#these guys esp have found a way to my heart

[bullet-prooflove]

34. But home was a dream, one I'd never seen 'til you came along

Got say this is such a powerfull phrase that any character will do Donna, like the Med guys (Lanik, Abrams, Mitchell) or the Mayans or our men in Fire Country, whatever you feel like it

Also Jason Isbell's Cover me up is fave song <3 (I recognize several lines incluind this one) in fact Southeastern is a fav album

Sending love & hugs

I felt this just really suited Mitch esp with his history. I love the idea of him settling down and being happy.

It is such an interesting song, I feel it has real duality to it, the way he describes he was before the drink and after. I just love the emotion in it.

Mitch has never had a home, not until he met you.

He tells you that one night when the two of you are tangled up in one another. It’s three in the morning and he’s staring into your eyes in the aftermath of your love making. You are the only person in the world who makes him feel happy, who makes him feel safe.

His life has always been fraught with instability. His childhood was a mish mash of foster parents and mental hospitals because his mom was either too drunk or too high to take care of him. He’s managed to make something of himself despite those odds, found a way to help other people. Despite the fact he’s moved, the fact he’s healthy he’s never been able to settle.

It’s the reason all of his relationships have been casual, the reason he’s never gone all in. Doing that means revealing a part of yourself and he could never bare to discuss his history.

And then he met you and everything, it just came pouring out and that was before the two of you had crossed the line, before he admitted he’s fallen in love with you.

“You say you’ve never had a home.” You whisper as your fingertips trace over his cheek. “So let’s make one together, a place that’s just for us.”

When Mitch sees the house on Ebron Street during one of his runs, he knows it’s the one. It’s a small, fixer upper in a nice neighbourhood, there’s a porch and a small yard.

“It’s got good bones.” He says when the agent gives you the tour. “I could do a lot of the renovation work myself.”

One of his foster parents used to be a contractor, he’d take Mitch on jobs, put him to work. He’s the only one through Mitch’s life that he’d maintained contact with after he aged out the system. He’d given him a job to supplement his income while he was studying in college. He still helps out occasionally on the weekends.

The look in his eyes when Mitch talks about his plans for this place…

You know he’s found his home.

The two of you put in an offer in the next day.

You’ve never seen him as happy as when you get the news it’s yours. Mitch pours his heart and soul into renovating that house, you help the best you can. He enjoys teaching you a few tricks of the trade, working with you to create a safe space that’s full of laughter, happiness and love.

“I never thought I’d have this.” He says during your first night in the house. The two of you are laying in bed together, his thumb ghosting over the apple of your cheek as he looks into your eyes. “I never thought I’d find a home.”

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@kmc1989 @spaghettificationandpretzels @mini-bee-bee @thebejeweledwatercat

[fanofthelamb]

So I went dumpster diving in my tablet for the first lamb I ever drew and WOW... I found a lot of sketches I really don't plan on revisiting. I am jsut gonna dump them below the cut for people to see!! Some of it is lore related, some of it is shit I ABSOLUTELY FUCKING HATE, but IDC!!! I will post it anyway for the tumblr users who I keep an eye on my notifs for. (yes, i see you guys. even if i dont always interact I see you and love you guys)

Anyway, here is the earliest drawin I have of me drawing the lamb!! I am going to write a comment under a lot of these to add context to them.

A cute little baby <3333 but I struggled a LOT of figuring out what the lamb was wearing, I eventually figured it out though. (I hope)

if you know, you know. (RIP VAL)

for my BTG AU. I decided I no longer wanted chemach to make the [spoiler] for the lamb, though, so I scrapped this

vaaaal,,,,,, i was still learning how to draw him, i wish i put pants on him but do those even exist in COTL? (yes)

I haven't been able to do much with them because I'm putting other stuff first, but Brear has two kids, Notre and Brejul who Narinder absolutely ADORES. he is the one who babysits.

fun fact but the lamb being touch repulsed is a projection LOL. i hate it when people touch me it feels so tickly and makes me want to bite their faces off. (but i am touch starved and i LOVE to show affection to other ppl, esp thru back rubs)

yes, they have a hoop for personal space. no, ill never use it.

drum corcl,,,, i love the little dancing guy that comes from the drums

more narinder and brear. they're not romantically interested in each other, but he is absolutely head over heels for brear, their brother, and the kids. they even call him dad sometimes.

[no context]

kallamar and leshy before their crowns. the scene i have related to this isn't happening anymore, but it was leshy begging to be taught to swim.

another "the one who baby sits" doodle. the bishops all came into the cult with a very good repuation thanks to narinder. he likes to tell the kids of the cult stories about how amazing his siblings were. at first, it was just to nobre and brejul with stories about leshy(he missed leshy a lot even though he was still mad at him, and the two reminded narinder of his time with leshy), but then it escalated into him hosting storytimes with larger groups after they started repeating some of the stories he'd tell them.

unfinsihed stuff about with the lamb and thier mom. their mom wasn't afraid of the bishops at all, but knew that they were a still a threat to her and her child's life. the lamb did NOT care for anyone thier mom didn't approve of/enthusiastically liked. they were much more afraid of the bishops than their mother.

i do not actually know if i posted this.i dont think so, but i giggle every time i scroll past it

brear and nobre <333

im still workong on BTG shit, and i post a little bit of the characters on here even tho the comics are going to be posted elsewhere. they have a "crownlike" beak, but a body part. there's different creatures who became gods through different ways; crowns are one way but their power is stuck with the crown and they are considered extremely weak compared to other gods. i wont blabber on about it tho.

so many sketches has random lines through em because i work with a tablet,,, i hate it. anyway, narinder and kallamar everybody!

sketches i made but didn't bother to finish of me and merbre,,,,,,,,, my husband #1 <3 them w/ narinder + merbre arent gonna be considered "canon" but damn it ill self-ship with them until i get a follower i can WORK with

i come back to this every few weeks and im never happy with it, i dont know if ill finish this but i think about them........ before the divorce </3

unused from an ask

heartstealer. menace. you can rip my heart out anytime, leshy <3

dreshy. he LOVES dresses and being pretty and cute and pretty. he sucks narinder into a lot and heket will sometimes join in if he demands asks her to <3

another unused drawing from an ask i'll eventually answer. (mildly offended at being called a mutton cube.)

.... aaand WOW! I think that's everything guys!! things are still kinda wild but they're calming down a little bit. idk how much longer it's gonna last like this but I have some energy so I made a way-too-long post showing off art I wasn't supposed to post! Awesome. :D

[toboldlymuppet]

here in the storm, i found peace in you

[cabin10diaries]

im so im so. obsessed with jason but specifically what other people think of him

reyna oh my beloved reyna <333 she knew him the best of everyone and then he disappeared, came back brand new? new friends, new girl, new person, and shes glad he's happy but where did HER jason go ? the one she trained with, spent years getting close with, spending all her time with? he was taken from her, and as happy as she is for the new jason he can never fill her heart the same

piper my lovely was basically coerced into a relationship built on false narratives with him, and she broke up bc that wasnt right !! what were they now? ofc, they were friends, but the tension of fake memories and fading feelings was still effective. it was so hard to talk to him but she wanted it to be easy again like in her fake memories

leo (this is valgraced bc im a valgrace truther ok?) hated him but loved him as a friend and more. jason was what leo wanted to be; respected, smart, listened to, not seeming like a burden. he wanted that so bad, which made him want jason, too. stuck between do i want my best friends boy or do i want to kill him and take his place? he was soo jealous but guilty of the jealousy bc it wasnt like it was jasons fault the way ppl treated the two differently. and jason was the same to leo, he wanted leos humor and be able to make a room laugh instead of having them glare at him for being to stern, even tho thats what he had been taught to do. they found a unique bond with each other by wanting aspects of each other while liking the parts they didnt want to be

cohort5/new rome [bar hazel and frank] etc looked up to him so much. he was their role model, their leader, their voice of reason, the person to turn to, THE guy. they basically idolized and dehumanized him to nothing but the boy who was raised to lead them, especially bc he was the son of jupiter. the first in so long, ofc he was important and special, why treat him like normal ?

percy ,,, he respected jason eventually. they clashed but they learned how to work through the clashing and fight alongside each other instead of against each other. they had similar yet dif personalities, percy fighting to be listened to while jason had been forced to speak. both leaders, respected, treated like leaders but in dif ways bc of the way their social groups functioned. they both wanted what each other had; percy wanted the stability of new rome, knowing he'd have people that would come back alive every summer. jason wanted the close bonds of camp halfblood without being put into a heavy spotlight

thalia loved him. he was her younger brother, how could she not? she pitied him, tho, from the way he lived in new rome. she knew the life well, being thrown into the spotlight and everything bc she herself was a daughter of zeus (like how chiron and camp treated her, esp if u compare it with how they treated percy after she came back) and hoped he would find a place better. her arms were always open for him but she had another life she wanted to live, too

octavian. pure hatred and jealousy. jason was everything he wanted. he was in leader positions, respected, listened to. octavian thought of him similarly to leo, but without the good bond. he despised jason because he wanted everything jason got just for being born from jupiter. it was unfair, and octavian decided to take advantage when jason disappeared. he wouldnt have another chance to take the spots that belonged to him

nico grew fond of him. he couldnt not have, esp after how jason treated him after the cupid incident. immediately showing his trust, backing him up, etc etc, it was finally someone nico could trust and talk to after years of running from camp and monsters and guilt of dead sisters and tense/awkward friend?ship with his very happily taken crush. nico found someone he could depend on, even if he didnt want to

beryl damn. she had some love for him. deep down, she knew she did, he was her son. but she couldnt focus on him, she had her life to take. her downfall started with thalia and zeus, jason made it worse. even if he was her son, the little love she had for him was so hard to find. too hard to even try. so, she left him, maybe hoping for a better life for him, or wanting to get rid of him. she knew both reasons were true

hedge isnt too talked about in general but he loved jason okay. the son he never had, before chuck. he was him and leos and pipers protector, and he would lay down his life for any of the three. they were his children, even if he no longer talks to them, theyll hold the spot in his heart

hazel and frank and annabeth had similar thoughts about jason. none were really close; hazel and frank looked up to jason like the rest of new rome, but could see him as a person because they actually talked to him. they thought positively about jason, he was friends with all three. even if they werent as close as tlh trio, they still liked jason. how could you not, after a war stuck with them? they think of jason like one does with a friend who used to be close, but grew apart simply because of time. they like him, but theyre not close

hera oh !! he was her son. he was her champion. he was hers, even if he was caused by the reoccuring infidelity of her husband. he was her champion and she loved him like a son. she had a genuine bond with him, one thats hard to form with a god and mortal/demigod. she was the better beryl, and him the better heracles

lesterpollo. he thinks of jason so. much. i firmly believe jason was a big big big part in lester changing, i mean, watching someone know they were going to die and WILLINGLY go into the situation? he had nothing but respect and admiration towards jason. jason was like a mentor to him, showing and reminding him of the right thing to do

[kurisus]

Chapter 108-2 thoughts

This was the most "IT'S SO OVER" "WE'RE SO BACK" chapter ever. Spoilers under the cut.

I am a leetol bit disappointed that Bishamon didn't really get to do anything this arc. She was unconscious for a majority of it, then woke up, went looking for Kazuma, and found him without like, needing to shake some people up. It is sweet how they finally got to have a proper conversation though. Their lack of communication has been a frustrating blind spot for both of them this entire story, so I'm glad they were able to come to peace with it.

I do wonder if Kazuma told her about being named by Yato, or if he dodged that fact, but I'm going to assume since we didn't get a live Bishamon reaction that he did tell her and she understood his reasoning.

"You are the only one who can save yourself" is kind of a strange statement out of context since this whole manga has been about overcoming trials with the help of the people who love you. But in context, Bishamon was saying that praying to a higher power is meaningless and individuals are the only ones capable of miracles. Kind of an atheistic message from a manga where a majority of the characters are Literal deities, but as an allegory for the world, I kinda dig it. Don't believe in miracles, make them happen with your own two hands and the people who love you.

Okay now I need to talk about Yukine this chapter. I Need To. His love for Hiyori and Yato had me pounding my fist on the ground. HE HELD HIYORI'S HAND. HE CLUNG TO YATO WHEN HE STARTED DISAPPEARING. HE DOESN'T WANT HIS DAD TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ADACHITOKA I AM JUST A GUY PLEASE HAVE MERCY ON MY FRAGILE HEART.

FATHER IS FINALLY DEAD SEND OUT THE CRABS. I'm glad his death was quiet and unceremonious, and not even Mizuchi was tempted by him.

It seems like the real Fujisaki was trying to say Father's name but couldn't quite recall it, so I'm thinking we'll get to hear it from Ebisu's mouth next chapter. Then again, we didn't get to hear Nana's real name either, so it may just stay as "ta" forever. Which is funny to think about as in like, "ta" for "bye." Bye bitch!

The pages of the trio + Nora all together and begging Hiyori to come back singlehandedly caused the most emotional damage. I know everyone else is freaking out about the Yatori CPR/kiss but I am just wishing the circumstances were more ideal for it. I will say it is pretty Kyoru of them to kiss while she's unconscious, though.

But, eh, her being alive was way more of a concern to me, so that was the reason I went ahead and read the official version early. I let out the BIGGEST sigh of relief when she woke up in the hospital.

Before I reflect more though, I wanted to say also I was pretty confused by Amaterasu's statement in the official translation, though fast-moon's helped clear it up. Hiyori didn't become a full shinki because she was named in the illusory dimension, and she was saved by the act of killing Father?

"You were carrying the ancient koto no ha with you as well" is the "you" referring to Father or Yato? Did Yato name Hiyori with the brush, or was she talking about Father having both on him?

Okay, so, reflections. Am I happy they temporary killed Hiyori? Still no. I would have preferred they damage her cord instead rather than way back when, when the wolves attacked her. Am I happy they brought her back? Obviously. It would be a bad ending if they left off on that, and I'm curious to see if/how much she'll remember in the final chapter.

Do I think Yato is dead? I sure hope not! This is also a death that would negate a whole lot of character development, and while I like the narrative parallel of her dying to save him so he dies to save her (esp considering how selfish he was at the start of the manga), I don't want Yukine to be left alone or with a baby Yato at the end of everything. I'm scared, because I think it's not off the table.

Am I happy with the ending? Remains to be seen, but while I have quibbles and hangups, it's not that much. It's not of the story-ruining variety for me, anymore. I kind of would have preferred a softer ending to the manga, for example. This entire story has had very high stakes for everyone involved, so they didn't need to up the ante with these constant main character death scares, imo. We were already quite deep in the shit. I also wish Hiyori had had more to do in the final arc before she saved the day by...dying.

But to say I didn't enjoy the journey of this arc would be a lie. It's been a long few years...almost 10 since I watched the anime, almost 9 since I read the manga, and mainly it'll be weird to say goodbye to this era of my life, and not have the monthly stress of chapters hanging over my head.

I was hoping Adachitoka would announce a new series, but it hasn't happened yet, and I'm not sure it will because they've been unable to commit to full chapters for a while now. Even before the hiatus in 2017, the chapters dropped from 45 pages to 40, and then we've been halfsies since 2018. Whatever caused Adachitoka to go on hiatus, it's been enough of an issue that they can't draw 45 pages on a monthly schedule anymore (and honestly, I don't blame them, as we all know mangaka schedules are brutal). Also, taking Alive into account, they've been drawing manga for 20 years. This might be their final story, or they might write another with an assistant. Either way, if they do something else, regardless of their role I'll definitely be checking it out!

So now that Hiyori has been undoomed from the narrative the wedding reread is back on. I'll be starting it soon here, all tagged with #Noragami reread and hopefully some of you will join me as well! Feel free to send me your thoughts on the chapter/the ending.

[jigujellee]

i have finally made the decision to quit writing.

honestly, i knew this wouldn't be a permanent thing for me but i never thought i'd come this far. i started back in 2019 when i just used tumblr to dump all my drafts, but along the way, i have made some really fun memories and even reached a milestone of 1k+ followers which i never thought i'd achieve. i've also met some of the greatest people on here. i am beyond thankful for each and everyone of you, esp to those who i remain close with even outside of tumblr.

with school and work, i found very little time to write, and i also just don't have the motivation to anymore. even with the many drafts and the plans i have rotting in my notion, i just can't seem to sit down and work on them. i keep telling myself i'll come back to them one day but it just doesn't happen and i honestly don't think it will happen any time soon. to those waiting for sequels to different stories and/or for their requests to be fulfilled, i'm deeply sorry that i'm leaving you guys on cliffhangers. i guess you'll just never know if y/n ends up with yunjin or hanni in love the way you lie.

a huge part of me wanted to deactivate this account but with all the inboxes and seeing that people still come across my blog and its contents, i decided to leave it up. if anything, i'm probably also still gonna be on here to quietly lurk on everybody lmao

thank you all for supporting this blog. it's truly been such an interesting (lmao) and great experience fr, and to all the friends i've made on here, you all have a very special place in hell my heart <3 please take care of yourselves, stay hydrated, and remember that you are always loved :) til next time!

sincerely,

jigu

[osakiharu]

AND I DON’T KNOW IF I’LL EVER SEE YOU AGAIN !!

— saying goodbye to those certain people at school/college that you’ll probably never see again </3 (yes i wrote this because i finished college and this is how i felt about leaving some people and i’m sensitive)

content : gender neutral reader, i dont think this is angst so i have no idea what it is, its : :((, thats the genre y'all, me using a couple personal experiences to add in some accuracy

characters : mikey, kazutora, senju

notes : hey guys !! i finally finished my exams and college meaning i’m now on summer break and i finally have time to write ! thank you so much for sticking with me throughout this academic year esp since i was struggling a lot </3 i luv all of y’all so so so much and i hope y’all enjoy this EVEN THOUGH IM LOWKEY RUSTY ASF RN JUST TRUST THE PROCESS Y’ALL MY WRITING MAGIC WILL COME BACK SOON </3

˗ˏˋ MIKEY

- mikey is thee iconic class crush that everyone has (unless you’re not into mikey then that’s too bad you gotta change the character i’m sorry 😔)

- the type of person you’re friends with and is in all your classes, but you get a little rush of excitement when you see them

- the type of person you talk to like you’ve known them for years face to face, but wouldn’t dare ask to meet up with you and you can’t message them for shit because you think too much about your responses

- the type of person who somehow makes your ears burn but you can’t put your finger on why or how they do that

- you and mikey were always class friends - even teachers knew you guys as class friends and would hate when you sat with each other, knowing very well no work would get done

- he would always find a way to talk to you when you walked past him, to make a joke to you, possibly bully you a little (all with a kind heart and no malice of course) - and you always found a way to do it back which he loved <3

- you cherished him as a friend for some reason - out of all your class friends (not including closer friends that is) he felt special to you, and you could never and will never know why

- and so when the end of your time at school/college was getting closer you started to cherish your little interactions with him and got more and more excited to see him everyday :( - the way you guys interacted never changed, you just held it closer to you and appreciated it more

- on your last day you didn’t see him until the end of the day - he probably didn’t bother coming in early since it was the last day and he’s lazy 😒

- he approached you quickly with a little spring in his step, smiling widely at you like he always did (he was always happy to see you, you just never really realised) — you were very much prepared for a usual interaction; a little small talk, a clever joke of his, a laugh, and departure

- oh. a hug 🎉 — you literally could’ve cried. and don’t say no. yes you could’ve okay.

- “don’t get soppy on me now, y/n, hm? it’s not the end of the world, is it?” — TO YOU ☹️

- even though you wished he did, he didn’t spend any extra time with you, simply walking away with a goodbye and back to his friends — however he did message you when he got home <3

hey i just wanted to say i enjoyed being friends this year :)

in case i never see you again remember me by this <3

i’ll miss you, make sure you look after yourself !

- it was a video of a cat eating dorayaki and purring ?? makes sense 🫶 - although you were more surprised at the concept of a cat actually eating something like that

- though you appreciated and loved his messages, and responded with the same amount of appreciation, you kinda wish he hadn’t messaged you with his own little goodbye — although it wasn’t like losing a lifelong best friend it still left a little hole in the pit of your stomach, knowing you’d miss him, knowing you’d still talk about him with your friends sometimes

- probably wondering if he actually liked you as much as you liked him, wondering if you were simply just a person in his class or more of a friend ?

- you hope one day he’ll ask you to meet up and your friendship can be strengthened in the future but its unlikely to happen :/ - mainly because you’re probably not about to make the first move YEAH

˗ˏˋ KAZUTORA

- in your final year of school/college you ended up being together for a class - you could say he was kinda like your study buddy in the end 🤷‍♀️

-one day he saw you in the library and he asked if you could help him study for the upcoming test since he was struggling with the topic and he wanted to do well this time — lets be real, we all know kazutora would not take classes seriously 😭

- eventually it became a common thing for the both of you to do; meet in the library and go over the things he wanted to do (and it was convenient for you because it meant you could also simultaneously go over the difficult things too 🫶)

- you guys had a spot mikey called the ‘secret spot’ because it was hidden at the back behind a couple bookshelves — despite always being late to classes he was usually on time to your meet-ups

- he always greeted you by saying “hey, teach!” with only a pen and a scrap piece of paper

- as much as you liked seeing kazutora and becoming friends with him, studying with him was very hard sometimes — you could tell he was trying hard but he would kinda just stare and nod his head rather than listen because he would zone out

- once you guys finished studying, he’d simply ask you when you were able to meet next and would say his goodbye’s and thank you’s — sometimes you wanted to ask if he felt like meeting up outside of college or at least studying at your house since you guys got on so well, but you never did

- and he would make out of pocket jokes (they made you giggle but he doesn’t have to know that) — “is there anythin’ else i can do to get an A, professor? 🥺” boy 🤨

- you guys never ate lunch together or spoke to each other outside of lessons - it was almost like as soon as you guys left the classroom or library you didn’t know each other :(

- you had his socials and sometimes you’d receive messages at 12am about a theory he couldn’t understand 😭 — they always made you smile though and sometimes you guys even had little convos (mostly small talk though ugh)

- once you guys face timed 😟 — he thought you looked so pretty under the light of your desk lap and it made him kinda nervy so he was quieter than usual </3

- when exam season came around y’all were stressing over exams together like. the poor boy was SCARED — however, before each exam he would always come up to you when you were with your friends to ask how you were <3

- “i don’t know why you’re stressed, you’re the teacher here, sweets.”

- although you were excited for all the exams and college/school to end, you were also kinda dreading it — you knew the fact that you and kazutora wouldn’t have another study session again left a little ache in your chest

- when the final day arrived you thought he’d neglected to show up since you hadn’t seen him all day :((

- when the exam finished, however, he showed up out of nowhere asking how it went :0 - you guys had a long talk about the exam and how you guys hated whichever questions

- “well, i gotta get going now, my friend is giving me a ride home and i don’t wanna make him wait too much, i’m really sorry!” oh ☹️

- there it was. the feeling that came over you told you you’d probably never see him again, possibly never speak to him again except for some small talk at 11pm when he saw a funny post and decided to send it to you. the knowledge that you were losing a friend that you’d cherished your limited time with over the stressful year </3

- “yeah, it’s fine, don’t worry about it!” idiot.

- “i’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

- you just nodded, despite there no longer being a tomorrow :(

- BOOOOOOOO

˗ˏˋ SENJU

- she was your friend in all of your classes <3

- literally since the first day of school/college she decided that you guys were gonna be friends

- every time you come into a lesson she’s always sat in the seat next to yours, and if she’s late she always looks for you with a bright smile on her face — even if other people changed seats in the class, you guys always stayed in the exact same seats next to each other

- “do you wanna do it together?” — y’all always worked on projects or class work together, especially presentations since senju said it just turned out better if you guys did it together

- y’all would also always panic together over presenting posters or presentations to the class and then talk about how good you did afterwards

- you guys always laughed together in classes and giggled at dumb jokes </3

- she would always make you walk with her to exams too — it’s not like she was ever panicking or worried, she just wanted to walk with you into the exam and talk about it after

- and once she bought you candy for your birthday even though you don’t remember telling her your birthday 😭 - “i got you these, i don’t know if you like them but you can try them!” me personally i’d cry

- also !! you guys would also talk outside of classes yay !! — on messages that is

- often she would message you about work, whether that was asking when homework was due in etc etc — but you guys would also message each other if you found out any gossip about people in your classes 😭😭😭

senju : babe, y’know that girl we were talking about the other day?? i found her boyfriend on tinder 😟

you : there’s no way… they’ve literally been dating for almost a year, his account should be deleted by now ?!

senju : wait what ?! how did you find out it’s been that long ☠️

you : oh i looked on her instagram yesterday lmao

- but 😁

- you guys just… didn’t talk to each other outside of class in person ??

- as soon as the class was over y’all didn’t really talk to each other, you never ate lunch together, you never studied together etc — you guys also never made plans or spoke to each other over summer breaks ?

- like y’all basically didn’t speak to each other for three months but when you came back after it was like no time had passed

- when the day of your final exam came around you guys walked to the room as usual, talking about what you did or didn’t want to come up

- before she went into the room she hugged you. you guys never hug. — “you’ll be fine, babe, you got this.” sobbing.

- when you came out of the exam she was gone as usual — it was rare for you guys to wait for each other at the end of lessons or exams anyways

- but that time you felt a little wave of sadness wash over you, perhaps a little ache in your chest as you realised that was probably the last time you’d ever walk down a corridor with her, to stress over something together, hear her little pep talks before doing exams, to do anything with her

- you took her hug as a goodbye </3 (for a while it seemed to leave a little hollow feeling in your chest when you thought of her) though it didn’t feel complete without hearing her say it

- sobbing tbh

reblogs appreciated <3

[paracosmicparadox]

So I finished FFXV ages ago, but I've been thinking about it lately bc you know, I elaborated the chocobros' story far further than it was meant to go and got way more attached to them than I should have. So here're some things that the game did really well and some of the things it didn't. (you don't have to agree w anything here; I'm not trying to corrupt y'all w my opinions; I just feel like talking)

Let's start with the bad to get it out of the way:

CINDY. I swear to everything holy her character had the potential to be So Cool if she hadn't been so overtly over-sexualized. Like, I'm a woman-liker too and I get it, lady mechanics are hot af, but you know what else is attractive? Safety in the workplace. Cindy's outfit was not something any mechanic would be caught dead wearing. Yeah, it was designed to be sexy, but do you know how many burns she would've accumulated from the hot oil and metal she works with? There's a reason mechanics typically wear clothing zipped up when they're actually working on something. If anything, Cindy's character design just made me uncomfortable. Her character itself? Great. No qualms there. Her design? Please acquire more than two square feet of fabric I'm begging you. I just feel like Cindy deserved to be so much more than fan service.

Luna's brief time on-screen. Yet another potentially incredible and deep female protagonist who got short change from this game. People joke a lot that Luna wasn't at all an important character because the game never really treated her like one. She was MEANT to be important, clearly, but it felt like she existed just for her tearjerking death scene? Like there was SO MUCH overlooked potential to bring her into the storyline as more than Tragic Love Interest In White, and yet?? Idk it frustrated me.

The emotional aspect of the game felt rushed. There were a lot of emotional scenes covered throughout the plotline ranging from King Regis's death to the deal with Prompto at Zegnautus Keep. I feel like the game TRIED to cover them realistically and show the characters' grief, but it didn't quite get there. It was just sort of an "Oh, how sad. I'm so upset and angry. Hm, what's that? My friends believe in me without truly understanding and I can kill someone to ease my pain? Oh okay I'm better now." I get that realistic healing cycles are kinda hard to portray within a set timeframe, but having some lingering effects of the blatant trauma inflicted would've been nice. You don't recover from shit like that in a week's time.

Character personalities tended to be one-sided. Noctis was edgy, Prompto was happy-go-lucky, Gladio was tough-guy, and Ignis was... nevermind, Iggy was great--- HE had some on-screen depth. Personally, I've developed these characters myself far more than what the game gave us, but I wish we'd gotten more canon depth beyond their surface-level traits. I love them with my whole heart and they deserve genuine complexity.

Now the things I actually really enjoyed:

The graphics were on-point. The amount of detail put into character design and into monsters was insane. You could zoom in and see individual textures on skin and hair and feathers, bringing a level of realism to the game that I personally enjoyed.

All of the Latin and Norse mythological references!! As a Latin nerd, I found little gems everywhere in this game. Esp in the names--- (Noctis Lucis Caelum = Of-the-night Sky-of-light (the genitives in there make the literal translation kinda a mouthful ik) Gladiolus Amicitia = Sword-flower Friendship (the gladiolus is an actual flower that gets its name from the Latin word gladius, meaning sword, for its sword-like shape) Ignis Scientia = Fire Knowledge; Prompto Argentum = Ready Silver (the word prompto is actually in the dative (possibly ablative), making the literal translation nonsense, but if they'd made his name Promptus, it would've sounded awkward, so I can see why they picked the dative/ablative form of the adjective for stylistic reasons and I put the rough translation instead)) WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF PARENTHETICAL INFO WHOOPS

Ardyn's character. I'm not saying this bc I'm one of the fans who fawn over him---Ardyn is DEFINITELY NOT MY PREFERRED FLAVOR OF MAN, but character-wise, he made an excellent antagonist. He was witty, slick, and classy in an I'm-gonna-outstep-you-like-it's-hopscotch sorta way. He was a poetic villain done well, which made him an antagonist you could both sympathize for and absolutely detest given the situation. He was both the master manipulator and the pawn one space away from the edge of the board. He can sway a crowd, but you know deep in your gut just by the cunning greed in his eyes that You Cannot Trust The Man. He was definitely Not a good person (tragic backstory isn't an excuse), but he was a good villain.

I loved the bond between the chocobros?? This is probably bc I'm a sucker for the found family trope, but their interactions were so amazing to me?? Like, not even the cutscene stuff. Just their little sidebar conversations during fights or while you're walking around or driving the Regalia. They're Roadtrip Buddies™ and I think that's excellent.

THE FOOD. By god, the food in this game looked absolutely scrumptious and I would like to partake. The Daggerquill Soup? Give it to me I'll pay you. The Creamy Crustacean Omelet? Stop it right now I'll eat that so fast it'll be a criminal offense. Like I know I touched on the graphics earlier, but broski I was not kidding. I guess I know why the game took so long to make it to the market bc the detail that went into these recipes is absolutely mouthwatering.

[bcofl0ve]

okay okay gather round sorry this is coming later than i said it would, law school brain. but. at long last, bottoms review time with mollie except this time with lots and lots of spoilers.

i think we covered my general “good movie very funny” thoughts in the spoiler free review, which you can read here so this is gonna be more me info dumping about my thoughts on the plot. and the core of those is that….

PJ IS A LITTLE BITCH!!! i wanted to like her in a “i support women's wrongs” way truly i did but she’s just. an asshole! not all annoying female characters are redeemable, and she is one! that’s not to say her character *existing* annoyed me, i think her being the anti-thesis to josie is an important facet of the movie and the whole “lie falling apart” plot line needed a bad guy so. she was a necessary evil.

that said though gahhhh. i wanted to wring her little neck and ik a satirical movie is not meant to be a realistic example of friendship. i do..but i still think josie was wayyy too forgiving. josie deserves better friends!!! and i fear in a world where these characters are real/the story continues pj needs to idk go to therapy or she’s gonna make josie miserable for being happy with isabel while she’s not in a relationship. (and that is to say she should not be with hazel either! she needs therapy not a girlfriend!)

buttttt but but all that to say i do think rachel did a great job playing her. playing unlikeable characters in a way that makes them unlikeable without a viewer wishing they weren't in the movie at all is a skill set! her being funny and me wanting to punt her across the room are very much thoughts that co-exisit!

moving semi away from pj…the reveal of brittany being straight threw me for such a loop that the next like- 5 minutes of the movie went right over my headkjfkj not to be an insane person but i was gen a little disappointed!! let kaia play a gay character in something that isn’t ahs!! i will wait!!! that said though she actually pulls off the whole “straight girl that isn’t gay just likes gay porn” stereotype very well and made me laugh. i still loved brittany to bits and pieces…heterosexual and all.

josie and isabel. josie and isabel. wahhhhh. wahhhh. my darling girls. when josie almost told her they were lying about juvie but went back on it my heart broke a little bc you could tell she felt guilty and i just ,</3..and yeah she did choose to keep up with the lie when she realized she was getting what she wanted (isabel) but i think the film did a good job of showing how her keeping up with it was different from pj keeping up with it. pj kept up with the lie bc she was on a power trip. josie kept up with it because she didn’t want to lose isabel/lose finally having a geuine connection with a girl/and felt like she had in a way gotten her away from jeff so as long as they kept the lie up she could keep looking out for her.

which is still well, manipulative. lying is bad! but idk i had much more sympathy for her than i did pj. and think when it all came out that josie was actually sorry, whereas pj was only sorry they got caught/still bitter britt was straight. 

those are my main thoughts on it all, but some side bars: lovedd hazel. ruby is great and i am not really a fantasy show person, just not my genre but now i kinda wanna check out willow just to see more of her. the plot twist with jeff actually fucking her mom was soooo early 2000s teen movie and i ate it up. as was the fact that outside of that no one seemed to have parents at all LOL your kids are coming home with black eyes and you don’t have some questions?!?! miles fowler was also really great and tbh i liked him as much as i did kaia in it. esp his flip phone. especially his flip phone. josie's monolouge about marrying a pastor and lavender marriages is what made me start choking on my shake. right up my humor ally as someone who grew up evangelical, and i imagine ayo found it funny for the same reason! was expecting the big josie/isabel hookup scene to be more vulgar less *fade to black* but this is a movie about high schoolers so actually that's a good thing i think?? i accidentally read a spoiler explaining the final killing spree scene months ago and really wish i didn’t bc it would’ve been fun to experience that going in blind.

another side bar to close this out. i *loved* this movie. 5 stars in my book i can’t wait to rewatch it over and over when it’s on prime. but i…kinda disagree with all the tweets saying it’s the next mean girls/heathers/etc cult classic. not because i don’t think it’s good! but because i think comedy film criticism is turning into everything having to be iconic or a future cult classic to be praised? a funny movie can just be a funny movie! it doesn’t have to be the next heathers for you to like it and praise it! does that make sense?

if you read this all the way through congrats! go gay people! go losers!

hello! If you’re reading this because you’re scrolling through the bottoms tag my name is mollie (-: this is primarily a gossip blog for austin butler and his girlfriend kaia gerber (brittany!), both folks i’m big fans of- with a side of elvis presley/presley family fan posting. but i’ve been ‘covering’ bottoms quite a bit so do feel free to come hang out and send anons if you wanna chat! <3 and i’m going to start posting anons containing spoilers on sunday night- so if i don’t answer something right away that’s why.

[mbti-notes]

Anon wrote: Hi, I’m INFJ. I need to ask: 1) what I should improve myself to feel less put off at Ts in general, to lessen the T & F difference 2) Tips on communication w Ts, especially INTJ.

Ik you said ppl’s strength underlie their weakness & vice versa, so they have a set of advantages to offer. As much as I’d like to dismiss it, I suck at Ti (I’m improving by learning critical thinking). I need to view Ts less judgmentally.

I had personal motivations for handling immaturity, but that wasn’t the only drive. The other (great) one is my feelings for my childhood INTJ friend, who I’m having a crush on & is asking me out. I’ve had feelings for him since childhood.

I used to think we couldn’t go out because of my immaturity. I suck at handling personality setbacks/criticisms/etc. (all date back to bad Fe & Ti lol). Later, I became more honest w my feelings, better at expressing genuinely, finally more logical than before (some positive changes for my own sake). But I still feel unable to bridge the gap w the Ts (esp TJs).

I hate this state, it robs me off chance for a greater relationship w the guy I’ve loved for years. I’m better than before, but I still fear this won't work. Our friendship is great, time passed but we still share many central values like how close we are to our family, definition of independence, pet peeves, political spectrum. I used to suck at not making a disagreement a heated argument, but with time, I got better at It. We had found the way to disagree while still being able to fully understand the others’ POV. I got more grounded thanks to him, too. But our growth was platonic.

Communication challenges are still considerable. I never used to tell him my feelings and I’ve never been in relationships before. But he’s already been in a few. I’m into this possible change as much as I’m willing to stay the same, because I’m so scared whether being his girlfriend will actually be a good choice. Help :(

------------------

You say you get the idea of everyone having strengths/weaknesses but it doesn't sound like you really do. On the surface, it's not a bad thing to want to improve upon your weaknesses, but your approach to it is problematic. You still haven't understood that the first step must be to accept and embrace weaknesses, because proper self-improvement has to come from a place of love - not hate.

You are standing in front of someone who knows your strengths and weaknesses and still loves you and wants to start a life together. Yet you cannot accept being loved by him. Why? Because you haven't yet learned to love yourself, so you can't imagine that others can, either.

It sounds to me like it is lovingkindness you need to work on. Critical thinking isn't going to help you accept and embrace all of yourself, is it? When you finally learn how to approach yourself, your life, and others with an attitude of love, the relationship problems you've described have no reason to arise.

For example: If you can accept your insecurities, own them and talk about them openly and still love yourself, who can trigger them? If you can accept and love him both for his strengths and weaknesses, why would they cause you any conflict? And when conflicts arise as they inevitably do in intimate relationships, if you approach them with a reconciliatory attitude, why wouldn't they get resolved?

At the heart of your question is not personality but your self-worth and self-esteem. Until you address those issues, your attempts at function development are at high risk of getting twisted up. Ni+Fe should allow you to envision beautiful potential for love, but you are using them to invent more ways to hate and punish yourself.

Relationships aren't about being perfect and being able to handle everything perfectly. If that's what you're unconsciously aiming for, then you're imposing a very unreasonable burden on yourself. Failing to achieve false images of perfection only exacerbates self-hatred in a vicious cycle.

[boxofthings]

Constantly thinking of the many ways Roach could be incorporated into the reboot timeline but in the most angsty way possible.

I lowkey like the idea that Roach and Ghost were partners in the past and sent out on a mission where only one of them came back (Ghost) while the other was presumed dead (Roach).

That mission could be this timeline's version of Loose Ends where they're betrayed, but not by Sheppard. (And it also explains the "Careful who you trust, people you know can hurt you the most." line by Ghost.)

Or it could just be a mission that ended terribly and Ghost has to live with the pain of losing Roach.

Anyways the next part is inspired by this post by @rodolfoparra with Roach being a Shadow Company soldier.

I'm thinking Roach becomes a Shadow after being found half-dead by Sheppard's men. Happens right after the mission where Ghost thought he died.

He becomes recruited and now works for Sheppard (this is lowkey inspired by the cod:g storyline where the enemy captured, tortured and brainwashed one of the good guys into joining their side.)

This would also make for some good ass angst-ridden reunion when Ghost discovers that not only is Roach alive, but he is now serving the enemy.

This could be reluctant enemies to lovers lmao (or just enemies to friends if that's more your thing)

Imagine Roach having a vendetta against Ghost because he believes he was abandoned/left for dead during that past mission. Like idk Sheppard or some other SC officer brainwashed him into believing Ghost had discarded him.

Maybe Roach defects from SC because of Ghost either trying to bring Roach back to their side, or just by Roach being unable to bring himself to fight/hurt Ghost.

I feel like Roach is a fiercely loyal man to whoever he is allied with, so it would probably take a lot for him to break away from SC in the beginning (esp since I'm going with him being brainwashed into joining them.)

Anyways, I am a shameless ghostroach shipper at heart so my reboot!Roach hcs are going to generate the most amount of angst possible for these two. Just think of the potential.

[dnangelic]

// WHO WOULD BE ON DARK AND DAISUKE'S POKETEAMSSSSS ive always thought daisuke would have a smeargle (art moment) an eevee (wiz moment) (also normal types bc hes So Normal and Regular and Unassuming) annnd zorua (edgy red moment) while dark has shiny zororak (edgy purple moment) and. idk. maybe an umbreon to mirror daisuke's eevee. blinks

@zenigatakeibu

HARVEY AUGHHHHHH UR SO SMART!!!!!!! honestly dai wouldn't be a hardcore pokemon trainer (he's here to steal hearts not to win fights or become champion^tm) so he wouldn't have a fully decked out party. dai would LOATHE battling, he'd never want to do it, even if given dark's reputation he'd probably get flamethrowers and lightning bolts fired his way every other day or night. it's hard being dark. he'll still use his abilities to save other people because that's his whole thing but whatever.

in my head it was like - hilariously enough dark and wiz would be daisuke's only 'pokemon' and this was an immutable concept in my Brain, if i didn't go the legendary/fragment of giratina route then dark just would've been a gengar possessing the niwa line (to mirror the way dark's sometimes described as the infinitely repeating 'ghost' of the original niwa/ancestor) or a nightmare-curse from darkrai that bled into reality (not biblical/'creation' focused enough, esp on the hikari side of things.)

dark's not allowed to be human, ever, so why not make him just the weird human-infused product of the equivalent of vaguely-pokemon-satan already who has weird dimension hopping powers(dai n dark can already do that normally) and a cool edgelord aesthetic that has a gold torque just like one of their outfits. and wings. and territorial behavior with a sensitive side lmao or everybody wanting to 'seal' and lock them away for being chaotic/trouble makers aldkjaldkjf - anyways you get it! wiz and dark even within dnangel canon are supposed to be pretty unique weirdos already, wiz is more like shaymin status (a la there's only ever like One Around) which i also think suits him a little better than an eevee would too -

^ you can see what i mean right. KDSJLDKJG GOTH SHAYMIN TO CANON'S PASTEL. these small transformers mammals can kick it into FLIGHT MODE. but i can still totally see dai loving normal types overall like smeargle and eevee!!

in canon the way that artworks fill up dai's house as dark collects them i can see him basically filling up his mansion with all sorts of pokemon that are only 'his' in a kind of a distant and territorial, royal sense- canonically he gets artworks that are / can turn into a small bird (towa, maybe a natu given the psychic/supernatural 'guide to eternity' thing she has going on, or a swablu/altaria since it fits her aesthetic more?) a snake, (or a gecko, that's argentine, there's plenty of pokemon for that,' and a whole ass dreameater-tapir for baku, (drowzee and musharna are both RIGHT THERE) so if we're going canon-wise, i'd give him those!!! i love him slowly building up his found family of little weird guys who he loves and who love HIM very much, + again it elevates the whole giratina fragment/noble ruler of another realm/burdened boyking bit. otherwise, i've always used a clefairy(not a clefable! not! a! clefable!) to represent daisuke and still a gengar to represent dark. dai just has a fairy type affinity in general alongside his normal type behavior since he's a fragmented fairy tale mc. give him a mimikyu or impidmp or something. if anything i think the ghost types as a whole fit dark very well too - mostly in lore.

banette being thrown away and haunted inanimate dolls??? sinistea being just a lonely lil guy in a cuppy?? sableye?? LITWICK???

^ 'SPEND LESS ON LITWICK.' 'NO.'

[miya-twins]

okay this is mostly abt suna but I'm putting it on this blog anyway. also it's 10/07 so it's sunaatsu day and that's where my thoughts are!

so. at first I was pretty surprised seeing suna went pro after the timeskip, not because he wasn't good enough or anything, he just didn't seem like the type? like, he just wasn't all that openly invested in volleyball, not like hinata or kageyama or oikawa or ushiwaka or bokuto or atsumu.

he's not the type to just not be good at anything else, either, he totally could've gone to university and done some other job if he wanted to

in part I think it's def due to kita. like, suna used to be the type to slack and look for shortcuts on his runs. but by trying to find kita's weakness, suna exposed himself to kita's perfect routine, and through kita's presence, suna had to practice dutifully too, making him improve at volleyball and thus making it more fun

that, I think, suna would admit if pressed. esp to other inarizaki alumni. they get it. they've all been impressed and influenced by kita. they couldn't have slacked with kita's eyes on them, either.

the other part, though, suna will take to his grave. there's no way he can ever tell anyone. because it's atsumu.

I just know suna saw atsumu and went 'oh this guy is an idiot and kind of a dick. funny tho' and made no secret that that was his impression of atsumu. recording the twins' nonsense was his biggest source of entertainment at inarizaki

but when he's on the court, atsumu always gives 100%. he does everything he can to set the ball perfectly, and he expects his spikers to do equally as much to score.

suna might've been reluctant at first - if you do everything you can with all your heart, failing hurts way more than if you just kinda tried a little bit, and it opens you up to ridicule which suna hates - but there were people like osamu and aran on the team, who answered atsumu's demands every time, so half-assing it would absolutely not fly. and at some point suna stopped wanting to half-ass it.

he got addicted to hitting tosses perfectly tailored to his unique style, and to toying with opposing middle blockers, and to winning, and to trying his best, and to volleyball.

after three years at inarizaki, he couldn't imagine quitting anymore.

he's kinda happy about it, too, likes going pro and being able to be openly passionate

he just kinda hates that he got inspired by miya atsumu of all people. esp since he considers osamu his best friend. if osamu found out, he'd never, ever let suna live that one down

even worse if the inspiration and passion comes with a crush. imagine having a crush on atsumu. embarrassing. mortifying. suna considers becoming a monk or leaving the country before he ever considers admitting to said crush. probably needs osamu to catch on and give him a push before he does anything about it. hates every step of it.

but it's worth it, in the end. just like putting his entire self on the line for volleyball and being rewarded with fun and victory and the best tosses, putting it all on the line and voicing his feelings gets him atsumu. atsumu who loves suna with the same honesty and intensity that he loves volleyball with. it's exhilarating, and addictive, and soon, suna has no idea how he ever lived without it.

[northerngoshawk]

kfp4 review

just watched kfp4 for the first time yesterday, so here are my initial thoughts

spoilers under the cut!

The Good:

THE FIGHT SCENES!! as someone who once aspired to be a fight animator, the flow of each fight was astonishing - as expected of the kfp franchise 😌 my fav fight scene has to be between po and the chameleon as she shapeshifts into different enemies po had fought. just - UGH. scratches an itch i didn't know i even had

outside of the fight scenes, i really really REALLY loved the way they brought back tai lung. even if we only get like 5 min of dialogue n screentime with him, i really love the way he and po interacted with each other, how tai lung wasn't automatically all buddy-buddy with po and still held an ounce of contempt for po being the dragon warrior as opposed to him - even if he seems like he ultimately found some seamblance of inner peace. it made it that much more satisfying when tai lung finally acknowledges po as the dragon warrior. it really did feel like the resolution of tai lung's arc from the first movie, because while i think tai lung accepted that he would never be the dragon warrior, he didn't accept po as the dragon warrior until that very moment

in relation to the above, i think the part where everyone from the spirit realm acknowledges po alongside tai lung was the shining, pivotal moment of the entire film. it just felt entirely satisfying to see tai lung, shen, and kai in particular acknowledge po as someone worthy of the title of dragon warrior - tai lung bc of what i mentioned above, shen bc he only ever saw po as "the black-and-white warrior" that would defeat him, and kai bc he treated po as a joke until the very end of the third film. there's something very satisfying to see these former villains being saved by the very person they once fought and humbly bowing in respect to him.

the voice acting for the chameleon! the character itself, i'll get to in a moment, but i really do think the voice acting for her was phenomenal.

THE PANGOLIN!! idk why but honestly i thought he was a bit more intimidating than the chameleon. also i love the way they utilized his rolling around, so it didn't exactly feel like he was just being bounced back and forth, but being deliberate about it, like a martial artist

li and ping. i needn't say more.

The Meh:

zhen's character as a whole. ik most people's feelings on her range from indifference to outright hatred, and i personally lean more towards the former. the concept of her character in and of itself is intriguing, but the execution fell flat, turning her into one of those generic i-was-a-bad-guy-who's-totally-gonna-betray-you-but-because-of-your-good-heart-i've-changed-for-the-better characters. i'm fine with newer characters being added to the cast, don't get me wrong, but i want to see more... creativity ig, when it comes to their character arcs. i will say that i did enjoy the banter between her and po.

the jokes. the jokes themselves are fine, i even gave a chuckle every here and there, but the problem was really the timing of them. some jokes were placed well, but others felt like they completely messed up the emotional beats of the movie. some of em even felt almost... sacrilegious, esp when considering the first three movies.

how shen and kai didn't have speaking roles. i really really wished i would've gotten to see them exchange a few words with po alongside tai lung, but i also get the budget may not have allowed it. still, i will give the film points for focusing on them at the right moments, as well as having them flank tai lung when approaching po. not as satisfying as having them exchange a few words, but satisfying nontheless

The Egregious:

a severe lack of the furious five. i get that the budget may not have allowed them to come back in speaking roles, but by sidelining the five, kfp4 just didn't feel like a kfp movie. a core part of the first three movies, esp kfp 1 and 2, was the way the furious five grew alongside po and learned to not only work alongside him but to become his friends. i suppose the reason to have them step away was to also emphasize the "change" theme of the fourth movie, but it shouldn't change to the point where they are no longer a huge part of po's life. by taking them away, kfp4 really lost some of the soul that went into kfp 1-3

the fact that po really called himself the "kung fu panda." this is writing on par with "maybe the true dragon warrior was the friends we made along the way." we didn't need to hear the title come out of a character's mouth. please never ever EVER do that again, writers.

also the fact that po's achievements seemed downplayed in this movie. maybe kfp1 & kfp3 wouldn't be all that well-known, but when you save gongmen city and, essentially, the entirety of china, i'm pretty sure that your exploits would reach far and wide, regardless of where geographically you are on the map. the director mentioned that he wanted to take po to a far, distant land on his journey - but again??? gongmen city????

the chameleon's character. she just... didn't feel as intimidating as the other villains. when we first meet tai lung, he's a shadow with glowing gold eyes in the deepest pits of a dungeon. when we first meet shen, he effortlessly kills one of the most renowned kung fu masters in the land. when we meet kai, he overpowers and steals the chi of master oogway, a respected and well-beloved character in the universe. but chameleon? she just tosses someone down a set of stairs. painful, yes, but not quite as intimidating as the other three. her motivation for being a villain is also a bit weak, seeing as how she bemoans about being "too small" to be a kung fu master when mantis is, quite literally, right there. and while i can see arguments on how master oogway didn't judge mantis by his appearance but by his potential, it just didn't feel like a good enough motivator - or at least, the movie didn't really show us how the discrimination really affected her, instead relying on telling us how it affected her.

the entire plotline. i mean, i can understand needing to pass on the mantle of the dragon warrior to someone else once po passes, but the problem is that it essentially off-sets the ENTIRE point of the first movie. the whole point of being the dragon warrior was that it was a coveted title that couldn't be passed off to just ANYONE - oogway didn't choose tai lung, shifu, or any of the furious five for that very reason. the first film gave the sense of "fate" and "destiny" being the ultimate decider of who gets to be the dragon warrior, while this film po chooses his successor because... what? he felt bad for her and thinks she could become a better person? they could've done that for her without having her become the dragon warrior.

my biggest issue with kfp4, however, was that this entire film just felt like the writers were trying to copy the formula of kfp2 without understanding WHY kfp2 worked. let me break it down: po goes to a distant city with a bad guy that lives at the top of a terrifying tower, commences in a city-wide chase that leaves him in an underground/criminal environment where he tries to recruit people to his cause but fails, then goes out to face the enemy, gets thrown out at first, and then succeeds a second time. the scene when zhen tries to stop po from facing the chameleon, first by sparring with him and then hugging him, was especially remniscent of the scene in kfp2 when tigress tries to stop po from facing shen - except it didn't contain the same emotional beats as kfp2 did. why? it's because tigress and po had two movies to develop their relationship. we've seen how they were in kfp1 vs kfp2, from the one-sided rivalry and even contempt to friends who would put themselves on the line for the other's sake. we also know tigress's character, how she tries to be the stone-cold, tough love kind of person even around her fellow furious five members. so, when we see tigress hug po, it's a very pivotal moment not just for the movie, but for her character arc as well. but when i see zhen do the same thing for po, all i can think about is how it's essentially a cheap replication of what kfp2 does, but without the proper emotional investment and emotional beats kfp2 had.

The Memes:

if i had a nickel for every time awkwafina voiced a character whose themes revolved around trust, i'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

Overall:

despite all my gripes with the movie, i thought that this was a fun movie to watch and not take all that seriously. definitely the weakest movie of the franchise, but not a terrible sequel compared to other franchises. you'd just have to watch and form your own opinion on this movie. personally, if i wanted to watch a kfp movie with some of the best emotional beats of the franchise, i'd just rewatch kfp2.

[ashes-writing]

free fallin pt two | stranger things ; b.hargrove

A/N; This came to me earlier and I had to do it. Reader isn't a complete goody two shoes, but... she is /innocent/. I decided to write out an entire chapter of their own internalizations and a little friendship between Reader's little sis and Max. I am seriously hoping that this stays the way I think it will because if so, it's going to be cute to write out. and *ahem,coughs* hot in some parts. I uh.. have plans for this.

AHHH you guys, thank you so much. Anyone reading this, esp the likes/reblogs and tags/comments you guys have no idea how much this means to me and how much it encourages me to keep going. It really does help. Thank you soooooo much.

-Ashes.

Pairing ; Billy Hargrove x Innocent!Fem reader

Timeline / Other Stuff; part I can be found by clicking. Definitely a good idea to read that and then come back and read this so it all makes sense. None of the events of s2 pertaining the upside down and all it's unholy terrors and Billy's death or Barbs will be happening. The upside down actually doesn't exist in any of the reader fics I write so.. yeah.

Warning; the smallest mention of Neil -but it's literally just him being mentioned as of rn. Billy. Billy is the warning here, loves. Because he's just an angsty and uncomfy lil bean bc he does not know what to do with ... things he learns.

Taglist;

@allelitesmut @aries-arcade @cole22ann @hcloangcls @heyaitsklaudia @krys-orion @musichealsscars @scoobiessnacks are the only people on my Stranger Things taglist. However I extend a tag to @rampagewriting -- no pressure bb feel free to absolutely ignore. If you do want to be on my taglist for anything including Stranger Things, please go -> here and add yourself.

rules + fandoms || masterlist || ask me things || requests ; open to headcanon asks + nsfw sfw alphabet letters only.

It’s actually 8:10 when you hear the raucous rumble of the engine belonging to Billy’s Camaro. You wander over to your bedroom window as you finish towel drying your hair and peer out through a gauzy tapestry. About the same time you’re doing this, your sister in middle school bursts through your door, giggling as she rushes to your window. “Oh my god oh my god oh my god.” she’s got a hand to her heart.

“What?” you give her a blank look.

“Billy Hargrove is parked outside our house, what the hell do you mean what?”

You roll your eyes. You’d forgotten all about her little crush on him. “Calm down. You’re in what, sixth grade?”

“Seventh, asshole.” Virginia pouts. “Seventh.”

“He’s still way too old. Besides,” you state calmly, “If you’re smart you’ll stay away from boys like that. Do you hear me?”

“Mhm. So then… care to explain why he’s here?” she taps her foot.

You throw your hands up in the air. “Tutoring, Gin. I’m tutoring him. There’s no other reason.”

“Are you sure? Because, I mean… I swear I won’t tell Mom and Patrick if he is your boyfriend. Only if it’s him, though. If you bring that prick Harrington over, ugh.. No.”

“I’m suuuure, oh my god, go to your own room.” you shove her out of your bedroom and shut the door behind you.

And then, after you’ve taken a little time to pull yourself together and you’re dressed in some shorts and a cropped red shirt with the Coca Cola logo on it, you make your way downstairs to open the door. Billy’s leaning in the doorway, a smirk on his face. “Darlin, hey.” he’s smooth, too smooth like usual. And when he steps into your house, he makes sure that he presses right up against you in the open doorway, right in front of at least three of your nosiest neighbors, all of whom happen to be either peering out their windows or out watering plants for the afternoon in their neatly manicured flower beds. 

You gulp, hoping to God he didn’t see you do it. Mrs. Myrtle from across the street is staring at your house like she’s trying to commit Billy and his car to memory. “Shit.” you grab Billy’s wrist and pull him through the door, closing it behind you and locking it.

“That nosy bitch, I swear to God.” you grumble and Billy laughs.

“Somethin wrong?” he asks, gazing at you with that damned smirk. Like he doesn’t know already. He has to have heard how strict your mother and stepfather are, he has to be pretty damned aware that you’re known around Hawkins High as “Little Ms. Goody Two Shoes.” 

“Yeah, if she tells my mom and dad you were here when they weren’t, I can kiss my non-existent social life goodbye. But it’s alright, it’s okay.. Maybe it’ll be okay.” you’re pacing a little but he chuckles as he watches you for a few seconds, finally reaching out to grab your arms and bring it to a stop. “You’re going to burn a hole through the floor.” he drawls, all relaxed and casual and obviously no fucks given if you get in serious shit.

You give him a dirty look but you take a deep breath. No reason to panic. They do know that you tutor. But if she tells them what you were wearing when you answered the door, oh god, the lectures. Your mother has tried at least ten times to throw out your favorite shorts and the shirt. Nevermind the fact that your grandmother has at least twenty pictures of your mom with her ass hanging out of her shorts.

Nevermind she used to be a little more…relaxed… before she met Patrick and they got married. 

“Will you just sit down and cut out the pacing shit?” Billy is gazing at you, a brow raised. You nod, swallowing down a lump in your throat when you happen to glance down and see that his hands -those distracting damned hands, are still on your upper arms.  

“Are we doing this or not, darlin? Because I stood up a real hot date just to come over here.” Billy chuckles when he says it, blue eyes dancing. Searching yours for even a hint of jealousy and he’s thrown for a loop when he doesn’t find any. What he does find is hurt.

And yet, you can’t stand him. It shouldn’t bother you. 

It shouldn’t bother him that it bothers you.

You shove out what he’s just said and refuse to dignify it with a comment. It stung a little even though you’d absolutely die before admitting to it. ,,Of course he has a hot date, you think to yourself, he’s Billy fucking Hargrove.” and as soon as you allow yourself that one bitter and jealous little thought, you take a deep breath and nod to the dining table in the room across the hall. “It’s quieter there.”

“Yeah.” Billy mutters, slightly dazed because he can’t take his mind off of the fact that him saying he has a hot date didn’t piss you off or annoy you, but it looks and seems as if it hurt instead. Honestly, he didn’t have a hot date, he just said it to get under your skin.

Because you’ve been under his all damn day. First in that stupid and sweet little sundress with the grandma cardigan and then you answer the door and you look like one of the girls on the poster on his bedroom wall with the cropped shirt, bare feet and cut off denim.

He came here to study. And to get out of the house before Neil came in drunk and angry. Not be distracted, confronted by the one girl he keeps being told he can’t have.

He wanders into the dining room while you’re putting out the books and notebooks, some pens and some other things you might need close at hand. You nod to a chair and he sinks down, wordless.

“Okay, first..” you don’t even look up at him as you open your book to get a little of your own homework done too, “Let’s see how far behind you are, Hargrove.”

He shoves the notebook he brought over in your direction and you  take it, flipping through. Somehow, you expected him to be a lot farther behind. The way he made it sound in the hallway at school, he was borderline flunking out. You look up at him, twisting hair around your finger. “Four assignments? That’s it?”

Billy shrugs. 

“Okay, okay, this is good. This is actually better than I was expecting.” you can see that somehow, your reaction bothered him and for some reason, it has you scrambling to make it sound a little more… complimentary. Because you don’t want him to think you thought he was dumb as dirt or purposely slacking off.

To be fair, you wouldn’t have put it past him so the fact that he is just four behind is a pleasant surprise.

“This is really good, actually.” you manage a smile.

And just when he thinks he can’t get any worse off, there you go. Smiling at him. Rubbing salt in an open wound.

“I don’t just fuck, drink, party and do sports.” Billy mutters calmly as you read over the rough draft of an essay that you’re  surprised was pinned by him for creative writing. A class you’d never associate with him to begin with. You’d have honestly pegged him for a shop class. 

You’ve got your legs on the table and you’re twisting your hair as you read over the rim of your glasses and Billy clears his throat. “Can I get some water or something?”

He just needs to get some space because it’s too much.

When he specifically chose you to be his tutor, it was because he didn’t think you’d get any more appealing to him. He thought he could control himself. He thought he could work his way under your skin like you’ve worked your way under his. Turnabout and fair play.

He’s discovering that this little idea of his may not be the brightest one he’s had.

You get up from the seat and wander into the kitchen, getting up on the counter to get a glass out of the cabinet so you don’t have to wash one already out. You lose your balance just a little and you gasp as you feel the warmth of rough hands gripping your bare middle. You glance down at Billy sheepishly and gulp.

“There’s a glass right there.” he points out calmly.

“I hate washing dishes.” you point out. Billy grabs the glass you’d been reaching for and walks over to the sink, filling it with water. And he leans against the sink, watching you rifle through your fridge.

“Damn it, Gin… you ate my yogurt.” you grumble to yourself in disappointment as you close the door. And when you turn around, you find yourself body to body with Billy. Who promptly gives you one of those fucking smirks. Biting his bottom lip as his eyes move from your eyes down to your mouth. Lingering.

Intent.

“Okay, Hargrove.” you manage to get the words out, only they may as well be a whisper and you want to simply vanish.

This whole idea to give tutoring him a trial run was not a good one, nope. If you thought your dreams about him or the way you’re so fucking aware of him were bad before, you have a feeling they’re going to get so much worse.

Your younger sister peeks in after about an hour to find you going over Billy’s Algebra assignment and explaining to him what’s wrong with one of the problems and she laughs to herself because he’s staring at you like an idiot, he might as well be drooling.

“I thought you said your brother was a heartless asshole, Max.” Gin whispers into the phone to her classmate Max Mayfield. 

“Oh, he can be. He’s just on his best behavior right now. Give it time, Gin.”

“I think you’re wrong, okay? I just have a feeling.”

“Yeah? Well I live with him, Gin. I know him. Just linger a little bit. Make sure he’s not trying to put the moves on her, please? I… I don’t want him to hurt her too.” Max pleads and Gin grumbles. “ ‘Kay, fiiine. I’ll go raid the fridge and call ya back.”

“Please?” Max asks before hanging up.

Gin wanders into the dining room, straight for the kitchen. You glance up and your sister gives a sheepish wave, her gaze lingering on Billy. You palm your face and laugh to yourself.

Naturally, she’s got a crush. She’ll be in and out while he’s here.

“Don’t come in here distracting him.”

“I wasn’t!” Gin mocks a look of horror as you step into the kitchen. You fold your arms and look at her. “I mean it, kid. I know you think he’s hot but he’s way too old for you, alright? Don’t… Don’t make the same mistake me and Mom did.”

“Mom’s only mistake was literally marrying Patrick the uptight countr y club prick.”

“Our father is in prison. They ran away when they were seventeen. Then you have me, being stupid last year with that idiot up at State. I can’t believe I was dumb enough to think a college guy wanted to date me.” you rub your temple and shake your head. “Look, it’s a damn good thing I didn’t do something I really regret. Just… Do not do what we did. Stick to books or boys your own age.”

“Would you relax?” Gin grabs your pint of ice cream and you give her a dirty look, taking the spoon from her after she digs it out of the silverware drawer. You sigh quietly. “I know Billy wouldn’t lead you on like that asshole at State did to me or our father did to mom, but like.. Break your attraction pattern now, kid.”

“You first. I see you staring at him.”

“I do not!”

“Every time he comes to pick Max up from the arcade it’s like your head’s on a swivel. Stop lecturing me and go up in our bathroom, look in the mirror and lecture yourself. Where’s your lighter. I wanna light my candle before the prick with his sensitive nose comes home.”

You dig around in the pocket of your jacket and toss Gin your lighter and she walks right back through the dining room and into the hallway, grabbing the phone on the way.

And Billy clears his throat from the door. And he’s staring at you with that damned smirk. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Just Gin being nosy. She’s got a crush on you, by the way.” you stick your tongue out at Gin, who flips you off from the doorway. Billy snickers quietly. “Nope. Go play with dolls or somethin, kid.” he laughs.

He files away what he did overhear being said between you and your sister for future reference and nods to the dining room. “I think I’m done.” he mutters quietly.

“Okay, let’s go look at it.” you smile and slink past him in the doorway over to the dining table. You sink back down in the chair and you’re going over his worksheet when he clears his throat. “Any reason your sister asked you for a lighter just now?”

Your mouth opens and closes and you shrug. “It belonged to our dad. I keep it on me. She uses it to light her candles while Mom and Patrick are gone.”

“Stepdad, huh?”

“Uptight fun-sucking asshole is more like it.” you mumble, low enough that you’re sure he doesn’t catch it. But he does, and he chuckles.

Suddenly, there’s just a little more about you and certain habits you have that make a lot of sense. 

“So do you smoke or do you just keep it?”

You don’t answer. Billy smirks to himself.

You’re apparently full of surprises. This is either a very good or a very bad thing. He’s not sure which because this is the first time a girl has actually gotten under his skin the way you have. Normally, he can fuck ‘em and forget ‘em already.

You’re a challenge and he absolutely loves those. And he’s staking his hopes on finally getting you to crack so he can fuck you out of his head and out from under his skin already because you’re driving him crazy with your stupid little sundresses and cardigans and then this whole other side you’ve shown him tonight hasn’t made that any better at all.

If something doesn’t happen soon, he’s going to lose his mind, do something stupid like let you get close and he’s determined that cannot happen.