#she hasn't tried to eat any chickens

[sidetongue]

she’s actually like, not even in the least favourites atm??

[stararch4ngelqueen]

LAST ONE I PROMISE IM SO SORRY

soft!jason with reader who hides her nightmares from him (classic 'doesnt wanna be a burden') and he finds out she hasn't been sleeping and just comfort and sappy shit idk

Hope you don’t mind but ima combine this with another idea in my head before it rots. My details aren’t good right now, it’s been a very long day 😅

—

Time written - 6:47 p.m

—

“I remember a bad habit I had when I was little to check the coin slots for any quarters left behind.”

“Bad habit? I did that all the time.” Jason tosses a final shirt into the washing machine. “Still do.”

You giggle as you slam the washer door shut before cranking the knob and clicking the button, watching the machine whirr to life.

The apartment’s little downstairs laundromat always promised new washers and dryers, but efforts in doing so were lost under a list of other repairs. At least the machines still did their job, so that’s all you could do.

“Last load, right?” Jason double checks whilst shoving his hands into his pockets, leaning against the nearest little surface reserved for folding laundry.

Pushing by your clothes hamper to the side, you nod as you sit yourself in a chair beside the dryers.

“Finally,” you say whilst peeking over at the timer. At least three minutes left before you’d be greeted with heavenly warm sheets.

The warmth of the machines heavily combatted the cold chill outside. The heat in comparison with Jason’s hoodie covering your body left you feeling quite cozy, resulting in a yawn leaving your tired body.

“That’s about five times in the past half hour, someone miss their nap time?” Jason piques, gazing over at you with softened eyes.

You would’ve laughed if not for the second yawn that left your lips again.

“M’fine,” you muffle out after crossing your arms, forcing yourself to relax. Again, the constant rocking of both machines tumbling your clothes and blankets, plus the warmth radiating into the enclosed space nearly had you lulled to sleep in seconds.

Jason find the view absolutely adorable, heavily contemplating on taking the short stride to the seat beside you to let you rest on his shoulder. Only about a minute remained on the machine when he took the chance to approach, watching your tired head slowly tilt, nearly falling back against the wall if he didn’t quickly lurch over to catch it.

Cradling your pretty face in his palm, his eyes slightly narrowed when he picked up a unique detail on your face. Your eyes nearly widened when you blacked out for a second, coming to a sight of a concerned Jason holding your cheek.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” you quickly nod, blinking the exhaustion from your eyes. “Yeah. I’m okay, just didn’t sleep good.”

“Uhuh,” his response came too low for your ears to pick up. The dryer emits a sharp beep, signaling your blankets were finally ready.

As good as it felt to be sitting in such an uncomfortable plastic chair, you managed to pull yourself to your feet and towards the dryer, followed by a man who refused to remove his concerned expression off his face.

“What sounds good for dinner tonight?” Jason asks you after you pulled out tangled blankets from the dryer, nearly hugging them to yourself before plopping them onto the counter space to be separated and folded.

“Don’t know. What sounds good to you?”

“Was thinking maybe pizza,” Jason replied whilst approaching you from behind, picking up how sluggish your hands were as they rummaged through the soft pile in search of blanket edges or corners.

“Or… wings, maybe?”

“Hm?” Your head faintly tilts, rising suspicion. He stands beside you, seeing your heavy lidded eyes nearly lose focus on your task.

“Actually, was thhinking of going for some grass instead of chicken,” Jason purposely states, keeping an eye on your exhausted expression. “Grass and weeds, dandelions too.”

“Mm.” Came your response.

“Right,” he tries again. “Or if grass doesn’t hit the spot, we can just eat park dirt with our bare hands. Catch up on our minerals, y’know?”

“Mhm.”

“Babe.” He states with a firm tone. “C’mon. Babe.”

“Hm?” Your head snaps upwards towards him. “Huh? I’m listening.”

“Uhuh.” He quirks a brow before reaching over, pulling the warm fabric out of your hands.

“Babe, for how long?”

“Huh?” You shake your head, trying to remember the topic. “I don’t know. Kinda not hungry for chicken—“

“Not that,” Jason shakes his head. “How long have you not been sleeping good?”

Your lack of answer concerns him a lot more than it should’ve.

“Baby.” Jason grabs said warm, fuzzy blanket fresh off the counter and pulls the cover over your shoulders, draping you in complete warmth.”

“Talk to me.” He expresses with the upmost care, turning your body to face him. “I won’t get mad. Promise.”

You hesitate regardless. A lump in your throat nearly prevents you from doing so, and it worries you. What would he say to something like this? To see you haven’t slept that much due to a few simple bad dreams?

He’d see it ridiculous. A huge part of you believed that to be the case.

“Nightmares?” Jason tries to guess. “Is that it? Insomnia? Something not letting you sleep?”

He hit the nail on the head the first time. You could’ve said yes, could’ve vocally agreed, but all you could do was give a weak nod.

“Why haven’t you told me, hm?” Jason wisps bits of hair from your face, peering down at you with a soft, concerned expression.

When could you tell him? He’s always out on patrols. When he’s out, you’re struggling to sleep. When he comes home, he sleeps during the day, leaving you on your own until the afternoon or so. It’s always such a blessing when he comes home, sleeping by your side.

Sleep should’ve came so easily when he was home safe and sound, but all your mind focused on was the possibility that one day he may not.

It felt so odd to complain to him about sleep when his sleep schedule varied a lot more than the average man. He fought crime for a living, all you did was work or be home. How could complaining to him make any sort of sense?

“It’s just nightmares,” you weakly insist, the concern of making him upset driving your heart fast enough to keep you awake. The warm blanket was too much, lulling you into a comforting serenity your body fought against.

“D’you take meds for this?” He questions, watching you shake your head no. “Sleeping pills, anything like that?”

“I mean, I’ve thought of it, but-“

“Don’t.”

His one word demand catches you off guard, making your eyes widen. “Why not?”

“Don’t need you relying on pills to get some shut eye,” Jason murmurs, exhaling through his nose before lowering his head, resting it along yours. “That’s worse than staying awake.”

He didn’t scoff, he didn’t huff and dismiss your confession, but his response regardless made you regret telling him any of this in general. You knew that look on his face; the worried wrinkle that formed in between his brows when he was too worried about something. Someone.

“Don’t say it’s not my fault. M’Sorry you couldn’t tell me before.”

Your heart lightly aches at this, especially when he stopped your words prior. He blamed himself in some way, and you really didn’t like that.

His eyes never left your face, solemnly gleaming down at your beautiful expression. The attention to the tired shadows under your eyes, your limited energy, practically dragging your feet down every step of the way just to spend all the time you could with him.

It beats the purpose to protect Gotham when he couldn’t protect the ones he loved first. How he was going to handle your subconscious, he hadn’t a clue. Only an idea.

“Jay.”

“Shhh.” He soothes, his mind processing some thoughts you wish you could stop.

“I want you to go back upstairs,” he speaks after some silence. “I’ll sort our stuff out down here. Take a hot shower, fix yourself a drink, and get to bed. I’ll be up there in a bit.”

“But—“

“Ah ah,” he chides, hiding that hint of a smile on the edge of his lip. “Don’t wanna hear it. I’ll stay tonight, and tomorrow night, an’ the night after that.”

“And Gotham?”

Gotham always ran fucking crazy with something nearly every night, but hey, theirs other cape wearing heroes waltzing around.

“What’s one night?” He shrugs. “Don’t gotta carry you to the elevator, do I?”

“I’d prefer that,” you manage to smile. “You wrapped me in a death trap. I won’t make it to the elevator.”

Jason sighs, this time with a smile on his face. Without a word, he hoists you up in his arms, your body wrapped up in a heated, fragrant blanket as he sets you back in your chair from before.

“My little cleopatra,” he comments, in reference to your entire body wrapped up in a blanket, minus your head. “Once we’re done here, we’ll take a long nap. I’ll stay with you as long as you want.”

The official, yet unspoken promise left your heart aching. Of course he’d do such a soothing gesture for you.

“You can’t carry both me and the laundry,” your tired voice says to him, making his smirk grow as he tends to folding your blankets once more.

“Oh yeah? Watch me.”

[russellsppttemplates]

Ngl those pictures of kika @the hospital with Pierre got me thinking of y/n and him straight away. Like, Pierre taking care of y/n while she's ill and getting worried to the point he takes her to the hospital. Or or or, even better: if she's expecting one of the kiddos(probably the first one, cause they'd be clueless) and she's just feeling bad with like the flu or even just nausea and they (Pierre) get so worried they go to the emergency to get checked out. He's so soft with her and her baby sister my mind went there in a sec!

Cw: mentions pregnancy, sickness, hospital emergency visit, drawing blood, IV fluids

"This isn't okay, amour", Pierre said as he rubbed your back, coaxing you through as you emptied your stomach into the toilet, breathing heavily as you tried to understand if there would be anymore before flushing.

"It's morning sickness, just every time of the day, it will pass, everyone I know says that", you tried again, knowing it would hardly be any use. It was an ongoing conversation for the past few days. You telling Pierre this was to be expected and him running around like a headless chicken trying to make you feel better and tend to your needs.

"I need help to get to the bed, I don't trust myself to not knock into things", you nudged him after cleaning your mouth, feeling his arms under your knees and around your shoulders, kissing your forehead multiple times as he brought you back to your bed, laying down with you and cuddling you to his chest, "if you can't eat anything by tomorrow morning, we're going to the hospital", he heard you groan, "I know you don't want to, but I'm not risking anything happening to you or little one, deal?", he said, kissing your lips one last time, "fine".

Like you promised he could do, you were in the hospital less than 24 hours later, the bracelet on your arm as you laid on the bed, eyes closed and hands shielding them from the bright lights.

"My wife is pregnant, and she hasn't been able to keep anything she eats down for the last forty-eight hours. We came in to check if she has something serious, maybe the flu", Pierre said to the doctor taking you in, giving all the information he needed, "we'll take some blood samples, an ultrasound and cultures if we see anything concerning. I'm just going to get the materials", he smiled.

Pierre sat next to you, letting you rest on his chest as they drew out blood and collected that they needed, "the ultrasound looks good, your little one is doing fine amidst all of this", the technician said, soothing your worries as one of the nurses gave you some fluids, "This has the nutrients to keep you going while we work around the results, call us on this button if you need anything. The fluids should help your nausea and your tiredness, too", she smiled.

Pierre cuddled you on the hospital bed, pulling you closer to him and taking advantage of the fact that you had privacy in the room to kiss and coddle you as much has he wanted, "is the IV making you feel better?", he asked, "I know you hate all of this, but we just need to make sure you're both doing fine, I hate to see you like this", he mumbled into your skin, rubbing his nose there and tickling you slightly.

"I don't feel so hot, I think", you muttered, "the IV hasn't kicked in yet, but it should help. I haven't had many nutrients in me, so my body should just take it while it is ahead", you giggled softly, inhaling his scent and thankful that you hadn't grown nauseous to it.

"You were wise to come in and get checked out, but you seem to have the flu. It's been around for a few weeks and it seems like it got to your household, too. Lots of rest and fluids, and keeping up with your prenatals should help. In case you have any issues with eating, let us know and we'll adjust the medication", the doctor came back after a while, handing you discharge papers, "thank you".

By the time you got home, you managed to successfully keep a piece of toasted bread down, "are you agreeing with mama again? Please, let this be that, little one", you tapped your belly, "Mama really wants to eat real food, and papa is very worried, so do us all a favour and agree with this, okay?".

(Thank you for your submission ✨️)

[mayflowers515]

Smiling Critters: Non Lore-Heavy Headcanons!

This is just what I personally think they'd be like in my AU, if you guys have different interpretations, that's fine!

(I could also do scenarios based on the headcanons too if you guys wish! )

Reference post for characters if needed: https://www.tumblr.com/mayflowers515/743811211445010432/smiling-critters-in-gacha-life-2?source=share

Kickin would 100% call his friends a specific nickname. It's his way of approving that they're cool to him. He barely calls them by their actual name unless the situation is serious. Here is what he'd call everyone:

Bubba = Nerd (in the most affectionate way possible here); Can also imagine Kickin calling him sir or mister sometimes

Bobby = Beary or BB (may or may not be based off of content I've seen with these nicknames for her-)

Hoppy = Hopscotch (calls her by last name because he thinks it's cool already; Hoppy would use that logic against him and call him Chicken occasionally); He also likes to call her Hops for short

CatNap = Sleepyhead, Sleeping Beauty

DogDay = Mr. Brightside, DD

Crafty = Princess (that would probably freak Crafty out since she thinks he knows of her status; in reality, he calls her this because of her vibes, especially after a certain scenario I have planned for her)

Picky = Piggy (doesn't really have any other idea for a nickname, but he wants to come up with one that sounds "more cool"; tried this by calling her PP, but didn't realize how bad it was until the first and only time he used it for her)

Kickin would call himself KC, since y'know, he wants everyone to know he's cool, too! (credits to mr. story for the idea)

2. Crafty has a very good singing voice. She doesn't show it off for a couple reasons though:

Because she's a little shy about showing it off in the first place

Doesn't want to overpower her friends if they sing together

She's worried her friends will find a way to link her voice to her background (will discuss more in a future post)

(Based off a voice canon video I saw for her where her singing voice was based off of Fluttershy's from "Filli Vanilli")

3. When Picky isn't cooking or eating, she likes to dance and tend to her personal garden. It's filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, but she also has some flowers and shrubs, too! She likes to use products from her garden for her cooking sometimes.

4. CatNap's house smells like all kinds of specific essential oils. He is the one who uses them the most of the Critters, which helps set the atmosphere for his calming home.

5. I already mentioned before that Crafty can never keep her clothes clean for the whole day. But she really likes her overall dresses, so she keeps a lot of the same ones just in case one of them gets too messy.

6. Kickin is great with comebacks and wordplay. Even in the toughest of situations, he usually pieces together slick phrases. The only exceptions are if he were to start like-liking someone or if he had an idol he admired. He'd get more nervous and fumble his words by that point.

7. Here is what I like to think the Critters want to be when they become adults (they're still children in this AU):

CatNap (counselor; something to do with aromatherapy too most likely)

DogDay (doesn't know; he hasn't thought about it)

Bobby (nurse or maybe a therapist)

Crafty (artist of course; may be more inclined to be a painter)

Kickin (journalist or reporter?; I can see him commentating on things like sports and current events lol)

Hoppy (soccer player or coach)

Bubba (professor, but not sure of which subject rn)

Picky (chef, no surprise there. She wishes to run her own restaurant someday)

8. Inspired by some comics, but CatNap's tail can extend to really long lengths. His friends use this as an advantage to drag him along or hold onto him when he's not aware of his surroundings or he's asleep. His tail can only extend to so long though (maybe four-five feet?) so eventually it can get pulled. He doesn't like that. His friends realize this the hard way, and from that point forward, they tend to drag him along their adventures in a wagon. Typically DogDay is the one to watch over the wagon.

9. In contrast to CatNap, DogDay is much more nervous during the nighttime. He tries to hide this to not worry his friends, but they can usually see through him. He doesn't exactly get the best sleep all the time, yet he still manages to operate smoothly for his friends (maybe through coffee? I can see him drinking that-)

10. Possible fears of all the Critters

Bobby (being alone and abandoned, canon; can also see her fearing bugs too, but she can't bring herself to kill them since she loves and values all life regardless)

Picky (sickness, a part of this plays into her need to stick to a healthy lifestyle, and she stresses out whenever she feels she made too many unhealthy choices; she also hates being sick because then she can't provide for her friends)

Kickin (sudden noise and heights; he would try to hide this to keep his cool image, so he brushes off his fears so others can't see it from the outside. However, on the inside and sometimes more obviously the outside, he is TERRIFIED)

Bubba (failing his friends and leading them down the wrong direction; tries to prevent this from happening by being as well-informed on as many topics as he can think)

DogDay (the dark; he always needs a nightlight in his room so he can go to sleep better)

CatNap (his second scent; more elaboration on that sometime soon but if you know what I'm referring to, you know...; can also seem him fearing water a little since y'know, cat behavior-)

Hoppy (needles; I just don't see her holding up well at the doctor's personally-)

Crafty (public audience; she can only handle so many people watching her at once until she feels she needs to get out)

11. People would expect Bubba and Crafty to constantly be at odds due to their different thinking approaches (left brain + right brain), but they actually get along quite well! They may have a couple disagreements, but otherwise they are usually open to what the other is saying. Basically, an "I want what you have" kind of situation but downplayed. Mainly since Bubba isn't as good with thinking outside of the box meanwhile Crafty isn't the most book smart. They would bounce off each other well. They would work well together when it comes to devising plans with their friends. Bubba would explain the plan while Crafty sketches the plan's details.

12. Crafty can draw at fast speeds, but she can't draw anything super detailed. Still, she is surprised herself that it doesn't look too bad when she rushed it.

13. Speaking of speed, Hoppy can, in addition to moving fast, speak fast and somehow still remember what she says. When others don't process what she says, she would be a bit more annoyed and say it slower. She doesn't speak fast often, only in situations where she is really enthusiastic or she's in a panic.

14. In terms of their more animal-like qualities, DogDay is the most expressive of the Critters. He wags his tail and raises his ears a lot depending on the circumstance.

15. Bobby can have very bad anxiety in stressful situations. Worse case scenario, she may even just ball up and become unresponsive to stimuli.

16. PB&Js are still Picky's favorite food, but she eats them in moderation when she's felt good on what she ate for the rest of the day. She will refuse to eat them when she's stressed or if she gets sick. She gets like this with any unhealthy food in general actually, just more inclined to do it with PB&Js.

17. (Based on that road trip image of them) They're all kids, but in their world, they're able to drive. Still, there are some Critters you should trust behind the wheel more than others:

Bubba (not only would he be safe on the road, but his great memory basically makes him a walking GPS, assuring an instant trip to their destination without getting lost; despite this, it's usually #2 who drives more because he's usually tasked as the voice of reason to make sure no one riots while someone is behind the wheel; he also slightly manages his memory better when he isn't multitasking)

DogDay (is usually the one that drives everyone when they're out on road trips. He is generally very calm behind the wheel and will encourage others on the way to wherever they're going, so he's also considered fun to have as the driver by his friends)

Picky and Bobby (tied; both would do just fine behind the wheel and would both be careful of the cars around them and the passengers in the car; would give Picky the edge here though since she doesn't have to raise her seat as much just to drive compared to Bobby)

Kickin (would care more about looking cool on the road than actually driving well. When he isn't focused on his ego, he doesn't drive too badly. He may have a slight bit of road rage, though)

CatNap (he would be better during night time trips as he is more active then, but even then it wouldn't happen often since driving can get stressful. Also, at any other time besides night, he runs the risk of sleeping on the spot even while driving, so no, please don't let him drive…) (ngl, him and #7 could be interchangeable here; both have drawbacks whenever they're behind the wheel-)

Crafty (she's pretty mediocre when it comes to driving. Her mind usually spirals in a panic whenever she's behind the wheel, and she'd focus more on the panic of driving at all than actually driving, so for her sanity, don't let her drive...)

Hoppy (never, EVER have her behind the wheel. The car will crash and burn in seconds... She can get really impulsive when it comes to driving and I can imagine her having some bad road rage; the Critters let her drive once after she pleaded with them so many times; probably in a situation where for some reason DogDay and/or Bubba couldn't do it. She led them in a ditch, crashing into someone's party down below, unintentionally of course. Everyone was okay, but they never let her drive again after that)

18. In addition to wanting to be the cool friend, I can also imagine Kickin wanting to joke around and make his friends laugh from time to time. He also pulls harmless pranks sometimes (sometimes he is unaware how his pranks potentially hurt others until it's too late though-)

19. Bobby has a really big sweet tooth. Especially when it comes to chocolate. Also, if anyone were to give her a chocolate heart, she would melt in their arms on the spot (doesn't matter if the intention is platonic or romantic, she just loves receiving chocolates, especially the hearts)

20. Hoppy would have the most game equipment of her friends. She has equipment that ranges across all kinds of sports as well as other physical activities.

21. If Crafty was given sidewalk chalk and there was pavement outside of her friends' houses (though I don't think this is the case in canon sadly), she would use it to draw something outside her friends' houses as a way to show appreciation.

22. Bubba would have his own mini library inside his house will all different genres of books. The books of this library are books he collected that were from his family's or from what he found when they were out and about. He occasionally lets his friends borrow books from him if they need to.

23. The Critters are vegan. Things like burgers and milk come from other sources for them. So no worries, in this version, the burger Picky was about to eat in the intro was sourced from plants (she wouldn't actually eat animals... right? *cough cough* canon version... *cough)

24. CatNap would be the best at telling spooky stories. He already has a naturally quiet voice. All he'd need to do to make it sound more spoopy for his friends is give it a creepy tone, and already that makes him a good scary storyteller...

25. DogDay doesn't really make his own food often, but he actually does like baking more than people give him credit for. His favorite thing to bake is cookies (especially ones that look like dog treats!)

26. This meme explained for Critters:

"We have food at home" - Bubba, Picky

"MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS! MCDONALDS!" - Hoppy, DogDay, Kickin, Bobby

In between these two sections: Crafty (depends on her mood)

*Pulls into the drive through as children cheer* *Orders a single black coffee and leaves* - CatNap (not meaning to be rude, but just doesn't want to put up with ordering for everyone so he orders for him; he's too tired for that ok?*

27. CatNap has the worst reaction time and is the most clumsy of the Critters. It's literally canon that the guy trips on his own tail. That HAS to be a thing here. It just has to.

28. This may come as a surprise, but CatNap actually does like drinking coffee, except he mainly has it at nighttime so he can stay up and help people in need of assistance at nighttime; he puts a lot of creamer and milk in his coffee, though- He doesn't like black cofffee (I imagine in the McDonalds meme he takes the coffee home with him and prepares it with his usual creamer and milk)

Welp, this is pretty long and scrambled. Sorry if some characters have more headcanons than others. If I think of other hcs I can update this! I do actually have more I'd like to share sometime, but the ones I'm thinking about are more lore-heavy for the characters so I'll put that in a separate post :)

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

The Arcana HCs: M6 eating spicy food

You and your beloved are out and about and begin to feel like an afternoon snack. You see a nearby vendor selling something savory on a stick that smells so good your mouth is watering. You each purchase one, dip them in the bright red sauce you're handed, and take a bite.

It turns out to be the spiciest thing you've ever eaten.

Julian

He is bright red

His eyes are watering

His nose is running

Someone help him

He is still eating

He will not stop eating

It's hurting him but it tastes so good

You've got a hand on his wrist trying to get him to slow down and take a breath but he keeps sneaking bites

Walks around with his tongue out until you find ice cream

Secretly likes the pain

Asra

It might be the spiciest thing you've ever eaten, but it's not the spiciest thing they've ever eaten

He lives for new and exciting things, including food that should come with a hazard warning

They can handle spice decently well, but you can see them sweating a bit and they do begin to sniffle

Goes back to the stall to ask all about the sauce

Tries (and fails) to convince Faust to try a little bit

The unexpected spice has him riled up for an adventure, so you're going to be spending the rest of the afternoon combing the area for any other unusual foods

Nadia

What spice?

She is a well traveled woman, she has tried almost every cuisine under the sun, she is unflappable

Or at least, that's what she'd like you to think

You saw her eyebrows shoot straight up into her hairline as soon as that sauce hit her tongue

She has carefully managed a few more bites out of politeness, but her eyes are getting glassy

She's hiding her reaction very well though

She's also dragging you in search of something cool and refreshing

Offers you the rest of her serving, "I'm sure you're hungrier than I am, MC, let me take care of you my darling -"

Muriel

He ate many inadvisable things as an orphan by the docks, it doesn't hit him too hard

It's still spicier than he would like though, he'll eat the whole thing, but he'll take a break here and there

You do get to watch a flush slowly appear on his cheeks and spread across his face

"So what do you think Muriel?"

"Tasty. I wouldn't give it to the chickens though."

You suggest ice cream and find out he hasn't had it before, so now you have to introduce him

It means he has to put up with the crowds a little longer, but he ends up really liking it and now he has a memory of crowds that's actually pleasant

Portia

She, like her brother, has great difficulty handling spice

Until she sees you grinning at her reaction

Well now it's a challenge

She goes back to the vendor for two more pieces

Her face, neck, and shoulders are the color of her hair

She is crying and snotty and sweating, but she eats everything

Several passerbys have stopped to watch and they are all very impressed

The vendor is too, but they're also slightly concerned

They point you two in the direction of the ice cream stand

Lucio

Total wimp

One bite in and he's loudly complaining, fanning his tongue

Immediately demands something to end the pain

He's making a big scene but you notice the only reaction besides his drama is that his lips are a little puffier than usual

Turns out he can actually handle spice pretty well, he just doesn't like it

Will not shut up until you find something to fix it

If you like spicy things and manage your whole portion he'll sulk

He'll also be low key impressed at your strength though

[gizkasparadise]

webtoons im currently hooked on

my brain hasnt been able to muster the attention span for dramas lately, so i've switched to reading webtoons for the time being. wanted to share some of my current favorites so maybe some folks can fangirl about them with me /o/

i also have a list of similar dramas so if youre new to webtoons but not dramas you can kind of compare #vibes

roughly in order:

TRAPPED (ALSO KNOWN AS OLGAMI OR NOOSE)

synopsis (mild spoilers)

girl meets boy at church. girl is an ex-convict who tried to kill someone. boy is a vampire. boy blackmails the girl into hiding his dead bodies using her job as a taxi driver. boy thought he had control over the situation. he absolutely does fucking not. the most fucked up slowest of slow burns ensues as fuck-or-die might become a little too literal.

why read

omfgggggggggggggg if you like your ships dysfunction junction this one is 100% for you. the romance takes a while to kick off, with the first season being mostly thriller with some unhinged UST between the leads, but when the male lead (park yunsu, vampire murderbastard) falls he falls hard and it is messy beyond all belief because the female lead (han chae-ah, taxi driver and unwilling gravedigger) does not forgive or forget and will do whatever it takes to survive. both leads are compelling and interesting and it's such a great take on enemy lovers (and not necessarily enemies to lovers)

chae-ah: i'll kill you

yunsu: alright :) try your best :) ill be waiting :)

the side characters are all really interesting as well! especially grimm, a 60-year-old child who definitely chooses mom in the divorce

similar dramas: basically take any fei wo si cun male lead (goodbye my princess, siege in fog), give him the ability to commit supernatural murder, and then pair him with a female lead who will absolutely kill him the second she gets a chance to

MY REASON TO DIE (ALSO KNOWN AS WHAT I DECIDED TO DIE FOR)

synopsis

ji-o is a talented taekwondo student athlete on her way to the olympics before she gets an injury that stalls her progress. while on the bus to training, she crosses paths with cha gyeol, a delinquent who runs with a rough crowd and almost never comes to school. as she navigates her feelings with unexpected first love, ji-o keeps having prophetic dreams-- ones where someone dies over and over again.

why read

female gaze: the webtoon lol. ok but actually what starts out as a fairly fluffy/slice of life high school romance has a plot twist that really rocks and made want to immediately start a reread of the whole webtoon.

similar dramas: someday or one day

MAYBE MEANT TO BE

synopsis

han jia is a 32 year old unemployed freelancer living with her parents, who are getting a little desperate to have her out of the house. during the holidays, she sneaks away from her family to have a smoke in the alleyway. there, she bumps into jin mincheol, a friend from childhood who she hasn't talked to in years. and he is just kind of. eating a chicken breast there. anyways.

they talk, and mincheol shares that his mother is also pressuring him to get married. jia proposes a contract marriage, not expecting mincheol to take her up on it. he does. immediately. oh shit.

why read

omg jia's a mess and mincheol's a nerd (affectionate x2). there's something just really delightful about seeing these little weirdos work through their issues, grow, and realize that they actually fit really well together. i love them both. mincheol is just so delightfully consistent and we get to see jia begin to figure her life out. the humor is spot on as well, i've laughed out loud several times

similar dramas: because this is my first life

OTHERS I REALLY LIKE

something about us. gayoung and woojin have been friends forever. when woojin comes back to college after his military service, that begins to get shaken up. friends to lovers with really cute art and one of my favorite second leads of all time

unholy blood. hayan is a pureblood vampire OUT FOR REVENGE against other vampires. blood+ vibes in the best way (not that far into this one yet, BUT IM READY)

dreaming freedom/freedom in dreams. jeongmin is relentlessly bullied in school, and the only way she escapes is through lucid dreaming, where she imagines her life differently and also how she can get her revenge. in her dreams, she meets a manic murder yandere boy, and shit escalates from there

cheese in the trap. aaaaaaaay we know this one :'D

[traditional-dancer-idv]

GENERAL HEADCANONS FOR THE TRADITIONAL DANCER

a follow up to my info dump at @bloody-trio , this time w bea! TW! mentions of drinking and alcohol abuse, depression, unhealthy coping mechanisms. let me know if a missed anything,, this has been sitting in my drafts for weeks I haven't read it in a while TT just unleashing it to the air

Bea's full name is Beatriz Esther Férnandez.

She really doesn't like her middle name, as well she doesn't have swcond last name. Only having her mothers.

Beatriz's father figure growing up was hee brother, her actusl dad having done the old going to get cigs and never coming back, he didn't want another child.

Her mother's name is Alejandra Fernandéz, not taking his father's as, y'know.

As i've mentioned before, she used to play the guitar as a teen, a family tradition before she picked up dancing.

Her title is the traditional dancer (WOW!) because of the center region chilean dance "Cueca" (PLS SEARCH UP VIDEOS OF IT IS SOSOS PRETTY).

She's from Santiago, Chile. The capital! Lived in the more rural area of it, tough.

Beatriz is 1, 78cm without heels, making her kinda insecure about her height (most women in Chile not being taller than 1,59) being made fun of by her peers when she was a teen. Turning to a more femenine look to compensate for that """masculine""" aspect of her appearence. Makeup becoming her comfort.

She has really long natural eyelashes, mascara only making them longer.

She's got eyebags, ever since leaving home she hasn't slept well most days, another thing she covers up with makeup.

She has scars on her palms from broken alcohol bottles she tried picking up.

She had severe depression and alcohol abuse when she started to feel the absence of her brother, shutting down for days on end and not taking care of herself.

She still suffers from some repercussions from the alcohol dependency, her hands being unsteady and having bad memory of things on this stage of her life. Dancing and getting better 'fixing' some of her worst symptoms like unstable moods and uncoordination of the steps.

After all that, she still can't help getting drunk when she's stressed, not having another coping mechanism sadly.

Her favorite wine is the Casillero del diablo, for it's bittersweetness.

She loves dresses, not having a lot currently apart from her formal "huasa pituca" and dancing dresses. Skins being limited to special ocassions (so wearing them feels more special she thinks.)

Makeup is LITERALLY her therapy, getting dolled up and looking pretty really cheers her up. She can looks like she was hit by a bus but she'll still manage to put on some lipstick, even with mascara and eyeshadow staining her face.

Beatriz loves her hair, feeling that it's one of the prettiest things about herself, she loves when her friends braid or brush through it, altough now that it's cut shorter she fears it might be more difficult (😞).

Her favorite flowers are roses and hydrangeas, red roses hold such a deep meaning to her and she just thinks they're neat. Hydrangeas are more for their looks than any strong feelings but she loves them regardless, especially the light blue ones.

She's AWFUL at baking, can't bake even if her life depended on it, ironic because she really loves sweets. Has been suffering ever since she entered the games because she can't eat her fave pastries.

It's funny because she's really good at cooking, her favourites are soups and broths. She'd eat chicken soup everyday if she was allowed.

She's un labeled, she plays both ways and just wants to be loved after everythings she's gone through and doesn't really care about fitting into a box when it comes to her sexuality.

She's a romantic at heart, is a terrible poet but she makes an effort TT. Her love language is physical touch, she's very clingy but even simple acts as holding her hand or brushinf a strand of hair behind her ear will get her gigfling like a school girl.

She's the master of flirting and pick-up lines if she set's her mind to it. (I remember one time on her old blog someone saying she flirted like a construction worker and I genuinly DIED.) Loves seeing everyone flustered up platonic or romantic.

Beatriz loves making things by hand!! Watch her make psper flowers or origami the second she gets her hand on a piece of paper when she's bored or her making her own accesories and pins for her hair.

Her hair is naturally straight, not pin straight but more that it shows. She uses cans as rollers at night and eats it up, she takes PRIDE in her curls made from canned peaches.

Her role in matches is kiter, her abilities mixing with her dancing. Tries her best to not let anyone behinf but feels as if it's necessary sometimes, you can't always save everyone but feels like an asshole when she can't get a full man or a 3-man (the sacrifice being her), unless you're an asshole, she won't hesitate to leave them in the rocket chair to secure a win.

She's not really strong, more speedy and agile than anything else. Her upper body just isn't used in her art as much as her legs.

Is really bad at expressing herself, she finds it hard to be direct most times unless she NEEDS to get the point across outside matches, inside she's a lot more strategic and tries really hard to be logical (wich sometimes doesn't work, she's a crybaby at heart).

She has generalized anxiety, another side effect from her drinking and depression.

Is realy trying to be better, sometimes feeling are just hard for her, she's just a girl inside all the bad things.

[serialmilipede]

bingqiu who start off fluffy and in love. whumpee shen yuan with a wealth of medical trauma, welcomed into caretaker bingbing’s arms. it feels nice. it feels like home. binghe is more than happy to make him meals, remind him to take his medicine, buy groceries, and even ditch work to attend shen yuan's appointments because he knows if he goes alone it leaves him shaky and jumpy for days. he takes over any chores he thinks might worsen shen yuan's health - doing the washing, vacuuming, and general cleaning around the house. anything to do with strong chemicals, and binghe won't let shen yuan near it! it makes shen yuan blush, to be so pampered, and he luxuriates in the feeling. 

shen yuan doesn’t even notice the ugly anxiety bubbling in his chest, or the uneasiness in his gut when he starts hearing from his sister less and less. only once she doesn’t call for two weeks entirely does he realise it’s because he hasn’t responded once. huh. he didn’t notice the messages... they were already read. his best guess is that amidst the honeymoon bliss of being so cared for he read them, told himself he'd get back to it later, then promptly forgot. it's not too far-fetched! without binghe, shen yuan used to forget a lot of things... binghe becomes sort of like a series of alarms on shen yuan's phone, only gentler, and much easier to conjure the motivation to listen to. shen yuan is scared to disappoint his more-than-perfect boyfriend, so it would be hard not to listen to him. he almost feels bad blaming binghe's pampering on his inability to communicate. he's always sort of been like this with messaging, and binghe's been taking on so many more responsibilities lately, making their separate beds, reminding him to shower, brush his teeth, tie his shoes, bundle up- as though he were a child! his mother's voice rings in the back of his head each time binghe does something kind, be grateful!

on one occasion, binghe has to leave for a weekend trip to see his father. prior to his departure he frets over the heating, and the washing, and the cooking, even leaving detailed instructions and pre-cooked meals in the refrigerator. binghe kisses him goodbye obsessively, and tells him that if anything goes wrong shen yuan must call him immediately. shen yuan tells him he's being silly, and sees him off at the front door (binghe insists that taking him on such an exhausting hour-long journey to and then an hour back from the airport would be ridiculous! he won't see his boyfriend suffer like that!). binghe texts him obsessively, and shen yuan's anxiety grows with each message. did you eat? (he hadn't) make sure to have the chicken first. it'll be first to spoil. are you still awake? (he was) I can see when you read these. it's 2am on the first night (or technically, the second day) after binghe left and shen yuan realises he hasn't showered. frantically, he checks his pill organiser and his heart drops all the way into his toes when he realises he didn't take them at the allocated time slot. shit. shit! he swallows the first two down dry, before his gag reflex decides to get sensitive and he realises that was a terrible idea, and he rushes to the kitchen, and in his rush he spills when bustling back into the hallway and-

it really shouldn't have caused such a mess. it wasn't that big of a deal. what was wrong with him? shen yuan... he tries to function without binghe, but he realises he truly cannot. he wonders what binghe will think of him when he gets back and finds him in such a miserable state. the anxiety puts shen yuan in a sort of stasis. will binghe stop taking care of him? will he break up with him? will he laugh? will he hate him forever and never speak to him again? by the time binghe returns shen yuan's barely slept, barely eaten, convinced binghe's never coming back to him. he doesn't even notice when his boyfriend lugs his suitcase up the stairs into their apartment. there's a knock at his bedroom door. shen yuan shrugs it off as delusional desire for his binghe to come home to him. when big, strong arms envelop him he startles.

"a-yuan," binghe breathes into his neck.

shen yuan finds his mouth is too dry to respond. binghe seems to suss out the problem instantly, because he goes full mother hen, in a way shen yuan's never seen before. he coos and even cries a little, singing of shen yuan's misfortune to have such a negligent boyfriend. shen yuan tries to insist it's untrue, that it's him who is truly useless, but binghe refuses to let him speak on it, insisting, even spoon-feeding him the congee he whips up out of nowhere. it's nice. shen yuan's so grateful to be cared for again, and that night when binghe tucks him into bed and snuggles up against him, shen yuan finds himself in tears, begging him never to go.

binghe, it appears, takes that quite literally. they now share a double bed, in binghe's room for convenience, since he had much more empty space, even before his bed was swapped out for a bigger one. binghe does it up everyday with shen yuan's favourite sheets, pillows, and blankets, and even though that's not really what shen yuan meant, he doesn't have the heart to tell binghe otherwise. unfortunately, the isolation and borderline obsession with binghe starts to affect his online presence as well. first he starts to post obsessively about how much he loves binghe. then, he becomes anxious. paranoid that everyone wants binghe. then, he thinks they all want to hurt him. he posts during sporadic periods of trust. even people he only knew through forums are starting to reach out. it's freaking him out a little.

but binghe, sweet little binghe, notices how stressed his a-yuan has become, and tells him he should spend less time on social media. shen yuan quickly agrees. he convinces him to delete reddit, instagram, snapchat. binghe says they're all spying on shen yuan anyways, so he might as well protect them both now, rather than regret posting later. they talk to a psychiatrist. shen yuan gets on yet another medication, this time for depression and anxiety. shen yuan stopped reading novels a while ago, now practically living in one with a too-good-to-be-true man waiting on his every whim. binghe doesn't let him do any chores anymore. not cook, clean, make the bed, nothing. binghe spoon, fork, knife, chopstick, whatever-feeds him all three meals of the day, racing home during his lunchbreak to get shen yuan's his meals on time. if shen yuan's uncomfortable with being babied, well... be grateful, he reminds himself. he hopes, without access to such... aggravating media his condition will improve.

however, this doesn't resolve his issues, and soon enough, with horror, shen yuan realises that it's only ever when binghe takes care of him that he gets anxious. nothing else really happens in his life anymore, so it only makes sense. binghe doesn't let him sleep alone, ever. it gets... weirder when binghe won't let him bathe alone, then won't let him bathe or dress himself without physical help. shen yuan starts having panic attacks when he goes to the toilet at night, paranoid that someone is watching him, so binghe gets him a nightlight. it doesn't help, but shen yuan adapts to not making much noise, panic attacks morphing from hyperventilation into violently shaking over the toilet bowl, teeth chattering, and body convulsing. he can't be too long though. otherwise binghe comes after him.

binghe never takes shen yuan shopping anymore. in fact, shen yuan barely leaves the house. binghe installs baby monitors in shen yuan's room, linking them to his office headset, "in case you hurt yourself". shen yuan knows it's not normal, but he doesn't have any way to reach out to anyone anymore, and if anyone comes over he doesn't even have the language to describe what's happening. he's... protecting me too much? it sounds like selfishness, so he buries it deep in his mind, where the neurons connected to his his mouth can't reach. binghe puts him him on a strict schedule that shen yuan’s young adult body just can’t stomach - sleeping at 7, and waking at 6, eating three meals, and two snacks a day, going on walks round the park on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, spending his days filling colouring books and getting miserably behind on any kind of work he should be attending to to make a little bit of extra cash. binghe has everything planned down to a tee.

what started sweet has turned saccharine, enough to make one sick, and a caretaker reveals himself for what he is: yet another whumper. shen yuan didn’t even see him coming.

[kyndaris]

The Perfect Cup

As everyone knows, the 14th of February is Valentine's Day, where romance reigns supreme where flowers and boxes of chocolates are gifted to significant others. In Japan and Korea, Valentine's Day is when girls give the boys they like chocolate. A month later, on 14th March, boys return the gesture. And given its marketability, I saw many advertisements for it as we travelled across both Japan and South Korea.

Unfortunately for bleachpanda and myself, we were both single. So, on White Day, we headed all the way down to Yokohama instead to treat ourselves. Not with chocolate, mind you, although there was a Godiva cafe I regret not actually visiting, but because I wanted to immerse myself in the locations that were in Yakua: Like a Dragon and Lost Judgment.

Yokohama is a city south of Tokyo and is the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefeecture. It was also one of the first Japanese ports opened to foreign trade back in the mid-19th century. But it's also known for a range of distractions including Cosmo World, the Red Brick Warehouses and, of course, our first destination for the day: The Cup Noodle Museum.

The humble Cup Noodle started life out as Chicken Ramen. The inventor, Momofuku Ando, had been trying to make something that needed only the addition of some hot water. It was during a trip to America that Momofuku was inspired by people putting his chicken ramen noodles in a cup, pouring in hot water and then eating them with a fork. By bringing together all sorts of innovative ideas, including changing one's perspective on how to place the ramen into a cup, he was able to come up with a winning formula that soon became an international sensation.

Entering inside the Cup Noodle museum, bleachpanda and I set about creating our perfect cup - much like how Noctis and his friends did during their road trip adventure in Final Fantasy XV (a game bleachpanda still hasn't finished even as she tries to guilt me into not playing Final Fantasy XVI as soon as it released. I'm GETTING there. I just need to finish off a few OTHER games I bought like Like a Dragon: Ishin!). In the game, Noctis and friends were tasked with slaying numerous monsters depending on the type of ingredient you chose when speaking with Gladiolus.

Heck, I even posted a picture on this very blog where someone had cosplayed as Noctis with the Cup Noodle hat!

Oh, memories...

In any case, bleachpanda and I were able to successfully make our own flavours of Cup Noodle and designing the outside too! Due, of course, to my lack of creation, I simply drew a picture of Pikachu. But I know if my friend Rinbeti had come along, she would have probably drawn something either wondrous or terrifying.

There's no telling if she'll be wholesome or draw something that's NSFW. Perhaps both, actually.

Afterwards, bleachpanda and I took the opportunity to explore the rest of the museum, learning its history: from its humble beginnings to the massive brand it is today. Heck, there's even SPACE ramen now!

From the Cup Noodles Museum, bleachpanda and I headed to the Red Brick Warehouse. Unfortunately, much of it was impassible due to an event that would be held on the next day. And though I was told it was a collection of boutique shops, from what I managed to glimpse, it seemed to primarily be food. And we were still too early to chow down on anything.

So, off we trotted to Chinatown, bypassing the very European-inspired design of Yokohama's Customs House. Now, the Chinatown in Yokohama, it should be known, is the largest Chinatown in Japan and is about 160 years old. Almost everywhere we walked were restaurants or themed shops. And in my eyes, it carried a lot of influence from the Guangdong province of China, as well as Hong Kong.

It was here when we tried out the Japanese idea of yumcha. And while the food was decent, I have to admit, it didn't quite keep the spirit of a rowdy yumcha with trolleys being pushed through narrow aisles between seats as the servers tried to hawk away their offerings to their hungry guests.

Still, I was quite satisfied in wandering around the Chinatown (we even picked up some snacks) before heading to Yamashita Park. Once there, I couldn't help but feel like I'd be thrust into Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Though Yamashita park was only a small portion of the Yokohama world map, I remembered many an amusing side quest in the section, which was only emphasised when Takayuki Yagami was skateboarding in the park as part of his mission to infiltrate all the school clubs in Lost Judgement.

Credit must be given to Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for bringing these real-world locations to life in video game format. Especially given how I was able to identify so many places that I'd only ever seen in the shrunken down version of the game.

But I didn't have much time to appreciate the Like a Dragon nostalgia because Yokohama had one last surprise for us: The Gundam Factory and its towering recreation of a Gundam that could move through the use of hydraulics! Even for someone who doesn't like mechs in general, seeing the giant robot pose and spout meaningful things about friendship and a bright future was still an impressive sight to witness.

We stayed longer than I anticipated at the Gundam Factory as we waited for the next performance, but bleachpanda was satisfied to record most of the variations. She was, however, disappointed that the shop didn't have much on offer. Given it was set to close by next month, though, she wasn't too bothered.

Plus, you know, there was an apology from the creators on the limitations of what creating a real-life Gundam would entail. It's honestly too bad we haven't yet found a means to find ultralight metals to make them a reality.

With the spectacle of the 'Moving Gundam' in the rearview mirror, bleachpanda and I returned to Tokyo. More specifically, we headed back to Shinjuku station. But before returning to our hotel, bleachpanda and I made a stop at the batting cages (after refuelling at a Krispy Kreme to see if there were any regional specials) to enjoy a uniquely Japanese experience.

I impressed myself with being able to hit several of the balls flung at me at 80-90km/h given how long it had been since I last swung a bat while playing softball. Bleachpanda, on the other hand, managed to punt several of the balls because it was easier and she didn't have to time her swing just right (it's cheating is what it is).

With my arms still feeling weak, bleachpanda and I ended our day with some Japanese KFC. To our dismay, it didn't taste as good as the McDonald's we had at Narita airport when we were heading to South Korea. Nor did it have any potato and gravy! A blasphemous act from anyone who loves and enjoys the KFC back home in Australia.

Disappointed, we returned to our hotel.

It's hard to imagine that tomorrow will be our last day exploring Japan and seeing what is has on offer. I can't believe the trip is coming to an end. It felt both too short and also fairly long.

And yet, a part of me can't wait to get back home and start planning my next great adventure out into the wide world!

[violetren]

Ok live action atla reaction for episode 2.

It was better than episode one. Where episode one was a dumpster fire actively trying to hurt me both as an avatar fan and as someone with a basic understanding of how multimodal media is used to craft stories, episode two is fine.

I hesitate to call it great or even good when my only other point of reference so far is one of the worst episodes of TV I have seen in the past decade. Or possibly just ever. But I can comfortably say it was fine.

Perhaps my biggest on going issue is still the dialogue. When they don't sound like they just walked out of a LA therapists office, they instead sound like they are either in a circa 2010 disney original tv show, or just straight up like the writer explaining directly to camera how they are justifying skipping events from the animation because they have made the characters so much more mature and self aware of what they need to do/become for the sake of saving the world.

In short, Sokka remains unfunny.

I can't believe the "I bet you taste like chicken" comment wasn't even in response to Momo doing anything in particular. Momo is just there chilling on Aang's shoulder and Sokka is glaring at him like Momo is his arch rival, talking about a singular non mishmash animal that he has probably never even seen before because where the fuck where the chicken coops in the south fucking pole!?

Katara's strives in bending probably look impressive to anyone who hasn't seen the first episode of the animation where she already outclassed her current progress. Girl was out there (accidentally) splitting icebergs out of anger, but I'm meant to be impressed she can make a water ball in 3 seconds? I hate how badly she has been nerfed.

I also hate how they made it that Gram Gram actively helped nerf her by denying Katara her inheritance until it was clear she was gonna hop on a flying bison and go on adventures with the Avatar. She didn't even give her the scroll directly and apologise to her face. Just shoved it in her bags with a sorry note and now we're deprived of Katara stealing from pirates! Which means Katara is gonna be carrying that "goody toe shoes always morally correct with no room for nuance mom friend" burden for who knows how much longer now.

We did FINALLY get some Iroh adjacent behaviour from Uncle Iroh. Him trying to cajole Zuko into eating some street food and getting distracted mid sentence because he noticed some sticky rice wasn't perfectly executed but it was better executed than any other Iroh moments we have seen so far. Mostly he still hits as gaslighty and condescending. And don't get me wrong. OG Iroh COULD be gaslighty but never so fucking blatantly. There's no finesse, no gentle distractions layered with concern. Where is the charisma? Instead we effectively get him going "you're wrong. you should consider giving up." at every other time he talks to Zuko (less so this episode than last but only because he "tries" to teach Zuko diplomacy. Yes there are quotes around tries for a reason. He basically says Do This, gives no real guidance on how and then steps in to do the thing the second Zuko is sucking because he's never had to do this shit before and doesn't want to do it now especially since he has no idea wtf Iroh means).

Anyways, didn't they say they were overhauling the Ba Sing Se arc to make it less gaslighty? Yet they let this vibe fly with Iroh of all people?

We did at least get Suki though. And she's mostly pretty recognisably Suki. Save for the instant and hardcore pining for Sokka because he immediately became a surrogate for her yearning for the outside world. I can appreciate that they wanted to nix Sokka's sexism and instead just made him insecure about his status as a warrior, and they almost made it work but they cut themselves off from such an interesting interplay of tension by having Suki just as, if not more, eager to show off her skills to Sokka as he was to act like he was a big tough southern water tribe warrior. They were on to something when they had her question how he could be the guardian of his village if he was here with the Avatar instead. They could of had her be dismissive of his claims at being a warrior when he was clearly acting like an undisciplined blow hard and the fanthrowing/chokehold scene could have been a "stop acting tough, I am the warrior you're claiming to be" moment which wouldn't have involved any sexism on either side and have made a basis for mutual respect when Sokka comes along to the training hall. They could have had him humbly ASK instead of awkwardly miming until Suki noticed. We could have still had Sokka in Kyoshi Warrior garb. It would have stuck closer to the original, it wouldn't have taken up more time, and it would have created a much more satisfying interplay of tension between the two characters which also would help ground their future relationship in mutual respect.

I will say though, although the writing fucking choked the cinematography, the lighting team, the actors and the editors all came through with creating a sense of attraction between the two characters. So that wasn't nothing.

Kyoshi was a high point. Still fell victim to the dialogue writing, but a very strong perfomance by Yvonne Chapman accented excellently by the sound design team during some of the more intense parts when they layered in all the other Avatar voices. She was a good choice for giving Aang a bunch of hard truths and I liked how she both told him he had to find his own path but when he kept pushing for a more concrete answer just started telling him to deal with shit her way, because that felt very Kyoshi.

Also the entire sequence of her manifesting through Aang to show him a bit of what he could do as the avatar and lowkey to protect HER island was fucking badass. Not a single fire nation soldier left that island with clean underwear after facing Avatar mother fucking Kyoshi.

Unfortunately I was very quickly brought down from this high by Aang closing out his part of the episode by saying that Kyoshi told him something terrible was going to happen to the Northern Water Tribe if he didn't get up there and do his duty as the avatar to stop it. A conversation beat that happened off screen btw.

This annoys me for several reasons, starting with since when can the Avatar's collective past lives tell the future? The big threat to the Northern Water Tribe was originally Zhao coming to kill the moon spirit, which is a culmination of his lust for dominance and power and his plans to capture the avatar for himself. So either that isn't happening (and they are unnecessarily trying to revamp a perfectly good finale to stroke their own egos) OR they have made the nonsensical decision to foretell this tragedy in the show instead of just letting the tension mount naturally because 80+% of their audience already know shit goes down in at the Northern Water Tribe. Which annoys the fuck out of me. Aang was always going to go North for water bending training anyways, and especially this borderline hyper responsible version of Aang who knows even if it will hurt emotionally he will need to learn the other elements. There was no good god damn reason to add a second layer of urgency by saying if he doesn't get there bad shit will happen!

My closing rant is really more of a question, but why the fuck is it every time we see a firelord, (Sozin and now Ozai) that they are just hanging out in the middle of the fucking chamber chatting with some fucking guys until a prisoner/messenger arrives while the fire throne looms menacingly in the background upstairs and 50 feet back. Where is the menace and pizazz of them sitting looking down on literally everyone and everything from up on high flanked by flames, committing atrocities with a wave of their hand and a few low spoken words that everyone grovels to hear? I believe in Daniel Dae Kim's ability to look scary and lordly on a fancy chair, especially if the fancy chair has FIRE, why doesn't the director?

[shingekinomyfeelings]

Okay so this post got me thinking about how Reiner would be as a pet parent/co-parent, and now I must share my little selfship headcanons for what his dynamic with each of my pets would be. I encourage you all to do the same with your own pets if you like! Also I like showing off my babies.

Reiner trying to befriend my pets

Reiner has more experience with dogs than with cats, so he's immediately excited to meet Mason. Mason's trauma from being abused by his original owner means he still gets spooked very easily by loud noises and unusual objects, so Reiner kind of tip toes around him - more than he needs to, to be honest. If he accidentally scares Mace, he's following him around practically on his hands and knees, offering treats and trying to make it up to him. Mason quickly realizes that Reiner is easily manipulated for food, and it's not long before I have to put a very strict limit on how many treats Reiner can feed him per day.

Reiner hasn't spent much time around cats and isn't quite sure how to interact with them at first, but he soon becomes pretty much as obsessed with Mochi as I am. She's tiny! Adorable! Ridiculously sweet! But boy when he finds out that she's a teeny bit disabled and has certain physical limitations, he starts treating her like she's made of glass, making sure she doesn't over exert herself and helping her onto every surface she wants onto even though she's perfectly capable of climbing. Within a month of meeting him, Mochi realizes Reiner is basically a meow-controlled elevator/butler.

Reiner thinks everything about Chicken Nugget is hilarious, and is inordinately amused by the simple fact that this little being actively responds to the name 'Chicken Nugget' no matter how many times he sees it happen. Whenever she gets fired up and starts upsetting the others by playfully slamming them to the floor, he picks her up and patiently explains to her that being bigger and stronger than her siblings means she has to control her strength :c He tries to decode her mysterious whims, but she seemingly develops new ones constantly just to keep him on his toes.

Porscha is the worst cat on the entire planet, but Reiner is aghast when I say so. He refuses to believe such things and is incredibly permissive of everything she does. Slowly he grows to regret this as Porscha obsessively touches his face while he sleeps, does literally the worst thing she can at any given moment, and eats his hair. Reiner is still too stubborn, though, insisting that she's not being that annoying. All of the behavioral training I've done with Porscha is set back to square one because Reiner won't tell her 'no' for anything. Finally he breaks down one morning when Porscha freaks out because a strand of hair she pulled off his head and ate is stuck in her butt. We being training anew, but Reiner still feels guilty when he has to curb her obsessive behaviors by not rewarding them with interaction...

He doesn't even see Ponzu for the first time until several months in, when she peers out from a closet. He thought maybe I was joking about having a fourth cat who fears all humans but me. Reiner is so excited to finally see this cryptid that Ponzu gets startled and vanishes into the cat dimension. Reiner becomes determined to befriend her, setting up stake outs where he'll set out food and hide behind a chair and wait until Ponzu approaches, and any time she glances at him he tries to do the 'slow blink' that I told him cats use to signal goodwill. He's a little pouty when after nearly a year, he can only interact with Ponzu if he's seated on the floor and not looking directly at her, but sometimes when he's sleeping I'll catch her snuggled against his feet.

[kingofakinglessworldpdf]

- # ; salt and pepper

I don't know I just wrote whatever and whoever came to mind. Also this is not proofread if there are any mistakes there aren't, you're seeing wrong. Btw i moved blogs and deleted the old post teehee written pre-sumeru

Eula swear vengeance on me hot lady coming from an old noble houshold, didn't know how to cook. I hc that it was after she met amber(lets go lesbians) that she finally learnt the arts of culinary. Definitely practiced alot at Good Hunters with Sara. But but but she already knew how to make desserts (look at her trailer video justice for Eula 2k23) and she decorates them in a manner that's very aesthetically pleasing too. She also has a habit of cooking in a very neat and organised manner. Once again Sara taught her about the necessity of a sanitary kitchen and she had taken it to heart so don't fuck up her kitchen. She will swear vengeance and kick you out(lmaooo skill issue Euladontkickmeoutpls )

The great priestess of Watatsumi Island, Sangonomiya Kokomi unfortunately cannot handle seafood [koko is like half fish so would her having seafood be considered cannibalism???] so don't even think about bringing any living creature that has even been near a water body to your kitchen when shes with you. If you make my wife sad I'm coming to throw hands. Kokomi prefers food with mild flavors like her specialty, bird egg sushi, and foods that are easily portable because she is often (see: always) in a hurry. Although if you don't know how to cook, she will gladly teach you. Cooking with kokomi is very fun and cooking dates are how a great majority of your dates are spent. [oh no, what's this, suddenly I have forgotten how to even chop an onion wha- How unfortunate seems like I'll have to take cooking classes on watatsumi Island now:)]

Adeptus Xiao, the mighty yakha who has defended Liyue for centuries, the Golden Winged King who has served the geo archon as his sole master after being saved from the clutches of the evil god is rendered completely helpless infront of a chopping board. This angsty teen cannot cook anything other than almond tofu so cooking dates are a no-go :( Although he can't cook he'll sit on the kitchen counter and watch while you bake. He won't take a bite if it's anything savoury or spicy but mild tasting desserts that don't come off as strong (like cheesecake or kheer) will definitely not be refused

The ever busy secretary Ganyu (my dear overworked coconut please take a break.) somewhat knows her way around the kitchen. Being an half-qilin eating isn't the same for her as it is for mortals. She can go on for day's without any nutritional intake due to the divinity running through her veins therefore she hasn't had much chances to be in the kitchen. If need be, she could always order something from Wanmin's or perhaps the boquet of qingxin that Yaoyao dropped by for her. Ganyu is as good as any amatuer who can cook basic meals but is very willing to learn, that is if she can get past her busy schedule. (Also pls stop eating glaze lilies, half divine or not, I don't think that's good for your health.) She doesn't cook often because of work but when does take a break forced to by ningguang and Keqing. I also think modern au ganyu would be vegan. And candies Hawthorn or tanghulu would be a guilty pleasure.

When it comes to cooking, it is safe to say that culinary is not the electro archon, Raiden Ei's area of expertise. Sticking to honing her skills in martial arts would do better. (Read: my mother would smack you with her slipper and kick you out of the gouse if you dared enter her kitchen). Say if Ms. Ei does try her hand at cooking... your house burnt down because she tried to thaw the chicken w the musou no hitotachi. Now you're homeless and broke. Later you both agree to order takeout and then freeload off of the budget from Narukami shrine courtesy of the gūji, yae miko, who is just surprised you managed to bring this hikkikomori out of her hole. It's fine ei's the archon anyway it's more or less her property.

The handsome consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Zhongli has lived for 9000 years. He has picked up as many skills as the friends he's lost. Maybe this is why the all knowing rex lapis cannot find those who share the memories. However for the sake of your wallet, who already has one foot in the coffin, please keep this man away from the kitchen. Reason being, the groceries you bought for a month have been used in a week. While I am quite proud of how much food i can stuff in my stomach, servings for 8 people might be a little too much even for me. bestie have mercy. Its me and your sugar daddy who has to pay for the groceries and because you so kindly decided to step down as rex lapis and give away your gnosis, the change in minting of mora is going to bring a global financial crisis woohoo. Also nobody can wait 85648 hours for dinner. please be finished before my retirement. Not everybody has the luxury of faking their death and then having a sugar daddy to live rich. (Yes i am bitter.)

This was a repost from my main acc. because i moved blog here. Also genshin has been a little boring (read: cheated on genshin with hsr bc dan heng my beloved) so what better way to return than come back by writing

Make sure to rb bc I want clout (read: human interactionbc i dont have a life)

[miasmaghoul]

I'm bored and high. Here's a list of what I think the ghouls' favorite human foods are:

Aether: Bananas, obviously, but also cinnamon candies. The hotter the better - the burn reminds him of a certain fire ghoul. Swiss gave him a sucker once called the Toe of Satan. It almost burned a hole in his tongue and he loved every second if it.

Dewdrop: Any meat that comes on a bone - ribs, chicken wings, lamb chops, anything. He gnaws on the bones for a while after he's done eating. It gives Mountain the shivers. He's also a BIG fan of anything spicy, but it has to be really spicy. Like, steam-out-the-ears spicy.

Rain: Soup. Any kind, but he prefers a brothy soup over a thick or creamy one. Miso soup is his favorite, but he eats around the tofu. It's a texture thing.

Swiss: Chocolate, the darker the better. He likes the bitterness. He's also a sucker for cheap pickles, like the kind you get with your sandwich at a shitty diner.

Mountain: Tomatoes, oddly enough. If you see him in the greenhouse he always has a handful or two of cherry tomatoes in his apron pocket. He eats the big ones like apples to gross out Dew.

Cirrus: Fresh baked bread. She likes to make it herself, much to the detriment of the kitchen staff that has to clean up the mess she leaves behind. She tries to help them, but someone always ends up covered in flour.

Cumulus: Fruit in general. She likes to wander the orchards and pick whatever looks good. Mountain has to have a couple of ghouls on hand to chase her away during harvests, lest she try to sneak away with another bushel of peaches.

Sunshine: She hasn't been on Earth quite long enough to have a favorite yet, but she is very partial to anything sour. Dewdrop had her eat a handful of Sour Patch Kids as a prank once, much to his chagrin when she wound up loving them and stealing the rest of the bag.

[springbons]

APPARENTLY MY BLOG IS LIKE YOURS??? TUMBLR IN WHAT WORLD-

Anyways, flowery ask hehe.

For CY (because I can):

🍄🌾🍃🌵

And for Samson (because I MUST know more about him)

🌷☘️🍁🏵️

Oh lovely! A great deal of questions! I don't check ANY of these beforehand so I'm absolutely just gonna blindly go through these. 🍄 How likely is your OC to eat random berries/mushrooms they find? Riktor usually has some knowledge about everything and is able to make an educated guess. Derringer just stuffs it in his mouth and pays the consequences later. Kurt has no issue with poisons made for biological creatures. He may be carbon based but he gives 0 cares about your bothers. (That was horrible-) Moira will avoid anything she doesn't know (Like a normal person) Tarrel atleast tries to TEST what he's eating before he shoves it in his mouth. Vyra's a freak and eats poison berries. 🌾How picky is your OC with food? What will and won't they eat? Riktor USED to be picky, but not too much nowadays. Derringer used to NOT be picky, but he holds a terrifying grudge against pickles now-a-days. (He hasn't been the same since the incident.) Kurt refuses to touch Sauerkraut. He doesn't trust it. Moira is not someone who necessarily cares but she can't CHEW anything (or she Couldn't...) and so she prefers foods that take very little time in the mouth or can just be swallowed whole. Tarrel drinks WATER and ULTRA-PROCESSED NUTRIENT BARS. He literally cannot stand something as simple as fresh-cooked unseasoned chicken just because it's Solid Solid and it grosses him out... As a Dragon, A.K.A a Predator, that's kind of Sad. Vyra has... Asked to be left out of the rest of the asks-PFFT- 🍃What's the darkest period of time your OC has been through? "That mansion... It was like it never ended." -R "Uhh I believe it started when I was born, or atleast when we went to magic school and it sure as shit hasn't ended yet." -D "2000 years and the Iraq war was somehow the worst place I've ever been in. Back then, War was about honor... Now it's just atrocities..." -K "Same, but why are we all talking instead of the normal text?" -M "It's stylistically interesting and saves on time-Uhh the S.S. Discovery, but I think being DEAD might top that." -T 🌵How physically resilient is your OC? Riktor is like wet tissue paper in a suit of nigh impenetrable armor. Who needs to work out when Magic is so good? Derringer, despite being the same man, somehow holds up better in physical combat. He doesn't care about Magic as much but he'll definitely use it to his advantage. Kurt bounces almost fuckin' EVERYTHING. "If anyone could defeat god it's Kurt" as you said once. Tarrel cut off his own fucking arm, YOU TELL ME- Onto Samson! 🌷What is your OC's favourite flower and colour? He's not quite sure what he likes. His answer was a confident Blue, and "The Sticks." I think he means Wheat. His favorite flower is Wheat... ☘️How passionate is your OC about things they love/hate? That's a really weird question tbh. If it's asking what lengths he'll go to protect those he loves...? I'm not quite sure yet. He's fought a man already, and tried to bite through his gloves, but what would he REALLY sacrifice? I don't think he thought his life was at stake there Really. 🍁What is your OC's favourite season? Why and what do they do during it? Anything not unbearably hot or frigidly cold. His jumpsuit didn't keep heat very well, but during summer working in the camps would nearly kill him. He appreciated Fall the most because it wasn't humid and it was bearable. 🏵️What flower symbolises your OC best and why? What does the flower mean in floriography? Geranium. Hardy, bright, perennial, and I believe it means "Sincereness" They're often used as symbols of Friendship aswell, and tell a good bit about Samson's character in my opinion.

[terastalungrad]

BB20: Tuesday 10 October

Let's start by addressing the horrific state of modern TV ads:

If anyone ever says "Domino-OOH-hooooo" to me, or invites me to McDonald's with that sinister eyebrow movement, we are simply no longer friends. Even if intended ironically. No matter how much history we have.

Olivia has a Scots song for any occasion. Whether it's getting herself voted as entertaining, or trying to drive people out of bed.

Fun task: a bed has been set up that fits all 16 housemates. Last housemate to get out of the bed wins a secret prize.

Henry, Jordan and Tom give up early. They're not going to win, so why bother trying.

Big Brother tries to bribe some of the housemates with their favourite drinks. Matty hasn't made much of an impression on me so far, but the he looks so joyful and scandalised when he sees his favourite drink on the screen. I also really like his T-shirt, which I've found online look:

It is really weird that Marcus Bentley does parody Big Brother narration in the ads for the sponsor this year. It's only the speed at which he delivers the lines that helps my brain recognise they're not part of the show.

Now, you know I would die for the Welsh contestants. But - Chanelle doesn't lose well.

(She's thrown out of the bed byu Big Brother for falling asleep.)

Ahh, Hallie's so good at fielding annoying questions about her gender. I could watch her represent all day long. Imagine being this good at talking people through their endless questions when you're only 18.

Kerry leaves the bed to accept Big Brother's latest bribe - some of the contents of Jenkin's suitcase.

Haha, there are some SUSPICIOUSLY sharp cuts in this series. ITV Big Brother clearly has some hard boundaries around what they'll broadcast.

Don't have a great read on Noky yet. She's bonding with Yinrun, who's an S-tier housemate. The S stands for "Steff". I'm saying she's a fave.

Matty thinks the novel 1984 is named and set in 1974.

LET'S TALK GAME THEORY. The bribes keep getting better, and include treats for other housemates. It is in the interest of ALL housemates for the maximum number to stay in the bed, so that they can trade their departures for treats.

That is to say, Henry could have stayed longer and - despite not standing a chance of winning - gained something for the group rather than getting nothing back. But, like the Tory MPs for whom he votes, Henry left when it suited him best, rather than when it could benefit the community.

Hallie leaves, bribed by a cheese board. Noky leaves because she needs the loo.

I like this show. Maybe I'll watch all of the Circle at some point.

Really strange Pot Noolde-related incident in the kitchen. Let's see if I understand it.

A limited number of Pot Noodles are provided. Presumably this is product placement from a sponsor.

Yinrun makes some noodles, but feels guilty about hogging them, and offers them to Dylan - or whoever, really. Dylan doesn't want them. Yinrun tries to convince someone to take them, because she feels guilty about hogging them.

This pushes Olivia's buttons. I THINK what happens is, Olivia's annoyed by Yinrun. Why doesn't she just eat her bloody noodles and shut up? But that's not a reasonable thing to be annoyed about. So instead of telling Yinrun off, Olivia instead tries to be really positive but in an annoyed tone of voice.

So she's like, "Yinrun, don't even worry about it! Don't feel guilty! Just enjoy your noodles! No need to worry about other people! Be your own person!"

Except it's so clear Olivia's annoyed at Yinrun, so this sounds like an attack on her.

Tell you what sounds brilliant in Jenkin's Bridgend accent:

"I would not have argued over a Bombay Bad Boy Pot Noodle."

I hadn't even finished enjoying this sentence before he went on to say, "If it was Chicken and Mushroom, though, I would've lost my shit."

Jordan has taught Yinrun some cheese-related jokes. Absolute highlight of the episode.

Men are bonding. I'm against this in principle, but let's see. Paul, Matty, Zak and Dylan.

Paul talks about his childhood. Dodgy group of tearaway friends, until his headteacher did some good mentoring. Paul got his GCSEs, went to college to focus on boxing, and drinks relatively little as a result.

Matty's childhood - more money growing up, but hard to be gay on the Isle of Man. ("They're CALLED I Love Man" -- obligatory Josie Long quote) Matty has few male friends, but these hetero lads promise they're his friends for life now.

Zak grew up dirt poor. In Thailand, saved rainwater for showers. Used to fish for food, building fires to grill the fish.

"This is a social experiment, celebrating different people, different cultures, and what they're about." This is what Farida says to Hallie.

I think we know how ITV coached these housemates.

I saw a lot of people on Twitter express relief that we "finally have real people" in the show, rather than the "influencers" of later Channel 5 series.

But ... these people kind-of are influencers, right? Surely? There's no way Zak doesn't have an Instagram. In fact, I've just checked, and I'm correct - he has 109k followers, which I believe is the same as the total number of people left on Tumblr.

But they're different sorts of influencers. The level of artifice is the same, but in service of a different dance.

Channel 5 Big Brother would've given us a bitchy, vicious war between Farida and Hallie - microaggressions interwoven with battle cries.

ITV Big Brother shows us a tale of conflict resolution. Offence is caused by mistake, by a housemate who processes the conversation by talking to others, and the situation is resolved with a compassionate conversation at the end of the day.

Course, the other thing that's happening is that Hallie is far happier to be brutally honest about her feelings when Farida isn't around. Will that matter? As the weeks go by, is it the housemates' excellent social skills that'll stand strong - or will the tough situation cause them to descend into the same den of filth the Big Brother house normally becomes?

I hope it's the former. I'm enjoying a wholesome take on the voyeur show. Sure, we're creepily watching strangers going about their lives. But hey, now the epsiodes end with a really lovely conversation about the nature of love.

[background-character-341]

I posted 11,243 times in 2022

That's 11,243 more posts than 2021!

131 posts created (1%)

11,112 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sunflowersand-bees

@swashbuckling-chicken

@sorry-i-panicked

@no-ordinary-demigirl

@thatonesongyouretryingtoremember

I tagged 1,213 of my posts in 2022

#byler - 131 posts

#will byers - 51 posts

#random rambles - 51 posts

#mike wheeler - 50 posts

#asks - 43 posts

#bylers trying to break me - 41 posts

#mutuals - 33 posts

#mine - 16 posts

#not mine - 15 posts

#el hopper - 15 posts

Longest Tag: 127 characters

#and need to break up and spend soem time apart before they can build a relationship without societal expectations piled on them

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Okay, so I've seen a few posts recently about how Nancy doesn't care about Mike. This has bothered me ever since it started, and I think I've finally figured out why: I relate way too hard to Nancy right now. Their relationship actually reminds me a lot of the relationship between me and my sister.

Here's the thing. I don't interact with my sister if I can help it. It's sad but it's true; that's just the way we've structured our lives. We live in the same house and eat meals together, but that's pretty much where our interactions stop. We've fully separated ourselves from each other.

Nancy and Mike's main issue right now is communication. They don't know how to talk to each other, and the few times that they do try to have a conversation, it's usually an argument. We see this all the time in season 1 when they are having dinner, but we also see this in season 3, when she is telling him that he should respect El's wishes and ends up inadvertently invalidating his feelings.

Nancy doesn't know how to talk to Mike, and I think that a lot of that has to do with their parents' relationship. Karen and Ted clearly don't talk much to each other. They've built these walls around themselves to protect them from this loveless marriage. And without any good examples of healthy communication, Nancy and Mike have also learned to build these walls around themselves. We know this because we've see the way these walls affect their other relationships.

In Mike's case, his relationship with El is defined by these walls, and he uses her as a way of keeping them up. His relationship with Will is similar, though more to the extent that he's the only person who Mike lets them down around. We also see this in the way he represses his feelings for Will. He also has walls around his feelings to hide them from himself.

Nancy is in a similar boat. Her relationship with Steve was defined by the way she repressed her feelings, it was a shield that she used against her grief for Barb. With Jonathan she could let her walls down. But Nancy is still repressing her grief for Barb. We see that with her Vecna vision in season 4. She hasn't fully processed this, and she's hiding these feelings from herself, just like Mike is with his feelings for Will.

Nancy and Mike are very similar characters. They are both selfless and caring and incredibly smart. And they are both stubborn and so very bad at processing their feelings. They've both built walls around themselves so that they don't have to acknowledge that they're hurting. And when you've got these two people with walls and no basis for healthy communication, you get this strained relationship that's hurting them both. You get two people who love each other very much, but are worlds apart.

I think there's some merit to the idea that Nancy is trying to be everybody else's big sister. She doesn't know how to do that for Mike, so she tries to do it for his friends, because they're easier to talk to. They don't have walls that she needs to break down. They don't have a relationship with her that was built on a foundation of repressed feelings and antagonism.

We see Nancy try to reach out to Mike at the end of season 1. She tells him no more secrets and then immediately lies to her about her feelings for Jonathan. And regardless of whether you believe that Mike is bi or gay, it's clear that his response to her question about El is supposed to be a direct parallel to that. Neither of them are ready to keep that promise yet. Neither of them are ready to let down those walls and let the other in.

But that season 1 conversation gives me hope for them. Because the Duffers have shown us time and again that they don't throw in lines for shits and giggles. They don't just forget details from earlier seasons. The same people who gave us blue meets yellow in the west, who gave us numerous callbacks to season 2 in season 4, who paralleled Jonathan's talk with Will to Karen's talk with Mike, didn't just forget an important character moment from the first season. The same show that has shown us it knows how to write siblings, knows how to write friends, and is in the process of writing one of the greatest queer love stories we have ever seen, didn't just abandon this sibling relationship.

I fully believe that Mike is going to go missing next season somehow. And yes this will be great for us bylers who get to see Will looking for Mike with the same intensity that Mike looked for Will. But it will also force Nancy to confront her love for Mike as well as her trauma with Barb. And the next time they see each other they will finally be ready to tear down those walls and truly be vulnerable with each other. They'll finally keep their promise.

The beginning of season 4 is a small moment as far as their ineractions go. It's short and rushed and they are both annoyed at each other. And for me, it's also painfully real. Their relationship isn't bad writing, or Nancy not caring about Mike. It's a tragedy. Another casualty of the Wheeler trauma.

49 notes - Posted October 19, 2022

#4

I love it when a post starts out by saying "This is one of the biggest Byler proofs" because I've seen so many of those and they're always talking about something different and they're always so right, whatever they're analyzing is always 100% correct and can only point to byler and honestly that's the biggest Byler proof for me.

53 notes - Posted November 2, 2022

#3

Okay! Since apparently I'm back on Tumblr now I'm gonna finally make an intro post to stop cluttering my blog description.

WELCOME TO THE CHAOS

My name is Em. I am a minor so if that makes you uncomfortable dni.

I'm a boyflux girl (for now) and my pronouns are she/he/they/ey(/em/eir/eirs/emself).

I am QUEER. I am a VERY STRANGE PERSON. I am an ODDITY.

I'm also an aroace girlkisser. I like girls. I would like to kiss one. Platonically.

I'm married to @no-ordinary-demigirl @thebylerfiles and @sunflowersand-bees and I adopted @weirdo09.

My blog is a mess. Don't expect cohesion. I will do anything I want. 😈😈😈

I like Stranger Things, the Owl House, Amphibia, Wednesday, The Locked Tomb (if you spoil Nona for me I will find you and take your eyeballs) and a whole bunch of other stuff that I will probably add here later.

I think that's it for now. Have fun!!!!!!!!

55 notes - Posted December 8, 2022

#2

Luz: Everything is so crazy right now, and I have no idea what my future holds, but it would be so cool if you were in it

Mike: I have no idea what's gonna happen next. But, whatever it is, I... I think we should work together. I think it'll be easier if we're... we're a team. Friends. Best friends.

Parallels

59 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Okay, so I've decided to finally write this analysis that's been kicking around my brain for way to long.

Also, just a note before we start: I wholeheartedly believe that byler is endgame and Mike loves Will. Therefore this analysis was written with that in mind. If this bothers you for some reason, keep scrolling.

So, without further ado:

Stranger Things 4 and Romantic Monologues

We all love to shit on Mike's monologue and how it was a complete and utter failure as a declaration of love. We also love to heap praise on the van scene as a romantic moment. But these two aren't the only two romantic monologues in season 4, and if we take a closer look at them, there's a pattern regarding which ones work and which ones don't.

Mike

So Mike's monologue is objectively bad as a declaration of love. There are a million analyses on how bad it is. And it's very bad. Mike is lying the entire time, uses words that are a direct callback to things said to El by her abuser, and has to be prompted by her brother. Not to mention the fact that the entire thing was in response to Will's feelings, not hers. Mike barely pays any attention to what El actually wants, instead giving her what he thinks she wants. Yeah, Mike told El that he loved her. But it was never really about hearing him say I love you. I won't dive too deep into that; go read this post if you want to know more. But the general gist of it is that the only reason El wanted to hear him say I love you was because Mike wasn't making her feel loved. And his monologue didn't fix that because it didn't come from his heart. It was fake and riddled with romantic cliches and had to be wrenched out of him by the image of her choking on the table in front of her. It's very bad.

Steve

So Steve's monologue is technically two monologues, but I'm going to treat it as one for the purposes of this analysis. I absolutely despise these monologues. But we're already off to a better start than we were with Mike, because Steve is being genuine. You can tell because he isn't falling back on romantic cliches or what he's supposed to say in a moment like this. His six little nuggets speech feels genuine because that is how he feels. It's all coming from his heart.

The problem with his monologue, and the reason why I hate it, is that it doesn't take into account what Nancy wants. And we know that she doesn't want any part of the future he's envisioning for himself because she goes out of her way to tell us. She says, "That sounds like a nightmare". She is very clearly not on board with this plan and the writers make sure we know that.

So while Steve's monologue is genuine, we have yet another romantic monologue that ignores what the person on the receiving end actually wants.

Jonathan & Nancy

This one's a bit of an outlier. Technically, it's two monologues: one from Jonathan and one from Nancy. But they're set side by side like a dialogue, so it makes more sense to look at them as one.

Unlike the previous two declarations of love, these two actually take into account the person on the receiving end. They're about their qualities and strengths and what they see in them. We already know they love each other before they ever say it because you don't talk like that about someone you're not in love with.

But this is also the first time we've seen an endgame couple say the word love in relation to each other. And after they both say they love each other, Nancy insists that everything is fine in their relationship, and you can hear the bitterness in her voice. She's lying. And we find out later that everything isn't fine in their relationship, and they are in fact having communication issues. Their monologues did nothing to change that. They did nothing to fix their problems.

The monologues are genuine. We can feel that. We never doubt that they actually love each other. And we can see that in their reunion in episode 9. But they don't address the actual problems they're having. Something's still missing.

Lucas

As they're walking to skull rock, Lucas and Max have one of the most important conversations for rebuilding their relationship in season 4.

Lucas in this scene is reassuring Max with this monologue. Telling her that she doesn't need to hide anymore because he understands that she's going through something hard and he's here for her. It's a monolgue that's tailored to Max's insecurities. When Max tries take on some of the blame for their relationship falling apart, Lucas immediately shoots her down because he knows that she has so much guilt over what happened to her brother, and what she needs right now is someone to tell her that it's not her fault. Lucas tells Max that he sees her because he knows that she has been feeling invisible.

I see you aren't inherently romantic words, but they do more for Lucas and Max's relationship than any I love you ever has for any other relationship in this show, because they are the words that Max needs to hear.

And that's the crux of it really. This monologue works because it's what Max needs to hear. It's about acknowledging her feelings and reassuring her insecurities. It's about bridging the gap between the two of them.

Joyce

Joyce and Hopper have two romantic moments after they reunite: one right after, and then one at the church. The first one is basically Joyce telling Hopper that they missed him and the second one is her telling him that he was worth that whole trip. Unlike Lucas's monologue, they're both much more romantic moments, but they still follow the same basic formula. Joyce is telling Hopper what he needs to hear.

Hopper's main insecurity is that he only brings sadness and death to the people around him. But here Joyce is telling him that that's not true. They missed him. They want him around. She even brings in El as proof of this. And she's telling him that he's worth it. He's worth all that money, he's worth getting captured, he's worth crashing a plane in Russia. He's worth it. And they missed him.

Will

So, finally, the van scene. This scene has been analyzed a million times. I have gone from thinking that Mike is an idiot with rocks in his brain to being convinced that he knew exactly what Will was talking about here. This scene has so many layers, so much to be looked at and analyzed, and there's no way I can do it justice. This is where I direct you to this analysis. Just go read it, it's amazing.

But from the perspective that we're looking at, from the perspective of romantic monologues and why they work in Stranger Things, this one follows the same formula that the last two have. Will in this scene is doing the same thing for Mike that Lucas did for Max and Joyce did for Hopper: he's reassuring Mike. Mike feels insecure in his relationship with El. He feels like he's not important. Like he's nobody, and nobody needs him. And Will is telling him, "No. You are somebody. You are important. You make (El) feel like she's not a mistake. (El) needs you Mike."

The reason Mike is so moved by this monologue is that this is everything he has ever wanted to be told. And for the first time he feels loved. And Will never once said those three words.

I see you, I missed you, I need you. On the surface those words aren't nearly as romantic as I love you. But that's the point. I love you is too general. I love you could be about anybody. But having the ability to look at someone, see the parts of them that they hate, and say that they don't need to feel that way because you're there? That's specific. That's love.

Grand declarations of love don't work in Stranger Things because they don't actually address the relationship. They don't get to the heart of it and tell you what it is about these two people that makes them compatible. And they don't address any of the underlying problems in a struggling relationship. All the I love yous in the world can't change the fact that Jonathan is lying to Nancy about Emerson. They can't bridge the huge chasm between Steve and Nancy. And they certainly can't make Mike and El's relationship less toxic.

129 notes - Posted October 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →