#but in silly fantasy stories like that now its like well you see it makes sense because the cellphone is magic and can summon the Beasts or

[spartalabouche]

i miss when tv shows and movies didnt need to justify the logic of the universe and lore to exist. why do we need to know why something is so so small or how goblins exist or why magic is real. why cant we just live in the moment. everything is too obsessed with making sense. just be sillay

#txt #gekkering #i watched labyrinth again earlier and am now listening toa vixeo on the evolution of polly pocket #and im just thinking about the way that they did not bother to explain the goblin world snd the labyrinth and shit. #but in silly fantasy stories like that now its like well you see it makes sense because the cellphone is magic and can summon the Beasts or #they have Powers that makes them special and thats why they can do something #why cant everyone be special. why cant we live in a world of whimsy. why do we habe to know evedything #is this comprehensible at all #i wish we could just suspend our disbelief like we used to

[skzdarlings]

the ride ; skz ; chan x reader

original ask: requested by @rosequartsz : chan with the prompt ❛ i want to fuck you so badly. ❜ like the reader is the same age as jeongin so chan kinda feels bad but at the same time he wants to corrupt the reader so bad cushsisjsis

+

original ask: requested by anonymous : Chan and ❛ please. make me feel good. no one else can like you. ❜ ❛ have a little trust in yourself, i know you can take it. ❜

pairing: bang chan/reader content info: friends to lovers, chan is a little older than reader, reader is not actually that innocent but pretends to be and they both get off on it lol. some not very safe driving lol keep ur eyes on the road. car sex, dirty talk, teasing, corruption play, puuuuure smut. word count: 2400 words.

masterlist. part of the valentine’s day stories series. credit to prompts. requests are closed.

enjoy!

-

“That’s not fair,” Jeongin says.  “I called dibs.”

“Too bad.”  You stick your tongue out at him.  “Learn to run faster, loser.”

Jeongin scowls, once more relegated to the backseat of Chan’s car.   You are sitting pretty in the passenger seat for the fourth day in a row and Jeongin is playfully annoyed about it. 

You and your twin brother have been racing into Chan’s car since high school.  You are both at university now, but Chan still offers the occasional lift.  With storm season making public transit a bigger hassle than it’s worth, Chan has been offering more rides. 

Just because of the weather.  Not any other reason.  Of course.      

You smirk, casting a side-glance into the driver’s seat.  Chan is smiling at Jeongin through the rearview mirror, looking less like Channie, the boy of your teenage fantasies, and more like Bang Chan, the man of your adult dreams.  He is wearing a baseball cap and leather jacket, his whole demeanour oozing an effortless masculinity, the bearing of a competent man who knows he can do anything. 

And still, despite his well-earned cockiness, he has an undoubtedly shy side.  When he looks at you, the tips of his ears flame an embarrassed, fiery red, and his dimpled smile is almost boyish in its sweetness. 

“Right then,” he says.  Then, like the endearingly cheesy goofball he is, he adds, “All aboard, ready for takeoff!” 

“Jeongin,” you say, blinking innocently at your twin through the mirror.  “You have your presentation notes, right?  You don’t want to forget them.”

Jeongin double-checks his bag but you already know he won’t find them.  You deliberately took them out and placed them on the kitchen counter.

“Damn,” he says, quickly unbuckling his seatbelt.  “I thought I put them in here.  Sorry, I’ll be right back.” 

Jeongin practically flies out of the car and up the driveway, leaving you and Chan.  It happens quickly, before Chan can even compute it.  You can see the gears turning in his head, but you are faster, sighing melodramatically while gathering the hem of your skirt. 

“Silly boy,” you say.  “What should we do while he’s gone?”  You draw your skirt up your thighs just enough to tease the skin of your upper thighs. 

Chan is staring there with his mouth open, his words evaporating on his tongue.  He clears his throat after a second, ripping his gaze away.  He looks across the dashboard and laughs, a shy, awkward laugh. 

“Your brother will be back in a second,” Chan says.  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, yeah?”

He is white-knuckling the steering wheel, like all his restraint is being poured into that physical grip.  Even so, it is not hard to pry his hand off the wheel.  You know a stronger, more belligerent shove could not bend a determined Bang Chan, but the softest touch from your gentle hands will have him breaking in seconds.   

You are slow, casual despite your racing heart, guiding his hand onto your knee.  He makes a little noise that turns your whole body to pure, liquid heat.  You make a similar sound, a faint whimper in the back of your throat, as you slide his hand up your thigh. 

“Channie,” you say, your too-sweet, too-innocent voice part of your acting, but your breathlessness undoubtedly real. 

“Don’t—”  His voice breaks and he clears his throat.  “Don’t say my name like that.  You know—”  

“What do I know, Channie?” you ask, blinking at him with wide eyes while you curl his fingers around your thigh.  You bring your legs together, holding his hand between them.

He visibly swallows, throat bobbing.  The redness has spread from his ears down his neck. 

“We’ve talked about this, baby girl,” he says, his tone stricter, taking on that darker edge that makes your heart – and everything else – gush.   “We’ve been good so far, okay?”   If stolen kisses, open zippers, and groping touches count as good.  “You’re my – you’re my friend.  You should be like a little sister or something to me… yeah?  Yeah… Yeah!”  He shakes his head, pulling himself out of the distraction caused by you unzipping your jacket.  He squeezes your thigh, a firm, warning grip.  “Don’t make this so hard,” he says. 

“What’s hard for you, Channie?” you ask, reaching into his lap and touching his thigh, then higher, finding the evidence of his words.  A shiver moves across his shoulders, his breath catching as you cup your palm around the bulge in his jeans.  “Is it something I can help you with?”  You lick your bottom lip then smile. 

“Oh,” he says.  His eyes crinkle with amusement but there is a score of different emotions on his face, all of them smoldering.  “You really wanna play that game, huh?” 

There is no chance for an answer because Jeongin returns, hopping into the car with his notes.  You and Chan separate, looking out the dashboard window.  You pat your hot skin and try to slow your racing heart. 

Sensing the oddly silent tension, Jeongin narrows his eyes and looks between you.  Eventually, his expression sours like he smells something bad. 

“Oh my god,” he says, then punches Chan in the shoulder.  “Are you fucking my sister!”

“What!” Chan says, getting redder by the second.  “Jeongin, how could— I wouldn’t— I don’t—”

“What, you don’t fuck?” Jeongin asks, then laughs until he is wheezing.  “You can do better, man.”

“Jeongin, shut up!”  You reach back to smack at him, rubbing your hand all over his stupid face and messing up his hair while he wails in protest.   

“All right, all right!”  Chan says, breaking you up.  “Let’s just… let’s just go, okay?  Okay.” 

“Yes, daddy,” you say, mostly out of spite. 

Chan squeaks. 

Jeongin pretends to gag then slumps against his window.  

“I’m gonna need to start taking the bus,” he says, morose.

-

Fortunately, thanks to the impromptu revelation of your shenanigans, it does not take much convincing for Jeongin to find another ride home.  When Chan pulls into the campus parking lot to pick you up, you approach his vehicle with a grin and a wink.    

You slide into the passenger seat, smoothing down your skirt while he sighs.  It sounds more amused than frustrated.    

“Where’s your brother?” he asks. 

You shrug with theatrical exaggeration. 

“Right,” Chan says, starting the car.  “Got it.”

He puts a hand on your headrest to leverage himself, looking out the rear window as he reverses the car.  That proximity alone gets you hot, the temptation to grab him already strong.  You play a patient game, as always, stealing glances and suggestive smiles while he drives. 

Halfway home, you put a hand on his knee.  At first your touch is innocent, tracing slow circles on the denim, then you get a little more brazen, fingertips brushing up his thigh. 

“Baby,” he says in that warning voice, eyes on the road.  Holding the wheel with one hand, he uses the other to stop your wandering ascent. 

“Yes?” you ask with all that faux-innocence.  Rather than fight his touch, you guide his hand to your lap, placing it on your knee. 

Unlike this morning, he does not play nice.  You make a startled, high-pitched sound when he immediately dives under your skirt, his rough palm pressing down where you are already aching.   Your thighs slam shut out of instinct but his hand is where it wants to be, his fingers curled around your pussy in a proprietary touch. 

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his voice playfully mean.  He grinds the heel of his palm against your throbbing clit.  He never takes his eyes off the road.  “Isn’t this what you wanted?”  

“I don’t know what you mean,” you say, though you cannot help but rock yourself against his hand. 

“Mmm,” he says, patting your pussy then stroking your thigh, guiding your legs open again.  “We’ll see about that.” 

You keep your eyes ahead too, pretending not to notice when he glances at you.  Then you gasp because he reaches out and tugs the zipper on your hoodie.  You instinctively clutch it, wearing nothing but a bra underneath, having taken off your other layers to surprise him.  He is the one surprising you, a secret sexy menace under all that shy sweetness.  He unzips the hoodie halfway then reaches past the material to squeeze a handful.  Your body practically sings under his touch. 

“Channie,” you say, breathless again. 

“Don’t worry, baby,” he says.  “Channie’s gonna take care of you, yeah?  Always.” 

“Take care of me how?”  Your question toys with that false innocence, the little game that gets you both hot, but there is genuine curiosity there too.   This game has been escalating slowly over time.  You want more and you are starting to get desperate. 

Chan looks at you.  His gaze moves over your mouth then your body, your skirt rucked up and breasts practically spilling out of your hoodie.  He swears, looking back at the road with that red blush on his ears again. 

“Fuck,” he says.  “I want to fuck you so badly.  You have no idea.” 

His words have a raw, honest edge.  He swallows, hard.  You feel like one tightly coiled ball of tension, ready to snap apart. 

“Please,” you say in that breathy voice.  “Make me feel good.  No one else can like you.” 

You do not make it all the way home.  There is a nearby lookout point at the park, a shrouded parking area that has undoubtedly seen its fair share of hook-ups.  Chan parks there and you dive at each other like randy teenagers.  You climb into his lap, bumping everything on the console on your way, the honking the horn with your backside for good measure.  It makes you both giggle.

Then your laughter is swallowed by hot, desperate, open-mouthed kisses.

“Mmm,” you hum against his lips.  You push his hat off his head and sink your fingers in his curly hair.  “Channie, please,” you say. 

He cups the back of your neck, holding your head where he wants it so he can kiss you thoroughly.  His ravishing touch leaves you shaking with need, rocking against him to no relief. 

“Poor baby,” he says with a little laugh, squeezing your neck then drawing his hand down the curve of your chest.  He unzips the rest of your hoodie.  His mouth follows the same path as his hands, down your chest and back up again. 

He is working you up, deftly and swiftly, using just a few well-placed throat kisses, a few flicks of his fingertips across the sensitive peaks of your breasts.  He seems so composed under you, other than the flush to his complexion, the heat to his skin that has him shedding his leather jacket.   You feel completely undone, half-naked and writhing in his lap.  Your hands tangle together, fumbling around his belt. 

“Let me,” he says.  He gets his belt open and his fly undone, then his hands are on you.  He doesn’t just tug your panties to the side but rips them apart, snapping the seams like they’re nothing.  Then those strong fingers are inside you, finding just how wet and ready you are for him.  He makes a low, guttural sound, thumping his head against the headrest.  “Fuck, baby girl,” he says.  “You know what you do to me?” he asks. 

“I dunno, Channie.”  You pout and bat your eyelashes.  “You better show me.” 

He laughs.  He holds your hips and moves you, positions you where he wants you.  You are pressed so close together, chest-to-chest, so you cannot see when he finally enters you.  But you feel it, hot and hard and filling you, stretching you, almost painful but burning so good.  You slap a hand to the roof of the car, eyes closing as you moan. 

“S-so much,” you say, because it feels like you have been sinking forever and he is still not all the way inside. 

“Yeah, I know, baby,” he says.  His thumb is expertly circling your clit while your whole body seems to soften, changing to fit him, like you were made for this moment.  “That’s it,” he says.  “Have a little trust in yourself.  I know you can take it.”

His thrusts are small, his hands guiding your hips over him, grinding him deep inside you.   Then you are clutching his shoulders, moaning into his neck as he fucks you slowly and steadily.  It is everything you needed and not enough, only spurring more desire.  You know you will need him again, the way he needs you.  Just the way he says your name as he holds you, as he fucks you, as he takes you apart and puts you together again.   It feels like that when you come, when he fucks you through it, saying your name and praising you. 

“Good girl,” he says, barely above a breath.  “That’s it, baby. Just like that.”

When he gets close, he pushes the seat back.   You get on your knees between his legs and take him in your mouth.  He comes with a low groan and another breathless slur of your name.  Then you are back in his lap and his hands are everywhere, clutching you possessively to his chest.  You are both breathing hard, riding the slow come-down of your frantic desperation. 

“Fuck,” he eventually says.  He seems shy again, giggling as he looks at you with a blush on his face.  “We, uh, we just did that, in the car, uh wow, yeah, I, uh—”

“Channie,” you say with a laugh of your own, grabbing his face and kissing him.  He smiles into the kiss, returning it with the same tender softness. 

You kiss for a long time, ignoring the world around you.  Eventually you have to crawl back into your seat and mostly redress yourselves, still smiling and giggling at each other the whole time.  Your phone was buzzing in your bag so you finally check it, rolling your eyes at the message there.   

You show it to Chan who laughs, blushing again, but nods. 

“Right,” he says, “We should probably go get him.”

You laugh too, sending an emoji with its tongue sticking out in response to Jeongin’s message that reads:  My ride fell through.  When you are done not-fucking each other, can you come back and get me?  Thanks.  Sluts.   

#bang chan x reader #bang chan x you #chan x reader #chan x you #bang chan smut #chan smut #skz smut #stray kids smut #stray kids x you #stray kids x reader #skz x reader #skz x you #valentinesdaystories

[hetaherr]

playing video games with them | anemo boys <3

: kazuha, xiao, venti, wanderer

:mostly crack, a little suggestive but no warnings

well anyway this is another reupload!! added kuni’s part also got lazy to proof read its just a headcanon anyway!!! i play wayy to much video games and id love to share my hobbies with these sweet babies <3

kazuha

i think this baby is a really chill gamer, he enjoys the cozy aspect of video games. thats why i think games like minecraft, stardew valley, animal crossing and the sims!! cozy video game dates are a norm for you guys when its too hot outside or too rainy.

imagine playing stardew valley with him, curled up under the covers with your MATCHING SWITCH CONSOLES. you guys working through the first few years of the game as little farm people doing little farm things. he’d even find some helpful guides online so you guys can maximise your finances in the game. honestly i can see how he gets a little petty at the fact that you MARRIED some npc in the game and he had to watch the whole cutscene while you joked around that he hadn’t given you enough attention and this was all his fault. now kazuha hates that particular npc, and he’s definitely pouting the whole night. give him lots of smooches, tell him that no video game code can replace your pookie wookie baby boy <3

but there, of course are other ways you can make up for it, like asking him to marry you- in animal crossing duh!! he’d take this whole thing very seriously obviously, its a wedding silly. he’d prepare a little wedding venue in his world by the beach, even going as far to design a cute little tux. it’s adorable, also don’t think for a second that he wouldn’t give you a kiss (giggling after) when the wedding officiant says you may now kiss. i also can picture kazuha buying you a promise ring irl , with a maple leaf engraved onto it. yes it was a animal crossing wedding, but it was YOUR WEDDING non the less.

another thing i can imagine is while you were playing the sims kazuha would 100% ask to create a little family with you. he’d even help to go “shopping” online for CC that would fit your characters or homes. kazuha DIES A LITTLE inside as you carefully curate each of the characters, spending hours deciding on the perfect outfits, hairs and personalities. coming up with mini fantasy stories about the mini yous and giggling along with him when they get a little too absurd. your cute family consists of you, kazuha and a little white cat. kazuha likes watching you get a little flustered whenever his character flirts with yours, sending a romantic haiku your way. not to mention the first time your character’s woohoo’ed he teasingly said:

“its honestly a shame that they’re the only ones that get to woohoo you know?”

anyway kazuha is 100% down to try as many games as he can with you, playing games with him is 10 bells out of 10 bells hehe

xiao

gamer xiao… yea he kinda scares me. xiao plays shooter games for sure, like obviously he’s had an eboy valorant phase but lets skip past that for now. its definitely more than normal to hear him grumbling how “dogshit” some of his teammates are. he’s definitely muted from chat on several games, also banned from league most of the time from being toxic in the chats.

playing competitive games with xiao is definitely an experience, and it definitely does not feel like the stereotypical pocket sage and hyper-carry jett. so please proceed with caution. the first time you and him played together, he may have gotten a little TOO HEATED and may have cussed you out on accident forgetting it was his loving, doting and caring partner who just wanted to participate in one of his hobbies. xiao doesn’t mean to get angry at you, please bare with him when the words “how is this person so fucking bad, how are they SO USELESS JUST GET OFF THE GAME DUDE” slip out. and oh boy… xiao immediately regrets his words, he feels so bad. he was actually overjoyed when you asked to play with him, even if he doesn’t actually show it, now he definitely assumes that you won’t ever want to play games with him EVER, hell maybe you want to break up. he’s spiralling. he apologises so much and he’s so awkward and so fidgety. its hard to stay mad at him, when he’s like this you have to admit he’s a little cutie. the next few days he’s definitely cautious and on edge around you, he finds it weird that you let go of the situation so easily and just moved on. he cant believe he let such vulgar words be thrown towards you. so after a conversation about his behaviour, you both decide maybe its best you just be an observer. you’re more than happy to straddle him, chin on his shoulder when he plays at his pc. and xiao LOVES IT, there is honestly nothing more comforting than you give him a little kiss when he starts to get a little too tense. occasionally when you face the screen and watch his games, he gets so nervous to play well. and xiao absolutely DIES when you compliment his abilities. bro needs the praise please, in that moment he thinks you’re so sexy and you have such a caring soul and his ears are tinted so red. don’t tease him though, he won’t be able to play the game properly.

another thing xiao is so weirdly good at is arcade games. i can picture arcade dates and xiao is just godly at them, claw machines, those basketball ones, car racing- you name it sweetheart and he’s earning those tickets like he needs to feed his 20 kids as a single dad. xiao acts so nonchalant about it, shrugging his shoulders as if this talent of his isn’t a big deal, but inside he’s so proud that he’s managed to get you that plushie he knows you’d been eyeing the whole day. he loves the way you grip onto his biceps pulling him to another machine to test his abilities, he may grumble about you overreacting but he’s so happy just to see you smile. and having you cheer him on the side is such an added bonus, you’re such a cute cheerleader. anyway i rate xiao a “please dont scold me baby im trying my best” out of “FUCK YOU FUCKING SUCK”

venti

horror games. literally venti HATES THEM but he cant get enough of it. playing phasmophobia would be so incredibly fun, but also a total shitshow. like im talking him making you do all the work while he intentionally provokes the ghost. at the same time he’s too scared to do anything so, he’s always really close to you. so if anything ever happens, you’d be a total idiot to think he’d try to help you, venti would be the first one out the door and running away. venti is also so horrendously LOUD, literally half the time instead of getting spooked by the game, your having a heart attack inducing jump scare from his random screaming. don’t even get me started on roblox horror games, every week there’s some new game he discovered on tiktok, and you are playing it with him, you have to.

another game venti loves to play is sims, but he’s about 100 times more chaotic compared to kazuha. he loves those ridiculous challenges and he wants to have like 10 babies with you, and then proceeds to cry when they are taken away from the sims version of cps. for some reason he has all the packs and likes to screw around with everything. he makes silly little bets with you in any game, for example in the sims he’d bet with you whether your 23rd child is going to be a boy or girl, most bets are harmless like a kiss or cuddles, unless he’s in the mood.

speaking of intimacy, venti needs to be holding you while playing games. arms linked, lying on your lap or you in his, honestly you just let him because he’s so cheeky about it anyway. venti also loves playing music related games with you, duh!! karaoke, guess the song, finish the lyric. ANYTHING!! whether you can sing or not, he just loves to hear your voice, definitely teases you if you cant though hehe. karaoke is so fun, if your shy he definitely eases you into letting lose and breaking out of your comfort zone, duetting with you is something he loves because music is his passion and honestly it hits so close to home for him. you’d often find him squeezing your hand as a form of encouragement.

im rating venti a solid 8 red bulls out of “i’ve already had 15”.

wanderer

this little emo baby is 100% only ever playing single player games, things that are extremely grindy and super lore heavy (bro is on subreddits looking at game theories and conspiracies, he would love to talk to you about them if you ever asked)!! im talking about bloodborne, doom, assassin’s creed and dark souls. he hates online multiplayer games because he doesn’t want to interact with “idiots” as he’s mentioned numerous times. so unfortunately its not often that you have a chance to play any type of multiplayer games with him.

however when it comes to his gaming sessions, he’d subtly invite you to come watch him because you’re like his own little streaming audience, and he loves it. the way you comment about how cool his character looks, or ask questions about gameplay mechanics. he loves how you involve yourself in his hobbies, it turns him to mush. he also loves how you play with his hair while peeking over his shoulder to look at the tv screen as he taps away at the controller. sometimes when the game gets a little boring he notices how your breath bounces off his neck, needless to say, those nights end up a bit more differently than how you originally imagined.

also if your ever interested in the game, kuni would “hesitantly” offer you to play on a new save file. but he’s actually elated that you’re going to try his FAVOURITE video game ever. you take your place in his lap as he explains to you the basics, not many would notice but you can ever so slightly hear the excitement in his voice. kuni complains about you being so lost but he’s so careful with explaining certain things, he’s also so patient as you take hours designing your character, well he’s okay being patient since its you. kuni absolutely DISSOLVES when facing a difficult boss, puzzle or obstacle, you kinda go into a slump against his chest and beg him to help you get past it. he snickers that your so weak, but somehow he manages to get through so swiftly- i guess he needs to show off a little to you. he also may complain a lot but thats just how this baby boy is, dont get discouraged he actually thinks you’re so cute.

also if you ever find yourself playing overcooked, moving out, gang beasts or any of those party games with kuni… good luck, just because he doesn’t like competitive games like valorant, DOES NOT MEAN HE ISNT COMPETITIVE. he gets so worked up and its honestly a little cute if you can look past the crusty white dog behaviour. if you do end up getting into an argument over these games, dont be surprised. im lazy to give a rating so im giving him 10/10, again minus the crusty white dog.

edit: if you saw “anyway wanderer is a straight” HAHA i apologise maybe thats why i should straight proof reading oops hehe

#genshin impact #kazuha #xiao #venti #wanderer #kazuha x reader #xiao x reader #venti x reader #wanderer x reader #scaramouche x reader

[ladyloveandjustice]

My Favorite Continuing Manga I Read in 2023

I went into the brand new manga I read in this post, but here's an update on some great continuing series!

Shout out to She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat for having phenomenal storyline about find the courage to cut toxic family members off, which is pretty rare to see (in manga especially)! The story explores how your family can impose a relationship with food that harms you in many different ways, and how finding acceptance of your food habits helps you heal. It also continues to be a lovely exploration of queer adults finding themselves that makes the point that your experiences don't have to fit in a box.  And I appreciate that they included a character who doesn't like eating that much for me to relate to! See my first review here, 

Now for a quick word about the other great continuing manga I read:

- I Want to be a Wall really upped it's game and included a nuanced discussion about asexuality that I loved seeing. See first review here.

- Yuri is My Job is still the best lesbian drama manga around and hits hard. See previous discussion here,

- A Man and His Cat is still the sweetest and Yona of the Dawn is as action packed and intriguing as ever...I feel a climax slowly coming!

- A Bride’s Story is still wonderfully done historical fiction with lush art while How Do We Relationship continues to develop its web of queer relationships nicely.

- Witch Hat Atelier is still a wondrous story of magic, creativity, accessibility, and struggling under unfair systems, all told in a fascinating fantasy setting with loveable, complex characters and incredible art.

A lot of manga I like concluded this year too, so let's take a slightly longer look at the conclusions!

Dungeon Meshi- The conclusion to one of my favorite fantasy manga ever was fittingly bombastically weird and fully satisfying. It filled you up like good food should. Live well instead of being consumed by fear of death and loss. Eat well instead of working yourself to the bone and neglecting your needs. Follow your own path, but cherish your connections and get together for a good meal. This series and its intricate world and wonderful characters will stay with me for a long time.

Catch These Hands- See my first review here. I enjoyed the cute conclusion to this series, and it was nice to see a little ace rep and a message about not conforming to society's expectations of "adulthood". It's an ode to delinquent girls that a sukeban stan like me can get behind! A lot of the stuff that annoyed me in the second volume was mostly dropped for the third and fourth, so that's also nice.

Run Away With Me Girl- See my first review here. I wish this had been a little longer, but the conclusion worked well and was cathartic.

Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon- See my first review here. A nice conclusion to a cute, slow-paced little romance series, with yet more ace rep!

The Two of Them are Pretty Much Like This- see my first review here. This conclusion felt a bit rushed, with plot lines still dangling, like it was cancelled early or something. But the series is still good overall, and I'll miss it.

My Love Mix Up -This sweet-as-pie series about cute gay misunderstandings leading to romance comes to a fittingly sweet conclusion. It's sad waving goodbye to these silly, good-hearted kids, but I'm satisfied with where they ended up.

#year in comics #manga #yuri #dungeon meshi #yuri is my job #witch hat atelier #she loves to cook and she loves to eat #a man and his cat #a bride's story #how do we relationship #doughnuts under a crescent moon #the two of them are pretty much like this #run away with me girl #my love mix up #akatsuki no yona #yona of the dawn #my reviews

[xzhdjsj]

Ranking Sakuverse Characters!

I've seen a couple of these on my feed and thought I'd give it a try :))

- Zaros

I honestly don't know how he made his way to the top. When he was first let out of saku's basement, I raved about how much of an asshole he is and that I'd never like him but uhhh that didn’t quite age well did it?🤡 I also LOVEEEEEE fantasy settings so he definitely has my attention there.

- Andrew

Would've been number 1 if it wasn't for that menace of a man (seriously help me) Andrew was the first character I was introduced to and I love him too damn much. Forbidden romance always had me running laps and the way this man speaks AGHEHWJEJWJKSWKKWKSKW ACCENT>>>

- Xanthus

He's a vampire and I. LOVE. VAMPIRES. (No, I have not seen Twilight tho) Like come over here and take all my blood idc (I have iron deficiency💀) But on a serious note Xanthus is such a cool character and his story is a genius concept! Can't wait to see him beat Audric's ass🙏

- Isaac

Pookie wookie Isaac! I loved the slowburn of his story and I really enjoyed his chatacter development. He's so thoughtful and sweet too🥹 Deserves all the kisses!

- Jonah

As everyone has been saying GAMER BOY GAMER BOY GAMER BOY GAMER BOY +he gives me huge malewife energy! Need I say more?

- Elias

Another gamer boy, only partially but it counts! I especially enjoyed when he forced batista to call him pretty😭 like yes baby you are pretty DEMAND TO BE CALLED A PRETTY BOY! I also loveee his ear piercings! He's one of the reasons I got some myself🤭

- Kayson

Oh I love this idiot, he's another character that gives me malewife vibes. He's so supportive and sweet! Everyone deserves a Kayson in their life!

- Dontis

I didn't expect him to be this far down on my list😭 Dontis is quite the character. He's unique and I definitely feel his charm radiating through my screen. (He better make it out alive or I'm going to start a war) Oh and also accent>>> (Can you tell I'm a sucker for accents?)

- Rowan

GOLDEN RETRIEVER BOY. He's so damn sweet and I can't wait to see how his story progresses!

- Asirel

I spell this man's name wrong on a regular (Azirel/ Asriel) so if you've seen that look the other way pookie.

His motives and his relationship with pet is interesting and I wanna see what happens next!

- Cevyk

Just a silly, goofy guy (not really) The skin peeling caught me off guard but I think its very creative. I mean he's a demon what were we expecting when we sold our soul😭 This is another story I can't wait to see develop in the future!

- Alex

No. Absolutely not🧍‍♀️ I loved him at first but god that whole argument to break-up segment really freaking hurt me. So now his dumbass at the bottom

Extra

Tried to watch Luca vids but his voice reminds me of someone I used to know😭 I got war flashbacks and quit💀 but he seems like a cutie patootie!

#zsakuva #sakuverse #asmr #zaros #zaros atha’lin #andrew #andrew marston #xanthus #xanthus claiborne #isaac #isaac rhoades #jonah #elias #kayson #dontis #rowan #asirel #cevyk #alex

[restlessmaknae]

the heart that wants to see you // hendery

➳ Characters: prince!Hendery x female!reader/you

➳ Genre: fantasy, magical kingdom au, magical school au, angst

➳ Words: 6k

➳ Warning: mentions of pressuring parents, emotional and physical abuse (on reader's parents' part)

➳ A/N: This is a spin-off for my Mark-centered story 'enchanted', but it can be read on its own. If you still want to know about reader (named Yoojung in 'enchanted') and Hendery's previous scenes, but don't want to read a whooping 19k for that, I've put together the briefing of their main scenes from the Mark fic.

Also, this story is dedicated to @dat-town. She's an inspiration for so many reasons, and not just because she inspired this story. Love you loooots! ❤️

➳ Spotify playlist

➳ NCT taglist: @s00buwu, @winterbeartaehyungbestboy, @sweetjaemss, @stories-inbetween-the-stars, @squiishymeow, @heyditseeey

5 months after the end of the yearly contest

You used to genuinely believe that once you would make it to the Four Kingdoms’ United School of Applied Elemental Magic after four absolutely insane weeks of learning how to tame all four elemental magic - water, air and earth apart from your fire powers - and passing all the rounds, you would be happy. On the other hand, it couldn’t have been further from the truth.

How you had passed the last round made it all seem futile, and you had this gawking guilt inside of you that somehow, you were here unfairly, you had just been lucky. Could it be considered luck though when each and every time you met Prince Minhyung in the corridor, and you didn’t see his friends from the contest, you were reminded why they weren’t here, why Prince Hendery wasn’t here?

You had a deal after all. The last round could have ended with two winners, but no, Hendery had to surrender before the time limit would be up, a few seconds before you could have both been given a pass. You could have both won. You could have both made it to the school. Sure, the judges would have had the chance to let either both of you win, one of you or neither of you since you hadn’t finished the battle within the given 15 minutes, but at least you would have had the chance.

Now, whenever you were reminded of Prince Hendery’s absence, you felt an avalanche of overwhelming emotions, and you couldn’t quite place them. He had explained that he had his reason for surrendering, but how could he have justified it? You had been so angry at him, you had been so frustrated at him because it had hurt your pride that he had let you win as if you had been a charity case, a mere consul and magic professor’s daughter, not royalty, and yet…

You found yourself missing him, his silly jokes, the way he could always light up the mood, the way his blossoming smile made your heart do somersaults, the way he had consoled you on the rooftop tower after the second round when you had thought that you had messed it up for good and you could have been eliminated, and you had missed his mere presence because now there was only a shadow of him beside Prince Minhyung whenever you were having lunch in the canteen. Your eyes were still searching for him in the corridors, in the training rooms, in the canteen, to no avail. He would not come back, you knew that.

And now, there was little to no chance of seeing him again because for the next 2 years, you would be staying at the wizardry school while he would be doing his duties in the Water Kingdom, and he had no reason to visit the school anymore.

Was it betrayal? Was it pity? Was it just him being absolutely stupid?

Call it however you want, but like the bruises that you got when you were carelessly practising, knowing fully well that you could literally get burnt, it fucking hurt. Because you let him in, and he left you right there, all alone, within the walls of your carefully crafted fort.

10 months after the end of the yearly contest

One thing that was easier after the contest had come to an end was to get along with others who had made it with you to study at the school. You could laugh along with Seunghun’s joke instead of seeing a powerful rival in him, you could accept the fact that Xiaoting was genuinely kind to you, not just trying to poke at you with her flawless attitude, and you could finally lean into the reassurance that you would spend 2 years with these people, and no one was at the risk of elimination anymore.

So you and Chaeyoung spent more time together than before even though you were assigned single rooms once the term started, hence you weren’t roommates anymore. Prince Minhyung also stayed his humble, boyish self, and even though he had to go back to the palace from time to time to take care of some duties - attend ceremonies, consul meetings and formal events between royalty -, he wasn’t given any special treatment because he was a prince, and he spent most of his time with you and Chaeyoung.

More precisely, he spent most of his time with Chaeyoung because the two had gradually grown closer since the school started, and you didn’t like third wheeling, so you didn’t bother them when you felt like they wanted some privacy to themselves. Oftentimes, you escaped to the rooftop tower, or squeezed your frustration into practising even more - a coping mechanism that you had grown fond of, too bad it didn’t make you feel better all the time. It was a distraction of some sort, though.

That’s when and where you met Kim Jiwoong, one of the most promising wizards in training of the Fire Kingdom who was in his second year of studies after successfully passing all the rounds in the previous yearly contest. Even though you had never met him before, both of you coming from the Fire Kingdom meant that you had a mutual understanding of your powers, the strengths and weaknesses you had with other elemental powers, and the pressure to do well at the wizardry school.

Like the elements themselves, the families of the Fire Kingdom were the most intense, the most pressuring and the most vicious. The royal family also ruled with iron fists, and there were no exceptions to any of their rules. That’s what you liked the most about your own kingdom, yet, that was also what made it difficult to not feel so worthless when you made a mistake. Having someone older than you (even by just a year), someone from your own kingdom, help you train was an excellent opportunity to improve, and you were both fine with silence as well, so he was the perfect training partner, really.

Months passed by, and the brewing rage inside of you calmed down, you tamed it into a sleeping volcano instead of one that could erupt anytime. You were doing well at school, your teachers praised you, your parents were proud of you, and these were what you focused on instead of the ache in your heart. You almost convinced yourself that it was alright, you couldn’t be swayed by the idea of meeting Prince Hendery again because why would you, it was merely an unrealistically hopeful (or fearful) scenario in your head?

Then, he showed up unannounced at the gate of the school, and when you, Prince Minhyung and Chaeyoung met him in the corridors, your heart betrayed you as it started thumping vehemently. That traitor.

“Hendery!” Minhyung exclaimed giddily and did their signature handshake with the boy before hugging him briefly. Chaeyoung was next, she also let him hug her while exchanging a few words with the boy, but when it was your turn, your legs froze, your mind blank.

Prince Hendery didn’t seem fazed by your reaction, instead, he acted as casually as he usually did, yet, that just bugged you even more. When he hugged you, it felt so out of place, his warm touch not easing the pain of the thorns that were searing your heart at the thought of the boy.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmured into the embrace, and it didn’t slip your attention that he toned down his loud voice, so that only you could hear him.

‘I’ve missed you, too,’ was what you really wanted to say, yet be it your pride or your agony, you didn’t let the words roll off your tongue. Instead, you mumbled something akin to:

“It’s good to see you.”

Hendery let go of you, and the moment he did so, your heart churned. It reminded you of the moment you had shared on the rooftop tower after the second round. When you had almost been eliminated because you had messed up the exercise in front of the judges. You had been so used to blaming and punishing yourself for all the mistakes you had done, that it had come as a second nature to do so by that point. So when the boy had tried to console you, to protect you from your own guilt, you had tried to send him away. ‘How dare he comfort you when you deserve to feel this way’, was what you had thought, and you had managed to push him away, but only until he had caught your arms and put his arms around you.

For the briefest of a moment, something akin to hurt flashed in his orbs too, and you wondered if he was replaying the same scene in his head. Then, the moment was gone, his frown was replaced by his trademark wide smile, and he asked you all what you were up to.

“What brings you here?” Chaeyoung inquired after you all said a few words about your first year at school, and how it was crazy that it was almost coming to an end. Meaning that it was almost a year ago that you had first met.

“I’m here to pass the list of applicants from our own kingdom for this year’s contest to the office. So I’m really just coming and going, but it’s great that I didn’t have to find you for myself because we bumped into each other like this,” he explained as he flashed a content grin, and you wished it had been so easy for you to smile like this. To smile at all.

“It is great,” Minhyung hollered excitedly, and asked about Hendery’s friend, Xiaojun, who had also been a part of the contest until the third round. Talking about the contest came so easily to him just as well as to Hendery.

You hated how it seemed to have such a different effect on you. You were convinced you were over this, the blaming, the frustration, the angst, the second-guessing, and now here was Prince Hendery, and despite dreaming about this moment no matter how much you would have absolutely denied daydreaming about it, your heart was bleeding as if the wound had never healed.

You could see from the corner of your eyes how Chaeyoung nudged Minhyung in the side, and they started talking about having to go somewhere. You knew where this was going, but before you could excuse yourself alongside them, it was just the two of you with Hendery in the corridor, the sounds of your friends’ chatting fading in the background.

You looked up at the boy expectantly, all wide eyes, long limbs, silly little messy locks that covered his left eye almost entirely, ones that you were itching to put aside, but the weight of reality was heavier than your own inner desires, so you resisted doing so. The boy didn’t seem different than the last time you had seen him, but it was probably because he wasn’t in a fancy royal attire, more like a casual one with a satin shirt and cotton pants, paired with dress shoes, all in the many shades of blue, the representative colour for the Water Kingdom.

You stood there in your burgundy inflammable jacket and sport pants, on your way to practise in the Fire Kingdom’s own school attire, and the distance between you two had never seemed wider. He had never seemed more out of reach than now, only an arm length away from you.

“Shouldn’t you be going around with a bodyguard or something?”

“He’s waiting for me at the gates. We deemed that it would be safe within these walls,” Hendery explained with a shrug of his shoulders before inquiring. “Why? Are you worried about me?” He leaned down, leaning closer to you, and you rolled your eyes at his question. Like in old times, you thought to yourself, but you immediately tossed the thought aside. Nothing was like how it used to be before.

“I was just suddenly reminded of the incidence with you and Jaeeon,” you answered truthfully, thinking back to that time when the senate head’s son had punched the prince in the face when most of Prince Hendery and Prince Minhyung’s friends had still been in the competition. Jaeeon had thought it had been because of discrimination, and even though the boy had denied it, saying that one of your friends - Dayoung - had been eliminated already, he hadn’t punched back when Jaeeon had thrown a punch at him. Previously, you had asked him not to cause more trouble because his presence in the competition as a prince had already drawn unwanted attention. He had listened, but oh, how you wished he hadn’t.

“He’s been disqualified either way, so I don’t have anything to worry about anymore,” he pointed out flippantly, and you didn’t have it in you to say anything more on the topic. Truthfully, you wanted nothing else to say to him, but you let a few seconds of silence pass by - expectant, maybe - before you actually announced your intention.

“I think they’re already waiting for you, so I won’t hold you up,” you excused yourself with a bob of your head, ready to turn around to head to the training room.

However, before you could have gotten further away from the boy, he called after you, and fell in step with you, making you halt beside him if you didn’t want him to follow you.

“What?” You laced your arms in front of your chest defensively, looking up at him challengingly.

“I just… Are you still angry with me about the final round? You don’t seem like… like yourself,” he blurted out finally, and his realisation pained you more than if he had been oblivious to it all like how he had been oblivious to a lot of different things.

You held your chin up high, all the emotions of the past year flowing through you like an unstoppable tide, striking out at anyone and everyone. You felt all that confusion, disappointment, guilt and anger dance in your veins, wild and free, and you didn’t put a stop to them. You let them out, you let them burn through your body, to come out in an answer you wouldn’t have said so if you had held yourself back.

“I’ve changed, Hendery. If you hadn’t wanted me to, maybe you should have let the judges decide whom they want to pass instead of surrendering at the last minute, but oh, you just had to play the hero” you replied, cold and strong.

“I did it for you,” he justified, desperate and soft.

You let out a small huff of air before turning on your heel, and this time, Hendery didn’t follow you. Maybe he realised he had made the wrong choice the last time you had met.

2 years after the end of the yearly contest

Everything was white, blue, burgundy, green, white, blue, burgundy, green…

Everything was in the colours of the four kingdoms - the impossibly vivid green plants, the sea-like deep-blue ornaments, the burgundy flames of the candles dancing within glass walls, the white of the drink that was passed around to guests, and you weren’t even sure what was in it -, and it made your head spin. If it wasn’t already dizzying just how many people were in the hall of the Four Kingdoms’ United School of Applied Elemental Magic when you were used to seeing only a few dozens of students and professors alike, the colours definitely didn’t ease your discomfort. Much like the fact that your parents were there.

It was your graduation though. Everyone was celebrating that these 2 years were finally over, that this day would happen only once, and that now you were a much more valuable part of society. Some of you would become advisers for your respective kingdom’s royal families, consuls in the senate or professors in training at the school. Prince Minhyung, for one, would go back to the Air Kingdom, but now not just as a prince, but also as an adviser at the palace. Chaeyoung would join the senate just like her parents had done so. Yeonjun - who re-dyed his hair to a new shade of blue for this day - would join the royal palace in the Water Kingdom - his own kingdom - as a tutor for a princess, so he would not only teach her magic alongside her other tutor but also teach her how to fight since he seemed to be particularly good at that. Serim from the Earth Kingdom would help rebuild a a few towns of the kingdom that had been destroyed by a fire, and afterwards, he would continue helping out in development projects - both with magic and both with his leadership skills -, while Yeoreum had become interested in magical medicine, so she would train to become a magical healer in the Earth Kingdom.

And you, you decided to stay here to train as a professor. Not only because you had been prompted by Jiwoong who had also stayed at the school a year prior after his graduation, but also because you had grown fond of this building, more of a home to you than your own home in the Fire Kingdom. This way, you wouldn’t even have to see your parents more than it would be necessary, and as sad as it sounded, you felt more at home without them than with them.

Your choices after graduation were announced when you were called to take your certificate from your professors, and a member of the royal family, the senate or a future tutor - depending on your choice - also handed you a paper with your offer as a symbolic gesture. You took it from Jiwoong, for instance, while Yeonjun took his from Prince Hendery since he would be joining his kingdom.

It had been more than a year since you had last seen the prince, and despite the bitter ending of your last conversation, you only felt uncomfortable by his presence because others were around, including your parents, and you would hate to appear anything less than perfect in front of them.

However, everything became a bit too much after a while - all the colours, all the noises, all the fake smiles -, so you excused yourself, taking your bouquet of flowers (gifted by your parents), your certificate and your offer to your room, the one that you would be leaving a day later, only to get a different one in the professors’ ward a week later. You put everything down with a sigh, and turned on your heel to go back to the hall, only to change your mind at the top of the stairs.

You did a full 180, and headed upstairs instead. The walk up to the rooftop tower was more than familiar by now, and you welcomed the same kind of reassurance as you always did here when you stepped above the threshold. Taking in a few deep breaths, you let your eyes linger on the different buildings of the school, content with your choice of staying here. Two years ago, you had been determined to get into the school, and now, you deliberately made the choice to stay here. Who would have thought?

“I had a feeling that you would be up here,” said an all too familiar voice as you were deep in thought. You would have lied if you hadn’t thought about turning back at the sound of him coming onto the rooftop, but you decided otherwise.

“Old habits die hard, I guess,” you shrugged casually, hoping that the light breeze of this summer night would carry your lies as smoothly as the petals from the nearby tree.

There were a few seconds of silence that stretched between you two while Hendery walked up to you and halted beside you. You kept your eyes on the horizon, on the way the tall gates of the school kept out all the hustle-bustle of the Circle, the circle-shaped governmental capital of the Four Kingdoms where the senate also resided, on the way the sky and the far-away sea became one and the same in the distance, on the way light and the dark existed beside each other.

Everything co-existed peacefully beside each other, and yet, it never felt more wrong to stand beside Prince Hendery than now.

“Congratulations on your graduation! I hope you will enjoy teaching the future generations of wizards here,” the young prince broke the silence, and his voice was cheery. As if he had no care in the world.

“Thank you,” you bobbed your head as you turned towards him, letting your eyes focus on him this time, on the deep shade of blue of his uniform, on the way the belt around his cotton pants highlighted his slender build, on the way his hair seemed sparkling under the light of the torches nearby, on the genuine care in his eyes.

Truth is, you had missed him, but you told yourself that you would miss him even more if you had more to remember about him. As if that one month with him hadn’t been enough, now you would have more memories to torture yourself with. However, you decided to give him one chance, just one more chance to explain himself before you would go back inside your walls, in the lonely yet safe home they had created for you.

“But it could have been both of us, you know. Graduating together and such,” you pointed out honestly. The prince’s features hardened hearing your words, but you didn’t want to back away now. Not anymore. “Won’t you tell me why you actually surrendered at the last minute?”

“Does it matter anymore?”

“It does!” You exclaimed, your frustration lashing out on him. You didn’t even want to keep the hurt from your voice, you had to know it, you had to know it now or else, when else might you have the chance for it? “You don’t know how many times it crossed my mind that you might have pitied me, you might have wanted me to pass because I’m just a charity case for you-”

“A charity case? No, god, no,” Hendery cut you off immediately, shaking his head fervently. You had never seen him so confused before, alas, you had only been spending a month together. However, back then, each and every day together had felt like an eternity - for better or for worse -, and it hurt to realise now that it had been only a month, and yet… how much you had let yourself fall for him, how much you had let him in…

“I… I thought you had a feeling why,” he started cautiously, but when you just rolled your eyes at his cryptic words, he continued. “One of the judges in the final round had been tutoring me and my siblings at the palace before. I had a feeling that he would convince the other judges to let only me pass if I didn’t surrender. I didn’t want to take your chance or risk taking it. Besides, I wanted you to make it because I didn’t want you to go back home, I didn’t want you to face your parents after being eliminated. After what you told me about them on the rooftop, I couldn’t have just let it happen.”

It felt like the air was punched out of your lungs, your body filled with tremors. Your heart didn’t beat faster, but it beat heavier as if it had a weight to carry between two heartbeats. Now you weren’t dizzy because of the colours around, but because of all the emotions inside of you, of everything that suddenly came over you like an avalanche.

You knew exactly what you had said at the rooftop, but even then, when he had hugged you, you had thought it was out of pity. Because he had felt sorry that he couldn’t have done anything about your father who had punished you physically and emotionally when you had not been as good as he had wanted during practices - sometimes he had not given you dinner, sometimes he had hurt you physically, sometimes he had burned marks into your skin to make you remember, at least for a few days, what you could receive if you didn’t live up to his expectations. He could have done so because your mother had been living in the Circle, not at your house in the Fire Kingdom, because the senate was closer to her this way.

On the other hand, with the weight of the whole contest, of the chance of making it into the Four Kingdoms’ United School of Applied Elemental Magic with only a handful of other wizards, it couldn’t have been just pity. There had been too much at stake.

“I… but why? Why did I matter so much to you?” You asked in disbelief, your voice trembling by the end. He made it really difficult not to cry, but you couldn’t cry. You weren’t that weak.

Hendery smiled a bitter smile, one that you rarely saw on him, so rarely that you could have convinced yourself it didn’t exist, and let out a sigh before he let out a giggle. You furrowed your eyebrows, totally confused, and he sure took his time with the answer.

“I know you will probably say that I’m crazy, but I guess I can’t get any crazier in your eyes than I am now, so I guess I can tell you that I fell for you. It might have been just a month, but if I had ever felt like I loved someone, it would have been then, with you,” he confessed, his words carrying his usual carefree tone, but there was an underlying layer there, a kind of affection you had purposefully wanted to avoid acknowledging.

Even if you had been meaning to say a million different things, nothing came out. You had your answer now, and you couldn’t believe that you had been hating him for his choice when he had truly wanted the best for you all along. Not out of pity or hurt, but because he had loved you. Love… such an unfamiliar concept to you, love in its most selfless, most innocent form, love in smiles, in hugs, in jokes and in making choices for you that would serve you the best… this kind of love, you had never known before.

Or maybe just for a short while, and it was gone now, turned to ash, becoming one with the past.

Hendery might have taken your silence as disapproval because his bitter smile turned into a shadow of itself, a mere reminder of a smile.

“I know we would never work out either way, we’re from two different kingdoms after all, we wouldn’t even manage to see each other much because you know, I live in the palace in the Water Kingdom, and you were here and will continue to be here. But it was worth it for me, making that choice 2 years ago, so you could have this kind of future for yourself, and trust me, I’m the happiest that I could see you graduate today,” he continued talking, and it was so him, to want to fill the silence with his monologues, that with the knowledge of why he had made that choice back then, you found yourself closing the distance and throwing your arms around his frame.

“Thank you,” you whispered into the crook of his neck, the words you couldn’t have brought yourself to tell him all this time, and you felt the moment the boy believed you, the moment he eased into your embrace.

“Anytime,” he answered easily, loudly, proudly, and it hurt for you to realise that you knew, that you knew that he would have done this for you over and over again, anytime he had the chance.

And then, it hurt even more to realise that you knew, that you knew that he was right, and you two would never work out.

Just for this moment though, you let your walls down after those 2 years, and you let him in before you would let him go eventually because he was him and you were you, and your paths might have crossed, but they would not continue together.

4 years after the end of the yearly contest

Everything was blue and red; ocean-blue, cherry red, midnight-blue, wine red, and the list went on and on. There was such a wide array of colours that it was a surprise that everything seemed to blend in well despite the striking difference between the two colours.

You looked around expectantly, feeling uncharacteristically nervous because you had no idea how the day would unfold. Even though you had been to Prince Minhyung and Chaeyoung’s wedding the year before, it was different this time. They had held their wedding in the Air Kingdom, and everything had been pure, innocent, vivid white, the whole nation had been celebrating because it had been out of love. Not to mention that the kingdom had been lucky to welcome such a kind-hearted and determined young lady into the royal family who would be willing to make a change - to provide more chances for magical education for the less privileged, to give equal chances to women in higher-up roles and to promote more collaboration between the four kingdoms.

This time though, it was a princess from your kingdom who would get married to a prince in the Water Kingdom, and even though all that crossed your mind was ‘why, why, why not me?’, you pushed the thoughts away because you were happy, you were truly happy.

“Are you ready to go in?” Jiwoong inquired quietly as he stepped up to you after finishing his conversation with a consul nearby, his eyes gentle and intent on yours. Your features immediately softened, your lips curling upwards. Despite his cold demeanour, he had a heart of gold, and you weren’t surprised that all the girls at the Four Kingdoms’ United School of Applied Elemental Magic were swooning after him.

“Sure, let’s go!” You bobbed your head, and when he held out his arm, you linked yours with his as you stepped into one of the halls of the palace. You had never been to the Water Kingdom’s palace before, you had no reason to, but it was magnificent in its own way, and it felt like being underwater, surrounded by crystal clear water, away from the brightness of the outside world. As the sun shone through the giant glass windows, it really felt like it broke through the surface of water, dim and faraway, like a dream, like something out of reach.

When you stepped into the finely decorated hall, there were even more people, and rounds of polite greetings and introductions were obligatory. All kinds of wizards were here from the four kingdoms, and you caught sight of a few of your old classmates, including Prince Minhyung and now Princess Chaeyoung who were deep in talks with someone important-looking, so you waved in their direction before taking your designated seats with Jiwoong.

He didn’t let go of your arm even after you sat down, and when the ceremony started, he squeezed your hand gently, glancing sideways to see if you were doing okay. You turned your head to look at him, and when your gazes linked, you mouthed to him:

“I’m fine,” you reassured him when Prince Hendery and Princess Ahyun from the Fire Kingdom walked in. Theirs would be the first cross kingdom wedding of the decade because mostly wizards from the same kingdom - like Prince Minhyung and Chaeyoung - and royalty from the same kingdom - like Prince Kun and Princess Sujeong from the Earth Kingdom - tied the knot as it was the norm, but the Fire and Water Kingdom had a pretty intense trade argument last year that they wanted to cover up with this wedding.

As much as you would have liked to hate how this turned out for the prince - having to marry for his country, rather than for his feelings -, his smile seemed genuine, really genuine, and Princess Ahyun was a fierce yet just princess, so you couldn’t look at them with hurt or fury or disgust. You were just there, watching the events unfold, and when it was time to congratulate the couple, you didn’t shy away from it.

“Thank you for coming! I wasn’t sure how busy you would be beside your duties at the school, so I’m really glad you guys are here,” Prince Hendery beamed with his trademark wide smile when it was your turn to walk up to them. His smile didn’t falter when he caught sight of your hand in Jiwoong’s hand even though you hadn’t met him since your graduation, so you had not told him about Jiwoong. Maybe Prince Minhyung had told him, or maybe he had just heard about it somewhere when he had come by the school, and you hadn’t crossed paths.

“Of course, we came,” you replied honestly, and you were so genuine, it almost hurt because you looked at him, and he was so different yet so similar to the boy you had met 4 years ago, and the one you had last seen 2 years ago. Maybe he was even taller, he was definitely broader and stronger, but there was still that mischievous glint in his eyes and his smile, oh, his smile was the same!

It made you wonder what would have happened if you had been born as a princess, not as someone outside a royal family, if you had met under different circumstances, or if you had just been in a different universe, not having to worry about titles and contests and magical powers. Despite the time spent apart, despite the distance between you two, you had never stopped wondering about the what ifs; you had merely let them pass by reality like the scenery surrounding a building or the negative thoughts you had learned to silence beside Jiwoong.

“Congratulations on your marriage!” Jiwoong’s deep voice brought you back to reality as he held out your gift to the newlyweds, and the princess took it with a polite smile, thanking you for visiting. However, you didn’t have much time to yourselves because you were ushered to move on, but when you locked eyes with Hendery, his lips pulled into an even wider smile, you had a feeling that he was feeling the same way: bittersweet, grateful, but most of all: at ease.

You would forever be grateful for him because he had shown you that you could be loved, genuinely loved, and it was why you had been willing to let Jiwoong in when the time had come. Hendery made you believe that you could be loved, but it was Jiwoong who made you believe that you could love someone else with all your heart. Hendery might have wanted the best for you, but no one would understand you as much as Jiwoong - someone who came from the same kingdom, had the same powers and had a similar childhood. Hendery made you see who you really were under the surface, but Jiwoong helped you become a better person, a more authentic version of yourself.

The past and the present, your first and current love, the old version of you and your current you collided in that moment, and as Jiwoong guided you through the crowd, you let it go, you let it get lost in the sea of time, in all the reds and blues of the night.

A/N: Thank you for reading my story until the end! I hope you enjoyed this story of mine. Let me know what you think.

@dat-town this is for your information, but when I told you, this reminded me of something we've seen together after wrapping it up, I meant 'my precious' because their love story seemed cute and fun in 'enchanted', but it turned angstier when the boy made a decision that the girl didn't appreciate just like in the movie. Plus, I would bet all my money that you knew who was THE cameo when you saw Jiwoong's name haha. Also, the possible other spin-off that came to my mind when I wrote this was the wizard tutor!Yeonjun x princess one, and I purposefully didn't write anything about them in the last scene because who knows whether I actually end up writing it, and if I do write it, what kind of love story they might have hihi

Either way, I genuinely hope you enjoyed it all, love you again and again ❤️

P.S.: title is taken from 'Horizon' by WayV

If you want to read more stories of mine, let it be for NCT or for other artists, consider signing up for my taglist here.

Hope you have a lovely day/night! Take care! ❤️

#nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct x reader #nct x you #wayv scenarios #wayv imagines #wayv x reader #wayv x you #hendery imagines #hendery x reader #hendery scenarios #hendery x you #nct angst #wayv angst #hendery angst

[yardsards]

reading the things you post/rb while not knowing what the adventure zone is is kinda funny. I'll be scrolling my dash and see "NAH 'CAUSE BEANIEMAN GOT SO SCHLORPED WHEN THE PIANO FLAVORED STICK OF DEODERANT GOT SCAMMED" and I'm so tempted to get context, but it feels like life would be funnier without it

okay so like. the adventure zone is an actual-play ttrpg podcast (aka they record themselves playing dungeons and dragons and similar games and then edit down the recording so it's fun to listen to)

and it's kind of like 5+ different podcasts in a trenchcoat. cuz there's 5 completely separate games (well, 5 plus a couple way shorter games, but 5 main ones). and since each game is already pretty wild on its own, the fact that there are FIVE OF THEM definitely makes it sound extra bizarre to outsiders lol

there's:

1: balance: a standard fantasy world with some minor sci-fi elements. it's about heroes tracking down and neutralizing dangerous magical items and uncovering secrets about their own pasts. by far the most popular season and imo the best, but it gets off to a slow start

2: amnesty: a story about cryptids and magic in a modern day appalachian setting. been a while since i listened to this one tbh and i don't talk about it as much

3: graduation: young adults going to magic college and getting wrapped up in a demon war. this is the least popular one but not actually bad imo

4: ethersea: freelance adventurers from an undersea city exploring the world in a magical post-apocalyptic setting. my fav behind balance

5: steeplechase: like a defunctland video meets a heist movie, secret crime rings operating within a theme park. very fun, still in progress

they're released kind of like different seasons of a show, one after the other, but each "season" doesn't actually need to be listened to in order (ie you can listen to steeplechase before balance, but you'd have to start at ep 1 of steeplechase and not just skip to steeplechase ep 32 or else you'd be really confused)

honestly i've been halfway considering getting different tags for each game but i'm too lazy to change now

ANYWAY

the thing about the adventure zone is that it's a *comedy* podcast first and foremost. so most of the weird bizarre funny bits are just as funny and batshit insane even WITH context. hell, i'd say a lot of it is even MORE funny if you know what's going on.

though there is also some buckwild shit that you just get desensitized to. like one of the 3 protagonists of balance is named *taco* (but spelled taako) because it was originally just gonna be a silly one-off episode, so the player was like "haha i'm gonna be XD random and annoy my dm with this zany noun name", not knowing that there were gonna be 68 more episodes and it would eventually grow into a deeply emotionally moving story. so by the end you're fucking sobbing over this character's love and loss and you forget that "taco" is not a normal thing for an elf/wizard to be called

it's absolutely delightful

#eliot posts #taz #the adventure zone #i get if you don't wanna listen bc the actual play genre isn't for everyone #but god it is so good and i love the sense of humour in it #the guys who made taz also made a lot of other comedy content and were VERY famous on tumblr in the mid-late 2010s #(honestly to an excessive degree where they were placed on pedestals. as tumblr is know to do to whatever famous ppl they latch onto) #and their comedy strongly influenced the meme culture and even vernacular of the site (and kinda the internet at large to a lesser degree) #there is a very high chance you have seen a meme with at least one of them (most likely griffin) in it

[bellaaldamas]

Sometimes I wanna discuss: (Essay incoming)

the take that "Santa Monica Studio stripped GOW of its original identity by making the Norse saga, especially Ragnarok, too vanilla/bland and mass-marketable for the non-fans/newcomers. Like they were trying to make it everyone's cup of tea when it wasn't originally, which wasn't a bad thing. That it's too melodramatic, saccharine and humorless for what was once an over the top and bold game that was rightfully dark and somber, but still wasn't afraid to poke fun; Ex. the silly costumes.

And Kratos not actually being that well written, and that the now present theme of fatherhood is one of many things there to make it seem deep, and the story was too tropey/patriarchical because Faye dies and that drives their journey. His redemption/development not being handled well, because he has always felt bad for his crimes, and that has not actually changed. In that back in the Greek saga he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn't help himself because how badly emotionally wounded he was, and in that sense was a compelling tragic figure though an awful person, but now all there is to that facet of him now is that he just feels remorse. Like Ragnarok was one big apology from SMS for him being... him. And once again, bending over too much to try and appease people who thought that he was too mean when that's just who he was as a character. the new direction not being as deep as SMS made it seem, and people ate it up.

Mind you, this came from someone (definitely not some troll, whose artwork I respect which is why I'm posting but I don't want to drop names) for whom the Greek saga meant a lot to. They were going through a lot of shit at the hands of others, and GOW at the time actually gave them catharsis and kept them grounded through that, and therefore had the perspective of Kratos as a power fantasy *not simply for bigoted dudebros*,but for when they felt powerless and disenfranchised, though they didn't condone his actions and were aware that he was far from a good human being. Though there are said dudebros that ignore the main message of "ripping people apart gives you a lot of catharsis but will make you regret it so much in the end", they themselves didn't miss that. They thought all the somber elements and moral cautions were made clear enough in the first few games, that they felt talked down to in the Norse saga, like it was too preachy. Overall, they just feel mournful that a game that meant so much to them... Isn't really quite there anymore.

Now, my thoughts as a Norse saga enjoyer/newcomer? I haven't finished the story of the Greek games and I'll take this as a sign that I should, so I can't speak suuuuper extensively on that as of the moment. Based on the things I've heard about the Greek saga, I most certainly don't agree with writing it off to prop up the Norse saga. I too dislike when things pretend to be deep but aren't, but Norse saga handled a lot of themes/messages quite well to me? I know it might be a bit more like things we've seen before and less "spicy" in that sense (not that I mind that spice at all)... yeah, this parts a matter of opinion I don't disrespect but can't agree on. I've seen quite a few GOW veterans enjoy the newer games just fine, and it seemed like a perfectly natural direction for the game to go in, though not perfect.

And on Kratos, I think that he's as compelling as he's always been. Remorse isn't new to him, that I don't disagree with, but it isn't all there is to his character in Norse. I'll acknowledge that they're coming from a perspective of measuring how good a character is by how well they're written/defined and not just their morality (which is a valid way of seeing things!) But to me, SMS didn't just "remove" his propensity for murder and replace it with more sorrow.

He went from not being able to help himself to bloodshed despite knowing how low he dug himself because of his trauma, to dealing with his remorse by finally facing and acting on it and treating it as something important, after realizing and caring about how much harm was done to others, and their pain, through his way of coping/actions, in addition to how little it actually helped him. This is him in a different place, actually in the midst of facing the lasting cost of catharsis to his humanity, with the mindset that it's not worth it. And then trying to actually rebuild and heal for once. So to me, it's natural for him to change this much. And yet he still is a power fantasy character to me, which I don't think that SMS is ashamed of. (It's almost 5am and I hope I got that across well) Also, his relationship with Atreus is genuinely executed well, and I wouldn't say Faye was fridged at all. I really like her and wish she was fleshed out more, though. I think there's better female rep in Norse than Greek. And that while part of it was that they wanted to cater to more people so it will sell better, if I remember correctly, I read somewhere they were running into a dead end with the Greek saga and actually wanted to take things in a new direction. And a few things here are well-worn tropes, but most of them are pulled off well.

It's poignant that sometimes, two fans' experience with the same story can be so radically different. I got sucked into the world of the Norse games when I was dealing with relationship issues/confusion and a lot of remorse and hurt on my own that I could actually relate to this iteration of Kratos about. His story of redemption, regaining trust and finding a family once more meant, and still means, quite a lot to me. In addition to that, he reminds me way too much of someone I know (online) whose content was no small help in pulling me out of a dark place, and still inspires me. And since that's how I understand that their own aforementioned experience with Greek GOW means just as much to them too, if not even more, I respect their perspective and bias, though I can't agree on a lot.

Thoughts?

(Lol I spent 2 hours writing this way too early in the morning so I hope I'm coherent, but I feel good enough to go to sleep now that I got this off of my chest)

Firstly, that's a profound and heartfelt analysis of Kratos's character arc and you should be proud of yourself for putting it together so eloquently and exquisitely (especially at 5am and needing sleep). I highly appreciate the fact that you decided to share those thoughts and your experience with the franchise with me.

What you wrote has a lot of references to personal life and unique individual experiences of yourself and other people in the fandom. Which is why I, naturally, consider it fitting to share some of my own but without delving into personal details. Because if I do people reading my tale would need immediate psychiatric help (one that wouldn't work for myself as there's no therapy in the world that could possibly ever diminish the effects of that).

Were I to start describing even a 10 percent of my life's events those reading/listening would assume it's something of a horror story or a plot of one of the many Telenovellas I've watched but not something that "happens in real life". Therefore I'll stick to discussing strictly my fandom related experiences, with a very little dash of personal when it cannot be avoided.

To start with, I'll establish from the get go that I have yet to play the Greek Saga; which I certainly will at some point. The Greek heritage of both Kratos and Atreus means a lot to me personally, especially in terms of their journey of being first forcibly torn from it and then gradually embracing it when they broke free from the toxic influences in their lives and/or formed bonds with people with shared culture and experiences (in Atreus's case it applies to both his Greek and Giant identity).

However, this begs for another clarification that needs to be made if one wants to healthily engage with media in a whole: creators (GowR creators in particular) owe me or someone else who has a similar experience with their culture exactly nothing. They are not obligated to cater to that experience, make it easier for us or even know how much seeing the representation of my or someone else's struggles means to us. Projection when it comes to media can lead to stress and even spark or rekindle depression. That's exactly why I cannot emphasize enough the importance of healthy distancing from media, even the one that speaks to you on a personal level.

Concerning fandom - definitely not just Gow(R) - the common mistake nowadays is to assume every logically flawed or incorrect point or argument can only be made by misogynistic and bigoted gamebros. This kind of dehumanizing of opponents and stereotyping them can lead to confusion when you stumble across a statement that objectively isn't true nor reflects canon but comes from a supposed (or even an actual) "progressive" thinker.

That's how the Nice Guy culture became pervasive in the media and came to be passed on as a "better alternative" for the so-called Frat Boy and Alpha Male culture. Even though the two are the sides of the same sexist coin. The idea came to flourish that Nice Guys are the "safer bet" for women, are "not like other men" (male version of "not like other girls" thinking) and that the problem isn't sexism (which obviously affects people irrespective of gender) but the women themselves. Who are supposedly too hormonal, emotional and therefore susceptible to "bad boys'" charm that they cannot appreciate the pure and "selfless" affection of the Nice Guys. Who in turn view said women as a reward for good behavior.

As the result we got a string of pseudo-progressive, actually extremely misogynistic (and, using the term you brought up from the fandom, "preachy") media products in the recent decade. Such as Disney's "woke" pandering movies that tell women they're the ones who should stop being naive and clueless romantics who are "desperate for love" and give "the wrong idea" to unscrupulous and manipulative men. Who, supposedly as the result of said women being gullible and emotional, see them as an easy target to use for their own ends (thinly disguised victim blaming is the new "woke"). That the society, including the people with a boatload of issues with social interaction and communication (AND a Snowman), know better than women's hormonal shallow selves what and, most importantly, who they really need in order to be fulfilled and how they should feel.

Instead of tackling misogyny and the normalization of abuse and exploitation of women "progressive" media now implies it's actually all woman's fault that she's being abused. Because she cannot resist Alpha Males instead of setting her sights on a "nice guy" the society tells her is the right choice. And/or because she dares to exercise her romantic agency without asking for permission from her family (which is why modern Disney heroines are completely deprived of said agency).

However, seeing as critically thinking people have been analyzing those problems with "woke Disney" in the past years the studio realized the "progressive misogyny" no longer works as a money generating tactic. The reason why the new The Little Mermaid remake ended up being - surprisingly - good and presented an uplifting and inspiring love story (if not as refreshing and unique as the original Eric/Ariel, despite the remake's creators' best efforts) is because Disney came back to celebrating the traits and behaviors of women that made them (and the princess franchise in particular) originally appealing to female audience in the first place. Namely, woman's self expression and right to take her own independent decisions regardless of society's opinion.

Some of the changes to the original animated film were indeed questionable (having live action Ariel not ascend to surface before the day she saw Eric - thus bending to her father's patriarchal pressure and linking her major act of defiance to another man - as well as having her sing "Under the Sea" along with Sebastian; when the entire point of that segment in the original was that Ariel wasn't falling for his propaganda and barely gave it a thought - was a spectacularly bad idea; as was having Ariel forget about the need to kiss Eric; thus, from the narrative standpoint, giving the romantic/sexual agency entirely to him, a man). But the main idea of the original - woman's right to make her own choices in every area of life - was preserved, as was psychological complexity of the characters. Which is exactly why the live action ended up being successful (in addition to, of course, the explosive chemistry of the main couple - probably the only one that HAS said chemistry out of the "remade" versions of Disney romances). All of the aforementioned issues can be easily fixed in the sequel, if one is ever made (which I'm keeping my fingers crossed for).

Thus why it would be wrong to fall into the trap of thinking just because someone in the fandom doesn't fall under the "gamebro" (read: Alpha Male) category that their view is an authority on how you should perceive a story.

Now, a promised dash of personal fandom experience. There is a certain franchise that I'm not going to name now where the developers of the reboot constantly demonstrated disdainful and disrespectful treatment of the original games. Calling the protagonist shallow, undeveloped and two dimensional until they, the supposed "progressive saviors", came along and "fixed" said protagonist. The entire backstory and personal history of the character ended up being re-written to cater to modern mainstream tropes and passed off as "woke" for said reason. Furthermore, the new version of the character is being framed by both the developers and the fandom as more "complex" because of their suffering (a classic example of treating pain rather than joy, enthusiasm, inspiration and productive bonds with people as a "character building force" - a pattern modern media is plagued by).

That's not what happened to Gow(R) at all and that alone is worthy of appreciation. Gow(R) creators not only acknowledge Kratos's past and experiences in the Greek Saga and make constant references to it but they have him face consequences (mostly emotional) of said past. They also have him work towards healthier way of dealing with the Greek saga events which in itself is revolutionary and, in fact, not at all mainstream writing. Mainstream media doesn't just romanticize character's pain (as noted above) but treats it as a mandatory part of character's growth.

Even in Gow18 Kratos isn't clinging to bitterness and suffering in order to keep going - he chooses to, at that stage, emotionally distance himself from traumatic experiences, past and present; he places all the value on "here and now". Even if he needs to repress his turmoil and remorse in the process. Said technique he also tries to teach to Atreus, as a way of coping and surviving ("Close your heart to it"). Because, as Kratos himself points out, it's either them or us. It is definitely an unhealthy way of dealing with issues but an acceptable one in those circumstances and at that point of his life. When he's just been confronted with another loss (Faye's death) and has to reconnect with the son he's been pushing away also because he wants to protect Atreus from the consequences of his checkered past and himself from facing the pain of more potential loss (if not physical then emotional).

Then comes GowR which, instead of romanticizing character's pain and Walls TM (as modern media tends to do), has Kratos openly recognize his avoidance coping mechanics, let alone forcing them upon Atreus, were self destructive and needed to be reconsidered. Instead of a yet another "woke", mainstream, pseudo-edgy plot about supposed "healing" and "character building" qualities of pain and suppression of emotions Kratos and the narrative acknowledge there is nothing progressive or powerful about pain and emotional walls ("and yet we love despite the inevitable"). That expressing your grief and remaining true to your moral priorities and empathy is essential to preserving your individuality and agency. Regardless (and it's the most revolutionary part for modern media) of person's gender.

The "open your heart to their suffering" line has Kratos once again admit he has to move on from unhealthy but socially acceptable ways of surviving.

The "most powerful survives" is how the society suppresses individuality and breeds bigotry; the acceptance of said idea is being perpetuated by media under the guise of "strength and independence" for both male and female characters. That's precisely why modern "feminist icons" are the girlboss types who don't challenge the power system but conform to it and simply take the power from men so they could oppress and conquer instead.

In that vein, Freya could've very easily been reduced to the above pseudo-"feminist" stereotype. She could've been a yet another "broken walled up woman" cliche, one whose character is supposed to be forged by pain, strife and fighting for survival after the men in her life caused her grief (another mainstream trope and the only type of development women in the media are allowed these days - where they are defined by A) pain and B) men's actions causing said pain).

Yet, that doesn't happen either. Freya gets to let go of her anger fairly early on in GowR and start her healing journey alongside Kratos, a male lead whom she blamed for her recent suffering. She gets to recognize not only her own wrongdoings and toxic actions (towards Baldur which, admirably, were not glossed over) but overcome, literally and figuratively, the consequences of Odin's abuse and not let it limit her; again, literally and figuratively.

Even more notable is that Freya does so with Kratos's help (both physically and emotionally; during the "Freya's missing peace" side-quest she actively asks for his emotional support - "would the God of few words led me his ear now and again?"). Which is no less revolutionary for modern media that doesn't allow women and men to be on equal footing for the sake of girlboss moments; modern feminism is patriarchy in disguise, same dynamic of dominance and submission except with a woman in the dominant position - and GowR challenged that stereotype as well.

All of the above is the opposite of preaching to the audience or bending to mainstream demands pressure: it's going up against some of the most toxic mainstream stereotypes and doing it in a completely in character way, maintaining continuity.

No less important is Atreus's agency in Gow18 and GowR, be it his personal free will as an individual or his experience as Kratos's son who got to reconnect with his estranged father due to a traumatic event (loss of his mother). Most media completely strips children of agency in terms of their rocky and complicated relationship with their parents. Western media in particular has been, for decades, perpetuating a harmful idea that children are under the obligation to "love their parents no matter what" just because they're parents and even if they are toxic and/or neglectful.

Yet again, Gow(R) deconstructs that toxic but also socially acceptable stereotype by allowing Gow18 Atreus to show how he feels about Kratos's avoidance of him. The narrative goes as far as to present a scene in which Kratos (if I remember that moment correctly though chances are I'm missing some details as it's been awhile since I played Gow18) gets to hear Atreus's thoughts about Kratos dying being a preferable scenario for him instead of Faye's death which has actually occurred. The framing of that scene is possibly the most refreshing and unique for the way parent/child relationships have been handled in popular media before or since. Unlike 99.9 percents of Western products which would've handled that plot point as Atreus being a "misguided child who needs to learn to appreciate his loving neglectful parent" this scene is NOT in any way used against Atreus. His feelings are not in any way invalidated. For one, those are the thoughts that Atreus doesn't vocalize to Kratos himself directly and of free will (as the supposed "misguided child" cliche would've done in any other American game, show or movie).

Secondly, immediately after those emotions of Atreus are established and received by Kratos Atreus goes back on what he didn't even say but rather thought in a moment of pain and grief; and clarifies he does not actually mean it. That what he really wants is for Kratos to bond with him and be honest with him which Kratos hasn't been for Atreus's entire life, both in terms of emotional bonding and the truth about his God background. The scene doesn't put Atreus, a neglected and lied to child (lied to by both of his parents by omission, mind you), to shame.

Back in Gow18 Kratos's over protection towards his son on one hand and distancing from Atreus on the other had short term consequences in the form of Atreus losing the sight of his individuality and morals upon finding out about his half-deity heritage. Instead of Atreus being made to feel "guilty" about not accepting his "loving but neglectful TM" father he is made to deal with the traumatic situation and the new information in his own way even if it's not a pretty way nor convenient for his father. Even more important is that when Atreus regained himself in every sense he felt horrified by what he did to Modi not because he disappointed his father but because, paraphrasing, it is not who HE is. Thus once again the narrative put emphasis on Atreus's individuality.

GowR provides an outstanding continuity of that before and especially in the Ironwood segment. Not only have Kratos and Atreus become no less close by that point than Atreus was with Faye before her death (in a way even closer because Atreus got to know his father from scratch at a more conscious age and without the benefit of romanticized childhood nostalgia). But Kratos doesn't actively prevent Atreus from learning up on his Giant heritage, even though he is - understandably - frustrated and hurt that Faye kept that and many other things from them.

When Atreus finds himself in Ironwood it's the first time where he gets to have the full measure of self expression and agency. All of his choices there are made under no pressure and just because he feels like it in the current moment. Angrboda, who has spent years in isolation and loneliness, believing her destiny is defined by the prophesy which stated she is meant to transfer the information and giant souls to Loki and be forgotten by him no matter what she does (and no matter how she feels about him) always and infallibly respects all of Atreus's choices throughout that part. Even when they go directly against said prophesy. She asks him each time whether he is ready for the next reveal of information or even whether he is comfortable to be called by his own name or a "champion of Jotunns". When he isn't Angrboda either complies with his wishes - shouldering the responsibility for giant marbles (despite it being the opposite of what her late mother told her was meant to happen), calling him Atreus instead of Loki when he asks her to - or turns a stressful situation into a lighthearted one, as to diminish the burden and share the weight of new duties with him (such as when she playfully calls him "Champ" numerous times).

As Atreus is confronted with the prospect of losing his father and tries to deal with it emotionally Angrboda - just like Gow18 narrative before - does not invalidate his feelings. She concludes that he "cares for his dad so much he can't conceive of a world where HE'd let [Kratos] get hurt". It's not just a parallel to Gow18 Atreus entertaining the scenario of dealing with Kratos's death better than with Faye's. Once again the value, by both Angrboda and the story, is placed upon Atreus's personal agency and his response to the situation (and with it comes a constant recognition of Angrboda's agency - "your part is as big as you want it to be" - which she goes on to exercise immediately after Atreus leaves Ironwood when she sets out to look for more marbles and "defy destiny").

Concerning Faye, admittedly, I'm delighted that someone else holds the same conflicting view of not even her character itself but the way she was framed by the narrative. Faye, sadly, fell a victim to fandom's new unwritten rule that dictates you have to have a "woke" reason to dislike a character, no matter how ridiculous and invented said reason might be. That's where the accusations of her being a "fridged" woman trope are stemming from despite said characteristic having nothing to do with her canon storyline. People cannot acknowledge that Faye, as you note, wasn't developed enough before she wasn't meant to exist in the current timeline. Hence why they attempt to justify their disappointment with her character's lack of exposure with "progressive and feminist" arguments. Which obviously are not feminist at all because those same people do not hold Brok to the same standard. Although in HIS case it would be fair to say he ended up being fridged for Sindri's angst and potential dark arc.

But women are not allowed to just exist, they have to justify their existence in the story and the treatment of Faye in the fandom is another example of that. I admit, her relationship with Kratos is the part of the story I have issues with because of how idealized it was despite obvious problematic elements in it (Faye's dishonesty with Kratos and the dishonesty of them both with Atreus). While Kratos was allowed to voice his anger and frustration with the secrets she'd kept, ultimately, his emotions ended up being brushed under the rug due to the positive influence Faye had on him. That's one of the few complaints I consider valid about GowR.

However, once again, the above would not have been an issue if the genders were reversed and Faye wasn't a female character who committed a "crime" of dying before the main events of the story.

To sum up my own "novel", it's important to always analyze media as a product/story in it's own right regardless of whether it reflects your personal experiences or not. It is definitely difficult to do, but it's important if one wants their media engagement to be fulfilling.

Once again, thank you for sharing your thoughts and for the chance to talk about Kratos in particular.

#reply #text #cyaaaaaaaaaan

[yonpote]

i really want to write a full analysis comparing dnp to that one stupid lil gay furry indie rock album with the dogs on the cover but that requires way more research than i thought... so for now here is a lyrical analysis of "Twin Fantasy (Those Boys)", the final song off the album Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) by Car Seat Headrest, and comparison to dnp wrt to their careers and lives.

the original context of this album and this chorus is that the narrator is reflecting on a tumultuous past relationship, at first viewing this romance through rose-tinted glasses (the dark, inside, fantasy) before finally being able to see the truth (the sun, outside, reality.) the pain of looking at the sun is the pain of revisiting the narrator's past. often times we use pain as an indicator that we are experiencing reality (pinching yourself to make sure you're not dreaming.)

these lines repeat throughout the song, yknow like a chorus...

the past few years of dnp's careers and lives have been very much on the reflective and introspective side. for them, the "fantasy" is the explosion of their careers, their success as creators, the audience who has stuck with them. of course all of this is true, but at the same time, the reality is that during the absolute height of their careers, they were in the closet, had repressed mental health issues, had overworked themselves, and had their boundaries frequently overstepped. and they have been reflecting on both sides of this coin.

the story and memories the narrator has retold will never disappear. the fond memories of the relationship will always be there, both figuratively and literally as they have been recorded in song form.

this is true for dnp as well. the memories that they share, both with each other and with the audience, won't go away. we will always have pinof 1. we will always have videos of them being silly and goofing off and just having fun with each other. and even when they have deleted stuff in the past, they are no longer trying to take any of it down and even reference deleted videos and old posts as they no longer have anything to hide in showing them.

dude im not even gonna analyze these lyrics i just wanted to add them here cuz like just fuckin read them what the hell is this gay shit this is so dnp (and also its the same concepts as seen above)

edit: i lied i am going to expand my thoughts on these lyrics

dnp have basically built their careers on having fun. they've taken jobs and sponsorships they didnt want necessarily, they were workaholic closet cases, but like. they always made sure to have a good time. you can especially see this in the very early videos as well as on the gaming channel, where they felt ever so slightly less pressure to put up a front. they LOVE creating stuff together, they love hanging out with each other, theres absolutely no denying this! theyre not kissing and theyre not fucking i mean who knows lmao but instead of interpretting that literally, its more like. thats not the point, that was never the point. are there shippers amongst us? yes fer sure, but that isnt what pulled us all in. what pulled us in was their connection, their dynamic, and how much fun they have on camera together!!!!!!! these two brothers lovers boys and their smooth-cocked youthful adventures!

the cover of twin fantasy is a very simple drawing of two anthropomorphic dogs in an embrace, their arms seeming to be conjoined, and the eye of one dog overlapping with the similarly drawn nose of the other dog.

dan and phil. are so symbiotic. how much of this do i have to explain... from the very start, from their first meeting. yes there are the superficial similarities (tall gay british emos who like the same media) but anyone can have those similarities. dnp knew immediately that there was a connection that they shared that was different from anyone else's. there was some sort of inescapable pull toward each other, call it fate or soul-bonding or autism, they simply could not keep away from each other even if they wanted to.

alright THIS. OK THISSSSSS.

ok ok so there are two versions of this entire album, and in the rerecording (which is what we're analyzing) some lyrics have been changed. this part is spoken word, and is completely different from the original. in the og (mirror to mirror) version, it seems the narrator is lamenting this awakening into reality, and breaking the fantasy for him is dark and twisted. in this new version, the narrator is no longer talking about himself in third person. he is Actually breaking the fantasy now, literally breaking the fourth wall, and directly addressing the person whom this album was written about. the contract is up, the names have been changed, aka, they no longer have to be tied down by this dark history. in the real world, the songwriter and this ex are still friends (or have become friends again?) and said ex even drew the art for the album that came after this rerecording. this story that the narrator had put out into the world, they no longer allow it to chain down what could happen in the future.

DAN AND PHIL. OK WAIT ACK OK so like circling back to what i was saying earlier about THEIR fantasy and reality, i mentioned how their reality was dark compared to the fantasy that they showed to us on youtube. and now they have shown us that reality. BUT AGAIN. they refuse to let that tie them down!!!! yes it took a few years of recuperation but they are creating stuff together again! AND AGAIN! the version of them that can exist outside of everything, is in their old videos. we can always go back! they will always be there for us (both dnp and the audience) to revisit. in theory i mean things get deleted but ykwim tho... the contract is up. they are no longer obligated by their management or by publishing or by radio to censor themselves or hide any aspect of themselves. the names have been changed. dan rebranded in 2017, but phil also very subtly and very slowly rebranded in his own way. the gaming channel literally came back from the dead, got a facelift, and yeah itll always be the same ole dnp banting and jesting but from the very first return video the energy is SO MUCH DIFFERENT and i PROMISE it is not just bc they are out as gay although OBV thats a huge part of it but they are just. happier! and more themselves! and its so visible in their faces and body language and tone and EVERYTHINGGGGG.

but listen, remember, these are only lyrics now. theres a version of them that exists outside of everything. and that version is in the old videos. yes they were closeted and overworked and mentally struggling, but they were still happy there too. and they never ever discount how happy those videos have made US. they know how much all of their older content means to us bc it means so much to them too. "you are as important to us as we are to you."

i'll end this with the last line, that repeats over and over before the song finally ends. this line can be interpretted so many ways imo, but i just think it generally ties together my entire thesis. thank you for reading my deranged gay rambling <3

when i come back, you'll still be here.

#mytext #myrambles #phan #i should start a tag for this thing ive been going on abt specifically. #reflections #there :) ill tag all my old posts abt this topic later cuz i do wanna revisit it #dnp

[invisibleraven]

"Be gentle, please." for Rulie plz and thank you

Julie swiped her forehead, feeling the sweat gathering there, as she was unused to the humid air that seemed to permeate the Georgia air. It was so different from the heat of LA that she had grown up with, but Reggie had asked her to come, meet his MeeMaw, see where he grew up, and well, she was unable to deny him anything.

"You ready?"

Julie turned and she wasn't sure how she didn't swoon-there he was in all his cowboy glory. From the hat to the boots, looking like something out of a Western and her fantasies all wrapped together. She gave an exaggerated whistle, causing Reggie to blush, tipping his hat as if to hide it.

"Lookin' pretty good yourself there darlin'."

Julie grinned-the jeans were tight, the shirt one of his old flannels and the hat one MeeMaw had pressed on her head. She felt kind of silly, but the mirror had proved she could pull it off.

"Let's go meet some horses."

The stables were a bit cooler and shaded, a minor relief from the warm day, though the smell left something to be desired, making Julie wrinkle her nose as it hit her. But then she saw the horses and froze. "Oh wow, I didn't realize they were so...big."

Reggie chuckled. "Yeah, they're all a few hands high. Good stock too-MeeMaw prides herself on that. You wanna meet them?"

"They're friendly right?" Julie asked, clinging to Reggie's arms as he lead her to the stalls.

"Most of them are," Reggie replied, then nodded at a stall with a large black stallion was huffing at them. "Not Boxer there though, but we won't be riding him."

Julie whimpered and then let Reggie lead her further away, taking in the large horse before here. Watching as Reggie offered it an apple, leaning his forehead against its nose.

"This here is Old Red-he was mine when I was a kid. He's retired now, but I still gotta spoil him a little." Then a roan mare. "This here is Sugarfoot-she's yours today. Sweetest filly there is. And over there is Jake, my new horse. You wanna give them some sugar?"

Julie looked at Reggie who was biting back a laugh then held out some sugar cubes for her to offer the horse. Julie glared at him before holding an open palm up to her horse, giggling as she ate the sugar.

She rubbed the horse's nose after the sugar was gone, finding Sugarfoot much less scary as she nuzzled her mane. But the prospect of riding her was still slightly terrifying.

But Reggie assured her that he would be right there, they were only going for a short trot, and if she really didn't like it, she never had to do it again.

Assurances aside, she still clung to the reins as they exited the barn. "Okay Sugarfoot, I'm new to this, so...be gentle please?"

"Darlin' she couldn't be anything else," Reggie assured her. "Not with you."

"So just like you?"

Reggie blushed again at her teasing, then coughed and gave her instruction on how to steer, speed up, slow down, and stop with noises and using the reins. Julie caught on fairly quick, giving a delighted laugh when she went around the paddock a few times with success.

"Alright, let's go."

They left the paddock, and Julie shivered as a breeze blew through her curls, feeling a bit freer without the fences, but also a little scared to know she was going forth on the whims of the wild beast between her thighs. But Reggie was right there, grinning madly as he pointed out scenery, telling her stories, and humming as they went, so that eased her mind a little.

Not enough to let go of her death grip on the reins, but enough that she wasn't hyperventilating.

"You wanna go a little faster?" Reggie asked.

Julie bit her bottom lip, but gave a hesitant nod-"Not too fast right?"

"Cantor, not gallop."

They sped up, and Julie laughed as the wind made her curls fly behind her, cooling her down, and made her feel like she was flying.

"That was fun!" she exclaimed as they slowed, coming to a stop by a small pond near a willow tree.

"Told ya so," Reggie quipped, helping her down, letting the horses graze as they sat in the shade, trading a water bottle back and forth whilst cuddling.

"It's so beautiful here," she sighed, nuzzling into Reggie. "You must miss it so much."

"Some days," he admitted. "But I do love Cali too. It's our home, it's where we met. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. But maybe we could come back here more often?"

"I'd like that," Julie admitted. "How else are we gonna teach the kids how to ride a horse?"

"Kids?"

"One day," Julie shrugged.

"I like the sound of that," Reggie whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'll ask MeeMaw to set aside a foal when we get there."

"Think they make the hats that small?"

Reggie tilted her chin up, giving her that infamous grin of his. "Darlin', I know they do." Before pulling her into a kiss that rivalled the heat of the day and the feeling of riding all at once.

#filled prompts #ficlet #rulie #rulie relajante #julie and the phantoms

[ooglywooglies]

FINE, LILY ORCHARD DUNGEON MESHI RESPONSE POST I GUESS

im just going through all the video points and making oppositions to them based on what i think, thats it.

laios useless in the red dragon fight: this is setting up the premise of the story where laios is spacing out because he cannot strategize on an empty stomach which is why the party loses.

there is no urgency to rescuing falin after everyone escapes the dungeon: thats to show that all the adventurers are so used to the dungeons immortality that theyve forgotten about the consequences of death (and also they are not thinking straight bc they are hungry)

dungeon meshi is not slice of life in the traditional low stakes way a slice of life set in the real world might be. the entire premise is about making a fantasy dungeon crawler and its heroes more grounded and showing things that aren't shown in video games, eating, sleeping, bathing, etc. a major theme is life and death, what is needed to sustain life and how death is a necessary part of it.

the tone of the show is not meant to be serious/silly/serious/silly, its not supposed to be wholesome, fun, and heartfelt, though it can be those things, its supposed to be weird and demystifying because its about real life (though a fantasy lense) and real life doesnt adhere to tone either.

resurrecting falin, having a bath and dinner, and then thistle coming to collect her happening in two episodes is not crazy thats almost an hour of runtime

MISGENDERING THISTLE

some of the problems with this video are just the anime format which i cant completely fault, i think the manga is better paced and the humor lands better ill probably ignore those points going forward. but i feel like if you dont watch anime very much you probably dont really know them the common genre tropes, like i certainly dont.

the reason marcille is "infinitely more popular than the rest" is a) lilys girl bias b) everyones girl bias and thats it, a lot of people like decently written generically good looking female characters. but thats not even true laios is probably equally as popular as marcille is and senshi is VERY close behind both of them.

laios is literally only generic in looks and if youre going to bring it up you might as well mention how marcille is therefore EXACTLY as generic as laios is, they are some very regular white people. in terms of looks.

laios only cares about monsters and is an asshole: this is an intentional mischaracterization the OTHER CHARACTERS IN THE STORY make about laios, which is a result of his real flaw which is struggling to connect with other people. this is a character flaw, which is intentional and something laios himself is aware of and tries to overcome, it is part of his character arc. laios is also heavily autistic coded, im not sure if ryoko kui is even aware of it or if she herself is autistic and just wrote a bit of her own struggles into laios's character but this reading is widely recognized by people who are autistic so. like its hard to argue with a mass of people who see their disability in a character. (me included)

comparing his deadpan affect to lloyd (i dont know him tbh)s intentional controlled one makes no sense bc i assume lloyd is yknow a super secret agent who IS a super secret agent because of his self control or whatever. laios is just a guy. literally just a dude, who is autistic.

marcille and laios react to falins resurrection differently because they are different characters, showing different ranges of emotion are part of their characterization. having a limited range of expressed emotion in serious situations where emotion is expected of you is also a commonly recognized autistic trait (see me not crying at the airport when my now husband had to go back to his side of the planet when we were dating)

falin is also autistic coded and shares a lot of traits with laios because its supposed to be funny that everyone thinks falin is so talented and brilliant and lovely when she yknow picks up a bug or something but they think its annoying when laios presents the same traits.

refer to point 10 again

they are literally moving through the dungeon as fast as they can. it gets brought up, laios feels guilty about it but hes not indulging in his special interest as opposed to rescuing his sister, the adventure is enabling it. whats he supposed to do brood the entire way? do you think anyone would be physically capable of doing that? see points 1-4 again if not.

just because a different character would do something different doesnt meant the story would be better, the point of THIS story is an exploration of THESE characters

this is retreading a point but "marcille is the only character who feels like a human being" .... girl the ableism - it can be argued that marcille is a bit ND herself but she is laios's neurotypical foil, the entire point of their dynamic is she is the normal person to compare him to, to act like shes the only character that matters because shes the only one thats normal has some nasty implications.

"you or i would-" thats making some assumptions

marcille is tormented the most by the show because the show is about exploring a dungeon, a major character trait of hers is her inexperience, shes squeamish shes young and naive because she has EXCLUSIVELY studied dungeons in books she has only seen the dungeon in person for like a year or two (i dont remember the time frame but we know how time works for marcille anyway). senshi by contrast has been surviving exclusively off the dungeons resources for like 60 years. you mention that marcille grows a lot by the end but its not just about eating food she learns survival skills, she learns ecology.

sorry i need to take a break to just rant, isnt this woman a writer? i feel like all she can only see characters through common media tropes and so dungeon meshi is just breaking her brain because all of these characters are written from a strong foundation they all have roots that inform all of their flaws. i feel like she isnt willing to see them that way because she assumes that because this is an anime the author didnt put any thought into the characters beyond their designs and gimmicks, thats just speculation obvs its just the impression im getting

but like i see the way people talk about kui on here how she feels like one of us because the dungeon meshi characters are her ocs. how theyre not just characters for a story. its like imagine someone talking this way about YOUR OCS, your babies, the characters you put your heart and soul into and especially for someone like kui who has created so much depth for her characters for someone [who also calls herself a writer] to brush it all off bc it got an anime adaptation and anime has tropes.

i really dont like people who approach media from "ive seen this before" and i mean im a little guilty of it but its kind of a useless thought isnt it, for the most part things get made because someone wanted to make it not because it needed to exist. i guess its a hard thing not to think when theres just SO MANY shows and stuff out there but idk, i dont think its a healthy perspective most of the time.

chilchucks a bitch you cant listen to what he says and be like "the narrative is bullying marcille" chilchuck is bullying marcille, chilchuck is a bully

(oh it seems the numbers have reset, oops)

shes talking about why anime sucks again, i havent seen spy x family and i dont care to it doesnt appeal to me

retreading points but i forgot which ones laios thinking falins dragon form is cool is another example of how laios's character essence is that he doesnt think like other people. and i have to imagine that if not for the mind control aspect falin wouldnt be horrified by her dragon form either. neither of them care about the "obvious" socially expected reaction of "horrified" theyre thinking about a) what they like to think about which tends to be ooh monsters are cool and then b) whatever is most practical at this moment - i think its not just lily that struggles with this i think its a lot of people who follow social scripts tend to follow what the main cast of dungeon meshi is thinking so theyre horrified/confused by whatever laios is doing but he just intuits what actually materially matters and what doesnt. him thinking falin getting to have a cool dragon form has NOTHING to do with his feelings about saving her.

"your experience with autism isnt universal" neither is yours???? isnt that kind of the thing about autism (this is from her comments not the video but thats kind of her point about this point in the video is that she doesnt relate to laios's autistic traits) - guys shes saying sheldon cooper gets called out on his shit and grows as a person but laios doesnt... guys i dont even know what i can specifically say to make someone stop believing that because i dont know why anyone could believe that in the first place.

i dont want to write this point bc i dont want anyone to think i dont have any concept of like pervasive preferential trends in media but i think she specifically hates laios because hes a white man with autistic traits. i think if laios was a woman those traits would be not as bad (which is kinda funny bc i was talking about that being a joke with falins autistic traits earlier)

laios is funny to me :) (in the manga mostly)

i think she shouldve read the manga instead of watching half the anime but i guess thats it. if you (anyone reading this) see this out in the wild please dont make assumptions about me based on this post, it doesnt really tell you anything about me or my wider opinions.

i guess you can assume im autistic i did say that part, go ahead and assume that i suppose.

i think i have some clarifications i was gonna make but i got tired so i cant remember where they go or what they are, this isnt really meant to be a discussion its just me writing down some thoughts indirectly bc i didnt want to comment on her video. but its in response to a video so its only fair i guess if anyone wants me to clarify i can try my best to do that

#dungeon meshi spoilers

[sapphicbookclub]

Author Spotlight: Louisa Vidal

Starting out November strong with a guest post from Louisa Vidal, author of club read Trash Planet Confidential! Read on to see why Vidal appreciates genre fiction.

The Joys of Getting Goofy with Genre 

Genre fiction can be easily dismissed by those immune to its charms. But any fan knows that it’s often a method used to examine the biggest issues in the world and find a fresh angle on them. Science fiction itself has an impossibly rich canon of visionaries like Octavia Butler, Ursula K. le Guin, Anna Kavan, and Nicola Griffith, here to shock, educate, and inspire us. It can also be an excuse for intense silliness: make pretty girls green, stick a rubber mask on a dog and make it an alien, go for a joy ride in an asteroid shower. 

When I got the prompt from Space Fruit Press that their 2023 queer romance anthology was going to be sci-fi themed, I’d like to tell you I immediately sprung into researching astrophysics and extra-terrestrial biology. Being well-read in the sciences is hot, right? But while I don’t mind a dilly-dally with quantum theory now and then, I knew what I really wanted to write about: Space Lawyers. 

In the Venn diagram of my love of science fiction and legal dramas, the overlap is the procedural stuff. This is the backbone of Star Trek - the detail of people just doing their jobs, or trying to, while their colleagues drive them crazy by letting tribbles on board or ripping open a portal into another dimension. This is not a million light years away from the crime TV and film (I’m old enough to have lived through the John Grisham adaptation era), where the storyline may have involved murder, corruption, or the Mafia, - the core of the action is also workplace drama. 

For my story, Trash Planet Confidential, I made a stack of my favourite legal eagle tropes - class differences, enemies joining together for a noble cause, archive-digging - then stuck them on a rocket and propelled them into outer space. The world-building came easy once I knew I was writing about main characters from very different socio-economic backgrounds,  who were also both ambitious lawyers; that one of them was also bright green was a pleasing aesthetic addition, and making her politically powerful was a reclamation of the Sexy Green Alien Space Slave cliché. 

As a reader of queer romance, I glory in the subversive power of a happy ending. In science fiction, the world the creator shapes is only lightly bound by the laws of physics, and in the fantasy of legal dramas, lawyers can fight on the side of good and win. For all that quantum physics can provide solace, so too can lesbian sex scenes. Having the freedom to have fun is a part of romance that queer women and femmes deserve, too. 

- Louisa Vidal (Goodreads) Trash Planet Confidential

#wlw books #booklr #lgbt books #book recs #sapphic books #diverse books #scifi #guest post

[daily-rayless]

Late but I'm gonna be MAXIMUM PREDICTABLE and ask about Van for the character meme.

Honestly, it's never late, not when it comes to talking about characters.

Van it is!

Favorite thing about him:

When I first played Abyss in 2008, I liked Van well enough as an antagonist but didn't pay him much attention. But as time's gone by and I've played more and more JRPGs, I've come to appreciate what a well-written villain he actually is, particularly in that he's so connected to so many of the party members. That adds a lot of emotional weight to the larger conflict about the Score, which, on its own, would feel pretty abstract and unrelatable. Having Van be Luke's and Asch's teacher, Guy's childhood friend, Anise's and Ion's colleague, Tear's brother, and a combined researcher/test subject in the field of science Jade developed and now hates, makes everything feel very personal. I feel like a lot of games don't try that hard when it comes to establishing emotional, personal stakes with the main villain, so I think that has to be my favorite thing about him. Runners up would be the piercing long-lashed blue eyes, just as a pretty design choice and to serve as an immediate visual link with Tear. And also the name -- there's a real art to creating made-up fantasy names, and sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't, but the cadence of Vandesdelca Musto Fende sounds very believable to me. I think it's...trochaic tetrameter? Is that right? You could slip it anywhere into "The Song of Hiawatha" and no one would notice.

Least favorite thing about him?

This is going to sound silly, seeing as we are talking about a villain, but calling Luke a "foolish replica" is so... come on, Van. It's so mean and small-spirited. Van is a person who's able to respect his enemies (like the elderly engineers) and those who dissent from him (Asch and Ion). He reserves his scorn for people he deems weak, like Spinoza. So I guess it makes sense that he scorns Luke, because Luke is pretty weak at that point. But who helped make him that way? I see you, Van, at the start of the game, just smiling and nodding at the things Luke says. Van didn't try to make Luke strong because it wouldn't serve him for Luke to be strong, and then he denigrates Luke for it. (Granted, more people than just Van, including Guy and Natalia, were also feeding into Luke's immaturity.) Van creating Luke just to kill him? Real bad. Van creating Luke just to kill him and then calling him a really mean name? Real bad and petty, and, given Van's behavior throughout the game, I expect more from him. Though I do see how it serves the narrative, as it's such a contrast to the end of the game, where Van would be glad to have Luke assist him.

Favorite line?

I will always come back to the optional Natalia fight and Van telling her "I will bury you as an offering to Asch." I feel like there's a lot to unpack in that line -- it's the first, only time we see Van display such strong emotion towards Natalia, someone he's presumably known for years. He clearly says it to hurt her. It's arguable how he means it on the Asch side -- would he make her "an offering" to spit on Asch's legacy, or would he do it as some twisted form of respect? But there's another (similar) line on the main story I really like too, right towards the end of the game where Van's body has been restored and the final fonstone has been read. Then Van turn to the party: "Step across the sea of corpses and make your way to me...Asch...and Luke." First off, we have Van acknowledging Luke as a viable player in what's about to happen. Secondly, I think it's interesting that Van sets himself up in a passive role -- he's the endpoint of the quest, he's the reward waiting around for someone else to get to him. You could say he's set himself up as a final test, as a teacher would. Thirdly, he's acknowledging it's going to be a bloodbath and he's fine with that, it just makes it a good villain moment. And fourthly, the drama of "sea of corpses". You can see why Dist likes Van, he has a good dramatic flair, not overblown, but there enough to keep things fun.

brOTP:

Probably canonically, the closest thing he has is Guy. But I feel like, given how their lives have diverged and how little time they spend together (along with the six-year age-grap, and Van probably being absent for most of Guy's most important developmental years), Van and Guy feel more like relatives than friends. Relatives in that they care about each other, they're always going to be in each others' lives. But they don't keep up too much on each others' day to day lives and interests. (Otherwise, how could Van have hidden his plans so perfectly from Guy?) And I think Asch wants that kind of closeness with Van, and possibly for a time deludes himself into thinking they have it, but I think there's too much deception and manipulation coming from Van's side to allow me to think of them as bros. I could imagine a younger Van, before he became commandant, becoming friends with another Oracle knight, maybe another man, maybe not. And this friend is on the outside of Van's plans, so Van doesn't have to exert any manipulation, and they get to be normal together, not literally planning the total upheaval of the world. I could imagine an arc where Van got close to this person, only to reach a point where he asked himself, "But what does it matter? [Friend] will have to die -- I need to get some distance." Or maybe, "If [Friend] knew the truth of what I'm doing, this would end anyway." Or maybe the youthful Van tried to recruit this person, his first God-General, and was rejected? Just adding to his bitterness. But yeah -- among the canon characters, I'm not sure Van's in a position where he can have that close, equal friendship. He cannot achieve bro-ness.

OTP:

I don't have a Van OTP. I think I've always felt he's way too focused on other things for love. I think my assumption would be that during the game, he's not romantically involved, and if he's sexually involved with someone, it's either very casual or strictly business. But if I were to pick a shipmate... I mean, Largo does make a lot of sense. Van seems to trust Largo, which implies respect, and Largo makes his own respect and admiration very clear -- I think, in fact, Largo is surprisingly dependent on Van for his sense of identity (being Largo rather than Badaq) and for any feeling of having meaning in his life after the destruction of his family. I suppose Van and Guy could also be an interesting angle of approach due to their shared history, and the way Guy parallels Van in his own relationship with Luke. And then Van and Jade also operate as foils. As for the women in the cast, none of them immediately suggests herself. I think he and Cantabile have some animosity in their past. Maybe there was something there?

nOTP:

Ah, you noticed a glaring omission in my last answer? Yeah. For some reason, VanLegretta has always put me off. I don't have any moral opposition to it, and I don't really have a reason rooted in the story or characters for why it bothers me. I don't question anyone else for liking it, I'll happily read fic that includes it, and I don't even dislike it that much. But, for as long as I've been playing Abyss, the pairing mildly but consistently irks me. It may be that having the main female antagonist be romantically involved with the main male antagonist is an overused trope in JRPGS -- I can think of Antenora in Wild Arms 2, Violetta in Grandia 3, (possibly) Sarah in Suikoden 3 just off the top of my head -- so does it just feel too tropey to me? But most of my favorite ships are extremely tropey, so I'm not sure what the problem is. I don't know. It doesn't work for me, though Legretta being in love with him against her will is at least an interesting element.

Random headcanon:

I don't think I have any? I like to imagine him being the one to give Tear their mother's pendant. As morally dark as Van is, I like that he's still very capable of that kind of sweetness and gentleness. It makes him feel more real.

Unpopular opinion:

I know there are lots of polarizing things to say about Van, but I'm going to be really pointless and say that something that's always bothered me are his brown fingerless gloves. I just think they look kind of bad with his gray sleeves, and they're distracting. They don't look polished and professional enough for the commandant of an army. (Oh, and the shoulder spikes do?) I would've picked something else. He looks better as an eldritch mutated half-Lorelei horror. He might have feathers coming out of his arm, but at least he doesn't have the gloves.

Song I associate with him:

Oh, this is cheating by picking someone else's, but I've always liked how this one fan took Within Temptation's "Hand of Sorrow" and connected it to Luke, Asch, and Van all together. Again, it underlines how closely tied into the heroes' backstories and the game's central themes Van himself is.

Favorite picture of him:

I like his hair-down surfer look in Rays, but for my favorite, I'll say this panel from the Asch manga. (Apologies for the curvature of the page.)

This is a scene where the manga improves on the game. It's much more intense and visceral (hello bonus violent silhouettes with Van being extra spiky), and the personal aspect of Asch's and Van's conflict is front and center. This isn't just an argument about philosophy or ethics, it's an argument between a master and a student who have worked closely together for years. I really like how Van seems not only immovable in that panel, but he's also -- still. No matter what Asch tries to do, no matter how quick and violent he can be, Van's standing at the eye of his storm -- Van is the eye of his storm, quiet, unchanging in his purpose.

Thanks for the ask, I enjoyed this one a lot!

Meme taken from here.

#van grants #tales #tales of the abyss #tales of the abyss spoilers #meta #vangrants

[strawhatyami]

Why you absolutely should bother with watching One Piece in 2022:

Alright I'm going to get straight to the point.

Usually when you ask people “what’s so great about One Piece” the most popular answers will be about the loveable characters, good world building and great foreshadowing.

Which is all very true and I’m here to delve into why, starting with the main character :

Monkey D. Luffy:

I once saw someone describe Luffy as a "pretty simple character that is done right". And I must say that’s the best way to describe him.  His straightforward, curious, extroverted nature is the is the perfect window to explore such a vast interesting world.

Luffy does his own thing, he’s selfish in many ways, his main goal of becoming the king of pirates itself is rooted in selfishness and greed. But he’s still a chill and kind-hearted dude. It just so happens that the selfish things he wants in life are fairly tame things like eating lots of meat and punching those who hurt his friends or innocent people in the face.

And in truth, he’s quite the emotionally intelligent character which is such a charming quality that has landed him allies and friends all over the world.

In short: He’s just goofy and loveable and I like the fact that Oda ditched trying to force a "relatable" protagonist (him not having any internal monologues is a nice touch that fits his character well imo).

And before we move on, I’d like to give an honorable mention to Tanaka Mayumi who is such a wonderful voice actress<3

Next up : World Building and character design

This anime undoubtedly has some of the best world-building that I’ve ever seen.

Which is great because at its core, One Piece is an adventure manga not a battle manga. Sure fights and matchups are important and epic and Haki is one of the coolest power systems out there.

But also watching the heart wrenching relations and back stories of the characters and seeing everything connect and having characters from 400 episodes ago make a comeback and be relevant to the plot in ways you never expected is WHERE IT’S AT.

Oda plays a lot with foreshadowing and he’s very good with continuity and revisiting small details which makes the story a lot more cohesive as a whole.

Watching this show feels like an adventure which is what Oda was going for. It’s so immersive and really plunges you into this fictional world that is so well built and versatile that you will never find yourself bored because each island is a new story. A new adventure.

The character design is also top-notch.

Oda has opened many possibilities for himself with the art style as the cartoony style helps in creating a fantasy world, you get more design freedom when you're not limited to proper proportions and things like that.

And he uses that freedom to create memorable characters but also to integrate parts of their personalities into their designs. Some of my favorite character designs include Sir crocodile, Franky, Kuzan, Doflamingo, Boa Hancock and Baby 5 just to name a few.

Last but not least, The humor :

Okay so humor is subjective. However I can confidently say that no anime has ever made me laugh my guts out the way OP did, the humor is elite and the jokes (especially pre-time skip) hold up even 20+ years later which says a lot.

And I think what plays a big role in that isn’t so much the joke itself but the (often) deadpan and downright hilarious delivery from the talented voice actors.

SO TO RECAP:

Cool mc, watching him punch bad guys is satisfying af.

Great worldbuilding.

Lots of heartwarming moments.

Characters be silly and loveable.

Lots of tiddies. Male AND female.

It has Trafalgar Law in it.

But yeah real talk this show has been a source of comfort for me lately and I believe it has something for everyone (especially if you're a sucker for the found family trope, it does it really well.)

Plus with the manga drawing to an end now would be the perfect time to catch up~

#All i'm saying is trafalgar law deserves more bitches #This was shorter than i intended it to be but it's also all my short attention span has to offer so #one piece #one piece crocodile #monkey d. luffy #trafalgar d water law #trafalgar law #one piece luffy #nami #sanji #zoro #franky #chopper #nico robin #brook #one piece jinbe #sir crocodile #one piece anime #anime rant #aokiji kuzan #baby 5 one piece #vivi nefertari #anime

[mybworlds]

Chapter 2

Pairing: Din Djarin x F!Reader (no use of Y/N) Summary: This story sets 15 yrs before The Mandalorian events, Din Djarin is hired by Rebel Alliance forces to protect and escort you, the princess of a dead planet, to your new home. Series warnings: use of you, violence, science fantasy elements, slow burn, angst, fluff, mutual pining, eventual smut (18+ MDNI), trauma. Masterlist Thanks @idontgetanysleep and @saradika-graphics the dividersThanks @vase-of-lilies for the banner

You look at it. Yes, it's that thing. The android that Nanuk turned to. He probably wanted to ask for help to guide you to a safe place, he definitely wanted to save himself too, that must have been the reason why Nanuk turned to him and what it did? It disappeared only to magically return in midair, pull you up with NK - 841 and walk away from there abandoning the man with whom it made the arrangements.

You lost again, first your family, your friends, your civilization, all the Arkanon, you have nowhere to go, nowhere to return to, nowhere to belong, you have nothing, and now you lost Nanuk too. Anger mounts so strong inside you, you've never been angry, your mother told you that such emotions were not reserved for princesses, but right now you really believe that any princess would be angry at the creature in front of her and in fact you hurl yourself at it, you beat hard against its armor hoping not even you in what, of hurting it certainly not since that armor was hurting you, of impressing it you don't really believe or anyway you can't know since you don't see its face, in short your anger mounts even more when you notice it doesn't stop you and doesn't do anything to calm you down, it doesn't hug you or have words of comfort towards you like Nanuk did.

"What's that thing doing up here?" the creature suddenly asks, turning its gaze toward your only friend.

"It's NK - 841." you answer it in an obvious tone.

"We'll land it at the next Planet," it objects making to turn away, but you are lightning fast this time and even in front of it, you still have that anger inside and are willing to beat it up again if need be.

"It doesn't want to hurt you." you try to calm it down, maybe it's afraid it might attack you, maybe it never saw one and is afraid "It's my friend."

"Droids are not friends, they are serious threats to all of us." it retorts again making to get past you, but you move out of the way to prevent it.

"Look, I -- I don't know what droids you've met, but this is NK - 841."

"It's a droid," it retorts.

"It's NK - 841." you retort as well, not about to give up.

It snorts, "It's a droid."

"It's my friend, and friends never leave each other behind," you reply again, it puts its hands on its hips, but it doesn't look in your direction, you hear it breathing heavily and then pass you without adding anything else.

You are glad that you can have NK - 841 with you, with it you have in a way the feeling that you still have Nanuk and a little of your Planet with you, you look at it smiling as it makes beep beeps sounds that make you smile even more then you turn your attention toward the spaceship corridor so much smaller than the Arkanian spaceship you left there in Coruscant and toward the android that is probably on its way to the cockpit. You don't know exactly what to do, but one thing is certain you want to make yourself useful. You are a Princess it's true, but you can certainly learn to survive in space with a robot and an android of very few words.

You follow it and when the creature is entering commands, it must realize you are behind it because it turns to you without a word, you open your mouth, but then close it again, not knowing what to say.

"Where are you going?" you ask it, realizing you asked a silly question.

"Cockpit where no Princess is allowed," it replies turning its back to you.

You open your mouth with a shocked expression, "What? What? How dare you? Now they do this to you on other Planets? You dare to disrespect even?" you can't believe that an android, an artificial being created for so many purposes, can now use even offensive language toward you.

"I don't know what you're talking about." it retorts by entering numbers on a display that causes a hatch to open beyond which it enters and which, after passing through, closes immediately afterward.

"A speech doesn't end just like that, do you hear me?" you yell banging on the hatch "Stupid machines!" you add in a whisper.

"I heard you," you hear it retort.

"Good and I hope they remind you who your masters are and that you can't talk like that just because you are a machine!" you exclaim turning toward the hatch. This time no retort comes "Hey, can you hear me?" you yell.

"I hear you, what do you want?"

"Respect," you reply annoyed by its attitude.

"If that man told me about the bad character of the cargo I would have to carry, I would never agreed."

"And I…? What, cargo?" you go back to banging against the hatch again "I am a person and not a thing you pick up and carry like this from one place to another, do you hear me?" you add, continuing to bang.

"Loud and clear." it replies "Unfortunately." it adds in an exhausted tone.

"Rude." you reply, crossing your arms in offense.

"I'll get over it." you hear it retort in a casual tone.

Oh, Nanuk, but couldn't you find someone else to take me-- wherever this creature has to take me? Why did you turn to him specifically?

"Where are we going?" you ask it.

"Toward our first destination. It's not very far, but I suggest you sit down somewhere if you don't want to throw up on that nice little dress you're wearing." it replies.

You look down at your Arkanian dress crafted from the finest fabrics in hyperspace, shake your head and walk away from the hatch and back down the corridor going to the opposite side, there's a small door that on your approach opens, it's a one-seater bed. Oh, it's gonna be fine! You're beat, you really need to….

"That's my room," the android calls back to you, making you jerk and turn toward it.

"But you don't sleep! What nonsense are you talking?" you are puzzled, but what kind of android are you talking to?

"Little Princess, the rules here are very simple. My ship, my rules. This is my room." it retorts.

"And where do I sleep?" you ask in amazement.

"On the ground you are going to sleep well." it retorts, "And if you've never tried it, do it now."

"You androids sleep on a bed and Princesses on the floor, the world is really going upside down!" you exclaim incredulously.

"Android? I am not an android." it clarifies.

You look at it, speechless for a moment. You assumed it was since it always wears this armor from which only its hands peek out, you thought the armor was metal pieces that made it up, and instead…

"And so, w - what are you?" you ask it looking toward the helmet.

"I'm a Mandalorian." he replies, you furrow your brow "Ever heard of the Planet Mandalore?" he asks you, you remain open-mouthed, you've never heard of it, you shake your head "Ours is a Planet located in the Outer Rim Territories." he explains.

"Are you a servant of Planet Arkanon?" you ask him puzzled.

"Servant?" he repeats in a cavernous, puzzled, almost contrite voice "No." he replies in an annoyed tone "We are no one's servant." he adds in the same tone.

"I'm just trying to understand." you reiterate in an offended tone.

"Of course, Prissy." he retorts your royal title in a piqued tone.

You roll your eyes, "I'm sorry if I've offended you, I just want to understand who I'm left with." you see him lower his gaze for a moment and then add, "Are you wearing the helmet because you're having trouble with the atmosphere?"

"No." he replies.

"So why don't you take it off?" you ask him without stopping looking at him.

"I can't." he replies again "If you want to get some sleep, you can lean there." he adds pointing to his room, which, however, is no longer the focus of your thoughts, but him - the Mandalorian.

"Can I ask you one more thing?" you ask him gently squeezing your hands.

He looks at you, or you imagine he's looking at you, without saying anything and therefore you interpret this as permission to speak.

"Are you and I similar? I mean, are you a human or otherwise similar to humans?" you ask him looking at where you imagine his eyes are.

"Something like that." he replies "Rest, or I won't get my reward." he adds turning his back to you and making to walk away.

"How did you know Nanuk?" you ask him making to follow him.

He stops with a sigh, "I didn't know him, actually. And now get some sleep." he replies, taking a step to walk away.

"But then why did he turn to you?" you insist "I felt like you knew each other."

You hear him sigh heavily "If I had known the cargo was talking so much, I wouldn't have agreed." he replies.

"Again with that word? I'm a person, Mandalorian. Okay, here's what we're gonna do, I don't disrespect you and you don't disrespect me, deal?" you propose, offering him your hand.

He looks at your hand, "Yeah, okay." he replies then turns his back on you and this time you let him go.

You head for the Mandalorian's room, the crib is small, but suddenly it looks very comfortable, or maybe it's the tiredness, too many emotions, the fact is that as soon as you lie down, you fall deeply asleep.

#din djarin #din dijarin x reader #din djarin x you #soft! din djarin #the mandalorian #the mandalorian ff #the mandalorian fanfiction #star wars universe #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin ff #din djarin the mandalorian #science fiction ff #pedro pascal #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal fandom #pedro pascal characters fanfiction #the blossom of arkanon #TBOA FF

[centrally-unplanned]

Since I discoursed about some very specific stuff in Frieren my general stance so far is that it really does have excellent work in the tone department. Its "time" theme commitment is strong, the core crew has fun chemistry, and Frieren herself is a good balance in her interpersonal dynamics of being both wise and silly. And it imbibes its individual elements with a lot of heart - the Church of their world seems like a real organization aesthetically; the legacy of the heroes really does flow everywhere; the mages and elves and such we see have old roots in deep magic systems. All these things have "set piece tonal moments" that have a ton of care put into them. And of course the art really is beautiful; particularly the background work is top 10 best I've ever seen in a TV anime of this type.

But all of that tone and care is put into pretty shallow plots and flat world building. The tone of the church & the dukes and such is there, but their social roles are barely specc'd out, it doesn't congeal into a real society at all. Frieren's story is she wants to - this is unclear right now, which is fine its plot - do something like apologize to Himmel's ghost for never being clear about her feelings and telling him how much he meant to her. Which, you know, is something she can only do at the end. And Fern is gonna...tag along? And Stark is here too? They all get these little mini arcs but its repetitive and doesn't progress much. Their personal journey would make a decent 13 episode show, and the After-The-End world setting could make a good 26 episode fantasy political drama. But its kind of doing both without committing to doing either well. It fills this gap with tug-at-heart-strings sentimentality stuff, which is fine the first few times because the thematic heft of the stuff it has done well, with time and wide scale social change, is there to support it. But only the first few times, its not putting in the work needed to set up new, truly interesting stakes.

It does have great art, great character designs, Frieren is charming and also she is like Elf Ruri from Nadesico, who doesn't want that, etc, so its fun to watch. But it has very strong wasted potential vibes.

All I am saying is I could definitely write it better, my zero years of fiction writing is no problem I would totally fix this up stand aside Kanehito Yamada-

#frieren