#so i tend to stick to my “safe” dynamics

[mayday505]

i would be pumping out so much Kunikidazai if i could work out how to characterise Kunikida properly like MY MAN I LOVE U but GODDAMN like. i find it so hard to write him for no reason even tho he's literally me fr. I think BECAUSE I like him/relate to him so much but in a way that I don't fully understand about myself yet i find it hard to articulate his character in words. Like yk how when u have the characterisation in ur head and then when it comes to putting it on paper u come up empty? yeah thats me w autism man Kunikida.

ONE DAY!!!! ONE DAY I WILL WRITE THE MOST HEARTWRENCHING KUNIKIDA FIC AND MAKE EVERYONE CRY. But today is NOT that day so sorry xxx

[swordoffrivolousthings]

Thoughts about Heroes of Olympus and how it could have been better.

Sometimes I think about what would have made HOO a better series. And I'm not talking about the obvious 'too much focus on romantic relationships' and the lack of usage of certain characters or the dumb ending.

I mean the little things that would change so much (mainly character dynamics but also worldbuilding i.e. Camp Jupiter and Gaia's reasoning)

Some of the points are inspired by @crisisreading and their posts. They are the first I saw raise some of my own points so! part 2

Make the ages vary more in the main cast, trust me

Let Percy, Annabeth and Grover get older by 4-5 years. Let them become adults and find themselves outside the godly war. Let them even finish college, I wouldn't get mad. Let them do anything beside being teenagers.

I promise this would make the dynamics more interesting. Percy and Annabeth will be more mentor figures, than fellow comrades. This would create some distance between some of the them, but ultimately create something fun. Piper would come to see some aspiring female figure in Annabeth (I think this would ether be positive or negative, depending how Annabeth changed as a character over the years, but I tend towards negative). Leo would potentially have someone older to exchange ideas with. Jason would possibly feel intimidated by Percy's vastly superior age, prowess and experience, instead of being able to clash heads with him.

Hazel would have not one, but two that people that would play parent to the others' reckless behavior. (go snort your harmful stereotypes up your ass, Riordan.) Frank, when telling Percy and Hazel about his stick, would possibly find in Percy a kind hand (not that he wasn't kind already, let me explain) and Percy would probably share with him this feeling of vulnerability - not dump it on Frank - about having your life tied to a specific thing. I mean his Achilles heel, with which he would have lived for far longer.

And a whole lot more.

2. Add Grover into the series as a perspective character

You have a new trio dynamic introduced in the first book of the series. Let the original trio interact as main characters and let us see how their relationship has changed.

Grover's opinion on the conflict between the gods and Gaia would be important. He is the Lord of the Wild, and Gaia is the literal personification of the Earth. Let us see his struggle between the loyalty he has to the gods and his friends and his powerful feelings towards protecting nature.

Also, he would act as a protector for the demigods. Because while I enjoy Hedge, he is not enough to keep them safe.

3. Throw the bullshit about Gaia getting revenge for Kronos' defeat out of the way

Gaia, as mentioned before, if the personification of the Earth. One of the first gods to emerge from Chaos.

Gaia can, of course, keep her resentment for the gods defeating the son that freed her from her pain (caused by Ouranos initially). But she is a mother goddess. She should want obliterate humanity because humans are slowly killing her. Painfully. She wants to survive and the only way she sees how if by killing all the humans. She wants to save her children, aka animals, insects, nature, and the only way she sees is bloodshed. Gods are not rational in their anger, no one is. So let her be angry and vengeful and out for human blood.

DO NOT MAKE HER A FUCKING VILLAIN, MAN! Make her an antagonist, but someone's whose ideals are worth taking in and adapting. Kinda like Luke about the demigod and minor god recognition. Where have the themes of the original series gone? Remember, an important theme in BOTL was protecting the environment. It was one of the most important moments when Pan faded. Do not let that go to fucking waste. Especially not now, in the world we live in.

4. Show the effects the war had on Camp Half-Blood. Hint it at Camp Jupiter, when Percy does not have the memories to corelate it with

We've had years since the end of the Second Titan War. How did the gods change the course of events ? (the victors write the histories) How much of Luke's reasoning for starting the war was erased. (hint, all of it.) Show us how much the perspectives were shifted and how much the people that fought in it were made into martyrs and villain, basically becoming caricatures.

Let us feel how much this hurts Percy, Grover and Annabeth. How it had impacted and impacts their trauma, grief and utter horror. The younger, newer campers see them as wonderful, all-just and loyal heroes of the gods. The way they hate it.

Good moment to implement the new cabins for the gods and let the new ones forget that it wasn't always this way. Let Percy's demand to the gods be forgotten, shoved under the rug. The tragedy unfolds, use it.

Since in Camp Jupiter none of the main characters have fought, let us see the subtility. Let the older legionnaires be ragged, scarred. Older and weary, with eyes glassy and suspicious. Have younger recruits have this heavy air around them. They know what happened, what killed most of the older people in the legion.

Have Jason, Hazel and Frank see these things in Annabeth, Grover and Percy too. They realise that oh. oh. these three have fought in the war, of course they would. Show them gain respect for the trio. The same kind of respect they have for the veterans back home.

5. Cut one of the Seven from the prophecy.

I know this seems radical, but it is a symbolism thing, which I think would be more interesting in a world based on Greek mythology.

It is established in PJO that three (3) is an important number: 3 Olympian sisters (Hera, Demeter, Hestia), 3 Olympian brothers (Hades, Poseidon, Zeus), 3 Fates, 3 quest members, 3 Furies, 3 godly realms (the Underworld, Olympus + the sky, the seas). Use this.

Give us six (6) prophesized heroes. It is, after all, the second most used number in the series and a multiple of 3.

I suggest Annabeth. Why? because she has her quest from Athena. Let that be her top priority, while hanging out on the Argo II to get to Rome. Let her bond with the younger demigods and have her possible death be always on her mind. Bring her hubris into play and she would think herself the chosen one, the one demigod child of Athena to survive. This would make her falling into Tartarus with Percy not letting her go more taxing on her psyche.

Show us how she hates herself because she took one of the principal quest members to certain death. She feels like she'd jeopardized the whole saving the world thing.

Cut the Seven to Six and let Annabeth die in Tartarus. Show us why a single-man quest is a death sentence. Why three (3) is such a valuable number.

6. CONSEQUENCES!!!

Jumping straight off the last point.

Change why Annabeth would end up in Tartarus. Make her ignore the string around her ankle because she thing that nothing bad can happen to her now. After all, Arachne is gone, right.

Let this be her undoing. I do not care how she dies, but make her choices, her hubris, be her undoing. Do not let her death up to a chance, a mistake or miscalculation. Show how toxic Tartarus is, because we do not see it enough, but make it Annabeth's idea, the plan by which she dies.

Do not make it Percy's fault. Let him try to do everything to keep her alive, but still failing. Attack his sense of loyalty, his self-esteem. Show how the experiences and her death affect him.

Bring the trauma from the last war back in those chapters, in a place where demigods leave something behind.

To less drastic things - let the others get hurt. Permanently. Show how this life affects and damages people physically, too.

Have one lose an eye, another get horrific scars. Lose a limb, a part of themselves. Do not make it seem like any other could have gotten the same wound.

Tailor them to their character, their pride and their skill. Hit them where it hurts most and let us see how it changes them.

Also, about Leo. Kill him too. The fact that he ended up alive is a deux ex machina. He should have suffered the consequences.

Also also, bring back the fatal flaws. They are missing from the series. Play with them, show why they are important parts of their characters. Bring back ancient Greek fatal flaws, and new ones that make sense in a modern world.

Hurt them because what hurts them is part of who they are. Show us why the Greeks invented tragedy.

7. Age up the target age. Go more young/new adult

I understand that PJO was made for middle schoolers. But the target audience had grown up alongside the characters, and as such they have matured.

This is why I said to age Percy, Grover and Annabeth up further. Leave some distance for the old and new readers to get up and personal with the new main characters. Have them find common ground with the new demigods but have their anchor in the old ones.

Make the readers work to understand and refamiliarize themselves wit the older demigods. Because they've changed.

Targeting a more mature audience allows exploring n. 6. The realistic consequences of living with the fear that something will come and eat you. How just a little mishap could change you for life. (or what has been left of it)

Please do not go grim dark. Show that despite this all, their purpose has not stopped existing. A life exists outside of your appearance or disability still exist, and while it would be hard, do not lose hope.

8. Hope, or lack of its importance in the Heroes of Olympus series

Alongside other callbacks and reinforcements of PJO's lore, where is Elpis (hope)? Why doesn't she appear as a larger theme in the books? I don't know.

Elpis is still in the jar, having been used as a threat of defeat. But now Kronos is gone. Have Gaia use it as s symbol for her own cause.

Make hope Gaia's argument. The most important part of why her cause stands. Gaia is waking now because there is no hope for the betterment of the planet while in human - and therefore godly - grasp. She wants to save the planet, but they, the destroyers, are opposing her.

Hope is what she wants to bring back. The hope that death will not be the end of life, but further evolvement and betterment of all species.

This argument is what the counterargument should unravel. All species? Why are humans considered irredeemable, unworthy of becoming something greater?

Why can't they not coexist and why can't humans learn how to care about the world surrounding them.

Make hope for humanity and for the environment not a question of if they are capable to coexist, but how we can manage that. Humanity and nature are not mutually exclusive, but two halves of the same whole that need each other to sustain their longevity. Yes, nature can exist without humans, but humans can't.

This does not mean that the best way forward is to kill all humans.

There is no need for hope in HOO because there are no greater questions being asked about topics that require hope, because otherwise we would descend into nihilism and fatalism.

9. Give the gods reason to act the way they act, or a look at a greater narrative problem in the series

I may be generalizing, but the gods act erratically and make choices convenient for the plot, as it is, to happen.

Hera: how, specifically, does she know that Gaia is rising and what her plans are. Why is she against Gaia, when the older goddess has a track record of helping the Olympians on different occasions in the myths. Why does she decide to act when she does, how she knows that the king of the giants (whatever his name may be) is coming after her right then.

We don't know.

Athena: we understand why she wants the Athena Parthenos back. Why not force the Romans to give it back. After all, she is a goddess, even if the Romans don't respect her as the Greeks did, she has power and sway over them. Why send her children, a supposedly important part of what brings her glory, to a near-certain death. Is it misguided vengeance, an obsession to get the statue back at all cost, or simple cruelty. These reasons could apply very well to sending the Romans, yet she doesn't.

Zeus: why lock down Olympus? Paranoia, which fair, but you are a King, why wouldn't you look after your subjects? (bc Riordan chose to ignore part of his characterization in the myths and part of his godly domain) (I know kings aren't perfect, but after the last war, one would think he would do everything in his power to stop another one before it begins) Why not seek justice for Octavian's lies, that affect their ability to win the war, and kill/imprison him? Justice is part of his domain, as Zeus Nomius.

I know that we wouldn't necessarily need these answers, but without some of them, some choices left hanging seem to be there only to add to the drama and danger of it all.

All in all, I have many problems with the 'Heroes of Olympus' series. Some of them are nitpicks and personal preference as a high fantasy reader in my free time. Some of them would really add to the story and continue the themes of PJO.

Please ask me if something wasn't clear to you. I'll happily explain further.

If you find something you don't agree with, let's discuss. I'm open to changing my opinions.

[yuri-is-online]

It's Not Going Away (First Years x Yuu)

The subtle, sweet scent of flowers shakes you gently awake, but to your surprise you lack the strength to move. It's like your entire body is made of lead and your throat is filled with sand. A vague memory of telling Grim you didn't feel well before... well you thought you were just taking a nap, but there's person holding your hand who would never speak to you like this if he knew you could soon wake up.

notes: they/them pronouns used for Yuu, angst brought by denial, technically sick fic? Inspired by the op to Horimiya, which can be listened to here (x). References for flower language were taken from here and here. If you like this feel free to check out my masterlist for more fic.

Rose, Great Maiden's Blush

"Seriously, what am I going to do with you?" The voice belongs to Ace, you'd recognize him anywhere, but it's strangely strained. If you had the strength to move you would slap him, but then you would need to let go of his hand. It's warm, comforting, a bit rough from basketball and tending the roses, and fills you with happiness. Ace would probably make fun of you if he knew how badly you wanted this, take away his hand with a look of disgust and stick out his tongue. "Just kidding~" That's how your dynamic has been ever since he first asked to crash on your couch, two steps forward into something more, one leap back into the safe zone. "You know I'm not always going to be around to take care of you, yeah? One of these days you are gonna go home and leave me, whose going to look out for you then?" He lets go of your hand and you want to scream for him to stay, but feel the fever settling you back into sleep. "You'll be ok, I know that. You don't need me as much as I want you to, so-" He touches your cheek, caressing it so tenderly you want to keep him there forever but he doesn't bother to finish his thought.

But by the time you are able to wake up he's long gone, the only thing suggesting it wasn't a dream a vase full of roses he's definitely going to brush off as lame. That's assuming he brought them in the first place, you have never seen these flowers in the Heartslabyul garden. Maybe you were just being too hopeful, you think to yourself as you lean your still warm hand against your painfully beating heart.

(if you do love me you will find me out)

Rose, Tea

"Hey don't you think you might be hurting the prefect?" The person holding your hand has it in a tight grip, but it isn't uncomfortable. far from it, you feel wanted, secure in someone's appreciation. That voice belongs to Ace, you think that makes the hand your holding Deuce, but he's refusing to respond verbally and confirming your suspicions. The silence fills the room for an uncomfortably long time, even for you, you're grateful when Ace decides to break it. "Deuce-"

"We're not doing this now." His grip on you hand loosens, but he still keeps it near. You can tell Deuce's fighting to keep his cool. "They ar-"

"You're always talking about the future like they'll be there." Ace snaps, careful to dull his voice but not his point. "Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind laughing at you two losers forever, but have you even thought about what your future will look like if they aren't there?"

"I can't. And don't act like you don't know that already." There's movement in the room, you think Ace tries to get Deuce to leave with him but he doesn't budge. He takes your hand again as the door clicks closed, moving to cradle it in both of his with such care it's hard to believe these are the same fists you've seen busting up jaws for breaking some eggs. "I'm sorry you had to hear that." he whispers, but you're unsure if he knows your awake or if he is just speaking to fill the silence "You can go back to sleep now, I'll be here when you wake up I promise." You have no choice but to take him at his word, settling into your bed and hoping you will have the courage to face each other when you wake.

(i'll remember always)

Spider Flower

There's only ever one. For his father and mother, for his grandfather and grandmother, so long as there have been wolves in the mountains they have only ever sought out one partner for the rest of their lives. But you aren't programmed like that, you said as much when the boys started gossiping about their preferences during that whole ghost bride event. "I'd like a soulmate, I just don't think I have one." And you meant it really, you were sure Jack would meet someone like him that would be perfect for him one day. So why is there a fluffy head resting next to you? Why is a tail draped over your legs, you want to believe protectively but you can't bring yourself to open your eyes and check.

"I swear it's like I'm in love with the moon." Jack grumbles into your side. "No matter how loud I howl you can't hear me and act like I'm not on your radar at all." That's not true, he's all you can think about sometimes, you just wanted to spare his feelings since it couldn't be possible for him to love you back. "Maybe I was wrong that I didn't have to worry about winning you over..." His tail wraps up closer to your waist and you try to snuggle closer into him. He'll ask you later, maybe when you wake up or maybe even later than that, but he has to ask. You might be out of reach, but that's only if he does not try. The flowers at your bedside have a specific meaning, he made sure to ask Vil for help just this once, though if the message doesn't make it through he supposes he can ask again.

(elope with me)

Alyssum

Warmth leaves your body as the person who has been holding your hand gently lets it go, setting it on your chest as he pats it and begins to hum an unfamiliar tune. The familiar shlick of a knife through an apple sets a scene you can't open your eyes to see, for someone so hot headed, Epel seems remarkably calm right now. "I wonder if it's ok for me ta look at you like this..." or maybe he wasn't. "I mean I have seen you sleeping before when I put you under my spell, but this is a bit different. Would be nicer if it was under different circumstances..." He pauses in his carving, studying you for any sign that you could be awake and poking your cheek a few times to try and wake you, pouting when you don't immediately rise. "You know I was really happy when I found my signature spell. I wanted to protect you so badly, and for so long I was convinced I couldn't. I thought if I could just get stronger, and taller I would be able to-" There's a weight next to you on the bed now, it sounds like Epel has put his head in his hands and resolved himself to stare you down until you wake up. "But I don't think you'll be around long enough for me to reach the point I wanted to before telling you anything." You manage to stir slightly, and are rewarded with startled noises from Epel that give way to disappointed relief when you realize actually getting up is just a task too much for you right now. As if he realizes this, Epel reaches out to squeeze your hand before returning to his apples. The strange song makes its way to his lips once more, but this time he softly gives it words.

There's a note left for you alongside the flowers, telling you to drink water and that there's a bunch of apples in your fridge that you absolutely have to eat. It's some of his best work he says and you can't help but wonder if he doesn't just mean the carving.

(worth beyond beauty)

Gladioli

“I’m not quite sure when I started to see you differently, just know I feel like a fool for my prior behavior." The letters hadn't been signed, but you had an inkling who they were from. In place of a picture every third one was accompanied by the exact same flower, you thought it was cute how well Sebek thought he was covering his tracks. It would be nice if he was the one holding your hand, but that couldn't be. He was too loud, if he was here then you would know. Even his unsigned letters were loudly and proudly him, mercifully free of praise for Malleus though they were. "You shine like dew on a rose, for your praise I go to lengths that surprise myself. Some say I am foolish, most call me single minded and in your presence I cannot protest those sentiments. Given your circumstances, it would be selfish of me to ask for your patience, but I must. I must ask for your patience until I can ask you aloud." You were content to be patient with him, if you weren't you never would have been friends in the first place. The person holding your hand gives it a final squeeze, though he pulls away slowly, trying to savor every last bit of illicit contact he can.

When you are finally able to move a familiar sort of flower around your room, once again someone is trying to be romantic and failing to cover his tracks. Once again he is refusing to face you, out of fear or shame you do not know. You gently pick at the petals, trying to divine just what it is you think Sebek wants to say, not just what you want it to mean.

(i am really sincere)

[astaroth1357]

My Incredibly Spoiler Heavy Thoughts on Nightbringer

TURN BACK IF YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN PLAYING THE GAME AT ALL. I MEAN IT.

Hello. I have completed all 10 lessons on the Normal difficulty. These are my thoughts:

First, a disclaimer. All of this is my opinion. If you feel differently about a character or plot point, that's fine. This is all just as I see it.

Holy hell, I love the setup here so damn much. The Nightbringer story so far is truly more than just a rehash of the OG plot, largely because of all the small stuff that keeps happening in background. Yes, we're befriending the brothers again, but we don't know WHY. Why are we in the past? Who sent us there? What do they want from us, or... what do they want out of somebody else?? 👀 I have to hand it to the writers for coming up with this premise, it's soild. Will they stick the landing...? We'll see.

The New! (Old) Cast

Lucifer:

Whelp, Luci is being colder to us than ever... But far more openly involved with his brothers than we saw previously. You can really tell that this is fresh off of the War and he's just trying his best to keep everybody corralled and (somewhat) comfortable.

He still holds onto his Celestial Realm prejudice against demons, so he doesn't trust MC at all which is an interesting turn on the dynamic from before. As a human, Lucifer saw us as weak and insignificant so he didn't give us much time of day. But as a "demon," and someone more knowledgeable about the Devildom than himself, he has to suck it up and rely on MC even if he wants them to stay away.

By the end of Lesson 10, it's safe to say whatever trust he had in MC is going to be shattered. MC has talked their way out of a lot, but even Dia looks shaken by their abilities this time... I'm curious to see if they can reestablish a relationship with him when he was already keeping them at arms length to start with.

Mammon:

Ah, Mammon... Once simp, forever a simp across time and space. Bless him. I guess he's just doomed to always fall first when it comes to MC. It DOES NOT take long for him to be down bad even if you don't romance him specifically (I would know because I'm trying to stay mono-Levi this go around).

Aside from his tsundere-ness, though, we do get a look into more of his insecurities. I find an interesting pattern developing in him where he just tends to latch onto a person and follow them unfailing. He did that with Lucifer before the Fall, he didn't even think about the consequences before going through with it. You could see him doing much the same with MC. I think it stems from a lack of confidence in himself and his own abilities, constantly relying on others to guide him through big decisions and provide him with validation. Add another poor thing to the list...

Leviathan:

I swear to God, the devs realized that Levi's charm lies in his pathos, so they went out of the way to make him EVEN MORE pathetic than normal. I still love him for it, of course. But seriously, Levi starts out practically afraid of his own shadow when the story starts. It makes sense, Levi would have probably one of the more negative impressions of demons of the seven, having fought them head on. He was a shut in before the War and now he's even more terrified to leave the house, let alone his room... (I can't be the only one who's wondering how the hell Dia's going to look at him and go, "Ah yes! I see Admiral material right there!" right?)

I do like that the writers took the time to show that he's one of the more empathetic brothers, right alongside Asmo and Beel, even if he's bad with people. Levi is quick to sympathize with beings and creatures who don't fit in and it's always very sweet to see. I also guess that Simeon wrote TSL in secret or after the War? You think he would know of it at least having lived so long with the author... Anyway. I digress.

There's a lot of... small things around Levi that I think hint at the inner feelings of the brothers, though (of all seven of them, he has the WORST poker face I swear). I may touch on those in another post because I need time to gather my thoughts on how it all connects there... Anyway, he's still my favorite and I'm going to try to see if there's any truth to this "you get a deeper connection if you stick to one brother" thing. Wish me luck.

Satan:

Okay, load your guns now because I think Satan is the real star of the show here. They're actually pulling way more than the "He's mad because he's seen like Lucifer" card. We're at a point where Satan doesn't even consider himself associated with the brothers AT ALL. That means something and has consequences on the story. He didn't even go with them to check on Beel, despite having enough fire power that he could have probably helped a lot.

Now before someone goes screaming at me that they've devolved him into comic relief, I'd first like to ask what did you think he was going to be? OG Satan told us himself that he used to feel nothing but anger. He's going to be pissed, irrational, and violent. He's Wrath.

What truly they're giving us under all of that is a look into a vulnerable guy who doesn't know anything about the world around him and is trying to pick it up on his own because his brothers can't (and maybe won't) teach him. They keep chaining him up (which I hate btw) and talk about him like he's a beast. But it's partially because they're such terrible communicators that he flies off the handle so often to begin with.

Satan is more alone than really anybody else is the Devildom. His brothers already have all this history together and memories shared during their time as angels, stuff he has no context for and could never experience himself. He's still an outcast among demons for his association with them, despite being a fully fledged demon in his own right, and he doesn't know why he has to be linked to them because he barely knows them anyway. He's taking baby steps to understand the world, but when he goes to his brothers to ask questions they lampshade him for even having clear thoughts. All they see him as is a roaring beast. This version of Satan is fascinating to me. How does he start here and end up the eloquent, emotionally-controlled bookworm with a planet's worth of connections? I gotta know!!

Asmodeus:

They FINALLY started giving Asmo his proper flowers! I still think it could have been more, but he's gotten way more depth than he had before. I know that Asmo part technically involved MC's input the least out of all of the brothers, but I think that was by design.

Asmo is a surprisingly introspective individual under his urge to perform. MC didn't have to give much input because he just didn't need as much. He knows himself very well (unlike some of the others). He's an emotionally intelligent guy who can sort out his own inner problems and remain empathetic enough to want to help his brothers in his own way. I wanted to hear more from this side of Asmo, honestly, but the game seems to make it clear that he's content with his spot of being the family's brightest smile. I hope it makes more appearances as we go on.

Beelzebub:

This one is tricky, because lesson 10 leaves off on a cliffhanger related to Beel... So I think Beel's feelings will have more consequences than the other brothers' on the story. Most of all that we see of Beel is, unfortunately, him being hungry or off being wholesome with Belphie but lesson 10 did give us some eye-openers regardless.

First, apparently if he flies off the handle, Beel is quite the challenge to handle. It takes Dia himself to restrain him, which is pretty insane for the sixthborn in the line-up. It's possible some outside magic is cranking up his power somehow, but we won't know until the next lessons are out.

Secondly, I find it very interesting that Beel's "heart-to-heart" moment with us is being saved for last... It was definitely the most surprising one of the secrets in the teasers (in my opinion). Beel and Belphie are glued to the hip and share everything together so for him to have a secret "not even Belphie" knows is pretty shocking. I hope it's not just that he saved Belphie instead of Lilith since we all already know that. It'd be a pretty cheap pay off to all this buildup... Not that I haven't been disappointed before or anything.

Belphegor:

Similar to Beel, Belphie doesn't get much attention until the end and it isn't much that we haven't heard before, unfortunately. You kind can't blame them, since plumbing out Belphie's inner trauma about the War was the entire climax of the first game. It's nothing we don't already know. That being said, I think there's some more interesting things that are being said about Belphie or left unsaid by the others that I find more fascinating to keep track of.

TLDR, I think there's some weird distancing going on between Belphie and the others. It doesn't seem super apparent, but Levi dropped some weird bombshells early on and I can't help but notice how he just never seems to be without Beel. Those two are close, yeah, but in this game they're practically a unit. I'm pretty sure Belphie is using Beel as a security blanket of sorts. He's also the ONLY one to mention Lilith in any great detail. Unsurprising, but it's worth noting that the others haven't really brought her up despite it (supposedly) starting the War.

Diavolo:

Somebody give this guy a vacation and a raise... So apparently, the brothers were cast down, the old King took one look at them and counted to seven, then conked out. Now our boy has to rule the kingdom. He's... the same really. As far as I can tell. You can really see how much he's taken to the brothers' antics though, which checks out in the other game too.

WAAAY more fascinating to me is apparently there's some kind of body called the House of Lords who think that Dia is too young for the job. What's the House of Lords?? Who are they? Are they like a council or advisory board...? Or is this a UK setup? Is there a Parliamentary board?? I dunno, could just be my Poli Sci talking but I'm now so lost on how the Devildom operates now...

Barbatos:

Oh my God, if there is any character I could live vicariously through, it was Barbs here. For whatever unnamed reason he is NOT having any of Solomon's shit right now and I'm living for it. Setting my delight aside, we don't get to see very much of him and what we do see doesn't really differ from the norm, which only makes his detest all the more shocking.

Through Barbs, we also see just how potent the power of the pacts can be when Solomon summons him and more or less forces him to do as he says. Nothing seems to stop him from retaliating after the fact, as he sent Solomon off who knows where, but seeing that kind of power wielded over a being who's almost unattainable to us is... Well. I feel bad for Asmo.

Simeon:

There's a lot to unpack with Simeon... and a lot of it is in the stuff that goes unsaid. First, I already found it strange that he didn't seem surprised to see Satan in the House. Or if he was, he didn't say it or bother introducing himself which is... telling for a guy like Simeon. He's back to being Luke's minder in front of demons, but I can't help but notice that he doesn't do much to counter Luke's tirades. He only indicates that it's impolite to say them, so he may still harbor the very same feelings.

Simeon and Lucifer have something of a heart to heart together that they never would in the OG title where Simeon admits his biggest regret. It isn't that he didn't follow Lucifer, as we might think, but that he doesn't feel like did enough to reach out to him before he made his decision. Lucifer dispells this, but I think it goes to show that Simeon stands behind his decision to stay and that it was the better option. Lucifer also confront Simeon on why he didn't take a high position (seraph) and instead settled for archangel. It's left open ended what his real motives for that would be, but I suspect that it has something to do with Simeon's troubling streak of going against the grain, even in subtle ways. Or he has too much anger about what happened to accept taking Lucifer's old position.

I found it interesting how easily these two seemed to talk about intimate topics together here where Lucifer barely even acknowledges Simeon's attempts to reach out in the OG story. I wonder what may have happened to sour their relationship so severely...?

Luke:

Luke the Racist Chihuahua returns!! Okay, I'm being a little mean but he's pretty much just self-righteous little kid the whole way through. I will admit, it is a little funny that the person who came up with the nickname was actually Lucifer. I think it's now retconned and confirmed that Luke and the brothers never knew each other before the Fall... though Luke seems to know OF their former selves in some capacity. I could be misinterpreting things though.

The Rat Bastard Solomon:

I swear to God this was me playing through the whole game tied to this guy.

He's lying. A lot. Constantly. And it pisses me off to no end. I was wondering why things he was saying and the stuff he was doing weren't lining up and OF COURSE it's because he's either working his own agenda or being outright deceitful. I hate him so much, y'all, you don't even know...

That aside, as an impartial observer Solomon is pulling a lot of work to support MC and you can TELL how down bad he is for them, which actually has significance for the plot I think. He's keeping them in the dark about something, but considering his feelings I say we can at least be charitable and assume it isn't to hurt them or cause them any suffering... intentionally. He's also as unscrupulous as ever, considering how he ordered a very angry Barbs around and more or less took advantage of a life or death situation to make a pact with Asmo.

So. At the end of the lessons, we're reintroduced to the mysterious Nightbringer. The character who actually sent us back in time at the start of the game. Yeah, it wasn't Barbatos... probably. At least not our reliable neighborhood butler anyway. They seem to be different entities but I THINK they might share some connection....

I have to wonder who disguised MC when they first arrived. The marketing made it seem like it would be Solomon but the marketing has been hit or miss on actual accuracy about the game we're seeing. If it was Solomon, then he had to have known where the MC was before he called. If it was Nightbringer then... well actually. We need to touch on that first.

Nightbringer:

Now, much of this is just me speculating so take things with a grain of salt. Nightbringer's name is blocked out, but it seems like it identified itself to us in the beginning before sending us to the past. It appears like it wants something from Solomon.... to fully corrupt him maybe? And it's using MC as leverage against him.

I suspect that all of the weird stuff that has been happening is tied to its meddling in some way, but to what end is unclear... Sending Levi and MC into TSL, tricking Asmo then trying to feed everyone to a spider, and, likely, whatever is going on with Beel. I can't tell if it's trying to push MC and the brother's closer together, or just making vaguely comical attempts at homicide by fictional characters, spider, and Gluttony incarnate.

The situation with Adam does give us a hint into its nature. It appears to be some kind of dark, trickster being that gives a person what they desire, but never the way they intended. A walking monkey's paw, if you will. Solomon says that Nightbringer made him what he is today, so perhaps he worked under it or is simply under the influence of one its "deals." Their relationship is adversarial, though. When they're speaking, they talk about the two supernatural sides, Angel and Demon, and Nightbringer seems to want to force Solomon to make a choice between them. Lose his humanity, maybe?

I'm not quite willing to say that Nightbringer is a demon just yet, at least not one of the ones we normally encounter. Something about it seems... older. More powerful than that. But we'll have to wait for more info.

My crackpot theory?

Solomon has made a deal with Nightbringer in order to go back in time and do... something. He's after something. Nightbringer agreed, but dragged MC along as collateral for Solomon to get it done within a certain amount of time or makes sure he honors his part of the bargin. Barbatos knows this, either because he is linked to in some way to Nightbringer or saw it happen in the doorway, and is disgusted by his actions but unable to speak about it due to the pact. Or, you know. That's our present Barbie also dragged along for the ride and he's pissed that he's been essentially hijacked and taken away from present Diavolo, but forbidden to speak about it.

[readychilledwine]

Edgeplay

✨️Kink Education with Elizabeth✨️

Welcome to the side of BDSM most people are very nervous about. Edgeplay is an umbrella of play types that tend to push the limitations of safety and emotional and mental well-being. This type of play can be triggering, so consider from here forward a trigger warning for this one-shot.

Edgeplay is not for the faint of heart. The types of play in this umbrella include consensual non consent, blood play, knife play, fire play, more extreme forms of rope play, breath play, impact play with implements that are faster to draw blood (studded paddles, kendo sticks, whips, canes, etc.), fire play, gun play, extreme temperature play, orgasm wrecking, and one of my very hard limitations, scat play and water sports. It is not uncommon for these play types to leave permanent reminders of play for years to come.

This type of play requires a very deep connection and level of trust between dom and sub. Some of these activities can kill you, and in recent years, the excitement behind that statement has been romanticized to the point that they began their own subgenre of the spice and romance literature world: Dark Romance.

I will be honest, I was SHOCKED and gagged and then felt evil with how I planned this out, to have our sweet baby LuLu requested for this. It is more mild than had I gotten Azriel because I can not see Lucien being super into play that could leave him potentially scarred and I could not see him being the dom in a situation that would potentially scar his play partner. I hope you all still like it, though!

💕Peep the Valentines Day List Here💕

As always, NSFW below the cut

Lucien Vanserra x Reader

Warnings - male sub dynamics, mommy kink, wax play, rope play, orgasm wrecking and edging, breathplay, use of safe word.

Something about Lucien was just so pretty when he begged. 

Maybe it was the pouty full lips. Maybe it was the whispered desperation. The soft look in his eyes was a plus, too. “Mommy,” you had denied him seconds away from an orgasm again. Lucien's chest had splatters of wax across it, his hair a tangled mess from pulling it constantly.

He has asked you to push him limitations. You were happy to oblige. “What color are you, baby?”

Through wet lashes, Lucien looked up at you, lip trembling slightly. “Yellow.” You began stroking his head. “Just need to cum.”

You tutted him. “Yellow means we slow down,” you began straddling his waist, holding the candle again. “Do you not remember your safe colors, baby?”

“I remember, mommy,” his hands moved to your thighs, gripping them tightly as that first drop if wax hit his abs. He hissed and squirmed, a whimper leaving his throat. 

“Did you forget your safe word?”

Another drop had him groaning, “No, mommy.”

You smiled, spare hand tracing his fingers, “Did you forget the rule about touching me?” He only whimpered in response as you flicked your wrists, and his hands were tied above his head. You had taken his one comfort and knew that limitations were about to be further pushed and possibly broken. “What's your safeword, baby?” You had set the candle down, sinking in to him inch by slow inch, watching the rise and fall of his chest before picking the candle back up.

“Red or Beron.”

“Do you need to use them?”

He shook his head, “Not yet.”

You leaned in kissing His pouty lips softly. “Would you like to start again?”

“Yes, mommy. Still yellow.”

You nodded, beginning to ride him slowly and tenderly while dropping wax on him occasionally. You were purposely aiming for spots that were already covered, so he didn't feel the full effect. You watched as he physically relaxed, whines becoming moans of your name, pleading for more. 

You bounced faster, hips moving in a rhythm you knew he loved. You began pouring the wax on exposed skin while your hand went to rest on his throat. 

You were watching Lucien closely, ensuring he was okay as you began to bring him back to his high. His beautiful face began to switch every so often, pleasure mixing with pain, and fading back to bliss. He was so close, and you wanted to give him a reward, allow him to fill your aching clenching cunt with his seed and then snuggle him and clean up. 

But something was preventing him from finding that bliss, from tipping over the edge. Your hand had moved from his throat, resting on his chest instead, but he didn't relax, falling back into whines and whimpers below you, begging softly. 

You went to set the candle down, one last drop of wax falling onto his collarbone area as you did, and it happened. “BERON!”

You  felt the room shift, stopping all motion. “I'm going to get off of you, okay?”

Lucien nodded, tears forming in his eyes as he did. “I'm sorry-”

You hushed him gently, moving to sit beside him and reaching to untie him. “Do not apologize to me. We tried a few new things, and it was too much. You never apologize for needing to stop, Lucien.”

“I just kept waiting for you to rip it away again, to stop and.. and you didn't.. but-” 

You began playing with his hair as his hands found your bare skin, feeling for comfort, squeezing plush flesh to regroup himself. 

“It's okay, Lu. You're safe.. I'm so sorry.”

He shook his head. “I wanted to try.”

You began peeling the wax off, praising him as you did. “What can we do to make you feel better?”

“A bath.”

“Then let's go take a bath.” You pulled him off the bed, walking him to the bathroom, and began running the tub. “Let's get this wax off. I love you, Lu.”

He smiled down at you. “I love you too. Also, never realized how quickly my father's name could kill a mood.”

“So fast,” you laughed.

He smiled harder, glowing softly at the happiness flowing from both ends of the bond. “So fucking fast.”

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[sailorgundam308]

Guys. I love Astarion as much as the next unhinged tumblr fangirl, BUT.

If you’ve noticed, I tend to focus my headcanons and art on Karlach more than I do Astarion. I have the same amount of - if not more - headcanons and all that for him, but I often find that there’s just SO MUCH painfully detailed and deep content focused on him as “main character” that there’s no point in adding to that choir when Karlach is sort of left neglected.

I saw so many times how people either hijack a post about Astarion x Karlach to talk about some personal insight only about him. Rarely is about her as the center point. Or how they discuss their dynamic as if Karlach is only an instrument through which Astarion can heal or feel safe or whatever. I hate that.

I know it’s obvious that he is the fangirls’ golden boy (okay, fine, mine too) so there’s not much I can do about it aside from trying to remind people Karlach is a full main character in her own right, and that Astarion is as much an “instrument” for healing her as she is to him.

I hope that my hyper fixation on these two makes me create/spread content to fill this gap on a more Karlach-centric perspective.

(Ofc I also like to spoil the fancy boy, but there’s so much about him already there’s few new things I can add - so I’ll stick to my berserker guns)

[lookinghalfacorpse]

You don't have to respond to this one, but @ your last tags on the found family trope post, I can't say I haven't been curious if anything like that was ever the case. You've been so careful in painting everyone's relationship to be on trust and healthy reliance on one another in times of need, and Techno + Dream definitely have something more intimate and close going on (which I deeply appreciate btw- I couldn't bear it if someone tried to stick itwall!Dream as a brother to Techno, or put him in alongside Wilbur as a son figure to Phil :shudders:), so I'm VERY curious how detailed those thoughts have gotten at any point in time /lh /but genuine

(talking about my semi-cursed tags on this post)

yes i can talk about this all day !! i think the dynamic that doomsday trio brings is fascinating, and i don't blame those who see it as a nuclear family dynamic because i think the comparison does work in some places, but it's more complicated than that. i touched on it (in vaguely poetic terms) in this post, but i can give more detail here.

c!philza is an old man and an experienced father, and his instinct as a guardian is strong. this is the closest we get to a nuclear family format in itwall; phil definitely calls on some of his skills as a father when he helps dream, but it's a bit more complex than that. phil recognizes that dream is an adult in human years and doesn't need to be babied (hell, he doesn't even baby Wilbur, his own son who's around the same age!). dream needs care, he needs a mentor, and he needs a better self-preservation instinct before he kills himself. i think their relationship is closer to ancient grecian mentorship than fatherhood/sonhood, the only difference is that the mentee is on death's door for a while and needs some extra attention. phil sees himself in dream, dream sees phil as someone he might like to be, and there's a level of mutual respect there.

i also think that techno and dream have a sense of brotherhood, but in the same way that two athletic teammates have a brotherhood. they have a long history of trust between them, with room for playfulness and teasing. there's a lack of touch aversion (which is HUGE for dream), and dream initiates more of their touches (as opposed to phil, where he tends to be more submissive) (i'm thinkin about ch 12 & ch 19).

and, of course, techno & phil have a complicated relationship of their own. i'm always annoyed by headcanons that techno is phil's son-- we see plenty of interactions where they mutually worry over each other and care for each other. the will is Not written like a boy talking to his father. these two are lifelong partners, and that letter is written to someone who techno knows will understand him and trusts to carry out the more sentimental, intangible tasks, like talking to niki and ranboo, with very little instruction.

highly oversimplified but this is the idea. Techno and dream have similar relationships with phil but it's not really sonhood. all built on trust. they've proven to each other that they will keep each other safe.

and honestly.. none of those relationships would have to exclude sex or intimacy. equals/partners can have sex. comrades can have sex. mentors/mentees can have sex (i think people feel weird about this one, but again: think Ancient Grecian). i have Quite A Few scenes in my head about how their sexual relationships might work (especially in the early days when dream isn't feeling good...). i guess in light of everyone being more open about shipping i would consider writing them, i'd just keep them here instead of ao3.

i think both phil and techno consider dream to be heartstoppingly lovely. i think dream would love to be loved. i think phil&techno and techno&dream may have had some encounters Before the start of itwall, so it would just be a matter of tying it all together.

[caramel-covered-apples]

hp next gen hcs - the potter siblings

okay my brainrot is actually killing me so here’re some headcanons featuring the potter siblings

james sirius potter

while his namesakes are perhaps the biggest troublemakers hogwarts has come across, james is actually a model student who does well in all of his classes and makes sure to follow the rules

becomes a gryffindor prefect

freddie and roxanne are also in his year and they’re some of his best friends, along with teddy in hufflepuff

quidditch chaser

plays quidditch all the time at home with ginny and sometimes harry

while he is popular at hogwarts both for his personality and his family, he has a lot of muggle-born/muggle friends outside of school who he just hangs out with

oldest sibling activities; constantly watching albus and lily when their parents aren’t home and does the dishes/laundry when his parents are stressed

james makes fun of albus a lot, but he knows which jokes will make albus laugh or which ones will hit a soft spot and he’s very careful about that

when someone makes a joke about albus that’s more of an insult than a joke/something that albus doesn’t like, james makes it clear that nobody gets to do that, not even james

does well in all of his subjects, however, the hands-on topics (charms, d.a.d.a, etc.) are his best, including potions

gets along with literally everybody

social chameleon, matches everyone’s humor and vibes

sees teddy as a cool older brother figure, and hangs out with him a lot - teddy once got him beer without james’s parents knowing, and since then teddy has been solidified as james’s best friend

adhd

bisexual asf; harry and ginny were surprised that he’d date anyone but men (lmao)

masks a lot of his emotions with humor, and he struggles with his emotional intelligence even though he knows he has a whole family, the whole of hogwarts, and like 10 other muggle friends that are there for him

always keeps up on the gossip that the prophet spews out about their family and constantly brings it up at dinner; he finds it hilarious

this man loves rock and pop music

always with lily luna, learnt how to braid her hair and make it look nice and help her with her self-image because the wizarding world isn’t any nicer to girls than ours

tries to understand albus as best he can

inherited parseltongue from harry

albus severus potter

also a pretty good student, does get in trouble occasionally (“mr. potter, please exit the broom closet and do it somewhere else-”) but overall isn’t horrible

talks in slang and abbreviates everything, especially in texts, while scorpius talks very formally which makes their dynamic so funny

wears a hoodie under his robes

he’s best at the classes harry was horrible at (history of magic, divination, potions, astronomy) and albus secretly enjoys this, because it separates him from his father

in his second year, he couldn’t stand people making fun of his name so his family are the only ones able to call him albus

when he’s at school, studying is his coping mechanism, and he tends to hyperfixate on it

has autism

has the most wild, out-of-pocket, crazy ideas

hates quidditch and brooms in general; they scare him because how can you be safe on a stick that’s no thicker than your forearm?

appreciates the small things

tries to suppress his tics (mostly vocal) because people made fun of him for it

inspired from a tumblr post which I can’t find now, but albus is very skilled at mind magics (legilimency, occlumency) and that’s why he likes scorpius so much, because his thoughts are genuine and kind

really big on architecture

coffee mechanics fiend. not even coffee, coffee mechanics. he grinds his own coffee and will use a particle accelerator to get a slightly better cup.

loves muggle bookstores because of their take on fantasy; wizarding fantasy books aren’t very common because the wizarding world is already fantastical, there’s really nothing to imagine

nintendo kid

would really enjoy games like slime rancher, stardew valley, etc.

because middle name severus is literal dogshit, he ends up claiming hagrid’s name, because wtf harry literally loved hagrid and now he’s gone? his new name ends up being albus rubeus potter. the marauders in the afterlife rejoice.

he likes being called arthur instead of albus, but really nobody knows about this other than scorpius.

gay.

has a hard time with metaphors and such (“he wears his heart on his sleeve”, “jealousy is a green-eyed beast”, “x gets under my skin”) and he takes them too literally, which is another reason why he likes scorpius, because he’s direct and doesn’t bother with things like these

nobody can tell if he’s being serious or sarcastic

loves the nyt games, especially wordle, connections, and the crossword.

lily luna potter

the one the teachers should look out for; biggest troublemaker out of the three siblings, completely caught the teachers off-guard when she arrived; she is chaos incarnate

people call her lou or lils, she is rarely called lily or luna.

has her dad’s stubbornness, her mom’s attitude and chaotic energy, and her uncle’s mischievousness

quidditch is perhaps her favorite sport and will always beg to accompany ginny during her championships and the such; seeker

besties with ginny; idk why all the hcs say she’s besties wit harry

inherits parseltongue from harry (i don’t care if that came from voldy’s soul or not, this might be so funny) and shit talks people in parseltongue; nobody knows what she’s saying except james, who also inherited the trait

hates the mornings; her record for sleeping in is 3:07 PM

loves indie music

definitely has a rock/crystal collection

also an astrology/astronomy kinda girl, somewhat in honor of her middle name, luna (which is “moon” in spanish)

does yoga to calm herself down after a particularly hard day

very good at hands-on classes, including potions, d.a.d.a, transfiguration, and care of magical creatures

james and lily is an ultimate duo and everyone fears them

doesn't really mind that she's harry potter's daughter - none of that pressure to "live up to the expectations" gets to her all that much, because both of her namesakes aren't that spoken about

does anything to prove that she isn't a baby that the prophet gets to dress up; she once dyed her hair bright blue and ginny was all for it

super close with roxanne because younger sisters club!!!

she blows through all the boys and victoire highly disapproves of this

once she's older, she's most definitely a reckless party girl who drinks way too much and spends a lot of her mornings hungover

loud chewers annoy the shit out of her

sneaks snacks onto class and takes photos in the bathroom

would be the type of person to love jerky

[elvisabutler]

a love supreme seems far removed

summary: it appears old wounds between you and professor presley die hard after one particularly pleasurable but exhausting incident. fandom: elvis presley | elvis ( 2022 ) rating: m pairing: professor! elvis presley ( big daddy flavor ) x student! female reader ( nicknamed belle ) word count: 2462 warnings: big daddy elvis. elvis using a walking stick/cane. implied praise kink. student and professor relationship ( everyone is of legal age ). use of the derogatory name jezebel,in a negative way toward oneself. caning in a sexual way/sexual punishment way. negative self talk. dom/sub dynamics though not explicitly stated. near use of a safe word. sub drop. mild daddy kink? it's there, belle calls him that once or twice and elvis refers to himself as big daddy once. abandonment issues. author’s note: so this was sort of an accidental fic. once upon a time an anon came into my inbox and mentioned liking my fic about belle and professor presley with belle experiencing sub drop. i had never written that but between my right hand woman for belle and elvis @butlersxbirdy ( seriously, y'all she is the reason this entire series exists ) and my baby girl @stylespresleyhearted going "OKAY BUT CAN YOU DO IT THO I WANT IT." this fic was born. special thanks as always to my discord wives, christi and marina and for kicks also bee who i made love big daddy with these two. as always i love the love this fic series gets and truly i live for comments and questions regarding it or any of my serieses/fics. hell, the reason this series is a series is because y'all keep requesting more stuff from it. pay no mind to the moodboard as far as physicality goes or ethnicity, i just basically fell in love with her face because of daisy jones and she's got the right vibe.

It's funny, you think, how once upon a time the things you do with Elvis were things you shied away from with your other- partners if you could even call them that. There's something to be said about the sheer ease at which Elvis puts you in to make you agree to anything. You figure it's because you know he'll always take care of you. You figure it's because of how he'll stop if you cry out in more than just a pleasurable pain. No, he'll make sure you're alright, make sure his precious Belle, his angel sent from God himself is alright.

Smack.

A low keen leaves your mouth at the sting of his cane against your ass, hitting a spot still a bit tender from a week ago. Elvis had asked if you were alright with this, asked if you were ready to take this on this soon and it had been an easy question to answer. Of course you were alright because you had been the one to ask for it again. It's not that you needed it- craved it every second of the day but you knew very well you had nearly gotten yourself and him in some very hot water. It deserved more than his words of admonishment murmured against your neck and your hair. It deserved the caning that he rarely brings out but that you know tends to set you straight. Tends to keep you in line in a way you'll both never admit or question beyond these moments when he uses it. Your hand starts to move toward your ass, wanting to rub the spot that's sore before—

"Hands on the bed. Ya know better. Keep 'em where they're 'posed t'be," Elvis commands as your hands settle back against the bed. Back to where they ought to be because Elvis- Big Daddy- Professor Presley told you to keep them there.

"Elvis—" you start before another smack of the cane has your ass jiggling and has him chuckling a little as his ringed hand palms the area. You hiss.

"Ya asked for this, 'member? Told me ya needed the lesson, hm? Needed t'be 'minded that ya need t'be good, right? Keep that tongue o'yours in check. Doin' so good, Y/N. Doin' so good. What number we on?"

Your mind, fuzzy as it's becoming can focus on the number, can focus on something, settle on something that allows you to not float completely away. The grounding element of everything that keeps you tied to the Earth, tied to him and your life together. Your mouth opens and one single word falls out, "Three."

"Outta five, that's right, Belle. But ya haven't been countin' 'em out loud, have ya? Been tryin' to keep me from hearin' ya? Hearin' what my cane does to ya?" Elvis allows himself to lean against you, to press his stomach against your burning backside, his own warmth both a balm and an irritant against it. His chest hair scratches at your skin and earns a light whine as some rubs just the wrong way, the friction unwanted for now.

"Yes," you whine, arching your back as if to tease when really you only want to chase after the feel of the cane, of his body against yours in order to float and to feel safe. At your arch, he moves off of you and brings down his cane once more, this time closer to your vagina, in that dip where your thighs and butt meet. The part where his hands would grip and squeeze and slap when you rode his cock or his thighs. The number slides through your brain and into your mouth. "Four!"

You hadn't meant to shout the number but the sting overwhelmed you, the sting almost had you telling Elvis to stop, that this was too much too soon after the last week. It stopped though, the urge to tell him to set down his cane and pull you into his arms stopped. Still, even with your lack of asking, there's a pause with Elvis, a pause that has him leaning against you once more, his hand automatically starting to palm your ass. "Y'alight?"

He expects an honest answer out of you as you expect honest answers out of him when he wants to pretend his body isn't betraying him and hurting him. The bright side of when you do things like this, when you trust him to remind you to be a good girl- a good woman- you'll always tell him the truth.

A nod is what you manage before your body slumps forward just a little, the effort of holding yourself up on your hands against the bed becoming just a bit too much to handle. Elvis ought to stop right there and he knows it, can see an exhaustion settling into your body but a promise is a promise and he allows himself one final smack of the cane, lighter than all the others at the most fleshy and least bruised part of your behind.

"Five," you murmur against the sheets of the bed, your eyes a little glassy as he moves the cane to the side and tries to pull you up to a standing position. He manges it just barely but you lean against his chest, hand snaking up his chest to run your fingers through his chest hair. "Shower?"

You think it's you who asked for a shower but you're not sure, not sure with how your clit throbs and aches as it always does when Elvis does this to you, whenever you do something similar to this. Whenever he disciplines you like you deserve to be, because a simple talking to wouldn't have done, your body needed to know what was at stake. Whoever asked didn't matter as Elvis helped you walk to the bathroom anyway, his hands moving between your legs, playing with your clit, sliding his fingers between your folds gently as you rested your body against his own. It doesn't take long to finish the shower, doesn't take long for Elvis to wrap you in a towel and dry you off, only detaching himself to grab pajamas for both of you. You hadn't been this way last week but it had been earlier in the night, perhaps you were just tired from the day.

The bed sheets and Elvis provide a warmth that finally drags you into the land of sleep willingly and gladly.

It's cold.

It shouldn't be cold, you think. Elvis runs as hot as a furnace and usually makes you so hot that you have to slip from under the covers in the middle of the night. Your eyes blink to try and adjust to your surroundings and you realize it is the middle of the night. Why is it cold in the middle of the night?

Your heart lurches in your chest, moving upward to your throat as your hand moves to Elvis's side of the bed only to feel cool emptiness beside you.

Elvis isn't there. Elvis isn't beside you. You are alone in your shared bed. Was it shared any more? Was this his way of telling you to leave? After everything? Had you finally made him realize you made a mistake?

There's a sliver of your brain, of your mind that knows the thoughts that are swarming your mind are silly and yet you can't listen to that sliver. It's wrong. Elvis isn't here with you. Why hadn't he fucked you to sleep? Why hadn't you woken up with his soft cock inside of you? Had Daddy- Had Elvis taken care of you after he hit you? Where was he? Why wasn't— Why wasn't he here? He left you. He's leaving you. He's going to kick you out when the first rays of sunlight enter through the curtains.

You don't know when you start to sob, don't know when your body starts to shake, the overwhelming lack of warmth settling into your bones, don't know when your stomach threatens to empty onto the bed. All you know is that they happen all at once. All you know is that you've done something to make Elvis abandon you.

Maybe, maybe he was still in the house, maybe you didn't disgust him so much he had to leave the entire house. If you called for him maybe he'd come. Maybe you could find out— maybe you could convince him that it was fine. You were still worthy of his love.

The wail that leaves you would embarrass you in any other context. It would mortify you if your brain could process what was happening.

He hadn't quite registered that the noise he heard was you. Hadn't quite registered that the wail he heard was you. Graceland occasionally made noises that didn't make a whole lot of sense and that hadn't changed in the entire time you've been with him. It's only when he gets closer to your shared room that he hears your wail, your moan of unmitigated distress and anguish and knows it's you. He moves as fast as his body will let him and practically slams open the door, ready to use old karate moves and the gun he's got hidden in his dresser to defend you only to realize there's no one in the room but you.

There's no one in here who could hurt you and yet you're clutching at your stomach, curled in on yourself, looking as if you want to vomit all over everything. When you look up at him he sees your glassy eyes staring back at him, unshed tears in them to go with the ones streaming down your face. He opens his mouth to ask you what's wrong only to hear your whimpers and whispers to yourself.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry D- Elvis. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." It practically sounds like a mantra, a chant you'd only a monk say. It sounds wrong coming from your lips. What did you have to be sorry for? What would make you act this way? In what feels like a flash he moves to sit next to you on the bed and starts to touch you.

For once you shy away from his touch and Elvis's heart falls through his body to the ground. You never do that, even when the two of you hadn't worked through the dumbest set of issues known to man you had never shied away from his touch. Normally you would sink into it, but— what had he done to you. Had earlier been too much? Had he broken something inside you in a way he hadn't before?

"Y/N? Belle? What—" He doesn't get the question out before you whimper.

"You were gonna leave me like I did to you. I— I was alone. You hate— you don't love me anymore. Don't want to be with— you realized what everyone else does."

Tour Guide. Used. Whore. Bel— Jezebel. Not worthy of being with him or anyone else. But especially not him. Not worthy to spend the rest of your life waking up with him. Not worthy to have children with him.

Your hands tighten around your middle even more, as if that's the part of you that needs shielding the most. As if that will make the nausea you feel go away. As if it'll keep your stomach from revolting even as you feel Elvis's hand on your shoulder, tight as it was the first day he met you.

"My— Y/N. My angel from heaven. My Belle. No—" He pulls you into a hug despite your protests and your shaking head. "I couldn't sleep. I was downstairs. You—Belle. I— After everything, I would never do that to you. I could never hate you."

"You did," you whimper, your shoulders shaking even as you feel some form of warmth from him sinking through your pajamas and into your soul. "You did. You— I left you and I deserve— I don't— I made you hate me. You're gonna—"

Elvis shushes you, forcing your body against his, forcing your chest to rub against his, his chest hair brushing against the faintest bit of skin your pajamas show. "No. You're my good girl, Belle. Always have been even when I was so angry with you. I'm here. Your Big Daddy's here." He uses the nickname you had let slip that one time so long ago, knowing he finds it funny. It's supposed to put you at ease and he feels a tension in your shoulders lessen at it.

"For— You won't make me leave?" That's the question you ask, not does he still love you, because the two go hand in hand in your mind. For him to love you, he can't abandon you.

His answer should be silly, it should make you roll your eyes but something deep inside you finally uncurls when you hear him sing one of his own song lyrics acapella. "A team of wild horses couldn't tear us apart."

A sob, stronger than the rest wrenches itself from your throat, finally earning a proper release as he holds you even tighter through the tears, his hands petting your hair, murmuring soft words of comfort. You know the position has to be uncomfortable for him but he doesn't complain, too focused on making sure you're alright. Your tears and shivers finally settle into something manageable after what feels like hours and Elvis moves to lay you down on the bed, his hand still rubbing on your chest, right where your heart is. A whimper escapes your lips in fear only for him to shake his head.

"Let me get on my side of the bed. Then ya can curl up to me," he says and to show you how serious he is, he manages to clamber on top of the bed from the bottom, his hands never leaving your body, the warmth from his touch— his always burning hands allowing embers of warmth to blossom slowly but surely inside of you.

The second he's under the covers, you move to lay on top of him. He can't abandon you, can't leave you without warning if he has to move you from atop his body. Your hands haven't left your stomach as it still continues to roil and twist inside you, the nausea refusing to abate. Elvis looks at you and follows where your hands are before placing the hand that rubbing against your chest onto your stomach. For some strange reason it calms your stomach, allows for your body to settle down, and allows for you to lock your arms around Elvis's middle.

"Stay," you whisper, placing a kiss against his skin.

"Wouldn't dream of doin' anything but."

taglist: @ab4eva, @blurredcolour, @butlersxbirdy, @precious-little-scoundrel, @eliseinmemphis, @prompted-wordsmith, @missmaywemeetagain, @lookingforrainbows, @araxw, @thatbanditqueen, @ellie-24, @austinbutlersgirl67, @heartbrake-hotel, @ccab, @18lkpeters, @slutforsomegoodlettuce, @dkayfixates, @kendralavon7, @chasingwildflowers, @notstefaniepresley, @wanderingelvis, @kxnnxy, @powerofelvis, @stylespresleyhearted y'all know the drill with the taglist by now.

[ruindgod]

SHIPPING INFO — answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

What’s your OTP for your Muse(s)?

i don't really have anything in mind that when it comes to shipping. my otp is me ... and you. you look down, we're holding hands.

What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

anything goes, honestly. i'm a huge fan of angst and pain and you'll find a lot of that in my ships. i find fluff to be boring but i'm not against it ( after they go through a lot. ). i honestly love mess. i love complications, i love it when you still have feelings but you deny them and it hurts. i love enemies to lovers, i love us-against-the-world. i love the obsession, the worship, i love the how it is everything but love and we call it love anyway. i love it when they can't pull themselves away even when it's bad. forbidden relationships! weird ass dynamics! i love soulmates, i love tragedy, i love making things worse for these guys long before they get better and they have to hold onto one another. i love explore the spectrum of love as well. all of those things can be written non-romantically!

How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

i don't do large age gaps on tumblr because it makes people understandably uncomfortable. generally, i stick to about ten years being the max between ages unless the character is about twenty-five or younger. generally. imo, every ship is nuanced and sometimes that includes age gaps.

Are you selective when shipping?

generally, yeah. i've not had many good experience with cishet romantic ships so i tend to avoid those. beyond that, because i write a lot of guys / dominate personalities, people tended to only seek out those characters from me and that's ... annoying. and disheartening! & if it feels like that's what's going on, i won't write with you or ship with you. but to me ... it's based off chemistry. if i enjoy writing with you, i'll enjoy shipping with you.

How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered USFW?

my rule of thumb is that if something is coming off or something is going in, time to slap a read more. it's better to be safe in regards to that, haha!

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

all of them ...

Does one have to ask to ship with you?

i don't know how else you would ship with me ... but i love love!trust me, there's no reason why i wouldn't want to ship with you unless the characters just wouldn't be interested but even if that's the case, we can still think of something! exes or flings, we can be dramatic! two people can be together and not be romantic and still be absolutely tragic.

How often do you like to ship?

only on tuesday. the rest of the week is saved for the lord.

Are you multiship?

on tumblr, yes. generally. i like to write a lot of dynamics and i like to enjoy the wide expanse of experiences. it depends on the muse and the writer if i decide to lock them down.

Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

obsessed. i love to ship. my name is cupid, it's literally on the tin. THAT SAID. i don't value my romantic ships over non romantic ships. i have a few non-romantic ships that are incredibly wack ass and even more painful than my romantic ones. it's all on how you flavor it.

What is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

i don't ... really have a lot of fandoms. i'll just do my canons dracula can kiss everyone. he has three brides, he's freaky. i don't ship anyone with sam as i kind of read him as aro/demi-romantic! and nic gets [ car horn noise ][ crashing ][ explosions ] by cameron ellis on the daily!

Finally, how does one ship with you?

just pop the question. "so, you tell me if you're feeling this but i think they could get absolutely nasty right now" or "would you be interested in this ship plot?" you can't go wrong with either of those and i'll let you know! if i don't, i'll come up with something just as fun or a character i think would work! on that note, do it right now. if you've read this and you wanna write a ship with me, send me a message right now and we'll get something started. right now. i'm waiting.

TAGGED BY: @yearnstarved — thank you!! TAGGING: @justsurvival @robotae @sturmboe @smthscoming ( should you like ! )

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Rosethorn, Briar, and Evvy Desperately Need Hugs

So the Circle Reforged books in general tend to be heavier than the Circle of Magic and Circle Opens books, and of those two series, Briar-focused books tend to be heavier than the others. That pattern sticks with Battle Magic, but oh my goodness I love this book with my whole freakin' chest. So let's dispense with the preamble and talk Battle Magic.

*Content Warning: This book focuses on war and soldiers, and there is also torture depicted, so take care of you first, and if this is not something that you can/want to engage with, we will see you another day for another topic with zero judgement.*

*Spoiler Warning: Spoilers for the Circle of Magic and Circle Opens quartets*

We know Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy really well at this point, but the amazing thing about this book is that those relationship dynamics and character needs and wants are challenged in a way that we really have not seen up to this point. There has been combat in other books, and there has been danger, but there is a difference between a pirate raid or a plague or a forest fire or even a murderous Takameri and an empire going to war to conquer another country that happens to house the first Living Circle Temple and there is a sense that the empire would destroy it.

For Rosethorn, there is a massive conflict between duty and desire. Rosethorn just wants to go home, she misses Lark, she misses her girls, and she wants nothing more than to keep her boy and Evvy safe and away from the horrors of war. But her duty is to warn the First Temple, and then Dokyi leverages her duties as a Dedicate to send her off on a mission that has a FANTASTIC chance of more or less eating Rosethorn alive.

We get more time in Rosethorn's head in this than any other book, and it is honestly a fascinating new perspective on my favorite Winding Circle dedicate. Seeing her experience of her body after dying in Briar's Book and being at altitudes and in situations where it is just physically harder for her to exist and still be absolutely ROSETHORN about it. I would never describe Dedicate Rosethorn as having a soft, squishy center, but I'll be damned if compassion isn't woven into every spike and sharp edge the woman has.

I also appreciate Rosethorn's bi representation in the form of her relationship with Parahan. I also appreciate the little bit of perspective we get from Briar about the nature of Rosethorn and Lark's relationship, the fact that it works for them, and that it's not any of Briar's business. That was very deftly handled and very well done.

Now for Briar, the main conflict in this book is him being pulled three ways: His protective streaks for Rosethorn and Evvy and his desire to get involved and be a war mage for the Living Circle to defend the temple and the people the temple protects as well as for Gyongxe. Briar is not new to combat, from his earliest days in a Hajran gang to the pirate raids on Winding Circle and the gang war in Street Magic. What's different is that Briar is considered an adult by every society involved in the Circle Universe, and he is learning that being an adult means balancing oft-contradictory impulses. He cannot shield Rosethorn from thin air, from her duties as a Living Circle dedicate, or from the fact that she can be equally as effective a war mage as she is a green mage. He also cannot protect Evvy from the Empire, as much as he might want to.

This is a rough space to truly learn what it is to be an adult in, and holy cow we see the toll it takes on Briar. It's a really interesting contrast from the gang warfare in his past, and where Tris, Sandry, and Daja were his peers and sisters, Briar's relationships with Rosethorn and Evvy are different and put significantly different pressures on him in this environment. One particularly poignant moment is when he notices that Evvy--who has been using communal baths her entire life--is suddenly absolutely terrified and vulnerable in them because Jia Jui tortured her. That moment really hammered home for Briar that there are consequences for people even if he is pulling unequivocal heroics out of his back pocket every five minutes. Rosethorn knew this going in; Briar needed it driven home.

Another really interesting facet of this book for both Briar and Rosethorn was the fact that a war is a marathon, not a sprint, and where both mages have been able to divide their attention between combat and healing magics, that is not the case in this situation. The consequences of choosing to be either a war mage or a healer mage on any given day make that a complex choice, but it's one that has to be made.

Now, where Rosethorn and Briar are grown-ass adults making adult choices in a terrifying and deeply unfair situation, Evumeimei Dingzai is a literal child and student who ends up being yanked around by circumstance. Tamora Pierce does not shy away from highlighting that in these situations, the people who are often most vulnerable and who have the least agency are the kids, and they--as Evvy does--end up in some truly hideous situations. Evvy survives and heals, but it isn't fast, and it isn't complete at the end of this book, and that I think is critical. One does not just "get over" living through a war in a week. And it's not only the soldiers and people who are actively fighting that live with those consequences.

This books is heartbreakingly even-handed about highlighting that nobody escapes a war truly unscathed. Walking through it with three of my favorite Circle Universe characters was heavy, but so worth it.

[belethlegwen]

Yo!

What is a topic or theme you try to avoid in gt, either in your writing, your reading, or your perusing?

This is a solid question, especially because over the last year or so I've been finding myself exploring more topics/themes that I would have probably previously said I was not comfortable with. I'd like to genuinely thank @adjacentperception for being my partner in everything, including writing and creating, and for letting me have a sounding board and a space to feel safe while I dip my toes into some things I wouldn't have otherwise wanted to endeavour into on my own.

I guess in terms of like... things that disinterest me? If that makes sense? I'm not big on trying to explore family dynamics specifically through G/t. Sibling or Parent/Child relationships with size-difference mixed in just is something I tend to avoid while reading, and through writing I only ever explore it in the sense of like... 'this person is a good friend and is like a brother/sister to me', 'this person cares for me in a parental way sometimes'. Beyond that it's not something that catches my interest or tends to hold it for very long.

Anything that is too whump-heavy I tend to have a harder time reading, mostly because I just need comfort to go with my hurt. One of the projects I've got going on in the background now front-loads a bunch of the hurt before it starts getting to comfort, and I feel like-- especially the earlier chapters-- would qualify as whump. It's something that I could imagine myself having difficulty with reading on my own if I didn't know that it was going to pay off in comfort and (imo) satisfactory character growth for the mains, if only because I've been burned before on trying to struggle through something that was just... fucking miserable and it never got to a point where things got better/that comfort I desperately wanted came along.

Dislike vore/cannibalism to the extreme, anything remotely like that just squicks me out. A bit of mouthplay is fine in the sexy sense? Lips, tongue, maybe a bit of teeth? But there's a line that once it gets crossed I have to go detox with something after. I also can't do snuff at all. Just... too much. I'm not a gore/horror girl. It is not my cup of tea.

A topic I'll avoid depicting in any detail, and that I just get too depressed reading to really dive into very much, is long-term emotional/relationship-centered abuse, from either side. Particularly if a lesson is not learned by the offending/abusive party in a way that's satisfactory.

I'll dive into something like James Bond getting captured and tortured/interrogated by a villain for a hot minute, but a partner abusing a lover? Family being egregiously emotionally/psychologically abusive or neglectful for extended periods of time in the narrative? Someone in a care-taker position abusing a dependent? Too sad/enraging, won't do it, and especially as it pertains to G/t as an amplifier of that possible theming? Ow, no, my feelings. Faerie Spell comes the closest to that for me and that's still a stretch of what I'm actually comfortable with, as the neglect/abuse/disrespect is coming unintentionally and oftentimes against what the presumed goals of the characters perpetrating it actually are. It is still a dark place for my mind to go.

Other than that, I can't think of much that I would say is a definite no-go for me? How something is written/handled within a narrative can be a big factor in whether or not I stick with reading something, typically, and I'm willing to stretch my comfort a bit in some areas if the rest of the story is making up for any discomfort/loss of interest I wind up feeling because of any given element.

Thank you so much for the ask!

[gamerbearmira]

The Magical Group AU has once again taken over my brain, so I decided to give everyone magical girl/boy names, these names were all given to them by the townspeople

Isabella: Guardiana de la Selva- Jungle Guardian. At first, she was actually called Guardiana de la Flor, Flower Guardian, but once she started experimenting with her powers in battle, people quickly realized she could do a lot more than flowers and was a LOT more powerful than they first thought, I like to imagine Isabella is the secret powerhouse of the team, so she was renamed, she got her new name after they fought a particularly strong enemy and she ended up defeating it by growing massive jungle trees all around it to form a cage

Dolores: Guardiana de la Melodía- Melody Guardian. Dolores got her name from the sound her weapon makes, I imagine as her boomerang flies through the air, it makes a high-pitched sound akin to a whistle, the different ways she throws her boomerang makes the sound a different pitch, so when she's fighting it almost sounds like she's playing a song, the sound also doesn't hurt the ears of any bystanders, but it does hurt the ears of the enemies they face

Luisa: Guardiana de la Fortaleza- Strength Guardian. Her name comes from not only her physical strength, but also her ability to buff the other's abilities, the townspeople see it as her lending her strength to her teammates, being the support or "strength" of the team

Camilo: Guardián de la Espejismo- Mirage Guardian. His ability to disorient and confuse is interpreted as illusions and mirages by the townspeople, so his name is fairly obvious, they also considered calling him Guardián de la Embaucador, Trickster Guardian, but due to the negative connotation of the term trickster, mirage is what ended up sticking

Mirabel: Guardiana de la Mariposa- Butterfly Guardian. Another obvious one, her outfit has butterfly imagery, though Guardiana de la Curación, Healing Guardian, was also considered, butterfly ended up sticking due to the golden butterfly being the symbol of the Miracle, and Mirabel, with her purifying power, is considered the leader of the Miracle Guardians by the townspeople, weather or not she actually assumes that role in the team dynamic remains to be seen

Antonio:Guardián de la Salvaje- Wild Guardian. Antonio got this name not only due to his ability to summon animals, but also due to his somewhat wild, fun loving, and rambunctious nature, when you're a three year old with magic powers that fight monsters alongside your siblings and cousins, you tend to be a little overzealous,

Some of the townspeople actually theorize Isabella and Antonio are siblings due to their similar nature-themed powers, though that is only one of many theories the town has about the potential relations of the group, some theorize they are cousins of the Madrigals, and others theorize they are beings made entirely from the miracle, the favorite theory among the townspeople is that they are six siblings who fled to the Encanto together after a group of raiders, similar to the ones who attacked Alma's old home, killed their family, the miracle provided entrance to the scared children and offered them their powers so they may keep each other safe from harm and now use their powers to protect the Encanto as a thank you for saving them (somehow no one has come up with the idea that the group might actually be the grandkids themselves, either by magic or ignorance)

REAL THOUGH. SO TRUE. Honestly I love hearing your (and others) ideas whenever an AU over here gets on your mind. I think it’s so fun 🌚 (MAMI SAREUREUREU‼️‼️‼️)

I. Love all the names <333 I do agree with Isabela being the powerhouse; while Luisa is essentially the backbone, Isabela can charge and take head on enemies, kinda doing knock bacK?? AND YES. Dolores weapon pretty much works like that <33 basically the more force she puts behind it, the more she alters the sound barrier (when in super forms, she can break the sound barrier). Luisa def makes sense. I mean duh. But yeah, she’s kinda like Mercy 😭

Camilo, I’m glad the villagers went with mirage, I think that’s so rad. Camilo likes it at least 🤧 Mirabel, she does step into the leader position, but only after a major battle where she was the only one with a plan and was able to pull of the max purification (with the others help obvi). Antonio, yeah, that one makes sense. Lil bro is much more open when he’s fighting with the others 🤞🏾

First time they transformed they were so confused. And then they had to fight. Luisa learned she could buff from a distance, and since Antonio couldn’t summon a weapon yet, she took it upon herself to watch him and make sure he didn’t get bodied 🚴‍♀️💨

I spent too much on this. Like an embarrassing amount of time. And it didn’t even turn out how I wanted 💀

Towns people having theories is so fun. I love that idea <333 Like. They just don’t connect the dots 💀 they don’t realize mostly out of ignorance, but the more they know about the Madrigals, the more magic is placed on them. Like the other Madrigals themselves? 100% don’t know their identities because of magic. Without it, they would have most definitely realized 😭

Out of any of the theories, I would say the most popular is the favorite one of them being fro:Alma’s home town and they protecting the Encanto. People have definitely tried to ask them about it, but they were never successful. So in came the rumors and theories. Another question that gets a lot of talk is where in the world do they come from when they fight, and where do they go when they’re done. Cause no one has seen them.

[charbon-et-eau]

I recently discovered your account through Pixvi. I'm afraid to ask this question, but here goes. I hope not taken the wrong way. I genuinely like your ship art. I gotta wonder how old Brendan is, like, based on your headcanon wise? Forgive me. It's dumb to ask. (If that's the case, I tend to do the same with another Pokemon ship.) If you don't feel comfortable saying it, I completely understand. If you don't want to respond on post, I completely understand; I simply can on DM. Post a chocolate cake picture to let me know.

I've actually already answered this here. I like to hc him as an older teen. I try to reflect that in my art, but I tend to draw Brendan really cute, which probably makes him look younger to most people.

This should go without saying, but I am very much against adults trying to date 16 year olds in real life. However, in fiction, it's fair game. If fictional age gaps involving a teenager make you uncomfortable, that's valid. You're welcome to ignore my headcanons or unfollow/block me.

I just think it's an interesting dynamic to explore in fiction. And I'm actually feeling a bit chatty rn, so for anyone who's interested, I'm gonna expand a little bit on why I find this dynamic interesting under the cut.

For starters, I was a teenager once, and I definitely fantasized about how cool it would be to date someone older. Surely I wasn't the only teenager with fantasies like that, right? Of course, even as a teenager, I knew not to try to make that fantasy a reality.

I was a pretty smart and mature kid, but maybe a little too much. I matured way faster than I probably should have, and as a result, I was always very careful and never took any risks or did any of the stupid things that people usually associate with teens. I was safe (aka boring). I think sometimes I feel like I missed out on the true teenage experience by being too safe. And while that's probably for the best, it's nice to be able to still explore those scenarios through fiction by putting Brendan (or any other fictional character) in Situations.

The other main reason I like making Brendan a teen and sticking him in a relationship with an older man is because it kinda just makes sense given the setting of the source material. In the Pokemon world, it's perfectly normal for kids and teens to leave home and go on potentially dangerous adventures across the region. They can also become gym leaders and champions. I think it makes sense to imagine that kids in the Pokemon world are treated with a lot more respect and agency than in our reality. So it makes sense that the general population in the Pokemon world wouldn't really see any issues with young trainers getting into relationships with older ones. If these young trainers can command a team of up to six incredibly powerful magical creatures in battle, then why would it be weird for them to make out with an older cooltrainer behind the pokemart?

Whether or not this is a good or a bad thing is debatable. My point is that it's interesting to think about what the societal norms surrounding relationships with age gaps would look like in this setting. Also, I think it's funny to imagine Brendan's mom internally cheering "FUCK YEAH!" when she finds out that Brendan is dating the richest man in Hoenn instead of some loser collector or hex maniac that he found on a random route.

I could probably ramble about this more, but I think I've run out of steam for now. Anon, I'm so sorry for rambling, you didn't ask for any of this lol. But thank you for the ask!

[zeroducks-2]

So I know that all the apprentice Dick stuff isn't really canon and it only happens in tt03 and that in 'reality' there was a Renegade arc... But I dont know anything about Renegade beside the fact that its a thing. Maybe you could tell me more about it?

It would be my pleasure! Sorry it took me so long to answer, tumblr ate my post and I had to rewrite it >_>

The first thing to know is that despite fanfictions/fanarts tend to portray Renegade!Dick as the "follow-up" to the Apprentice Arc, or anyway conflating the two stories (kind of mashing up stuff from tt03 and the comics), the two situations couldn't be more different from one another. They are in fact completely unrelated both thematically and narratively speaking.

In the comics, the Renegade idea comes from Dick, Dick is the one that insists on sticking around Slade, and Slade never forces/coerces him into doing anything (he has barely any participation in the whole thing). It's actually more about Dick and Rose than Dick and Slade, and in fact the "Renegade" alias itself is very nearly a thing, in the sense that Dick comes up with randomly it at some point, Rose uses it once and that's about it. Slade never even calls him that, sticking to "Nightwing", "Grayson" or just "kid".

A quick sum-up: Dick needs info about the society of supervillains but can't infiltrate them, because Slade is on their roster and he knows Dick's real identity, therefore he would recognize (and out) him easily. So he comes up with the idea of trying to convince Slade that he's a bad guy now and he can be trusted by villains - really Slade never actually trusts him, but in the process of testing him Rose grows very fond of Dick, and eventually Dick manages to thwart the society's plans and kick Slade out of Bludhaven. More or less.

That's not my favorite iteration of Dick, and especially not my favorite iteration of Slade and Rose, but all in all it's a fun, enjoyable story that's very in line with the overall mood and style of the (in)famous "Nightwing 1996" run.

Since we're here I'll go on to provide a more lengthy explanation of the plot with screenshots for poignancy (and because they're fun), but if you're already satisfied with the answer and you don't want more spoilers, go ahead and click away :)

The "Renegade" arc.

I'm going to start out with Issue #110 which opens with Dick leaving Sophia Tevis, the daughter of a mob boss, and her mother in a safe place for Sophia's safety.

Dick is having a rough time with just about everything in his life. This happens soon after the whole situation with Blockbuster and Tarantula and the aftermath of that, also he recently broke up with Barbara, lost his job as a cop and has gone no contact with Bruce. Tim drops by to check on him, and during their conversation, Dick finds out that Bruce was going to adopt Tim.

Dick is very bitter, and Tim keeps justifying Bruce this or that way, as usual enabling his behavior (no hate towards Tim whatsoever btw, that's just how their dynamic tended to function). At some point Tim goes out of his way to reel Dick back in the situation...

...And Dick gets understandably very upset

I love how he's about to yell at Tim but then tones it down. He keeps doing it throughout the whole story, swallowing his emotions and then apologizing when "he sounds too much like Bruce".

Despite everything Dick insists on doing his job as Nightwing and refusing everyone's help, at the point that he's embittered enough for it to be believable that he'd be in a "I lost everything, I want to try a new path" situation. The problem is, as I mentioned before, Dick can't infiltrate the society and uncover their nasty plans because they have Deathstroke on their payroll.

So Dick decides that the only way he has to do this is convince everyone, especially Deathstroke himself, that he's done being a hero, he wants to be a bad guy, he's been slapped in the face one time too many and he'll prove it to him. Only Dick has to talk to Slade for this to happen, and this leads to what's surely my favorite two panels of the entire story:

The infamous "message received" text on the mirror of Dick's bathroom as he showers. Dick is totally unfazed by this btw, makes me think this isn't the first time it happens

Slade, dramatic motherfucker that he is, decides to show up in the middle of the night together with Rose (I'm sharing the panels again cause they're really cool)

A fight ensues but Dick is outnumbered and in his civvies, so it's brief enough. Have I mentioned that Slade is also an idiot? I think I didn't, so here's Slade being an absolute idiot:

I love this panel. I want to print it and eat it I am so normal about it

By saying "undercover with the bad guys" Slade is referring to the fact that Dick has been cooperating with the Bludhaven mafia, fact that actually helps Dick sell the whole "I'm a bad guy now" narrative. Which is what Dick insists upon, saying that he has no more reasons to fight the good fight. Slade isn't impressed, but he still offers Dick a bargain:

Basically the idea is that Dick will prove himself trustworthy by watching over Rose, teaching her, and making her involved in his own things, and so he does; what follows is a number of short episodes in which he and Rose go around doing apparently random tings, bantering in the meantime.

The reason why I say this is not my favorite iteration of Rose Wilson is because she's VERY BABY. Which isn't bad per se but I prefer a version of Rose which is less naive. Also, "Nightstroke".

In the meantime Dick has found out that the place where Sophia Tevis was hiding for her safety wasn't safe at all - her mother has been killed by cops and the kid has been put in a state home. Dick promised to go get her, and this is what he brings Rose along to do.

They rescue Sophia and Dick hides her in yet another place, and makes Rose promise that she won't say anything to Slade about Sophia and what they did. The first thing baby does when she sees Slade is tell him everything.

Basically Rose is trying to make it so Slade will love her, or something like this. I'm actually not sure, their relationship here is a bit confusing to be honest.

So what keeps happening is that Dick brings Rose along - since he does not have a choice on that - while doing his things, pretending it's bad guys things while it really is good guys things. But, he does give her some valuable lessons and the two do grow quite close in the meantime.

The issue is that Slade isn't easily fooled, and to make sure he's got Dick under his thumb, he kidnaps Sophia Tevis to use her as a bargaining chip, and to make sure Dick won't do anything that goes against the society.

The brown haired kid is Sophia, but really this looks more dramatic than it actually is since nothing really changes, or maybe we could say it even backfires - Dick keeps doing his things, and if Rose wasn't convinced initially, now that she knows Sophia is being threatened (and she knows Dick cares for her since Rose helped him save her), she believes Dick more easily when they investigate the society's business and Dick says "it's all part of the plan I swear I'm not doing anything detrimental to your father, if I did he'd kill me and he'd kill Sophia".

And finally we have Dick calling himself Renegade: Rose insisted on calling him Nightwing since there was no alternative, so Dick comes up with Renegade just to get her to stop using "Nightwing"

Soon Dick finds out that the society is planning to use the Bane toxin to create supersoldiers or something like this, and in the meantime he bumps into Arsenal who's legitimately concerned about him (especially because there had been news circulating about Nightwing cooperating with the Bludhaven mafia, and he's been pushing his friends and family away). Dick is forced to knock him out, and eventually Roy tells Oracle, who tells Superman, and it ends up with everyone really worried for Dick.

I'm not really sure how Slade knew Superman would have been involved (I might not remember about it but yeah, Slade knew Supes was going to get involved) and devises a plan to neutralize him: He fixes Dick's glove with a radio transponder and surgically implants kryptonite in Rose's missing eye. During the following confrontation with Superman, Dick nonchalantly says "yeah I'm a bad guy now fuck you", knowing that Clark can hear his heartbeat and can therefore tell that Dick is lying - but Clark reacts in a very upset way, Rose gets scared and jumps him.

A brief scuffle follows but soon enough Superman lets them go, and Dick goes confront Slade with Rose, informing him that he uncovered the society' schemes and that his plan backfired.

Then Dick tells Slade something something along the lines of "Rose loves me and listens to me, while you implanted toxic kryptonite in her eye socket, so if you don't go away from Bludhaven I'll put her against you".

and somehow it works, Slade "admitting defeat" and letting Dick go, but threatening him with "you don't know what you're messing with".

Which actually is what happens soon after with the destruction of Bludhaven, Slade dropping chemo on it and all of that. But that's another story.

So here you have it, the brief story of Renegade and how it existed as Dick's alias for a short time. It's not much something that comes from Slade, more like it tangentially involves Slade while Dick is doing his thing. Again for whoever is interested in reading it first-hand, it spans from issue 110 to issue 115 of Nightwing 1996.

[willtheweaver]

Writeblr interview

Thanks for the tag @thecomfywriter

Let’s get into it then:

Short stories, novels, or poems?

Reading or writing? Both? Well in that case, the answer is all three.

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy (both high and low), mythology, poetry. and gothic literature.

What genera do you prefer writing?

Hard to say as I’ve dabbled in fantasy (high and low) science fiction, dystopia,horror, and poetry.

Are you a planner or write-as-I-go kind of person?

I have a rough outline as to what should happen. From there, I let the narrative go where it wants to go.

What music do you listen to when writing?

Man, I have an eclectic taste in music. I could be listening to anything from classical, to 60’s rock, outlaw country, to folk songs and sea shanties like.

Fave books/movies?

Love The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Dracula, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and Star Wars.

Any current WIPs?

Right now I’m focused on A Feather in the Forest

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you, what would your standard outfit be?

My standard outfit would be hair loose, a bucket hat, dark jacket, t-shirt, dark sweat pants, and black shoes…which is exactly what I wear in real life much of the year.

Create a character description of yourself

He looks like a twenty something male with long hair and glasses, but inside is an endless pit that bubbles and boils with information. All around is a dynamo processing, shaping ,molding, creating, and destroying; a microcosm of the universe.

Outwardly, he presents a calm, unflappable attitude, always wanting to engage with others. But don’t try your luck. Fiercely loyal, he can and will defend those that he befriends.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

I cannot say. I mainly get inspiration from my mind, I may subconsciously base some of my characters on people I know, but it can be hard to tell.

Are you kill-happy with your characters?

No one is safe. If they die, they die.

Coffee or tea while writing?

Tea.

Slow or fast writer?

Overall pace tends to be slow. When inspiration/motivation strikes, I can get words on the page quite fast.

Where/who/what do you draw inspiration from?

I have quite an active mind. Inspiration comes to me out of the blue, sometimes even in dreams. What I read and watch can also bring focus if I have trouble finding a direction.

If you were put in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Either a scholar, innkeeper, or an adventurer.

Most fav book cliche?

Found family, redemption arc (genuine), friends to lovers, mentor and student dynamic, friends being there and giving a helping hand.

Least fav book cliche?

Toxic lead that everyone is supposed to like, mismatched/ forced relationship, again, because one of them is the MC, over reliance on plot armor deus ex machina.

Fave scene to write?

Anything that sticks.

Most productive time of day for writing?

Any time that I can get words out. Can be midnight, daybreak, or anytime in between.

Reason for writing?

There is so much I want to share. If someone out there smiles because they like what I put out, then I feel accomplished.

Tagging @pluppsauthor @phoenixradiant @agirlandherquill @thatuselesshuman @moltenwrites

@nczaversnick @the-letterbox-archives @lavender-gloom @ominous-feychild @sableglass

@glasshouses-and-stones @finickyfelix and open tag