#this has 100% already been done but I don't care lol

[littledragondork]

I made this instead of doing homework

[stromblessed]

Mizu's spectacles, and the levels of her disguise

In drafting some more Blue Eye Samurai meta posts, I find myself writing out the comparisons between what Mizu can and cannot hide about herself, and how that affects how she moves through the world.

Like, I get the jokes about Mizu's glasses, if only color contacts had existed back then, etc. etc., and I think (hope) that most viewers don't take the glasses jokes seriously, as in "I don't care about the suspension of disbelief because BES is a cartoon." But I wanted to write these thoughts out anyway without burying them in a text post about something else.

I think the points I'm going to lay out here are viewed very differently by different people, so please feel free to add to this post, reply, or put your thoughts in the tags!

Not only do Mizu's glasses not actually help her that much, there's surely more to Mizu's mixed race appearance than just the color of her eyes.

In my view, this was pointed out in episode 1:

I'm willing to bet most of us were expecting young Taigen to say "blue eyes," not "ROUND eyes."

Obviously this is still about Mizu's eyes, but not even spectacles can hide their shape.

I don't think the show is obligated to point out everything about Mizu's face that isn't quite as Japanese as the people around her expect. Though the creators have said that they specifically designed Mizu - and her clothes - to read both as "white" and as "Japanese," as well as both male and female. I think there's more about Mizu's features that read as "white" than just her eyes.

This is where my own headcanons start entering the picture, but it's my impression that people can just tell that Mizu looks different, whether or not they can put a finger on exactly how.

There's the little girl who looks at Mizu and then hides on the way into Kyoto:

When there's more to your face you'd like to cover up than just your eyes, big hats are a big help!

By the way, most of these examples have to come from the first half of the season, since by the second half, either Mizu is too preoccupied with fighting henchmen, or everyone Mizu is facing knows who she is already, and she therefore has no reason to hide her mixed race identity.

It's worth mentioning that the mere fact that Mizu has to hide multiple aspects of her identity - her mixed race and her sex - results in her having to choose clothes that really, really cover her up, which doesn't win her any favors either:

(Zatoichi reference, anyone?)

If it were as easy as, for example, tying her glasses to her head and wa-lah, nobody would ever know she was half-white - then (1) Mizu would've just done that long ago, and (2) Mizu wouldn't be so on guard and on tenterhooks 100% of the time the way she's depicted in the show, even when her glasses are on.

Her spectacles sure don't help her in the brothel, which is full of observant women who are trying to seduce her, meaning they get good long looks at her:

Mizu never takes her glasses off, but they still send a woman to her who has light eyes, thinking that must be what will interest a blue-eyed man:

No wonder Mizu gets mad after this, lol

So Mizu never takes her spectacles off in the brothel, it's dimly lit inside, and the women can still tell that she has blue eyes. I'm getting the sense that Mizu putting on her spectacles isn't a guarantee that people suddenly can't tell that she looks different.

And yet no one spots that she's female.

Mizu can hide her breasts, can wear her hair in the right style, can hide what's between her legs, can walk and talk and behave like a man - and she's been doing it for almost her entire life, to the point that not only is she very good at it, but the threat of being found out as female is deadly, but isn't presented in the show as omnipresent.

Let me explain.

She threatens Ringo for nearly saying the word "girl" out loud, because while she's constantly ostracized for being mixed race, being a woman traveling without a chaperone, carrying a sword, and disguised as a man will get her killed or flogged or arrested or some combination of these things.

But in addition, it's been drilled into her since she was a child that if she is discovered as female, the combination of her being mixed race and female will identify her as someone extremely specific, someone known to some bad people, and she will be killed:

I think of it as Mizu thinking to herself, "Being found out as mixed race means I'm treated badly. Being found out as mixed race and a woman means I'm dead."

Mizu's hair is cut as a child. But she isn't made to wear a big hat, or cover her eyes somehow, or anything like that. Because hiding her sex is a more successful endeavor than hiding her race.

Ringo finds out she's female by accident, but once Mizu accepts the fact that he won't rat her out, she relaxes pretty early on in the season. Because the threat of being found out as female is mitigated pretty much 99.9%, since Mizu has gotten so good at being a man. And also, because most of the time, people see what they want to see. Even if Mizu's face makes her stand out as "not 100% Japanese," no one in the world of BES looks at Mizu's clothes, her bearing, her sword, hears her voice, and will ever in a million years conclude that she is a woman, because expectations around gender roles in the Edo period were so rigid and so widely enforced.

One detail that proved this to me is after the Four Fangs fight:

Ringo takes off Mizu's clothes so he can stitch her up, then leaves her clothes off even after he's done. He doesn't even throw her cloak over her as a blanket or anything. There's a little a straw (pallet?) as a divider there on the left, but anyone could just peek around it and see Mizu and her chest bindings. (I think it's mostly there as a windbreaker.)

And Taigen is right there, but he doesn't give a shit:

Opinions probably vary hugely on this, but my impression is that because the show doesn't make any kind of deal about Taigen being in the room with Mizu here, my guess is that Mizu isn't in any danger of Taigen thinking she's female. Even when I watched the show for the first time, I assumed that Taigen had seen Mizu out of her clothes here, and that he thought nothing of it.

Eat your heart out, Li Shang (Mulan 1998). I actually do think that this scene is a direct and purposeful side-eye to that movie, lol

There's obviously some nuance to how "severe" being mixed race is compared to how "severe" being a woman is for Mizu:

After all, Swordfather can't bear to listen to Mizu confess to being a woman.

So a Japanese man can go wherever he wants, whenever he wants in BES. A Japanese woman has limited options: marriage, religion, or a brothel. A mixed-race man is an eyesore in this story. A mixed-race woman is a death sentence.

May as well eliminate the female aspect, and do what you can about the mixed-race aspect. Because that's just realistic.

Meaning Mizu can avoid the strictures Edo society places on women. But she can't avoid the repercussions that come with being mixed race. And I truly don't think that it's just because "there's no brown contacts yet."

[wososcripts]

I've Been Getting Lost in Translation (Part Two)

(these kits are god awful but you didn't hear that from me)

stina blackstenius x reader; part one can be found here

Summary: You finally get to meet your girlfriend’s parents, but you aren’t sure they’re aware the two of you are more than just friends.

A/N: Here's part two finally! I hope it's worth the wait for you all lol, make sure you read the first part as well as that author's note for clarity! As usual, nothing I write is intended to speculate or infringe upon player's personal lives, it's all 100% fiction and done in good fun.

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings⚠️: very very slight mentions of anxiety and self-harm behaviors, but it really isn't featured here more than a passing mention

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

You could feel Stina's eyes on you as you came down the stairs and joined the group in getting ready to go, you felt them on you in the car, and once you got to the skating rink. She never seemed to not be looking at you, sending worried little glances your way that you just couldn't interact with right now if you wanted to keep it together. 

"Here are Linnéa's extra skates." Stina's mom held out a pair of ice skates for you to grab. "I'm not sure they'll fit, but Stina said you were around the same size as her sister… otherwise you can rent a pair here." 

She gave you a warm smile and left you to try them on, already lacing up her own and taking off on the ice. 

It was a beautiful day, sunny and cold with a thick layer of snow on the ground from a couple of days ago. And the rink was amazing. It was well maintained, but still had the feeling of a pond you'd have skated on as a child. 

Stina's sister came to sit down next to you, explaining some of the quirks with the skates. You had to pull the laces hard to get them to fit in the clasps at the top before you could tie them, she showed you, yanking on your ankle a little roughly for your liking.

"Linnéa, be careful with her foot!" You heard Stina call from the ice. 

Linnéa waved her off, turning to you.

"Does it hurt?" 

You shook your head.

"That ankle is just a bit sensitive. I broke it in June." 

"Well the laces being tight will make sure that doesn't happen again," she laughed, then glanced to make sure Stina wasn't looking at you two and said something lowly to you. "How is she doing in London? I mean she says everything is going well, but it's hard to know when we're not there to see her."

You smiled, genuinely for the first time in hours.

"She's doing great. Everyone loves her, she's been playing fantastic this season, she gets along well with the coach and the players. I really don't think there's anything for you to worry about." 

"It's good that she has you and Amanda there. She seems reserved but without a few good people around her I know she gets lonely."

"What are you two slow pokes waiting for?" Stina's father skated by, gesturing for you to come on. 

Linnéa followed him, starting a conversation with him in Swedish you could hardly grasp onto. How this family managed to speak so quickly, you were lost on.

You joined the rest of them on the ice, trying to ignore your poor mood from earlier. Moping around was no way to make a first impression. So you tried to suck it up and let the joy of the moment overtake you. You hadn't skated in years, having played in Italy for a bit before moving to London. There never seemed to be enough time, or good rinks close by. And when you were back in Germany you mostly wanted to see your family and Laura. 

You ended up skating with Stina’s nephew, a boy around seven. He was already impressively steady on his skates, something you would not have been able to say at his age. But still, he held your hand and talked your ear off in Swedish you only partially understood. 

"Did you come with aunt Stina?" He asked, to which you nodded. 

"We play for the same football team in England." You explained in your slow Swedish.

"Did you come here on a plane?" You nodded again, smiling. 

"We flew here yesterday, from London."

The boy considered you for a moment.

"You speak funny," he proclaimed, letting go of your hand, "watch what I can do!" 

And with that he skated in front of you, circling around you playfully as you stood still. You grinned at him, giving a round of applause when he was done.  

“Hey,” you heard Stina come up behind you, placing a hand on your shoulder as to not startle you. 

You gave her a smile which she softly returned. 

“What are you two up to?” 

“He’s showing me his incredible skating skills,” You replied.

Stina’s nephew nodded and twirled around again, clearly looking for more praise. 

Stina cheered him on, catching one of his hands and spinning him once more. 

“Very impressive,” she praised, “Unfortunately we’ve got to go eat some lunch. It’s getting dark out.” 

You looked up at the sky, having not realized that she was right, the sun was setting already. You checked your phone and saw it was barely one pm. 

Stina’s nephew nodded and shot forward ahead of you two, rushing back to where his parents were. 

“How are you doing?” Stina asked. 

You could tell she was still unsettled by what had happened earlier in the bathroom by how careful she was with you, how she treated each interaction tentatively. You felt badly for making her worry, for turning this visit with her family into yet another stressful situation rather than the relaxing break you both needed.

“I’m doing all right.” You gave the hand on your shoulder a squeeze and started to skate in the direction of the exit, a little further away from her than you would normally. 

You felt the distance seemingly in every stride you took, agonizing over your choice to move further from her. You were upset by the lack of any physical affection, and yet here you were removing even the chance that she might initiate it. It was self sabotage, you knew. Yet it was still difficult not to indulge in it. Whether she felt the distance as much as you did, you couldn’t know. 

“Why does Aunt Stina’s friend speak so funny?” You heard Stina’s nephew ask his mother, to which you couldn’t help but chuckle as she scolded him lightly. 

“She’s still learning Swedish, baby, she’s from Germany.”

“You’re from Germany?” The boy asked you once you were in front of him, skates in hand. He said it as if it were some far away land, not in the same continent. 

You nodded and ruffled his hair a bit, giving him a smile. You sat down on the bench, unlacing your skates and indulging the boy as he asked you several questions about Germany and what it was like there. You noticed Stina had a firm watch on you as you started to take your left skate off—the one that Linnéa had tugged on. It was aching a bit, that was true. But you simply massaged it for a moment and stood up like you couldn't feel a thing.

“Thanks again for lending me the skates,” You said to Stina’s mother, giving them back carefully. 

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

The eight of you decided to eat at a small restaurant not far from the rink. Sunset was already in full force, vibrant orange and pink staining the sky around you.

Stina had borrowed her sister's car that morning, preferring not to be squished in the back seat all day. The drive over gave you a bit of privacy, which you spent in relative quiet, Stina's playlist playing softly through the car speakers. Her hand was on your thigh innocently, and every once in a while she glanced over. Maybe she expected you to say something. But you knew if you started now, you wouldn't be able to stop.

You were thankful for your sturdy sneakers as you stepped out of the car, a twinge in your ankle rippling up your leg. It was more sore than you would've expected, but nothing you were overly worried about. The doctor had warned you that some days might give you more trouble than others, and that was normal. You would just have to take care to ice it this evening before you went to bed. 

And by the looks of it, Stina would be making sure you did anyway. 

She was robbed of her chance to ask if it was bothering you by her nephew, who seemed to have taken a real liking to you. He came barreling at you, arms open for you to lift him up. You weren't all that tall, and he certainly had inherited his family's height, so lifting him was a bit complicated. Eventually the two of you decided on a piggy back after some awkward maneuvering. 

"He likes you," Stina's brother commented, tickling his son lightly. "He's normally quite reserved around new adults."

You smiled at him, feeling your heart soar. This, this was what you wanted from the trip. You wanted Stina's family to love you, for her not to have to worry about you fitting in or being accepted. 

"She's going to sit next to me!" The boy announced once the waiter had shown you to your booth.

"Do I need to be worried?" Stina joked, to which her nephew stuck out his tongue. 

She returned the favor playfully.

"No need to fight, there's plenty of me to go around."

The booth wasn't all that big, which was how you explained Stina's closeness. Most of your right side was pressed right up against hers, something you initially tried to rectify, only to receive a strange look from her. You cursed yourself for how unsure you were being. You'd spent months like this before the two of you had started dating and it nearly drove you (and your teammates) crazy. 

You let Stina order for you since she had been here before and she knew what you liked. The tiredness was beginning to hit you. It was dark outside now, and between skating for a few hours, entertaining a seven year old, and worrying over your relationship, you'd had quite the day. Thankfully you had ibuprofen in your bag in case of one of your headaches. 

Whatever Stina had ordered you looked delicious when it came out. You dug in, realizing then how hungry you were. Usually you had a snack in between breakfast and lunch particularly on training days.  

You were surprised to feel a hand on your knee a little while later. You were listening to a story her nephew was intently explaining to you as he colored in one of the books his mother brought for him, and suddenly it was there. It was something so completely normal you couldn't believe how much it shocked you. If anything, that was proof of how much you had gotten in your own head. Back home it would be impossible to imagine sitting next to Stina without her hand resting lightly on you somewhere. It helped ground her, she said. 

But now, your thoughts were racing with every move she made. Stina's fingers drummed absentmindedly on your thigh, the rhythm of them distracting you slightly from her nephew. She didn't usually tap unless she was feeling fidgety, which meant she was anxious. Was Stina feeling something similar to what you were? Was it out of anxiety that she was keeping things secret? The idea of your relationship inspiring such emotions in your girlfriend made the lump in your throat that much bigger. Maybe she was picking up on your mood. Stina had always been very perceptive (because she spent so much time quietly watching, you often teased) and seemed to pick up on your moods without issue. But you’d been trying to hide this. 

You caught her eye and sent her a quick smile. A piece of hair had fallen into her eyes and you wanted desperately to push it behind her ear as you normally would. But the gesture seemed too intimate now. It was as if you were in a glass cage, every move observed with the chance of exposing your feelings. But what was the problem in that, you asked yourself. You loved Stina, openly. Why were you letting this affect you so much? 

Stina's sister declared that she wanted to do a bit of shopping after lunch, which the rest of the group was perfectly amicable to. It wasn’t all that late, and you’d get a chance to see the Christmas market all lit up. Stina's nephew certainly hadn't taken much convincing once Linnéa mentioned stopping at the toy store to look at something.

"Am I your favorite now?" Linnéa asked him, looking at you with a sly grin on her face.

"Yes!" The boy cried, smiling wide.

"You can't buy true connection, Linnéa," you teased, still helping to color.

"Can't buy connection." The boy repeated wisely. "I still like Stina's friend too."

You smiled and ruffled the boy's hair, suggesting quietly in his ear that you move to another page and make a drawing for Stina. 

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

Linnéa joined you and Stina in the car on the way back to their parent’s house, adding to the tension that had been building since the eight of you had gone shopping. Stina had stuck close to your side, and you’d done your best to act normally while keeping some distance. You needed to sort your head out, and being close to her wasn’t helping. Thankfully her nephew provided a good excuse to be tugged in all sorts of directions—he had decided you were his favorite once more, leaving Linnéa to hang behind with her siblings. 

Once you had reached the Christmas market, after a short detour in the toy store where you had agreed to get matching dragon plushies for you and the young boy, each of you wandered off on your own. You, Stina’s brother, and her nephew headed first for the big tree that had been decorated in the square while the rest went to get something hot to drink. You had managed to sneak off under the guise of having to find the toilet, Stina’s brother covering for you if you needed. You wanted to get a small gift for Stina, something in addition to what you’d already purchased. Most of it was back in London since bringing it all on the plane was a hassle. 

You’d found a perfect gift at a small stall tucked away near the edge of the market where an older woman was selling vintage jewelry. You picked through it slowly at first, not sure you would find anything. Most of it was too gaudy for Stina, and too impractical. But then you found a simple pendant with two stones in the middle—an amethyst and an opal, each of your birth stones, set in a complex circular pattern that reminded you a bit of some of the celtic designs Katie had shown you. You had purchased it immediately, no matter that it was overpriced. 

Now you were sat listening to Linnéa’s music quietly as the three of you drove, trying not to nod off. You were unsuccessful, because the next thing you remembered was being jolted awake by Linnéa’s door falling shut. You heard Stina chuckle next to you and put a hand on your shoulder, likely amused by how suddenly you had shot up. You chuckled along with her and patted her hand, putting your coat back on to brave the cold once more. 

“Is your ankle bothering you?” Stina asked you quietly as you all began to walk back to the house for dinner preparations. 

You thought that you had been hiding the slight limp in your walk well, certainly nobody else had noticed, but nothing escaped your girlfriend apparently. 

“Only a bit. I’ll ice it later and it’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“You should’ve said something if it was hurting, I told Linnea to be careful—” she was beginning to ramble, but you cut her off. 

“Stina, it’s fine. I said I’m fine. I know what I can and cannot handle.” 

It was a lie, and the both of you knew it. You were a stubborn bastard. Stina had been with you through your recovery, through every incident where you pushed yourself too hard only to have to face the consequences. She’d found you on the kitchen floor, comforted you after a physio session, seen you train with the team for the first time again. It was insulting to allege she didn’t know when too much was too much.

“Sorry,” You mumbled, already feeling bad for snapping at her. It wasn’t fair, she didn’t even know what was wrong and you were what? Punishing her? 

“I just don’t want to see you hurt again. Do you know how horrible that was? To see you in that much pain?” Stina’s eyes were glossy with just the memory. 

You weren’t sure what to say to that. You and Stina didn’t talk much about your injury and recovery. It was still too fresh, barely more than a couple months old. The crack of your ankle, the blood, her tears, her gentle shaking hands, it was all still at the front of your mind. 

You were saved from having to formulate a response by Stina’s mother calling her to the kitchen. She left you, only looking back once to give you a slight smile, showing that the two of you were okay. But you knew the time to confront what was going on needed to come quickly. 

You sat with Stina’s brother on the sofa and watched some Swedish Christmas program mindlessly. Mostly you were thinking about how to go about talking to Stina later. “Directness is key”, Laura's voice reminded you. You just had to say it, without blaming anyone. Just focus on yourself, your feelings.

It wasn't clear how long you sat there quietly before dozing off again, but Stina’s nephew was the one to wake you for dinner, doing so by climbing into your lap. 

"It's dinner time." He said, poking at your shoulder. 

You forced your eyes open, giving him a drowsy smile. 

“Okay, Prinzi” you replied, picking him up off your lap so you could stand. He managed to hang on to your side though, and you ended up lifting him onto your hip anyway. 

Fuck, you cursed silently as you noticed your ankle was even more tender than when you had fallen asleep. You’d have to check for bruising later and keep off it for the rest of the night. But still, you carried Stina’s nephew to the table with ease, setting him in his seat next to his mother who shot you a sheepish smile. 

“Tired, aren’t you?” You heard a voice behind you, and then a gentle hand at your back. 

It was Stina, who smelled of something sweet in the kitchen. You wanted to lean back into her and not move for the rest of the night. Instead you just nodded. 

“Sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

“You’ve been playing babysitter all day, that might be part of it.” She smiled. 

You nodded in agreement, a smile on your face as well.

"You're so good with him," she whispered into your ear, "it's adorable."

You had caught her taking pictures of you with her nephew a couple times throughout the day, and now, as you briefly as her phone light up with notification, it seemed she had set one of them as her lockscreen.

"I try my best. He's a good kid."

"Well, he's in good hands."

Dinner was delicious, but relatively uneventful. After an entire day together everyone was happy to sit quietly and enjoy the food. Stina’s nephew joked with you a couple times, still wanting all of your attention, but even he seemed to be winding down for the night.

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

After the table was cleared and the dishes had been washed (a task delegated to Stina’s brother this time), the group splintered off. Linnéa was going out to meet with a few friends, Stina’s brother and his family had to go home before it got too late, and Stina’s parents had settled in the living room. The two of you were welcome to join, they offered, for a nightcap. But it was clear that maybe you and Stina needed some alone time. 

So you bid everyone good night, thanking them for a wonderful day, and giving Stina’s nephew a big hug goodbye (even though you would be seeing him the next day). You tried to prepare for what you knew was a difficult discussion coming your way. In and out, you tried to remind yourself.

“Go ahead, I’ll be in in a minute,” Stina told you when you reached the bedroom door.

You nodded, thankful for the extra minute to think. The room was quiet around you. You felt the quilt beneath your hands, taking another deep breath. You didn’t need to overthink this. It was simple. And Stina loved you, you reminded yourself. 

There was a knock at the door, after which Stina slowly opened it and slipped inside. She had a bag of ice in her hands, presumably for your ankle. Already you felt tears spring to your eyes.

“Here, for your foot.” 

She lifted your leg, grabbing a chair for you to prop it up on, and pressed the ice to it.  

“So,” Stina paused, still standing before you, “What’s wrong?” You opened your mouth, but were cut off before you could say anything. “And don’t say it’s nothing, I can tell it isn’t. And I want to know, I want you to tell me, whatever it is.” 

You chuckled internally at the similarity to Laura’s demand earlier. Stina knew you too well for you to hide from her either. That made your heart ache a little bit. 

Your lack of response seemed to signal to Stina that you needed more convincing because she knelt down in front of you, taking your hands in hers. 

“What were you doing in the bathroom earlier? Why did you look so upset? All day, I can see you trying to hide it, but I know you’re hiding something. It hurts me too, to see you like that. It’s like a thorn in my ribs.” 

Your lip trembled, and you bit down hard on your cheek until you could feel blood in your mouth. It rushed onto your tongue, the metallic taste distracting you from the urge to cry. Stina had caught your gaze, and you couldn’t bring yourself to look away.

“Do your parents know we’re together?” Your voice held steady as you asked. 

Whatever she had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. Stina let out an airy chuckle, looking relieved. You brought your gaze to the floor, eyes wetting rapidly, which Stina quickly noticed.

“Hey, hey, hey,” She brought a hand up to your face, brushing the hair away from it. She sat next to you, moving up from where she was kneeling, and pulled you into her. “Look at me.” She put a finger under your chin, drawing your gaze to hers. The sight of your eyes nearly broke her heart. She hadn’t seen your face crumple in on itself like this since you were injured. The idea that something she had done could have caused you pain like that made her feel indescribably awful. 

“Of course they know, of course they do.”

You let out a sigh of relief, putting your head in your hands. You felt a hand on the back of your neck, rubbing the skin there tenderly.

“Then why have you been so…distant all day? And yesterday? This morning at breakfast, I couldn’t even hold your hand. It seemed like you didn’t want your family to see us together. I thought maybe you… I don’t know, that you were unsure of us, or afraid, or—” 

“That’s not it, I promise,” she said, wiping a tear away that had fallen from your eye. Fuck, you hated crying this much. “It’s just odd for me to be affectionate in front of my parents. They never were very touchy with each other in front of us, so it just feels like some unspoken rule. And then when my brother married his wife, they were the same way. But I promise, tomorrow I’ll try—”

You shook your head. You could tell Stina was upset too now, and you didn't want that. That wasn't the point of this. Tears continued to stream from your eyes, and you continued to swipe harshly at them.

“No, no. It’s all right. I don’t need you to be affectionate in front of them, I understand. It just seemed strange when I didn’t know the reason. I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”

Stina seemed at a loss for a moment, truly shocked. She pulled you into a kiss, pressing her lips firmly against yours once, twice, three times before pulling back.

“You’re in this house too. And we’re a team: you don’t just have to do things the way we do. I’m supposed to meet you in the middle, okay? We’re in a relationship—if something hurts you, or is important to you, I want to know.” 

You nodded, squeezing her hand as a small thanks. The taste of blood trickled through your mouth, reminding you of the wound. You did your best to swallow it down. 

“Come on, let’s get you into something more comfortable,” Stina said, helping you up. 

She opened the dresser, looking for some of the pants you had brought. When she turned around, in her hands were a pair of grey sweats and one of her long sleeve Swedish national team shirts. 

“Sit,” she requested, pointing at the bed. 

You followed, sitting and allowing her to help you undress. It was totally non-sexual, Stina was wholly concerned in caring for you. Once you were dressed in the casual clothes she had picked out, Stina returned to your side, your ankle in her lap as she massaged the skin gently. 

“Was that what made you think I hadn’t told them?”

“It seems silly… but I also overheard them talking to your aunt in the kitchen last night.” You took a breath, trying to banish the tears for good. “I know my Swedish isn’t that good, but I was doing my best to keep up, and they kept referring to me as your friend, your friend, Stina’s friend.” 

Stina looked at you, confused. 

“They did? What did they say?” 

You did your best to repeat the word, cringing at your own pronunciation. 

“Väninna?” She repeated, and you nodded. “Who told you that means friend?”

“Amanda.” you replied, “She said it was like a female friend.” 

Stina shook her head, laughing. 

“What?” You asked, a bit indignant. 

“It does mean that. But it also means girlfriend. I don’t think Amanda thought you’d ever run into the word. It’s a bit old fashioned.” Stina explained. 

“Oh…” you said, feeling very stupid, and very relieved. 

“Come here,” Stina said, leaning back against the headrest and gesturing for you to settle against her. She grabbed the bag of ice on your foot and shifted it to lie comfortably again. “I’m sorry you had to go through the day thinking I’d invited you here under friendly pretenses.” 

You could tell she was making fun of you, just a little, but that there was sincerity in her voice too. One of her hands crept under your shirt, resting comfortingly on your stomach. 

“I hope you don’t treat all your friends like you did yesterday morning.” You replied, snuggling closer to her. For the first time in days your head wasn’t full of doubts, and you could relax wholly. You just wanted to enjoy her warmth around you. You had faith that tomorrow would be great, that you could finally enjoy your time here the way you were meant to.

She chuckled, hugging you closer to her and pressing a kiss to your upward-turned lips. 

“No, definitely not. I usually have better decision making skills around most people.” 

“I guess I’m just special then, huh?”

[chubs-deuce]

Ok I just watched whole hazbin hotel show and I know what you mean about Charlie and Vaggie relationship

their have cute songs together but Vaggie to me personality wise hasn’t got that much of a personality compared to the others characters ?

I think the last 2 episodes she had more of a personality 🤷‍♀️ (this isn’t a anti post , I feel like she has a lot of potential to flash her character out more hopefully in season 2)

personally I prefer Charlie and Alastor cause I feel like theirs something there, it’s interesting and it has a lot of potential

if they wanted me to root for Vaggie and Charlie I feel like they should be friends at first and then we see them slowly falling in love , that’s my opinion of course XD

Agreed 100%

To be fair I don't think charlastor is inherently better in any way, since I recognize that they don't actually have much of a leg to stand on in canon, but they still intrigue me a lot more conceptually in fan-content, in ways that I've outlined in this post already so I won't repeat myself here lol.

Charlie and Vaggie are sweet, unproblematic, thoroughly wholesome and that is a dynamic that can not only absolutely work but also be very appealing!

Good domestic fluff is my bread and butter, but it just doesn't really hit the same when I'm not really given much of a reason to care for the pairing beyond the narrative going "look they hold hands and use pet names, isn't that cute?"

So I agree that having their "falling in love" stage be explored more would've helped a lot in elevating how and why they love each other, though it wouldn't even have been necessary, established relationships in fiction can work really well even without that if done right.

The way they're shown to first meet has SO MUCH POTENTIAL to be a great story bit to explore (I might try and do that in writing some time ngl), with Vaggie just coming from this intense of a betrayal, likely having her whole worldview usurped and now, after being taught all her life that demons are worthless scum, being shown unconditional kindness and offered a helping hand from one... There's a lot for her here to process!

Like I really feel like her repeatedly underlined trust issues could've so easily led into a sweet narrative of how meeting Charlie taught her to trust in others again, but her "learning to trust others" path was already explained with brothers-in-arms style bonding on the battle field and the rest was just kinda played off as a love at first sight thing. It had potential! It was right there! And yet!!! [frustrated groan]

I get they were probably trying to aim for combining those two points and had very little time to do so properly, but it imo just missed the mark by a painful amount...

It doesn't help that Vaggie also generally fell kinda flat as a character for most of the show, in part because she's often forced to share the spotlight and has very little focus put on her as an individual.

I really hope they do her better in the next season either way :')

I haven't given up on chaggie yet, but only time will tell if that changes.

[alilarew23]

hey :) i rly cannot be bothered to DO anything for my manifestation w sp. i just wanna decide and say its done and think ab sth else, without entertaining opposite stories. is that ok? idk if thats changing self. i just rly dont wanna do anything. not so much as to change the 3d and get fast results but, bc ive been ‘trying’ for so long i cba. but i still ‘want’ it. i don’t wanna move on just bc i havent got it yet. i just dont wanna affirm that i am chosen or stop n feel how it feels to be chosen bc often i feel absolutely nothing. like, ‘how does it feel u went on a date w him last week?’ nothing at all honestly 🥹 so idk if thats changing self or is okay. at times i do entertain the opposite but ive decided thats stopping NOW. like… just stating its already mine n moving onnnn coz im tired of trying !! me in that relationship seems rly happy n carefree whenever i imagine her but physically i know im not always happy giggly bc i CBA but i still know i am her within? ik this a lot, sorry. i just know i am meant to have my dream relationship where i am cared for and loved. its about time i do this!

yup! decide with conviction that either you guys are already back together or are 100% getting back together--doesn't really matter imo, either way, it's a done deal--and don't entertain/give any attention/power to anything that goes against your decision. embody the best version of yourself and know it into being. you wouldn't be happy and carefree 24/7 in a relationship with him--no one is, even the most loved/in love person on the planet--so you don't have to be that now. just know (feel) yourself to be inherently loved, cared for, prioritized, etc. by the very fact of being you (you don't have to affirm this if you don't feel like it), and go about your life. if you've decided you're getting back together, you're getting back together. that's it. you're already at your end. no effort needed. plus, it sounds like you've "tried" for so long that your inner man/subconscious/whatev you wanna call it will be like oh she's done trying she finally accepted she has it lol here he is! (as long as you actually have accepted it). you are meant to have your dream relationship, you do have it, just be it.

[spaceyflowerswriting]

reader giving small pecks on the boys lips until he asks for a real kiss <3!!!! they practically beg and pout about it 🤣 thanks bye bye (headcanons,reactions etc)

Danny,Jake,Vasco,Johan,Zack

giving 'em pecks until they ask for a kiss

details: gender neutral reader written in 2nd pov, reader has been dating character for a while

a/n: thank u for the request ^_^ ! (this was written assuming reader's trying to play a trick on their lover; im not 100% sure thats what the request is asking 😭)

×

daniel

> he always appreciates a little sweetness from you :]

> would not catch on to what you're doing

> well. maybe if you drag it out for long enough, but mostly he's just like, "my partner isn't doing this on purpose, right...?"

> he'd try his best to not ask for an actual kiss to avoid sounding "greedy" but he'd give in eventually and quietly ask for one <3

> gets very pouty and embarrassed when he finds out you were trying to get him to ask for a kiss 💔

> "you're a bully... T_T"

jake

> expresses his love physically so he appreciates when you give that kind of love back in the form of pecks!

> may or may not pick up on your trick. if he does, he likes playing along 💖

> actually he will straight up turn the tables on you LOL you're trying to embarrass him by making him beg for a kiss? no problem, he'll beg, but he'll be super dramatic and cringey about it so good luck if you both happen to be in public ★

> sometimes he'll be normal though <3 like trapping you into a hug and just going, "c'mon, just one proper kiss on the lips, please~?" and as soon as he gets what he wants, you're free to go ^_^

> returns the favor but does this trick during his own time as well <3

> if he somehow never picks up on your trick, then he will genuinely pout and ask you to give him a real kiss

vasco

> for an (unintentionally) showy man, he actually enjoys the little things in life and prefers pecks over kisses!

> still, if you make it look like you're going in for a kiss, only to give him a peck, he'll just go "??? weren't you going to kiss me? :D"

> if that doesn't make you want to kiss him already because he's so darn cute and you instead continue to deny it, then he will get pouty later <3

> may get unironically dramatic if you push the joke for long enough; think of him kneeling while holding your hand with both of his and going, "my dear, why do you refuse to kiss me...? have i done something wrong...?!"

> overall he doesn't really make a big deal out of it though because it never even crosses his mind that you would play a trick like that, or that a trick like that even exists lol

> even if he does find out, he just laughs it off because he knows it's just teasing~

johan

> he's highkey touch starved so he welcomes your pecks with Very open arms

> only notices something is off if you're usually not that physically affectionate

> the second he notices something is up, he's already a little pouty but tries to be sleek about it

> asks if you're trying to make him ask for a kiss and if you deny it, he squints his eyes at you until you confess. if you don't, uh... he kinda just walks off. he did not have a plan B for this 💔

> if you're giggly the whole time while pulling this trick (i.e. making it obvious you're messing with him), he will pull out his angry puppy dog eyes and ask you to just please stop teasing him <3

> however, if you're better at hiding your intentions, be a little more careful because johan's soft heart might start thinking he's done something wrong to make you want to avoid kissing him </3

zack

> he generally just loves attention from his beloved so he's more than happy to receive pecks from you

> doesn't get suspicious until a while in

> after his realization, he doesn't let you go until you kiss him lol (will kabedon you if necessary.)

> "don't make me beg for it."

"if you say please, i'll--"

"PLEASE!!"

> wants to get back at you but he's so bad at it because he's weak for you 💖

> don't worry, he forgets you pulled the trick on him the next day anyway ^_^

[wistfulwatcher]

I agree 100% with the tags on your gifset of Misty looking to Nat for approval. I think we start really seeing it in the teen timeline earlier but Misty pledging herself to Nat when Nat was crowned the antler queen is like, just a formal pledge. She's solidifying what was already there. Nat wasn't the antler queen when she chose to save her over Javi. Nat was the one being hunted for sport, and Misty could've run over to her to finish the job. Or help Javi and then finish the job. But nope, she just went straight to pulling Nat off of him and telling her if she doesn't run the others WILL kill her. Nat was also the first person to jump in front of Misty and defend her to Shauna after Shauna punched her in 2.07 so I'm sure that helped Misty glom onto her a bit lol

Fully agree, this is my reasoning as well! I do also believe that Nat and Misty have always had a level of understanding as outcasts - I think Misty always saw her as "safer" than the other girls, and I think Nat could understand Misty in ways that allowed her to be more tolerant than others because she understood where Misty's need for acceptance comes from. (Though, the other side of that is, I think Nat also got more frustrated with Misty because she understands what it's like to be an outcast, except Nat leaned into it where Misty fought against it - in the sense of, "if it was so easy for me to be different, why can't you just do the same?") And not that it was official/canon in the show, but at least some of the actresses (I think Christina and/or Juliette, but could have been Sammi/Soapy too) have mentioned there being that sort of understanding, where Nat was always nicer to Misty than the others were.

I also, on the less romantic side, do think that Misty is just too pragmatic to not see Nat's value (even pre-wilderness). I think she has always seen Natalie as someone important to have around, and since she is such a practical person I think her emotional responses are sort of tied up in her pragmatism; in fact, I would argue that practicality is inherently romantic for her. So Misty has the - arguably, as a hunter - most useful person in the group, who understands her, and is kind to her (even if distantly), and then defends her? And on top of that, is indebted to Misty (at least as far as Misty is concerned) for saving her life? That is a romantic-pragmatic mashup feast for Misty.

So I definitely think the seeds of her attachment and obsession were there far before the coronation. (Sorry Christina. I agree with 99% of what you say, but not this.) And I agree, the pledge was really just a formal commitment, and more of a conscious decision for what she would already have done subconsciously. I think that moment of Misty looking up is very much things clicking into place for her, like that it's okay to appreciate and care for Natalie the way she does, because now she's her queen. (Not to mention that Misty is neck-deep in comphet. Her being given this tool - this religion, this coronation - that not just allows her to feel the way she does, but encourages it?) I don't see anyone bending the knee with the fervor she did without the seeds being there beforehand.

[ooffmlsorry]

100 Followers Thank You: Holiday/Winter Prompt Event!

I've had this blog for a little over a month and I've already reached 100 followers!? I didn't think that would happen so fast, if at all. I'm shocked!! And grateful!!

I've had a lot of fun here so far, I mean like...not to out myself as having "no life" but reblogging stuff and writing my own posts have been such a life saver!! Having stuff to read and work on has done wonders for my mental health and if I can give that back a little I'd love to! Plus my December is a lot quieter than I expected, I'm not working nearly as many days this month as I usually am so I thought why not offer to write prompts?

Rules:

I will only be writing sfw with a smidgen of spice (e.g. suggestive thoughts, kissing).

Ask me a prompt followed by the OP character and I'll do my best!!

I'll take prompts until Friday, December 8, 11:59 p.m. (EST) just so if I do get a bunch I won't get terribly overwhelmed. (Haha listen to my fucking ego lol).

Characters I will right for: Law, Zoro, Sanji, Ace, Sabo, Luffy, Koby

Prompts

"what do you mean you've never decorated a Christmas tree..."

"you think you have it bad? i got [name] for secret santa. [name]!!

"hurry, 'x' is on!!"

"mistletoe? how corny..."

"the lights are so pretty..."

"be careful up there!! i think your life is more important than some christmas lights..."

"how about a real tree this year..." "isn't that way more work?"

"mmm smells good, what're you making?"

"stop laughing! i want to see you do better."

"do you really still believe in santa?"

"this was always my favorite song..."

"dear GOD just tell me what you want! please!"

"you don't like the gift, do you?"

"i made us hot cocoa!"

"babe, it's snowing!!"

"you're going to make christmas dinner? i'll have 'x' on speed dial."

"that has to be the ugliest sweater i've ever seen"

"it's our first Christmas together.."

"i love this time of year..."

"i hate building gingerbread houses, i can never make them stand!"

"come onn don't be a scrooge!" "what the hell is that?"

"step away from the tree and put the present down."

"oh my god, you didn't..."

"merry christmas, love"

The prompts are taken from this post by @novelbear! These were literally perfect!!

[candlecoo]

I can't stop thinking about the fake angst opportunities of the vigilante doll au.

Like yeah, Izuku isn't dying he's just overusing his quirk. But Hizashi, Shinsou, and Shota don't know that >:]

Imagine after the sports festival and Izuku making it very clear he cares about Shinsou succeeding, they start paying more attention to his health. Wanting to see if they can help him become a hero, and the sadness when they realize that he probably really can't.

Imagine Recovery girl shaking her head at Izuku's daily check up, knowing that even Aizawa or Yagi can't compete with Izuku in terms of such poor health. Keeping her mouth shut because it's not her place to tell a kid his dreams aren't viable, but secretly hoping he finds a less stressful passion.

Izuku falling asleep during English class because he got the worksheet done early and the sound of pencils against paper lulled him to sleep. Hizashi letting him sleep for the rest of the period, and even afterwards once the classroom is empty because those bags under his eyes really say he needs more sleep. Hizashi is probably already worried that Izuku might have something like insomnia because of how tired he is all the time. Bush baby can sleep a bit longer.

Aizawa randomly coming up to Izuku and telling him he has permission to sleep in the teacher's lounge. Lol, Izuku never gets the hint that it's an order to sleep more.

Imagine Shinsou going to Shouta after the sports festival, asking him if he'd be willing to take Izuku on as a student too. Aizawa considering it for a second, before refusing. Shinsou and Aizawa having a bit of an argument before Shouta points out that Izuku' health is so bad that any physically straining activity could easily make things worse. Shinsou reluctantly agreeing, sad that he can't do anything in return for his friend with Shouta patting him on the shoulder a bit.

After that, Shinsou seems to make it a mini mission of his to force Izuku into better health. Izuku will just be walking the halls and Shinsou pops up with a water bottle like "It has vitamins, DRINK". Or at lunch time Shinsou just hands him some fruit and says "You're skinny, eat this". Izuku is very confused but will never say no to a friend so he does as Hitoshi directs.

Imagine Aizawa and Hizashi watching all this go on from a distance happy that Shinsou is teaching Izuku better health but also sad because subconsciously in their minds they know that if his health is this bad on its own then it's going to take a lot of effort to get it bad to "normal person health" and even moreso to hero training level, so they still don't know if Izuku can make it.

This is actually very close to how I imagine it all plays out!!! Like everyone doubts he could become a hero cause they think he has long standing health issues and think Izuku has always been this unhealthy.

But they are so wrong Izuku is usually really healthy and it has just been for like a year. Cause he's been going out wearing himself out with vigilante work, is 100% the worst person at taking care of himself and his mom accepted her dream job that requires her to constantly travel. The only time he eats outside of school is when Bakugou or Shinso force him to eat at one of their houses and that's not too often.

If they just correct his bad habits he'd bounce back in no time, but they don't consider that's the issue and don't look further into it.

Plus Izuku doesn't want to correct them cause then it'd reveal that he's actually Changeling!!!

[lillysilvermoon]

Messages for Eclipse Season

Please read the description below!!

Hi guys! 👋 I know, has been too long, but uni is taken all my energy 🥲 BUT, I had to come here to give yall this message, will be quick (at least that's what they told me lol) but important. I'll say this right away: Aries, libra, Pisces and scorpio probably will feel with more intensity this eclipse and its effects).

Now, this is super unusual but for each pile Selene, Nyx and Hades have a message, I don't know which one will be but it's a message from them related to the eclipse, I've never done this before so I hope yall liked and this reaches everyone who the message is meant for. Shall we?

Pile 1

Messenger: Selene, Goddess of the Moon

Change is on the way and yall need to prepare for this, for what I see here either you are in a hard moment right now (eight or Swords) feeling like you have no choice, helpless or after the eclipse this is how you will feel for some reason (probably the changes that will occurs) but don't worry, you can't see the bigger picture but this is for your own good, it will teach you a lesson. After this you can expect to be much more empowered, strong and independent (or this is what this change want you to learn in order to receive what you want, because right there is a lesson you need to learn). After the storm there ir always a rainbow, a new beginning and can be romantic (ace of cups almost always is about romantic beginnings) or just related to a new beginning emotionally.

Also, if you are working on something, congratulations!!! All your efforts will be paying off, probably dome kind of collab will come for you and will be a very successful project. (P.S: this is specific I guess but: no more fights, you will be in peace soon, no fights, no stress, this domestic related I think.)

Signs: books, Aries, Gemini, days 7, 12 and 8, Saturn.

Pile 2

Messenger: Hades, God of the Dead and King of the Underworld

This eclipse will bring you financial changes, I think actually just a confirmation lmao all of you already know how well succeed you will be. Well, this is your confirmation: you >will< be succeed, very succeed. If you made a spell with Him or have petitioned to Him in financial matters, yes, He will help you. You can 100% expect some improvement in your business life, career, good opportunity for investments and all thing related to gain money. But, for some of you, and this is a small portion, you need to take better care of your shadow self, learn more about you shadow is necessary and very important and He want you to give this more attention - He is being very serious... it's actually very important, no jokes - and your emotions in general, please make some effort to know yourself better, know how to regulate your emotions, you needed it.

"You are doing great, stop overstress yourself thinking everyone is mad at you, they aren't! And you think I am you can just ask you know" (Pile 2 can we be friends please???? You&me = twins I'm the same 🤡)

Signs: 66, 99, 5, Jupiter, scorpio, Taurus, Capricorn and Sagittarius, rivers and water places are important (not astrological speaking, real life).

Pile 3

Messenger: Nyx, Goddess of the night

Either you are facing some challenges in work or personal life or just in life in general, but you are being assertive and determined, or this is what the Eclipse Season will bring to you. Just know that you have the energy to endure it and you WILL succeed, be sure of this and never ever doubt yourself again, you will learn to be more independent and stand up for yourself, communicate your boundaries clearly and base your decisions less in your emotions and more in facts. If you have faced all of this the Eclipse you bring you to calmer waters and reach the end of a very difficult period (in this case this is the change the eclipse your bring, honestly? I fell like this pile is very 50/50 with half in the first case and the other half in this one). A lot of you is feeling down and deflated after going through this tough time, she asks yall (from both situations) to stay in tune with your intuition, your inner guidance because doing this yall will be victorious.

Signs: Pisces, taurus, Gemini and Aquarius, 12, 8, 5, 4, Pluto, Saturn, mountains.

[patrick-bateperson]

Inviting more thoughts on Show if you want 👀

If this is the same article you read I mostly agree with it. I think the author is 100% right that this is a show primarily made for people who are already obsessed with the characters and been following the production since the pilot. I didn't really read anything Vivziepop has said about the characters outside the show, and it's also been a while since I watched the pilot, which is probably why the author seemed to understand what was happening better than I did lol.

My main disagreement was I didn't like the framing of Angel Dust and Valentino's relationship as like, a toxic/abusive romance. I agree the show sometime treats it like that, but it's also a more literal Angel sold his soul to Val and now has to follow the terms of their agreement situation. Val acts like an abusive boyfriend and goes through the motions of like, a abuse/lovebombing cycle in one ep, but I don't really think there's every any indication that Angel is actually returning due to manipulation/being broken down. He literally just has to because Val owns him. He otherwise seems to be pretty much done with Val beyond the bare minimum of their contract.

Also needs to be noted that the show takes this situation semi-seriously for a few minutes of two eps. Val pretty quickly gets downgraded to 'shitty boss.' There's an ep that starts with Angel getting back from '16 hr porn shoot' which it's been established that he's not doing this willingly. He essentially said he was raped for 16 hrs straight, and the attitude is just 'hoo boy did I have a long day at work!" Another character will be sexually assaulted as a joke within the same ep that Angel has a confrontation with Val. The show is extremely inconsistent with how seriously it treats any subject, and it makes it difficult to take the characters seriously or even understand them.

Like I don't think Lucifer's actions make much sense, but they kinda could if you interpret him as having severe depression that warps his sense of how much his daughter cares about him. But the 'reveal' of that possibility is him going 'teehee I have depression.' Like is that a joke or the lens through which we're meant to view his entire character? If you're not going to take it seriously why should I?

The world is also sloppy enough it's hard to tell what's the writers not thinking through the explanation of how things work and what's being held back intentionally for a Big Reveal. Everything's framed like the angels are in charge until we find out they also don't know what it takes to get into heaven. This kinda implies there's a higher power over them but it's never addressed despite it making sense for the characters bring god into the discussion if he exists. Do they just want to dodge The Literal Christian God being a hazbin hotel character, or is he going to randomly show up and be super important later? I could see it going either way.

What an hell 'overlord' is is also not really explained, despite it seeming to be very important. They're demons that 'control territory' but how? Why is this desirable? Does it have anything to do with owning souls? Sometimes it seems like it, but sometimes it seems like they just fight over literal territory. Do some demons arrive in hell super powerful and meant to be overlords from the beginning, or do you gain more powers the more overlordy you become? The article doesn't even list ALL the random powers Alastor has that have nothing to do with being 'the radio demon.' Are the overlords able to shape other demons in their image? All the demons in cannibal town look basically the same. Or do you just arrive in the territory of the overlord that suits you?

Ok one last thing; a lot of the character designs are meant to have animal theming but it's either 'literal furry' or 'completely inscrutable' with almost nothing in between.

[cxhleel108]

S7 Thots for this week: Why is everyone here actually delusional asf???

(Apologies for posting this late guys I was very tired when I started writing this…I was also high asf so be mindful of that while you read lol.)

• Oh great now #Raphne is going through shit and everyone’s gonna have to dedicate their whole life to fixing it!

• Bryson laying it on THICC this morning I know dats rightttt😛😛😛

• No seriously why ze fook are we helping them with their issues? I need these people to go back to university or wherever and take a communication course cuz y’all are clearly lacking.

• Tanya so messy for asking that. Girl you know exactly who tf it is why you lowkey telling on yourself like that?😭😭😭

• #Raphne is 100% completely done y’all omg! (Bullshit)

• NO YOU WILL NOT!

• Willow is STILL talking as if anybody give af about what she got to say. Someone get this woman a hobby I’m begginggggg.

• I love having bathing suits worth mentioning now😍

• Ain’t no way they tryna force a argument between me and my partner over this Raf and Daphne mess…bitch.

• WE DONT HAVE TO AGREE ON EVERY SINGLE THING TO BE IN SYNC THATS NOT HOW COUPLES OR HUMANS WORK!

• Talk less sir.

• Why is there always some of the girls trading jealous looks when it comes to this challenge. The point is to literally kiss everyone and y’all still be getting salty, get over it??? Maybe I’m just crazy but I would literally not care.

• Once again Willow is putting on a show for her imaginary friends and nobody in the real world is gagging.

• Wow, now all of a sudden we don’t know how to kiss each other properly because we couldn’t help another couple stop arguing over fucking sheets😕

• How am I having more chemistry with Raf than my own man? God help us.

• Omg Evan came back for me y'all😍😍😍😍😍

• Paying gems magically brings back chemistry to our couple I guess.

• Girl you deserve a 10 backwards.

• That joke bullshit…BOO! CORNY! LAME! 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅

• Bryson real lucky he’s cute or I wouldn’t allow him to be acting like a 12 year old about his feelings.

• #Raphne is back together woohoo! (They’re literally gonna break it off again as soon as Daphne founds out bout Raf’s crush)

• Don't force me to have a moment with her ew! That ho is NOT my friend.

• There’s quite literally no reason to speak to everyone about the recoupling. NO REASON!

• Outfit time!🤩

• Eat! Eat! Eat!

• Thought Bryson was finna ask us to be his girlfriend right then and there ugh I need him to hurry up.

• CAN YOU ALL LEAVE US THE ABSOLUTE FUCK ALONE LIKE GODDAMN????

• Vicky if you can see how close me and Bryson are then why would you…never mind why even ask at this point.

• Bonnie has been trying to get with Tanya since the beginning of time. Girl just give up PLEASE.

• Girl who tf is you-

• Why did we get dressed up just to go speak to 3 people???????????? Chile anyways it’s outfit time AGAIN✨

• EAT! EAT! EAT!

• LMAOOOO she's such a loser I almost feel bad...almost.

• Uma you know good and well you meant to record them boys fighting. Fuck outta here with that excuse💀

• Y'all will not let Jake REST oh my goodness.

• Oooo y’all the way Bryson is fighting for us…kinda feeling butterflies in my stomach and elsewhere🤭🤭🤭

• Everyone here is so delusional when it comes to Tanya holy fuck. Actually no, this happens every season. Why do some of these people think that just because THEY feel a good connection with MC that automatically means she wants them? Like baby that’s not how this works…

• Oh Bryson don't end half of the villa like that-

• Daphne don’t ask me if I think you and yo man gon make it niece you don’t want my answer to that lmao.

• 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂

• Why y’all ain’t make us do a surprise dumping so we could get Willow out? WHY IS SHE STILL HERE SHE LITERALLY HAS NOTHING TO CONTRIBUTE NOW????

• Oh I can tell you how! First, we're gonna walk in there and start marveling at every single thing in the room, specifically the bed, even though we've already been in there. Then, bet y'all won't see this coming, we're gonna find a box filled with naughty things😱😱😱 After that, we get to work and all that can be registered is the feeling of our partner's soft lips and how their hands caress our body in every place possible and then after a while we both reach our climax at the same time. Then our partner says they love us blah blah blah, we get some text about what's happening tomorrow and it's prolly the baby challenge or something equally stupid and ridiculous, and then we cuddle up and go to bed.

• If everything I just said is in next week's hideaway scene, everyone who likes this post owes me $10. I'm just playing, we all know everything I said is definitely happening. Keep your money💖

[thenexusofsouls]

Have you ever considered writing Quentin Beck? You write your muses so well and he wouldn't be the first antagonist you've written *points to Nuada*, besides the angst with Carter would be interesting. Like Quentin is one of those "diva" typa villains, he is so funny at times like why are u such a dramatic bitch. Ugh I hope he isn't rlly dead, he was a great villain. Hope your recovery is going well btw! ❤️

{i am the caretaker of souls} Going to answer this now even though I'm not back until next weekend because it mentioned surgery recovery... and because I can. XD My recovery is going well, thank you! I'm feeling much better than I did a week ago. Still not 100%, but getting better every day. I think given one more week I should be almost completely back to normal. =)

I haven't ever considered writing Quentin, no. Mostly because he's just not a character that speaks to me or that I know very well. He's interesting, don't get me wrong, but he's never gotten in my head and bugged me for weeks to write him like muses normally do, heh. Also, all I know of him is what was in the Spiderman movies, so... I don't have a lot to go on.

Also, I've read some of the asks and things from that verse where Carter dates Quentin (tagging @starcchild in on this in case she wants to weigh in at all), and I feel my portrayal might be biased because of that. What I mean is, I wouldn't necessarily have said he would have been abusive to Carter. Or maybe he would. But whatever opinion I would have formed on my own has already been made by that AU. Like in my head, he's abusive to her right out of the gate before I've even had a chance to develop my own interpretation of him. And whoever had been writing Quentin for those AUs, I don't want to steal from their interpretation, you know? It's just hard for me to be unbiased and create my own interpretation of him when I've already got that one in my mind.

I think he's got some obsessive personality traits, a bit of a short fuse, and his own personal setbacks have fueled an obsessive hatred of Tony Stark. I'm not sure whether Quentin would be classified as a psychopath, and some of the arrogant and narcissistic personality traits that psychopaths have are feeding into that? Like... he perceives Tony's lack of tact with regard to the intellectual property of others and Tony's lack of interest in him as a person to be targeted, deliberate, insulting, and unforgivable attacks against him, because how dare he, when really Tony's already moved onto the next stupid thing he said or did without putting that much thought into it. But that hyperfixation on the wrongs, slights, and injustices done to Quentin, the need to enact revenge to get justice for himself or to punish those who have wronged him in an I'll show you manner, and the willingness to put innocent people in danger due to a lack of empathy... are all traits of a psychopath, I think? I'm not a psychologist, but I do watch a lot of criminal psychology shows, lol. Also the need for attention, validation, and an audience is there, which I think is another psychopathic trait if I remember correctly.

Or, it could be that Quentin just has narcissistic personality disorder, which gives him an inflated ego and sense of self-worth. How could Tony not care about him? How could he steal from him? How could he toss him aside? In his mind he's so important that being ignored or shoved aside or treated like he personally doesn't matter is jarring enough to his sense of self that he has to go to extreme means to set the injustice right. He seems a bit immature, too, and that might feed into the me, myself, and I mentality of focusing so much on his own wants and needs and not on anyone else's.

With regard to Carter... The only way I could see Quentin even wanting to date her is to get back at Tony in yet another way. But I don't think he'd necessarily try to hurt her. At least not physically. Because his goal is to hurt Tony, not Carter. To hurt Tony, what's the worst thing he could do? Turn Carter against him. So I think Quentin would try to ingratiate himself to Carter and then gaslight her into believing her father is a terrible person in various ways. With, of course, the end goal in mind of her breaking off all contact with Tony of her own accord because she wants nothing more to do with him, which Quentin knows would mess Tony up pretty badly.

The question is... how seriously Quentin takes himself and how deluded he really is. Is it just that he's an arrogant asshole who wants to stick it to Tony for perceived injustices like stealing his research? In that case, I think he'd be even more insidious and manipulative to Carter because he knows Tony isn't as bad as he's making him out to be, it's just that he's angry and wanting to get revenge on him. So he'd know that he's lying to Carter and controlling the narrative surrounding her father to deliberately gaslight her.

Or... is it that Quentin is so delusional that he truly believes that, because Tony did these things to him, Tony is a terrible, dangerous, duplicitous human being? That means he's far more mentally impaired than knowing reality and choosing to manipulate it, because in this situation he's actually believing his own lies. In that case, if after he begins dating Carter he does develop any kind of feelings for her, he might actually believe he's protecting her from the terrible person that Tony is. He might believe that the gaslighting he's doing to her is just him honestly trying to help Carter by exposing her father for who he truly is. To open her eyes to the truth, as it were.

Personally, I don't think Quentin believes his own lies. I think he's just an immature, angry man who feels slighted by someone and holds grudges long and hard enough to never let it go. Whether that borders on psychopathic tendencies to want to obsessively plan and seek out the friends and family of someone you believed slighted you to enact your revenge or not, I'm not sure, but he definitely suffers from obsessive personality traits and an inflated ego. So I think he would know exactly what he's doing to Carter by lying to her about her dad, or inflating certain events to seem worse than they are, or generally trying to control her as far as what she thinks of Tony or when she sees him (depends on if it's a verse where Tony is alive or dead, I guess).

*shrugs* That's my two cents on Quentin and his relationship with Carter. He's never really been a muse for me, though. You're right, I don't mind writing villains. Nuada is definitely one, I would argue that Noah over on @tarnishedxknight can be considered one too. And I do write Ravenna from the same movies Eric and Freya are from, I've just never brought her to this site. It's more just that he's not a character that really spoke to me as far as me feeling compelled to write him.

[kamilion-en-pointe]

Just watched Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 a few days ago. And I mean this with 100% sincerity—I don't think I've ever watched a movie so good it made me want to rewatch it in cinemas, until this one.

Anyway, here are some thoughts that have been spinning around in my head like a microwave lol. And feel free to add your own stuff. I'd genuinely love to read more of other people's takes :)

Uhhh surprise most of this is gonna be about Rocket

Spoilers Below!

The entire opening. I've listened to the acoustic version of Creep at least a billion times since watching it

I love that the stakes start relatively small. They're not going (initially) to save the entire galaxy or anything. They just need to save a member of their family. That's all you need to care

Mantis getting more character development is always really nice to see. She gives me the vibes of a therapist friend, which makes her ending of needing to part from the group to find herself quite satisfying

Nebula. Just Nebula. I love her

I think the movie handled the flashback scenes very well, especially the ones that featured heavy animal cruelty. Choosing not to show any visuals, just audio of a young Rocket screaming in pain. You can feel the horror of the Guardians as they watch the data they gathered

I like the brief scene of baby Rocket pocketing some of the High Evolutionary's tech. Especially once it's revealed he was hiding all the necessary components to recreate a keycard for the cages—something I don't think he would've done if he really had faith the High Evolutionary would let him and his friends free

When the High Evolutionary put a turtle in one of his pods, there was a little kid in the cinema who said, "Ninja turtle!" Which is great 'cause that's also what I was thinking lol

That same kid also really freaked out (/pos) when Peter dropped that f-bomb. It was really cute

I also love that Vocaloid is apparently a staple bit of pop-culture on Counter-Earth? Because that implies either:

A) The High Evolutionary thought it was literally the perfect music genre OR

B) He counted it as one of the many mistakes on his 'Reasons To Explode An Entire Planet I Spent Years Figuring Out A Way To Speed Up Evolution For' list

I'd like to just take a moment to appreciate how great of an actor Chukwudi Iwuji is??? Like, when the High Evolutionary drags Rocket to the pods and hysterically questions how? How could he have known what to do? How could this vermin be more intelligent than his creator? How dare he look down on him?! I was scared shitless

Just... Rocket's scream of anguish once Lylla is dead. After having hugged for the first and last time. Sends shivers up my spine

Floor's repetition of "Rocket, Teefs, Floor go now! Rocket, Teefs, Floor go now!" has been ingrained into my brain for the rest of time (Major shout out to the voice actor, Mikaela Hoover!)

And then the High Evolutionary has the gall to mock Rocket, calling his grief a crying contest. I already hated this bastard but oh boy—!

Which makes Rocket's reaction so cathartic, when he jumps and scratches the High Evolutionary's face off. But his friends are telling him they have to go. They have to go now! Pleading with him as reineforcements arrive until...

They go quiet. And you can't help the dread bubbling inside you. Because we all knew how it was going to end, but we hoped, just maybe, we would be proven wrong

We weren't

Rocket, on the brink of death as Peter screams for him to be alright, seeing his friends in a white void, stacks of cages barely visible behind him. They're flying, they can see the neverending sky! "Can I join you?" he asks.

"Of course. But it's not your time yet."

Me: :')

Rocket seeing a cage of baby animals that look like him, after decades of thinking he was the only one in the universe. Looking at the plaque to see 'Racoon'—that's what he is? That's what he is!

Followed by him immediately scooping them all into his arms. Doesn't matter if they can't fit, or if some of them scramble onto his back. They can't go through what he went through, they just can't!

Rocket seeing the High Evolutionary after all these years of running, being beaten and thrown around, insult after insult flung at him—"How dare you think you are more?! 89P13!"

Before Rocket changes the gravity—one of the things the High Evolutionary boasted only he could control—and declaring, "Name's Rocket. Rocket Racoon."

He uses his name. He's not only found belonging with the baby racoons he just saved, this is also the first time his torturer hears his chosen name from his own mouth. He's saying, "I am not just a string of numbers! I am not just part of a batch of 'failed' experiments! I am my own being!!"

The reveal of the High Evolutionary's actual face was gross in all the best ways. The makeup was just *chef's kiss*

Rocket insisting they have to get the animals out too, even though the initial mission was to just get the children out, and the other Guardians going along with it because they can see how important it is to him makes me smile

Peter fucking Quill going back for the Zune, not for him, but so that he can give it to Rocket!!!

For real, I was actually worried that they would kill him off. The stakes were that convincing

I like that Peter and Gamora don't end back together. It's realistic, and more importantly, it feels like the characters made that decision themselves and not a bunch of writers forcing something between them. And Gamora has grown to care for the group now, even if she'll never return to how she was before

The fact that we can understand Groot because we're part of the family now ❤️❤️❤️

I genuinely don't get why some people thought ending with a dance party was weird/bad? Maybe it's just 'cause I'm a dancer so I associate it a lot with my emotions. But if any movie deserves to go out with a dance party, it's this one. It feels so...relieving, seeing everyone on Knowhere smiling and having fun together

(And, of course, I've also been looping Dog Days Are Over a billion times and smiling stupidly to myself)

And Peter finally returning to Earth, seeing his grandfather, who immediately gets up to hug him? Tears, just like that haha

I also adore both end credits scenes. Adorable

[loguetowns]

Hi! I got into the One Piece fandom bc of OPLA and fell in love with OPLA Zoro lol. I then checked out the anime and found your animanga Zoro fics and they’re so cute, I’ve loved reading them :)

Would love to know your thoughts on OPLA too!

in the iconic words of lola tung, oh my goodness i love this question!!

firstly, i hope you've been having fun exploring the world of one piece!! i feel like getting into a new fandom can be so overwhelming sometimes. with that said, i am absolutely tickled that my fics have been feeding your zoro crush ♡

as for my opinions on opla, was it the most artful masterpiece in the world? no. but did it set out to do everything it wanted to do? yes. did it make me wholly content and leave my heart full? absolutely!!

i'm gonna add my detailed thoughts below (bc there's so many lol) but i will say that i think it was a success!

i'm not sure what the general animanga fandom's thoughts were on opla but for myself, i tried going into it with as little comparison/expectation from the original material as possible and i think that's why i liked it so much. i remember reading that the team's two goals were to honor existing fandom and also bring one piece to a new audience, and they totally did that!!

on the production itself, i think the team did the best with the budget they were given. it's a netflix show, not a hollywood production. certain effects and post-production weren't flawless, but i can 100% appreciate where they chose to spend their money. the choice to focus on character design and setting helped to bring the world of one piece to life in a way where it doesn't feel corny seeing it as a live action, ya kno?

storytelling wise, i can understand why they chose to keep what they kept and where they took out material/story. the essence of each arc was kept and the fact that they were able to introduce new plot and keep the core story intact within 8 episodes was a huge win.

it's funny because syrup village and baratie are two arcs that i don't care for but i adored them in opla. i also didn't even realize until after i finished watching that the buggy arc was so different from the original but i think that speaks to how well it was done!

i also like that they brought in this little side story of coby, garp and the marines. coby was an effective tool to explain the world of op to newer audience members, and the dichotomy between good vs. bad and whether lawful = good was set up really well in a short series because you had this marine subplot.

and then, of course, the characters ♡ the cast of opla has my whole fucking heart fr!! i already knew i was going to love mackenyu!zoro as soon as i saw his concept photos. but what surprised me was how much i fell in love with opla!sanji and usopp! they are so delightfully adorable and i have big crushes on them now.

the other standout thing for me is that i think the cast did a wonderful job at capturing the east blue crew's initial innocence and wonder. after following the strawhats for so long, i forget how much they've grown since the beginning. like, they really were just a bunch of teen dreamers who were given permission to be free by this weird kid in a strawhat.

for me, i don't see it as the opla competing with the animanga, but rather it's another version of the same story that i can love as much as the original ♡

[cynthrey]

i think you’re missing the fundamental fact that scott KNEW about the content ecto posted about.

if you read the doc from ecto, he was given a list of warnings before he followed and supported ectos blog, to which he AGREED

he absolutely was saving face by taking back his support and pretending like he didn’t know

also ecto literally got doxxed directly following the clip of scott retracting support and then when he was told what happened to ecto, told them to get over it as if it was just a bit of normal internet hate

being for/against proship doesn’t matter at this point, it’s basic human decency NOT to dox people. if anyone really cared about it they would have called the bloody police instead rather than putting on such a performance to ruin someone’s career

sorry, i know the original point of your post was about the scott hate and i kind of got off topic, but i have a lot of strong feelings about the situation lol

I perfectly understand having strong feelings on this situation because, yeah, it was a very fucked up mess and thank you for talking about this in a civilized manner. The point on Scott telling Ecto this was just normal internet hate being a bad move on his end and that is basic human decency to not dox someone are actually points that I agree with, and like I've said yeah he should have at least told his audience to not harass Ecto.

But Ecto was already getting doxxed before Scott addressed the situation. Scott addressed the situation on October 9 (even if he doesn't adress who "the artist" is by name, he should had asked his audience to not harass them, even the original account to out Ecto said to not harass them) while Ecto on their document mentions the account ectothrowaway2 on twitter was attempting to find their personal info on the night of the 7th and already getting doxxed on the 8th. (if you meant that the doxxing intensified after Scott's statement then that's a fair point of criticism towards him).

Posting dead dove/don't eat and being a proshipper can overlap on the aspect of dealing with problematic content but they aren't strictly the same. I know people who produce dead dove too might get hate for "condoning problematic content" even when is done from their own trauma or depicting said problematic content in the negative light it deserves. And I agree with the sentiment of not harassing someone of the ships they indulge, but there does come a point where things are not as acceptable (I don't mean by this that past some point is okay to harass someone, just that at some point it becomes something not as justifiable under the lenses of fiction being fiction). Proshipping saddly is a term often used by those who are actually fine with shipping stuff such as underage characters and adults, incest and other problematic dynamics (I myself was not aware of the non-harassing part of the proshipping stance until this situation). What I mean is that they are not 100% mutually inclusive, you can make dead dove content and still think shipping problematic stuff the same way you ship non-problematic stuff is wrong.

Had Ecto mentioned right away they are a proshipper and Scott shown to have no problem with that until this whole situation then he would have absolutely been trying to save face. Ecto themselves mention the user who called them out found their NSFW account through Scott's following list so is not like he kept it a secret that he was following a NSFW artist, especially given the fact Ecto themself would put screenshots of his and Sausage's interactions with their art.

My point on Scott getting so much criticism when he did originally mean to help while Sausage, who was way closer to Ecto than Scott, did nothing yet he hasn't received as much criticism still stands. Sausage has been shouting out Ecto ever since Empires S2 if i recall correctly, they are as known in his community as E. Yet we had no word from him in this whole situation.

Scott deserves criticism for how he acted in this situation, yes, especially when talking to Ecto he should have been more tactful when talking with them in private too. But I don't think the situation is as black and white as him retracting his support for Ecto because it was inconvenient to him. I was disappointed in him too when this first started, him and Sausage, and only retracted my support after actually leaving Ecto messages and comments of support about 2 weeks later when I found out they are a proshipper, and tho I agree (hell even the user who originally called them out agreed this got out of hand) this was too much, I didn't feel comfortable supporting someone who stood for something I don't agree with.

EDIT cuz i realize i got off topic too

Yes, Ecto didnt deserve all this hate and frankly dangerous treatment towards them. Harassing someone to the point to have to be put on a suicide watch and their carreer ruined this way just because on an opinion on how to deal with media is like deciding the best way to deal with a mosquito is launching a nuke at it. If you find out someone indulges in something you don't approve of the best action to take is to block them and, if necessary, report them. Not harassing, not sending death threats, not trying to find where they live, not NOTHING that happened here

Even the person who called Ecto out apologized despite not liking them because this situation was got out of hand. Harassment wasn't justified IN THE SLIGHTLESS AND SHAME ON ANYONE WHO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED ON THAT BULLSHIT INSTEAD OF BEING MATURE AND SIMPLY BLOCKING THEM