#they have so much potential but all we really got were those instances where they wanted to 'protect the lady'

[missionel]

do you understand my vision

(og post)

[aeide-thea]

dipping my toe into fandom discourse here, which is never a great idea, but—i really am baffled by the contingent of fans who apparently want AO3 to not only denounce but ban AI-generated works, as if there were any reliable way to distinguish between mediocre writing produced by a human and mediocre writing produced by an AI…?

[thyrinea]

Till - An Alien Stage analysis

Vivinos just dropped the teaser for Round 6. And after watching it a couple of times, I feel like I can finally understand why people were telling that this round is potentially the most emotional one yet. So here are my thought about Till as a character, and what we might expect from him in the upcoming Round. But before you go on and start reading, I want to make two quick disclaimers:

My native language is not english and sometimes I might make some mistakes, and I'm sorry for that. I'll try to make everything as cohesive as possible on this post so we don't have any miscommunication.

In the analysis, there will be a small mention of suicidal thoughts and a whole section on human experiments. If you're uncomfortable with those topics, please don't continue.

If you're ok with everything, thank you for continuing and I hope you have a good read! (Also, if you want to add something please feel free to chat with me! I love to see more theories and takes on everything)

Let's start this analysis from the very beginning, or at least the first event that we know of in regard of Till: his time at the adoption center.

(Timestamp: 00:22 - 00:24 - Teaser)

From what I gathered, this scene was first seen as a sneak peek from Vivinos' patreon and it's most likely one of, if not the very first time both of them - Till and Ivan - has seen each other. As a "troubled" kid, it's dificult to catch the eyes of someone and make them willing to have you, and seeing the discounts placed on his captivity window, we can only assume that he stayed in the adoption center for quite a while now. It's no wonder that Till is watching with awe as Ivan is being escorted away: he probably got adopted and is leaving the establishment to live somewhere else, leaving the rest only to hope to be the next chosen one. We all know that in reality, being adopted by the aliens is not a synonym to having a good life in this scenario. But for a child who has been locked in this tiny room for possibly weeks, still not knowing how society works for them, it's a dream to finally be able to get out and possibly be loved by their adopted "family". So imagine Till finally getting out of this place, after all he went through there - being rejected, seen as an unwanted individual - only to get trapped in an even worse scenario: Being used as a human experiment.

(Timestamp: 00:06, 00:11, 00:16, 00:19 - Teaser)

We can see those images are depicting something that happened after the adoption center because he's older now. We don't know how much time he had to experience those events, but if we go back to Round 2, there are some instances where he is far younger and can be seen with green stickers similar to the ones on his neck shown in the 4th image. Not only that, even on his performance on Round 2, we can see them on display. So there is a chance that he had to deal with all of this for years. Yes, he was not alone during everything, but we don't know what happened to everyone who was in this same scenario. All we know is that the faces seen on the panel during the teaser, was never once seen again.

(Timestamp: 00:19 - Teaser)

It even seems that one has perished in one of the images shown in the teaser. For all we know, everyone but Till might be dead by the time Alien Stage begins for the main cast... And living in fear not knowing if you're going to be the next one to die during an experiment is a really terrifying reality he probably had to face. And yet, during all that, he even had to go to Anakt garden to train to become a singer, and possibly go to Alien stage.

(Timestamp: 00:57 - Round 2)

At least, somewhere around his time on Anakt garden, he found something worth living for: Mizi. She became his beacon of light. We don't know what happened but knowing Mizi's character, she has probably shown him what happiness looks like, maybe became the first one to interact with him and show him he's someone. Not a product, not an experiment, but an individual. And he really wanted to continue having this feeling again. To be happy, just like her, with her. This admiration that flourished from him is most likely what made this crush Till has for her blossom. It's kind of an unhealthy dependancy if we put the spotlight on this relationship, he would even go as far as refuse to escape from everything with ivan - who is shown to be the only other person who interacts with him, that he considers a friend - and have freedom if she's not present. It's as if he doesn't know if he can truly be happy if she's not around. I'll make another analysis on Ivan and Till's relationship on the kindergarden once Round 6 goes live. Trust me, if I start talking about them here, I would literally not shut up and the analysis would have another 1000 words. But for now I really want to emphasize how both are seen as "weirdos", and started talking more because they really only had each other. Despite the differences and the bickering, Till holds Ivan close to him as well.

(Timestamp: 00:19 - Teaser)

And now, We're on Round 6: Where Till has nothing to fight for. His whole life was purely a tragedy - he had seen and experienced some of the worst things that a human could go through in this world, and despite trying his best to fight against all odds, he's back on square one. He's been defeated. Mizi is missing, and in his eyes, possibly dead. And now he is going against his childhood friend, literally the only person he has left, on a battle where he knows and only one will get out alive. I won't be surprised if in the beginning he'll be willing to sacrifice himself for Ivan to win and live. Through the whole teaser, the voice singing in the background is muffled. Till is so out of it that he's not able to realize what's going on, even the shots he's in is in pure black, as if nothing around him matters anymore to him. That is, until the voice in the end gets clearer and we can finally see the stage for the Round. Can't wait to see what we have in store on April 5th. My theory is that this might be a 2 pov video, and later we'll get to know more about Ivan's take on everything. Specially because finally he might be able to make Till see him for once. Who's going to die? I hope no one. But we're talking about Vivinos... We can expect anything on this project. All I know is that I might die if we get some parallel to the meteor shower scene shown in black sorrow.

[bookishfeylin]

I know you don't usually do these kinds of posts, but you're probably one of the most implicated in black history month people that I follow so I wanted to ask you, as I already value your opinions in Acotar, what do you think of the documentary where actual historians claim Cleopatra was a black woman? Lately, this has been a pretty active topic on my fyp on TikTok, and I wanted to know a black woman's perspective on this.

Thank you in advance, and if you usually don't answer these questions or don't want to answer this one, I'll totally understand, and there's no problem at all.

I didn’t know there was a new documentary out, but when I saw the name Cleopatra I automatically sighed because I knew what was coming. This is a subject a know a little 🤏🏾 about, actually, because I researched it a bit myself in my last year of high school (and stopped because of the uh. NASTINESS associated with this particular subject) and though it’s been a few years I remembered some main, basic things, and I wanted to check a few things first.

At best, in the most CHARITABLE interpretation as far as I in my limited knowledge can tell, it would be correct to say that’s it’s POSSIBLE that she MAY have been mixed Black because, though she was part of the GREEK Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt (Ptolemy being one of Alexander the Great’s generals who got the Egyptian portion of his empire after Alexander died), that’s on her fathers side; her mother’s exact ethnicity isn’t known. Not that this won’t stop the hoteps from running off and claiming her and all of ancient Egypt as Black though So some have ***speculated*** that her mother—and thus Cleopatra—may have potentially been part Egyptian (and that goes into the issue of deciding that the “Egyptian” in this instance had to have been Black rather than MENA but that’s again a whole other can of worms). BUT it’s more likely that her mother was Greek due to the uh, PRACTICE™️ of inbreeding and it not being common for the dynasty to marry Egyptians. So it’s more probable that she was fully Greek/Macedonian and not part Egyptian, much less part Black. (Also some historians speculate she may have had Persian blood? I guess? Again it’s a can of worms, not something i’m digging deep into because of the nastiness that you often stumble across) Unless there’s a new study confirming her mother’s identity or something that I missed, it’s simply incorrect to claim that Cleopatra was undeniably Black, because though it is ***possible*** she most likely ***wasn’t.***

But this topic really upsets me, because there are LEGITIMATE Black kingdoms and empires who were mighty and well developed and powerful like the Aksumite empire and kingdoms of Kongo and Loango and the Great Zimbabwe empire and the empires of Ghana and Mali and Songhay and the Ashanti kingdom and the WHOLE SWAHILI COAST THAT WAS INVOLVED IN THE INDIAN OCEAN TRADE ROUTE and they had their own great rulers, their own kings and queens and emperors and empresses, their palaces and castles, their own cities and towns, their own complex civilizations and dynastic royal families that deserve the attention Cleopatra and ancient Egypt get. They were erased—and Egypt was not—by white people to prop themselves up as the only race capable of forming civilizations and advanced societies as a means of justifying colonization and imperialism to “civilize” the rest of the world and as a result many of those other empires have been erased from our education system here in the states and many people cling to ancient Egypt as proof that we’re not inferior and aren’t savages like white people claim due to believing that since Egypt’s in Africa it had to have been mostly Black when Egypt, and the Ptolemaic dynasty and Cleopatra in PARTICULAR, are literally the worst example that could’ve been chosen and were the only African kingdom spared erasure FOR A REASON.

Anyway, I don’t like it, it’s disingenuous and does US wrong because we need to give that energy to other African kingdoms that need and could use the fame Egypt + Cleopatra get, and we deserve a better education system to teach us this stuff. I hope this answers your question? And I don’t mind any kinds of asks 🥰

[thatoneidiotyoulovesomuch]

I think one of Ever After High's biggest problems is the lack of characters and/or the lack of commitment to the rebel and royals tension. (Also this is coming from someone who has only really watched what's on Netflix. I have seen everything but I have just watched the Netflix specials wayyyyy more)

But what I mean by that is there will be moments when our main characters will be really hostile towards each other. Like during Legacy Day when all the royals were booing at Raven for not signing the book. Or the cafeteria fight after Legacy Day. Which makes a ton of sense for the plot of EAH. However, there are also a lot of moments when the rebels and royals are friendly with each other. That doesn't make a ton of sense when compared with the two instances I mentioned earlier. An example of this would be in Briar's Study Party, where they are all studying and dancing together. I just think it's strange. Also I'm not really thinking about Apple in all of this. She feels like a special case. I'm more so thinking about Briar, Ashlynn, Dexter, Blondie, Daring.

So I think in order to remedy this there are two options. Maybe even three. I'm also going to be focus on the royals more in this because I think my problems really lie with them.

Option 1: add more side characters that are the hostile ones during scenes like Legacy Day and the cafeteria fight. (Specifically royals) That way, our main characters like Brair and Ashlynn don't seem fake when interacting with characters like Raven, Maddie or Cedar outside of the scenes.

Option 2: make the royal characters specifically be mean/rude/hostile whatever to the rebels all the time. Some ways I would incorporate it into scenes already present in the show would be: when Apple and Raven are going to find a new mirror (which they go to all royals) have the royals they go to be curt with Raven. Or the look on their faces turns into a frown whenever they see her. So we can keep up the rebel vs royal and make it seem more believable.

Option 3: make the royal vs rebel tension a complete facade. A facade they only keep up around teachers or their parents. I guess one could potentially make an argument that this is kinda what the show is doing already, but not really. Because you have characters like Blondie who does everything to be consider a royal or Apple's whole thing she's got going on. It's obvious that the tension is truly there, especially with scenes like the cafeteria fight who would they have been pretending for? There were no teachers or parents there. They genuinely were fighting. So in order to make if feel like a facade I would have a scene where characters admit that they don't feel any hostility towards the other side but feel as though they need to act like they do. That would explain scenes like the booing at Legacy Day. And if you put some teachers in the cafeteria when the fight happened, it would also make more sense. But just to make it a little more interesting I would have scenes with the rebels feelings being hurt. Like Raven feeling absolutely awful after Legacy Day and refusing to talk to Dexter afterward because he was booing too. Also this pretending would primarily fall with the royals because I feel like it benefits them the most but we can have some scenes were the rebels do it too.

But those are my thoughts on that. I've always thought the characters' relationship was weird. Ever since I was a little kid. Also this is not a complaint about the show. I love this show so so so so much. It's one of my favorites ever.

[raayllum]

Was rewatching the scene under Avizandum's grave in 3x06 for another meta, but stumbled across something I was interesting, re: the broyals.

For Callum, as he says, "I hate him. He's the one who took my mother. Looking at him, seeing him, it makes me sad and angry and... confused." Meanwhile Ezran is clearly less affected, too busy playing and being happy in his reunion with Zym; and judging by his closeness with Zubeia and defense of Avizandum to Rex in S4, it doesn't seem as though Ezran harbours the same messy storm of emotions regarding the former Dragon King that Callum does, even as Callum still settles on, "But that was Zym's dad."

On the one hand, this makes sense; Ezran, as he says, lost his mother before he ever really got to know her. That doesn't make his grief any lesser, but it would mean holding onto anger for a different kind of transgression and one where the alternative - a life where his mother lived - would be infinitely harder for him to conceptualize than for Callum, who can and does remember.

And we see Callum struggle a little in the instances he's first presented with Runaan's bow in both his short story Inheritance and in 5x01, but ultimately he's able to handle it and give it to Rayla happily and has no real reservations about it. Yes, "It was the weapon that killed his father" but it is also "the weapon of someone Rayla had loved" and the latter is what clearly wins out, since upon seeing Runaan again... He has a decidedly different reaction than he did upon seeing Avizandum.

But given Ezran's anger in his short story...

That Moonshadow elf upon the castle ramparts, skulking toward his father’s chambers. The blood upon those exquisite elven blades. The red-tailed arrow armed with a mission declared by Zubeia herself— [...] Ezran felt a coldness twist its way around his heart. It took his lungs, too, and for a long moment he could not breathe, could not feel anything but an unfamiliar anger so potent it seized the whole of him, inside and out. Ezran stepped towards the arrow— —and stomped down on it as hard as he could. He wished he were bigger, stronger, he wished his boots were made of iron and not something soft. Still, it was enough. When he pulled his foot away, Ezran glared down at the arrow’s hawkish head, flattened and broken.

It makes me wonder if Runaan's presence / freedom will force Ezran to contend with all his big feelings much the way Avizandum's resting place forced Callum to. If Ezran's comparatively lack of negative reaction with Avizandum was the trade off for Callum having a more positive one with Runaan, and hence the brothers are going to be Switching, accordingly.

Either way, I think it's an interesting potential parallel for the brothers, and I'm excited to see where it's taken in S6/7.

[frozenjokes]

GoodTimesWithScar Is An Obnoxious And Quite Frankly, Baffling Customer.

[1/6] Next / Ao3 Link

It was a slow day at the Town Centre market, but that wasn’t particularly unusual for Impulse, especially since his stand tended to be more out of the way. He and Skizz had been so excited to rent the little thing out all those years ago, when the prospect of growth and wealth was still a reachable fantasy.

“Everyone starts somewhere, and hey, maybe we’re starting a tad late, but we’ve got our little forge and a roof over our heads, so I’d say we’re doing pretty well for ourselves!” Skizz had said, eyeing the other, more favorable booth locations hungrily. “Yeah, we’ll get there.”

“Sure, if we get really good at this really fast,” Impulse huffed, giving Skizz’s shoulder a healthy shove. “Remind me why I let you talk me into a trade profession so late in life? Most of these people have been doing this since they were kids.”

“Of course!” Skizz never got tired of reminding him, responding with the same energy as he had the first time Impulse voiced his doubts, “It’s because you’re miserable! Well, were miserable, because your new life starts today!”

“I thought it started when I quit my old job? Or when you first showed me how to work the forge? Or when I got started on the paperwork for this stand? Or-”

“Many new beginnings! Exciting, isn’t it?” Skizz sighed contentedly, resting his hands behind his head, “Oh yeah, this is gonna be great.”

And it’s not that it wasn’t great, even all these years later. It was fine . It was more than fine! Impulse loved working in the forge with Skizz, even if Skizz wasn’t particularly talented at the trade and Impulse didn’t have enough experience to feel competent at the job. He enjoyed feeling challenged as well as some of the creative freedom he had now, especially opposed to the monotony of the ocean where he fished the same seas for hours in the overbearing sun. Even still, sometimes he missed the security of the repetition. Impulse had a good idea of how much he’d catch, how much he’d make at the end of the day, and if money got tight, he could just put in more hours! Maybe that’s why he had gotten so depressed in the first place; nothing to look forward to but the same seas every hour of every day, doing the same mindless work.

Now, money was always tight. Always. Impulse had never had the luxury of a life without financial burdens, and typically, he wasn’t too bent out of shape about it. He hadn’t ever known anything else, and under normal circumstances, his social class didn’t cause too much earth-shattering stress.

But Skizz was sick. He always seemed to be sick lately, the instances where he was in perfect health getting to be few and far between. Skizz was sick, and medicine was too expensive.

It was a slow day at the Town Centre market, and Impulse found himself staring enviously at the other stalls, stewing in his own stress. He wasn’t as witty or charismatic as the typical shopkeep, his attempts at open charm usually falling flat and making him feel far worse. Was he more of a failure if he didn’t try at all? Skizz made it look so easy, drawing people in with a bright smile and friendly demeanor, as well as that odd half-suit he insisted made him look cool and strong . If you asked Impulse, he’d say it was silly to tear the sleeves off a suit and arguably unprofessional, but whatever Skizz was doing, it seemed to work, so Impulse didn’t tease him too much. Maybe he should be wearing a silly outfit to work. Maybe it would draw more people in. Skizz would probably get a kick out of that, but Impulse wasn’t sure if he was comfortable enough in his own body to make anything like that work. Impulse drummed his nails against the counter, wishing Skizz was here now.

“Hello there! Are you open?”

Impulse startled out of his daze, jumping to his feet, “Yes, yes we’re open,” he deflated, silently cursing his own awkwardness before sliding back onto his stool. He’d scare off potential customers by spacing out like that, even more so by jumping up whenever someone approached. However, the man didn’t seem to mind, leaning eagerly over the counter to get a better look at the various swords for sale. He was dressed nicer than Impulse was used to seeing in this part of town, with bright, clever eyes, typical of a young man with little life experience. No wonder he was here instead of another stall; he surely had enough coin to afford a higher quality weapon.

Shit, Impulse should be talking, shouldn’t he. Be friendly and all that.

“Are you well?” he tried, putting on his best customer service smile. Skizz always said he had a good smile for this type of thing. Nice face. Relaxed, if not a little strained. Disarming, like a sad, single dad. Impulse wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that last comparison, but Skizz was adamant it was a good thing. ‘Good for business! Ha!’

“Oh, never better!” the man said, leaning further over the counter, “You’ve got some nice stuff here! Very nice, very nice.” He sounded exceedingly fake.

Impulse quirked an eyebrow. “Right, well if you’ve got your eye on anything in particular, I can bring it up for you to hold and see how it feels. If it’s easier, you can come on back instead for a better look. I’d rather you not break the table.”

The man laughed, leaning forward on his hands before jumping back to his feet, “Not the table! Yes, yes, I’d love to get a closer look. See, I’ve just arrived here a couple days ago and I’m looking for a new beginning,” he kept talking as Impulse gestured for him to come back, “Now, this isn’t to say I don’t know my way around a sword, I do, but I’ve gotten bored with life back home, and I’m looking for a place with a little more action, you know?” He poked at one of the blades, jumping a little when he discovered it was sharp.

Impulse chuckled, “Usually people that ‘know their way around a sword’ know that end’s pointy.”

“Well a good swordsman doublechecks! Can I pick this one up?”

“Go for it.” Impulse watched with great amusement as the man attempted to lift his chosen weapon with one hand, an almost affronted look crossing his face when he discovered it was heavy. He glanced back, not unlike a cat caught in the act of doing something it shouldn’t, before doubling down, apparently deciding he could salvage his pride. Impulse had to stop himself from laughing when the man managed to pull the sword from the display, his arm shaking with the effort of holding it one-handed.

“Usually, you’d use both hands. I’m sure you’ve seen lots of show fights, but those guys are actors as well as swordsmen. You’re going to want something lighter if that’s what you’re looking for.”

“I- Well of course! Back home the swords are lighter, that’s all, I just got a bit confused.”

“Uh huh. What’s your name, stranger? Where’re you from?”

“My name? Why, I’m Scar! Scar Goodtimes! I don’t have many scars to show for the name, but with any luck, that’ll change real soon! And you?” Scar held out his hand, struggled for a moment with the sword, then put it hurriedly back on the display before reoffering his hand. Impulse shook it. Clearly this guy was an idiot, but if he had money to offer, who cared?

“You can call me Impulse. So you’re an entertainer then?”

“Not quite! The name is confusing, I know, but unrelated to any profession. Though, I wish it was! I love traveling and I especially love meeting new folks such as yourself!”

“Really? What do you do then?”

“Oh, you know. I’ve got myself a little boat to live in and I’ll occasionally take up cargo shipping for some extra cash, boat people around, the like. Though, I’m looking for something a little different now, and I’m planning to settle here for a while.”

“Interesting,” Impulse mused, eyeing Scar’s nice clothes. That money didn’t come from freelance work, not unless you had a nice reputation, and this kid couldn’t even hold a sword. Scar’s eyes narrowed just slightly, something appraising, with an intelligence that felt unnervingly unlike the person he’d just met. Did he know Impulse didn’t believe him? Impulse suddenly felt vulnerable, like the other man could see right through him. He backed up, just a step, but a step that didn’t go unnoticed. Scar cocked his head, almost innocently. Impulse tried not to frown. What was he looking for? A list of every crime Impulse had committed in the past year shot to the forefront of his mind. Not massive stuff mind you, but enough to make him sweat. Impulse hoped with all his will he didn’t have any counterfeit coins lying around. Was Scar here to scout him out? Catch him in the act?

“Are you a cop?” Impulse blurted, immediately mortified with himself. Scar blinked rapidly before doubling over in a massive laughing fit. Impulse put his hands over his face. “I don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry. Unless you are a cop, in which case, cool, great, I love the law.” Scar only laughed harder, Impulse feeling incredibly awkward as he waited for the other man to compose himself. Scar wheezed as he straightened up, eyes shining.

“I am deeply offended, hurt even, you have- I can’t believe it! Cop. I am not a cop!” Scar yelled in mock outrage, although his giggling dampened the effect. Impulse shrunk away as he spotted a couple wandering eyes drawn to the noise.

“aHah yes! Cops! We love cops. And the law. Yes,” Impulse struggled to save face, but Scar either didn’t hear or didn’t care.

“Impulse!” he bellowed, “I’ll say, that is probably the second or third worst thing anyone has ever called me. Why, I should just march right on out of here and back to my boat! Lick my wounds and cry about it! Cop. I can’t believe that.” Impulse shrunk back into his stand, hoping no one would see him. At this point, Scar leaving would probably be best for business, (and not getting arrested) but the man didn’t look like he actually planned on going anywhere.

“Do I even want to ask?” Impulse tried, and Scar lit up.

“Doctor! The worst by far!” Scar threw up his hands, though the facade of his frustration was dampened a little by the smile across his face. ‘Goodtimes’ seemed to suit Scar; he was certainly a performer.

“Doctor. Really.” Impulse didn’t bother to hide his skepticism, crossing his arms, “Wouldn’t be my first guess.”

“Well you don’t have to sound so surprised!” Scar huffed, tutting to himself then continuing in a tangentially related rant. Impulse rubbed the bridge of his nose. No winning with this guy then. Scar was an animated storyteller, waving his arms in sweeping gestures and forcing Impulse to scramble just to keep him from knocking all his wares off the shelves. It was hard to tell if Scar was just clueless, or if he enjoyed watching Impulse fumble around.

“Alright, alright, out with you,” Impulse had to reach to grab Scar’s arms, shoving them to his sides and away from his displays before pushing him out from behind the counter. Scar was not to be discouraged, continuing with the sort of confidence only people who got kicked out of stands often could have.

“-and you wouldn’t believe this lady, I’d say all nice-like ‘sorry, I can’t help you with your dumbass kid,’ and she starts going on and on about how I’ll never be a real doctor and I’m like LADY that’s the GOAL-”

“So you worked in medicine before this? Seems like a good gig, must’ve paid well,” Impulse cut in, struggling between amusement and the desire to preserve any sort of professionalism he had for any potential customers passing by.

To Impulse’s great relief, Scar brought the volume down, resting his elbows on the counter with his head in his hands, “Guess you could say that.” That calculating look returned to Scar’s eyes, searching. For what, Impulse wasn’t quite sure. He turned around, if not to avoid Scar’s eye, then to right some of the smaller displays Scar had knocked askew.

“I’m getting the impression you weren’t too fond of the work.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“Well for someone who enjoys the sound of his own voice so much, you don’t seem all too eager to talk about it. What, are you squeamish?” Impulse risked the tease, turning around to see Scar’s amused expression turn to mock-offense.

“Say what you want about my ego, but I am not squeamish.”

“No?”

“No! And that’s gotten me into trouble before, let me tell ya. I didn’t realize blood and gore and things bothered people at all for the longest time, I mean, I grew up around that shit, and my dad certainly wasn’t concerned! Now he’s a doctor, a real stiff kinda man, kinda sucks the life out of everything.”

“So not a ‘Goodtime…s’”

Scar brightened, laughing, “Yeah! Exactly! Anyway, so I was with this girl, right? Lovely person, really, she was great, but oh boy you would not believe how pale she got when I was explaining about this crazy livestock accident- I’ll spare you the details, but I did not spare her anything, and whew, I’ve never had anyone grab my hands so tight. She said- well- she said my name, she said I was a freak! I was like thirteen! I am a changed man, Impulse, changed I tell you. I didn’t see her for a whole month after that, and the whole time I thought she was the freak! Y’know I told my dad, I told him, and you know what he said?”

“Hey, are you going to buy something?”

“Women. That’s what he said. Women. He didn’t even look at me! I look down at my own tits like okay, this doesn’t answer any of my questions, but hey! Me and her are still friends now, at least, before I left. I’ll visit for sure, for sure.”

“Scar.”

“Yes, Impulse!”

“You are lovely. You are.”

“Yes!”

“But if you’re not going to buy anything, I’m going to need to free up the stand for other customers. I’ve got to put food on the table tonight.”

“Oh yes, yes, a personality this big takes up a lot of space! I understand!” Scar rummaged around in his pockets, then flicked two silver coins onto the counter, “For your time then, yeah?"

“You don’t have t-”

“Goodbye!” Scar trailed the ‘e’ as he swiveled around, skipping in the opposite direction. Impulse couldn’t help but gape after him, any previous words lost on his lips. He looked at the time and cringed, unsure if it was good or bad that so much had passed. At least he wasn’t bored. Well then. He’d have quite the story for Skizz after packing up for the night, that was for sure. Maybe that alone made the loss of time worth it. Impulse resituated on his stool, looking out over the market.

Maybe he’d see Scar again sometime soon.

[imthepunchlord]

One thing that has really interested me as of late has been the development of the Miraculous Shanghai special. Looking at all the old promo art, it seems to have changed a lot. For starters, it was originally called "The Chinese Legend" and was seemingly going to have Master Fu in it

(Makes me wonder if it was initially going to relate to the Order of the Guardians in some way since it doesn't give a clear location)

Also, it seems that there was going to be what appears to be a spirit dragon that looks like it would've played a major role with how often it appears in promo art

On top of that, when I went to the Wiki to get those images, I found these

And I honestly don't know what to say about them other than that the New York special influence was strong.

I could definitely see that the Shanghai Special was potentially more about the Order and Fu. Makes sense given it's related to China. And if it potentially would've been an exploration on Fu, his origins, and on the Order.

Which makes me wonder what the earlier plan was, especially as it doesn't feel like they really had sentimonsters planned from the start, and I don't know about you guys, but I didn't like Fu's origins. So I wonder if they had something else in mind and made changes. As with most of ML's concepts, those ideas were probably better.

As I do think the Chinese Special should've been the place to reveal and introduce the Zodiac Miraculous and where they came from (as it didn't make Fu look good having 16-17 Miraculous and gave out the very two HM wanted), that dragon could've been a protector of them, seeking a worthy Guardian to take on the Zodiac. Could even be the dragon kwami spiritually manifested. Which a whole Zodiac of powerful Miraculous sealed away makes more sense than the Prodigious that just has you transforming into 8 animals, which you can't even control unless you're virtuous. Very dangerous indeed.

Or that dragon it could've been a rare instance of just seeing another magical creature, work off Thomas' older claim that there was other magic out there than just Miraculous.

As for the heroes, I am kinda glad they didn't make it in. I don't like those designs. I can roll with the idea that every country/state/city could have their own hero, but they really do just roll out too much.

Speaking of Specials, I remember that, supposedly, that we were going to see the Turtle's power in the Christmas Special, and hearing that Chris Master was the original Christmas Special, I wonder if that was originally where we were supposed to see Carapace for the first time, and Nino was going to be the first temporary hero to be seen. And that would've been his time to really shine. Though it also could've been our first intro to Jade, seeing what Turtle could do in a fight, and potentially Chat's way of meeting Fu (though as Jade instead), and maybe that's the point where Fu's like, ok, I really am too old for this, you guys do temp heroes.

Either option sounds better than what we got in canon.

[adarkroomandawallflower]

Hi there, I just saw your recent posts with your take on Data in relationships. Just wanted to ask how would it work if the oc was someone say older and not in Starfleet at all? I ask as being aged out of the Starfleet action dolly role irl I was curious what would happen in that scenario. Would it even be a thing? Thanks 😊

Hello,

Thank you so much for reading my work, & for dropping into my askbox with this cute request!

It most certainly could be a thing, & I can definitely see it happening! Admittedly, it would be difficult, but I think Data & his partner would be dedicated & committed enough to make it work.

I wasn't sure if you meant an older OC who had retired from Starfleet or one who never got in/missed their chance because they were older, so I sort of included a bit of both. I hope you enjoy!

Data Having an Older Partner Who Isn't In Starfleet Headcanons

Although Starfleet is very important to Data, his partner not being in Starfleet wouldn't be a deal breaker for him, regardless of their reason(s)

In fact, I think he would actually enjoy having a partner outside of Starfleet because they would provide a perspective somewhat unfamiliar to him that he could happily learn about (and potentially help him understand his father and his desire for Data to not have gone into Starfleet, which he would greatly appreciate)

Although Data wouldn't require his partner to be part of Starfleet, I think Data would still want a partner who's intellectual and with a science background, so I think he'd still encounter his partner in this instance in some sort of scientific setting/background

I love that in the show, we got a glimpse into the fact that Data enjoys going to conferences, especially scientific ones because that's so on-brand and perfect for him

So, I think that's where he'd meet his significant other, in this case

Since they're older, I can see them being a leader in their field, and holding a conference on their home planet to discuss their past and current work

Data would be eager to attend this conference, especially if he found their work "intriguing"

He would seek them out after the conference to speak to them one-on-one for some more in-depth conversation about their theories and work

*cue an extensive info-dumping session over dinner*

They'd spend most of their time outside of the conference together, and the rest is quickly history!

Data would be constantly captivated by their experiences and story-telling, something that's extra special with an older partner who would have so much to share

Likewise, they would enjoy Data's unique and "fresh" perspective on things, especially historical aspects

Overall, I think their relationship would be best described as a very excited, never-ending knowledge exchange

In the initial stages of the relationship, their interactions would mostly be digital ones: video calls, digital messages, etc. (see the first half of these headcanons for more details on that), since they wouldn't get to see each other physically very often

This would suffice for a while, but eventually, they would both come to miss each other's physical presence, and want to see each other in-person

Data's first suggestion to alleviate this issue would be to have his partner come aboard the Enterprise with him, as a civilian/family member

Of course, that would make things easier, since he could spend all his free time (when he has it) with his partner (see the second half of those same headcanons, if you want more details on this scenario)

However, if his partner didn't choose this option, and would rather stay on their home planet or place of work, then they'd have to get creative

Data's second suggestion would be that he could schedule his Shore Leaves to be on their home planet/place of work, which his partner would happily agree to (as would the Enterprise crew, since that's the only way they'll get Data to use the probably years of Shore Leave he's racked up)

This would end up being really nice because he could spend months, maybe even a full year with them at a time

They could also take some vacations together during his "short work breaks", as they both would come to call his extended Shore Leaves

I think for this kind of relationship to work, both partners need to have comparable or equivalent physical companionship needs that are made clear in the very beginning of their relationship

For Data, I think these occasional bursts of extended physical contact with his partner would be enough for him, and therefore, would also be enough for his partner

That doesn't mean they don't miss each other, though, because they definitely do! It's just not that sort of deep, melancholic missing that makes one or both partners emotionally distressed

This is something he would also appreciate about an older partner, as a younger one would be more likely to require more physical contact than this (and would likely be more emotionally distraught at the extended periods without physical contact)

Data would also appreciate the routine-ness of this arrangement because overall, it would be relatively organized/determined ahead of time (something his partner would appreciate, too)

This might be a bit of a hot take, but I think after everything Data had been through in Starfleet, he would have seriously considered resigning at least once (aside from his semi pseudo-resignation in "The Measure of a Man"), if not multiple times

And if he had a partner outside of Starfleet, I think that would potentially solidify this consideration

He would consider and discuss this possibility with his partner, and would take these discussions seriously

His partner wouldn't want him to resign on their behalf, but would certainly encourage him to continue thinking about it, if it was something he truly wanted

Even if he ultimately decides not to resign, I think he would choose to eventually retire from Starfleet, and when he does, he'd retire to his partner's home planet/place of residence (or somewhere both of them would like to spend the rest of their days)

Data's retirement would be the best time to have him as a partner, in my opinion, because you could do literally anything and everything with him

Want to teach at an intergalactically-renown university together? He'd love to!

Want to get a cute little cottage in the middle of nowhere and lounge around with each other and your cats all day (maybe even stay at Noonien's old place/planet)? Fine by him!

Want to get your own little spaceship and aimlessly explore space together? He's so down!

The possibilities are endless

No worries about him being in constant danger or him having his rights revoked when its convenient for Starfleet

Just fun, happy adventures with him and Spots #7 - 12!

[lusi-raul]

My thoughts on JuanaFlippa’s return today:

(Warning: very long and delusional post)

Everyone is theorizing that Flippa is a binary code and I understand why. But I still hold on to my original theory that the eggs NEVER died. As long as the federation has no explanation for how the parents can say their final goodbyes to the “dead” eggs. I still stand by the theory that the original eggs are alive and kept by the federation. At the very least the federation has the capability to reanimate or clone the eggs but it’s more likely that they were revived because I think they have an infinite amount lives like the members, just a limited amount of lives where they can be left with their parents before they are taken away. No one really ever saw the eggs dead for the last time. All they saw was their egg being enclosed inside a wall. Only Bobby has a halo on his head but still, was he a ghost then?

Now, is the cracked Juanaflippa the same Juanaflippa we all know and loved? Improbable due multiple instances during their meeting

Didn’t backflip immediately when Slime asks if she’s been doing flips. The first thing Flippa would’ve done in that situation was do a flip.

Code-like writing style

Unusual cracks that are identical to Dapper’s

Oak signs instead of Birch signs

JuanaFlippa still being dead on the eggstatistics

Even with that egg being a code, there’s still a chance the real Flippa is alive and with the sweeping edge bug being known, this is a good potential lore arc to excuse the deaths of Flippa and Tilin and officially have them back. I also believe (since I’m delusional) that there’s a sliver of chance that this egg today can be the real Flippa. In the coming days maybe this egg can prove this by showing us things that only the real Flippa would’ve known. Flippa was a vegan, she loves backflips, she was originally named Frontflipo/JuanFlipo, her favorite color is blue. She is a witness to Slimariana’s misclick incident on Leo’s bed by faking her own drowning. Not many people know that, I think. The farm that the family of three made for Badboyhalo to atone for their sins and for an extra life for her. The first thing her parents ever taught her was to water bucket jump from a very high wall without armor. I’m very much delulu so even if one of these things Flippa remembers, i don’t care. She’s the real Flippa, the one and only.

The crack can be justified in my theory because if the eggs got cracked by the federation, what makes them stop doing whatever the hell they did on the alive eggs to the “dead” eggs that they already have? (According to my theory that eggs aren’t really dead at all). The eggs came back with memory loss. What if their memory from the kidnapping got wiped because they saw their supposed “dead” siblings there?

There’s also a weird theory I have with Flippa’s writing but bear in mind that I’m probably just losing it at this point but you know how maybe the federation has an advance surveillance system in place where Flippa just wants to avoid being detected and has to replace certain letters with symbols and numbers? On dapper’s book, the letter ‘a’ is replaced by the number ‘4’ but on Flippa’s it is replaced with an ‘@‘. The only numbers and symbols she used were 0,1,3, !,@. Idk how significant those specific symbols are but we do it too sometimes to avoid word detection and censorship. If she’s in hiding, and says it isn’t safe for her out there, maybe she did escape and is being so cautious with her words that she talks in a limited and cryptic fashion. If this is true it’s heartbreaking that the only thing she said over and over again was that she loves her dad and misses him. Like she has so many things to say, but she has to be cautious that all she can say are those.

Also it took the codes days of lurking around eggs with a camera in order to impersonate them. Where would the code have gotten information about Flippa when she doesn’t even have a proper bed grave.

I also think whoever led Charlie to Flippa isn’t with the Federation at all. The treasure hunt were white boxes on slime blocks. The chest with the book were on black blocks. It’s about time an anti-federation entity/organization on the same level of the federation reveals themselves.

All in all even if this egg is a code, the real one is very much alive in my heart. They just need to be given back by the federation. They never truly died. If it is revealed that this egg is just impersonating Flippa, then be it. At least we got to witness Slime being a dad again. But really if the qsmp team did this elaborate lore to excuse the death of Flippa and Tilin due to unfair death. Applause to them. I understand why they can’t just give their lives back. That incident happened too long ago but if they can make it happen but just needs to make it make sense lore-wise then I really hope they make it happen.

But really just seeing Flippa back like this, I’m satisfied already. The way the qsmp team had me on the edge of my seat today and had me looking forward to what’s gonna happen next: 👏 👏 👏

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 40 Review - Sprigatito's Origins

Wow, Sprigatito’s origins are revealed! It’s interesting how Sprigatito knew where she came from and even came back to visit. It’s also nice to learn how these starters come to be and how they get sent off to schools and labs for beginning trainers. In Sprigatito’s case, she came from a breeder who specializes in breeding feline Pokemon. This is also the episode where I learn that the Sneasel line are felines. I don’t know how to feel about this considering I’ve thought of them as weasels until now.

The title is definitely bait, as Sprigatito doesn’t actually leave Liko but just wants some time away from her because of her actions. She loves Liko a lot, but she worries about her strength. It turns out that Liko’s Sprigatito is a bit different from the rest. She’s a lot stronger than her siblings, and when she was trying to protect them from a Spidops that tried to attack her siblings, her Leafage had hurt them in the process, causing them to avoid her. It turns out that while she was a bit wary of Liko, she saw her in the interview screen at Indigo Academy by chance and felt as if they were destined to be partners; imagine a story where Liko didn’t get Sprigatito as a partner…

I do like the growth that Liko shows here. If this was Liko in the beginning, she’d be wallowing with self-doubt and wonder if she would fit as Sprigatito’s partner. However, Liko has changed. Instead of wallowing in the past, she tries to understand her partner’s feeling by trying to communicate with her. I like that! She even said to Sprigatito that she didn’t mind if she scratches her because she did that when they first met. I also like Sprigatito’s growth too! She learned Magical Leaf, meaning no more Leafage spam, hopefully.

Speaking of growth, Hatenna seems to be growing too! Liko told her to look after Terapagos and she got all excited like a big sister finally getting responsibilities from her mother! If Liko’s party were a family, Liko would be the mom, Sprigatito would be the eldest, Hatenna would be the middle child and Terapagos would be the baby (despite it being the oldest). She even chased after Terapagos when it ran off, showing that she’s not afraid to leave the ship to search for it! Such a big change for a timid Pokemon!

The breeder who raised Sprigatito, Manya, is a very nice lady. She feels like she is what Liko could be if she was older as she’s someone who read Liko and Sprigatito’s feelings very well. I do like how she’s the one explaining Sprigatito’s backstory and how she was there when Liko was being interviewed by Indigo Academy. I think it’s so cool to see the person who brought Sprigatito into the world; I don’t think we had an instance where a partner Pokemon knew who brought them to this world. Please correct me if I am wrong. My only gripe is that I’d like to learn a bit more about Manya, but it makes sense to not learn too much about her as Sprigatito is the star. Manya is voiced by Mie Sonozaki, who voices Cynthia in Masters and voiced Lusamine in Pokemon Evolutions. I feel like Horizons really like bringing in voice actors who have done roles in different media or in past works relating to Pokemon.

I like how Roy is such a nice boy. When Liko sprained her wrist, he immediately helped her up and took her to see Mollie and even waited at the clinic with her. He’s a good friend. Though, it does seem like Fuecoco hasn’t forgotten Ember. Now that Liko has beaten Roy in a battle, it should be time for him stop spamming Ember.

Right now, my only concern for Sprigatito is her future. The Sprigatito line primarily focuses on Speed and Attack stats. She rarely uses her physical moves and prefers to use Leafage and now Magical Leaf, which are special moves. Either Sprigatito needs more development in order to bring out her true potential or she’s going to be a very weak Meowscarada if she focuses only on Special moves. But those are just my thoughts. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[beelspillowpet]

Also hate how Lilith is just pretty much a plot device. I don't know what the game is doing now but I hate that she's pretty much there to speedrun a relationship between MC and the brothers.

And that's when MC is already developing a genuine bond with some of them.

But if there are any other instances of her being a plot device, I'd love to hear it.

i do wanna make it clear that this contrived plot point that is lilith does not drive forward the relationship on ALL of the characters. just the most difficult two to really complete the list. i refuse to believe that mammon, satan, leviathan, asmo AND beel didnt care about MC before this turd-bomb of a plot point happened, but i absolutely do believe that is the case for lucifer and belphie for different reasons.

i believe it is a method to sort of "punish" belphie by the games weird rule of telling but not showing. it was the first sign of cowardice on the writing team back then for pulling their punches and taking judgement out of our hands; something they honestly do not often enough and too much at the same time with more mundane things, but with it being a multiple choice type game, options were never really ours to make. just the illusion of it.

by making us the very distant relative of lilith we are punishing belphie for his rash action to anger and and giving us a contrived reason to feel bad for him afterwards. which doesnt work when hes still got the blood on his hands, diavolo hot on his trail, and lucifer coming to his defense.

its a plot point for lucifer because until you earn the trust of all his brothers, he could pretend to care, hell he might even care a teensy bit, but no matter how he feels about you, if there is a shadow of a reason as to how you could betray him and his brothers and use them against their will, there is a shadow of a reason for lucifer to not hesitate to kill you.

picture a scenario where all of the boys save for belphie (and consequently lucifer himself) are forced via their pacts to attack belphie as revenge for him attacking you. with belphie out numbers and his own brothers losing control of themselves to potentially kill him, lucifer would be his last defense against those odds. lucifer is nothing if not cautious and powerful, so he could hopefully subdue his brothers in due time. it also helps that in comparison to lucifer, each of his brothers as you go further down the line have a unique type of fear of him that could in theory ensnare them from continuing their assault on belphie at your command. ie. mammon is really afraid of lucifers wrath and more than anything wasnt to avoid having his credit card taken and being strung up from the ceiling for hours. aside from everyone else in the house, mammon is more powerful than THEM compared to lucifer. then next comes levi, a sort of spineless coward-like person i feel (when it comes to a fight anyway, you basically NEVER see him stand up for himself) and wouldnt want to face lucifer and deal with the punishment of that. and then you go further and further down the list and they get weaker and weaker as we go. satan cant combat lucifers spells, he himself far too busy learning how to cast them rather than protect himself from them. asmo is much like levi in that he would rather not lift a finger, if not for fear of broken nail than broken bone. despite this, he could fold beel like laundry (which still doesnt make sense to me but whatever i guess?) and speaking of beel the guy is built like a truck. hes also the only other one lucifer has physically struck with intention to subdue that was tied to a serious event. and i believe it was more than once at that.

my point being they were very specific and careful about who came in the pecking order, and it was for precaution that lucifer be the one able to straighten them all out in the end.

if there is an MC out there hellbent on destroying belphie, that is a person lucifer will never trust. and so its rather coincidental that in the heat of the moment we choose to forgive belphie, or at the very least put it off, until "months later" since the game jumps ahead in time a LOT since the killing in c.16 and the end of the years program in c. 20.

lilith being our distant relative was for belphie to feel shame, then quickly feel attachment, only for lucifer to see that if we all get along (or perhaps fall in love with belphie in that short period of time for the belphifuckers out there) hes allowed to feel something finally too. or at least let it show more.

so it was a speedrun not for all of the brothers. lucifer, while he wouldnt hesitate in killing you in an instant before belphie got close with you, i wont say didnt feel anything beforehand. he just puts his brothers before anything and everything; something he makes clear time and time again. it was a speedrun ONLY for belphie. lucifer and MC have a sort of slowburn going on, but to say that their relationship is speedran from c.16 onwards is disregarding the little moments beforehand that were special to his character.

as for if and when shes used as a plot point again later, that requires i redownload OG and look around for it there and honestly playing in a pit of spikes sounds more fun than that. playing nightbringer is already such a painful chore....

edit: im also trapped in the early episodes of season 2 bc i flopped so hard at that boring ass gameplay in the first one lol

[tanadrin]

I consider myself bi but selected the poll result for lowered sexual attraction if the person had different genitals that what I expected. I'm assuming here that "sexual attraction" includes an actual desire/plan to fuck. If there wasn't any intent to *have sex* then I wouldn't find that person less physically or aesthetically hot. For me these two aren't always the same. Primarily the reason I went with that result is that at this time in my life I'm already partnered up with a couple of people I really enjoy having sex with, though I have a few sexual proclivities I don't share with said partners, so when I'm talking with people I'd wanna get into a sexual expirience/relationship with, I've got a few kinks/dynamics/configurations on my bucket list that I'm actively pursuing, (where genital configuration is relevent to those desires) and to be honest, prioritizing based on limited time and energy. I think my answer would be different if I wasn't currently partnered, or had endless time and energy, or felt like all my niches were fulfilled and was just purely dating/hooking up for the novelty of fucking new people (which I do also enjoy but again, finite resources). But, lately, I've mostly been using apps to meet people so usually it's pretty easy to figure out quickly if we're compatible sexually.

The real sexual hang up I do have is that at this point, I have pretty much written off other trans men/afab trans people as potential sexual partners, because of my dysphoria (though I have had great sexual partners in the past who were trans men, this is a thing that developed for me a few years ago and I don't actually expect it to be a long-term/identifying peice of my sexuality, it's just what's happening right now). So if I found out after chatting with a guy that he was trans masc (and I kind of don't care about his surg status/actual genital configuration! it's much more about the weird comparison games I can get into that are substantial boner-killers), I think I'd politely decline to take it further at that point.

Also given the amount of responses you're getting from trans people who previously considered themselves asexual or on the ace spectrum before transitioning/hrt, I find it pretty funny that I haven't run into many people with that expirience irl! I always thought it made sense given that sexuality and gender seem to have a lot to do with each other for a lot of people (I certainly thought I was ace until at least a year or two on T), though I doubt that's innate we live in a society that puts a lot of weight on the interconnectedness of those two.

Anyway don't know if that explains my answer much or just adds to the soup, but I'm digging all the responses.

I'm assuming here that "sexual attraction" includes an actual desire/plan to fuck.

Interesting. I assume that when people talk about "sexual attraction" they explicitly do not mean "an actual desire/plan to fuck." Attraction usually precedes such desire, and can exist even when no follow through is possible or wanted: monogamously paired people, for instance, experience attraction to people who are not their partners all the time.

I know for some people (e.g., many demisexuals) the two might be much more causally connected, but for people like me--i.e., who are pretty horny and have a pretty intense visceral experience of sexual attraction to lots of different people--the two can be quite unconnected. I'm attracted to loads of people I neither could nor would actually have sex with!

[misc-obeyme]

Hello hello, this is the polyamory anon again 😅 though this time it’s not about polyamory— this one’s a pretty self indulgent idea, so feel free to ignore if you’d like ^^

I was thinking about an angst idea— personally, I’m someone that gets jealous pretty easily (as much as Levi, perhaps) and is considerably insecure. I also have no self confidence and little pride— let’s say my MC is like that too— someone with those qualities but that acts (usually) extroverted and cheerful and energetic around others. However, Solomon’s also insecure and jealous, right? So I was thinking about my MC, though she loves him, pushing him to love someone else— another MC, perhaps?— saying that she wouldn’t be the best for him. That she wouldn’t be able to give him the proper love that he needs; she’s even more so insecure and prone to jealousy than he is— she’s not the right one for him. My MC would just want Sol to be happy :’) regardless of her heart breaking along the way

And then I realized I had little idea on what Solomon’s reaction would be. Would he fall in love with someone else (e.g., if there were for some reason multiple MCs in this scenario, another MC)?

(Oh geez this got really long. Sorry about that ^^”)

Hello again, anon! I feel the need to say that I don't mind people sending me self indulgent ideas... because honestly, everything I write is self indulgent lol. So please don't worry, you can send me whatever ideas you like, self indulgent or otherwise! Also don't worry about length, I don't mind long asks, either! :)

Anyway, this is angsty and I had to think about it for a bit before I could formulate my thoughts!

And here's what I think. (Note this is all just my opinion based on how I see Solomon's character!)

Solomon is a smart man. He would see through your MC in two seconds flat. Even if your MC is normally very extroverted and cheerful and she maintains that personality even while she tries to push him away, I think he'd know what she was doing.

In the game, a lot of times Solomon does this thing where after MC chooses their dialogue option, he says something along the lines of "yeah I figured you would say that."

Because Solomon knows MC. Your MC is his adorable apprentice. He's been beside her for a lot of the story, teaching her magic and being the only human with her in the Devildom. He would know if she was trying to get him to fall in love with someone else.

How he reacts to this would depend on his own feelings at the time. For instance, if he was already in love with your MC, he would probably confront her about it directly. He would ask her why she's trying to push him toward someone else. And if she told him the truth - that she thinks he'll be happier with someone else - he will tell her that she's wrong. He will tell her that he loves her and that being with her is what would make him happiest.

Solomon is not the kind of guy to just give up on you because you've got some insecurities about your ability to love him properly. He would rather work through it with you than walk away.

It might go differently if he wasn't already in love with your MC. But honestly, I can't imagine that he wouldn't know that your MC is in love with him. And chances are he's already in love with her. So I have a hard time imagining a scenario in which your MC is in love with Solomon, but he's not already in love with her.

Where it gets tricky and potentially sad is when we consider the other person in this scenario. Let's say for a minute that your MC is MC1 and there's another MC, who is MC2. If both of them have a similar history with Solomon - his friends, his apprentices, etc - then he might end up having feelings for both of them.

If MC2 is not already in love with Solomon, but MC1 tries to push him toward them anyway, he would confront MC1 about it. Likely in this scenario, Solomon would reassure MC1 that he wants to be with her since she already loves him and he loves her, too.

If MC2 is also in love with Solomon and he has feelings for them, I think this is a scenario in which Solomon might give up on MC1. Especially if MC1 just continues to push him away, even after he confronts her about it. He wouldn't be happy about it. I think it'd hurt him very deeply to do this. It would hurt him not just because he would lose MC1, but because he would know that even if MC1 says she wants him to be with MC2, MC1 still loves him. He would know that it would be breaking MC1's heart. And I think that would break his heart, too.

I think the only other time he would give up is if MC1 just never gave in. If she continually refused him, over and over again, he might eventually have to walk away. However, I could also see him just being persistent for the rest of MC1's life, never giving up until death takes her.

So in the end, you either get a situation in which Solomon is too stubborn to let you push him away or you get a scenario in which Solomon does the only thing he thinks he can do, even if it crushes both of you. MC2 is the only person who potentially comes out unscathed, but even then they would know that Solomon was hurting, too. :(

Hopefully some of that makes sense. It's a bit rambling, but I think Solomon's reaction would vary depending on the circumstances. Though in each instance, he would confront your MC about why she was doing that. He would want to understand her reason. And most likely, he's already in love with her. He would probably tell her that he gets to decide who the right one for him is. And he would tell her that he has already chosen her.

[rollercoasterwords]

i had such A fun time reading r’s ch. he knows so much more than s lol, indulge us so many information. i’m gonna miss his pov!!

also you’re a genius. this is such a complex story. the plot is a lot. and we have two very distinct perspectives going on that fit each other beautifully. it’s a difficult writing and you make look like it’s easy.

anywayyyy! i started rambling. i meant to ask how you think r’s feelings for s are right now, after he knows s knows he’s in the order (if this can’t be answered without giving much away you just ignore it

thank u!! i do not know if i would call myself a genius lmao i feel more like a kid in a candy store who's just grabbing every single yummy plot idea that i see...will i be able 2 successfully weave them all together 2 make it work? who knows...stay tuned...

as for how r is feeling! i suppose this might be giving like. a bit of information away just bc this is not info that s will be privy to once we switch back to his pov in pt ii obviously but. i don't think it spoils anything in terms of plot etc. still i will put it under a cut just in case!

so the thing for remus is that like. he genuinely hated sirius + all he stood for going into this. like i am hoping that came through lmao but unlike sirius who was basically experiencing a somewhat like....linear? i guess? process of slowly growing closer (or so he thought) to remus + opening up to him + getting to know him better, remus's feelings have been much more tangled throughout.

sirius has definitely surprised him, and he's got the self-awareness to acknowledge that sirius isn't exactly who he thought he was/expected him to be. at the same time, in any instance where remus's own feelings softened--whether he was feeling pity, empathy, sympathy, attraction, etc--he has had a pretty immediate + visceral pushback in his own mind. unlike sirius, who basically trusted that what he was getting at face value w remus was 'real,' there is always doubt in the back of remus's mind that anything sirius is doing could be some sort of act or play, and any soft feelings he's evoking could be an intentional move on his part--partially bc that's exactly what remus is doing to sirius lmao. so while sirius is, for the most part, letting himself just experience those feelings as they come, for remus any instance of positive feeling is immediately wrapped up in a reminder of the potential danger, the power imbalance, and thus the hatred that he continues to harbor towards sirius.

as time went on it became more apparent that sirius wasn't like, performing any sort of act/didn't really have a ploy the way remus did, but remus could never fully let go of that doubt. and even when the doubt lessened + he began to feel like sirius was potentially being genuine (or as genuine as he could be, in this sort of situation where they are both hiding so much from each other), those feelings were still wrapped up in hatred. remus doesn't want sirius to be nice. he doesn't want sirius to care about him. he doesn't want sirius to be gentle or thoughtful or kind because he doesn't want to like sirius, he doesn't want to feel anything other than hate for sirius, and the fact that he is starting to just makes him hate sirius more, because it feels to him like one more way that sirius is taking power away from him. so again, any 'softening' from remus is pretty immediately shut down by a hardening of his hatred, and also tied to disgust with himself that he's even capable of feeling something for a person who is basically like. the mascot of his oppression. he wanted to finish his mission and leave sirius behind and never have to see him or think about him again.

but! obviously that cannot happen now <3 and i do not think i can say much more without giving stuff away but!! that's basically where remus is at by the end of ch 6 lol

[lv-iceprince]

@aeriscallanga

.... peekaboo....

~seventeen~ joshua 🌠

This potentially the easiest decision I’ve ever made, it just makes so much sense that I would be quite surprised if no one ever explored this idea, not even once.

I wouldn’t say you’re an extremely complex individual however, there are layers to your personality, so many traits that are confined to one person.  Based on this it’s so obvious that I would ship you with Joshua. While Joshua is a pretty normal humble guy to some extent it’s his sharp wit, sarcasm, and his ability to have an answer for almost anything that had me sold on the idea of you two together.

Bringing this concept to life, you piqued his interest almost immediately. Each time he spoke to you he would be exposed to another side of you that he was previously unaware of. So, he stuck around, even if he didn’t have the intention of dating you, he just wanted to know what was up with you.

But his simple curiosity turned into interest then love. No one would be able to tell that Joshua had fallen for you, he almost got away with it until you caught on.

It was all in his smile, his cunning smile that said that there was more than what meets the eye, it wasn’t overconfidence, you knew it was real.

Now, appearance-wise I don’t know how else to say this but there is such a pleasant contrast between your visuals. It just works. Both of you hold a unique type of beauty that is one of a kind. His sharp and striking visuals are showstopping, yet there is still attention on you, everything he is highlights everything that you possess.

It really is an instance where you are visually appealing without trying to outdo each other, there truly isn’t one person who Is more attractive than the other. But that doesn't stop Joshua from playfully claiming that he is the visual of your dreams.

This kind of brings up the idea that you both are confident in your visuals there is power in your appearance alone, I don’t really know what to say. But I just have a feeling that Joshua would be the type to encourage you to feel proud of that and celebrate the fact that you both look good together.

Throughout the duration of your relationship, one thing outshined the other qualities of your relationship, that being the reality that you were able to match pitch almost immediately. We all know Joshua has a very sarcastic and blunt side to him, it grounds both of you.

You literally have moments where you mimic each other’s over the top reactions and while this could scream chaos to those around you, it’s more so a comforting thing since you get to really bring out the most extreme in the other. This sounds strange but it leads to more transparency, Joshua absolutely adores the fact that you were able to shamelessly show him your moody side, he just really likes his relationship with you to be honest.

It may sound like he’s just being very psychological about the whole thing, but he just feels more at ease since he can be honest about his romantic or spicy feelings that he harbours for you. 

Though you can both seem somewhat aloof you’re really grounded in each other’s presence, aka, you both exercise great maturity around each other even if you purposely like to take playful jabs at each other.

 Thanks to your combined confidence your relationship would take flight, no one would ever be able to get in your way. All that matters is that you have Joshua, and he can bluntly say how much he loves your dramatic butt.