocean themed Precure series with mermaids in it for a looong time!

Without further a due, I give Healin Good Precure 8 out of 10 stars. Won’t rate Tropical Rouge Precure until the end of the season. Seeya in the next review!

8 Stars Level: “Great!”

[jasmine-tea-latte]

Since nobody asked for my input, here’s a lovely PSA for antis in general, because some of y’all need a reminder / a reality check.

(Excluding the folks who properly tag stuff as anti-__, of course, because that’s the whole point of that tag.)

Also, please note that I’m not saying don’t engage in debates ever or feel like you should be silent about subjects that matter to you. Create dialogue! Learn from other people! By all means, share your POV! Discuss the numerous other things you’re passionate about. Speak your mind.

Also, this is not in reference to critical thinking posts regarding fandom content or metas. This is about being an ass on a post that harms absolutely no one.

This post is strictly about how we consume media for entertainment (I.e. ship preferences) and how, if you’re constantly seeing posts pop up for something you hate yet you keep diving into the tags of said thing and feel compelled to comment on it, especially if it’s that stupid “No❤️” shit - congratulations, you’re playing yourself, and I’m about to show you why.

Also, the point of this post is not to be holier than thou or overtly preachy. I posted plenty of obnoxious stuff on fandom forums back in the day, so learn from my mistakes, okay?

Here’s something you need to understand right here, right now:

You are responsible for cultivating your own internet experience.

Don’t like seeing tons of posts about a show / ship / topic you dislike or have no interest in?

Don’t interact with it.

Just keep scrolling along.

I’m serious.

Let it go.

Devote your time and energy on things you do enjoy and let the fans of whatever it is that you hate enjoy that thing in peace.

Take for instance pecan pie. I hate pecan pie with a passion. Guess what I’m not going to do, though? Go over to a forum or group of people who like it and start screaming about how gross it is and how anyone who likes pecan pie is a terrible, horrible person.

Because why waste my time deliberately going somewhere that I don’t have to be and know I won’t like, picking fights and being an asshole in general?

But if it’s posted in a public forum it’s up for debate, I hear you complain.

Yeah, so?

What do you honestly think you’re going to accomplish by raining on someone else’s parade?

Seriously, I’m asking you, what do you really think is going to happen if you waltz up and start yelling at fans of something about how they’re stupid or awful for liking XYZ?

What’s it going to cost you to keep scrolling and find something that sparks joy instead of rage?

Answer:

If you’re lucky (that is, if you present a well-thought out and cohesive argument) then you might convince some people over to your side.

But realistically in the best case scenario, you’d have a civil debate where absolutely no one changes their mind.

If that’s what your goal was, congrats! You successfully shared your opinion without making yourself look like an asshole who has nothing better to do with their time than pick unnecessary fights and looking to stir shit up just because you’re bored.

But if you go up to a table of people chowing down on pecan pie and tell them that they’re stupid for liking it when cherry / chocolate / whatever pie flavor that floats your boat exists, guess what’s gonna happen?

You will get eyerolls and be considered a douche, but no one will give an actual fvck what you have to say.

I straight up insulted a group of fans for liking something I hated and I did so by going out of my way over to their corner of the fandom. AITA?

Yes, YTA (you’re the asshole) in this scenario.

There’s a post floating around out there explaining how you wouldn’t walk into an Italian restaurant and yell about how you don’t like the food and that you’d rather eat at the Chinese restaurant across the street.

Who in their right mind would do that? Nobody, that’s who, and that’s what you look like deliberately poking around a fandom you hate to cause discord.

Also pro tip: you’re ultimately shooting yourself in the foot when you do obnoxious things like that.

The more you interact with a certain topic or spend time posting about it online, the more you’ll see of it, because that’s how the algorithms work.

It doesn’t matter if you post “I love pecan pie!” or “pecan pie is the worst!”

All that algorithm picks up on is the keyword “pecan pie” so if you hate it? Guess what, you just served yourself another slice of crap and you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.

A few years ago some people on Facebook got sick and tired of seeing Buzzfeed constantly post about KUWTK. Which I get, because idgaf about them, tbh - don’t hate them but don’t care, either. But someone decided to fill the comment sections of those posts with pet pictures as a protest of sorts to prove that literally anything else was more entertaining. Yeah that’ll show them!

Except that it didn’t matter that all of their comments were irrelevant. The algorithm just saw a bunch of traffic on the KUWTK posts, which in turn caused Buzzfeed to post about them even more. It turned into a cycle of self destruction by the commenters, because the more they posted pet pics, the more traffic they gave to the very posts they wanted to destroy.

Hence why I preached earlier about how I keep scrolling whenever I see a post for a ship or movie / show / other media for something I dislike. Because guess what happens? It goes away and I only see posts for things I dislike on rare occasions.

Also, the block / hide option is sitting right there, folks.

I just don’t understand the mindset of someone who spends all their time online complaining about a ship / show / media and actively seeks it out to further spread their discontent, then is Suprised Pikachu when the topic keeps showing up in their recommended lists.

Look, I’m ultimately here to have fun and interact with other fans of media that I enjoy. I’m not here to tell you what to do or how you should use your time. If going out of your way to antagonize fans of the thing you despise fills you with warm and fuzzies then don’t let me stop you if that’s how you actually choose to live your life. Some people just want to watch the world burn, so you do you, boo.

But the fact of the matter is that you can waste your time whining about how gross pecan pie is or you can choose to spend your time by promoting the kind of pie you do like, cultivating a much more pleasant experience for yourself, not to mention peace of mind.

You don’t win the pie war by hijacking posts and acting like a tool. You win it by creating content of your favorite pie until it outnumbers the kind you dislike.

Plus, if you put out more posts praising and promoting things you do like, it’ll help the algorithm suggest more content that you actually would enjoy.

Yeah but it’s my right to do that! I hear you argue just for the sake of being argumentative or because you genuinely enjoy the attention that it gets you. So I have to ask,

Why are you making yourself mad when you could make yourself glad instead?

Basically what I’m saying is that when it comes to spewing contrarion opinions in a forum for the sake of causing drama:

The world is a shitty enough place at times already, and fandom is meant to be fun.

Stop seeking out things you hate and then bitch about seeing them. Love yourself and take care of your mental health.

Don’t be that asshole.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

And now, I’m off to go find some delicious key lime pie and be thankful that it’s not pecan.

[lockawayknight]

Hey! I am really enjoying your Creighton content. He's been my favorite character since playing 2. I'm having trouble though, because the community of DS3 seems to gloss over the reasoning of why he's in 3. They only thing I find is that Rosaria's fingers just was a good fit/he's just there oh well. But I feel like there's gotta be more behind it. Do you have any headcanons for why he's part of three/why he is a finger? Thanks!

aaaa hi hi hello i’m so glad you like my creighton stuff!!! wahhh he is so very very important to me hhh ;-;💕

okay so for why he’s in ds3 to begin with, i think it’s just sheer dumb luck. the game’s cameos prove that the most random folks and locations survive to the third game — gilligan and andre and patches, anor londo and earthen peak, like… bizarre. clearly it’s got no higher meaning other than, congrats! you made it! so clearly creighton just got a lucky pull. huzzah for the stinky axeman. sorry that isn’t a very interesting answer :,)

i do have a LOTTT of hcs about why he’s in the fingers though, absolutely!! i base all that stuff in canon, and they’re actually some of my most special hcs, esp abt his relationship with heysel :,) more or less, it can all be boiled down to: he’s part of the fingers cus he’s a bloodthirsty extrovert!! it’s shown all through the second game that he’s a social little puppy, so immediately attached to the player, so excited when he sees them again, so wholly and viscerally torn to shreds when betrayed by his partner, he really does thrive off of social relationships to an almost unhealthy degree. it shows in his personality, his dialogue, his entire quest — i mean hell, the whole crux of his and pate’s story is that he lost a companion, and it drove him insane. he’s a social animal. he requires camaraderie to stay sane

not just that, but he’s. y’know. a murderer. he’s bloodthirsty, he lives to hone his blade, he travels the world and practices his craft and loves what he does. the only thing he thrives on more than human contact is the thrill of the kill. so needless to say, a covenant where everyone is individuals, does their own thing, are their own people, can kill and maim to their hearts’ contents, alone or with others, all sharing a love and passion for a taboo craft, all with the choice to be who they want to be and interact with who they want to interact with???? it’s hella. to me, the fact he doesn’t wear the finger epithet proves he doesn’t care so much about the serving-a-goddess part of the whole ordeal as he does the work itself — not to say he doesn’t love and appreciate rosaria, cus he sure as hell does — but there would be no other reason to join a covenant if he simply wanted to kill with no social interactions. if he didn’t want the social aspect, he could remain a lonesome wanderer like his title. but being part of a covenant, of a little group of murderous misfits, it just pets the happy puppy in his heart that wants social interaction AND a good hunt. which is why he and heysel are such good friends in my hcs ^^

so the tl;dr is: he pulled a lucky draw and survived to see the rise of lothric, and he’s part of the fingers because it gives him an opportunity to be himself, have fun with his hobbies, AND fulfil the extroverted side of him that craves peers who share his passion. the fingers was one of the best things to ever happen to him, and he loves them all to death... even grouchy old leonhard uwu

thanks so much anon!! have a great night!!💕

[bungod-hearth]

I adore your swap AU & had some questions if that is OK. 1: Did Luz have any trouble with Eda's parents in letting her move in? 2: Is she still friends & got a similar relationship to canon with Gus & Willow? 3: What's her Palisman, Owlbert or does she have an original? 4: does she have a portal to the human world or are both she & Belos looking for that? 5: Does she have any Glyph jewelry, or still utilize mostly paper & her staff? 6: Would she defeat then befriend those trying to arrest her XD

Hey there!! I'm glad you liked it so much you got curious and I'm more than happy to answer!💕💕

I'll put everything under the cut cause it's long as fuck sorry

1- that's something I'm actually working through! Since we still don't know basically anything about Eda's family and how they reacted after the curse (except for Lilith obviously), Eda kind of runs away from home after getting cursed, looking for this mysterious lonely witch who knows a different way to use magic, but I'm still not sure if she actually comes back home to tell her parents she has a mentor that could help her or if she leaves that duty to Lilith after assuring her she's gonna be okay with Luz (because Lilith will absolutely be the first to look for and also find Eda). I'm mostly imagining her parents as lively- cause both Eda and Lily have quite the temper even if Lily tries to hide it- but still somewhat attached to the rules and traditions given by the Emperor, and having your most talented child cursed in a way that hinders her magic in a world where magic is literally everything... yikes. But the idea of her finding someone who could actually help her even if not through a cure for the curse could be something easy to accept all things considered, despite living far from them. This part is still a work in progress, but maybe we'll get more info on the Clawthorne parents next season!

2- Willow and Gus are definitely still Luz best friends and they got to know each other in a very similar manner as in canon! Luz still found her way into Hexside when she got on the Boiling Isles and they all went to school together. Same goes for Amity, Bosha, Skaara, Viney etc..., but in particular the relationship with Amity takes longer to develop also cause I’m a sucker for slowburn

3- Owlbert is still Eda's palisman and she'll get him while under Luz's tutelage! Luz instead has her own staff, but I'm deciding on the palisman itself cause there's several options:

no Palisman, only magical staff that's a bit weaker than others due to that, because Luz still doesn't feel like she deserves it as a "real" witch/doesn't have such a connection with the Isles like others born there/didn't felt particularly drawn to any creature and decided to wait. But she gets her Palisman as well later, influenced by Eda: a snowy owl, an ashy-faced owl, or a burrowing owl. Snowy Owl -> mostly bc fitting Azura's white aesthetic Ashy Faced Owl -> I think the most well known owl species of the Dominican Republic, with its peculiar gray colored face Burrowing Owl -> have you seen these guys they're damn adorable and tinyyyyyy- (also another species found in the Dominican Republic actually)

A black cat Palisman, since they're the most common and stereotypical symbol for witches and it would totally be in character for Luz to go "uehuehe kitty". Also because of her hoodie if yall want to count that.

A black dog/hound, one of the goddess Hecate sacred animals, the one representing loyalty obviously and the emotive part of magic and energy. In general I think dogs fit Luz well tho.

Some... mystical or mythological creature of some kind? Cause Luz realizes she can go hogwild with her palisman and thus frees her imagination.

Otter. With a dark side ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

4- the portal to the human world got lost in some way after Luz arrived in the Boiling Isles! That's why she's stranded there and hasn't seen her mom in more than 25 years :) I don't have the details yet since, again, we have so little information on the portal itself! Why in canon Eda's the one who has it? Was it in her parents possession or she found it in the Night Market or something? Where does it come from originally?? Hell if we know. This obviously becomes a bit of a problem for my au cause it influences how Luz arrived in the Isles in the first place. Could it be a random human treasures smuggler who accidentally brought her there? Did the Emperor/Emperor's Coven had it and things got out of hand? Or maybe the Clawthorne, or even the Blight family, got it? The only thing I'm sure of is that yes, both Luz and Belos are actively looking for it, for different reasons of course, and that hypothetically in the au story it will jump up again, and there will be drama and angst.

5- Luz definitely upgraded her glyph craft!! She experimented and honed both glyphs and skills through the years, finding new glyphs, different combinations, variations and applications, and is now super prepared, enough to keep up with the Emperor's coven squads that try to capture her- and Amity. She kind of adapts to the situation so her equipment isn't every day 100% the same, but the casting methods are similar: carved jewelry and accessories, embroidered fabrics, runestones, she even made her own (mono use) stickers! Naturally, these objects aren't infinitely durable and using them consumes them physically and energetically, but depending on the material and size they vary in durability and power. Though, the trusted notepad and pencil are always there in some pocket, along with some already-drawn papers for emergencies. She also got a couple of tattoos that include glyphs, one of which is a light spell, obviously, but it's a more risky way of casting since it uses her own physical energy, so the glyphs themselves are small. Both Gus and Willow got one as well! and Amity too but it's technically a secret

6- oh you know she will lmao I mean, she's not Steven Universe, but she is observant and a good person, and understands that sometimes certain situations, events, upbringing and generally education cough Emperor propaganda cough bring people to do bad stuff. This won't stop her from smacking to the ground and eventually punch if she runs out of glyphs whoever tries to hurt her or her loved ones. If they show regret and/or understand what they're doing is wrong, changing their ways, she might concede her forgiveness, but otherwise they're gonna eat the dust. I think she knows every member of Amity's squad by name tho?? And she kinda has fun escaping law, so the fights can go like "Hey Steve, I heard you're a dad now! Congrats dude!! If you want I can make you explode a little so you can stay home and play with the baby beast!" or "Wait, you guys don't even have dental?? You should have told me, I would have aimed lower!"

With Amity is a whole other thing, the romantic tension between them is so thick the rest of the team feels like they're intruding something every time for f sake

Whew, I think I answered everything? Thank you for taking interest in this little thing of mine! I also have answered another couple of asks about the au before, you can to check out the toh swap au tag on my blog if you want!

[forever-rogue]

The Boyfriend Mission

A/N: This is for @killer-queen-xo, who was one of the Halloween Contest winners! Congrats and amazing job, and I love you! I hope you (and everyone else) enjoys this! It’s a little good old fashioned fake dating fic staring the one and only Ben! Who doesn’t want a sweet old Benny Boy for Christmas, honestly?

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: None (fluff)

Masterlist

≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫

"Y/N? Y/N?" you were frozen for a moment, the phone still clutched to your ear as you heard your mother repeatedly calling your name. Her question had stunned you and instead of finding any type of response, your body had responded with silence, "are you still there?"

"Yes," you finally snapped back into attention, running a hand nervously through your hand as you tried to ignore the question, "sorry almost dropped the phone."

"You didn't answer my question, darling," she already knew what you were doing and you flopped on the couch, groaning internally. You knew you could only blame yourself, realizing now that you should have kept your mouth shut the whole time, "don't try and avoid the question! You know we just want to meet him. You've been gushing about for months now!"

"Gushing is a strong way of putting it," you tried to defend yourself even though you knew you had been playing it up to make it seem like you had suddenly acquired the world's best boyfriend, "it's nothing serious, Mother."

"Don't Mother me, Y/N," she laughed lightly, "just bring him over for Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone's coming and we won't bite. We just want to meet the man who has seemingly won over your heart. Yes?"

"Is it even worth it for me to try and argue?"

"Not really," she insisted, having long already made up her mind. You pinched the bridge of your nose as you knew you had to come with some sort of plan. There was definitely not getting out of this mess...which you more or less had created yourself.

"What if he's already busy, Mum?" it was a last ditch effort but also a valid question...what if this imaginary man already had a plan? It was Christmas after all and people made plans left and right. You could hear her tutting at you on the other side of the line.

"Is he?" she was going to break you down and really wasn't going to let it go.

"I dunno," you sighed wanting to sink into the couch and disappear. Why? Why had you lied? If you had just been honest with your family in the first place you wouldn't be in this position. But no, you just hadn't want to admit that you were still single and receive everyone's pity. And now you were going to have to explain why you lied in the first place and receive that pity instead. What a mess you created for yourself.

"Exactly," you could practically hear the smile in her voice. Although she was pushy, you knew she meant well, "so just ask this mystery boy if he's free and if he that we'd love to meet him."

"Fine, okay," you gave in, ever so reluctantly, "I'll ask him and see what he says."

"Don't make it sound like a death sentence! You always love coming home for Christmas," she reminded as you groaned lightly at her, mumbling under your breath, "what did you say his name was?"

Fuck, you thought to yourself as you tried to come up with a name. But after a couple seconds of fruitless searching you just said, "it's a surprise. Don't want to go and spoil everything!"

"You are a strange little thing," there was a fondness to her voice and you relaxed a little bit, "just find out if he can come and let us know!"

"I will, Mum. In fact, I'll go and ask him right now," you lied, squeezing your eyes shut, "talk to you soon."

"Talk to you soon, love. Can't wait!"

Before she could yet another word in edgewise, you ended the call and chucked your phone across the room burrowed your face into the pillows. It was a terrible mess you had created for yourself and you had no one to blame but yourself. Now you only had a few days to find a solution.

Right now that required a nap, you had decided. A nap probably wouldn't really help, considering it was already later in the evening and you needed to do some serious problem solving. But a nap was a nap and you couldn't argue with the pull of sleep you were experiencing.

≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫

You woke up in the middle of a dream, sitting up bolt right as you tried to catch your breath and calm your mind down from the unsettling mental images. You ran a hand through your disheveled hair before tying it up and out of your face. Grabbing your blanket, you made a quick decision and headed out of your apartment and down the hall. You realized it was late, probably almost sometime in the morning, and wondered if you should even bother to see if he was awake.

But Ben was your best friend, your rock and confidant, and he was always there for you, as you were for him. That, and the fact they you lived so close didn't hurt either. You knocked quietly on his door, deciding that if you didn't hear anything from the inside the apartment within a few minutes, you'd scurry back home. Part of you hoped he wouldn't be available and part of you hoped he opened the door and would usher you inside.

Just as you were about to give up and head back to your own apartment, he opened the door, a smile immediately crossing his features when he realized it was you.

"Hi love," he rubbed lightly at his eyes, and you wanted to kick yourself when you realized you had most likely woken him up, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Oh Ben," you sighed lightly, "I didn't mean to wake you up. I'm sorry, I should have checked the time. Ugh, I'm just striking out left and right today."

"It's never a bother with you," he insisted, opening the door and reaching for your hand to pull you inside. You weren't about to argue, already feeling better by just his presence.

He led you into the kitchen, and you immediately hopped onto the counter, swinging your legs back and forth as you watched him reach for mugs in order to make some hot chocolate. Ben always knew exactly how to make you feel better.

"Now tell me," he said as he flicked his eyes over to you momentarily, "what's eating you up?"

"I'm in trouble," you sighed as you rested your head against the wall, "big trouble."

"What!?" you heard the clinking of spoons on the ceramic of the mugs as he whipped around and stared at you, very concerned expression on his face, "what happened?"

"Umm, oops?" perhaps you should have specified that it wasn't actual trouble. Judging by his expression, he was ready to stow you away and keep you safe, "it's nothing too terrible, really. I'm not in danger by any means."

"Jesus Christ, Y/N," he let out a sigh of relief went back to the hot chocolate, asking his head lightly at you, "you can't just go around saying things like that without context. Marshmallows?"

"Obviously," you replied watching as he reached into cabinet and pulled out the small bag of mini marshmallows. It was hard not to let your eyes linger on him, watching the muscles of his back and arm flex, apparent still under his sweatshirt. Sometimes it was hard to pretend you weren't absolutely in love with your best friend. Especially when he was so kind, gentle, amazing, handsome, and wonderful. You were so lost in your thoughts, you didn't even realize he was talking to you, holding out your mug.

"Earth to Y/N," he said gently as he nudged your leg with his. You came back to reality and took the cup from his hand, your face heating up under his gaze. Taking the mug from his hand, and bringing it to your lips and taking a drink of the warm, sweet, liquid.

Ben watched you with a smile on his face, silently trying to pick your brain. You were feeling shy all of a sudden, something you rarely experienced with your best friend.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked as he hopped up and sat next to you, his body touching yours and sending little jolts of electricity through your body.

"Nothing," you lied as you set the mug down and let out a long sigh. He mirrored your actions as he patiently waited for you to continue on. There was something different about tonight, the way the two of you were interacting that was different. You wondered if he somehow knew that you were in love, if you somehow had spilled your secret. 

You had liked him for some time, and always wondered if he felt the same; but you had talked yourself out of that idea. This was Ben after all, and there was almost no way that someone like him would you like. At least that's what you had convinced yourself. And you were sure of that. Mostly anyways.

“Are you gonna tell me why you’re in trouble?” you had gotten so caught in trying to suppress your feelings for him that you’d completely lost sight of the real reason you’d come to him in the first place.

“Oh! That,” you laughed lightly as he raised his eyebrows at you, “you’re going to laugh and make fun of me…”

“I would do no such thing,” he promised, and it was your turn to give him the look, “fine, so I might. But, as your best friend, I promise to try and help you find a solution to this problem. Now, go on.”

“Okay,” you started and let out a long sigh, “so a few months ago, I was at a family thing and everyone was talking about who they were dating and all that jazz, and then they got to me. I panicked and didn’t want to be the only single one, again, so I lied and said I was dating someone.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Ben was already cracking up with laughter, his shoulders shaking as he tried to control himself, “so, rather than just admit you were single, you lied and said you were dating someone?”

“Yup,” you admitted, popping the P loudly, “it was a spur of the moment decision that I didn’t really think through.”

“Ahhh, well it can’t be that bad,” he insisted, giving your shoulder a gentle squeeze. His touch was warm, and part of you was glad that it lingered for a few moments longer than necessary, “I’m sure it’ll blow over soon. They’ll probably have forgotten it by now.”

“Umm, well, that’s where the real trouble comes in,” you sighed, bracing yourself for his reaction, “I kind of just kept up with lie and Mum called today and asked me to bring him, my completely fake boyfriend, to Christmas.”

“Oh…boy,” he let out a long breath and you nodded in agreement, “you just couldn’t let it go?”

“You know how I am,” you said, taking another hearty slip of hot chocolate. You noticed that he seemed to tense up a little bit at the mention of a boyfriend. It gave you a moment of thinking that maybe he was jealous. But there was nothing to be jealous of it seemed, “and now I don’t know what to do.”

“How about a breakup?” he suggested and you mulled it over in your mind briefly. It did seem like a solid plan, but at the same time, it would be highly suspicious timing.

“Too risky. A holiday break up? Seems unlikely, and something that would realistically happen after the holidays.”

“Accident?”

“Too dramatic,” you sighed, “people would ask questions and it seems like too complicated of a lie to even start.”

“Already busy?”

“That was going to be my go to,” you confessed, and wondered if you should just go with that plan, “but Mum’s been really insistent and she’s not going to let it go until she meets him. This him that’s totally fake.”

There were a few moments of pause as the two of you sat there in silent contemplation. Without thinking, you put your head on his shoulder and rested it there. It only took a moment before he rested his head on top or yours, giving the crown of your head a quick kiss. Your face lit up at the contact, even though it was just coming from him. Best friends did stuff like this, right?

“What if…you brought me?” he finally said after a few moments, an odd sort of excitement in his voice. He gently got off the counter and tried to read your reaction. You were more stunned than anything else, so you watched him in silence as he took your hands in his, “it’ll be perfect! And we can easily sell the act.”

“But…my family already knows you,” was the only response you were able to get out. The idea of Ben being your boyfriend, even if it was just pretend, was enough to send your heart thumping rapidly. You weren’t going to lie like you hadn’t imagined this exact scenario a million times before, “it wouldn’t really work.”

“Sure it would! You’ll just say that you didn’t want to ruin anything, or give anything away just yet but surprise it’s me!” he had come up with a brilliant plan, even you had to admit that one. His green eyes were shining as he hoped you would agree to it. Little did you know that an idea of his own had most popped into his mind, “besides, your family loves me!”

“But what about after Christmas?” you reminded him, “what happens when we inevitably have to break up and then we remain best friends? Wouldn’t that be weird?”

“We can cross that bridge when we get there,” he promised, but you were still hesitant. It was a good plan, but you didn’t want your real feelings for Ben to get in the way. And even with a fake breakup, you knew it would hurt like hell, “come on love, this will work.”

“I dunno,” you sighed at him, “it might just be easier to admit I lied.”

“Nonsense,” he insisted, “I promise you that this plan is brilliant and nothing will go wrong. Now what do you say? Are you down? If nothing else, think of it as an adventure!”

“Ben Jones, you will be the absolute death of me,” how easily you melted at his smile, the way a single soft curl fell onto his forehead, everything about him made you melt and feel like a blushing school girl more than anything.

“Andddd?” he ask expectantly, and as much as you realized this was going to be interesting, and probably end up hurting more than anything else, you said decided to acquiesce to his request.

“Okay,” you nodded and he let out a small cheer. It seemed odd to you that he was so into this whole plan, but who were you to argue with him? You got off the counter when held out your hand to him, “let’s do this, fake boyfriend.”

“The pleasure is all mine, fake girlfriend,” he took your hand in his much larger one and shook it firmly. You had either just made a huge mistake, or a brilliant plan. It was a fine line between the two, but you were eager to see how it panned out.

≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫

“You need to breathe,” Ben whispered into you ear as he gave your hand a reassuring squeeze. You looked at him and nodded lightly letting out the long breath you had been holding in. As soon as you had gotten out of his car, nerves took over and you were suddenly regretting your whole plan. 

It was a crazy plan, having him pretend to be you boyfriend in front of your whole family and then spending the night together, trapped in the same bedroom. What could possibly go wrong? Besides everything anyways.

“Right,” you said as you shot him an anxious smile, “my brain’s going a million miles an hour and it’s hard to remember how to function.”

“You’re actually nervous,” he seemed amused by that fact as you glowered at him. It was easy for him to do all this, he just had to play along, but you were the only who had to sell it. He leaned over and kissed the side of your head, getting into the role of doting boyfriend, “although it’s super cute, you have no reason to be. It’ll be fine.”

“I...what?” you asked just as your mom opened the door, her arms already open to pull you in for a hug. But once she realized who you were with, she stopped short, a confused expression on her face.

“Ben?” she looked between the two of you, “you’re dating Ben? He’s the boyfriend?”

“Yup, that’s it,” your eyes widened with fear for a moment, sure she was going to call your bluff, “I’ve been seeing Ben.”

“Oh sweetheart,” she threw her arms around you and gave you a tight squeeze, rocking you back and forth, “that’s absolutely wonderful news! And Ben! How perfect!”

She let go of you and wrapped him up next, not even letting him get a word in edgewise. You knew she had always loved Ben, but you never realized just quite how much.

“You two make a lovely couple,” she pushed the two of you closer together and studied you closely, “I always had a feeling it would end up being the two of you. I had hoped anyways, you were always so right for each other.”

Your heart plummeted at her words when you realized how this meant to her. She thought this was real, and here you were living a lie. You exchanged a quick glance with Ben and he just gave you a smile followed by a light shrug. If you didn’t know any better you’d swear he was in cahoots with her.

“Oh well, you know,” you looked at Ben and waited for him to jump and help out, just he either purposely was ignoring your silent plea for help or blissfully ignorant. You nudged his hip lightly, “sometimes these things take time but work out…”

“I’m so happy for the two of you,” she took a hand from each of you and pulled you both inside the warmth of the house which was filled with all sorts of delicious smells, “everyone’s going to be so happy to hear the wonderful news!”

“Mum, it’s okay, you don’t need to make an announcement,” you tried to stop her, but it was already too late. She left the two of you in the foyer, and momentarily thought about just turning around and running away, but the soft look on Ben’s face told you otherwise. He helped you take off your jacket and beanie, hanging them up.

“Well,” he said as he took off his own gear, “see that went well! I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.”

“You idiot,” you hissed at him, whacking his arm lightly, “why you’d just along with it!? You should have said something!”

“And just what would I had told her?” he threw his hands up in the air, “sorry to disappoint you, but we’re actually just joking?”

“Not that exactly,” you sighed, rubbing at your temples. This was going to get out of control and fast, “I dunno, Benny. Let’s just not play it up too much…it’s going to hurt them enough when I tell them we’re breaking up. I never thought she’d be this into the idea of us. Fuck!”

“I guess at least she doesn’t hate the idea,” he shrugged and you supposed he was right. You nodded and took his hand, pulling him along with you into the living room, where you could hear the rest of your family. This was going to be a long, long day.

Ben hung back for a second, holding onto your hand and keeping you back. You turned to him with a confused expression and wondered what he was doing.

“Ben?” you asked as he pulled you toward him, leaving only a small distance between your bodies. You could practically feel the heat radiating off of him; your heart was thumping wildly and you were sure he could hear it. He reached up and put his hand on your cheek, tracing his fingers over the high points. You swallowed the lump in your throat, “Ben? What’re you doing?”

But he didn’t respond with words, instead he closed the gap between the two of you and pressed his lips against yours. It was soft and gentle, and was much shorter than you had wanted. You found a small, sad little sound leaving your mouth when he pulled away. Needless to say you definitely hadn’t been expecting that, but it had been just as perfect as you had always imagined.

“What was that for?” your voice was small and almost shaky as your whole body got hot. Ben’s cheeks were flushed as he seemed to think you didn’t like what he had done. 

“Just...for practice,” he explained hastily, clearing his throat. If you didn’t know any better, you were almost sure he was lying, “we have to make it look convincing, right?”

“R-right,” you replied, wishing he would look in the eyes. You opened your mouth to say something else, but before anything else left your mouth, your dad walked in, a devilish little grin on his face.

“And hello my darling,” he engulfed you in his arms, and at this point, you had just decided to give in and not even try and argue. Everyone was so set in their own ideas and you likely weren’t going to change their minds.

“Hi dad,” you mumbled as you pulled away and he turned to Ben. There was a gleam in his eye that suggested, much like your mother, he was beyond excited that you and Ben were finally a couple. 

“Young man,” he gave Ben a firm handshake and you totally expected him to go straight into a speech about how he would kill him if he ever broke your heart - you know the typical dad speech. But he didn’t, instead just grinning as he looked between the two of you, “I’m so happy for both of you. Can’t say I’ve been waiting for this one for time, but I’ve been waiting for this one for some time! It’s about time I dare say, how long have the two of you been flirting around now? Years?”

“It’s been a long time coming, sir,” Ben was just eating it up and going along with everything while you just wanted to sink into the floor. You knew Ben always had a little flair for the dramatics, but you didn’t think it would translate quite to this, “I guess we just needed to do it on our own time.”

“All good things take time,” he shot him a wink and you were internally screaming at the both of them. 

“I guess the next question will be when are you giving us all grandchildren?” this time your mouth hung open and you grabbed your dad’s arm and started steering him towards the living room. As much as you found your family overbearing, right now you were looking for any excuse to get away from this conversation. 

“Dad, not the time,” you hissed at him, attempting to give him a stern look, “besides, it must be getting close to time for dinner, right?”

Ben was biting his lip as he trailed after the two of you. If he was being honest, everyone else was basically doing the job for him; he had been planning on finally professing his love for you for some time, but he had never quite knew how to do it. 

When you had first proposed your little plan to him, he had practically jumped for joy when he realized this was it. This was how he was going to finally get you...or so he hoped. He was almost positive you had the same feelings for him that he had for you, but he could never be completely positive. 

But the way you had responded to his kiss and the way you seemed flustered and worried about every little thing told him all he needed to know. He was definitely willing to take the help and bust your family was giving him.

≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫

The rest of the afternoon and evening had passed in somewhat of a blur, and thankfully no one else had been as pushy as your parents. Everyone else was merely glad to see you with Ben, after a lifetime of friendship, finally together. You got a few little I told you so comments but that was the extend of it. 

Ben played the perfect doting boyfriend, holding your hand and touching you at all the right times. His face lit up whenever he turned to look at you, and it made your heart soar; he was convincing, very convincing and you knew it was going to hurt like a bitch when it had to inevitably end. All you had ever was someone that looked at you the way Ben had been, the way Ben had been talking about you. But it wasn’t real, and you had to constantly remind yourself of that. You did know one thing though - whatever girl ended up with him was going to be very, very lucky.

“Y/N?” you snapped your head in your mother’s direction and waited for her to go on, “I’ve got your bedroom all cleaned up for you. I’m sure you and Ben have no problem sharing it for the night.”

“Oh, no. Of course not,” you gave her a tight lipped smile as Ben played with a lock of your hair, beaming at you. You looked at your watch and noticed that it was already late and realized what she was trying to get across, “well, I guess we’ll retire for the evening. Thank you all for everything, and we will see you in the morning.”

“Good evening to both of you,” she grinned at you as you bid everyone else a good night. Ben took your hand in his and entwined your fingers as you waved to everyone else. 

You remained silent as you walked up the stairs, wondering if Ben was going to let go of your hand as soon as you were out of everyone’s line of sight. But he didn’t; he took the lead, a sort of weird silence falling between the two of you. Normally it was a comfortable silence, but today it was more weird, different from what it usually was.

As soon as you got into the room, you closed the door and locked it, leaning against it as you let out a long sigh, running a hand through your hair. 

“That went well,” Ben flopped on the bed, a proud little smile on his pouty lips. Ones that you totally weren’t thinking about kissing then and there. Definitely not. 

“Ben,” you crossed your arms over your chest, “what the hell was that? You were putting on way more of a show than necessary! They’re going to be crushed when I tell them we broke up. I...I didn’t expect them all to be so into it. Was everyone just expecting, like what the hell?”

“Is it that weird?” Ben felt a rush of nerves, but he knew it was his time to finally confess. You gave him a shrug as you tried to realize what he was playing at. He got off the bed and took a step closer to you, leaving a little room between both of you. 

“I mean, kind of,” you admitted, “we’ve been best friends since we were what? Seven? Eight?”

“Eight,” he confirmed, “twenty long years.”

“Right,” you met his eyes and found that there was an unreadable expression in his eyes, “and if something was meant to happen, then it would have by now, right? I mean we’ve had plenty of opportunities and we’ve dated other people.”

“And how well have those relationships worked out?”

“Not well,” you gave in, remembering your slew of past boyfriends and girlfriends that just never seemed to work out, “but I just...we haven’t found the one.”

“What if we have?” he suggested and while you were hoping you knew what he was referring to, you didn’t want to get your hopes up and have your heart broken, “what if we’ve known for years?”

“What do you mean?” you were playing dumb, but the way he stepped closer to you and the little smirk playing on features were all highly suggesting you that he knew that you knew exactly what he meant.

“I think you know, love,” he was right before you know and ever so gently putting his hands on either side of your face. His touch was warm and you thought you might explode from all the of feelings stirring around inside of you, “I think we’ve both known for a long time, just like everyone else.”

“But we haven’t...” you trailed off, lost for words as you stared at his eyes, watching them study you so closely, occasionally flicking to your lips, “ever said anything...or done anything.”

“Maybe it’s a been long time coming,” he ghosted his fingertips over the high points of your face, “just like everyone’s been saying.”

“Do you...like me?” you blurted out suddenly, feeling more shy suddenly than anything else. He let out a small laugh himself, nodded to confirm your question, “oh? Oh. Oh?”

“I have for a long time, Y/N,” he finally admitted, feeling more free and happy than he had in a long time, “I just never quite knew how to tell you. What if you didn’t feel the same way? I would have made a fool out of myself and then been heartbroken. And then when you mentioned this whole needing a boyfriend for Christmas, I thought it was the perfect idea and time to finally tell you.”

“You like me?” you repeated, the grin on your face spreading from ear to ear, “I like you too, Ben. A whole lot, but I never thought that you’d feel the same.”

“And just why not?” he was amused by your answer.

“Because it’s you.”

“Well, it’s just so happens that I like you very much,” all of the fears you had felt suddenly seemed to leave your body and you felt a sense of happiness you couldn’t even begin to explain, “so I’ll sum this up, you like me and I like you.”

“Yes,” you felt breathless as you beamed at him and he got slowly closer and closer to you, mere millimeters between your lips.

“And now I’m going to kiss you,” he concluded.

“And now you’re going to kiss me,” you agreed before crashing your lips onto his and snaking your arms around his neck and pulling him tightly against your body. His hands went to your hips as he held you close, your bodies melding perfectly into one another. It was a perfect fit, just like you had always imagined. You had always wondered what he felt like, how he tasted, and needless to say it was all that you had imagined, and so much more.

“Hey,” he said as he pulled back after a few moments of frantic kissing and hands roaming each other’s bodies.

“Hey,” you grinned at him.

“I don’t just like you,” he whispered gently, “I’m in love with you. So in love with you.”

“I’m in love with you too.”

≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫≪ °❈° ≫

Permanent Taglist: @supernatural508 @jamesbarnesappreciationsociety@asguardiansoftheavengers @the-bright-lights@dixonsbugaboo @justanewqueensfan@yourealegendroger@anna1523@thesecondlastjedi@bitemerog@rogernroll@secretsweetscollectionblog@sheridans-dynamos@dinkiplier@deacontaylormercurymay-blog @starrystarrybabe  @musical-prostitute-my-dear@onexlittlespark@benhardyseyes@marvelstuck@whenthe-smokeisinyoureyes@wonderwich @reedusteinrambles @a-kind-of-magik@lv7867@itissnowingandimstuckinside@brian-may-be@dessert-hardy@rogertaylors-lipgloss@rogerfxckingtaylor@queenbbarnes@luvborhap@drowseoftaylor@persephonesnebula@mamaskillerqueen @leatherjacketmazzello @theimpossiblehologramtree @discodiscodeaky @loveandbeloved29 @meddows-rose​ @onceitbubbles @wonderwoman292​

[wendibird]

SPN 15X18 Observations

Let me preface this by saying, I apologize ahead of time if I and/or my notes seem a bit cynical. I’ve had a rough week. (I think everyone has.) But for whatever it’s worth, here are my notes, observations and meandering thoughts on tonight’s episode.

Oh, one more thing though. For episodes 19 and 20 (and anything really to do with them) in addition to my usual tags for the episodes and season, I’ll be tagging them with #dontspoilthefinalhunt for any who wish to avoid spoilers for them.

Pre-Episode thoughts:

So, I’ve heard enough rumors already to know that mooooost likely Cas is going to die this episode. And let me be clear, he’s my second favorite character in this show after Sam. But I have trouble feeling strong emotions for something when I go in knowing that I should. But I’m going to try to go into this one with an open mind. 

Also, in the past I liked Billy as a character because though she still had some biases, she still seemed mostly neutral, like OG Death had been. And from previews it looks like maybe they’re turning her into an outright villain like they’ve done with God? Yey. 

- Where’s Chuck? Did he just bampf off?

- So he’s gonna blow up in the Empty?

- Yep.

- So now Dean cares about him? (Jack)

- Poor Jack. He doesn’t get what’s going on. 

- Yey! Jack is back! 

- “You’ve snapped me out of worse.” When?

- They’ve prayed to Michael? Yey for not overlooking options! (Not being sarcastic.)

- Charlie!!!! And yey she has a girlfriend! (Are they gonna kill her?) 

- Aaaaaaand there she goes.

Commercial thoughts:

So, I get the whole narrative idea of taking a character that everyone assumed was kinda on your side and revealing that they were always working towards their own interests. I get it. And it can be effective. I still don’t like it with Billy. 

I’m glad Dean said what he did to Sam. Even if Sam says (and probably thinks) that he doesn’t need to hear the apology, sometimes it needs to be said anyway. And I think saying it all helped Dean a bit too. He needed to know that Sam understood. 

I’m glad Jack’s back though!

- Oh Jack. You’re worth more than your death. 

- I’m glad Cas is saying this, but sadly, I think the “we” only applies to him and Sam. 

- So Jack is powerless when he came back? Did the bomb thing burn out it all out?

*is confused*

- Yey! Eileen! (Please don’t have her just vanish….)

- I’ma cry….

- Oh no……

- “If I let myself go there I’ll lose my mind. I can’t go there right now.”  

- Oh Sam. Always trying to push down his feelings because there’s other shit going on. 

- Hug!!!!!!!

- Sam’s gonna drive Eileen’s car. Just shoot me now….

Commercial thoughts:

So yeah… Wonder what Billy’s plan is here with this random picking-off of people but not like, all at once. She COULD do it all at once, she has the personel. (The Empty didn’t kill all her reapers.) 

I think she’s setting her own kind of trap or something. 

Also, I take it Chuck just vanished? They didn’t say anything about it but that seems to be the impression given.

Still pisses me off though that after bringing Eileen back and only half-assing her role they just had her vanish. (At least Rowena’s in charge of hell, so if she wound up down there again, she SHOULD get a better shake than she did the first time.) 

- Donna!!!!

- Eileen’s Car…… *cries* 

- Sam’s got so much emotional stuff going on this episode. He’s got this grief for Eileen in the background and he’s worried about Jack and trying to help him, and trying to save all these people.

- OUch……. Double ouch. (Were in references to the expressions on Sam’s face when Donna first comforted him about Eileen and then Charlie made her comment about not wanting anyone else to go through what she did.) 

- (Yes, I’m worried about Dean and Cas too.) 

- Sam’s still their “Chief”.

- That's weird….. Why does his touch kill plants? (Not people at least.)

- Yeah, she (Billy) was waiting.

- Oh dear…..

- So what IS causing this?

- NO! NOT DONNA!

- WTF?!

Commercial thoughts:

So Chuck is doing this? I mean, it makes sense. He’s gotten petty enough. But now what? 

Also poor Sam. I mean, he tries so hard to save people. And time after time it just doesn’t work out. It could be seen as part of “Chuck’s Plan” because of how he wants his big story to go. So now I guess he’s just being more direct about it. Sam isn’t allowed to do well unless it’s been authorized by the Narrative. (AKA, him.) When he tries, he just gets shown the error of trying. (But he’s beaten down if he doesn’t try too. Like S8.) 

Also still don’t like how Billy’s character has changed.

- She thinks she’s Freddy Kruger?

- Heart attack? His first “death” was supposed to be his heart. (In “Faith”) Wonder if that’s intentional here?

- Oh god… please don’t tell me they’re going to…. 

Commercial thoughts:

Okay. I don’t ship Destiel. At all. I’m not an anti though, cause I’m firmly a ship-and-let-ship kind of person. 

But that scene while very heartfelt just didn’t do anything for me because it felt more than a bit like revisionistic history. However, I will say, congrats to the Destiel fandom. They killed Cas, but that scene was definitely for you all. 

They’re killing off so many people though it’s like… this is one of my problems when I’m going into a situation where I’m “supposed” to feel a certain way. It makes me awkward. (Like the Episode “Lebanon”.) 

- Gah, poor Sam. 

- WTF?! Is Chuck taking everyone in the world? 

- FUCK?! THAT’S WHERE THEY’RE LEAVING IT OFF?!?!?!?

Okay, so my hope is now, since they’ve gone THIS far with what Chuck is doing, that unless the ultimate resolution of the story is going to be “everything goes away forever” they’re going to have to leave some way to bring people back. 

I’ll be honest, I had trouble connecting emotionally with this episode. But that may not be the episode’s fault. I’ve been working some long hours lately and I just today found out that someone I work with has tested positive for Covid. (I just got tested today.) Plus with all the election stuff still going on, there’s a lot of real-world things on my mind. 

Also, as I said, knowing that these are the final episodes, it’s pretty much a given that things are going to ramp up. (And the people involved with the show have been telegraphing the hell out of Cas’ death, so it wasn’t unexpected. And I get it. Some people really do need that time to prepare emotionally and adjust their expectations.) But I still feel like a lot of the things they’re asking/expecting us to care about, they haven’t put the actual effort into the storytelling to make that happen. I love the absolute shit out of Eileen, but for most of this season she’s been written as little more than an accessory to Sam. And just so he can have some “feels” about someone. And then she gets vanished without so much as a last glimpse of her? (And this episode was filmed before everything closed down due to Covid.) 

I mean, his reaction STILL tore me up, because Jared is that damn good at conveying those emotions. But once again, like LAST time they killed her off, it was amongst so much other shit that there’s barely time for him to even feel it. In fact, he even said that he couldn’t because of what else was going on. And by the end of the episode pretty much everyone else in the world is Thanos-snapped too? 

And I get it, this episode is clearly not about her. It’s about the whole situation. It just still feels like a disservice to the character.

And speaking of disservices to characters…

So, about what Cas said in his speech/confession to Dean. The revisionistic retelling of history has been strong this season, but that was especially bad. We know from past episodes that Cas has ALWAYS had “a crack in his chassis” and always had sympathy and love for humanity. We know that he cares about a lot of people, and has put a lot of effort into becoming a better being. (Just a few episodes ago he talked about how he truly found his purpose when he became a father. And he also had talked about finding his true family.) But no. Apparently all of that character development was just because of Dean. What bothers me isn’t that he told Dean “I love you.” What bothers me is that it truly feels like Cas’ entire character was reduced to one half of a ship. 

Okay, and what also bothers me is that Sam was literally an afterthought in all of that. When for most of these years, Sam has been the one who’s been the most supportive and understanding of Cas. Sam is the one who lately has had the closer connection with him. But naw. He ain’t important, except as an extension of Dean. 

And I get they were trying to throw some fanservice to that corner of the fandom, especially since Cas was slated to die 3 episodes before the end. But they could have done it better. I’ve read fanfic that handled Destiel in a more believable way. (I was reading for the Saileen content as they’re often put in as a sister-ship and it can be hard to find fic of them without it.) And technically this wasn’t even requited. Dean looked more shocked than anything, though I admit that's up to interpretation. But someone in one of the discord servers I'm in posted a picture of that part of the script for this episode and it outright said in the directorial notes that Cas said what he did knowing that Dean didn't/couldn't return his affection the same way. So, there is that.

There were other aspects of the episode I also had thoughts on, like, wtf is up with Jack not having his usual powers but wilting plantlife? Some extension of the bomb-thing? Is he radioactive now to anything with “Celestial energy”? But wouldn’t that have made him give Cas problems too? Or is this supposed to be indicating something else? Amara did that too before she started turning lighter, back in Season 11. Is he somehow turning into the Darkness? Or did he come back from the Empty partially possessed by Lucifer? Gah. I don’t even know. I’m just throwing ideas at a dart board now. *LOL* 

And at this point, wtf CAN they even do against Chuck? I really don’t know. I’m hoping the next episodes are better, but I know 19 was written by Buckleming and they don’t have the best track record. True, a few of their episodes I’ve actually enjoyed. But sometimes they fall short on writing the Brothers Winchester. 

Anyway, I think I’ve probably rambled enough for now.

[thejudgingtrash]

Now hold up I would personally love to hear a full rant on this supposed adaptation I have never heard of until now. Like, legitimately, I wanna know what you have to say about this cause you seem to be one of the most valid PJO blogs

Uhhh what??? Me one of the most valid PJO blogs??? What kinda crack have you been smoking WHAT afahsgjskdh.

But still thank you 😊🥺🙈

Alright, you wanted a rant. You got a rant. Fuck the positives let’s just straight up jump into my aggression.

WARNING: Massive rant with a lot of swear words. If you can’t handle the heat, feel free to ignore this. I personally haven’t worked in Hollyweird, but I had some behind the scenes stuff here in Europe going on for a short period and also the trusty words of my college professors. So here will be a lot of prediction and speculation involved. Yes, I know that I’m a huge hypocrite for voicing my opinions based on stuff that hasn’t been pushed through in months and that I could be easily proven wrong in a few weeks/months. Still thank you should you actually take the time to read through this tomfuckery.

If things are wrong, please DO correct me!

Links to further reads will be included partially.

TL;DR: Keep your hopes to a low, stop harassing people online and mAnAgE yOuR eXpEcTaTiOnS!!111!!

Okay. First things first:

DISNEY

DOESN’T

GIVE

A

SINGLE

FUCK

ABOUT

YOU

Disney is a fucking multi-billion dollar corporation with many, many, many studios, stations, brands and franchises worldwide. The Percy Jackson franchise is a dime in a dozen. Disney doesn’t give a single fuck about the PJO fandom in general.

Disney doesn’t give a fuck about you 20-something year old with your 9 year old blog discussing which toilet paper brand Percy uses. And Disney also doesn’t give a fuck about you 16 year old, writing the worst fucking Solangelo fanfic I’ve read so far on this hellsite. Like goddamn.

Trust me, they know you are interested. They know they got you hooked. They see the numbers, they see the like/reblog ratio, they see the Twitter engagement. They see you with #disneyadaptpercyjackson. They see the petitions, they see how excited you were for the musical. You don’t get to be a gigantic conglomerate like Disney with playing stupid.

Also to you fuckfarts saying oH nO I wOn’T wAtCh It I dOn’T cArE aBoUt NeW sTuFf. Congrats dipshit. You are STILL alerting followers and people about what’s happening and creating more buzz, giving more awareness and adding to the transaction costs. You really cheated the system, you little edgelord. Again:

You are nothing but a number. You are a fucking walking dollar bill. You are a consumer waiting for a new shiny product to fill the void in your life for 45 minutes weekly or by two hours at some point.

The PJO movies 1. & 2 happened for a reason. Because Fox saw a popular book series á la Harry Potter, Twilight (and The Hunger Games) and wanted a piece of that action. They wanted your fucking money. Them entirely fucking up and ignoring Riordan’s advice is on them of course. But still. The movies happened. (And also saw people saying they were flops. Reception wise: hell yes. They are awful adaptations (not per se awful movies, there’s a difference). But money wise?? They made together over 245 million dollars in profit. Of course, that isn’t today’s Marvel level but it’s still fairly decent. Also don’t forget that the second movie still got greenlit. Interest was still there despite part one. You disliking something doesn’t turn it into a flop)).

Again, Disney doesn’t care about you. THIS is what Disney cares about:

1. MONEY

2. PROFIT

3. ENGAGEMENT

4. TOTAL GROSS

5. CONVERSION RATES

11. …. “Artistry“

So in terms of money, we gotta speak about the on-going woke culture. You know, lgbtqia+ stuff, poc representation and all the good shit we want and need in our life, right?

Well, I got bad news for ya. Disney being money hungry has its massive downsides. Because where is the money? In the east. Well and what happens if we include the woke stuff? Possible censorships (even retroactively! You know Gravity Falls went through that), bans, etc.

So all of you talking about representation and artistic vision and being bold and brave and blablabla… Throw that into the fucking trash. We can probably be glad if we get Grover back as the token black kid and a few other minorities sprinkled here and there. Open gay Nico? Doubt it. Your afro-latino Percy head canon? Definitely keep that but unlikely to be realized. And also, if you think that Annabeth wouldn’t get turned into the blandest whitest “I dOn’T nEeD nO mAn“ radfem, I got some bad news for ya…

The likelihood of everything being dumbed down, toned down with the exception of a few adult jokes or being even partially censored (depending on certain regions) is very, very high.

Also what makes you think we’re even getting close to the Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo saga? I doubt you will see The Seven for a long time unless Riordan really says fuck it and throws his final ace card into Disney’s filthy greedy mouth.

So if Disney doesn’t have the fandom’s interest at heart, what are they interested in? Well… MONEY. Also NEW engagement. They know your funky ass is going to tune in. They know people will pirate the shit (Me waving like a maniac), they all KNOW that. Again, they aren’t stupid.

So: MORE engagement. MORE money. How do we get even more engagement? By luring new people into the fandom. Who is most likely going to get lured into a family friendly show/movie series because let’s not forget that we’re talking about Disney+? The targeted audience of the books. Who is the targeted audience of the books? MIDDLE SCHOOLERS. 11 to 14 year olds. Disney wants those kids’ (well their parents’ hard earned) money. They want to sell products, in that case books + Disney Plus subscriptions + possible merch. There you also have the likely future rating for the fucking show. Sorry to disappoint everyone that was hoping for gritty Game of Thrones filled with 12 year olds (like seriously wtf?).

Now that that’s settled, let’s talk about the outlook on the show/movie and Riordan’s influence that you people clearly overestimate.

How much power or say does Rick Riordan actually have?

ZERO. ABSOLUTELY NONE.

He’s in the worst fucking lose-lose-situation you could imagine.

Disney owns the books and Fox owns the movie rights. Wait. Fox got bought. By whom you ask? DISNEY, what a coincidence! In Rick Riordan’s own words:

Disney has him by his fucking balls and could crush them at any minute. And if you think, that Disney is letting go of that sweet sweet intellectual property you are fucking mistaken. Riordan isn’t a J.K. Rowling who OWNS the Wizarding World. You have no idea what Disney are capable of with massive lobbying that goes so far to influence copyright laws in the States (LINK)

So you can stop harassing him about a fucking Netflix adaptation as well! Or petitions that do nothing but annoy people.

These negotiations take up YEARS to get the simplest stuff done. No need to shit your pants whenever Riordan’s tweeting stuff.

Still: would Disney be fucking mad to do this without him? Absolutely!

Should Disney involve him to prevent a PJO movie 2.0 scenario?

Yes, they definitely should!

But CAN Disney do this without him?

OF COURSE THEY CAN! THEY OWN EVERYTHING.

In Riordan’s own words:

Read carefully what he has written. He doesn’t say he’s going to halter productions, he’s saying HE WON’T BE A PART OF IT. This also makes me curious about WHO approached WHO in the first place (my guess Disney tried to make some amendments because Fox ain’t shit and trying to alienate the author again would be a goddamn stupid move). Disney has the fucking film rights. Of course they can pump out shit without involving him. They could pull a Fantastic Four (the awful 2015 version) just to keep the rights and for the fuck of it.

There are the following possibilities with Riordan’s involvement:

1. Riordan as a producer: Dude’s gotta be loaded. We know that. But backing the production costs many, many, many millions and I don’t know if he’s THAT loaded. Also film producing isn’t his forte.

2. Riordan as a screenplay writer: Now we’re getting closer to something. Yes, many productions these days have authors directly involved which is great! But also can go the other way around (J.K. Rowling and her Grindelwald fiasco. Author’s do NEED to learn when to stop intermeddling with their franchises, just saying) Book writing and screenplay writing are two very DIFFERENT disciplines. You don’t have the liberties of book writing when it comes to film. The screenplay is the guide for the entire production, the visuals, the set design, the whole atmosphere of the product, the very first thing that needs to be done so that directors, designers and lastly the casted actors know what they have to do. Everything has to come to a point in a very short time and there are many, many, many versions of a screenplay before a final raw draft gets handed out. If that isn’t in Riordan’s interest (which I can completely understand) then that’s simply not happening

3. Riordan as a guide: Directors, screenplay writers, etc. sit down with Riordan on a regular basis to show him the written screenplay, which actors they have in mind, the whole vision and he has a mini veto right.

If you ask me, a mix of scenario 2 and 3 is the most likely to be the most successful. That means, that Riordan needs to have a good faithful team, that sticks closely to the source material. That isn’t guaranteed! Again: look at the PJO movies. But of course, we don’t know the internals of these meetings.

So… now the final part. The whole fucking “Animation vs. Live action“ debate. Well, both sides have their pro’s and con’s. And both sides are filled with a bunch of fucking morons. I won’t try to get you to either side.

But to those that want are begging for a live action version with age-appropriate actors I have the following to say:

FUCK

YOU

IN

PARTICULAR!

WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU WANT CHILDREN TO GO THROUGH THE HELL THAT IS DISNEY AND THE SHADY SHIT GOING ON THERE SO THAT YOU CAN BE ENTERTAINED FOR SOME MERE MINUTES?!

Oh my god…. You people REALLY really want a fourth wave Me Too movement in 15-20 years. Not every Hollyweird kid has a helicopter parent hovering around them on set and many do get abused/robbed by their parents. And the people involved in the production! Of course, animation has still a chance of this happening but the risk is somewhat lower when it just comes to voice acting.

Tbh, I actually wouldn’t mind an aged-up cast again just to prevent this as best as possible. Unfortunately, child actors will always be needed.

I have nothing much to add to this, I’ll just drop a link to an old small post from me about that right here (LINK)

Personally I lean more towards animation but in the big picture I won’t care. (Also the whole animation is for kids and dumbs down the whole narrative for PJO is fucking stupid, boo boo the fool. You being in your late teens/twenties and grown out of the targeted audience is the cause of nature. Animation can be mature or would you show Attack on Titan or South Park to your 8 year old cousin?)

I’ll be just tuning in to see if this is as messy as I’d expect it to be or to be pleasantly surprised.

Also again: this process is a long one. It’s going to be exhausting, depressing, demanding, pushing.

From the meetings now that will take a very long time, to a screenplay, which can take YEARS in finalizing, to hiring staff, location hunting and set design (should they go the live action route), to casting, to costume design, to rehearsing/production, to filming, to dispersing, to editing, to fx, to finishing, to marketing, to publishing, NOTHING IS SET IN STONE! This is a very, very, very, wanky process despite contracts and everything on paper. Let’s not forget, Disney can afford some good lawyers.

And even if everything goes as smoothly as possible. Higher up people could see the final edit of everything with editors having scenes close to the books in an a/b/c/d cut and some producer says NO! I want an c/a/b/d version that again fucks up the dynamics of the books. Or something terrible: everything is shot and done and THEN it get’s postponed. Or even fucking worse: SHELVED to be NEVER RELEASED. Aka Henry Selick’s career after Coraline (Coraline from 2009 is STILL his latest release because of his fucked up Disney contract and them cancelling his shit). Millions of dollars wasted and we won’t get to see ANYTHING. This is all very possible and happens constantly in the film business AND at Disney. This is nothing new.

And there’s nothing we can do about it. No one cares about Riordan, no one cares about the books, no one cares about the fandom.

DISNEY holds the cards. DISNEY gets to decide. Neither Riordan, nor you nor me hold ANY power in this.

So kids… what have we learned today? In conclusion:

Keep your hopes to a low, stop harassing people online and mAnAgE yOuR eXpEcTaTiOnS!!111!!

That’s it. That’s all I wanted to say.

WHEW.

[monkey-network]

The Fiasco Finale of Future [1/2]

So in the penultimate episode of Steven Universe 2, the climax of both the season and series as a whole... is a group hug. As I expected, plenty were not too pleased with this turnout. Some felt it was anti-climatic, some felt it was resonating, and others tried to own the critics by digging deep into the scene like they always do sucking this show’s co- Coming from nearly a month later, I’m... split. One hand, I didn’t mind the climax. On the other hand, it was pathetic compared to plenty of other finales I’ve seen in media. It’s like this show as a whole, I enjoy it, but I also enjoy smacking it upside the head cuz it made some Karen-esque, All Lives Matter type stupid shit that I just cannot get behind. So you know what, Perry the Platypus, let’s mix it up. I wanna express the good and bad of this climactic end to the show and see where we can go from there. You ready?

What’s Good:

You truly wanna know what makes that final hug a great scene? A real showstopper? I have the truth, the best truth behind this, you won’t believe me but here goes. The climax worked because A Hug Is Nice. That’s it, there’s nothing else to it beyond a hug being nice. “But Monkey, you incel troll, there’s should’ve been more to that. The episode shouldn’t have taken that long to get to that point.” Well, in typical fashion, let me put it this way by talking about Spider-Man 2 (better than Spiderverse, don’t @ me). The whole movie is centered around Peter’s life getting shat on. He’s getting fired left and right, his people are abandoning him, he even loses his powers, he’s just at his utter lowest. But at his apartment, while contemplating, in comes his landlord’s daughter, Ursula, who offers him some chocolate cake and a glass of milk.

We can say the scene comes out of nowhere and that this is all that happens, feeling pointless, but I say this is an important scene because after everything that happens to him before, this one gesture from somebody out of nowhere to be honest was one of the nicest things he’s received in a while. It’s the seedling of a scene that keeps Parker going before Doc Ock comes to make him truly spring back into action. Above everything, it was nice. Like a hug.

I don’t need to be philosophically deep with SU2′s meta to tell you that a hug can be a worthwhile thing to get more than anything. It doesn’t resolve all the baggage Steven has in his mind, but a group hug from the people closest to you (and the Diamonds) can be a gesture so nice, it can numb you out, if only for a moment. Only other times where Steven got a hug was when he felt everything could be okay. With Lars, Peridot, and Connie after her “rejection”, and it’s after that “rejection” where he slowly loses it in his attempts to shake off that harsh feeling of abandonment and that everything can be okay. It is something where he can turn to the others for help but the concern of their response makes him reasonably suffer in silence. That last part is a little dumb, but I’ll get to that later. He can’t really hug himself because it doesn’t work like that. The point being that Steven, at his lowest, just needed something nice to consider. And a hug from everyone who loves him (and the Diamonds) can be that piece of chocolate cake he needed to be at ease, again, if only for a moment.

Like let me tell ya, as a deliriously depressed man that constantly wishes for death, a hug shouldn’t be spat on. Whether it be from your friends or mommy, a good hug can, at the very least, keep you sane and going. It isn’t medication, let’s not get it twisted, but a healthy remedy nonetheless, especially if you’ve ever felt touch-starved like I have before. It’s an affectionate gesture that for what it’s worth, should never be taken for granted. And while Steven could’ve well gotten this big type hug at almost any time he desired, I can at least appreciate the show for saving that at the right time. Whew. But, while the moment itself is nice, it’s predictably almost everything around it that unfortunately puts the moment in a vacuum and me with a bad taste in my mouth.

What’s Bad: 

Let’s get this out the way, because I’m such a literal bastard... *inhale*

Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis. Penis.

MUSHROOM! MUSHROOM!

Congrats on those with the corrupted!steven theories who no doubt had it hard on when this horned trunk ascended, hung its head high, and beat its meaty chest with blind rage, the crewniverse certainly had the balls to go with this design and a long discussion of utilizing Monster Steven’s full potential. And if you think I’m nasty about this, hoo boy, be glad that words are all you’re seeing right now because artists no doubt had a field day potentially ruining this design for you even more. I’m surprised Tumblr’s flagging system hasn’t taken down whole posts with this. HEHEHEHAAAAAAAA!

As you can probably tell, I’m not a fan of this Diamond Dinodildo’s design (say that 5x times fast). I mean Rebecca could be as horny as she pleased with this show, but this is next level, I tell you. But seriously, it honestly sucked that this is what they came up with when it served no purpose to Steven thematically other than him being a literal peen of a monster. Said this before, but what does becoming a corrupted looking amalgamation mean to him beyond “he’s a monster”? Corrupted gems weren’t the worst things in his world, they were products of a even worse thing. Turning into a diamond like figure would’ve said something about the cycle of abuse making you not feel like yourself, but a reflection of who you not only resent more than anyone, but were the indirect causes of your newfound issues. That would’ve took his struggle in the Diamonds Days arc to its next logical extreme, and brought most of Future’s episodes centered around Steven’s issues to a sensible turning point. Being a warped Diamond version of himself would’ve meant finally embracing inhumanity, and that would’ve conveyed the peak of Steven harshly feeling less like a human over the course of the season, especially when we had several episodes and new powers centering around him being inhuman. And a previous episode had him try to shatter a Pink version of White Diamond, two beings generally responsible for everything that’s happened to him. And it isn’t the design that made this a turn off.

What was Steven even gonna do as a monster? He does nothing to the town, he never even makes it pass the cliffside. He doesn’t even try to attack anybody, the only times he does is when he’s provoked by either the Cluster, the Diamonds, or any of the gems. Spinel raised more hell than Steven. So on the look back it’s insultingly sad they hyped up this big dick energy only to do... genuinely nothing. He already didn’t deserve turning into Pinky the Phallisaurus, but having him not even do anything as a monster left far more to be desired. Mob Psycho 100 did this nearly identical, but better. You can’t deny that it would’ve worked better with 22 minutes, actually give him something to do beyond screech and stomp like he’s Scrat from Ice Age. As much as I don’t like Change Your Mind, 45 minutes worked to its favor to do everything it did. Oh wait, this episode did make good use of time... with a fucking pity party.

They wasted my baby

This is. The WORST scene in the entire series and I’ll stand by that 100%. It’s one thing to show something offensive, but it’s another to have something be completely pointless. Yes, Connie talked some sense into them, but we didn’t need to waste time having White Diamond and the others bitch about something everyone who isn’t a toesucking simp should’ve figured out at that point. Not like it mattered, the Diamonds and Spinel never show up after this episode anyways, so good job making them count for something, I guess. This as well as minorly acknowledge the fact that the gems had a lot to do with Steven’s mental trauma because hey, we don’t have to hold these gems too accountable for child neglect. Speaking of which, where was Jasp- This plays well into my previous point, we aren’t shown what Steven was gonna do as a monster, so what else is the episode to do beyond holding him back in time to just make the characters go “All is lost” for one second before getting back up like this is Marvel’s Captain Driftwood?

Friendship is Magic had this type of moment in its penultimate finale but in that, more time was given to show the villains getting the upper hand, Twilight at her low point, her turnaround with her friends, and the lead in charge to defeat the villains. While some moments felt convenient and downright insulting, they made the most of their limit. The same can’t be said for this and it makes no sense. Speaking of things that make no sense:

Was this shapeshifting or corruption? Rushing or dragging? This personally bothers me because people are saying he shapeshifted even when they were also on board with him corrupting. But what was the point where monster Steven cums cries into the ocean turning it pink?

Now if Steven got himself corrupted, this would make sense since the three Diamonds are there with so fully turning him back to normal wouldn’t be an issue. Questions would arise about how corruption can happen to a human, then again this is Steven Universe, fans never really wanted you to ask questions. But if this was shapeshifting, then why have this permanent monster form? It would’ve made a little more sense of Steven changing his shape depending on his emotions, like what we’ve seen before. Additionally, Steven should have been capable of talking normally instead of roaring and growling like he switched brains with an actual animal. Just because he kinned Godzilla’s joystick doesn’t mean he was unable to speak to anybody, that is if he shapeshifted. Lastly, and this is more implicit than my previous points:

This season shouldn’t have tried tacking mental issues and trauma onto this dickslap of a climax. I’m on the side where we should’ve seen more from monster Steven, but what does this tell me for the topic of mental health? Nearly killing people on three separate occasions didn’t help, but having him transform into a near mindless beast is a backhanded way to convey post traumatic stress. Let me put it this way, if we didn’t get that episode where we learn Steven had held up trauma and stress from Doctor Priyanka, everything surrounding it afterward wouldn’t feel as fucked up as it did. Yes, understanding a root of a character’s problems is good, beneficial even, but having your character nearly, sporadically, commit MURDER THREE TIMES only to then have him become a wildin’ creature does nothing, if not disgust. It's disgusting when you talk about PTS one minute and have your main character be socially dangerous the next. You’d feel sorry for him, sure, but I gotta say nearly killing people is not something we should just hand wave. That is not a good or realistic depiction of depression and post traumatic stress; especially when you trying to discuss this with children. And don’t try to justify it by saying it was necessary for his downward spiral. Having to think and see death before my own eyes in real life, there should’ve been a better way to make Steven hit rock bottom without putting other’s lives on the line. It wasn’t compelling or resonating to see him become a witless creature after saying he could get away with anything, it felt jarringly hallow and teeth gritting sadistic to think this was acceptable. It took him turning into a literal creature to finally go to therapy or a throwaway line about therapy in this show’s case? Are you kidding me?

The hug is a nice moment on its own, but it took far too many kneecaps to get to this point and think it’s believably or justly earned. I can make fun of the monster design all I want, but what they put Steven through to get to this point is the most insulting writing I ever have to think about. Because you know what that hug told me, personally? It’s that you can commit near irrefutable atrocities, you can behave like a blithering rampaging beast all you wish, but that won’t matter. Because you’re valid and your people will love you. That is not only asinine, but it kinda pissed on what I went through growing up. Like, as idealistic as that felt, it didn’t add up because it made the mentally unstable come off as more unstable than they mostly are. You can disagree all you want with this, it won’t change the baffling fact that I came to this conclusion in the first place when I didn’t want to. “But the crew said in an interv-” NO, just nope. If the message the show gives is this polarizing for those that invested or were concerned with it, maybe the message wasn’t clear enough, who knows? I can believe Mr. Rogers never fucked this up when he made his show. I tried thinking of this differently, but I can’t excuse what they did and how they did it. Bojack Horseman never pulled this with its main lead and when it truly did, that was given more time to sort out; not an 11 minute epilogue in its final moments. The hug was nice, but this episode was trash.

Speaking of which, next time...

We Finally Look to the Future

Here’s Part 2, if you’re up.

[botaniia]

128

Good chapter, all in all! My thoughts will be much shorter on this one than on 127 because I really hadn’t a clue what to expect from this chapter as opposed to 127. I also read some discussion before writing this so that may influence this, I dunno

Jumping right into things with the airships and answering a question the fandom had since 127: why didn’t the Yaegerists destroy the airships? To push it even further, not only was the question answered, but this fact became a plot-relevant detail as well.

Random thought, but it’s interesting to see Hanji talk about the future prospects of recapturing the uninhabited rumbled lands once this is all over

It’s absolutely divine to see Hanji and Magath strategising and working together

Love love LOVE the panel of everyone getting equipped for battle. I’m dead at Reiner’s “Ah shit here we go again” expression. Very cool to see Annie holding a blade handle again after so long! Jean and Mikasa looking like models as usual, and I love Pieck floating in the background there

So at first I thought the steam was the colossals entering the water on Paradis’ shores. Apparently it’s all the way over at Marley and the rumbling already reached the north. That’s fast! And the fact that the steam can be seen all the way over on Paradis, does that mean that Marley really isn’t all too far away from Paradis?

Falco and Gabi on the lookout are the cutest ever. Glad we get to see my son this chapter! 

Annie: “Hey y’all ‘s okay if I’m armed right?” Everyone: “....”

Every chapter needs a random panel of Levi sleeping because Yams didn’t know what else to put there

Very interesting to see Annie talk using revenge as a frame of reference. It does show how long she’s been under. Pieck explaining the situation to her made me realise we need more interactions between these two

These panels make it obvious how much weight Reiner has lost. Jesus, look at his torso, his neck. He could rival Berthoto in his post-depression  height to weight ratio

I hadn’t even considered that the Yaegerists consisted of their comrades, not the way it’s presented by Jean anyway. It makes a lot of sense that they don’t want to fight and kill their old friends

Annie is to Jean this chapter what Jean was to Hanji the last chapter. Asking the really hard questions in response to a pacifist mindset.

Armin has gotten thick, wow

If I still shipped aruani I’d consider this a strong moment but now it just feels less impactful bhjvk

The dam finally broke for Connie! All these past chapters, he’s been off looking stoic and determined, but it looks like his emotions are finally showing outwardly as well. Poor fucking kid, he’s really seen too much

And he does raise a very important moral question there. With the realisation we see him make later in the chapter, it’s also a very fitting thing for him to wonder about. He’s just not ready to start killing, even if it’s the best option for their cause, and I can respect that he has issues with such a plan.

Annie’s expression... hurts me soul, man

I don’t think I follow yet how she came to the conclusion that JCAM wouldn’t have destroyed the walls if it were them. I don’t agree nor disagree, because I don’t think that it’s possible to estimate that. The JCAM of today definitely wouldn’t have done it, but the JCAM of today are adults who didn’t grow up as child soldiers under heavy propaganda and who were used as disposable weapons. It’s impossible to compare the two with each other. Is Annie saying this because she as the adult she is today would do it all again, as she stated a few chapters back? I’m sure discussion in the next few days will clear this line up.

It’s gonna take me a few days of thinking to understand what exactly that callback to Eren saying he’s just like Reiner means, and how it connects to Annie’s words. Does he think back of it because he likens himself to Eren, or because he likens Eren to himself? It feels like Eren’s saying that he would’ve broken the wall, which is exactly what he’s doing right now with the rumbling, but what do I know? I’m usually dead wrong about things like this. 

I can admire Reiner giving JCAM a choice to not fight the ones they hold dear. After all this time and despite everything, he still holds his old comrades dear enough to spare them from this battle

Hanji’s ready to kill, and I understand it. People are already dying in Marley and there’s no more time left to be humane about things. It’s just like the decision to torture Sannes, like the decision to kill RB given the chance. In an ideal world they’d be able to talk and take their time, but right now they unfortunately don’t have that luxury.

Poor fucking Pieck, Annie, and Reiner. Learning they may already be too late and the worst can have already happened. And Connie’s face. This is the most emotion we’ve seen out of him in a long time that wasn’t just flat out bitterness. He looks destroyed.

Magath shoving Onyankopon had me gigglin’, ngl

It was something else seeing Yelena so emotional and pained. Have we seen her like this before? In a situation where she’s not her usual confident, in control self but she’s genuinely in pain or scared? And then her crying... She’s growing on me more and more the more I see her, now I’m sorta hoping she survives this story

Magath’s confession... I’m gonna be honest, when I first read this it felt like it came out of nowhere and felt forced. Rereading it, I can see where it came from. It’s been on his mind for quite some time since it happened and the fact that they suddenly, just like that, ran out of time probably got him to decide that if there’s ever a time to say this, it’s now

It also proves the idea that right before someone is about to crack, they double down in their ideals. It’s a type of stubbornness all humans have and it often leads to conflict. Doubling down didn’t work, so he finally allowed himself to accept something he didn’t want to be true but somewhere knew was true anyway. That’s growth. I did think Magath would end up coming through in the end

Good on him, a Marleyan, to tell Eldians that the one truth Eldians had always been taught, that they are responsible for their ancestors’ sins, isn’t true at all and that they do not deserve the blame. It just doesn’t hold the same relieving value if an Eldian says it. That was sorely needed, and for Magath specifically to say that is a good thing!

And to tell it to Pieck, Annie, and Reiner as well? That’s a very important detail as well. Done are the days of only absolving the 104th when the warriors deserve it just as much

‘Forgive but don’t forget, teach our children what happened without pointing the finger’ is such an important key idea and I’m glad it’s been put into words. Maybe the school kids from the s4 preview are the outcome of that?

I’m gonna wait for the official translation to look at Armin’s refusal because I don’t believe I fully grasp what he means there

Floch implying that the death of Kiyomi’s nation is a good thing, that she no longer has to worry, shows just how wrong his entire school of thought is. He’s literally “can’t worry about your homeland if your homeland doesn’t exist anymore”. 

Kiyomi’s words as parallel to Erwin’s? Love it

“But what’s most important is for you to know your place” WOW, guy really is on a power trip where he wants to establish a rigid hierarchy, huh?

He does look absolutely terrifying in those panels. Congrats, Yams, you made me intimidated by Floch for reasons other than “he might shoot anyone at any time”

Armin’s strategy bkhjvgjh use the chaos and confusion to get the edge on him, I like it

Absolutely love the dynamic between Connie and Armin. Armin, you lying shit, you’re fake crying again

He knew from the start it hadn’t worked though

Samuel! DAZ!!!! Finally! They’re back! The memes are no longer just dreams!

Kiyomi charging Floch and proceeding to wipe the floor with him will be the subject of my dreams for years to come

When Armin and Connie first realised that the plan failed, I was sure they were surrounded by Yaegerists on all sides and they’d stand no chance. That’s also the moment I accepted that one of them was gonna get KO’d. I honestly expected Connie to bite the dust

When Mikasa first crashed through the window, I thought that she was Levi. Look at that face! It’s such an Ackerman face! It took me a few pages to determine whether that was Mikasa or Levi, even if I knew Levi definitely wouldn’t have been a possibility.

God, how good it feels to see Floch so desperate and distressed! That panel where he’s on his stomach and shoots his anchor out of the window is hilarious

Floch thinks Jean is dead, so he didn’t call for the Yaegerists to attack him. I wonder if that’ll play out somehow. But it does show that he believed that Armin spoke the truth when he said that Jean and Onyankopon were killed. So does he still think the warriors are not on their side (until he’s obv proven wrong, ofc)?

Magath in a SC jacket is 😩👌

Armin being shot had me bamboozled. If he still were my fav character I would’ve definitely had a heart attack, but even now that fucking HURT and caught me completely off-guard. Especially since it’s not just one shot, but three, all of which hit a major artery in one way or another. I was sure Armin was out for a good moment here

Oh wow. I didn’t realise it the first time reading, but the second time? God damn, the parallels between SC and warriors in that particular scene. Just like how Jean and Connie talked to Bertholdt and Reiner about how they’d grow old together and share a good drink once this was all over but their betrayal destroyed that possibility and nullified their camaraderie, Samuel is talking to Connie and Armin about how they’d retake the lands and raise as much cattle as they wanted once this was all over but their betrayal made that impossible. Connie got it. Connie understood in that moment and that’s currently emotionally fucking me over

Reiner and Annie shooting up behind Floch... 😩👌

THEIR TRANSFORMATION POSES, HOT DAMN They’re ready to wipe the floor with some Yaegerists

At first I thought we’d gotten nakey Reiner (ain’t his ass plates missing?) but his face gave me renewed hope. The unhardening thing was a one-time thing only, so it looks like his titan does get armour!

I wonder how convincing it would’ve sounded if in 2016 we heard that in 2020 we’d be overjoyed to see the armoured titan and the female titan wrecking some Survey Corps shit but look where we are now

Zombie Armin looked TERRIFYING, holy fuck

And then there’s those last two pages. Wow. I didn’t even know what I was reading when I first read them, I hadn’t a clue that I was reading the exact narrative I’d been begging to see for many many years. And when I realised it, fuck, that felt good

Connie is betraying comrades, dearly beloved people whom he shared good times with, whom he made promises to, but who unfortunately ended up being on the opposite side of the conflict as he is, because it’s what his goal requires of him. 

The way Samuel words it, it’s even a direct parallel to the way the 104th worded their grievances to Bertholdt and Reiner when they were running away with Eren and Ymir. And when Connie finally answers “You are our comrades, but...” it just clicks. They’re his comrades, they are valued, and yet they still have to die. Just like they did in Clash. Just like they did in RtS. He’s in the exact same situation as RB were years ago, and he’s 100% aware of how this is what’s happening

And it’s the fact that Connie doesn’t use this memory to back down to prove to himself that he’s ‘better’, letting Armin and possibly himself get killed in the process, but instead reevaluates his stance and recontextualises what he knew back then, that’s exactly what I’ve been wishing for for so long

I intend to make a separate post on this because I have so many thoughts on this subject. This tiny detail changes so much for me, clears up so many of the doubts I had, and gives me so much hope that I’m sure will be shattered over the next few weeks but let me DREAM

In fact, I made the post right here