#and she'd rather not have a third act

[arthenaa]

Unspoken Attraction — Sebastian Sallow x Reader

PLOT SUMMARY:

The girls and you have a talk on who they'll date amongst the students in Hogwarts. No one mentions Sebastian despite being deemed the most handsome in your year. You wonder why?

DISCLAIMER:

gossip gossip hihi, imelda being the best and just roasts every1 esp seb, seb being down bad, realizations, friends 2 lovers, kiss kiss fall in love, gender neutral reader, readers house is up to u, fluff disgusting fluff, i love u sallow boy.

"I think Amit is quite handsome. I suppose he'd be a good conversation partner." Natty hums as she rests her chin on the palm of her hand. Imelda looks at her with disgust.

"He'd probably love astronomy more than you in your relationship. I'd punch him on the first date." Imelda scoffs, rolling her eyes. Poppy just gives the Slytherin gal a glare for her unkind words.

The four of you were lounging in the empty Beasts classroom, relaxing in the cool breeze coming from the forest. Professor Howin had allowed the four of you (originally you and Poppy, but Imelda and Natty had passed by and decided to tag along) to stay in the classroom in hopes of teaching the new 5th year (You) more about Beasts but all you've done in the past hour is sit on one of the tables and talk about the most random of things. Now you were talking about who to date in Hogwarts.

"What about Yrma?" Poppy suggests. "She's nice."

"Stop suggesting Ravenclaws. I physically cannot handle it." Imelda grunts. You shoot her a sympathetic look to which she flips you off. "Also, she's a third year. I'd die if you pair me up with someone younger. A journalist, too, she'd know every step I'll do, and I'll just have an aneurysm because of it."

"Alright, what about Weasley?" You suggest. Natty makes a look, considering the option. Poppy sighs and shakes her head.

"Which one?" Imelda jokes, to which Natty smacks her arm. Poppy rolls her eyes before answering the question.

"He's cute but too mischievous." Poppy lists. Imelda nods, agreeing with her statement. Poppy pets the Puffskein sleeping on her lap, smiling softly at the cute creature snoring away.

"Eh. He's fun. I can probably handle him." Natty says. You let out a small laugh.

"I'll pass. He's like a brother to me. Probably because Professor Weasley acts too much like a mom." You reply. You lean closer to Poppy, glancing down at the Puffskein to coo at it.

"What about Dale? She's cute." Natty suggests. She then turns to Imelda, who looks like she'd complain once more about a Ravenclaw being listed. "Don't."

"What? I wasn't gonna say anything..."

"It's because her past lover was from Ravenclaw that she's like this." Poppy says with a disappointed look on her face. "Clumping up all Ravenclaws and putting your prejudice that was originally for one person into the general public, huh?"

"Shut it, Sweeting." Imelda glares at her.

"Alright, stop fighting. I know you'd rather date a Hufflepuff, Reyes." You tease. The Slytherin's cheeks flush, and a harsh kick to your knee sends you jolting up against the table with a pained groan. The Puffskein awakens to the sudden harsh movement and jumps off Poppy's lap.

"Imelda!" Poppy whines as she watches the Puffskein hop away to its den. "Look at what you did!"

"How'd you even know it was me?!" Imelda complains. Poppy crosses her arms over her chest.

"You're seated directly in front of Y/N. They'd never jump for no reason, and also, Natty's an angel. Besides, I could feel the kick." Poppy chastised. Imelda looks away with furrowed eyebrows and a pout as she grumbles about it, not being her fault. You look at the two with a smile.

"It's okay, Poppy, let's just continue." You send Imelda a knowing smile to which she scowls at. Natty giggles at the interaction.

"Ooh, what about Gaunt?" Natty wiggles her eyebrows. "He's a young lord. Deemed one of the most handsome in our year. I'd date him."

"Really? You'd get pulverized by his crazy blood status fanatic of a family." Imelda leans forward to place her arms on the table before leaning down to rest her head on it. "But I guess he's decent. The type to defend you against them. A typical romantic cliche."

"Doesn't he have a lover?" Poppy mentions. Imelda immediately rises up at the information.

"Oh yeah. I saw them snogging near DADA. Sebastian looked like he was constipated, muttered about when it was his turn to be happy or something." Imelda cringes at the memory. At the mention of the Sallow boy's name, Natty and Poppy glance at each other with knowing looks. Suddenly, their attention is on you.

"What about you, Y/N? Will you date Ominis?" Poppy smiles knowingly. There's something about the two's stare that puts you in an uncomfortable position.

"Uh..." You purse your lips in thought. Ominis was one of your best friends. He had been with you through thick and thin, but that's all he ever was. Besides, he was happily in love with someone else. "Not really? Same answer with Gareth's."

Natty nods in understanding. Imelda glances at the two in confusion. "Why do you two look like you're the one who's constipated?"

"Shut it, Reyes." Poppy rolls her eyes. You laugh at their bickering. At this point, there was one person who definitely should be mentioned in this conversation. He was already well known in the school for his charming personality and handsome looks. People always gossip about him. You let out a shaky breath before nervously glancing at the three.

"What about Sebastian?" You suggest. The three fall in silence, not responding to the question. It didn't even look like they were contemplating about it. "Hello? Did you not hear me or what—"

"Oh no, we heard you." Imelda chuckles as she smirks at her. When Imelda smirks, you know it's not good. "I just don't think we can claim him."

"Claim him?" You tilt your head in confusion. "You make it sound like he's already dating someone."

"Ehh..." Natty shrugs her shoulders. "Aren't you?"

"Aren't I what? Huh?" You sat, baffled at their curious looks. "I'm not dating Sebastian?"

The three look at each other before laughing. It wasn't even a casual laugh, it's full on stomach grabbing, tear inducing, I'm-gonna-pee what the fuck laugh. You look at them in confusion.

"Merlin, I can't take this seriously." Natty wipes a tear from her eyes as she continues to laugh.

"I'm really not dating him!?"

"You're so funny!" Imelda pats your shoulder. "Don't tell me kissing each other everywhere except the lips counts as friendly. Who the fuck kisses their friend on the neck?"

"Uh, she has a point." Poppy shrugs. "He walks you to class, holds your hand, and not even in a normal way. It's the intertwined one, and if looks could kill, Garreth Weasley had already been buried months ago."

"Also, he always touches you. An arm on your waist, hugging you from behind, fixing your hair, looking at you like you're the Messiah yourself." Natty lists on, continuing Poppy's evidence. Surely not?

You stare at them with wide eyes and an unreadable look. You and Sebastian had always had a strong bond. Ominis often commented about feeling left out whenever you two were together. You always thought that he was just teasing you about it. The things that you've gone through had eliminated all barriers between the two of you, so physical affection had seem normal for you. Had the line between friends and more than friends became too blurred already?

"Merlin's beard. You don't know!" Natty gasps in shock. "Rafiki, that is more than just friendship."

"But I'm really not..." You try to defend yourself, but the more that they stare at you, the more you start to realize how obvious it should've been. Before you could try and convince yourself about how ludicrous it is all, Imelda delivers the final blow.

"Love, everyone knows Sebastian is yours."

Heat rises to your cheeks, and as if things couldn't get any worse, a familiar voice calls out to your little group.

"There you are!" Sebastian Sallow, the devil himself, grins as he approches your little group with Ominis trailing behind. The three cough at his sudden appearance and you freeze in your seat.

He makes his way behind you, grasping your shoulder firmly before leaning down close to your face. "Hey, I'm here. No greeting?"

You turn your head towards him, glancing at the three girls who look away, trying to contain their laughter. You look back at Sebastian, who smiles, expecting something. You sigh, giving him a chaste kiss on his cheek. He lights up like a Christmas tree.

At the sight of affection, the three suddenly stand up, collecting their things. "O-oh I just remembered I forgot to water the chinese cabbages again, haha! Silly me! I better go get it!" Natty says with a poorly concealed smile. Sebastian looks at her, confused.

"Uh? Okay?" Sebastian awkwardly laughs. You glared at her as she grabbed Imelda and Poppy who make haste in gathering their things.

"I also have to bring them and Ominis because of ... uh... safety." Natty bullshits her way through as Imelda grabs the young Gaunt's arm, pulling him with them.

"Huh what? I didn't get a say in th—" Poppy covers his mouth as they walk away, dragging him along. Natty gives her a final thumbs up of encouragement as the two of you watch in confusion. You watch as their figures disappear before the boy beside you finally breaks the silence.

"There they go." Sebastian sighs. "I was hoping I'd get to hang out, but oh well. I don't really have complaints with just us here."

You flush at his bluntness as he sits down beside you, pulling your figure to his arms. He hugs you tightly before resting his head on your shoulder. "History of Magic felt like forever. I swear I'd never be able to stay awake in that class. Binns must've put something in the air."

You couldn't focus. He's so close.

"Lucky that you and Ominis get to share that class. At least you'd have someone to suffer with." He jokes as he raises his head. Silence engulfs you both as he stares at your face.

"Stop." You groan as you try to push his face away, but he only grasps your hand in his palm.

"Why? You look like you're about to explode." He laughs softly. You still couldn't look at him, eyes trained at the table in front of you. To make things worse, he grabs your chin before softly turning your head towards him.

"I'm talking to you. Look at me." He mumbles lowly in a deep voice. You almost wanted to whimper at how attractive that was.

"Stop doing that, I swear." You whisper as you look at him, nervousness creeping. He smirks, leaning in.

"Why? You seem so quiet today." He chuckles, pulling you closer as he tucks a stray hair away from your face. "What's got your pretty little head busy, hm?"

"You." You admit as your eyes admire his features. He lets out a soft smile.

"Me?"

"Yeah." You raise your hands to cup his cheeks. The two of you had been sitting so close that if you just lean a little bit forward, you'd be able to kiss him.

"Yeah?" He raises his eyebrows in amusement as his gaze flickers from your eyes to your lips.

"You're so annoying." You pout. He bites his lip before dropping his head on your shoulder. Your fingers then softly scratch his scalp and twirling his curls. He raises his head back up before unashamedly stares at your lips.

"I don't need to tell you what's going to happen, right?" He whispers. You gulp nervously as your arms slide up to wrap around his neck, pulling him closer.

"Mhm." You hum before placing a chaste kiss on his lips, testing the waters. He lets out a shaky breath at the sudden action. You look up at his eyes, trying to discern if what you did was okay before he grins fully and leans back down to kiss you again.

Your body unconsciously pushes against him, craving his touch. You tenderly kiss him back, hands occuppied with his soft hair. His hands rub your lower back gently as he continues to kiss you. You don't know how much time has passed before you pull away. You both smile at each other before Sebastian leans forward to give you more pecks on the lips. You giggle at his behavior.

"I like you." He whispers, nudging his nose against yours. You smile at his confession, palms now cupping his cheeks. You press a firm kiss on his lips before staring at him in adoration.

"I like you too."

A/N 1.1 : IM DEAD i love this. Also im not sure if I said friend in Swahili right ,,, lmk if its correct 🫶

A/N 1.2 : TYSM FOR ENJOYING THIS LOVE U ALL

#sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow #hogwarts legacy x reader #hogwarts legacy #poppy sweeting #imelda reyes #natsai onai #ominis gaunt

[joesalw]

Taylor Swift has an unhealthy obsession with changing her personality according to the men she dates from time to time. It’s funny how she talks about how she's never gonna get back the six years of her life being wasted for being private. But this is the same person who released interviews saying she craves privacy and it has made her life manageable and feel real instead of being the objective of tabloid stories by the media.

It's like she doesn’t have her own perspective of life, she always sees the world the way her partners see them. When she first started dating Joe and started talking about him, she made it look like he is the best thing that has ever happened to her, even in her songs she wrote so highly of him. All the things that she's rejecting now are the things that she admired back in 2016-2022. With all the privacy cravings back then, her fans were dragging Tom hiddleston and Calvin Harris for being so public with her, they dragged these guys saying they only used her for fame and never seen the real Taylor. Back then the narrative was, only Joe was a real guy who loves Taylor for being herself and not the Taylor Swift tm. But since the relationship didn’t work out, she switched the whole narrative again.

This time Joe is the villain for not being public with her. She is so proud of Kelce, she loves to enjoy his shows and apparently she doesn’t care about how many people are pissed of seeing her face everyday, she made a quote on that. But how long since she will switch this narrative too? Again swifties will villainize Travis Kelce and not TS. It's funny how they totally erased the existence of Matty Healy from the interview as well, since it was bad for her image. But we didn’t forget it Taylor that you were proudly hanging out with a racist, xenophobic, islamophobic, zionist guy and publishing articles on how your relationship is NOT platonic.

Her whole activism era started because Joe was an activist. He didn’t stop it after the breakup because it's a part of his personality, he still signed the ceasefire letter. But Taylor didn’t utter a single word about genocide, she's busy learning football and crying about how oppressed she is in her billionaire lifestyle. And somehow she is the Person of the Year in Times magazine.

And talking about her new boyfriend so publicly is something she never did even with Calvin Harris, which was (in comparison) her third most public relationship. But somehow all of this is directed towards Joe as if he was the one in fault for keeping her silent for so long. She is a grown ass woman who can take her own decisions. If she wanted an out from being locked for so long in her own mansions, she could've done that anyway. But to make it look like someone else fault is something she never gets tired of. It's always her exes' faults and not hers. When will you take accountability for your own decisions Taylor Swift?

Like this woman is pushing 40 and is still acting like a high school bully. She is proud of having a boyfriend from football team which is fulfilling her dreams from high school. She loves the attention, loves to play a cheerleader role as a gf. She got a platform like Times magazine’s person of the year where she could talk about serious issues in the world but she'd rather talk about how independent she feels being in a public relationship like this.

Btw it will take no longer than two years for this to turn into a victim trap again, she will then release another article about how she hates so much attention from public and how she craves privacy again, (based on whatever her then boyfriend would want lol) and her fandom will again forget everything she's said in this interview and make an ultimate villain out of Travis Kelce. Literally the same way they did with Jake Gyllenhaal, Calvin Harris, Tom Hiddleston, Harry Styles and Joe Alwyn. It is a never ending cycle and it will go on forever until she decides to seek some therapy for herself.

#anti taylor swift #swifties dni #anti swifties #joe alwyn #calvin harris

[carlyraejepsans]

Rate UT characters on likely they are to eat spoiled food

premise: as monster food does not spoil, this speculation is based on how i think they'd treat human food in the post pacifist ending

frisk. trash burger. enough said. (also i hc that they grew up on the streets, so... not a lot of chances to be picky with your food.)

sans. second most likely. there's milk in the fridge bought specifically for him to drink out of the carton whenever frisk's or papyrus' friends come to visit, like a stereotypical disney channel older brother (he loves being annoying on purpose). it's been there for a month. he's still not done with it. it's probably rancid. enjoyer of food and lover of even shittier food. mr worst burger on the menu. he is ESPECIALLY gross about food and he is gross about it on purpose, he will peel an apple for papyrus and then take a bite out of it before cutting him a slice. and then call him a wuss when he acts disgusted. ("stop being a baby bones, we have the same germs anyway" "NO WE DON'T. *YOU* HAVE GERMS! AND I DON'T WANT ANY OF THEM!!" "why? they're pedigreed" "OUGH!?!!"). he mostly uses it as a chance to make a gag (or a lack of gagging, lol) but his strong stomach did also come in handy in the early days of papyrus' interest in cooking

mettaton, of sequins-and-glue hamburgers fame. he's technically tied for 2nd place with sans, but i put him in third because i feel like sans does it on purpose, for mettaton it's more like... a side effect of starting life off as a ghost. few people question it since he's a robot now.

alphys. she doesn't go out of her way to do it, but she buys her snacks in industrial pallet-fuls to reduce social interactions to a minimum, so by the time she reaches the last 3 or 4 packets of blue takis, they're well past their expiration date. not that it stops her. now, this wouldn't happen on the surface because she gets better and has a solid support system, but if monster food could spoil back when she was going Through it with the amalgamates, i feel like she'd either be too depressed or tired to care and eat it, or she'd tumble into a "g-god. you can't even take care of your own f-food. is there anything you can't fuck up" self-deprecation spiral and lose her appetite altogether

flowey. did it to see what would happen. nothing did. never did it again. tbh I just don't think he eats much of anything, spoiled or not.

undyne. getting into the "wouldn't eat spoiled food" tier. she actually thinks it's really gross but papyrus tricks her into doing it by challenging her machismo. she gets SO sick from it. they do this aprox 3 times a month. rinse and repeat

asgore. he's a gardener, and i can see him working in a community garden on the surface, so he'd have access to a lot of fresh produce, for both himself and to give away. however, if some of it were to go bad, he'd probably cut off the affected bit and eat the rest so it doesn't go to waste.

toriel. she is SUPER careful about expiration dates and mold and checks to make sure all she owns is still safe to eat almost weekly. this level of care, however, is mostly meant for other people, not herself, but she would really rather not eat anything that's gone bad. same reasoning as alphys', IF monster food could spoil when she was still in the RUINs, i could technically see her biting the bullet, if only because 1) she was also heavily depressed and struggling to take care of herself, though i think she might sooner skip out on the meal altogether, rather than eat something spoiled, and 2) the awkward stares from the other monsters in the RUINs supermarket might not be something she's willing to deal with on any given day.

papyrus. he would NOT. no way. master of cleaning, germophobe extraordinaire papyrus (well, not really, but he plays the part). if toriel is meticulous, papyrus is obsessive. there better not be a SINGLE spot on his food. and no lines or plaid patterns either!! he WILL wash it untill it goes away. with soap probably. canonically a picky eater to begin with (his picks are just weird as balls). can should and WILL get on sans' ass about his unhealthy eating habits, and that includes eating food that's gone bad.

#answered asks #undertale #sans #papyrus #toriel #frisk #alphys #undyne #asgore #mettaton #hey look the whole gang is here!

[rainbowmothed]

── CHAGGIE LOVE LANGUAGE HEADCANONS

a.k.a varlie, a.k.a rainbowmoth! (why do they have so many ship names LMAOO...) oh, and welcome to my first post!!! :3 divider(s) by cafekitsune!

☆ Vaggie prefers to show her love primarily through acts of service. Whether that be through merely cooking some nice breakfast in bed for Charlie after a long, tiring previous day managing the Hazbin Hotel, or fending off the all-powerful Radio Demon once he fucks up their plans again, she would do anything for her girlfriend.

001. VAGGIE

☆ Vaggie isn't the best with words of affirmation, mainly because English is her third language, but she still likes to call Charlie sweet little nicknames regardless. Her main ones are hon/honey, mi cielo, and mi amor, but there's a variety.

☆ Vaggie also loves spending quality time with her girlfriend. While their alone time together during the day has proven to be scarce after the rather messy opening of the Happy Hotel, Vaggie still enjoys the little times they do get to spend together after work hours. Before they officially opened the Hotel's doors to the public, they always went on silly little dates together, and Vaggie does occasionally miss those days, reminiscing on them frequently. But she'd sacrifice any little day out to some dumb restaurant to make Charlie's dreams of redemption become realities.

002. CHARLIE

☆ Charlie's main love language is gift-giving, perhaps tying for first place alongside physical touch. Charlie could never get tired of seeing the look on Vaggie's face when she opens a new dress she'd been eyeing at the mall the previous day, or opening a bouquet of gorgeous flowers after telling her girlfriend about which ones were her favorites back during her time on Earth. And, yeah, sometimes the price tags are a bit hefty, but she always rips off the price tag before giving it to her girlfriend; mainly because Vaggie has a tendency to be stingy with money, despite Charlie being the third-richest person in all of Hell.

☆ Back to the physical touch mentioned earlier, Charlie LOVES it. Throwing her arms around Vaggie's shoulders randomly while she discusses Hotel business, intertwining their hands while they walk along the trash-ridden streets of Hell; she'll never grow bored of feeling Vaggie's skin against her own. At first, Vaggie was hesitant when it came to Charlie's naturally touchy nature. She was never the most fond of physical touch, but when it came to Charlie, she, admittedly, loved it. That's definitely not to say Vaggie adores hugs nowadays; she'd probably stab anyone who laid so much as finger on her if they weren't her girlfriend.

☆ Charlie also loves giving words of affirmation. Sometimes, she'll write down some words about Vaggie in a notebook and give it to her girlfriend. Vaggie's English vocabulary isn't super extensive, unlike Charlie's, mainly since she's been around way longer than Vaggie and has had time to learn several languages. Regardless, Charlie adores teaching her lover new terms of endearment, sometimes in Latin (Charlie's first language).

#chaggie #hazbin hotel #vaggie #charlie morningstar #vaggie hazbin hotel #varlie #rainbowmoth #vivziepop #headcanons #sapphic #lesbian #bisexual #Spotify

[0daylighthours0]

(part 2) A Deep Dive into Milkvan and Byler's Development: If Milkvan's Destined Endgame, Why's it Written Like This???

The decision to confirm Will to be in love with MIKE is wild, and I'll tell you why.

When you add a third party to a t.v show relationship, if the first relationship isn't perfect, people gunna start rooting for the third party. Take Stancy for instance.

Throughout s2, we got the vibes that Jonathan held feelings for Nancy. This was clear. But Nancy was still with Steve. This means, in order for us not to sympathize more for Jonathan, Nancy and Steve gotta be ✧ tight ✧. I mean, their issues must be kept at a low, and at the end of the day it's gotta be clearer to us that Nancy does in fact love Steve. Welp, that wasn’t the case. Stancy's relationship ✧ struggled ✧, justifying intimate moments between Nancy and Jonathan - making us feel as if he'd be better for her after all. A smart writing choice, as Duffers intended Jancy as season 2's endgame pairing.

Now, I'd like to point out the foreshadowing of this development.

Come the wrapping up of s1, and it seemed Nancy had retreated back to Steve.

They'd clearly reconciled and - to an outsider - all would appear to be going smoothly. But us as the audience know that not to be the case.

One reason? Well, she'd just shared a suggesting moment with Jonathan.

So our minds weren't on Steve and this show of his with Nancy. Rather, we read into Nancy's slight discomfort, and wondered if perhaps she'd prefer being with Jonathan instead.

This was of course intentional. I'd like to briefly bring to attention the similarities in these moments to ones at the end of s3 - between Mike and Will, and then Mike and El.

Here a conclusion to milkvan's seasonal drama is made, them seemingly staying together, parting on good terms. Hm. And milkvan's moment is.. kinda like stancy's. They got back together because, well, El said she loves Mike. And Steve loves Nancy. And Mike loves El right? The way Nancy loved Steve- But just, coincidentally, we have byler's reconciliation too.

This came before the guy's makeup with El, because, why? This was quite the interesting decision mates. It means that whilst he spends that moment with his girlfriend, our minds are fresh off of Will. People might read into the way he's acting in contrast, just maybe, the way they did during stancy. And people did. That's a bit of a fumble on the writers' part, if you ask me. I know you're trying to let us know that Mike's now on good terms with both members, and his and El's goodbye needs to be the dramatic finishing of the season, but, man, did byler even have to make up at all here you guys? I mean this miscommunication of theirs lasts through to s4 (just like janc-). Why not sort their good terms out later or earlier on, so that we have more mindspace here to focus solely on milkvan, our main main? Or at least, why not just have Mike apologize to Will and be done with it? He could even apologize alongside Lucas, making the moment less personal. And Will could simply forgive him, give a dudely pat it out, and that's it. We wash our hands.

But nah. There's this electricity in the air. The swelling music, the prolonged looks, this doesn't.. seem like a simple make up. It's startlingly short, making us feel as if there have been things left unsaid. And that line,

".. Not possible."

It's so... implying. What do you mean? Why are you looking at eachother like that? What am I meant to get from this scene?

And it isn't a closing reconciliation either, they haven't properly ended their season's drama. I mean no one even apologized for the argument, we're just sort of left with this. Left with the hint of a story that might be further explored - their moment coming off more as anticipation for what's to come than a conclusion. Maybe just a bit like Jonathan and Nancy s1.

But so what? That does not have to mean anything romantic between them is to be told. After all, El just expressed to Mike that she loves him. This means that these sweethearts are practically fortold as endgame, right?

Alright I'll stop stalling.

Season 4.

So. Will is in love with Mike now. Huh. Well, I don't recommend this. As I said, you risk people rooting for Will beyond their hopes for Mike and El as a couple. If this is a plotline you desire, it has to be navigated with precision. So this means that milkvan must be on their A game. Struggle between them has got to be handled delicately. As we see in stancy, and as we saw in s3, just making up at the end of it all isn't good enough. You can risk this mistake once, but we must like these guys together throughout season 4, more than we sorrow for Will. Infact, Will's feelings must not be made too big of a deal. Mike and El are going to stay together, so we should feel a bit sorry for him, but not gather any hope that things will actually work out to his favour.

Like Dustin in s2. He sprouted small feelings for Max, and so did Lucas. Lumax were the endgame, so Dustin's feelings were craftly navigated and not made more important than Max and Lucas' bond. We don't really feel that Dustin is in love with Max, moreso that he likes her and has some moments of jealousy aimed at Lucas. Noone really wanted him with her more than they rooted for Lumax, though we did sympathize for him and feel bad for him regardless.

So yeah, this can easily be written out for Will too. If his story's purpose is meant for the exploration of a gay kid navigating a still homoph#bic time, then there's a lot that can be done without even having to spare much screen time between him and Mike. Focus on his fear of judgement from Jonathan moreso maybe, or have Argyle say something - it can be whatever, mention something homoph#bic, mention something not homoph#bic and give Will hope, whatever - which sets off a thought or idea for Will that prepares his arc for the season.

Back to Mike and El - so we want a 'scared to say "I love you"' subplot. That's good, that good. Fleshes out Mike, plays into El's fears. Shouldn't be too hard.

There's already a mild problem though. This plot is playing out twice at once. We have our boy Will hosting this same fear of rejection by Mike - at least that's how things have been shot. His dread is portrayed through his restraint and timidity in revealing his painting to Mike. Will's painting is basically his version of a confession - the guy too selfless, shy and afraid to express his love outright.

So playing out this storyline at the double is.. a choice. I mean, Mike telling El he loves her is a big deal for the milkvans, shouldn't this romance dominate as much screen time as possible in order to be fully pumped up without any sidetracks to other insignificant in comparison feelings? S3 was already quite clumsy, why not have Mike and El's activities soak in all viewers' engrossment without any departures? Maybe spend a bit of time demonstrating how likeable and wholesome they actually are together. Now that we have Will's affection ontop it all, what's important is that Mike and El's camera time spent matters. They can be angsty, they can withhold some misunderstandings, but they still have to be a good. couple.

Oh yeah, also, Mike should blatantly display feelings for El and El only - duh.

.

..

huh ?

huh ? ? ?

#part 3 is on its way 💪 #anti milkvan #anti mileven #byler #byeler #stranger things #stranger things byler #stranger things 4 #mike wheeler #will byers #byler is endgame #byler endgame #byler is real #byler is canon #byler analysis #byler proof #byler rights #byler tumblr #byler nation

[worldruins]

It's bib time baybee

Blessings In Bloodshed (a self-given name, though not far from the original) is a reserved but stubborn iterator. They've made easing the pains and ailments of their own kind their life's work- or rather, the work of their second.. and third.. chances at life.

Built right around the time of the Great Equalizer, she was originally made to preserve and elevate an old pilgrimage site that would have been lost to the floods and changing landscape. It's a similar situation to the True Anointed Citadel, but BIB's monks were considerably more welcoming to them, and much of the original construction as well as many sacred artifacts were successfully disassembled and relocated to a new home atop the superstructure. Blessings was regularly in contact with the mortal sick and dying, and was regularly sought out to endorse a freshly-deceased individual's safe and fortunate passage to the next cycle. Even when he no longer does that sort of work, Blessings remains personally spiritual. He believes in the void as a conscious force acting upon the world, a benevolent but mercurial actor in the great forces of the universe.

BIB shares a group with True Accord, Uncast Shadows, Six Stunned Silences and (unofficially) Twelve Bound Hands. They consider all their groupmates siblings; TA and US are older than them, SSS and TBH are younger. The five of them have grown closer over time, connected by circumstance, need and the desire for family. That was not the case back when the creators of the iterators left their creations behind, and Blessings found herself profoundly alone. They were distraught, and felt that they had failed in their duties to their people. They tried to focus on their work, on the Big Problem they had been created for, but found themself unable to cope with the frustration and failures that felt more humiliating every time. Their chosen path forward was bioengineering, and they did grow skilled at working with biological materials, though they hardly felt accomplished.

Blessings In Bloodshed did not tell his groupmates when he decided to turn some of his resources towards figuring out how to destroy himself. She did not think she'd be able to ascend, or even to reverse their creators' very thorough work ensuring true death would not come for iterators like her. They just had to get close enough. They made a few attempts, none of them successful, all of them leaving a different sort of damage (physical or otherwise) behind. He might have been desperate, but when the rot came as a result of their final attempt at self-elimination, it was not welcomed. The despondent BIB finally reopened communications with the group to warn them of her condition. The disease was highly aggressive, and he predicted he only had some tens of thousands of days left before her structural integrity would fail.

With help from her group, Blessings survived the illness, though not before it had claimed more than half her structure- half her body, half her mind. He was surprised by the concern he received alongside the frustration that she hadn't reached out earlier. Their siblings- the iterators they would come to consider siblings- had been concerned and were now shocked by the state of their mild-mannered neighbor. They were a reason for Blessings to keep fighting. In the end, it was her own work that proved fruitful in treating and finally curing their own case of rot. That didn't mean reversing the damage, though- only that the cysts were dead and wouldn't spread or pose an active risk. It left him covered in scars, pockmarked metal and components rendered useless. Repairing themself involved creating organisms and constructs to carve them back into their original shape and break the dead rot back down into the materials they need.

Blessings had always been interested in medicine. It was not what her creators and residents asked of her, so her attention had never been devoted to it as a younger iterator. At most, they idly considered examining and treating mortals ("mortals" being the respectful name for the people who built iterators as a whole, in comparison to their towering creations), allowing the daydream some space in the back of their mind. He considered it something of a bitter irony when he wound up caring for himself in his own severe illness. Once the rot was under control and BIB had some space to breathe, though, they couldn't help wondering how effectively an iterator could act as a physician to other iterators. With their preexisting knowledge and everything they learned trying to save their own life, they were the best equipped to address their own group's ailments, from True Accord's widespread rust to Twelve Bound Hands, an illicit construction, literally falling apart. As their skills and confidence grew, they started looking outside their local group. They know the fate of their kind is inevitable, but their hope is to minimize suffering and stop other iterators from becoming insensate or nonfunctional before they're ready to be. It's a difficult, sometimes insurmountable task and their scope is very limited. That's not stopping them from trying.

BIB would never be the same as they were before their illness, and they're not really trying to be. He's forgetful, and easily baited. They were always something of a bleeding heart- pun intended-even more so after the rot. Their chosen "job" comes as a surprise with how sensitive they can be, but their friends know them as The Doc all the same.

The cracks all across Blessings' puppet aren't from the rot and they aren't self-inflicted- not really. But that's a whole other story. Thank you for reading about my bibby <3

#ruinart #rain world #iterator oc #rw #rain world oc #mine #oc: blessings in bloodshed #and of course the cws #suicide #as always feel free to ask me about bib i LOVE bib im normal about them

[george-weasleys-girl]

Hi! I was wondering if you could do something for George? I enjoy reading fanfics about him but surprisingly there aren’t many

Act Like You Mean It

Chapter 1

Summary: George and Y/N are oblivious idiots in love who agree to fake date in the attempt to drive away Y/N's unwanted suitor.

~•~

George Weasley x Fem!reader

~•~

Y/N worried that if she rolled her eyes one more time, they might get stuck like that, like her mom had always threatened.

But, seriously? How many times did she have to turn down a guy before he finally gave up?

Byron Montcroix was a rich, pompous, self-absorbed jackass who thought he was the universe's gift to women. And for the past two months, he'd been after her like a bloodhound on the hunt.

"There's plenty of girls who'd love to be in your position, Y/N, " Gabby said.

"Great! They can have him. I'll even wrap him up in a pretty red bow and deliver him to their doorstep."

Y/N's roommate shook her head. "I just don't get you. You've got one of Hogwarts' most eligible bachelor's practically banging down your door, and you won't even give him the time of day.

"Because," Y/N replied with an exasperated sigh. "He's an entitled creep who thinks that I, or any other girl for that matter, should be grateful that he even deigns to look at us."

~•~

George gazed at Y/N, resting her chin on her palm as she half-dozed. Unlike nearly every other student at school, he loved History of Magic. It was the one place he could watch Y/N unabashed because everyone, including her, was either unconscious or close to it.

Last year, after two long years of admiring her from afar, the younger twin, with Fred's encouragement and a few shots of firewhiskey, finally got the nerve to strike up a conversation with her during one of Gryffindor's infamous parties. A friendship blossomed between the two, but George could never muster up the courage to ask her out.

"Y/N's just so perfect. She's a Goddess," he'd told Fred. "And I'm just well--I'm just me."

~•~

Y/N couldn't help but smile when she saw George walking toward her. She'd had a crush on him since their third year but had been too shy to approach the cool, confident prankster. Then, last spring, during a Gryffindor party, he introduced himself, and they ended up sitting in a quiet corner, ignoring everyone else and talking long after the party was over.

He seemed to really like her and Y/N thought maybe he would ask her out at some point, but he never did. A couple of times, she almost bit the bullet and confessed her feelings, but froze up before she could even utter the first syllable. Y/N knew it could spell disaster for their friendship if he didn't feel the same way. So, in the end, she decided she'd much rather have him as a friend than not at all.

~•~

"There you are," George said, sitting beside her on the grass. "What are you doing all the way out here? I've been looking all over for you."

Y/N had walked almost as far as the shrieking shack in an effort to shake off her ardent admirer. "Hiding from Montcroix. He's been all over me like shit on a stick today. Would you believe he actually tried to kiss me? Granted, it was my cheek and not my lips, thank goodness. But still. Just thought of his mouth anywhere my skin makes me wanna puke."

George's blood boiled. He looked away for a few moments to hide the red splotches he knew were blooming on his face and neck. He wanted more than anything to punch that smug, cocksure smile off Montcroix's pristine, fucking face and then sweep Y/N off her feet in a passionate kiss. Just like in all the movies and romance novels.

"I'm just so sick of him," Y/N sighed. "I've tried everything I can think of, but he just won't leave me alone." She paused and looked up at George, "Got any ideas? I'm willing to try just about anything at this point."

George rubbed his chin, thinking, and then his head snapped up. His mind was reeling with this sudden crazy idea that would get Montcroix off her back and would allow him to shower her with the love he's been bottling up for so long. If he couldn't ask Y/N out for real, why not go for the next best thing? He blurted it out before he had time to second guess himself. "We could pretend to be a couple."

"What?" Y/N stared at him.

"We could pretend to be dating. If Montcroix thinks you have a boyfriend, he'll hopefully leave you alone. And if not, I'll kick his ass."

For a brief moment she harbored hope that maybe George wanted to be more than just friends.

But, then reality set in.

'Oh,' she thought. 'Pretend. Not for real. George isn't one to beat around the bush. If he actually wanted to date me he'd just ask me straight out.

No, this is just a friend helping out a friend.'

At least now she knew.

Y/N looked down at her hands, forcing back her tears. How could she say yes? How could she pretend her true feelings weren't real? How could she endure knowing his affections were all an act? Knowing it all had an expiration date.

She truly didn't know, and yet...

How could she say no? How could she throw away the opportunity to be loved by George, even if it wasn't real? Even if it was only temporary. This might be as close as she'd ever get to living her dream.

Y/N chewed on her lip as she convinced herself this was a good idea. Then looking back up at George, she smiled. "Sure. Why not?"

Part two:

~•~

@milivanili99 @fancy-pantaloons @turvi @zvummyummy @xmjthewitchx @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @georgie-weasley @imshiningjustforyou @samberriejams @nighttimemoonlover @jsjcue @wzrd-wheezes @mrsgweasley @hufflepuffie @morally-grey-obsessed @fredweasleyyyyy @princess-paramour @anvaaryn @lastwandastan @samshifts @asuperconfusedgirl @hmisa11 @superduckmilkshake @mysticsheepsoul @gemofthenight @1lellykins @junerprsh @sierraluvz @wolfkill16 @kaysau2510 @igncrantbliss

#george weasley #george weasley x reader #george weasley x y/n #george weasley x you #george weasley headcanon #george weasley imagines #george weasley fic #george weasley fluff #george weasley angst #hp universe #hp fandom #harry potter fandom #harry potter universe

[unipandalovsu]

Day 1: Faunus Princess x Human Partner

@bumblebyweek-blog

My hands were shaking for most of the day after working this since like 3AM with only caffeine and nicotine on my system.

Anyways lil-ish background:

Blake is a princess. Her parents had arranged to have her marry Adam. At first, it wasn't so bad. They were childhood friends and had similar views when it came to the politics of their kingdom. But after a while, Blake had noticed changes in Adam. He was acting sus. Like tyranny type sus. So, Blake decided it'd b best to annul their marriage contract. Tho Adam didn't want to, so he threatened he'd hurt her family if she spoke of it ever again.

Yang is a human, she works as a bounty hunter, mainly capturing faunus spies, and occasionally helping her sister exterminate Grimm. She wasn't a fan of the whole faunus capturing, but it was what brought food to the table. She tried her best to keep Ruby out of it, knowing she was against it, especially since once captured, the king (Weiss's dad. Forgot homeboy's name) of their kingdom would publicly execute faunus.

During an aimless walk outside castle walls, Blake ended up in human territory. Yang had also been out of the walls of her kingdom on a job to capture a faunus spy that escaped.

Once Blake saw Yang, she assumed Yang was a a spy so she attacked. Yang fought back with a similar thought believing Blake was the spy she was looking for.

Blake ends up pinning Yang down and begins interrogating her, asking why she was sneaking around faunus territory. Once Yang confesses that they were on human territory, Blake backs away and apologizes.

It's then Yang's turn to interrogate Blake. Once Blake confesses that she was unaware of being on human territory, Yang helps her get back to the faunus kingdom.

On the next day, they met again by chance. After hearing complaints of her people being afraid to go out after a Grimm sighting, Blake sets out to hunt it down. Yang was out still looking for her target.

They find each other, Yang teasing Blake for being in human territory yet again.

Their convo is cut short by a few Grimm appearing. During the fight, Blake finds out Yang has the same sense of humor as a 10 year old.

Yang escorts Blake back to faunus territory. They keep talking before Blake can leave, Yang complimenting Blake for her fighting style, and Blake teasing her over her bad jokes.

Before they knew it, the sun was setting, and they had to go their separate ways. Blake returns successfully from defeating the Grimm terrorizing the town, and Yang returned unsuccessful from capturing her target, but was content after the day she spent with Blake.

The following day, Yang sets out again to look for the spy. Blake on the other hand decides to go out for a chance to meet up with Yang again. Yang was a breath of fresh air compared to having to stay in the castle and risk bumping into Adam.

This time, Ruby was accompanying Yang. Ruby was first to spot Blake. Ruby believing she was the spy they were looking for, had drawn out her weapon. Blake herself got into a fighting stance, but before they could attack, Yang interviened and explained to Ruby that Blake was not the person they were after.

Yang introduced them both, but before she could introduce Blake, she had figured that she never got her name, or that she knew hers.

After a while, Ruby had decided to head back home, seeing she was just a third wheel as her sister shamelessly flirted with the faunus girl.

After that day, both Blake and Yang decided to meet each other more often.

During a meet up, Yang had asked Blake to accompany her to a dance, she even gifted her a ribbon to hide her ears.

Hesitant, Blake agreed, also admiting that she was no good at dancing. She may have been a princess, but she skipped a lot of etiquette classes, dance being a big one she avoided, she'd rather learn how to fight.

Yang offered to teach her. They danced, there were a couple of mishaps with Blake occasionally stepping on Yang's foot or accidentally tripping her.

On the day of the dance, Adam was stalking Blake, he suspected of Blake after noticing how often she disappeared the past couple of days.

He followed her all the way outside kingdom walls, and when he noticed the ribbon she wore to hide her ears, he got angry and confronted her. They argued, and in a fury he ripped the ribbon off Blake. Blake tried to retrieve it, but Adam stood his ground, knowing he had more power over Blake, he held her by the neck.

As soon as they were in eyes-view, Yang swooped in and punched Adam. They fought, and their last resort led to killing Adam.

This caused an uproar in the faunus kingdom.

A war was started between faunus and humans blah blah blah. Weiss struck down her father and a whole new alliance began btwn faunus n humans the end.

And the Bees got married too! 💕

#rwby #bumblebyweek #bumblebyweek23 #bmblb #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #blake x yang

[antianakin]

@theneutralmime

I think Anakin cares about Obi-Wan and the Jedi as much as he is CAPABLE of caring about anybody. By which I mean, he will never care about Obi-Wan or the Jedi as much as he cares about HIMSELF and what HE wants and how HE feels. They will always, always, ALWAYS be second to that.

I think Anakin has a difficult relationship with the Jedi Council as an authoritative body and a difficult relationship with Obi-Wan as his master for similar reasons. Understandably, he comes into both of these relationships with certain biases from his background as well as the relatively recent rejection from the Council coloring his opinions. I think it forces a certain inferiority complex and distance in Anakin's relationship with them to some degree that he never quite gets over.

And we see this come up over and over again. He's "fine" with the Jedi right up until he isn't. My favorite example of this is Luminara during the Weapons Factory episode on Geonosis. For the first two thirds of that episode, Anakin and Luminara actually get along REALLY WELL. He has zero issues fighting alongside her, she expresses that she's missed working with him, they're FINE, they seem comfortable and friendly around each other and have a history with each other that is clearly positive. And then the padawans blow up the factory and Anakin and Luminara don't know if they made it out. Anakin goes to comfort Luminara and she responds with "Be at ease" which seems to immediately throw Anakin on the defensive. For the rest of the episode, he intentionally provokes Luminara (unsuccessfully), starts arguments with her, and even tries to throw her under the bus in front of her own padawan by claiming she'd given up. He likes Luminara and is willing to comfort her RIGHT UP UNTIL HE ISN'T. Right up until she says something more Jedi-like and he takes it as a personal insult and he then proceeds to be unkind to her without her even doing anything to earn it more than once. He's unwilling to meet her halfway or understand her perspective on it, he's JUST aggressive and arrogant. Anakin sees Luminara's calm and pragmatic approach to the situation as something of a personal condemnation when she never means it that way and all of that friendly demeanor he had before just... goes away. Because the way HE FEELS is more important than his relationship to Luminara.

So I think he LIKES the Jedi individually, I think he does care about the ones he considers friends, but his care is NOT unconditional, it comes with strings. He gives loyalty to people but he expects that same loyalty back, even when that's not something the Jedi can do for him, it's not something they've EVER been able to do for him and they would've been pretty clear about that (he's clearly aware of it when he recites the "attachment is forbidden" rule to Padme). So rather than leaving the Jedi to search out what he needs elsewhere, he just lets his resentment towards them grow and grow for years.

It's not helped by Palpatine intentionally stoking his resentment, of course, telling him that the Jedi act the way they do because they're jealous of him rather than because their culture is just... different. He encourages Anakin's arrogance and drives more and more of a wedge between them so even if Anakin from TPM COULD'VE ultimately figured it out and had a perfectly healthy relationship with the Jedi regardless of what kind of loyalty they offered him, he keeps getting offered a simpler path to take, and he keeps choosing that path instead of the one the Jedi try to show him. Anakin lets his resentment and arrogance grow, lets that distance between himself and the Jedi grow wider and wider until it becomes an insurmountable gulf.

I think Anakin does believe he cares about these people, and on some level he does, but that relationship is sort-of toxic from the beginning and we see that with the way he acts in AOTC and the way he acts towards people like Luminara and even Ahsoka and Obi-Wan in TCW. Anakin cares about people only so long as they play by his rules. He does the same to Padme pretty often when he demands she obey him because he's her husband and gets angry and punishes her when she refuses.

Anakin is capable of listening to the Jedi, capable of taking the occasional criticism, but he never actually learns from his mistakes, never takes the Jedi's advice. He listens, but he doesn't really hear anything. He retains nothing from it. It goes in one ear and out the other because he's CONVINCED that nothing the Jedi have to say to him is worth listening to unless it's praise because he's so super special that if they're criticizing him it's only because they're jealous.

Even in ROTS, when he is supposedly at his most mature (although it is also simultaneously his most unstable), he is throwing temper tantrums at the Council, he is showing favoritism and a lack of willingness to understand the Council's point of view. He can't see the similarities between the Council asking him to spy on someone they can prove is corrupt and Palpatine literally telling Anakin to be his eyes and ears on the Jedi Council. He condemns the Council for being unfair and cruel for asking him to spy on a friend, but sees zero problems with Palpatine giving him a promotion so he can pass on along sensitive information to him about the Jedi's leadership. Even when he apologizes to Obi-Wan, he isn't actually apologizing for believing the Council to be in the wrong about not making him a master or asking him to spy on Palpatine, he's mostly just apologizing for throwing a temper tantrum about it in front of the Council and humiliating Obi-Wan as a result. He STILL thinks the Council's wrong and Palpatine is right.

And personally I think that says everything you need to know about how Anakin ultimately views the Jedi. When it's the Jedi asking him to spy on Palpatine, it's asking him to betray a FRIEND, but when it's Palpatine asking him to spy on the Jedi, it's completely justified. This tells me that Anakin doesn't truly see the Jedi as his friends, as people he genuinely cares about. Anakin is friendly with them and I think he cares about them on a distant professional level, but that's really it. I think he's probably CONVINCED himself it's more, that he sees them as friends or even family, but his reaction to the two requests in this film show us the truth, one Anakin himself may not be willing to acknowledge.

And it's clear by ROTS that the Jedi are aware that Anakin has a close relationship with Palpatine. It's not something Anakin tries to hide necessarily, he gets into a dick measuring contest with Tarkin over who is Palpatine's favorite in season 3 of TCW, so it's not exactly shocking that Obi-Wan might reasonably be worried that Anakin may say something to Palpatine about the Rako Hardeen mission if he was in on it. I do think Obi-Wan probably had more than one reason for the choices he made. Anakin is better at acting and lying in TCW than he is in the films, but if we assume he's supposed to be someone who is notoriously lacking in subtlety and bad at keeping secrets and wears his heart on his sleeve, Obi-Wan is probably ENTIRELY RIGHT that if Anakin had known Obi-Wan was alive, he would've given away the truth to anyone with eyes even if he DIDN'T say anything. So it may be less about Obi-Wan worrying Anakin might specifically spill the beans to Palpatine and more of a general worry that Anakin isn't a good enough actor to pull off the reaction they'd need in order to convince the galaxy that Obi-Wan was dead, which would blow the entire thing and put Palpatine's life at risk (which, even if none of the Jedi LIKE Palpatine, he's still the leader of the Republic and they haven't quite gotten to the point where they're ready and willing to kill him in order to remove him from office, so they'd rightfully see the death of the Chancellor as something that could easily cause enough chaos to lose them the war). It could also be a combination of both of these things, Anakin's close relationship with Palpatine AND his bad acting skills.

So yeah, Anakin does care about the Jedi, but his care comes with strings, and he doesn't care about them enough not to murder them all when it benefits him to do so, so his care doesn't really amount to much in the end.

#star wars #obi-wan kenobi #rako hardeen #jedi #pro jedi #pro jedi council #anti anakin #anti anakin skywalker #anakin critical #anakin skywalker critical

[hello-nichya-here]

What made you ship Spuffy?

Something Blue. I just LOVED their dynamic in it. Even before the spell, they were already acting like PEAK enemies to lovers.

Spike was a bit too eager to annoy Buffy and just HAD to bring up what he assumed she'd do to please her vampire boyfriend, Buffy was being downright flirty when "tempting" Spike to bite her, and for God's sake, she kept that man chained in a tub.

Then the spell happens. Spike on his knees, proposing to her, and James just has to make it sound like his character is 100% serious and every scene in the show had been leading up to this. Buffy has tears in her eyes as she says eyes and is showing off her ring to Giles (and she never gave Spike that ring back, mind you).

They spend the rest of the damn episode making out, cuddling, holding hands, being cutesy, bickering adorably, and Buffy just refused to get off of Spike's lap.

It was the BEST thing that happened in the whole show, and then the following season, when Spike realized "Oh fuck, I might actually have feelings for her" I was thrilled.

The whole fight scene of him explaining to her how he killed two slayers, with that RIDICULOUS sexual tension... God, I loved it. Not to mention, Buffy is SUPPOSEDLY only there to figure out what she did wrong that led to her getting injured, yet she's basically on a date with Spike? Like, she's playing pool with him, sitting down to talk and grab a bite, asking him about his life and then they're in an alleyway fighting (which Buffy herself said is basically third base for Spike) and when she asks Spike if he thinks this is a "dance" he replies with "Dancing is all we've done" AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

The kiss after he keeps the secret that could have gotten her sister killed, the way Spike vows to protect Dawn until the end of the world, the way he reacts to Buffy's death and how she only seems to start truly coming back to her senses when he shows up, "EVERY NIGHT I SAVE YOU", Buffy only telling him that she has not escaped hell but rather been dragged out of heaven, THE MUSICAL, THEM FUCKING A HOUSE DOWN, Spike getting his soul back for her, "Why does everyone in this house think that I'm still in love with Spike?", the speech and cuddling in "Touched"...

They're just perfect together, I don't care what anyone says.

#asks #spuffy #buffy the vampire slayer

[sunsetschloe]

The Poppy War Series

“How could she compare the lives lost? One genocide against another—how did they balance on the scale of justice? And who was she, to imagine that she could make that comparison?” --R.F Kuang, The Poppy War

I have so much to say about The Poppy War series. No amount of words will describe the feeling it left me when I turned the last page and broke a little inside, but I will try, because that's all I can do the lessen the heartbreak of reading this series:

Rebecca Kuang. No words will describe my adoration for her writing abilities. To be able to incorporate such beauty into such a dark tale is impossibly hard, and no words will describe my absolute respect for her. I absolutely loved her truthful portrayal of war, instead of just romanticizing cruelty, and how utterly blunt she was about the horrors that ordinary people faced during times of chaos.

Rin, Nezha, Kitay, Venka, etc etc. They were just children. That's all I can say. They were children that were no longer innocent because adults shoved swords into their hands, and told them to die for a cause. They were so fucking young when the responsibility of millions of lives was forced upon them, and no person should ever have to make a decision that had such impact, especially not some young people. I loved each and every one of them, and I also loathed the decisions they made, but at the end of the day, they were just children born into a fragile world of cruelty and darkness.

Rin

"Dying was easy. Living was so much harder--that was the most important lesson Altan had ever taught her" --R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

From her choice in choosing to pledge Lore, till the end when she took her own life, I didn't like Rin. I didn't like her decisions, and I didn't respect how she treated her friends, but I did grow so SO attached to her as a character. I hated her for leaving Nezha with a shattered nation, but I also realized how much courage it took for her to take that route. Since she was born, survival mattered the most, always, and the fact that she chose to kill herself, with the interest of her country in mind, deserves so much respect. Yes, you could argue that she realized how hard surviving was, and chose the easy way out, but she was nurtured in a way that forced her to choose survival, to choose life, even if she wasn't truly living. Along with that, she also had Kitay's life bound to hers, so I don't think she made her final decision out of selfishness, but rather a willingness to sacrifice her life so that millions more would keep their own. As long as she was alive, the Hesperians wouldn't leave them alone, so she made her final decision for her country.

Nezha

“He knew exactly what choice she'd made and what she intended. And that made everything- hating her, loving her, surviving her, so much harder.” --R.F. Kuang, The Burning God

I truly believe that Nezha only acted the way he did because he was fucking terrified of everything happening around him. Yes, he was bred for this, but nothing ever prepared him for the shit that was going to come his way. And when Rin was going to kill herself, his composed mask just faded and he revealed the fear he had in him all along. He was another victim of the fragility of society, and I truly hope that no matter what happened after the third book, he found his peace and order.

Venka

After her reappearance (iykyk), I was so terrified that she would die, or go through something just as traumatic again. AND SHE DID. I was trembling when Rin accused her of being a traitor, and the way she threw herself on top of Rin to save her just broke my heart. I refuse to believe that she sold them out and wrote the letters, because how could anyone be a traitor, and still be willing to sacrifice her life for the person accusing them of such things?? Since the truth will never be uncovered, I will live with the hope that she was innocent all along, because she's been through so much, and her legacy should live on clean and untarnished.

#writing #rant #random #the poppy war #TPW #tpw trilogy #the burning god #the dragon republic #rf kuang #book #book thoughts #book quotes #poems and quotes #quotes #chen kitay #kitay #fang runin #rin #nezha #yin nezha #rfk #sring venka #war #third poppy war #book rant #book review #book theories #book obsession #book recommendations #book reading

[ashenmind]

Under the Third Eye

A while back, I wondered "What would have happened if Koishi had won in SA's extra stage and brought back a pet, like she threatened? How would anyone deal with that?"

Well, here is my answer, in all it's 4681 words of glory. This will be on AO3 once I have an account (T-12 days), but I'm not waiting that long.

Future note: This is now on AO3! Go read it there, the formatting is better.

Authors note

This is my first fanfic, but I have done a reasonable amount of original writing. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it. As silly as the premise is, I tried to approach it fairly genuinely, and it ended up being more emotional than I expected going into it. I tried to be fairly faithful to the characters, though some of them haven't been developed much in canon, so I did what I could.

The work is PG-13 overall. In terms of content warnings, the premise is based kidnapping. The only other thing that comes to mind is a brief allusion to self harm, which could be upsetting to some readers.

The formatting is a bit off (non-standard indents mainly) because tumblr, but not too bad as far as I can tell. (the "<>"s are intentional).

Satori stared at the paper in front of her, or rather, she stared through the paper. Do I really have to decide this today? The answer was yes, as it had been 15 minutes ago. That was the trouble with conflict; someone always had to pick up the pieces afterwards. In this case, the trouble was staffing. With so many of her pets having been injured, ensuring Former Hell was properly managed after the incident was quite the balancing act. Things would get easier over the next few days, but that did little to help now.

The door to her study, which was never fully closed, opened wider to allow a two-tailed cat with black-and-red fur to enter. Casually, she made her way to Satori, leaping into her lap and curling up snugly. Satori reached down and stroked the cat absently. She considered asking Orin about her current dilemma. While the cat had a quick wit, especially compared to many of Satori's other pets, she wasn't good at seeing the big picture. Alas, this burden was Satori's alone. 

<Koishi's back. She seems to be in a very good mood> Orin thought.

"Oh, did something interesting happen?" Satori asked. Satori's ability to read minds was greatly appreciated by her pets, whatever anyone else thought.

<She didn’t give me much of an answer, but it sounds like she got herself a new pet, from up on the surface.>

Satori continued stroking the cat for a moment, before pausing. Wait, from the surface? She generally liked that her sister took the initiative to acquire new pets from around the underground. After all, everyone needs company, and she often got too caught up in her work to spend time with Koishi. Satori also didn't mind her taking trips to the surface. Her sister was capable of taking care of herself, as much as she worried otherwise, but taking pets from the surface was something she'd had to put a stop to. Too many of them weren't well suited to the subterranean palace and its surroundings, while others would be too sorely missed above, which drew unwanted attention. Koishi had generally heeded this request, so why the sudden change? What exactly had she brought back?

Deciding this was more pressing, and likely more interesting, Satori carefully removed the cat from her lap and headed towards her sister's room. Rin followed close behind.

The pair arrived at Koishi's room, and Satori knocked.

"Come~ in!" Koishi called out in a sing-song voice, a habit that Satori could only assume came from observing people on the surface.

Like most in the palace, Koishi’s room was quite large. It was lit by blue crystals that hung from the ceiling, as well as by a set of windows that let in light from the courtyard beyond. As usual, the room was cluttered. Though some of her pets were tasked with keeping the place tidy, Koishi had a habit of just setting things down on the nearest flat surface when she was done with them. This had more than once led to a rather bemused Orin being placed on a shelf. 

Satori was not focusing on the decor however, instead she stopped in the doorway as soon as she saw her sister's newest pet. Rin, seeing an opportunity, ran through the door to Koishi, who immediately broke into a wide grin.

“Orinrin!” she cried, squishing the cat's face in her hands. The cat seemed to enjoy this at least as much as Satori’s more gentle approach. 

A few moments later, Satori finally managed to speak, “Koishi, what… how? What did you do?” The cause of her surprise was a girl with dark hair and a large red bow, who was currently asleep in the bed, covered by the duvet. A gohei, a long piece of wood from which hang two zig-zagging paper streamers, was leaning up against the wall nearby. Satori recognized the girl immediately, as she had met, and subsequently fought her earlier that very day.

“Oh, this is Reimu. You know her right?”

Satori nodded weakly as she entered the room. She turned, and carefully closed the door behind her. She took advantage of facing the other way to close her eyes and think. My little sister, whom I love and support, has brought home that damn shrine maiden… as a pet... and I'm the only one with enough sense around here to understand why that's bad… What did I do to deserve this? Resigning herself, she turned back to the rest of the room. 

“I ran into her on top of the mountain,”  Koishi continued, beaming.

 I could use a little more than that, if I’m being honest. Also, what is that look for? Satori mirrored the smile. It wasn't very convincing, but Koishi was easy to convince. What exactly am I supposed to do about this? I'd considered what to do if it was a human, but not this human. She took a deep breath. Right, process of elimination. Killing her would raise all kinds of hell nowadays. Should I dump her on the surface and hope that’s the end of it? Maybe, though she'd be pissed. Apologize and let her go? Same problem, and she's not exactly the type to wait for explanation anyways. 

She had been staring at Koishi this whole time, though the girl was entirely unperturbed. Why does she have that look? Is that... pride? Then, her own words from earlier in the day came back to her: "That girl's power would certainly be useful around here." Damn, is this my fault? Of course Koishi would take that literally; she's Koishi. She thinks this is what I wanted, which would explain the smug look… But wait, she found and defeated Reimu and brought her all the way back here just based on that? That's... a lot for someone who can’t really plan things. What’s gotten into her?

Koishi had turned her attention back to the shrine maiden, who she was staring at with rapt attention.

 But... that was the point of the pets, right? To get her to care about others, to get her to take an interest, so that she would...?  Satori realized that she was still holding the fake smile and let it drop. She turned to look at Reimu herself.

Was it just what I’d said earlier, or does Koishi have her own reasons for doing all this? Is there something special about this shrine maiden? Damn, I’d need her awake to figure any of this out. Perhaps dumping her on the surface isn’t so great an idea, as much as it would simplify things. That just leaves talking and... Koishi's plan... if you can call it that. Lovely.

"Koishi, would you mind heading down to the kitchen and helping them get dinner ready?" Satori asked, trying not to sound like how she felt.

"But... I want to stay here... with her!" Koishi said, pointing, as if Satori wasn’t sure who she was talking about.. 

Satori sighed. "She needs her rest. Besides, I bet she'll be hungry when she wakes up. You remember what I said about feeding your pets, right?" She didn't like being dishonest with her sister, but it was convenient. Koishi paused, then smiled, and nodded. She left the room in a rush. Rin narrowly avoided getting her tail stepped on, then looked to Satori. 

<You’ve got a plan?>

“Always,” Satori lied, "now go find where Okuu is napping. I want her in the palace, just in case." In case of what, I don't know, but like it or not, she probably has the best chance against Reimu if things go bad. Well, Koishi actually won, but she’s not exactly reliable. That human may have been the one pushing for non-lethality, but she’s still a human.

With the room now to herself, aside from the slumbering Reimu, Satori sat in the chair and thought. You could have at least waited a day, Koishi.

 At last, she reached a decision. The best one, I hope. She focused her third eye on the sleeping figure, peering at her mind. Ah, so Koishi put her under hypnosis. I thought she might still be able to do that, closed eye or no. No matter, it would be easy to undo, at least from the outside. 

Not long after, Reimu stirred. <Bwuh..? Where... am I?> she wondered. Reimu sat up slowly, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"The Palace of the Earth Spirits. Welcome back." Satori replied. Reimu turned and stared, all traces of drowsiness evaporating. She leapt from the bed, reached into her sleeve and pulled out several paper talismans. With her other hand, she grabbed Satori by the collar and lifted her into the air.

"Your sister kidnapped me!" Reimu shouted, "Don't give me a 'welcome back'! Where is the brat!?" 

Satori dangled limply in Reimu's grip. "Seems you lost fair and square, shrine maiden. Don’t be a sore loser.” She paused as it looked like Reimu might throw her. “As Master of this palace, I wouldn't mind a rematch though. I'd even let you go free, if you won."

Reimu’s brow furrowed. "And what’s your stake?" <Wait, she's challenging me? She didn't put up too much fight last time, but my body hurts like hell, and she seems more confident than ever.>

"Expecting to lose?" Satori asked, smirking slightly. "I’d just want you to do me a favor for me. I’m not sure your human body would withstand it, but there’s no reward without some risk."

<What’s this girl’s problem?> "Fine, I'll fight you again," Reimu said, releasing the girl, who fell backwards, taking the chair with her. <I thought she'd at least catch herself. Oh well, she deserves it.>

Satori got back on her feet. If she was upset at Reimu's roughness, she didn't let it show. "Let's go out to the courtyard. The flames from below will serve as an excellent backdrop."

The Palace of Earth Spirit’s central courtyard was quite magnificent. Windows looked down on it from all sides, many of them stained glass, depicting scenes of both the underworld and the world above. There was a garden lining the outer edge of the courtyard. It contained plants rarely seen on the surface, as well as a number of fruit trees. The source of their energy seems to be the large vent which dominated the space. It led down into the underworld’s flaming depths. Great mechanical shutters allowed the upward flow of heat to be regulated. At present, the shutters were three-quarters closed. Even this small opening allowed enough light from below to fill the courtyard and a pillar of hot air, traced with wispy flames, to ascend towards the surface. 

The two combatants took their places to one side of this vent. They stood forty feet from each other, Reimu armed with the tools of her trade and Satori with nothing but her mind.

"Ready?" asked Reimu. She had her usual look of determination, now tempered by anger.

"Ready," replied Satori, calm as ever. The two rose a few feet into the air, then Reimu launched forwards, wasting little time.

"I forfeit," called out Satori, dropping back to the warm stone of the courtyard.

<I've got her- > "WHAT?" Reimu staggered midair, trying to slow her momentum. She came to a skidding stop directly in front of her opponent. "What do you mean you forfeit? We hadn't even started. You can't do that!"

Satori stared at her coldly. "It means you’ve won. That's what you wanted, so why are you complaining?"

"I want to fight you! You think you're so high-and-mighty, and now you've got and forfeited!?"

"I said it before, but I'm not fond of violence."

"You're just a coward! Too scared to face me again."

"I have more important things to worry about than your ego. If you want to sait your oni-like thirst for violence, I'm sure Okuu over there would be happy to oblige." Indeed, the hell raven was sitting on the inner edge of the vent, oblivious of the heat. She was gazing into the depths below and swinging her feet through the fiery air. The right one, weighed down by its rocky exterior, swung out of time with the left.

Reimu’s tirade derails slightly. <I beat her earlier, but it was kinda close. Somehow I doubt she's as tired and worn as I am. Damn.> "You’re the one who said we should fight in the first place. What was about that favor? Giving up on that so easily?"

"Were it just me here, perhaps I would fight for it. But I don't need any more damage to my palace or my pets right now," Satori replied. "If you must know, I was going to ask to have you for dinner-"

"YOU WERE GOING TO EAT ME?!" Reimu shouted, anger reigniting. Satori stared, eyes-wide for a moment, then began to laugh. It started out as a chuckle, but rapidly became uncontrollable. The girl bent double, holding her knees. Although laughter is rarely considered a skill, Satori was bad at it. The sounds coming from her were fitting for Former Hell. Even Okuu looked over at the commotion.

<What on earth... what's funny about this?> Reimu thought. There was another thought, too quiet for either of them to fully notice: <she look so different when she laughs.> 

"As a guest, Reimu," Satori managed to get out at last, "not an entrée. Oh my word." She pulled herself upright and wiped a mirthful tear from her eye. "My sister and I aren't much for eating people."

<...and your pets?> "Ah, I… I see. I guess that's a relief,” Reimu said, uncertainty entering her voice for the first time since woken up.<Where the hell do I go from here?> “But uh, you said the favor would 'push my body to its limit', so I got the wrong idea, I guess. What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Well... we have some sake that we sto- acquired from the oni and it's been kinda in the way lately. If you wouldn't mind drinking some of..."

"You stole sake from the oni? You?" <They'd rip you to shreds.>

"Well, Koishi did. I ask her not to steal, but I figure the oni are fair game," Satori explained, ignoring Reimu's afterthought. “We’re not heavy drinkers, so I figured you might be able to stomach some of it?”

Reimu took a moment and pretended to consider the offer. <Is this girl OK? Her loss I guess.> She stood a bit taller as she spoke, "As a show of uh, goodwill, I would be willing to relieve you of your sake. After all, if the oni found out you had it, I'm sure they'd cause you no end of trouble. Best I drink it instead, to be safe." 

"Ah, what a good idea. How very… selfless of you." This girl's mind is like a lock; you find the right key and the whole thing flops open. Not sure why she's talking like that though… Is it some lingering effect of Koishi’s hypnosis or the fumes? Oh well.

For dinner, they were joined by Koishi, who was overjoyed to see Reimu again, as well as Okuu and Orin. The two sisters sat on one side of the table, while the three pets sat on the other. Okuu and Orin started devouring some eggs and pieces of raw meat, which Reimu tried not to look at too closely. The other’s had more ordinary fare.

<Maybe this was a bad idea… At least the two idiots aren’t staring at me.> 

"Koishi, do you have something to say to Miss Hakurei?"

The younger sister hesitated a moment before speaking, “I’m sorry for attacking and kidnapping you.” She put on an almost theatrical expression of remorse.

<She says it so bluntly> “I… appreciate the apology. I didn’t mind fighting you, just… don’t knock me out afterwards, alright? It’s kind of a d- not nice thing to do. It also causes trouble for your sister.” Koishi nodded at this, looking serious, then went back to her food, smiling to herself. Trouble indeed, mused Satori, though you're not one to talk, Reimu.

“Say Koishi, do you spend a lot of time on the surface?” Reimu asked, “I’m surprised you were able to find your way to the Moriya Shrine all by yourself.”

“Oh, I do! I like to see what people are up to and hear what they are talking about. I travel all over the place.”

<You’re ok with this?>  Reimu thought. 

Satori shrugged. “I couldn’t stop her if I wanted to, so she’s generally free to explore. Besides,” Satori said, smiling slightly, “she can hold her own.”

<You’re pretty smug for someone who lost. Twice>

“You should come down here again sometime so we can fight again! It was really fun!”

<Yeah, but this place kinda sucks.>

“I’m sure Reimu is plenty busy with her shrine,” Satori explained, aiming a dirty look at Reimu.

“Shrine?”

“Of course. It’s easy to forget, but Reimu is a shrine maiden. She looks after the Hakurei Shrine, near the human village.”

“Oh, that place!”

“Have you… been there?” Reimu asked, returning the look.

Koishi nodded. “I followed some kids up from the village. There were a lot of people and stalls. I got this!” she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small charm, on which was written “bullet evasion” in familiar handwriting.

<Ah... Wait, she goes to the village too?>

“And by ‘got’, do you mean ‘stole’? I’ve told you about taking things without permission. People might not notice you, but they notice when things go missing.”

Koishi nodded, though she didn’t look very apologetic.

“Next time you’re in the area, you can visit the shrine and pay me back. I can even give you a tour.”

Koishi’s eyes lit up. “Really? I’ll come by tomorrow!”

<Great, I was hoping to take the day off, maybe try out the new hot springs…>

“I’m sure Reimu will be very busy dealing with the aftermath of the incident. Best let her work on that first.”

<That mind reading is not so bad when she’s trying to help you. Still creepy.> 

The conversation quieted down from here, with everyone focusing on the food.

<When’s the right time to ask about the sake? Getting kinda thirsty here…> Satori reached under her chair and pulled out a large jug, placing it on the table. 

I meant to get it out at the start, whoops.

As dinner started to slow, Koishi spoke up, “Can you tell me more about your fights earlier? Satori kinda made them sound boring, but I want to hear from you.”

“I’m sure she did. Alright, it started with me heading into a cave…” Reimu then recounted her earlier adventures. Satori interrupted occasionally, cutting through some of Reimu’s boldest exaggerations, though Koishi didn’t seem to care much whether a given detail was true or not.

At last, once they had finished, Koishi gave a round of applause. “Wow, that’s quite the story. It’s way cooler than my sister's version,” Koishi said, beaming at Reimu. “But how did this all this start? Seems you just kinda wandered into things. Like me!”

All eyes turned to Okuu, who continued eating eggs, before noticing the sudden attention.

“Huh? Uh dor rea oh,” she tried, before swallowing, “I don’t really know. There was some woman who wanted the strongest bird, then I felt real weird, then I had all this power. I’m not really complaining, to be honest.”

“We think the Moriya Shrine is involved, but I wasn’t able to ask because you attacked me,” Reimu explained, looking pointedly at Koishi.  

“Ehehe…whoops. I said I was sorry...”

“Alright, I think that’s enough for dinner. If Okuu eats any more eggs she’s going to be sick. Besides, you should get to bed Koishi.” Then, as Koishi moved to protest, “You can see Reimu off in the morning.”

<Morning?>

“What, were you planning on going through Oni territory and half of Gensokyo in your state? In the dark, no less?”

“How ca-”

“We have clocks, you know.”

<Ah.>

Koishi left, but not before giving Reimu a hug. After she was gone, Satori walked to the other side of the table. Okuu and Orin stood, and their master addressed them in turn.

“Okuu… it’s good to have you back. I know things are a bit… complicated, but I’m sure we’ll manage.” She reached out and patted the girl’s head. 

“Orin, you did well today. Thank you,” she said, kissing the Kasha on the forehead. “You pets don’t have to tackle things by yourselves, you know. I won’t be mad if you need help.”

With the cat and raven gone, Satori returned to her seat. 

<You really care for them.>

“Of course. Aside from my sister, my pets are all I have.”

<I mean, the palace…>

“Few places are as lonely as an empty palace, Reimu.” There was a pained note in her voice that Reimu hadn’t heard before. There was a heavy silence for a moment, then Satori grabbed a cup and poured herself some of the sake. When she continued, her voice had returned to its usual tones.

“I’m not typically one for strong alcohol, but I should probably taste some before you finish it off.”

“Wait, you made it sound like you had a whole bunch.”

“I lied, of course. It’s almost as useful as mind reading.” Reimu considered this for a moment and Satori elected to let her finish this time. 

“What is this all about?” Reimu asked, gesturing broadly.

“‘This’?”

“You know what I mean. First I think you’re trying to keep me here as a pet, then you’re asking me to leave, then you're getting me drunk and telling me to stay the night. Why can’t you just say what you actually want?”

Satori sipped her sake a moment before speaking. “‘Just tell me the truth’ is something often said by people who are bad at accepting it, but very well. The truth is that I don’t really like you Reimu.” She held up a finger, forestalling Reimu’s interruption “I don’t mean that as a personal slight. I can see why people put up with you.”

<Gee, thanks.>

 “That being said, mind reading isn’t like reading a book; it’s more like listening. Some thoughts are easy to ignore, while others… aren’t. Emotional thoughts are by far the loudest and you…” Satori continued, “...are a person driven by emotion. Again, that’s not an insult; I think it’s probably what makes you so good at what you do, but it does make being near you… challenging.”

“So then why get me to stick around?”

Satori sighed, looking into her cup. “Koishi, really. She’s a bit obsessed with you. I gave my sister pets in the hopes they would help her like they helped me. I needed quiet, simple companionship, but my sister and I aren’t very alike. Or at least, not anymore…” Satori seemed to lose herself in thought for a moment, before continuing. “But she seems fascinated by you, more so than by any pet I’ve given her. Perhaps your thoughts are loud enough to reach even her, or perhaps she just finds you worth listening to.”

Two sat in silence, the words hanging in the air “Are you… trying to get her to open her third eye?”

“Yes.”

“Why? She seems happy as she is.”

“How would we even know? She closed it because she felt that the world, or rather, other people had little to offer her. When your ears only hear hatred, your eyes only see fear, it can be tempting to get rid of them.  I want her to hear and see beautiful things, to find value in others.”

<Have you considered doing this? Oh, I didn’t mean...>

“Of course I have. Things were... bad, but I remembered when we were young. Satori are social creatures; being able to communicate so directly is an incredible thing. I’m not sure a human could really get it, but I want that back…” Silence fell over the table, again.

“Why not explain all this from the start?”

“You wouldn’t have listened, that’s not who you are. So I tricked you. Figured you wouldn’t turn down a challenge. Worst case you at least got out of my hair.. Don’t look so upset, you got Oni sake out of it, after all.”

<Don’t treat me like one of your pets.>

Reimu yawned. “Well, I’m not sure how much I can help, but I suppose if she wants to come visit, I don’t mind. Not that I could stop her anyways…” <I don’t really want another mind readers about, but…man>

“I appreciate that,” Satori said, getting to her feet, a little unsteady. “Best we both get off to bed before this stuff hits us too hard.” She waved the now empty jug.

“I suppose so. Oh, and thanks for stopping Koishi from making me her pet”

“I’m sorry?” Both girls stared at each other, blankly.

“You… you told Koishi she can’t have me as a pet, right? Like, she understands that, right?”

“I just told her that it’s not really a pet if they run and don’t come back. That seemed to satisfy her.”

<ah.>

The next morning, the two sisters saw Reimu off. Koishi was a little upset, but it didn’t last once the prospect of a shrine tour was brought up again. The great doors of the Palace of the Earth Spirits closed with a thud. The two sisters stood in the lingering silence.

<I can’t wait!>  The voice was quiet, but Satori loved it all the same.

Epilogue

In the end, Reimu’s visit actually ended up helping Satori with her decision. She elected to grant her pets a holiday, as reward for their hard work. It would create problems later, but such was life. It also gave her a chance to take care of another matter.

Aya Shameimaru worked away at her typewriter. This edition had gotten quite large, what with all the events of the last day. Even this morning there had been critical updates that just couldn’t be left out. This was looking to be one of the best editions of  Bunbunmaru Newspaper in years!

She heard the door to the office open and called out, “Yeah, just leave it on the table. I’ll get to it in a minute.”

“I’m… not here with your lunch,” said a voice. It wasn’t a tengu’s. Aya turned to see Satori, standing right next to her.

“Ay!” she cried, nearly falling out of her chair, “I ah, I don’t s-suppose you’re here for an-an interview?” she said, a look of almost manic hope on her face. <Ayayaya…>

“Not quite. I was curious what you had written in your paper there.”

<Well all kinds of things, about the incident, the palace and it’s master, about her mysterious sister and how she kidnapped Reimu and how Reimu just walked away the next morning all embarrassed and oh how do I stop thinking!>

“Alright! That’s enough,” Satori interrupted, closing her eyes. Damn tengu. “I don’t mind you writing about the incident, but leave my sister out of this.”

“But…” Aya stalled a moment, then recovered her usual tenacity, “your sister poses a real threat to Gensokyo. It’s my duty as a reporter to infor…”

“You want to talk threats?” Satori asked.

<aayyaa.> ”Y-you can’t threaten me! We’re surrounded by tengu! You’d b-be in real trouble!”

“Yes, but that doesn’t help you much, does it? But I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not fond of violence. Instead, my threat is this: If you write about Reimu losing to my sister, or her disappearance, I will end your newspaper. Not by force, but by making my own paper. Do you think you can compete with a mind reader? One who can pull out even your secrets?”

<N-no.>

“Then we don’t have a problem. Pleasure doing business with you.” Whoever decided to make tengu smarter than birds should try talking to one for 5 minutes. 

#touhou #fanfic #my writing #satori komeiji #koishi komeiji #reimu hakurei #<-mains #<-along for the ride #aya shameimaru #<-Idiot #chireiden #kidnapping tw #okuu #orin

[dragonotaku-justineverything]

Do you have any ideas for a Flipped Personality Pyrrha? Like how we worked on Flipped Yue, Bluby, and Aiko? The best I got right now is a purple color scheme.

Purple is a good start I think, or just blue even though that is Ruby’s flipped color as well. I think Purple could be a nice unique color to her, at least for her hair.

I looked up what the “opposites” for bronze would be, and this Steel blue popped up, ask well as this sort of purple for the opposite of a brownish color. Then maybe have silver or regular gray steel for her armor, circlet, and necklace instead of gold? And should we change her eye color as well like with Bleiss having red eyes instead of lilac?

Okay so here's what I am thinking are some strong points:

She has hair like the red-violet color hair like in the first pic

Her bronze and brown corset is now steel blue and the purple in the third pic

Her golden accessories (circlet, necklace, and armor) are now silver instead

Blue eye shadow perhaps?

As for flipped Pyrrha’s actual personality itself, I do have some ideas as well:

She is much more arrogant and acts more entitled than regular Pyrrha, fame from being the "Invincible Girl" having long since gotten to her head.

She believes that she is actually better than a lot of people and loves the attention she gets from her fame. This can make her kind of difficult to work with

She show less restraint when fighting and barely any sportsmanship when she thrashes her opponents, gloating in her victory

She's also much more bold and free spoken with people, not too concerned with what people think of doing so because she's the Invincible Girl so therefore her opinion matters most. She'll outright tell someone that they're annoying her or that their ideas are stupid

She's a huntress more to keep proving herself as the strongest rather than to actually help people

Now for her name. On the RWBY wiki it says that "Pyrrha Nikos's "first and last name together are a reference to a Pyrrhic victory, a tactical victory that comes at such extreme cost it is often seen as a strategic defeat" and that ""Pyrrha" is derived from the Greek adjective pyrrhos (πυρρός), which means "flame-colored". Nikos (Νίκος), meaning "victor of the people", is derived from Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory." So perhaps something else since her hair color is different that "Flame-colored" now and is purple instead as well as a different last name as well to fit her more arrogant nature?

Now, "According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word “purple” is derived from the Greek porphyra or porphyrous, a seldom used adjective describing “someone that has a purple color.”" and her last name could have to do with hubris, derived from the greek word hybris who was a spirit (daemon) of insolence, violence, and outrageous behavior. Also hubris basically means arrogance, which would fit this flipped version of pyrrha nicely

Here are three name ideas for her that I have from most favorite to least favorite:

Phyra Hybos

Porphyra Hybros

Porpyra Hybos

Super subtle, I know. Or maybe a different combination or alteration of these, but Phyra Hybos is honestly my favorite because it's similar enough and different enough to Pyrrha Nikos in my opinion. So that will be the name I work with for now unless enough people like something else.

Also, I imagine she'd still be interested in Jaune, but for different reasons than normal. Whereas Pyrrha starts paying attention to Jaune because she's like "oh wow he doesn't treat me like a superstar because he doesn't know who I am! Yay!", Phyra Hybos was more like “How the fuck does he not know who I am?!?!” and after having a small freak out do to that, she sets her mind on showing him just who and how amazing she is.

#rwby #pyrrha nikos #phyra hybos #reverse personality #reverse character #opposite personality #opposite character #flipped personality #flipped character #personal opinion #personal ask #ask #sfw #lonesilverw0lf #pic

[pochqmqri]

Some other people found out from the teaser that Saki has a ring on one of her fingers, likely a wedding one. It doesn't seem like any of the other girls have rings, so she might be the only one in this sequel that is married, initially at least.

My hope is that she's married to Mai, or Michiru, I'm not picky, but it's most likely to a man.

Off the top of my head, there are two possibilities from the original Splash Star. The first is Mai's older brother, Kazuya, who Saki is very clearly crushing on throughout the season, but it seemed more like an unrequited love a young girl might have for an older boy the same way in Cardcaptor Sakura where Sakura has a crush on Yukito.

The other option is Kenta, the boy that Saki occasionally banters with, and he also seems to crush on her a few times early on, but as the season progressed, their "romance" didn't really develop, like Saki never really saw him as anything more than a friend. I wouldn't be that opposed to him being her husband, since he's not bad compared to some of the other guy love interests in this franchise later on.

They could also just make up a man for Saki to be married too, and it's not like that's unrealistic, you don't always end up marrying your childhood friends/first love. In my opinion, that would feel a bit odd, because OtonaPre has about a 10-20 year timeskip from when we last saw these women, so to start off with Saki married to someone we know basically nothing about, feels a bit cheap, unless there is enough backstory to make it work. Even so, it's still up in the air how many episodes OtonaPre has, so I'm not sure they'd want to spend too much time laying the groundwork for that potential new character.

Moving onto Mai, it would be really sad if Saki was the only one of the two who got married. Like, for better or worse, in Splash Star, Saki is shown to be crushing on guys, while Mai didn't get as much development regarding romance, other than acting like a third wheel for Saki's endeavors. I don't recall Mai ever falling in love with a guy, in fact, you could say she was in love with Saki instead.

Similarly, in the original Futari wa, Nagisa was the one who got most of the romantic development. Hell, in Max Heart, Honoka barely got episodes focused on her while Nagisa had several where she tried to vie for Fuji-P. Should they be in OtonaPre, and although I don't want it to happen, Nagisa would probably end up with Fuji-P. It would be such a shame, because one of her traits in the original anime is that she's popular with the girls, even getting love letters from them. She exclaims how she'd rather be popular with the boys than girls, but in a later episode, she says that if Honoka was a boy, she'd be in love with her, which I think does a good job at hinting towards her closeted feelings. I really detest the trope where romance between girls is seen as a thing to "grow out of," like it's just a schoolgirl fad.

Regarding Honoka, they don't really give her much in hetero romance. There are like, three guys that I can think of that only maybe could be paired with her, barring another new man they invent. The first is Fuji-P's friend/teammate, Kimata, but he barely interacts with Honoka at all, and I would hate that, because it would feel like a "consolation prize" if Nagisa ended up with Fuji-P. The second is Kiriya, the former Dotsuku Zone denizen who infiltrated their school to try and defeat them, only to end up developing a strong bond with the sisterly Honoka, but I never really saw this as a budding romance, especially on Honoka's end. Plus, Kiriya basically dipped by the end of the original Futari wa, and didn't even show up in Max Heart, so it would just feel like an afterthought if they paired them together with that missing development. The third option is Nagisa's younger brother, Ryouta, who has a crush on Honoka, but, lmao, that's really just played as a joke.

In fact, I think the anime actually portrays Honoka as being mostly uninterested in boys, despite being popular with them. She rejects all of their advances, says that if she were to go out with a boy, there'd need to be mutual respect, which implies that she doesn't feel respected by them and thus doesn't even consider them. There's also the fact that she admires Nagisa's popularity with the girls, which I feel hints at something a bit more about her romantic desires. I could go on here, but I hope this gets my point across.

To sum it up, Saki ending up with a family while Mai doesn't would create such a disappointing incongruity for these two women who were very intertwined in the anime we watched them in. The same is true of Nagisa and Honoka should they also appear. I would rather none of them end up with any romantic conclusion (thus leaving it up to interpretation) whatsoever than only some of them having it.

#saki hyuuga #mai mishou #honoka yukishiro #nagisa misumi #otonapre #otona precure #precure #pretty cure #splash star

[givemeanaccountalready]

Points of Origin & Paths to Take (Part 1)

1

Milgram sure does love its pairs, and boy do I have some thoughts on the matter. Namely, what I think connects each pair of prisoners and predictions for their third trial videos (and Kotoko’s second trial song since Mikoto’s second video just dropped).

I am not the first person to say this and I won’t be the last, but I think I figured out how the prisoners are paired: it’s under the broadest definition of their underlying motives. And unsurprisingly, their motives seem to guide the path they take at Milgram. I was worried that Mikoto’s “Double” would throw me for a loop, but it’s confirming my feelings instead.

All of the motives seem to be driven by the absence of something in the prisoners’ lives that led up to them committing their respective murders. This is how I think the motives are paired:

Haruka and Yuno: the absence of love

Fuuta and Muu: the absence of connection

Shidou and Mahiru: the absence of knowledge

Kazui and Amane: the absence of authenticity

Mikoto and Kotoko: the absence of accountability

These definitions are a bit broad but I will explain in each section. For each pair, the motives start out along a central idea, and then branch out in different directions that foil each other in some way.

Haruka & Yuno: the Absence of Love

"If you forgive this sin, you're as good as an accomplice / I'm alone and lonely, please give me love"

"I feel emptiness inside me, we agreed to seek each other out / I wish I could do something about it, FUTURE!"

-"Undercover"

(I feel like I said a lot about Haruka already when I did my 'Haruka is Peter Pan but not the Disney one' comparison a while back.)

Haruka is the easier of the two to pin down for this motive. The line played over Haruka's introduction in "Undercover" says it outright. It is also clear during the first trial that he wants to someone to love and take care of him even though he sees himself as bad or useless. Haruka craves affection, and in turn, validation. Despite Es striking him, Haruka can’t stop smiling because Es has focused their attention on him and swore that they wouldn’t be scared off by what Haruka did. That they are going to focus on him until the very end. I think this is probably when Haruka decided that Es would serve as his new mother figure. Es has promised not to leave him; unlike his mother, who did leave him behind when Haruka became undesirable.

During the second interrogation, Haruka admits that he killed his victim to get his mother’s attention back to him, thinking that she’d love him again like she used to. Before this, Es had pointed out that there still are two trials left to go and asked why Haruka is acting like he has been fully absolved. Haruka is rather volatile during this part of the interrogation, and accuses Es of bullying him. He then goes on to revoke Es’s status as his mother and gives the title to Muu. Es, like most people in their shoes would be, is confused and asks what the fuck is Haruka going on about. Unbeknownst to Es, his promise to Haruka and his forgiveness from the first trial solidified them as Haruka’s new mother figure, and Haruka is now taking condemnation for what he did as Es behaving as his mother did. He is not doing this betrayal shit a second time. Muu and him became close during the inter-trial period, and since she still likes him even though he still perceives himself as a useless, good-for-nothing, she now gets the mother title. Now, I don't like Muu but for her sake, I really hope this doesn’t come back to bite her in the ass. Prisoners cannot fight while Es is awake, but Muu loses that protection once the second trial is finished and Es falls asleep again. I doubt she'd cut ties with him if he doesn't succeed in killing himself to avenge her Guilty verdict, but I could see her accidentally making a throwaway comment that could trigger his volatile side.

Yuno is a tad harder to pin down because heaven forbid our girlboss say it outright like Haruka, but I do think the absence of love in her life led to her choices both before and during Milgram. I don’t think she was abused or intentionally neglected like Haruka was (he is at least the latter), but I do think she was trying to find herself by becoming a sex worker. Let me explain, I don’t think Yuno loathes herself and did sex work to fill a void of some sort. I think she wanted to explore different facets of herself, enjoys sex and dating, and decided to make a little money off her unorthodox journey of self discovery. Yuno does not care what other people think, and she seems to be trying to find the version of herself that she likes best.

“Teardrop” emphasizes her not caring about external validation. Yuno does not shy away from what she did before coming away to Milgram and is angry when the audience tries to take her autonomy from her by saying she had no choice or was manipulated into it. Her actions were her choices that she made because she wanted to. She chose to put on a mask and be the girl each of her clients wanted, and she’ll spit in the faces of those who say her sense of self was so weak she was easily manipulated into. She's stated in both of her interrogations that she does not care if she is condemned for what she did, but she does care about losing her agency.

Yuno is perceptive and socially intelligent. While she may find wearing a mask for too long to be bothersome (like when she talks to Mikoto about letting his guard down and being less self-conscious or breaks the happy-go-lucky act in her first interrogation), she understands the reasoning behind them (she know why Kazui lies so much and that there are people like Kotoko who take their first impression of someone as infallibly right which could spell harm for her). She knows sex work, adultery, and the like are looked down on and that society tends to come down harder on those scandalous things compared to other acts, so her sex work is hidden. (I’m not sure if Yuuko Kashigawa is the alias she gave to just the doctor who performed her abortion or the name she used for when she was with clients).

So, what does this mean for Trial 3? We know that the prisoners’ next song depends on the previous trial’s verdict. Haruka went from Innocent to Guilty while Yuno received her second Innocent verdict. Neither are going to be pleased. Haruka will be angry because he’ll see it as another betrayal by Es, while Yuno, might still see the Innocent verdict as Es continuing to not take her seriously/not respecting that she is a person capable of making her own decisions.

If you compare their Trial 1 songs to their Trial 2 songs, both Haruka and Yuno become more explicit about what they’ve done. And the explicitness seems to be in response to how they interpreted their Innocent verdicts.

In “Weakness” we get to see teenage Haruka kill something offscreen with a rock. Young Haruka is horrified by the blood on his hands, but the blood is censored by crayon scribbles. The most violent thing we see is Haruka strangle his younger self, but we don’t see him finish the act. No bodies, human or animal, are in his first music video. He seems ashamed of what he’s done. The Innocent verdict seems to validate him (which he seems to take as love), and so jn “All-Knowing All Agony” he doesn’t hide what he’s done. We see him launch a chair through the fish tank and watch them flop on the ground. We see animals that he has presumably killed, ranging from butterflies to dogs. We see him stand up and beam while the things he’s killed litter the ground, and for a split second at the end, we see him strangle somebody. Our “love” gave him a kind of strength he didn’t have before and now he’s excitedly showing off what he’s done. He’s like a little kid showing off his new skill for the adults. I think in Trial 3, Haruka is going to take his Guilty verdict personally and I think he’s going to try and win back our “love” (pity) by showing how he got so screwed up he ended up killing someone. He equates pity with love and validation with acceptance and encouragement, so I don't think he'll close himself off from Es, and by extension, us, entirely. He killed to win back his mother’s love, you think he won’t show worse to win back ours?

As for Yuno, “Teardrop” is her middle finger to the “poor girl” assumptions people made. It’s as if she’s saying, “Oh, you love the ideal me so much, right? How about now? Do you still love me, or just your overrated, ideal me?” We see her accept money in return for her services and dressed in lingerie, we see her in several scenarios where it is implied that she either had or is about to have sex with a client, we see her show off those different facets of herself and stand proudly beside them. Unfortunately, at least with the Western audience, she’s been met with a resounding “Girlboss, slay queen” rather than the condemnation she wanted/expected for showing off her true self. She’s going to be even more pissed with us and she is more likely going to be even more direct so the other shoe can finally drop (get the rejection she expects to receive).

These are just my thoughts on these two and what I think is going to happen next. That’s a lot of spinning my wheels for just these two, so I’m going to be breaking this thing up into segments. Next up is Fuuta and Muu.

2 / 3 / 4 / 5

#milgram project #milgram analysis #milgram theory #haruka sakurai #sakurai haruka #yuno kashiki #kashiki yuno #long post

[eeveeswordsman]

Don Quixote Limbus Company

I'm going insane here I started thinking about Don Quixote Limbus Company, my favorite sinner, and thought of something that has me so curious about her, something that doesn't make any sense to me.

So, Fixers, right? One of the major jobs we know in The City, and one of Don Quixote's major character traits. She's obsessed with them, and has merch of several fixers that she decorates her jacket with, and extensive autistic knowledge about them.

Additionally it's not just that she's a collector of merchandise, but actively idolizes them, taking every opportunity where they come up to gush about how she looks up to and idolizes and wants to be just like the Brave and Noble fixers of the city.

So why isn't she a fixer?

Obviously she can't be a fixer because she's a Sinner right now, but what about beforehand? What was keeping her from becoming a fixer before joining the company? Because if she was a fixer all her idolization wouldn't make sense, with how much she looks up to them and wants to be like them. If she "wants to be brave and noble like them" why would she not be one, when she's definitely old enough and fit enough to be one.

Surely if she was a fixer herself she'd talk about how cool it is to be one, or brag about being one, her office, her accomplishments, but nothing.

You might say oh she's just idolizing higher level fixers like colors, but she's been generally like this with like the concept of Fixers in general, not just higher levels like Colors and Grade 1s, and if she were a fixer, just a lower grade one, the way she talks about them still doesn't make sense, why would she sound so detached from being one if she were one? She acts the way she does to be like Fixers, not to be like any specific or high level fixers, but Like Fixers in a general sense, as if she's a fangirl looking on from a distance rather than participating.

I have two theories about what this could mean.

The first is that it's straightforward, something has prevented her from becoming a fixer in the past, though what could hold her back from such an apparently easy goal is a mystery.

The second, however is that she was in fact a fixer in the past, and something happened to her or her office that caused her to block that out, or try to act like it didn't happen, or even she just straight up forgot, and it's possible this "trauma" might relate to her "Windmill" (Which might be connected to the slight carnival carousel theming she kind of has in the background, but we'll have to wait and see)

The third option, of course, would be that the whole "fixer fangirl" behavior is part of her "brave and noble hero" persona she's putting on, but either she's really committed to the bit to go out of the way to amass the merchandise and knowledge about them that she has, or that part is at least on some level genuine.

Thinking about this makes me all the more excited for her eventual chapter, since I want to get into the odd layers her character seems to have. It's possible I'm completely missing or forgetting something, but it just strikes me as odd.

#don quixote lcb #limbus company #project moon