#watch my heart burn

[jjxkiaraxpopexcleoxjohnbxsarah]

I'm in my Billie Eilish phase

Specifically this song:

Watch my heart burn

With the fire that you started in me

It's the fact that I'm completely happy as well but I am obsessed

[kidrey-residence]

[9.04 p.m]

You let the phone in your hand vibrate a few times, before hanging up the call. It didn't surprise you when it started ringing again, the nameless contact’s number flashing on the screen. This time you threw the device onto your bed and left the room with an empty heart. It didn't matter how many times this situation repeated itself; you always found yourself isolating yourself, as if that would turn this whole mess into nothing more than a nasty dream. But you knew more than anyone else, no matter how hard you wished for it, this was your reality. 

[egophiliac]

have you seen the new nightwear groovy? alas, the dream of the animal onesies or the pillow fight groovy are dashed 😞 - i have yet to see the card's story but i assume that yuu is interviewing the boys again this year like the birthday boy cards cause there's no other characters in the card (?)

I too am disappointed that we didn't get a big full-on pillow fight. 😔 but he DOES battle by throwing his pillow, so at least we get some cushion action in there!

it looks like this round of birthday cards aren't going to be interviews/conversations, at least not for most of it -- the first part was Jamil talking to Ortho (who he duos with) about what his dormmates are doing for his birthday (they're setting up a surprise party/parade (because Kalim) but they're doing an extremely bad job of it and he's having to go around making sure that they don't screw it up) (being Jamil is suffering). second part was Jamil talking to his (unvoiced mob) roommate and answering Crowley's School Improvement Survey (he wants bigger bathrooms) (also a fridge in his room) (actually, make that a whole kitchen) (but mostly bigger bathrooms). then third part was his ~morning routine~, aka talking to himself about his hair and makeup, as one does in a visual novel. it's less cohesive than the previous birthday stories, but it's all pretty chill and there's some fun stuff in there! (Najma sent him hair stuff for his birthday that's way too fancy and he can't decide if she did it to annoy him or not. truly, being Jamil is indeed suffering.)

if all the cards are going to be about nightly/morning routine though, we're going to absolutely melt when we get to Vil, brace yourselves

[fumifooms]

Namalin

Namari x Falin

Easy short rarepair spotlight post for prosperity~ This one I didn’t think of on my own for once, I don’t know if it’s just I forgot the decided-on ship name or what but I remember seeing really nice art and a couple posts about it that I can’t find again 💔 Namalin warrior you are out there and not forgotten ty for making me see the light

I like that Namari’s critical of Falin! I have a whole character analysis on Falin if you’re interested, but it’s generally well noticed that people around Falin idealize her a lot. Laios, Marcille and Toshiro all put her on a pedestral of ultimate goodness in the world, a saintess if nothing short of perfection. Sounds like Chilchuck felt sort of creeped out by her vibes, uncomfortable because he couldn’t read her, so unlike Namari it seems he preferred steering clear of her rather than debate opposed ideologies like he usually does. Makes sense if unlike Namari his issue is with her cryptic aura rather than the stances she does show. "… The dungeon is no place for soft hearts" my ultimate namalin scene <333 It’s fun because while this scene is there to show us a lot of things, mostly to establish Falin’s characters better as it’s the first flashback of her we get, the conflict in it is more than anything else Falin vs Namari in how they contrast and clash and approach situations differently. Namari wants security in swift effective violence and thinks Falin too soft for her own good when she prefers a pacifist approach and promotes compassion even for the "undeserving" in Namari’s eyes. Falin steps between the battle ready Namari and the ghost, fearless. Falin effortlessly gently exorcises the ghost without one step back, quickly. Falin proves someone wrong. Falin proves someone wrong.

I love thinking of Namari being surprised when she learns new aspects of Falin. I like Falin having the power to shape people’s views on her. With Falin ships the most fun part for me is usually that point where Falin/the relationship becomes a clean slate: the person realizes they haven’t been seeing all of her, realizes there’s more of her they hadn’t noticed or that she hadn’t shown, that there’s change, a shift in the views on each other and the dynamic a bit.

Namari often feels like an external view looking in to me… I need to make a proper analysis on her but like. I made a lamari post once (analytic more than personally invested rip sorry) and I go with the same Namari take here, I think she’s someone who tends to have an outsider view on people and relationships if that makes sense, she’s a coworker before anything else and she’s content staying at a distance, she’s not objective per se but she tries to keep feelings out of her choices and how she sees people (her lil arc on not staying to save Falin despite the existing camaderie but in the end asking to work for the Flokes more because she wants to stay with them). She’s serious no nonsense on the job but friendly off the job and likes having casual friends, but she’s not… She doesn’t really feel connected to the group. She’s so focused on doing her job, even if she does get impulsive and passionate and too assertive for her bosses’ tastes, so focused on working her reputation and life from the ground up that that professionalism and attitude limits her social life. It doesn’t help that her reputation makes her widely judged, so she probably enters social spaces on the derensive. The closest person she was to pre-canon as far as we knew was Chilchuck and even they have a very "coworker I get along with" dynamic more than friends, with a similar sense of boundaries, humor and world view. Also like canon says a few time, the party didn’t really try to get to know each other well pre-canon, didn’t hang out after work often no one knew where Marcille was from and no one thought that was weird (also how no one had the instinct to ask about Senshi’s past) etc, the notable exception is we’re shown Namari and Chilchuck hitting taverns together and having a grand time. Everyone’s fine with things as they are, they get along decent even if not everyone considers each other friends exactly. Where I’m getting at is that to me, it feels like she tries keeping emotional distance. Emotional distance from people in general being something which in my interpretation of Falin is also present, which would make it a theme and common thread interesting to explore imo. But yes like, Namari looking at Falin, and how everyone treats her, and being more skeptical, seeing her for what she is a little more, maybe even uncharitable. "Why is everyone treating her like she’s all that? She’s gentle sure but seems like a doormat to me" and then one day she comes running up with her mace ready to cave in someone’s face to protect Laios. So yeah… Keeping her distance but one day Falin offering her some gentleness that feels very too personal for someone who’s not used to being genuine and simply showing that they care… Them talking a bit which leaves her stumped and mindblown in a quiet way when Falin defies her expectations. Namari growing on Falin when she stays and decides to open herself up more, or when Falin ends up reading her really well like she’s shown to do with her parents and Marcille’s worries. She’s very attuned to worrying and why and when different people do it especially when it comes to when they worry for others, perhaps because she does a lot of that too, so I think she’d nail down how Namari does care for the rest of the party and it’d make Namari feel seen both in a warm validating way and in a scared naked way.

We see in the tentacles chapter that she’s someone’s who’s very protective and looks out for her peers in a tough love way. She’s overbearing but it’s because she wants everyone to have the best chances. I like that she’s very confrontational and somewhat pushy and rude, but it’s tough love, it’s protective care: asserting herself to better protect and defend. The opposite of Falin’s type of care, quiet and self-sacrificial devotion. They’re barbarian x healer but they’re also bodyguard x bodyguard in their attitude and role. … What I want for them is slow burn slice of life of being coworkers and slowly getting to know each other better, pretty fluffy, but god, put this way they’d have the potential to be such a hot layered mess of insanely mutually devoted codependence… Falin taking a hit for Namari and Namari being scarred by it forever, lots of arguments about it, my god.

I like that she’s the fighter to Falin’s healer. I looove thinking of scenes of Falin healing Namari, necessitating touch and like, a moment of slowing down and sitting together in silence, too intimate, the perfect opportunity to connect that neither truly want to take until one day they do. I love how onesided I imagine the relationship would be at first. Again, as per my interpretation of Falin, I think Namari would have all these little observations and opinions on Falin meanwhile Falin really doesn’t think of Namari much at first. So Namari thinks a lot about Falin and thinks she’s got her pinned down but hasn’t (not that she’s fully wrong, she’d have credit and confront Falin on some of her flaws like the doormat thing), while Falin is very passive about Namari and doesn’t think deeply about her or anything but she read Namari’s insecurities and logic well. Not unlike how Laios was the one who seemed to understand Namari’s way of care the best in the party in the tentacles episode, and how he was very understanding of her choice and reasons. In Falin’s case it’s more like, the objectivity of passivity… She cares about Namari less than Laios who generally seeks to form bonds, so her lack of investment allows her a neutral perspective. In that way another parallel with Namari that I’m drawing, except Namari lets feelings from her opinions seeps in more… Onesided beef my beloved. I’m going insane save me this post was a mistake. I think Falin takes the crumbs of friendship and love where she can without expecting or asking for anything more than what’s offered, and I think her relationship with Namari (or anyone really) would start out the way it did with Marcille: the other takes the initiative and they end up spending time together, Falin is friendly but unattached until the bond gets gradually and wordlessly strenghtened through regularly spending moments together. So! I think Namari would need to take a lot of the first steps, which since again she’s confrontational & argumentative and doesn’t hold herself back on that front that could spark a lot of conversations I think. Ooor since Falin cares about Namari less than Laios and Marcille she allows herself to be bolder herself lol. Or also circumstances force them to spend time together like dungeon party getting separated shenanigans.

I think their personalities match cutely, I think falin would try to protect namari like she does others but also Namari simply doesn’t need protection, just support. And I think they’re complementary in that way that Namari’s friendly but also won’t sugarcoat things, and I think if she takes an interest in Falin it could go from there and she could develop some understanding of her and idk like an intrigued crush….

Namari wants stability & security & to, like, not be judged and rejected and exiled lol, to find her nest her pack the place where she feels good and wanted in. I think having a fitting partner would help in that (similarly to how the found family with the Flokes seemed to. Oh another parallel, Falin’s top priority is protecting Laios her brother and what Namari are a family figure) and I think Falin would fulfill that cozy protection and that warm ‘being seen and not judged’ feeling. But also Namari would run up to her and yell about her trying to sacrifice herself ever.

Another fun thread to explore: post-canon guilt for not having gone to save her. Sure, they weren’t close, but they had some nice memories, didn’t they? Namari cares, and it stings despite herself when it feels like people think she doesn’t. Oh it wasn’t a lost cause after all, oh it’d have worked out, oh I could have stayed loyal and it wouldn’t have compromised myself in the end. Wanting to apologize to Falin, or just ahnging out with her and sharing a moment after she wakes up. And tangent but that’s interesting to think about… Narratively, I think the purpose of Namari and Toshiro in the story, beyond strenghtening the theme of "seek to understand what is different from you and promote unity despite them" and fleshing the cast and worldbuilding, is Toshiro’s purpose was being a foil & tool in Laios’ arc (trouble connecting with people) while Namari’s was being and a foil & tool in Marcille’s arc (standing up for ideals without being out of touch with harsh realities and needs). They are the conflict that push our protagonists to grow— and they explore different ways of dealing with a situation or topic, different ways of growing into themselves on that end: Laios needing to listen to others more and Toshiro needing to focus on voicing himself more to be able to connect, Marcille needing to learn ideals sometimes cost too much and Namari needing to internalize that ideals are sometimes worth risks (not only to be able to find a reasonable but fulfilling life balance, but also to get in touch with their compassion: Namari restricts her own too much and Marcille is too harsh on people she deems to be breaking values, like Namari not risking her life and career for a friend with no promise of success, or even like how Namari is harsh on Falin’s way of doing things : too gentle, too soft, too idealistic) (similarly to Chilchuck’s arc with Marcille too, and he also plays a hand in advancing that arc in the Namari chapters). We are getting far from namalin sorry ummm preview for future analyses like Toshiro’s contrasting approach to grief and accepting loss.

More post-canon namalin! Thinking about a timeline where… Namari is fond of Falin finding herself and going off to do her thing. "Finally!" she thinks. If she’s still for hire, maybe Falin would want her to come along, either as guide or bodyguard <3, she knows Namari has a lot of good avice on a lot of things to give, plus they’ve worked together before. She hires Namari and they travel for a bit. Travel would do Namari good too I think, even if her end goal is to settle and I think Falin’s would be too eventually. Seeing sights that light her wonder for the world and going places where people don’t know her story, don’t recognize her face or her name. Them, feeling free. Finding a companionship that feels uplifting instead of stifling or charged. Namari having been too in her head about reputation and social games and money that they hit the roads and spend time in nature and it’s like, woah. I’ve been living in a small world with made up rules.

Ahh yes romance, Namari and Falin kissing after 3 years of not really knowing each other despite seeing each other every day then 2 months of wanting to spend more and more time together until they’re an inseparable duo! Workwives. I want them to stand next to each other during campire time and Namari cracks little jokes and Namari laughs. I want Namari to gift Falin a bug caught in amber and for it to be their wedding/promised to each other thing.

TLDR

Rowdy but levelheaded barbarian x gentle healer that will also cave your face in with a mace I like it…… They’re an interesting duo of mixed stuff. Protection being your purpose and what you’re worth for, literally being a meat shield (Laios, Tansu), finding your individuality recognized and validated through a growing bond with the other. Sticking around as a love language. Also bug immortalized in amber and it being beautiful.

Nevermind this wasn’t short. Um! Anyways.

[tequiilasunriise]

“In another life, I loved you right.”

“In another life, you loved me at all.”

Tag your ship(s).

[pastafossa]

Me, to friend: don't you hate it when you have those days where your heart is just mad and it beats REALLY hard at random moments, even when you're just sitting there, like not FAST but really hard and it is VERY UNCOMFORTABLE for no reason? Friend: you know that's not normal right??? Me: you mean that doesn't happen to you? Friend: NO, IT DOES NOT. Me: ...please hold. *five minutes later* Me: so I talked to my mother and this might in fact be a highly hereditary genetic issue that both her and my grandma and my great grandma all had, who knew??? Anyway I need to see a doctor and I might need heart medication. Friend: YA THINK?

[yzafre]

Roxas: Had the Halloween town kids throw bombs in his face for multiple missions in a row before finally breaking down and smacking them around a bit.

Ventus: The dwarves were rude and refused to talk to him, immediately resorted to chasing them down and whacking them.

Characterization I see frequently: Ah, yes, Roxas is the one always willing to throw hands and Ventus is a smol sunshine boy.

[faaun]

procrastination is starting to have its consequences finally

[catncore]

I was thinking about his offscreen panic attack that hits right after the failure in saving Neku in A New Day, observing the Shinjuku inversion and seeing noise in the Real Ground all at once. the immediate understanding of what happened and deep fear inside him that the higher plane was involved somehow. all that hard work and becoming a fallen angel for shibuya to prevent an inversion. all that work to save neku and beat and still it all ended in failure and the coming disaster on its way to try and undo progress made. his mental health post AND and into NEO is in shambles. hanekoma is haunted by the fact he couldn't get there in time. he blames himself for not getting there in time. he intended to save two but could only save one. and now an even greater threat was at shibuya's door and he was going to be powerless to try and stop it. all that work was burned away in an instant.

[thebirdandhersong]

the miserable angry person I become when I haven't eaten is, in a word, atrocious. it is 9pm I have not had my dinner murder is about to be on the menu if I don't fix this soon

[frobby]

Im back in the trenches defending another otokonoko from people claiming that they are a trans woman even though they are explicitly stated not to be

[etoilesbienne]

words of affirmation it is minecraft roleplay i will not get mad . i do not get mad about things . i will not get annoyed or angry

[paceypeternathanslawyer]

One Tree Hill Meme {40/187} Season 2 Episode 18: The Lonesome Road Nathan & Haley In Every Episode

[soup--champ]

every time that I see someone say that q!pac and q!mike deserved to be thrown in prison or say things to try to minimize the severity of q!foolish's actions I want to gnaw the legs off of a chair.

[eggwishing]

they couldn’t get it to fit

[supermarine-silvally]

ice skater/ice hockey player au for portada (maybe)?

HELL YESSS I love the way your mind works, anon!

Hockey Player!Ace x Figure Skater!Yara

They both got into their sport because of their fathers. Gol D. Roger is an absolutely legendary hockey player and Mihawk is a multiple-award-winning world champion figure skater, who has won both in the men’s singles category and the ice dancing category alongside his partner Shimotsuki Akiko (Akiko herself was also a great figure skater but her career never gained the kind of international acclaim Mihawk’s did)

Ace uses his mother’s surname Portgas because he wants to make his own career without being tied to his father’s legacy. Rouge in this AU is alive and owns a nice little flower shop. Roger, now retired, helps her run it. (He gets a lot of “Hey, aren’t you--” to which he quickly cuts in “Ahaha I have no idea what you’re talking about :) I am just a humble flower merchant!”)

Ace started out on the same team as his sworn brothers Sabo and Luffy, but was drafted onto the Whitebeards, coached by Edward Newgate, a legendary player and old rival of Roger’s who had his eye on Ace ever since Ace’s rookie years coming up through the junior leagues. Marco is the current captain. 

Mihawk is now retired and is dedicated to training Yara. He and Akiko were married for a very brief period of time, but are now divorced. Despite this, they are on friendly terms and still make a good team when it comes to raising their daughter.

Yara (who still uses her birthname Dracule Yara in this AU) is quite popular, especially with people eager to see her continue her father’s legacy. She tends to receive a lot of gifts thrown onto the ice during every competition, and one of the things she always gets is a bouquet of hibiscus flowers. There is never any name attached to them but they’ve clearly been professionally-arranged and often come with a nice little typed-out note giving her really sweet compliments. They always make her heart melt a little bit every time she reads them and she really, really wants to know who is responsible (especially since hibiscus flowers are her favourite, which she vaguely recalls mentioning in an interview once at the start of her career before she gained any real fame). 

Now for the Portada. Yara and Ace train at the same rink, but rarely interact at first. Ace often watches her work through her routines before his own practice. His brothers and teammates like to tease him about the massive crush he obviously has on her and have tried to goad him into approaching her, but he chickens out every time because he just gets so flustered. He can be so smooth and cool when it comes to talking to women at a meet-and-greet or publicity event but when it comes to Yara, he totally falls apart. He’s a world-famous super rookie, but his crush turns him into an awkward teenage boy again. 

One day during training, Yara pushes herself a little too hard and over-rotates while trying to do a triple axel. She twists her ankle badly and has to go to the hospital. While there, she receives plenty of gifts and well-wishes from fans, as well as more hibiscus bouquets.

After the doctors clear her to return to the ice, Yara gets a little frustrated with herself as she is a bit out of practice and struggling to complete routines that once came to her so easily. Ace comes in early and sees her sitting in the middle of the rink, fighting back tears. All his shyness falls away as he skates over to her, offering her a hand and a shoulder to cry on as she admits that she feels like she’ll never skate like she used to again. Ace does his best to reassure her that she’ll be back to her old self in no time, and guides her through doing some basic warmups before he has to leave to attend his own practice, but not before promising her that he’ll come early every single day until she’s skating like she once did.

He makes good on his word and slowly helps her build her confidence back, skating with her and encouraging her when she starts to doubt herself. The two develop a friendship and bond over their time on the ice together, and occasionally even spend time together outside of the rink, too. (As friends do, when they want to be around each other while simultaneously fighting off their feelings for one another). When Yara wins her first competition since her injury, Ace congratulates her in person while Yara also receives another hibiscus bouquet with the most heartfelt, sweet note attached.

A month or so later, Yara decides to get Akiko some flowers for her birthday. She remembers Ace mentioning that his mom is a florist so she makes it a point to stop by Rouge’s shop. While there, she begins to notice something odd: there are hibiscus flowers everywhere, much like the ones in the anonymous bouquets she has been receiving for years now. She quickly puts two and two together and decides to confront Ace about it the next time she sees him at the rink. 

Ace confesses that he’s been in love with Yara since the first moment he ever saw her skate, but he was too nervous to talk to her, hence why he felt he could only express his feelings through anonymous bouquets (when he wasn’t available, he would get Luffy or Sabo or even Rouge to throw them onto the ice on his behalf). Yara is stunned to know that this hotshot young rookie had been admiring her from afar all this time. She always thought Ace was cute, too, but his public persona was just so flirty and silly that she had no idea he was this serious about anyone, least of all her. Sheepishly, Ace asks her out, which Yara accepts. As one date turns into two, three, four, etc. they decide to keep their relationship private. Only their close friends and family know.  

The Stanley Cup playoffs start for this year, and the Whitebeards make it all the way through to the final round. They are tied three games to three with their rival team, and the score has sat at 2-2 throughout the game when Ace scores the winning goal. He celebrates with his teammates for a second before skating over to Yara, dropping his helmet on the ice as he leans over the door to the ice and kisses her while the crowd goes wild. (Their moment of passion doesn’t end there, but continues in Ace’s hotel room all night long). 

Word quickly spreads through social media that hockey star Portgas D. Ace is dating figure skating legend Dracule Yara. Two years later, when the Whitebeads win the Stanley Cup for the third year in a row, Ace ends the game by scoring the winning goal yet again, then skates over to Yara and gets down on one knee. A very shocked, but very delighted Yara says yes.

Ten years later, Ace and Yara are both retired, and proudly watch from the stands with the rest of their kids as their son Shiro wins his very first figure skating competition.