#im fairly satisfied with the result

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

second batch of outfit requests!

pattern collage / showfit / clownfit for @koifsssh & candy cardigan Eddie for @jazzzzzzhands <3

#thank you for the Looks! <3 #this little Exercise is pushing me out of my comfort zone with poses tbh #in a really good way!! #im learning stuff! im improving day-to-day in little ways #its the small victories i think. good stuff. #scribble garnish #welcome home #welcome home puppet show #figuring out dynamic positions and how to balance weight #also its good clothes practice #historically i have very rarely drawn clothes since yk. im dragon-based #but im slooooowwwwwly getting the hang of folds and creases and the mechanics of different kinds of fabric #that candy cardigan was a Challenge tho my fucking god #it was fun! but difficult. #im fairly satisfied with the result #also sorry eddie's bg is very simple compared to the other ones #they were drawn After i watched spiderverse #& promptly decided to live my art life by the rule: #RANDOM BULLSHIT GO!!!!! #its working for me so far. im getting a lil funky w it. emphasis on Little

[carpedzem]

questionnaire results that i didnt forget about at all

im okay so i forgot and then forgot again a few times. ANYWAY. enjoy the results!!

i cant post every written answer, so heres my favourite :)

whats your favourite animal, be as specific as possible

Peregrine Falcon

domestic cat! specifically MY cats but any cat will do

your mom

Black bear. One tried to walk into my house recently and he was really cute but I had to tell him no :( (ARE YOU OK?)

Dumbo octopus

fancy rats

honestly i’ve always been too scared to settle on one animal as a favorite, because it feels like a question with no satisfying answer. like if i had to be honest it’s probably dogs? because i’ve grown up around them, they’re an animal i like beyond just aesthetic purposes. but when you hear this sort of question, you wonder if the asker wants to hear about something exotic, some random interest that caught the interviewees eye at a young age and never left their conscious. anyways i think it’s probably house cats

rainbow trout, luzon-bleeding hearts, and horses.. dogs too

emperor penguin

any type of liddol snake. I love them so

sea sheep

Long eared Jerboa

(most people chose cat)

george (42,5%)

second place with also a lot of votes (37%)

sapnap (45,7%)

dream (44,1%)

this is my favourite question and i cant believe i misspelled it

you can put two of your mutuals against each other in a fight. who do you chose

i can’t answer this they all hate one another it’s too real. bellaya (bellaya was the most popular answer)

Lost and Kiuda. There can only be one (one of what)

Can I just give loyal a nice spa day? I'd like to give loyal a nice spa day

violence is never the answer

🤦🏻‍♂️🤣

i would fight them all myself obviously

I fear that no matter who I put here they'd just give up and make out instead

I only have two moots I joined tumblr a day ago help (i wonder how this person likes it here so far)

Nunki "demonstars" vs Nov "sueñitos" for La Velada 2024

no fighting…. sharika shakira

Gogciety v powergnf battle of the golos

im giving you a gun with only one bullet. what do you do (vent section) (while a lot of answers made me laugh a lot im gonna skip ones that can get us in trouble LMAO. but remember you made ME laugh)

Listen would killing q give us usmp back? No. Would it make me feel SO MUCH BETTER??????? YES!!!!!! (i mean obv q took like half of the shots. the other popular answer was just lining everyone)

I give it to Sapnap. He has made it clear he will kill for Dream god bless

am i given a time machine? can i shoot someone already dead? does it have to be someone reasonably killable? the answer to these questions is irrelevant because no matter what i want it to be steve jobs.

shoot at internet cable

going to british land and the first dumbass cc i see gets it

use it to open a jar because my hands are very weak and im too embarrassed to ask anyone else to open it for me

only one :(?

Lay it carefully on the ground.

hand it to George he could judge more fairly than I (and hope he doesn't shoot Sapnap)

i send the gun and bullet to the dteam house as a secret gift with a note explaining that it's for sapnap and george only, and a letter stating to pass extras to the rest of the munchy squd. if we all donate our weapons to them, they'll be able to shoot all of dream's haters. the only obstacle is dream himself, which is why he can't know what's in the box.

Give it to gnf&sapnap and watch them fight over it

(IM SORRY I FORGOR....)

top drolo 2023 - ones i forgot about

punz

hannah

puffy

bbh

squidkid

Radio statio guy

SYLVEEYYYY

illumina

me. sorryyr i dont mean that

you (im soo not BUT THANK YOU)

I think all munchies deserve this spot, theyre all the best drolos :(( i love them

powergpu guy (jesse)

george deserves it tbh for slut smp (that is true, but i excluded snf bc i was afraid they will sweep...)

shadoune

LARRAY

Lil nas X

THATS ALL. thank you everyone who took part in this AND ONCE AGAIN IM SORRY I FORGOT ABOUT IT.... ill be better next time o7

[drdemonprince]

Do you think making fancontent of media that turns the bigotries of said media on their heads can be done well?

i think its usually fairly corny/cringe in delivery. but thats most fandom content for me, nothing wrong with it for existing. it just does not hit any genuine place for me or stimulate me. usually. big exceptions exist of course.

im sure there are fanworks that salvage or do something more interesting with a premise than the original work did. but i think from an artistic perspective having the goal of fixing a problematic work usually results in media that is satisfying on a knee jerk emotional level but not necessarily an intellectual or ideological one. like idk hamilton esque surface level feel good stuff when the changes actually have worse implications once you think about it.

but i am certain there are many many counterexamples i just dont know them like that. id be happy to have some instances of it shared with me for me to see tbh

[random-microwave]

My Official Unofficial Fan-Autopsy for Brian!

fan autopsy. wow. what a phrase

ok so, per my last post, turns out a whole two (2) people on instagram were interested in my headcanon about brian’s death and that there’s more than enough to get me into infodump mode, so i think it’s time i make it everyone’s problem now :)

disclaimer: obviously i am in no way a medical professional and all that i’ll be discussing here is the result of a few hours’ worth of an adhd-fueled research frenzy. i’m fairly confident in the knowledge i’ve gathered but i could very well be wrong about anything mentioned here.

also trigger warnings i guess for talk about traumatic brain injuries and related things.

alright SO, we know in marble hornets brian died by falling, right? for some people that’s a satisfying enough answer, but i was more curious about what his specific cause of death could’ve been. why? because i am insane and am never satisfied with simple explanations, that’s why.

now, disclaimer #2, we’ll never know exactly how that fall killed brian, because troy and joseph probably never had a precise cause in mind. if all that matters is that he died from falling, then there’s no need to write out in full medical detail how, the way my goofy ass is doing. that’s also why this explanation isn’t going to perfectly line up with canon. although it is decently supported by what we see in marble hornets, some bits of it won’t, again, due to the writers not accounting for a precise cause of death and therefore not doing anything to show that.

despite that, i went ahead and, after doing a bit of thinking and research, the explanation i’ve chosen to settle on as to why exactly brian’s fall was fatal is this: he landed on his head, and the resulting injury was a basilar skull fracture followed by a fatal epidural hematoma, or in layman’s terms, base of brian’s skull go crACK and then he bleed and die.

but that’s the short version, of course. here’s the long one:

in short, a basilar skull fracture is an injury to any one of the bones composing the base of the skull, usually caused by substantial blunt force trauma, such as in high-velocity motor vehicle collisions & pedestrian injuries, and less commonly in assaults or falls. now, while i’m not sure if the fall brian took in entry 83 would be considered substantial enough to cause as rare of a brain injury as a basilar skull fracture, im gonna be honest and say i don’t think that fall looked very fatal at all to begin with, but we accept that it was because suspension of disbelief and all that, so fuck it.

i feel like this specific type of skull fracture makes sense for two reasons that we can analyze #83 for: 1. The position brian landed in: brian appears to have landed with his head turned to the side. something important to note about basilar skull fractures is that in about 75% of cases they involve the temporal bones, aka the bones on the lower sides of your head. they’re most involved in this type of fracture because they tend to be relatively weaker than the other bones of the cranium (this whole bit will be important again later). of course, it’s not impossible his head just happened to fall that way after landing, but it still feels worth noting looking at it under the lens of a basilar fracture. 2. The sound brian’s impact made: this is falling a little more into tinfoil hat-type territory but i don’t care that’s all this whole headcanon is really. when you listen to the sound brian makes when he lands, you can hear a softer thud followed by a much louder SLAM. now i don’t know about you guys, but the way i hear it, it sounds like a smaller part of brian’s body - such as oh, i dunno, his head? - makes contact with the ground first, creating the thud, followed by the rest of his body making the slam. inversely, this could also be his feet touching down first, then the rest of his body following (probably what it really was during filming), but that could still result in him hitting his head either way.

so with that out of the way you may think that that’s it, a basilar skull fracture makes sense and it explains pretty well why brian died from that fall, so why not leave it at that and go home?

well, from what i could infer from researching this type of fracture, it seems that on their own, basilar skull fractures actually aren’t that deadly - not immediately, at least. it’s the complications that arise from a skull fracture that actually kills the patient, such as meningitis or intracranial bleeding.

this is where the addition of the epidural hematoma in my “diagnosis” comes in.

see, if it were just the skull fracture and the skull fracture alone, brian may have actually lived, as it would have been entirely possible for him to not only regain consciousness but also have enough strength to stumble away to seek help.

we know that isn’t what happened, though. he fell down, and as far as we know he stayed down. so, something else had to have happened as a result of the fracture.

since about 50% of basilar skull fractures involve some other type of central nervous system injury, it is not only reasonable to assume that brian sustained one as well, it’s actually to be expected. this is why i included the epidural hematoma.

epidural hematoma is when bleeding occurs between the skull and the dura mater, or the tough outer covering of the brain. there’s three reasons why i chose this specific complication to go along with the initial skull fracture. 1. it often results in a loss of consciousness, which may or may not have a brief regaining and second loss of consciousness. whether or not it does, this condition ensures brian stays down and lines up with the fact that he doesn’t appear to have been able to seek help afterwards. 2. remember how i said the temporal bone is involved in 75% of basilar skull fractures? yeah, that involvement is the exact same for epidural hematomas, due to its proximity to the middle meningeal artery, which’ll bleed a fuckton if injured. 3. it is quite fatal, as the rapidly increasing intracranial pressure will eventually lead to death without treatment, which, again, brian likely didn’t receive.

it’s important to note though that neither the skull fracture nor hematoma will result in a quick or immediate death. this is actually very good in terms of being supported by canon because of what alex says in entry 86.

while showing tim brian’s corpse, alex says “he died here slowly because of you.”

this line actually helps rule out some other possible causes of death like a snapped neck, since that usually causes death within a few minutes, whereas a hematoma may take hours before it actually kills the patient. therefore, alex mentioning that brian didn’t die on impact, but rather died slowly as a result of injuries from that fall help support this explanation.

now before i wrap this up i will address one thing

basilar skull fractures tend to present with some very distinct symptoms. the most distinct and easily notable ones include: Battle's sign – bruising behind and below the ear. Raccoon eyes – bruising around the eyes, i.e. "black eyes" Cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea/otorrhea (clear fluid running from the nose or ears) Bleeding (sometimes profuse) from the nose and ears

when we see brian’s body in entry 86, however, nothing of the sort can be seen.

you may ask, then, why hold to this headcanon if we can clearly see that the necessary symptoms of a basilar skull fracture aren’t there?

my answer to that would be to look back at what i said at the beginning about there not being a specific cause of death written for brian, and therefore there are no noticeable symptoms of anything are present on brian when we see him in that entry.

i feel like that’s the one area we can ignore canon a little bit for that reason. we’re not gonna glean any clues about brian’s cause of death from that scene because no clues were there in the first place.

actually, there are no clues anywhere to begin with, not even in the places where i looked to in order to put this together. honestly? this is just me finding the most interesting cause of death for brian i could that fit even a little bit with canon and fucking running with it. it’s me putting the circle in the square hole, in a way.

but yeah. that’s about all i’ve got for my weird, over explained fan autopsy of poor brian thomas. was it necessary to go into this much detail explaining my justifications for this headcanon? fuck no. did i do it anyways because i thought it was very big brain to have said justifications? abso-fucking-lutely. :)

#random rambles #marble hornets #marble hornets brian #brian thomas #marble hornets headcanons #i took several hours out of my day to write this shit #again for like #2 people lmao #wasn't easy to focus on either #im STILL reeling from the sandman show premiere #but this was fun to do anyways lmao #tw death mention #tw brain injury

[dapperrokyuu]

Luka for character bingo?

In regards to this post! Feel free for anyone to send more~!

Luka...Luka, Luka, Luka. Rambling ahead, ahaha~!

This person gives me gender envy, SHLDBNKSN- Im sure this isnt everyone's experience, but I looked at them in Sweet Dream and was genuinely, like. I dont know this person's gender, afklsjnaskljn- Especially since Vivinos usually depicts lesbians, lol. Luka's probably a dude, but their appearance along with the fact that I (among others, Im truly not the only one who thought this) believed their name was Luisa for a bit has fully instilled this guy with GENDER for me, lol. Love them a ton. Along with envy GIVE ME YOUR OUTFIT, LUKA is appreciation, so hell yeah, Id KISS. However they want, if they just want a reassuring/comforting kiss on the forehead, Ill happily provide because I want them HAPPY (along with the others, but hey...).

I think I have a soft spot for people who have understandably been broken by circumstance and/or are definitely just trying to survive such circumstances in their own way, even if its not revolutionary and/or particularly heroic. I think its just easy for me to feel sympathy for them and want them to overcome and hopefully find happiness someday. Luka just...seems so tired. And they honestly just seem like theyre waiting to die, like theres an understanding that theres only death for them and it all seems hopeless. But nonetheless, theyre still here. And theyre likely going to sing. I also think theyve had this meek deposition since they were young in hopes that they dont appear on anyone's radar and get attention, but it has unfortunately backfired...

Luka's such an enigma, and they pique a lot of questions and intrigue from me. As life seems so miserable, what has kept them going? Is it purely fear? I personally like to think they may have developed a bit of pride after a certain point of not getting killed (under the assumption that Luka and Hyuna are from an older generation of Alien Stage contestants and are doing the stage again). If the only choices are their life as is or death, they might as well continue as far as they can, especially if theyve already "won" in a way once (Luka seems fairly famous FOR SOME REASON, which I assume again is due to winning Alien Stage at least once). If anything, theyll have denied their alien oppressors' satisfaction for as long as they could. And even dying at the hands of a human would becomes ideal, as long as their life is not given to a alien (which is why I find Luka dying at Hyuna's hands to be narratively satisfying).

In other words, if getting worn down and dying quietly is giving in, Luka's going to keep going until they find something worth dying for. Because if they cant control their life, theyll control their death. And that, from a character who has been broken in and/or subjected to submission, is their form of rebellion and surprisingly meaningful to me, haha.

Luka's contentness while having Hyuna point a knife towards them in Sweet Dream was so striking the first time I saw it...honestly, while Hyuna probably loathes Luka (and I like to think theres an underlying understanding that the anger is a bit misplaced, if not, thatll be realized with time), Luka probably has some fondness for Hyuna as a prior companion, someone so sprited and not broken in, and someone who they could trust to kill them someday. Thus, Hyuna is Luka's universe. She is a source of traits they admire and will give Luka what they want, and Luka will happily give everything she wants in return (with their death)...

Hell, the character potential that Luka also experiences guilt from killing other contestants just by winning is an interesting thought too!

A friend has also offered the idea of Luka SNAPPING, potentially as a result of seeing Hyuna die. And I think thats DELICIOUS. Like. I love that sort of development too, adlnbld- Rightfully broken and rightfully angry kind of goes hand in hand, tbh, and Id root for Luka to tear things down however they intend, the best they can. Its the inspiration, the realization, the igniting of one's life thats very appealing to me, and even if Luka were to end up ultimately dying in that scenario, they wouldve definitely died on their own terms, for something they wanted, and that would be the closest thing to overcoming and/or achieving happiness that they couldve gotten. So Id be happy with that too! Itd be a twist on what we'd expect from Luka;s character so far too. Put this potential Luka with Mizi, and we've got POWER...

Ive thought a bit more after my Hyuna bingo, and now Ive been considering the idea that Luka vs. Hyuna's match could be a parallel to Round 1 to top off the first set of Alien Stage's rounds. You have Round 1's mutual, loving relationship, while Luka vs. Hyuna could be a hateful one-sided relationship (majority of the hate coming from Hyuna's side). And if the ALNST team really wants Luka vs. Hyuna in the first set of rounds with one of them dying, having either die (Im ultimately leaning towards Hyuna, sadly) could also parallel how Sua dies so soon too. With my speculation on how Luka and Hyuna come from an older generation, Luka and Mizi end up in similar character positions but with different amounts of experiences that could be worthwhile! They become ~foils~. Again, Id prefer neither of them dying, but if this happens. Its narratively sound, imo, dalbndaflkjn-

Im ultimately very curious about their past, I feel thatll answer a lot of questions! So much excitement! Thank you for the ask, and I hope you enjoyed~!

#ask game replies #alien stage #alnst #vivinos

[angelcloves]

its late but friend of mine @little-banjo-frog put in a request for some hunter and camilla hair brushing content! im fairly satisfied with the results. as always i take 500 word requests you can send them to my ask box or dm me and we dont even have to be mutuals. im just that generous!

taglist: @acergi @prettypopstarprincess2

frog got tagged in the main post so im not tagging twice but rest assured youre still on my taglist

if you wanna be added or removed from the taglist let me know!

#the owl house #oc tag #fanfic

[jawsofbalmung]

my final (detailed) thoughts on the two most controversial games in the aa series, now that im done with them (contains spoilers):

dual destinies

overview: dd is one of those games that is decently fun, but not really that good. you can definitely see the difference in the writing style, and while i think all ace attorney games are good, and i did enjoy playing it, this one is by far the worst one in the whole series. i love simon though, prosecutors are always perfect.

my biases: i had to play dd on a very slow emulator which ran at 30-50% speed the ENTIRE game (slower on trials) so this game, especially monstrous turnabout, took me absolute AGES to finish. also i was... a little spoiled about fulbright, but not that much, honestly.

turnabout countdown: as far as first cases go, this one is fairly alright, but overall just kinda eh. its a bad mix of both predictable and confusing, but it's actually kinda funny in spots and not too egregiously horrible. 3.5/10

monstrous turnabout: i have a personal vendetta against this case. it took me two whole weeks to finish, when a case usually takes me two to five days on average with my pace. the actual content of the case was negligable, i liked the tenma family as characters, but the end result was very predictable (the fact that we were shown the killer in the beginning animation is inexcusable in my opinion). i could blame the length of the case on just the shitty emulator, but the fact is monstrous turnabout took me way longer than any of the other cases in this same game on the same emulator, and i can only blame its penchant for endlessly dragging out every single point, and throwing in many compounding twists when they're really unneeded and the case would be a lot better if it was simpler. they tried to make up for you knowing the killer right away by making it impossible to predict anything else, but it ended up just making the whole case frustrating and obnoxiously long. 2/10

turnabout academy: this is probably one of my favorite cases in the two games. its twists are a lot more satisfying and understandable than monstrous turnabout, and the character value of this case is very high. i love hugh robin and juniper, and i like how their friendship ties so deeply and intrinsically into the mystery of the case. a little cheesy, and as is expected with dd, not the best writing ive seen in ace attorney, but overall a pretty good case, and has probably the funniest killer breakdown. also klavier cameo is very much appreciated. 6.5/10

cosmic turnabout: i feel like there's not really much to this case, since it mostly serves as a bridge into turnabout for tomorrow, so they didn't put a lot of love into writing the episode itself, but honestly i think that's okay, cosmic turnabout does its job well, and i like how it takes the time to introduce important characters and concepts without stuffing too much into turnabout for tomorrow. as for the case itself, its honestly so hard to separate it out, and i feel like it was pretty short compared to the other episodes. 5/10

spirit of justice

turnabout for tomorrow: probably the most controversial case out of the two games in terms of fan opinions, but i frankly love this case. it's engaging, it's high stakes, it's got all the punch and intrigue that a final case should have, and on its own it's definitely one of the best. unfortunately, i wish the fulbright reveal was foreshadowed even a little bit. a mutual of mine said that since they were spoiled about fulbright being evil, they enjoyed turnabout for tomorrow a lot, but someone who went into it blind would probably find it confusing and out of left field, and i have to agree with that. it's definitely a case you want to spoil yourself just a little bit for it to be satisfying as you figure out the rest, because dual destinies seems to be allergic to Actual foreshadowing, and seems to be made up along the way. im also probably pretty biased in a weird way because ive seen a lot of fan content and meta about turnabout for tomorrow that makes it Better and Cooler and Make More Sense in a way that it certainly is not in canon, so that makes me both love it more for what fans have extrapolated out of it, and simultaneously resent that it didn't live up to its full potential. 8/10

turnabout reclaimed: this case sure was.... dual destinies. turnabout reclaimed is one of those cases that gets a lot of publicity in the fandom just for being absurd, but is actually not one of the good ones if im being honest. the twists fall flat, it drags on a bit too long, and it's honestly pretty forgettable. it wasn't awful to play, i certainly had some fun with it in spots, and it was nice to go back and play it after i finished spirit of justice mostly just to see simon again, but overall it's a very mid case, and im not too stoked about how they represented marlon rimes either tbh. 3/10

overall (averaged) score for dual destinies: 4.5/10

overview: everyone seems to hate spirit of justice and i don't know why. honestly, soj is way up there in my list of favorite ace attorney games ever. it feels more based in the feeling of the original trilogy, i love the way all the existing characters are written, and love the introductions of the new ones. nothing wrong with soj in my book, especially once i figured out that the portrayal of khura'in isnt nearly as racist as initially expected. the divination seances are a very fun mechanic that had a lot of potential beyond how they used them, and i would have liked to be able to do them every case if you ask me.

my biases: i am in love with nahyuta to a worrying degree, and dhurke is one of my favorite characters as well. the character value, which is what i automatically focus on the most, is very high in this game, so while im trying to rank these cases by how well-written they are, i can't help but adore spirit of justice for its character work. i also had a few spoilers, but nothing too strongly story-based.

foreign turnabout: once again, a first case is a first case, and foreign turnabout does its job in that respect. it establishes khura'in well, and helps lead into the complex opinion of it that you're eventually supposed to form throughout the game, but i do have to say it starts in a pretty deceptively xenophobic place in this case. kind of an underwhelming case, but ahlbi is adorable and it's certainly a fun start to throw phoenix into a new place out of the blue, and again it does its job as a first case satisfactorily. 4/10

magical turnabout: this case was fun! i like how the second case, while not connected to the overarching plotline, still had the spirit of the rest of the game imbued in it, and while i do think ace attorney shouldn't rely on the Twin Twist as much as they already do, they seem to handle it pretty well and it often makes sense when they slip it in. many funny moments, high stakes, good twists, fits in well with the game, and i love that we get to see trucy as a defendant, because it felt like a long time coming on that. 6.5/10

rite of turnabout: this case is more emotionally hard hitting than the final case of this game, if you ask me. it's juicy, it's strongly tied to the plot of the game, all the twists make so much sense and everything ties together so well, and it comes to a supremely satisfying end, which keeps hopes high for the last two cases. intrigue and immersion are high in this case, i love love love the introduction of rayfa as a weird little girl investigative assistant, and the revisualization sequence in this case is one of the only ones out of the two games where it exists that actually surprised me, and felt both satisfying and exciting at the same time. i haven't gotten a lot of those yelling "OH!!!!" as the pieces suddenly slide together moments since the original trilogy, so this case has to go down as one of the best ones in my book. 8.5/10

turnabout storyteller: y'all, i know this is a filler case, but god damn is it good!! it's enjoyable as hell, the perfect amount of challenging for me, a nice bitesize length that a filler case should be, not too predictable or too random (though i will admit i was spoiled about geiru because of the iconic tumblr posts about her whoops), and i got to see simon again, so i'm very happy with it! plus, the only realistic and respectable portrayal of DID i have ever seen, especially in murder mystery media! i could say so much about this case, and i already have on this blog before, but i do adore it. it's one of my faves tbh, especially for a very non-plot relevant case. 9/10

turnabout revolution (the name of this case still makes me laugh): learning that this was the longest case in the whole series, tied at 12 hours with rise from the ashes, came as no surprise. this is an absolute GIANT of a case. i think it's fun and fresh to split it up between two related trials in two different places the way they did, but i have to say i had a lot of expectations that went unfulfilled. the civil case and its investigation were very fun to do, especially how it seemed to bleed into more of a story-based visual novel format for a while, but i feel like they missed the opportunity to show us everything from phoenix's point of view as well. i adore dhurke, i love how he interacts with apollo and nahyuta, i love slowly parceling out the reveal of his death in a way i haven't really seen in aa yet, i think this case is very carefully and lovingly written and takes its time to stop fucking around and deliver the real meat of this game. unfortunately, i think the very end seemed kind of rushed and flat, and the characterizations of ga'ran and amara needed more work and at times were confusing or annoying. whereas dual destinies was a kinda underwhelming game with a fantastic ending (had it been foreshadowed more), spirit of justice was a fantastic game with a kinda underwhelming ending (that was properly foreshadowed, just not well excuted). but i don't think all of turnabout revolution suffers because of the very end of it, i think its a phenomenal case that brings the spirit of the old games along with the new ideas of the modern ones, and for the most part caps off the game in a way that makes sense with all the other information in all the other cases and closes it out as a very good game. 7.5/10

turnabout time traveler: compared to the other dlc case, this case is a lot more fun and engaging, though it doesn't have the gimmick that everyone talks about like turnabout reclaimed does. the killer is a little predictable right away from the first investigation, but i think the path to get there is fun anyway, and it's a pretty solid aa case with good characters and interesting twists, miles is there, and pierce nichody is hot as fuck, so i'd say it was a pretty good case! 6/10

overall (averaged) score for spirit of justice: 7/10

conclusion: i see a lot of hate and a lot of love for both these games, and while i definitely don't hate either of them, because i do love all aa games, i see where the animosity for dual destinies comes from and can somewhat agree. i think both have their merits, spirit of justice moreso than dual destinies, and their shortcomings. i love all the new characters though and always will, i adore how the waa is expanding and how phoenix interacts with new characters and old, and i think these two games do have a proper home in the aa series and in my heart <3

#dont like. kill me for my opinions or anything pls cjskdkf #as always the dgs duology ranks the highest in my heart #followed closely by trials and tribulations #but spirit of justice is up there #dual destinies is probably.... my least fave so far if im being honest #but thats just my opiNION #ace attorney #ace attorney spirit of justice #ace attorney dual destinies

[yes-m-ray]

Laudna’s conversation with Ashton is still going around my head.

“i want to be helpful... useful... Have a purpose...”

Its very obvious that’s her main thing, her main drive. A core feature of the “hollow one” condition. Is also not to crazy to think that this drive, may have been the thing that made her help Imogen in the first place.

So her “feeling down, out of her game” stuff is a direct result of not being able to, well, achieve this helpfulness. 

Fairly straight forward. 

There’s 2 things that jump to me tho:

“Something in my head” complaint. I do think Marisha is setting up the future confrontation with “Miss D.” in her head. Should she take her power? That “insecurity” its going to catch up, she knows that. Shes more inclined to try and sever that connection, as she openly said to Imogen, but what if this is (and im like 95% sure it is) a two way connection? What if for Laudna to vanish her completely, she would have to die? for real this time? Is having a monster in your head worth the power, and possible your life?  

Secondly, why is this feeling of “need for purpose” open now?. Easy answer is that, well she’s just nice and helpful, which... yeah, makes sense. In a case there is more... What if the main drive she has right now, helping Imogen, doesn’t satisfy her hollowness. What if after it satisfaced her initial condition, and after all this time and closeness, it became something else, and now she has to find other outlets to fulfill that.

Lots to think about. 

I don’t think Imogen is gonna get double mind cursed, but well, who knows. We will see more of Laudna’s insecurities coming to the open, as the other new friends start to pry and get close to her a bit more. Can’t wait to see. 

#critical role #cr meta #cr spoilers #cr3 #laudna #marisha ray

[ichorai]

frozen hearts, flaming arrows ; p.sh

parts ; one. masterlist. two coming soon.

pairing ; fire!seonghwa x ice!reader

summary ; two enemy clans. one icer healer, one flamer soldier, one brewing war. love was never meant to be a part of this. but then again, when is love ever supposed to be a part of anything?

words ; 7.3k

warnings / includes ; cursing, violence, a make-out scene !!, future suggestive / mature content, hwa being sexy as always, ANGST okay this is a lot of ANGST and hURT, enemies to friends to enemies to lovers trope lol

a/n ; bet yall didn’t see this one coming lol but yea pls enjoy !!! im rlly excited for this series omg !!! im sorry this part was rlly short and kinda bad kkdfjdf but this is just the beginning and i swear part two will be much better !!

A snowflake glowing a luminescent blue lazily floated above your palm, multiplying into several others until you held a mini-flurry in your hand. You walked past all the frosted-over trees, huffing in deep breaths of cold air as your boots stepped over piles of unblemished snow and crispy dead leaves. 

Being a healer was exhausting. Though you were still fairly new to the job, you couldn’t help but lay all the blame on yourself for being incapable of saving a life today. You just… hadn’t expected there to be that much blood. Icers had thicker blood for a reason; it wasn’t usually a problem. The head healer tried to reassure you that you did everything you could, but you couldn’t stand to be in the medbay for much longer. You needed air. 

And that’s how you ended up here, head spinning dizzily as you stomped through the wintry grey forest, releasing out a frustrated groan from the bottom of your lungs.

“You’re dangerously close to our territory, Icer.” The sudden deep-timbered voice had you flinching so harshly you hit your head on an icy tree branch. “I’d watch my step if I was you.”

Breath caught in your throat, you watched with wide eyes as the Flamer stepped out of the shadow of a tree. He was undeniably handsome; his irises were dark, flecked with a fierce gold the same hue as the edge of a fire, his slicked-back hair a nightly black, and a curl of his carmine lips that was nowhere near friendly. An obvious insignia of a red flame was embedded into his unwrinkled jacket, a clear sign of this man being from the Fire Tribe.

“I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized I was so close to the border.” You murmured, backing away slowly. The small snowflakes that you had accumulated in your palm quickly dissipated into the air, but miniscule particles of snow still floated around you, no doubt a result of your quaking nerves.

Noticing this, the man watched curiously as a snowflake drifted by him. He raised a finger towards the ice crystal, a small orange flame bursting out of the tip. The snowflake melted into a droplet of water, falling to his feet. You noticed the snow had melted away from him in a large circle around his shoes, now standing in a patch of wet grass. Even from the great distance between the two of you, you could still feel the wavering heat pulsating from this strange man.

“What are you doing so far away from your people?”

You knew you shouldn’t be talking to a Flamer stranger. They were dangerous, and it was common knowledge that Icers and Flamers weren’t on the best terms as of late.

“I couldn’t be there anymore,” You whispered, just loud enough for him to pick up. At his raised eyebrows, you continued on. “I’m a healer. It was a lot of pressure not to mess up.”

He nodded, his curiosity getting the best of him. He stepped closer and asked, “Then why are you a healer?”

“Because I’m good at it.” The words came off far too snobbish for your liking, so you quickly added in a sheepish tone, “Also because I like helping people.”

The two of you fell into a queer silence, before he nodded, somewhat satisfied with your answer. The Flamer turned his back to you, “I best get going now. The lands aren’t going to patrol themselves. Run back to the rest of your people, Icer.”

You could feel his heat retract as he walked away. More snow fell to cover his tracks, as if the strange man with flaming eyes was never there.

It wasn’t until the same time the next day that you found yourself strolling towards the forest, back to the same spot last night, feet acting to their own accord. You paused in your steps when you realized where you were heading. 

Would you really risk getting a Flamer angry at you for getting too close to their borders again? With not another thought, you pushed back the doubts and walked onwards… it wasn’t like you actually crossed the border. There was a large grey strip of forest land that belonged to neither tribe; it was far too costly to maintain and the forest gave them nothing but bugs and piles of dead leaves.

Much to your surprise, the man was already there, watching you with those glowing eyes of his. “What are you doing here?” He hissed.

“I can ask you the same thing,” You retaliated, arching an eyebrow.

The cold wind whistled as it blew past you, but you were planted firmly to the ground. He, on the other hand, grimaced quite obviously as the breeze tousled his neat hair about, sending dark strands careening into his eyes.

“I’m Y/N,” You said with a small smile. Although he pulsated with heat, that only made him feel the frigid sting of the cold wind all the more. At the sight of his shivering form, you wondered just how bad a Flamer can be.

He eyed you suspiciously before stepping forward quite boldly, sticking out a hand, “I’m Seonghwa.”

There was a strange arrhythmic thump in your chest. Now that he was so close to you, the lilith-hued snow around your feet started to wilt away as well, your cheeks flushing at the sudden rise in temperature. Icers weren’t very good with heat, that was obvious.

And when you took his hand, it was as if he was the coldest thing you’ve ever touched. But that couldn’t be it… you couldn’t really feel the cold much. Nonetheless, you gripped his palm unflinchingly, staring him dead in the eye. It became like some sort of challenge, but the both of you knew that you had obviously won. Seonghwa winced at how freezing your fingers against his were.

“Do you come here everyday?” The Flamer asked once he retracted his hand from yours to shove into the warmth of his pocket.

“Yesterday was my first time. I wasn’t planning on coming back today, but I just ended up here on instinct.” Your boot scuffed the pristine snow, avoiding the way his gaze seemed to quite literally burn holes into you.

Seonghwa frowned slightly. Funnily enough, the same exact thing had happened to him. He wasn’t on patrolling duty today, so really, he had no cause to be out here. He could be curled up with a book in front of a nice, warm fire, instead of standing in the snow with an Icer, of all people. Gods, he must be crazy.

“So… what are you doing here?” Your seemingly innocent question had Seonghwa struggling for words. 

In all honesty, he had been curious whether or not you’d come back. An Icer healer in the Grey Forest was more than enough to pique his interest. Nothing remotely gripping ever happened in the Fire Tribe (other than the various men and women who threw themselves at him whenever they got the chance). He hadn’t actually expected you to come back. 

“I’m… hunting.”

“It’s illegal to hunt outside of your tribe lands, everybody knows that.”

“Who said I was hunting for an animal?” Seonghwa crossed his arms over his chest to try and look somewhat menacing, but you just grinned. “I was looking for a book I lost.”

You hummed slightly, “Right.” As you waved your arm about, little snowflakes seemed to trail after you, and Seonghwa watched in masked fascination. “Can’t you just admit that you came to see me again?”

“Who’s to say that it’s not you coming to see me?”

“Hmm, let’s just say we both came to see each other. I’ve never seen a Flamer up this close before.”

Seonghwa blinked down at you with wide eyes, as if realizing just how small the distance between the two of you was. His cheeks reddened quickly as he cleared his throat into a fist, stepping backwards and almost slipping on more snow. When he attempted to sidestep the large wet puddle he’d created because of his rippling heat, his foot caught onto a tree root and he tumbled backwards. Snowflakes clung onto his dark hair and he shivered yet again. You tried to conceal your sniggers behind a palm, but Seonghwa still seemed to notice, his blazing eyes narrowing in mock-offense.

“You’re enjoying this,” He stated with an accusatory tone.

“Of course I am,” You replied through muted laughs. “I’m sorry. I would help, but I’m afraid I’d only make it worse.” To emphasize your point, you shook your hands slightly, blue crystals of snow whirling about.

Seonghwa’s fiery eyes seemed to soften at this. He pushed himself up to his feet, now shivering so harshly that you could hear his teeth chatter. You’d only known this Flamer for less than two days and yet he’d already managed to tug at your heartstrings.

“You should go back and get warm. I’ve read about Flamers and their immune systems… you guys are absolute babies when it comes to the cold.” Out of instinct, you reached out to touch his arm, like you did to most sick patients. But of course, you paused just before the tips of your fingers brushed against his jacket, curled your hand into a palm and forced it back down to your side. “I wouldn’t want you getting a fever just to see an ordinary Icer.”

Seonghwa cracked a half of a smile, shaking his head in disbelief.

But when he spun on his heel to leave, you called out before you could stop yourself, “Will I ever see you again, Seonghwa?” He stopped in his tracks without turning to looking at you. Stomach coiling into a tight knot of tension, you awaited in the palpable silence, a heavy lump forming in your throat.

“Next time, let’s go somewhere a bit warmer, yeah? Meet me closer to Flamer territory, by the river next to the largest tree in the Grey Forest. If you get to see me shiver, I get to see you sweat, Icer.” And then he continued on his way, until his lithe form disappeared behind the misty haze and the frosted shrubbery.

Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck. Just what were you thinking, agreeing to meet with a Flamer? Were you always this stupid or had you just realized now? You couldn’t believe you were spending your free time with some random Flamer from the Fire Tribe. 

Thoughts of doubt swirled about in your head as you wove your way through the Grey Forest. The low rumbling of the river had you gulping down a large lump in your throat. It was already far too warm for you liking, the little snowflakes that buzzed around your head slowly melting away in water droplets. You didn’t think you’ve ever been this nervous before; not even back when you performed your first major surgery. There was just something about Seonghwa that you couldn’t stay away from… like when your Nan used to tell you no sugar candies before bed, it only made you crave for them all the more.

By the time you spotted Seonghwa leaning against the large tree, you were panting heavily, perspiration marring your skin. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” The Flamer chimed, seeming to be in a much better mood now that the tables have turned. He seemed quite at ease, not a bead of sweat to be seen. “Already worked up quite a sweat, have we?”

Pathetically, you lifted your arm to conjure a small snowball, proceeding to press it against your head for cool relief. It quickly melted into a slushy of ice and water, dripping down your hair. You frowned, while Seonghwa grinned in return.

“Not so fun, is it?” He teased while you kicked off your boots and dipped your feet into the river, moaning in relief at the slightly cooler temperature of the water. You wished to make it colder, but much to your disappointment, the water wouldn’t crystalize because of how quickly it was rushing by. 

Seonghwa crouched next to you, but still kept a decent length away, picking up rocks to skip across the river. For that, you were grateful, because if he made you any warmer than you were at that moment, you would’ve gotten up and stormed back to Icer lands. 

“The first time we met,” You started after flicking water onto your face to cool down, making Seonghwa glance at you with curious eyes. “You were telling me to go back to my territory. But now, you made me come closer to Flamer lands. What’s up with that?”

“I don’t know,” He answered honestly. “You’re just… not what I thought an Icer would be like. It made me curious.”

“And what did you think we’d be like?”

A small shrug lifted his shoulder, “Cold. I mean, not that you aren’t, but cold as in… your hearts would be frozen over as well. I grew up with stories of Icers freezing Flamers to death and placing them in their gardens as statues. But you don’t seem like you’d do that kind of stuff. Especially when you told me that you were a healer.”

“For me, everybody knew the story of how the Fire Tribe would lock the Icers they captured in a sealed room, and the snow they made would melt and they’d slowly watch as the room filled with water, unable to turn it into ice because it was too damn hot. And eventually… they’d drown.” At the last few words, you frosted over your fingers and dunked them beneath the waters’ surface.

Seonghwa’s horrified expression made you chuckle slightly.

“Well, for the record, we don’t do that. We aren’t barbarians.” His words were said huffily as he crossed his arms and turned fully to fix his rapt gaze on you.

“I know. It was merely a silly childhood legend.”

The hours dribbled away fairly quickly, you and Seonghwa exchanging tales of your childhood that only increased in absurdity the farther you recounted. He told you about his friend, San, and how they once snuck into Wind Tribe territory to steal rare Gustberries that only grew in the harsh fields of the Breezers. You told him of Hongjoong and Wooyoung, the former being your closest friend and the latter constantly getting himself hurt. Laughs and giggles and the quiet hum of the river filled the silences in between the gaps of your vivid conversations. The more time you spent talking with him, the more you found yourself growing fond of the fiery-eyed man. Who would’ve thought?

By the time the sun had already set, you and Seonghwa were sitting much closer than when you had first sat down, his heat pulsating through the air in waves. To be honest, you didn’t quite mind the subtle warmth after you got used to the initial shock, but you knew you were pushing your limits. An Icer shouldn’t be out in high temperatures for this long. 

You pushed yourself up to your feet, head swimming dizzily as you sucked in lungfuls of air. Slightly concerned, Seonghwa reached out to help you find your feet, but he pulled away at the last moment, just as you had last night. The tables really have turned, you thought in mild amusement.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m… fine…” You swayed on your feet slightly, pressing your cooler palm against your warmer-than-usual forehead.

“Come on, let’s get you back to the cold. You guys are absolute babies when it comes to the heat.” He said, mimicking the same exact words you told him yesterday. A weak laugh slipped past your lips, as you leaned against a tree branch.

Oh, everything was just too hot. You’ve been out of the snow for too long…

All of a sudden, the world was flipped onto its side, damp grass pressing against your face. You could barely register Seonghwa startled yelp before everything went dark.

“Hey. Icer, are you okay? Icer! Y/N, come on, I put you back in the snow, I don’t know what else to do.”

Though your head pounded as though someone had whacked you with a tree branch, you could just barely make out Seonghwa’s concerned tone. When your eyelids fluttered open, you were met with the sight of the Flamer’s handsome, yet alarmed face.

“You okay?” His words came gentle and soothing.

Puffing out a small sigh, you nodded tiredly. Being back in the snow felt much better, “Yeah. Thank you,” You croaked out sheepishly.

Seonghwa beamed down at you, before shuffling away so as the snow around you wouldn’t melt. But just as soon as the smile graced his features, it quickly dissipated into a frown, “Don’t scare me like that,” He practically scolded. “You win, okay? Next time we can stay in the snow.”

Breath caught in your throat, a heavy blush laid over your cheeks, “Next time? You just can’t get enough of me, can you?”

“No, I suppose not,” Seonghwa said somewhat nonchalantly, shocking you.

“I… well, thank you for the, well… uhm, getting me back,” You stumbled over your words the longer Seonghwa stared. Oh, what was this man doing to you? “I have some… healer things I need to do… so, I best get going… erm -” Without another thought, you pushed yourself onto your knees, snow crunching underneath your breeches as you leaned over towards him.

He was so warm. His face, especially, once you brushed your far-cooler lips against his cheekbone. The Flamer reared back with a ridiculous, startled expression, eyes comically wide. One of his hands came up to clamp against the cheek you kissed, mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. 

“It was really nice talking to you. Thank you again,” You murmured while hiding a grin behind your palm. With that, you turned on your heel and left the blushing Flamer alone in the snow.

From then on, you saw Seonghwa practically every day. Oftentimes, you’d meet in the snow and stroll through the Grey Forest until it got far too warm and the both of you would have to turn back. The moment he’d see your skin dampen with sweat, he’d have the two of you abruptly changing course, steering away from the heat of the Fire Tribe. You thought that was incredibly thoughtful of him. 

Once, Seonghwa discovered a more shallower part of the river that you could actually crystalize to keep yourself cool. That day was a good day. You had gently taken his scorching hand and tried to help him run across the ice before his heat could melt it away. The two of you left soaking wet, boisterous grins painted across your lips.

Hongjoong, being your closest friend and all, was constantly questioning and badgering on about where you went every afternoon. After all, you were a healer and your tribe needed you. But, however selfish it was, you didn’t want to stop seeing Seonghwa… he made you feel things no person from the Ice Tribe had ever made you feel.

The more you saw him, the more you had the urge to yank his stupidly sharp jawline towards you and shove your lips onto his. You’d imagine the way the warmth radiating off his skin would feel underneath your frigid palms and lips. You thought back to the second-long cheek kiss you gave him a couple months back, a fond smile tickling at the corner of your mouth.

“What’re you thinking about?” Seonghwa asked from beside you, nudging you slightly. Over a long course of time, the pair of you grew more and more comfortable with one another, inching closer and closer with each meet-up. At this point, you were practically sitting on top of him, one of his legs intertwined with yours and your head laying on his shoulder, the both of you leaning against a frosted tree trunk. Seonghwa smelled of sweet, burning sugar with a heavier scent of roasted coffee beans. He also often complained about how cold you were, although his tone was always fairly light and lacked any true bite. 

“Nothing,” You were quick to say, pulling your head away from his shoulder to peer up at him.

Shrugging off your strange attitude, Seonghwa glanced down at you with excited eyes, “You wanna see a new trick I learned?”

Without awaiting your answer (because he knew you’d say yes anyway), Seonghwa cupped his hands together and pulled them away to produce a thin orange flame morphed into the shape of a shooting arrow. You watched in rapt fascination as the fire-arrow spun in the air when Seonghwa whistled sharply. Then, he pushed it away to embed itself into the tree across from you. The tree’s dry bark was quick to catch aflame, but you flicked your hands and caged in the fire with frost, the orange dying out into the blackened wood. 

“Learned that during archery,” Seonghwa beamed down at your bemused expression. “You know, only the best Flamers can morph their fires into shapes. It takes a lot of concentration.”

With no effort at all, you twirled your fingers to make an intricate rabbit out of ice, whiskers and fur and all, holding it out to Seonghwa with a minuscule smile. The Flamer scowled slightly, and touched the tip of his finger to the clear crystal, watching it dribble into liquid through the gaps of your palms.

You rolled your eyes to the side before leaning your head back onto his shoulder with a content sigh, “Don’t you compete with me, Park Seonghwa. You’ll never win.”

Much to your surprise, he didn’t bother to argue, and instead pressed his warm nose into your frosty hair, humming, “Yeah, yeah. And who was the one that fainted in the heat again?”

“If I recall correctly, you’ve caught more than three colds just this year! And it’s only the fifth moon, too!”

His hands suddenly darted out to tickle your midriff, to which you squirmed away with a smothered laugh. 

“Hm, wanna put it to the test? I promise I’ll go easy,” You said teasingly once you managed to capture his wrists. You could feel his pulse rapidly thumping against the pad of your thumb. 

“I don’t know… I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

“Trust me, you’re not the one that’ll be hurting.”

“Oh, you’re on, Icer.”

The two of you stumbled onto your feet and you held yourself up in a defensive stance. With a faint smile, Seonghwa mimicked your position. Admittedly, it wasn’t a very fair fight; you were a healer and he was a well-trained fighter.

But nonetheless, you were the first to throw, a frozen ball of ice the size of your fist hurtled towards him at top speed. Seonghwa was quick to react, blasting the ice with orange flames until it melted mid-air. You frowned and lithely dodged behind a tree when he reconjured his fire arrows and sent them after you. In retaliation, you quickly brought up a thick ice barrier with a laugh, smothering the thin lines of fire away with the sole of your boots. 

The air was chock-full of his crackling flames muted by your snow, crystalline icicles dripping from nearby tree branches, and lame taunts tossed back and forth by the both of you as you play-fought for another couple of minutes.

Seonghwa might’ve had the upper hand in combat, but you knew how to play dirty. Just as he was stepping forward, you sent a sheet of slippery ice to slide underneath his boots. With a bewildered expression, Seonghwa flailed about for a moment, the small fire he prepared in his palm dying down to glowing embers, before tumbling down into the snow. 

“That was low, Y/N,” The Flamer huffed out whilst trying to catch his breath against the pale white mound of snowflakes, glaring at you with playfully narrowed eyes. You were glad to see that he wasn’t actually angry at you.

“Do you call defeat, Seonghwa? There’s no shame in admitting it, you know!” Your jaunts were light-hearted as you walked closer to him and Seonghwa found himself grinning despite the cold stinging his skin. 

Sticking your hand out to help him up, Seonghwa eyed you for a moment with an indiscernible expression, his playful nature fading away into something you couldn’t quite decipher.

Instead of pushing himself up, he suddenly pulled you down with him, a startled shriek leaving your lips and echoing across the Grey Forest. You fell on top of him with a grunt of pain, meeting his glowing amber eyes with your confused ones. During your hazy moment of puzzlement, Seonghwa tugged you closer, his warm palms curled around your forearms gently. 

And then, without further warning, he kissed you. This one was nothing like the first kiss you gave him. That one was merely an innocent peck on the cheek. But this one… this one held passion and furtive desire and yearning. The both of you most definitely wanted this, it was quite clear by now.

Your senses were overwhelmed in the best way possible. All you could smell was him, the heavy undertone of roasted coffee beans sending your head into a cloudy daze. Your lips were slanted against his hot ones, noses of starkly opposite temperatures bumping against one another in your moment of desperation. You weren’t sure where to place your hands, so you balled them up against his jacket, just close enough to feel the hardness of his chest underneath.

For you, everything was hot, searing with a need for more as his plump, warm lips laid over yours. For him, however, everything was cold. The snow beneath was a mild annoyance, and yet he was willing to bear through it for you. You were equally freezing, but Seonghwa welcomed the cold for once, a dangerous ache that would grow to be lethal if neither of you were careful.

A small, frosty sigh left you when he pulled away for a second to stare at you with those intense eyes of his. You stared back with part-confusion and part-longing, lips agape. That apparently set something off in him, because he sat up with you straddling his hips, hands now encircled around your midriff as he kissed you more passionately, leaning forward so your back arched into him.

This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Why were you feeling these emotions for a Flamer of all people? Why couldn’t you have just stayed within your own tribe? Turmoil churned about in you as you kissed him in somewhat of a frantic manner. You hated yourself for loving it so much.

The second time he pulled away, you were both gasping for breath, lips swollen and clothes rumpled and askew. You could tell he wanted to kiss you again, and probably a thousand times after that. To be frank, that was all you wanted as well.

But you knew this had to stop. And so, when he leaned forward to capture your lips with his again, you flinched none-too-subtly and slid off his lap. An expression of genuine hurt flickered across his handsome, reddened features. A twinge of guilt gnawed away at your stomach as you got up onto your shaky feet.

“Go home, Seonghwa,” Was all you could find yourself saying with a hoarse voice. “You’re going to catch a cold again.”

You couldn’t look at him anymore. And so, you left him laying crestfallen in the snow, hurriedly making your way back to Icer lands, small blue snowflakes trailing behind you and cold tears pricking the corners of your eyes.

The next day, Seonghwa didn’t show up. You waited by your usual meet-up place, gnawing on your lip anxiously, glancing every which way in hopes of seeing the raven-headed Flamer. In the midst of your worrying turmoil, more and more snowflakes emanated from your skin and it didn’t take long for them to accumulate by your feet, completely covering your boots in a pristilline white blanket. You stepped out of the feather-soft pile, opting to impatiently trudge about in an attempt to steel your nerves.

You hadn’t been able to sleep that night. Seonghwa’s heartbroken expression was imprinted into your mind, leaving you in a mess of guilt and regret and anger. 

Why did you have to push him away? Seonghwa, your first non-Icer friend, shoved away as if he meant nothing. You released a frustrated groan, smacking your palm into your forehead.

It made sense that he didn’t want to see you. If you were in his shoes, you probably wouldn’t leave your room and have the light of day touch your face for a whole moon. The idea of Seonghwa upset just didn’t sit right with you. Nonetheless, you could do little else than bide your time for him, however much you hated waiting.

He didn’t show up the next day either. Nor the one after that. 

By the fourth day of waiting, you started to feel twinges of discouragement, but you never gave up, determined to set things right with Seonghwa. The niggling thought of him never showing up was one that often pestered you while you patiently awaited his return, although always quickly shoved down into the corner of your mind. You didn’t want to think about what you would do if you never saw him again.

It took just over a week of waiting for him to come back. At that point, you hadn’t thought he’d come back at all, reluctantly accepting that you’ve ultimately ruined your friendship with Seonghwa.

And so, imagine your surprise when his voice rang out through the trees, your name rolling off his tongue smoothly, “Y/N.”

Startled, you flinched so hard that your head hit a branch that hung lowly on the icy tree you were sitting beneath. It reminded you so much of the first time you met him that you couldn’t help but crack a smile after your initial pained grimace.

“Seonghwa,” You gasped, eyes round with shock and mouth agape. “You’re… you’re back!” 

The excitement in your voice didn’t go undetected by either of you, but his features were set in stone, unmoving and neutral. Those blazing eyes of his seemed to bore holes into you, and you felt strangely naked underneath his gaze. You noticed that his appearance was more disheveled than ever, eyebags dark and hair not neatly slicked back like usual. He looked broken, but far too proud to admit so.

“Seonghwa…?” You stepped closer, the frosted leafy foliage crumbling under the pressure. This man was someone you deeply cared about, and you knew he felt the same about you.

So why was he staring at you like you meant nothing to him?

A shiver ran down your spine, a sensation that only Seonghwa could bestow upon you. Which was ironic, because the cold feeling that tickled down your spine was ignited by a man with powers of fire and heat. 

You and him didn’t belong together. That was clear as day by now.

“Seonghwa,” You mumbled again, reaching out to him once close enough.

He shut his eyes as if looking at you were torture. It stung more than you liked to admit, so you retracted your fingers, clenching them into a fist and dropping them back by your side awkwardly. The air was so tense, so utterly uncomfortable, you could feel the crack in your heart splinter into more branches.

“Stop saying that.”

“Saying what?” Your bottom lip trembled. This wasn’t the Seonghwa you’ve grown to be so fond of. This man scared you. You had half a mind to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense back into him. Where did your Seonghwa go?

An angry huff escaped his lips, misting visibly out of his carmine lips. The very ones you kissed a little over a week ago.

“You can’t… just… don’t say my name. Please. We can’t be like that anymore. We can’t do this. We can’t keep seeing each other.” Seonghwa’s stoic mask disintegrated into raw emotion. He looked to be on the verge of tears, and you wouldn’t be surprised if you mirrored the same exact expression.

There was a part of you that wanted to yell and scream and throw sharp icicles at him until he had no choice but to run back to Flamer territory. Anywhere, as long as it was far away from you. The other, more rational part of you, whispered that he was right. After all, you were the one that pushed him away first. It was only fair.

A broken bone won’t heal if you keep putting pressure on the wound. Being a healer, you couldn’t just ignore your own teachings.

But for just once in your life, you wanted to be selfish. You wanted to hold Seonghwa tightly in your grasp, no matter how dangerous it was. You wanted to call him yours, and you wanted to be his. You wanted to kiss him again, despite the small action being the ultimate downfall for the both of you.

And so you found yourself croaking out, making sure to emphasize his name, “Seonghwa, you know just as much as I do that there’s something here between us. You can’t just ignore it and toss that all out the window!”

His face screwed up in an effort to keep the onslaught of tears at bay. Perhaps what he felt for you wasn’t yet as strong as what he’d call love, but he wasn’t very far from it. He cared too much for you, so much more than anybody else in his life.

He needed you. And because of that, he had to let you go. Fraternizing with the enemy wasn’t something to be taken lightly. If his tribe knew about this little escapade of his, they’d have his head and would finally have a good enough reason to declare war. Regardless, it was only a matter of time. The Fire Tribe has hated Icers for centuries and centuries, teetering on the brink between neutrality and complete bloodshed. 

“We have no choice,” The words were said in a low tone, rumbling deep down in his chest. Seonghwa shuffled closer, so close that you could feel his familiar heat wavering against the ice once again. You longed to reach out and place your hand on his chest, feel his heart thumping against his ribcage frantically, just as yours was. “Do you know what they’d do to you - to us - if our tribes found us together? It’s too risky, Y/N. I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt.”

“I’m a healer. I can take care of myself! And we can just stay careful like we always have. Besides, people rarely come into the Grey Forest anymore!” Your words came out fast and jittery and panicked. You thought that you had already come to terms with losing the man that stood in front of you, but you were far from acceptance, you knew that now.

Seonghwa carded a pale hand through dark strands of hair, “I’m sorry, were you not the one that told me to go back home? You started this. You wanted this!” He was so agitated that when he swung his arm back to his side, small crackles of fire lit up his fingers.

Something inside you snapped, “I most definitely did not! It was just… all too sudden and I needed time to think. Now that I’ve already thought, there’s no need for us to run away and never see each other again! You’re overexaggerating, Seonghwa.”

“No, you don’t get it. Don’t you know, Y/N? Our tribes are verging on war. We’re supposed to be enemies, you and I. Don’t be daft!” His voice raised a notch or two louder, and you found yourself shrinking into yourself.

Tears pricked your eyes and you looked away from his fierce gaze, “We don’t have to be a part of that. We can just -”

“Just what? Pretend? We can’t play picnic in the forest and act like our people aren’t planning to slaughter each other!”

“You know what?” You shouted so loudly that the birds nesting on treetops fluttered away, a mass of dark wings and agitated squawks. “If you want to walk away from this relationship, from me, then go ahead! I won’t stop you. Fuck you, Seonghwa. Fuck you for throwing this away the moment it became something more.”

“You were the first to push away!” He protested, pointing an accusatory finger at you.

“Well, I’m sorry!” You cried out, furiously swiping away the tears that dribbled down your cheeks. “I’m sorry I was scared! I’m willing to try again, but you’re not giving me the chance. I waited for you every day, you know.”

“I know. I saw,” He said, suddenly quiet. “I’m sorry for making you wait.”

The two of you stared at each other defiantly, heavy breaths misting the air in front of you. His nose was tinted a deep pink, no doubt because of the cold.

“I’m leaving,” Seonghwa said after a long while. “And you shouldn’t come back here. Ever. I need you to know, Y/N. I’m doing this because I care about you. I expect you to do the same for me.”

Then, after casting you a forlorn expression, he tore his blazing eyes away and stiffly swiveled around in the snow. A gust of wind tousled his hair and he blew out a sigh of pale white mist. The cold made his nose red, and you subconsciously noticed the way he shivered slightly, brushing snowflakes off his sleeve. You’d miss that.

You’d miss him.

His heat grew fainter as his long strides took him further away from you. Your tears had crystallized on your cheeks uncomfortably, a frozen reminder of what you’d lost. You had half the mind to storm right up to Seonghwa and force him to stay here, by your side. That was the child speaking within you, however, and you were no longer a child. 

Flicking the solidified salt water on your cheeks away, you did just the same as Seonghwa had minutes ago, trudging your way back to Icer lands. Little did either of you know, the two of you cried fresh tears along the whole journey back. 

The last time you ever stepped foot in the Grey Forest was just the day after. Your eyes were puffy and aching, hair a terrible mess, and a wax-sealed envelope was tightly clutched in your hand.

There was a chance that Seonghwa would never come back. In fact, it was most probable that he’d never get the precariously written letter you left by the usual meeting place, considering what he told you yesterday.

Fond memories sunk its sharpened claws into you, stealing away your breath as you cupped both hands over your mouth, overwhelmed in every way possible. You were far too drained to cry, having emptied away all your tears the day before.

And so, you brushed stray snowflakes off the periwinkle-hued wax stamp, placing it down by the tree stump where Seonghwa usually sat. 

Then you muttered a quiet, broken goodbye, stomping back to Icer lands. You were never going to see Seonghwa again. 

Dear Seonghwa,

I know you told me to never come back. I won’t, I promise. I just wanted to leave the letter because… we never properly got to say goodbye, did we?

Well, congrats, you big dummy. You’re right. You always were, and you always are. We were never supposed to be friends. I mean, I suppose we’re enemies now, aren’t we? It was quite the foolish fantasy we had going on there, huh? I get it, we have to stay loyal to our respective tribes, we can’t risk getting caught, so on so forth. I just hope that when war is declared (which doesn’t seem to be long from now, to be quite honest), I won’t see you on the battlefield. I don’t think I’d be able to handle that. 

So, I guess this is goodbye. It’s a little hard to believe that I won’t ever get to see your stupid face again. Remember when I threw a snowball at you so hard that it broke your nose? You panicked and blood went splattering everywhere and it didn’t stop until I got you to calm down. For a highly-ranked Flamer soldier, I’d expect you to be less squeamish at the sight of your own blood. It’s alright, though. As a healer myself, blood still freaks me out just a bit.

I thought I ruined your pretty face for all the poor ladies and gents who were mad in love with you back at the Flame Tribe, and I felt so guilty. And then you smiled! I remember feeling envy and astonishment at the same time because how the hell could one look pretty while smiling through a broken, bloody nose? 

I’m glad I didn’t ruin your face, though. You’d probably get really mad at me if I did. But you would’ve forgiven me eventually, right?

Frankly, I don’t know if I deserve your forgiveness for what I did. And no, I’m not talking about hurting your precious face (they say a once-broken nose makes a man more attractive!). I’m sorry for pushing you away, Seonghwa. Really, I don’t know what I was thinking. I was scared and I needed time to think. I hope you understand that. If you don’t, that’s okay as well.

If I could rewind time, I wouldn’t have stopped kissing you. I could’ve carried on for days and days and days on end. Did you know that you’re the second person I’ve ever kissed? Don’t ask about the first, drunk Wooyoung isn’t really something to brag about. Well, for the record, you were the first kiss I actually enjoyed. Congrats.

Of course, all this doesn’t mean that it was entirely my fault. I waited for you for a week, and you did nothing but hide behind trees and watch. That was real shitty of you, to put it plainly.

I’ll miss you, though. I’ve never felt this way about any Icer and I doubt I ever will. Of all people to set my sights on, it just had to be a Flamer. What rotten luck we have.

Goodbye forever, Seonghwa. Stay safe, alright? For my sake.

With much love,

Y/N.

Seonghwa read the letter through so quickly that his pupils seemed to be moving at lightning speed. Then, with a numbed heart, he read it a second time, this time much slower.

By the third time he reread each of your carefully handwritten words, warm tears of salt water were running over his cheeks. His face had grown considerably hotter, the salty liquid steaming misty tendrils against his skin. He was angry. So, so ridiculously angry. At himself, at this stupid rivalry between the tribes, at you for being so goddamn perfect. Of course you’d managed to squeeze in jaunts and jokes in a farewell note.

There was a part of him that wished he’d never come back to the Grey Forest and found the letter. Fat droplets of his tears trickled down his jaw and soaked through the parchment, marring the intricate ink characters. With a gentle sigh, Seonghwa brushed the dampness away and stiffly flicked his wrist.

The letter burst into glowing orange flames. And Seonghwa watched on, stifling down the urge to break down into a fit of chest-wracking sobs, until your goodbye was nothing but a measly pile of blackened ashes on his palm.

#ateez x reader #ateez seonghwa x reader #seonghwa x reader #ateez #park seonghwa #ateez smut #seonghwa smut #park seonghwa x reader #seonghwa x you #ateez x you #ateez fanfiction #ateez seonghwa #ateez fantasy au #ateez imagines #ateez angst #seonghwa imagines #park seonghwa x you #ateez fanfics

[coldvampire]

parliament of knives hasnt officially updated yet as far as im aware but it looks like some new things have been added into the code in preparation 

i saw something in the code a while back about being a malkavian but this is the first time ive seen it on the startup page so thats something neat. & lucca was teased a while back as being one of the potential romance paths, so no real surprise there. her section has no variables in it for now, and i havent combed the rest of the text to see if its been added in the actual game, but at least we know its definitely on the way. no bouchard romance variables to be found, but i know there was some point where jeffrey dean either implied or outright said that was something he wanted to explore. it might just not be in the code yet, or it could just be shelved for now. i 100% believe he was serious about wanting to add that in though and i can already see the skeleton of how it would develop even just playing though bouchard’s alliance or speaking positively to him. 

now this could have fully been there before and i just missed it, but ive peeled back ch 10 more than a few times now trying to see how i can trigger the best ending, and i dont remember this section being there at all. its definitely interesting though and im glad that kashif gets some more screentime. the last time he featured prominently in one of my playthroughs i somehow got him executed so uh. this is Much Better. but it seems overall he has more variables/appearances in general based on what looks to be a fairly updated/reorganized startup page. i wouldnt be super surprised to see him get a romance path later on either ngl. 

i definitely Do Not remember reading this before? it seems like its probably one of the better endings to get especially if you like corliss. its the final choice of the ending options on the page (so far) & its also an ‘*else’ choice, so im not really sure what conditions need to be satisfied for it beyond not meeting the conditions for any other ending? idk. corliss has always wound up dead in my games & thats a very easy thing to do for the most part so im not really sure how to get here without pissing everyone off royally lmao, but it could be interesting to aim for & see what happens. willing to bet it might be one of the ends thats dependent on adeline being destroyed, unless thats just a scenario you avoid entirely if you encounter annabelle. which might be required here? since she’s present and ends up throwing herself out the goddamn window lmao. i think? seeing as corliss is being told to take her job? tbh i had no idea there would be any possibility of working with arundel and corliss at the same time. 

the ‘ending’ label here refers to the ‘we hope you enjoyed playing’ screen to my understanding, so thats genuinely just the end of that route here. i think. to get this result you probably have to investigate the tremere? thats really the only way i can see this being a natural result, although i didnt get the impression that was the route to take if you wanted to find arundel? i’m pretty sure adeline being involved is unavoidable, but i wonder if this is an ending you can only trigger if your version of chapter 7 is the second version with jordan. (its entirely possible im very confused gfhgjh) 

this isnt new i just think its kind of funny that qui is the Only One so far with a break up option lmao. and the scene itself is so sad too like gfhgjh why must we be given the opportunity to witness his suffering he sounds so dejected.

and i also dont think this is new i just never caught it before now since iirc qui diablerizing the lasombra was always a possibility. but he really does have some very unfortunate options available doesnt he ghghkj

half of this is just me guessing lmao this game has a Very Impressive number of routes and options and its difficult to reverse engineer some of these endings without actually playing through all of the options presented. unfortunately im Extremely Attached to my toreador and her choices/relationships at the moment so the odds of me doing that are admittedly not great, but seeing the raw code & potential options is something ive enjoyed doing since night road (& its also a much faster way of fact checking for fic lmaooo) 

#vampire the masquerade #parliament of knives #vtm parliament of knives #spoilers fdgfhgh obviously lmao but also my speculation #have they announced the update release date for this yet?? i dont think they have #or i missed it if they did #there seems to be more variables/flags in general tho #we're probably a couple months out from an update still but then again if im already seeing snippets in the code of the game's #public release it might be sooner than i think #once again entirely possible that i just did not encounter some of these options fdgfhg #but i definitely dont remember those ending bits and i KNOW ive spent a ton of time on that page trying to work out #what i need to pass certain stat checks #(i still dont actually know because its based on percentages not like. a character sheet fgfhg)

[darlington-v]

A Sympathetic Character is Better than a Morally Just Character

part of this was drafted from a month or so ago but i’ve been thinking about it so i’m going to finish it now and post it on this blog instead of the og ranboocore blog haha! 

i would really wish this fandom would understand though that, 

a morally good, righteous, upstanding character =/= a GOOD character like yes. they are morally good. but that does not inherently make them the better written, more satisfying character. like i enjoy characters like dream, ranboo, technoblade, wilbur, quackity, and sam (my favorites especially are dream and ranboo) because they have depth. they are multifaceted and have internal conflict and clear character flaws. 

sam is actually a good example of a character being righteous and that being a flaw. BECAUSE of his values, tommy died on his hands. because he adheres to laws, he has internal conflict as the world has shown him that maybe he was wrong. maybe it is not good to be so righteous. 

i see a lot of posts like condemning characters for their actions and i get so utterly confused because thats the point. like yes. they did the bad thing. yes. you’re right that is bad. but like... can you analyze it? can you break down the character motivations, that characters reasoning behind it, is it relatable? is it sympathetic? is it compelling to you? 

if it’s not why are you here. because these ARE sympathetic characters. they make mistakes and it is clear that the mistakes they made ARE INDEED MISTAKES. because that is human. and we can relate.  “dreams not sympathetic, he’s evil” immmmm SORRY are you telling me that if you were repeatedly told that you were an awful person, that you were toxic, that you were the bad one EVEN THOUGH YOU WEREN’T, you wouldn’t get frustrated? you wouldn’t get upset and maybe act drastically? you wouldn’t lash out? 

“i wouldn’t manipulate someone and blow up a country.” no shit! i wouldn’t either! but i would get angry! i would get mad and upset and i might say something mean or out of line or like make a mistake and start a fight. the beauty of writing is that we can exaggerate things to extremes. this raises the stakes and makes the actions so much more meaningful, but because we at our core can relate to similar actions and the line of logic, it makes it moving. it makes it sympathetic and relatable. like? no obviously, i don’t condone abuse or like manipulating someone. but i can understand and relate to the idea of “the ends justify the means.” which is the type of character dream is. in his head, the ends will justify the means. 

so i need you to understand that a SYMPATHETIC character is better than JUST a MORALLY RIGHT character. ESPECIALLY in the dream smp. this is the narrative where EVERYONE is their OWN MAIN CHARACTER. and the main character NEEDS to be sympathetic. the villain doesn’t necessarily, though a sympathetic villain is always so much better than a flat, 2D villain, but the protagonist NEEDS to be sympathetic. and by sympathetic i mean like... can i follow their line of logic? can i understand this character? like maybe i personally wouldn’t do the things they’ve done, but can i understand why they’ve done what they have? am i rooting for this character because i can relate and sympathize with them?

this is SO important in writing. it GIVES characters depth. it makes them feel real, and not just like... a 2d caricature of something. thats part of WHY i love ranboos character and WHY he is very obviously a fan favorite. ranboo, hands down, undoubtedly, PUTS THE WORK IN. his character is deeply flawed and for that extremely relatable. ranboo makes SURE that there is subtext there for you to understand it. the way his character rationalizes things is such a good testament to him providing subtext, but it’s definitely not the ONLY way he provides subtext. he doesn’t TELL you that his character has anxiety (in lore i mean out of lore he’s said it plenty of times) BUT HE SHOWS THAT. 

his character catastrophizes, his character is pessimistic at times, his character is worried pretty frequently, he displays signs of paranoia among like... so many other characteristics that are clear results of anxiety or just SHOW his anxiety. he doesn’t just SAY that flat out, but he shows it in the way he talks, the way he thinks, his actions. like YES. yes ranboo IS a hypocrite but you can understand WHY he is a hypocrite. it’s because, ironically enough, his character VALUES being morally correct. ranboos morals are important to himself and he CANNOT conceptualize being the morally wrong one. and that’s SHOWN in the way he rationalizes his acts of hypocrisy. he excuses himself because he doesn’t want to be the one thats wrong, and it’s clear that that is a character flaw of his. 

it’s intended that you pick up that ranboo is wrong, but he is excusing himself and trying to rationalize that he’s not the wrong one because thats one of his character motivations. whenever ranboo monologues and its him rationalizing, it is clearly him CONVINCING himself that he hasn’t done anything bad. he KNOWS he has done the wrong thing, but he DOESN’T WANT TO ADMIT IT.

his character HAS depth. his character feels REAL.

there are plenty of characters you can break down in this way, and i know people are aware of it because i’ve seen posts about how tubbo provides subtext through largely his actions rather than monologuing (which is a pretty good way to get across inner thought in this medium). i think that ranboo’s character is amongst the ones display depth the best because he very clearly does dedicate himself to his character and his narrative. he provides subtext and small mannerisms and goes through a monologue fairly realistically i feel where he’s working himself through a situation.

there’s also sam, who i’m VERY excited for more lore from, because he’s had a fall from grace. this is such an extraordinarily human thing that i think so many people can relate to and i think it makes him such a driving character. like no, i’m not gonna torture someone, but because i can and have fallen from grace before, i’m inherently intrigued by his story. how did he get here? and what was he thinking and where did the lines begin to break down for him? also he’s just kinda ahhah hah hah whus poppin babeyyyyyy but thats irrelevant

other characters i can think of off the top of my head are quackity, technoblade, wilbur, and tubbo but im sure there are other streamers im missing simply because i don’t watch them enough? i feel like niki’s character probably has depth it’s just that i don’t follow her character arc enough, so i wouldn’t actually know.

either way though, these characters all have depth because they’ve dealt with their issues in interesting, pressing, and ultimately human ways to their barest degrees because like i said the beauty of writing is that we can exaggerate these feelings to their extremes, but... ultimately we still experience these feelings.

like no i wouldnt do any of the shit these characters have done, but i can follow their line of reasoning and i can relate deeply to all of these issues.

and i think that’s what we really should be discussing rather than morality on the matter of like “good character” or “bad character” because i see that happen so frequently. like, in enjoying a character you’re not justifying their actions and if someone assumes that then... they should really go back to english class. that’s not how human nature works, and it’s not how literature works. 

a good character is someone i can relate to and understand. including a villain. 

TLDR; a sympathetic character is far more enjoyable and better than a morally just character. sympathetic characters are undeniably good characters because they are inherently characters you root for or simply just enjoy more. morally just characters, while they can be sympathetic, aren’t inherently good because being morally just isn’t inherently relatable. a good character is one that has depth.

#dsmp analysis #dream smp analysis #dsmp meta #dream smp meta #dsmp #dream smp #ranboo #dream #awesamdude #mcyt #long post #lmfao this is STUPID long #my analysis

[sanktyastag]

genuinely so confused with people who hate show!darklng. show!darkling is as much of a part of oppressed minority as book!darkling is but with even more 'validation' for his purpose, and i see people still hate show!him saying "oh but he is very bad in book" but then i see them rooting for book m*l LIKE HOWWW [i do kinda understand with those who dislike book!darkling but im still as baffled when when they root for book m*l]

ah, the good old darkling vs mal debate, lol.

in all honesty, i think whether someone prefers mal or the darkling when they watch/read SaB really comes down to how different fans like to engage with media.

i really enjoy politics, moral ambiguity, and fiction as a tool to examine real world oppression. as a result (and incredibly predictably to every single person who knows me) my favorite character is the darkling, because his character is a great lense to examine those different aspects of the series from. but, let's be honest here - both the books and the show only engage in politics, gray morality, and discrimination and oppression against minorities in like... the most surface-level way possible. if you're not already prone to getting over-invested in those fictional aspects, there's very little incentive to do so - because both the books and the show only set the darkling up as a focal point to examine those concepts in book 1, when alina thinks he could possibly be a good person. as soon as the darkling is revealed to be an eViL mAnIpUlAtOr, quite literally all of the nuance is stripped from his character, and we no longer engage with any valid points he may or may not have.

which means, if you're not super interested in socio-political worldbuilding, or you don't really want to examine war from a philosophical or moral standpoint, the books and show won't make you, and so it's nice and easy to just view the darkling as the amoral antagonist who needs to be taken down. i honestly don't blame fans for not liking him in the books, because the books don't... really want you to. and the show does pretty much the same thing. the show stops sympathizing with the darkling the second baghra lets the truth drop, and so every single thing he was previously shown to care about is now framed as the manipulation of an evil, calculating villain. so if a fan looks at the darkling, sees all the evil shit he does, and doesn't want to look past all of that, in order to critically examine his character, and the biased way he's viewed... i mean. yeah. then they wouldn't be a fan of his. they're more than justified in that, in my opinion. "this character is interesting, you just have to look past all the nonsensical extremist, stupid bullshit he does that harms everyone around him" isn't going to be a universal opinion, and i don't blame them for not wanting to go out of their way to sympathize with an uncompromising, murderous bastard who doesn't really respect anyone else's opinions other than his own (which, i think, is true even of show!darkling, although he feels worse about the fact that he's screwing people over. like he might cry about it, but he's still going to go forward with his plan, regardless of who objects). there's a reason darklina fans spend so much time writing about what they think would have been a more satisfying or interesting character arc for the darkling to go through - because canon absolutely doesn't do him any favors. like at all.

and on the other side, there's mal. i actually like both show and book mal, even though i don't think book mal was always handled incredibly well. i think he's a fairly sympathetic character with phenomenally bad coping mechanisms, and that the story spends essentially no time actually exploring his negative character traits in a meaningful way, which means, again, that we're given a character who the audience is tasked with doing most of the legwork for, if they want to like him. just like darkling fans very rarely excuse every single thing he's ever done, i don't actually see mal fans defend all the shit he pulls - beyond when both sides are baiting each other, in which case everyone seems to say the most black and white shit i've ever heard. but that's just kind of how online discourse works, so i won't judge people based off that, lol.

i think most fans of book mal seem to take his character, examine his negative traits and where they stem from, pick how they, personally, would like to see those issues addressed, and then put in the work to give him and alina the breathing room to do go through that character growth together.

so, by and large, i think fans of book mal and show mal just have different concepts that they find interesting or satisfying to explore in the media that they like. i obviously can't speak for others, but generally with mal and alina, i do think it's an interesting coming of age story, and has a smaller-scale, trauma-focused approach to the over-arching, wide-scale moral dilemmas that i focus on when i think about the darkling and alina. they're two flawed characters, thrust into a horrible situation, and they're desperately trying to get through it together, while fighting for the happy, peaceful lives that no one else has ever cared about them achieving.

so, yeah. in the end, i think it's really about what a fan wants from the media they consume. there's not really a wrong answer, in my opinion. it's only when people start judging each other over their fictional preferences that things start getting rocky, which is something that both darkling/alina shippers and mal/alina shippers could probably be better about, as needlessly antagonistic posts are prominent in both ship tags.

#djafljkdalk i'm sorry if this isn't the answer you wanted anon. but it was an interesting chance to explore both ships! #even though trying to word my thoughts on them was... very difficult lol #because i have very strong opinions - both good and bad - on both #like at the end of the day there IS a reason i ship one of these ships more than the other #but it's an entirely personal preference that has to do with me liking certain tropes more than others #i think they're both equally bad in canon tbqh. i just have more fun exploring darklina stuff than i do mal/alina #but in general i think the romance focus of this series kind of ruined an otherwise interesting story </3 #say it with me folks. we're not anti the ships. we're anti the writing that never fully explored anything satisfactorily #and also we're anti the fans that make hating other ships like half of their personality #shadow and bone #darklina #anti leigh bardugo #mostly for my tags i guess lakdjflak

[om-headcanon]

imagine several months have passed since the exchange program, the bros are asked by diavolo to go to the human world and investigate a rumor about a demon unlawfully making humans fall into temptation. how would they react when the find out that the perpetrator was mc, who used to be human? (make it angsty and extra painful please and thank you, i lov ur headcanons)

hey!! honestly i kinda struggled trying to figure out how i should make this ~super angsty~ and i was slightly confused in how to interpret this prompt, so i hope my interpretation is satisfactory! this is such a clever prompt, thank you! (and thank you for supporting me!!)

[for this headcanon, lets assume that upon turning into a demon, its hard for mc to access memories from being human... and that their demon form isnt as human as the brothers. also i didnt know how dark you wanted it but tw for blood and death/violence descriptions!]

lucifer

with trust, diavolo sends his best companion to investigate the mystery

he studies the day before on recent locations to get an idea of where this demon might be

he leaves the house early next morning heading to the last known location of the demon

it stood as if it were searching for yet another victim to tempt, and lucifer decided to make it known of his presence

“there is no way i, lucifer, could lose to something you, so maybe itd be wise to admit youve lost”

but allowing the demon to hear his name was a mistake, as it screaming his name sent him flying an acre

the only time he has ever felt power that strong was from your pact

it became very clear to him that not only you were the corrupted demon that stood before him, but also the pact you two shared was not tainted

lucy knew he was at an unfair disadvantage, but his pride couldnt let him flea

“end me right here if you must, mc, but at least ill die fighting”

mammon

hes terrified, but since lucifer is busy, he decided to handle it for him

he sent a few of his crow familiars to investigate where the demon was last, and proceeded to go to that location

“hey, uh, i dont think its wise for ya to be tempting humans, yanno”

upon meeting, he realises theres something off... he almost feels connected to it

but he decides to ignore the feeling

until he notices the demon wearing a ring he once gave you

mammon knew you felt familiar

but he learned fairly quickly the familiarity wasnt mutual when the demon punched his chest hard enough to shatter some ribs

you didnt care enough to fight him any more, and for some reason, that hurt him more

“i thought youd be the one to never hurt me”

leviathan

originally he didnt want to go, but then he realised this could be like a video game where you kill demons but in real life

that made him quite excited

in fact, he has a game like that (not shocking) and so he believed his experience could come to use

he used methods he learned from the game

levi left a trail of common human items to lure the demon to where he was

it was quite successful but not in the way he planned, as the demon stood behind him snarling

“woaaah- ah... wait...”

he noticed the demon wearing what resembled a ruri chan friendship bracelet he made for mc

he held its hand to get a better view and ensure thats really what it was

“mc... that cant be you in there...”

the demon pulled away from him abruptly and ended up slinging levi 20 feet across the ground

he couldnt tell what hurt more... his back from the impact, or the fact he lost his only friend

satan

hes way too excited about this

he gets to be a detective AND punish the demon in question once he finds them? this is like a dream to him

it shouldnt be difficult because theres no way he could lose a fight being one of the most powerful demons

satan follows a trail of footsteps that seem to accurately match the descriptor diavolo gave him

to his surprise, the demon was already there

satan feels as if hes solved the case, but he still has to take the demon back to custody

“look, sorry but im going to have to kill you. if you want, you can cause trouble and make this more fun for me when i torture you.”

the demon turns to his direction and he sees a faded pact mark of his on skin that used to be human

“no...”

satan tried backed away but the demon managed to pierce through his stomach with its finger

hes never once shown any hostility towards you... but he now knows youre really not you anymore

and as he lay on the ground coughing up blood, he regrets showing peace

asmodeus

he really doesnt want to do this, but because asmo is capable of charming, diavolo thought hed be the best fit for this expedition

all of the reports regarding the demon making humans fall into their temptation were from the same location, so he heads there

he sits on a curb in the near vicinity waiting for any sign of movement

when he hears the sound of growls approaching, asmo puts down the majolish magazine he was reading and gets up with a smile

“wow, a fiesty one are you! we cant have you causing more damage so if youd just look into my eyes, thatd be wonderful!”

asmos smile falls when he notes how familiar those eyes are

“mc...? i- how? how did this-“

with no effort, you slash his chest with your claws and he falls onto the ground bleeding

he never could charm you, could he...

beelzebub

because of beels excessive strength, diavolo thought sending him to handle the demon would be best

he packs a good 125 snacks to take with him

he laughed to himself on the way, thinking about how the last time he willingly walked into a battle was the war

“oh-“

lost in his daydream, he ended up walking into the demon he was looking for

the smell was all too familiar, and he quickly made the connection regarding who this demon was

“mc! i missed you so much”

almost as if he forgot the circumstances, he tried to hold you in a hug

the demon reacted suddenly and aggressively, throwing beel to the ground

he would have taken more damage if he didnt offer some of his food as a peace offering

regardless, the blow to the back didnt hurt as much as his heart did watching all that was left of both his sister and you walk away forever

belphegor

the only reason he went through with investigating was to satisfy his own curiosity, not because diavolo wanted him too

he went to the human world himself to the location of the last known incident and waited

he walked around a bit before he saw a demon sleeping on the curb

one thing about belphie is he always remembers how someone looks when they sleep

“theres no way this is mc...”

belphies voice startled the demon awake and it started fighting as a result, puncturing his chest and leading him to fall to the ground

“i killed you once and ill kill you again if i have to!”

thats something he never thought hed say and his eyes water as his heart aches knowing the one he once loved stands in front of him like this

blood rushing out his heart, he decides to use his twin telepathy one last time

“goodbye, beel...”

#ahhh not my best >: #sorry this took so long! #ive been having trouble focusing #i hope that was alright? #im sorry if this isnt what you intended in your prompt!! #obey me #obey me headcanon #lucifer headcanon #belphie headcanon #mammon headcanon #beel headcanon #asmo headcanon #satan headcanon #levi headcanon

[thefandomlesbian]

When was will abusive? Im not defending him I just want to know when

*cracks knuckles* Settle in kids. 

-Will repeatedly implies early in their relationship in an episode that JJ does not care about him unless she tells her colleagues about their relationship. She expresses discomfort at this, but he continues to press her, causing strife in their relationship. The canon makes it seem like she is being unreasonable, but in reality this is a huge issue of consent--JJ isn’t ready for her team to know she’s committed. She has her reasons. She works with profilers and is used to them knowing everything about her and not being able to keep any secrets, which gives them a lot of power over her in the field, because at this time she is just a liaison and has not been trained in profiling herself. Will disrespects her choices and is only satisfied when she finally caves. 

-Will forces her to out her pregnancy to the team, again before she is ready and without her consent. She is in the middle of a high profile case where they have begun to realize that the city is literally being struck in a series of terror attacks, and Will throws a fit when she refuses to leave and does not want to step down from her job. She does not ask him to leave his own work, but she makes it clear she isn’t willing to give up her career. He ragequits and abandons her there after an argument, essentially forcing her to choose between going after him or continuing to work the case. Again, the canon makes it seem as if JJ is the unreasonable one. 

-Will refuses to handle Henry’s febrile seizures alone and demands she come home. Febrile seizures are fairly common in young children, though quite terrifying for the parents obviously, and are generally not dangerous. Will demands she fly through tornado alley to try to get back to DC for a medical issue he should be handling on his own as an independent responsible parent. (Please note that this fandom loves to drag Haley Hotchner, but when Jack had medical problems, she took care of it herself and then notified Hotch afterward; she expressed her disapproval that Hotch had missed the appointment for his work, but she didn’t interrupt his crimefighting to demand his presence.) Yet again--JJ gets painted as a bad mother. 

-In the season seven finale, JJ reveals how much this criticism has gotten to her over the years. “I’m a mom first,” she says tearfully about Henry, wholly blaming herself for this, for not making enough sacrifices, when it’s Will’s fault that Henry was placed in danger. (I will always maintain that this entire episode would have been ten times more meaningful if it would’ve been about Hotch and his insecurities surrounding his relationship with Jack rather than focusing on JJ and her relationship with Henry, which she only had reason to doubt because Will and the canon continually told her she was a bad mother for having a job, though the same was never drawn into question about Hotch, even when he became a single parent.)

-Ironically, after years of having issues with JJ’s job, Will directly places himself in harm’s way after promising JJ he won’t do it. He lies to her face and jeopardizes the entire investigation to walk into the bank, causing her immense emotional distress and getting himself harmed in the process. He then makes poor character judgments (not unreasonable, but he shouldn’t have placed himself in this situation in the first place!) and places his son’s life in jeopardy. 

-And... as a result, he gets married, though JJ has previously refused to marry him, probably for good reason. 

-And I have drawn attention to this before, but I just wanna say it again--this fandom drags Haley Hotchner to the moon and back for “abusing” Hotch, but her character arc and Will’s line up in almost every way. She was unhappy with the way her partner handled raising a family--but unlike Will, rather than continuously harassing her partner, she chose to leave and settled with an amicable divorce. Just like Will, she made a poor character judgment and trusted an unsub believing he was trying to keep her safe--but unlike Will, rather than reuniting with her partner and falling in love again, she got to bleed out on the floor of her own home. Haley Hotchner is a victim of misogyny in the writing, and the only reason Will is romanticized is because he’s a mediocre, average-looking white man with an accent and the canon lens made it seem as if he was in the right every time he manipulated and verbally lambasted his partner on screen. 

[gerrydelano]

every so often i think about tsp and i cry. the base concept already has me in tears but the fact that you had gerry go back to mary (derogatory) because it wouldn't be a happy fairytale ending if gerry just stayed with jon? like, one thing i heavily respect with you and ren's writing is that narrative decisions make sense, have weight, and are implemented beautifully to make the story feel more real. like yes it's sad that callum couldn't stay with danny and yes it's absolutely horrible that gerry ended up going back but,,,, what would have happened otherwise?? the characters in those situations couldn't have done anything otherwise (tho i would have loved for miriam to go ham at mary. go get her ass queen <3) and if they did it wouldn't feel natural. so thank you for having such banger writing ♥

HOWEVER this doesn't make you exempt from me fist fighting you over 'there's our gerry :]'. no. fuck off. you don't get to say that ms keay he doesn't fucking belong to you im going to cry/lh

ALSO BABY JON. BABY GERRY. WHAT MORE CAN I ASK FOR (im done now i promise agzgxg but does your tsp!gerry have the same pronoun thing as pbr!gerry 👀?)

(compiling these for ease) AAAAAAAAH. okay not gonna lie just seeing the preview from “HOWEVER this doesn’t make you exempt” scared the SHIT out of me but then i realized you just love gerry and i’m like<3 yeah. fist-fight away! the fact that mary’s ONLY speaking line in TSP was “there’s my gerard :-)” was all i was willing to afford her because imo it’s all you need to really drive home Her Nonsense. hell woman!!!! hell woman!!!!

thank you so much, though ;-; that’s definitely something ren and i like to prioritize. as self-indulgent as our work obviously is, what we love seeing most is when things are handled realistically and open up doors for more complicated consequences or results that can be tended to in different ways rather than a one-stop fix-it. that feels too convenient sometimes, less satisfying, and like. not as hard-earned? which isn’t to say that there’s nothing that can’t be fixed with one change (sometimes even just communicating can make all the difference, cough jon and tim,) but you know? you know already.

which is why i especially wanna emphasize in PBR that like... gerry and tim having each other doesn’t fix the states they were in when they met, or make them magically Better, but having support does make a difference. we like to think about the huge impact that one small thing or one extra person can have! and i’m so glad that you like that element to our stuff, it means a lot to hear! <3

as for gerry’s pronouns: i didn’t get to bring it up in there, but i’d assume he would, yes! i like to think she/her is an intimate-setting sort of pronoun set for him, so that’s why in PBR so far i mostly have tim use it/both of them use it when remembering particularly tender private moments, and then cycle back to just he/him in the broader/public sense. he just didn’t really get to that point yet with jon by the time TSP ended.

also it’s time to admit that i don’t actually see them maintaining any long-lasting romantic relationship, either! they’re just not super compatible beyond Wanting to be close, and they’ll find it more fulfilling to be Fairly Homoerotic Friends honestlyjhbkn which i don’t find sad at all, i think it’s honestly really healthy for them! healthier than forcing it when they can’t meet each other’s needs. but even without that, jon’s still one of the first people who would get she/her privileges regardless just by dint of their connection and how gender ties into it. so, yes! just not onscreen.

#the whole 'i have feelings for you :-)' '[it was called friendship but neither of them had ever experienced it]' post #that's them. JHBKN. #tsp tag #reviews #aaaaaaaah #anon #asks

[rosie-x-rose]

Hi sunshine 😊 do you have the energy for exchange readings? I'm wondering about the grade from my last exam? And my overall satisfaction from it 🤓🤓📚📚S

Becouse this is kinda a specific question and idk if you are waiting for exam results, you may tell me if I should answer another question of your choice 🙏

hello!

i see an A. 85% overall probably. you will feel fairly satisfied. like you know you only worked for this much but somewhere you would want more.

okay im waiting for a result of an entrance exam too 😭 idk if i will get through it

#ask game #intuition game