#it encapsulates the entirety of how I feel about them

[yuutx]

ೀ ׅ ۫ . 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 ? ! (𝐼𝐿 𝒟𝒪𝒯𝒯𝒪𝑅𝐸)

il dottore x f!reader ﾉ 18+ content. ﾉ nsfw + unprotected sex / raw sex ﾉ female masturbation ﾉ test subject x mad scientist ﾉ degrading kink ﾉ clit play ﾉ dirty talk ﾉ size kink ﾉ mdom + fsub ﾉ not proofread ! ૮꒰ྀི ◡ ˶ ◡ ꒱ྀི১

i wrote this a while ago 'n i just found it in my drafts 2 day so i figured i should finally post it ! i wld srsly do anything 'n everything 2 be dottore's test stubject he is soo perfect. art credits go to the lovely @/lllOhara ! ♡ + ↻ are rlly appreciated ! !

Piercing red orbs scanned the room, scrutinizing every detail. His lips curled into a slight smirk as he saw your figure curled up, encapsulated within a metal cage, and suspended by thick ropes. You looked so small and frail, like a little bird locked away in its gilded cage. The man could hardly suppress a laugh as his eyes trailed up your naked figure, stopping when he saw your head hanging low. It was obvious you were still unconscious, but it wouldn't be long before you awoke. Your breathing had evened out, and the wounds you'd received were beginning to stitch themselves back together. It would seem that you had more fight in you than he'd initially anticipated, and for a brief moment he'd been afraid that he'd made a mistake by attempting to bring you here. But alas, his worries were unfounded. The Doctor was always right.

"Y/N," the man spoke, his voice a deep baritone. His words hung in the air as he waited for you to reply. When you didn't stir, his smirk only grew. "I know you're awake, pet," the Doctor spoke again, this time more clearly, "You're a terrible liar, my dear. Now, stop playing pretend and look at me."

His command was sharp and commanding, yet soft and inviting, and it forced you to comply. Slowly, you raised your head, eyes fluttering open, and met the Doctor's gaze. As your eyes landed on his form, you felt a rush of emotions wash over you, ranging from anger, to fear, and even a sense of longing. You couldn't help but notice the way the light reflected off of his ruby red irises, making them shine like the most brilliant of gems. It was then that you realized just how handsome the Doctor was. His features were sharp and chiseled, his expression serious and brooding, yet his mouth was pulled into a devious smile that made your heart race. The man's appearance was nothing short of regal, and he commanded respect from all who were lucky enough to meet him.

The mask he usually wore was gone, revealing his face in its entirety. You noticed how his lips were set into a thin line, and the way his nose curved downward towards his pointed chin. He was tall, much taller than you were, and his shoulders were broad and powerful. You found yourself mesmerized by the man before you, unable to take your eyes off him, even as your heart pounded wildly in your chest. It was a strange sensation, this mixture of fear and desire, and you had no idea what to do with it. Were you attracted to the Doctor? Perhaps… perhaps not, but something inside of you wanted him, that was for certain.

Your body betrayed you as you shifted uncomfortably beneath his gaze, drawing his attention to your nudity. Your nipples had hardened, and your core throbbed with need, aching for release. It wasn't right, you thought to yourself, you shouldn't feel this way about someone who'd captured you, imprisoned you, and planned on experimenting on you. But the longer you stared, the more you wanted him, and the more your mind seemed to lose focus on anything else. Your vision swam as a haze clouded your thoughts, leaving you completely intoxicated with desire. And just like that, you lost control. Your legs parted instinctively, and your hips bucked upward, grinding against the bars of your prison. It was almost as if your body had a mind of its own. You'd never felt anything like it before. The sensation was overwhelming, and you couldn't stop yourself. It was like you'd gone mad, your body reacting on its own accord, no longer caring about consequences or rational thought. And the worst part was, you loved every second of it. Your cheeks flushed crimson as you writhed beneath him, the cool metal of the cage rubbing against your sex, sending shivers down your spine.

You could feel his gaze upon you, watching as your breasts bounced and jiggled while you rode the bars of the cage, grinding yourself against them. Your moans grew louder, and your breathing became labored. It was so good, you thought to yourself, too good. You couldn't help but wonder, had you really gone insane? Were you really willing to sacrifice yourself just for the sake of pleasure? And yet, here you were, doing exactly that. And the man watched, his expression unchanging, save for the slightest hint of amusement in his eyes. His lips twitched, fighting back a smile as he enjoyed your performance. Your moans echoed throughout the laboratory, drowning out the sounds of the machines and equipment around you. It was beautiful, he thought, how could something so lewd and vulgar be so breathtakingly gorgeous? You were like a living work of art, and he could watch you for hours.

You felt your climax approaching, and you tried desperately to stave it off, not wanting the Doctor to see you in such a state. However, you were powerless to stop it. Your orgasm tore through your body, causing your limbs to spasm uncontrollably. Your head lolled forward, and your jaw fell open, letting loose a series of breathy whimpers. Your hips bucked upwards, slamming into the bars, forcing your body against the cold metal. The pleasure was indescribable, unlike anything you'd ever experienced before. It was intense, raw, and powerful, and it left you panting heavily. You could feel the slickness coating the bars, and the smell of your arousal permeated the air. You were completely spent, utterly exhausted from the force of your orgasm, and yet somehow you felt invigorated. You couldn't remember the last time you had came so hard, and the intensity of it took your breath away.

A low rumble reverberated throughout the laboratory, and you could feel the vibrations travel up your spine. The machine beside you was whirring to life, and a loud clicking sound filled the room as its gears began to turn. You couldn't understand what it was doing, or what it meant, but the Doctor seemed pleased by whatever results were displayed. He walked over to you, his eyes never leaving yours, and knelt down beside the cage. He placed his gloved hands against the bars, gripping them tightly, and leaned in close. "That was quite impressive," he murmured, his breath tickling your ear, "Now, let's see what other noises I can pull from that pretty little mouth of yours."

Dottore pressed a button, and the cage was lowered to the ground. You looked up at him, and your eyes met his, and his hand moved to the lock, sliding a key inside. The door opened with a loud click, and he stepped back, allowing you to crawl out. Once you were free, the Doctor grabbed hold of your hair, yanking you forward. You stumbled slightly, and fell into his arms. He wrapped his arms around your waist, holding you firmly against him, causing your dripping cunt to rub against his groin. A moan escaped your lips as his erection pressed into you, and you felt him twitch in response. "Ahh.." he breathed, his grip tightening around you, "I'm afraid I can't wait any longer."

With one fluid motion, he lifted you into the air, and carried you across the room. He set you down onto a large, cushioned table, and began removing his clothes. You watched him closely, taking in every detail of his muscular frame, admiring the way his muscles rippled under his pale skin. The Doctor's gaze remained locked on yours, and his pupils were dilated, filled with lust. You noticed the prominent bulge in his pants, and your mouth watered as he unzipped his trousers, revealing his swollen member. His cock was massive, thick and long, and it stood proudly at attention, leaking precum down the shaft. He stroked himself lazily, and a deep growl rumbled from his throat. "Do you see what you've done to me, pet?" he asked, his voice husky with desire, "This is all because of you."

You swallowed hard, and nodded, biting your lip as he stroked himself faster. He continued pumping his fist, until his cock glistened with precum. His hand traveled lower, and he cupped his balls, massaging them gently. "Such a naughty little thing, making me hard like this.." he purred, his voice low and husky, "You'll have to pay for that.." The Doctor grabbed hold of your wrists, and forced you onto all fours, getting on the table behind you. "I'm going to break your fucking mind, pet." He growled, "You'll be too fucked up to think straight when I'm done with you." His words sent shivers down your spine, and you whimpered softly as his cock brushed against your slit. He pushed inside of you, and you gasped at the sudden intrusion. His length stretched you to the limit, filling you completely. You cried out in pleasure as his cock slammed into you, burying itself inside your wet cunt. Your walls clenched around him, and his hands gripped your hips tightly, digging into your skin. His thrusts were slow and steady, his pace leisurely, and his eyes never left yours. Your head rolled back, and your body shuddered beneath him, overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through you.

Dottore's heavy balls smacked against your clit, all while his cock reached places inside of you that hadn't been touched in a long time. He groaned as he bottomed out, pushing deep into your depths, making sure his full length was seethed inside of you. His movements were unhurried, but firm, cock swelling with need as he fucked into your cunt. Your hands clawed at the table, nails digging into the leather, leaving long scratches across the surface. You moaned loudly, unable to contain your sounds of pleasure. "Fuck.." he cursed, "Your pussy's so damn tight.." Your walls squeezed around him, pulling him deeper, causing his hips to stutter. He grunted, and began pumping his hips, pistoning into your core with renewed vigor. His cock slammed into you over and over again, until he finally released a torrent of hot cum into your womb, coating your insides with his seed. His grip tightened around your hips, and he pulled you closer, pressing his chest against your back. "That's it," he growled, his breath hot against your neck, "Take all of it." His words were like music to your ears, and you did as he commanded, letting him fill you up with his thick load. Your body shook, and your eyes rolled back as you fucked yourself onto his dick, slamming yourself back against his groin. He growled low in his throat, and began thrusting harder, using you like a living fleshlight. Your moans grew louder, echoing through the laboratory, filling the air with lewd, obscene sounds. Your juices flowed freely, mixing with his cum, creating a sticky mess between your legs. He pounded into you with such force that the table rattled beneath you, causing it to shake violently.

"Ohhh..oh fuck…fuck, mm-! L-Love it, I love it so muchhh..!" you gasped, tears stinging your eyes as he fucked your brains out, your walls milking his cock, "'m gonna cum..c- h-haahh…so-so close…w-wanna cum on y-your cock…" Your words were slurred, and incoherent, and your body trembled uncontrollably as you neared your peak. "Mm? Is that so?" the Doctor questioned, "Are you gonna cum for your dear Dottore?" You nodded frantically, a hand jumping to your clit, pinching the sensitive nub between your fingers. "Y-Yes…please…p-plea- please make me cum.." you begged, voice strained and shaky, "C-Can't wait..need to…n-nowww..!!" Your words were cut off as your back arched, body trembling as your squirted, splattering him with your juices. Your body went rigid, and your mouth hung open, a scream escaping your lips as he pumped another load of his thick cum into your used hole. "Oh, you little slut," he laughed, his cock still buried deep inside you, "What a mess you've made, Y/N." He held you in place as his seed seeped out of you, dribbling down the front of the table. You couldn't move, your legs had given out, and you collapsed onto the table, panting heavily. Your body was covered in sweat, and your cheeks flushed red, and you could barely keep your eyes open. The Doctor chuckled, and kissed the back of your neck.

"Mmh, don't go falling asleep on me now.." he chided, "We're far from finished."

#୧ ‧₊˚ ☆ athena's creations ! #genshin impact #genshin #genshin smut #genshin impact smut #genshin x reader #genshin x reader smut #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x reader smut #dottore smut #dottore x reader #dottore x reader smut #dottore #il dottore #il dottore smut #il dottore x reader #il dottore x reader smut #fatui harbingers #genshin fatui #fatui #genshin impact fatui

[lovelessrage]

Loveless: A Loveless Review

[Plain Text: Loveless: A Loveless Review]

Trigger Warnings For: Discussion of sex, sex negativity, platonormativity, arophobic tropes, and anti-loveless rhetoric

Disclaimer/Disclosure: I couldn’t finish this book. This will factor heavily into the review, as it has to do with how some scenes, details, and the writing quality were just very hard to sit with and continue. I got about 50% through, so I didn’t just skim pages and get back to you on it.

You might guess I don’t think of this book highly if I had to put it down and stop reading. This would be correct. However, I have more in depth thoughts than that. If you like this book and don’t want to read negative things about it, that's fine, but I implore you to read it anyway. A lot of the problems in this book are present in a lot of creations I see and can be a valuable teaching lesson; loveless people aren’t out to ruin your fun because biases got questioned.

Alright. Enough disclaimers. Review under the cut.

The Bingo Card: Surprisingly, Not A Strikeout

People who have been following me for a while may remember I mentioned I went into reading this book with a bingo card in hand: Loveless and Tired Bingo, a sheet made by yours truly. I did not get Bingo with this book! I did, however, fill 17 spaces out of 25; it just didn’t happen to line up, not because the book passed with flying colors. We’ll return to the Bingo Card at the end of this post to see what it looked like. But, letting you know, that’s a rate of 68% of all squares ticked on Loveless and Tired Bingo. Not looking so hot. 

Platonormativity, Envy, and The Loneliness Whirlpool

Let’s start with the meat of the post so nobody has to read it all if they just wanted my representation opinions. Other things like writing will be shuffled down for your convenience.

Edit: Past Scowl is a liar and a fraud and did not have maims glasses on, and misread the bingo card! I did get Bingo. Oops. Point still stands because the data is the same, I just gave this book a sliver more credit than it deserved for not getting one.

If this book had a full course meal, normativity would ironically be a key ingredient in every plate on the menu. Loveless has a platonormativity problem that confronts you from page 1, more realistically before that; the blurb!

[Text ID: From the marvelous author of Heartstopper comes an exceptional YA novel about discovering that it's okay if you don't have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone... since there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection. /End ID]

I promise not all my complaints will be raving about one sentence, but this kinda encapsulates the entirety of my problem with Loveless: Georgia Warr is not supported in her own novel. Loveless is a deeply insecure book that many can relate to, but, really… does it alleviate that insecurity, or just cover it up? There’s an unspoken “but” to every part of Loveless’ philosophy about aspec people [especially aroaces], where they must have platonic love to make them whole, to “fix” and “redeem” their lacking attractions. This has always bothered me, and it’s not an uncommon opinion in the community, unfortunately.

Aroaces aren’t allowed to simply “be” – they must be more. They must be so platonically invested you forget they’re aroace, because they have all this other type of love to give the world. It’s reflective of a view on a community sourced from hurt and exclusion, of someone trying to rebuild their worth on a new forefront. It doesn’t make it less of what it is, though: it’s a “yes they’re valid, but” statement that serves as the backbone for far too many aspec-focused media. 

Georgia is a deeply unsure character, and there’s nothing wrong with her being this way; she’s a fictional character made to represent a journey of acceptance, not a real person with the ability to inflict harm on other real people. She does reflect the author’s biases in many ways and many points on the same token, though, acting as a mouthpiece. This often comes in Georgia’s insistence her friendships are simply stronger than other relationship types, as well as her reflexive tendencies to judge the friendless.

One of my many, many hurdles in this book had to do with Rooney [someone save her and half the cast from this novel, please], when the group realizes she’s only a socialite, not really a long-term relationship holder, and the entire room devolves into silent judgment. Georgia does not defend her newfound friend, simply noting she thought differently of her. What about Rooney not having many friends changes her outgoing personality? It doesn’t. It’s simply the fact that Rooney being friendless makes her weird, as with many things Rooney is unfairly demonized for in this novel.

The emphasis on friends doesn’t end here, and persists through the entire novel, practically. It is the main focus, when it isn’t talking about Georgia’s disinterests, and her friend circle is very important to her. All of this is fine. What isn’t fine is the expectation and casual enforcement of friendship being all you have, so you must seize it; this book, even though I wouldn’t recommend it, is often given as The Book on being aroace, but I wouldn’t agree [you’re free to tell me I can’t have an opinion on that if I’m not aroace, but at least read on before deciding anything, alright, official hear me out warning]. One, not all aroaces are alloplatonic, and two, this:

Why Is This Book Written Like A Workplace Safety Seminar

It’s a very… cookie-cutter way to be aroace, and cookie cutter aroaces exist in real life! The rep should exist, no doubt, and shouldn’t be taken away from anyone. It’s not my problem per se that the book is semi-stereotypical. What my problem is has to do with something I see a lot.

The book falls into many of the pitfalls of what I’m dubbing “the pamphlet effect”: when a novel, show, etc. continuously needs to halt the plot to remind the audience this character is different, and explains this to you in a way that resembles an educational pamphlet at a pride event. Georgia Barr feels like an example given to explain a concept more than a person, and I feel bad for her because of how little this book engages with her actual character when it shines through. I understand the book is primarily centered on her journey through the spectrum, but very little is given to make Georgia’s experience unique outside of one scene off the top of my head. Her interests, hobbies, and unique feelings only seem to play a role when it comes time to be an author mouthpiece on slutshaming for fun and sport; only one scene, the forced kiss with Jason when rehearsing the play, really blends her life experiences with her aroace experiences.

Georgia feels designed to be an everywoman, and it was very disappointing to say the least. Very little of the book actually feels like I’m with her, or learning about her unique take on being aroace as a theatre fan or young adult figuring things out; it just feels like Georgia [and the reader] are being dragged through the Cliff’s Notes version of what it is to discover being aroace, rather than a look at how a character like this might feel differently than others on a fuller, whole scale. She’s a hole that can fit most shapes into it, which makes her broadly relatable, but not as fun or engaging to read about if you don’t fit precisely in the demographic Georgia is for; even if you do, is there much to engage with beyond “I’m like that too!”? 

This isn’t just a Georgia problem, either, as many, many characters in this book are walking stereotypes or very flat. But, we’ll get into that later [if you want to get into it now, skip to Writing Problems, Oh My!].

The Fingering In The Room: Loveless’ Weird Ideas About Sex

Alright, if you’re sex repulsed and braved the storm to get some insight, this next paragraph is just complete confusion about this book’s sex scenes and talking about some of the details within. If you want to skip that, skip the next paragraph.

Why is everybody fingering each other? Fingering is fine and it feels good, but it is basically the only sexual act this book knows outside of making out with tongue. Someone having sex in Loveless? They better have clipped their nails because at least two are going in. It feels like a point of research that was skipped because it was unimportant, which. Pretty much, yes. But when you’re someone who pays very close attention to sex scenes because you’re of the opinion they can have artistic value, as well as conveying the author’s views on sexuality, I come away with “is fingering what Oseman thinks young adults do?”. Anyways. Something I noticed.

[Okay sex repulsed people, you’re good. No in depth descriptions beyond this point, just the word “sex”.]

I should’ve titled this section “In Defense of Rooney Bach” because oh this poor girl. Oh you are just there to be gawked at.

First off, let’s begin in a good place: this book always has to clarify it isn’t slutshaming its characters, followed by slutshaming its characters. Rooney is, for the uninitiated, very sexually active. Georgia’s envy often leads to a judgemental, close minded view of Rooney that often pins her sex life as “too much” – something many sexually active women get villainized for. It strikes me immediately how Rooney is constantly picked on for her sexuality as a woman in ways no male characters who aren’t asexual either are treated. None of the men she flirts with or spends time with are reprimanded or “held to account” by the book; Rooney alone is breaking the rules. Rooney’s descriptions are often bookended with a disclaimer that she isn’t being called a slut, she’s just like one, which… This is slutshaming. You can’t just say you aren’t doing it to not be doing it.

Rooney is also a victim of a very arophobic trope, and one that is also misogynistic: the Broken Woman. Why is Rooney sexually active? A rough breakup that broke her heart and makes her fear intimacy on account of potentially being wrong again. Sure, sex feels good, but explicit focus is made on the fact she is only not engaging with romance because she tried and it didn’t work. For a few chapters, admittedly I was hoping for a book where an aroace and aroallo can get past some differences and expand each other's worldviews; what I got was Georgia thinking pretty poorly of Rooney through unaddressed envy and sex negativity, and Rooney being made to only like hookups because she’s messed up. Because of course a woman could only enjoy that if she had a negative experience that forced her on the path!

Also, another scene I didn’t like was Georgia and Pip watching Rooney have sex while she is completely unaware of their presence? Jason leaves as soon as he notices, but the two of them watch before Pip makes a comment on how disgusting it is and Georgia agrees. I’m shocked at how little this is brought up as being violating or creepy. 

If it was a better book, I would have expected it to result in some kind of furthered conversation about boundaries; it could've been a place for Georgia to start establishing what she likes and dislikes, starting with Rooney preferably keeping her out of her sex life when she’s able. Instead, this event gets brought up solely for jokes, and for a motivation for Pip to start hating Rooney, despite her insistence it wasn't because of the hookup and she isn’t slutshaming. Always a great sign when that needs to be clarified. This is a PSA for everyone: you should not need to clarify you aren’t trying to slutshame. If you feel the need to do so, you are probably being sex negative. 

This book isn’t very fond of sexually active people, nor is it kind to characters that are. I can understand why being asexual and sex repulsed is representation people would want, but I also think there’s many, many ways to write it without making it an exercise in shame.

Ironically Kinda Arophobic In Some Parts

This is a short section of a thing I noticed, hated, and had as a contributing factor for my ending early: this book loves aphobic tropes. There’s already the trope against aroallos of not needing romance because of being broken into only liking sex, but also the problem with Pip and Rooney.

I’m a lesbian, for clarification, and I’m saying from experience that I hate the archetype of the angry, jealous lesbian. It’s everywhere. It’s in this book. Pip, upon even the idea of being rejected, starts berating and demeaning the girl who turned her down, even if she was only turned down in her head. The book passes it off as a lighthearted, funny story that Pip got so mad at an ex-crush she was suspended for throwing an apple at their head. Why do I bring this up?

Is it not ringing any bells that this is arophobic? That a character so hostile to romantic rejection is treated as a joke? Many, many aros, and queer people in general, have experienced violence for turning down someone. It’s a serious issue for aros and a real fear in rejecting someone. I found it incredibly hard to read and sit through as everybody passes off Pip’s tendencies to do this to the women that reject her as a silly, funny Pip moment and not a major issue for the aspec community. I don’t care if it’s enemies to lovers, because it doesn’t really feel good to read at all. The only tension is built off the back of something I’ve experienced in real life and many others have as well. 

Lovelessness: The Insecurity Unaddressed

This book, despite its title, is obviously about a loving character. Many people might not see this as a problem: first off, loveless doesn’t always mean the same thing, and second, many aroaces express feeling loveless when coming to terms with their identity. Here’s my rebuttal.

One: Georgia fits no definitions of the label. She subscribes to none of the beliefs. She loves her friends actively and sees their relationship as more than romance or sex, as something greater to her.

Second, this is because anti-loveless rhetoric is everywhere and all over this book. Not once is it suggested Georgia could live as loveless, or truly be without love. In the end, she is surrounded by it, simply learning to accept friendship instead. The way her insecurity isn’t met with “you’re complete as you are”, and instead with “you can still be complete if you simply fill the void with friends”, is anti-loveless. Nobody is allowed to be whole on their own without a subplot where their doubts are reinforced or they’re explicitly made to be broken inside.

This is shockingly common, and always sad every time I see it. Many aspects fear being loveless, as if it is a curse or blight they must cleanse. This book is one example out of many, but it doesn’t make it less hurtful when a book that runs against everything your community stands for [self-acceptance and the optionality of love] bears your name regardless. It is a book for people who are afraid of loneliness, and it answers their insecurities with “you’re right. You do need other people. You just need to find a way to still find and have a life partner!”. This is damaging to loveless people, especially those questioning an aplatonic identity.

Again, it’s not unique to Loveless. But, it’s reflective of a broader issue of aplatonics who may be seeking community constantly being presented with “you ARE broken, but friendship can fix you!”, a “solution” many can’t use, and often leads to even more self-hatred.

That’s about it from the aspec side of things. If you got this far, congrats! The rest is opinions on the writing, and the bingo card finale. You can drop off here if that’s all you came for.

Writing Problems, Oh My!

This is veering into heavy personal opinion, so, I will remind you: I don’t usually like YA, but YA can be a very good genre! I do not think this book is a good representation of what good YA looks like.

The writing quality is one of the hardest things to get past, because of a major problem I observed: Oseman is better at comics. This isn’t so much a vilification as a recommendation that it would’ve been much better suited for a different type of media. This kind of “media dysphoria” is present in many of the ways the book operates: many scenes would flow perfectly well in a visual piece. Georgia’s inner monologue has a tendency to jump suddenly into scenes and interrupt the action in a way that would be perfectly natural as a narration bubble put over a drawing of the scene around her. There are entire pages of just… text messages that would be much better suited to a visual medium where you could make these dialogue bits look much more interesting through different shots, or drawing what the background would look like on a screen [The Girl from the Sea does this well, for example]. 

There’s also the fact I cannot place in my mind if I'm too old for this novel. A lot of the jokes boil down to “hah! Sex!” in a way that instantly alienates me from the writing. The jokes can be pretty juvenile and repetitive, and serve to be the equivalent of a comedian saying “eh? Get it? That was a joke.” six times. 

This isn’t to mention the fact many of these characters are complete cardboard. Sorry. Jason does not need to exist. When he appears in a scene, he is ignored or completely leaves it on his own. He really only serves to drive Georgia’s character forward, rather than have one of his own. I found myself forgetting he was present in a scene at all until he spoke again and reminded me of his existence. The book would practically be unchanged if Georgia temporarily dated Pip and Jason was never a factor, plus or minus the Shakespeare Soc plot. 

Many interesting characters suffer from severe Pamphlet Effect syndrome. Most of the girls do. In a better novel, they would be more in depth, but Loveless doesn’t really afford them this luxury. I need to take the girls very far away from this novel, okay. I need someone to write a version of Loveless where they have personalities. There’s crumbs there. Please, someone make a loaf of bread out of it. They deserve it.

Another thing, but minor: the breakneck pacing at some points followed by slow slogs of not a lot happening contributes to the reading issues. You may thing something would be dwelled on, just for it to go flying away into the sunset as 3 more things happen and then one problem lasts for 2 chapters. I found it very hard to catch up with Loveless, while other parts I felt like I was constantly waiting for it to catch up with me instead.

The Final Frontier: The Bingo Card Returns

And without further ado, the Loveless and Tired Bingo Card for Loveless by Alice Oseman! Completed with help from other readers braver than I.

[Image ID: A bingo card made from a basic template. It has no title, and all the text is black on a white background. Some squares are marked with a blue X, while others are marked with a red scribble. The marked squares are: “Not prioritizing friendship treated as freak behaviour”, “Jab at loveless sex thrown in”, “Something about not being like THOSE people”, “Universal type of love is laid on thick”, “The answer to all your problems is finding some pals”, “Found family ending”, “Platonic-romantic binary”, “Love still treated as universal [free]”, “Friendship is more wholesome or pure”, “Amatonormativity BAD [platonormativity is my bestie]”, “Platonic love being more powerful or sumn”, “You still love your friends though, right?”, “Friendship saves the day”, “Still thinks you need dedicated people to survive”, “Being alone treated as worst thing in the world”, and “Friendships are more stable than partnerships anyways”. The unmarked, blank squares are: “Something about "players" and pickup artists where no commitment is villainized”, “Character fears being loveless and is kinda aplphobic about it”, “Aspec double standards [one is normal, one is weird]”, “You still love your FAMILY, right???”, “QPRs mentioned by no nuance given to their diversity”, “Friendship forced upon a character against their will”, “Comment about some people being inhuman gets brushed past”, and “Simply prioritise your family instead!!” /End ID]

Would I recommend this book? Uh. No! Well. Yes, but not as a good book for aspecs. I’d recommend it solely to read it yourself and form your own opinions. But, no, I would not recommend it to any aspecs I know, especially not loveless ones, aplatonic ones, aroallos, or if they're an aroace looking for support.

Ah, Loveless, how you vexx me. Never again. See you in the next, much shorter post.

#loveless aromantic #loveless aro #loveless #aplatonic #aplaro #aplatonic aro #loveless aplatonic #loveless apl #loveless alice oseman #alice oseman #osemanverse #aromantic #apl aro #arospec #aplspec #aroace #aroallo #aro #apl #aspec #scowl corner

[drdemonprince]

It’s 9:30 am on a Monday, my regularly-scheduled time for a workout. Like always, I pad across the floor of the living room, roll out the yoga mat, arrange the dumbbells, and flip open my laptop to find a follow-along strength training video on YouTube.  The algorithm knows my patterns and proclivities. Populating the first row of content is a perfect encapsulation of my weekday psyche: a thirty-minute shoulders and abs video, a fresh episode of The Bald and the Beautiful to listen to while I complete it, and for relaxing afterward, a 60-minute livestream in which a sweet-faced middle-aged mother named Sammie is repeatedly dropped into a hypnotic trance and made to repeat mantras of obedience and servitude by her loving hypnotist and boyfriend.  I love all the sides of hypnotized Sammie: when she is made to be a giggling maid, and when she dons fuzzy ears and mewls like a cat; when she devotedly calls her hypnotist Master and erases her memories for him, and when she freezes, smilingly, into a happy doll begging to be played with. I’ve watched all of her hours-long livestreams in their entirety, some of them multiple times, her vacant, entranced stares and stiff, robotic movements sending my own body roaring into a satisfied climax, sometimes without even touching myself.  But I am not attracted to Sammie at all. In fact, I’m not at all attracted to women. To the extent that my sexuality involves making contact with other people, I’m a gay man, exclusively interested in other queer men. But to even bother with that distinction confuses things a bit, because ultimately my sexual orientation does not hinge upon people’s identities or bodies. Though I can admire the beauty of all kinds of people, and even feel a handsome man igniting my curiosity at times, ultimately I’m just not really “into” human beings at all. What I’m into is hypnosis. Or mind control, brainwashing, and conditioning, if you like. Hypnosis is the bedrock that holds my psychosexual landscape together; without it any potential engagement in sex slips, and falls apart into nothing. Hypnosis is the anchor that keeps my insatiable libido grounded; without it, any possibility of having satisfying sex floats away, and my mind dissociates from the event as it’s happening.   I’m a deeply sexual person, and I always have been. I discovered masturbation early, at around four or five, and took part in it actively, getting caught a few times as a kid before I learned to sequester into my bedroom for it early in the morning and late at night. Beginning in my teen years, I got into the habit of pleasuring myself for between an hour and a half to two hours per day, and that rate has continued throughout much of my adult life.  And yet, I am also asexual — because as much as my body craves sexual release, and as often as I pursue sex, my drive has no relationship to how other people look, or anything else about them, and my release doesn’t need to involve any specific sexual activities at all.  Hypnosis is sex to me. Even in its most stagey and sterile forms, I find it inescapably erotic — and that leaves sex itself as just some boring party trick. You can touch me, or you can perform a series of backflips in front of me on the floor; either way I’ll tell you that you’ve done a very impressive job and all but it will not make me cum. 

You can read (or listen to!) the full essay for free at drdevonprice.substack.com

#asexuality #hypnosis #hypnokink

[verysium]

blu lock top artists on Spotify??? i need your thoughts on it

anon you had me pulling up my spotify playlists and browsing through the entirety of genius.com for three hours straight. i'm going to tweak this prompt a little bit and include specific songs that best represent them since it's easier for me to explain that way.

RIN

the fanon answer for this is chase atlantic. while their songs do encapsulate parts of his personality (mostly the edgy teenager and disillusioned youth persona), i feel like this choice does not do his full character justice.

the canon answer for this is king gnu, more specifically the song "prayer x." i can picture this since rin seems like the type to enjoy alternative rock/indie, but the fact that it's the ending theme to banana fish is what gets to me. like...do you see yourself in ash or something? i hope you don't cus it doesn't end well. that anime had me bawling my eyes out for months, and i still can't think about it without breaking down again.

furthermore, the lyrics and music video to this song are very cryptic and borderline nihilistic. for example, "hiding behind this nonchalant smile" and "my life's spark will wink out of existence." i feel like this speaks volumes about rin's mental health and internal thought process. he obviously does not process his emotions normally and instead represses them. he also struggles with the idea of finding a purpose in what is otherwise a cyclical routine with no end. he's worried and, quite frankly, afraid that if he ever stops pursuing his dream, everything will come crumbling down, and he will have to face all the demons he's avoided for so long. the main theme here is that he cannot face his reality (the fact that sae's dream is not his own.) so he does everything in order to escape this fact even if it ultimately destroys him.

from my own playlists, i'd assign him the following songs/artists:

"beautiful boy" by john lennon

this is a love letter to baby rin. i feel like he would've enjoyed this song as either a lullaby or something he listened to on car rides to the beach during summer vacations. he probably still listens to this when it's raining outside or he's had a bad day. reminds him of his childhood and the good parts of it.

"the love club" by lorde

this is something pre-teen rin listened to. the irony is spot-on, and i feel like the lyrics would be relevant during a time when he was going through his rebellious phase and fully fleshing out his place in society. in this instance, the club would metaphorically be wherever his brother is at, whether that's the guys sae meets in spain or the group of football players considered "top-notch" in japan. everything is about finding a place in this club/clique in an effort to become free and differentiate himself from others. the only problem is that rin ironically loses his freedom because he tries so hard to be among the best. he signs his life away in pursuit of a dream, and it's something that now defines him.

"the only problem i got with the club / is how you're severed from the people / who watched you grow up"

this lyric in particular could apply to either one of the itoshi brothers. it's one of the caveats that comes with fame. you gain everything, but you lose everything before that. both of the itoshis likely experienced some amount of separation from their loved ones, including each other. also lorde's vocals are beautiful as always, so there's no reason not to include this song.

"howlin' 404" by DEAN

the production for this song is on point. the intro has a segment from a 1930s american horror radio program which is fitting because rin canonically watches horror movies. i think this song is something rin might listen to during cold autumns or midnights when he just can't sleep.

lyrically, there is the motif of a time loop which is also present in "prayer x." rin's character itself just has this connection with the raw grittiness of existentialism and this idea of repeating days without purpose. (in fact, he would make a great psychological thriller lead.) rin is also a control freak. if he lets one loose end go, it will unravel the entire thing. that matches up with the idea of "killing me softly." rin would rather prolong his pain than have it ripped from him all at once and leave him with nothing. i find this in a lot of people in real life too. even if your trauma wasn't good for you, it sometimes becomes the only thing you truly own. it's like that one quote from bojack horseman. "if i don't, that means that all the damage i got isn't good damage, it's just damage." rin feels like he has something to prove, and if he fails, all his suffering would've been for nothing.

"moonchild" by RM

i may be a bit biased since i love the mono mixtape, and i've written a rin fic about celestial bodies, but....this song just fits him. there's also a remarkable similarity with the lyrics of the previous songs i've listed. i'm just going to list a few:

"smiling in endless pain / you know / there's no freedom when you say freedom out loud"

one thing i love about RM is that he doesn't shy away from character flaws. he writes songs specifically for those who are always picked last, who aren't remarkable in any way, who feel weighed down by their normality. he gives them their spotlight and due diligence. for example, the entirety of the chorus is a repeat of "moonchild, you shine." i find this interesting since it's usually the sun that shines. but the sun is already sae, and rin is relegated to being the moon. yet even though the moon doesn't have its own light (it merely reflects the sun), it still shines bright in the darkness. rin doesn't know it yet, but he himself is a big role model for others such as isagi, his fans, and people just like him. so yeah....i'd take this song as a message of hope for future rin.

SAE

the fanon answer is lana del rey, and i would agree to a certain extent. under the right circumstances, he could become one of those dreamy, emotionally stunted, and tired men you guys all lust over. if y/n ever wrote a romantic song about him, it would be either "west coast" (for the spanish influences) or "art deco" (for the vibes.)

the headcanon answer is nothing. i don't think he listens to music much. even if he did, it would be probably classical/instrumental or just white noise for his long flights. i imagine him listening to erik satie's "gymnopédie no. 3" on a train ride or something.

from my own playlists, i'm going to give him these songs/artists:

"remind me" by röyksopp

i don't know how to explain this, but this song gives a bittersweet sense of nostalgia. think early 2000s when the TV footage was still grainy and had retro graphics. you're carrying around your mini mp3 player whilst wandering through the airport and wondering how the hell you even ended up there. that's the general ambience of this song.

lyrically, the song also matches well with sae. i'm going to give you a few examples:

"it's only been a week / the rush of being home in rapid fading"

again, this is a tribute to the disconnection sae feels from his home. he goes everywhere, but he belongs nowhere. when he finally returns to japan, he finds himself missing spain. when he's in madrid, he thinks about the ocean back in kamakura. there never is a place that truly fills that gaping hole in his chest. i also feel like sae experiences FOMO on a whole other level. he constantly feels like something is wrong/missing and he's not doing enough.

"brave men tell the truth / the wise man's tools are analogies and puzzles"

the idea here is that though sae is blunt with his words, he is a coward with his intentions/true feelings. he can brutally call out someone without hesitation, but to actually reveal his own truths and motives? he'd rather shrivel up in a hole and die. this is especially applicable to love. to him, a wise man is someone who doesn't open his heart up easily. instead, he hints at his feelings, and whether or not you can figure that out is on you. sae hates it when others play games with him. it's where his hypocrisy lies. he demands straightforward honesty from others, but he himself will unintentionally play games with you if it means he can hide himself behind his walls.

"a woman holds her tongue / knowing silence will speak for her"

this is the closest you guys are ever going to get to sae itoshi's ideal type. he loves people who don't need to say something for him to believe it. they just get it. your silence is automatically enough for him to know that you love him. similarly, you don't even need to speak a word to understand what he's feeling.

"night shift" by lucy dacus

this song is sae if he was that one ex-boyfriend who really fucked you up emotionally, and you never got over him even though you said you did. now that i think about it, the story could be told from either POV. this could be sae trying to erase you from his mind, or it could also be you post-breakup.

"you've got a 9 to 5 / so i'll take the night shift / and i'll never see you again / if i can help it"

i know this one lyric caused controversy all over tiktok, so i'm going to add my own interpretation. at face value, this is exactly what it says it is. sae doesn't want to see you again, nor do you. he's willing to go out of his way just to avoid you, and truthfully he would. when sae finds himself in trouble, he doesn't look for something new to fix him. instead, he cuts everything off and subtracts anything that is deadweight. if you're out of his life, then you're out of his life. he's not coming back for you (or at least that's what he says to convince himself). same thing with rin. he knows he hurt rin, but he's not going to go back and try to make it right. he's going to move on and try to justify his actions every step of the way. one day, rin will move on too, and then sae would have been right all along. (unfortunately, that is not the way things work, but that's a lesson for another time.)

the alternative interpretation is that y/n is the other woman. this could be literal as in sae already has someone else in his life, and he only sees you at night. you're only ever going to be the night shift. it could also be metaphorical as in you're merely a distraction in the grand scheme of things. you're the mistress, but football is his wife if that makes sense. his career will always take precedence.

"you get me so high" by the neighborhood

this song is all the words sae wished he said to rin but never did. it made me cry because everything would have been so different if they had just set aside their pride and truthfully sought each other out.

"hope you don't regret it / i pushed a lot back but i can't forget it"

repressing feelings seems to be a recurring issue with the itoshi brothers. like....maybe if i just push it out of sight, it will also go out of mind. and at its core, this all stems from fear. fear of facing the consequences, the hypotheticals, the terrifying realization that you did something you regret and there really is no turning back from it. but realistically, if you think about it, a lot of this is the byproduct of overthinking. sometimes the situation isn't as complicated as we might make it out to be. sometimes an apology doesn't fix everything, but it's a proposition to be something more, an attempt at a solution. but sae and rin are so blindsided by their own internal turmoil that they cannot see this.

"for a long time i took it all for granted / i really thought we had it / but at the time it was more than i could manage"

ah....the "taking for granted" part. i could ramble on about that for hours. i think it really is some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy that we never miss something until it's gone. and in a way, it's not something that we can always control. the value you assign to a person/object when you have it is going to be fundamentally different from the value you assign to it when it's no longer in your grasp. that's how scarcity works. something with a limited supply is always going to be worth more. the vice versa works as well. you might yearn after something but then throw it away the moment you finally have it and grow tired of it. this sort of dilemma that comes with appreciation is so common i really wouldn't blame the itoshi brothers for what they did. it is immensely difficult to know when you're going to lose something or when you need to let it go. and sometimes it's hard to be constantly grateful for what you have because many of us are wired to want something more. tbh that's what makes the itoshis relatable.

"if we can leave it all behind us / and meet in between"

now sae would never say this unless he himself had actually reflected on what happened and fully processed it. but maybe in the future, they could set aside their differences and reach out to each other. (this is how i cope)

"but i just had to let you know / i never meant to hurt you, though / i had all my motives / i didn't know they wouldn't mix with your emotions / i just had to reach my goals / never knew i'd meet you though"

that's the thing with personal ambition. sometimes you get so caught up in yourself, you forget all about others. and this isn't really selfishness, or at least intentional selfishness. it just sort of happened that way. you never meant to hurt them, but you still somehow did.

"we should stick together / you're my best friend / i'll love you forever"

yeah....this line was the one that did it for me. something about the dysfunctional sibling dynamic just eats away at my insides. like....i could've loved you, we could've been so much together, but why aren't we? what we have isn't hate, but it isn't the love i know and crave either.

"we could be the greatest / it doesn't matter if we're never rich or famous"

ok but if rin ever heard this leave sae's lips, i think all of his trauma would just be magically healed. he just wants his brother to see him. like fully see him and love him. but alas, what is blue lock without angst, am i right?

"love in the dark" by adele

now i don't think sae would ever listen to adele, but the lyrics are just too fitting. i was going to write a fic on this, but it's going to have to ferment a bit in the drafts for now. basically this is the entire rin/sae traumatic scene but as a melodramatic torch song with adele's heavenly vocals.

"take your eyes off of me so i can leave / i'm far too ashamed to do it with you watching me"

um...this is literally sae's internal monologue??? i feel like letting go of things is something both the itoshi brothers struggle with. their lives are constantly pulling them in different directions, and eventually they become numb to it all. they don't form any strong attachment to anything besides football because that's the one thing that won't change for them. in a way, this is necessary for their character development (in the sense that they need to discern for themselves what to keep and what to let go), but it also destroys any sense of belonging they might have (hence why they feel lonely.)

"don't try to change my mind / i'm being cruel to be kind"

sae would definitely say this. like word for word. if only he wasn't a vague dumbass with no communication skills.

"i can't love you in the dark / it feels like we're oceans apart"

this is literally their dynamic in one lyric. there is the physical distance, and then there's the emotional distance.

"we're not the only ones, / i don't regret a thing / every word i've said, / you know i'll always mean"

this sort of reminds me when sae said that the world is huge, and there's so many players way better than him out there. i think spain really gave him a reality check, and he grew angry at rin when rin couldn't understand his disillusionment.

"everything changed me / and i don't think you can save me"

adele sort of echoes this softly at the end of the song. i feel like sae would do that too. he wouldn't admit his own insecurities until the very end, and only then does the truth come out.

"i'll sleep when i'm older" by bruno major

this is sae when he's older and fully mature, preferably after he meets you. he finally decides to damn it all and do what he wants.

"conversations with elders and the wisdom they bring ... / the view from an aeroplane at twelve thousand feet"

sae views things that previously annoyed him in a new light. he used to hate his elders, but he visited you and your mother once, and something changed within him. now he calls his parents more often, and his eyes linger on the old couples near the park benches. sometimes, his gaze softens just a bit when he imagines the two of you growing old just like them.

flights used to be a mundane part of his routine, but now he finds himself leaning over your window seat to see the mountains down below. the clouds and sunny weather set him aglow. and you just look so pretty when you fall asleep on his shoulder. he doesn't ever want this change.

"meet god on a mountain top along with the stars / find love somewhere, anywhere / fall deep from the start"

sae used to avoid love, but now he's running at it full-force. people tend to shy away from making sae a romantic because it seems too ooc. however, in the right situation, i think sae could entirely abandon his previous ideals and become someone else entirely. (that's why it's called a character evolution guys.)

"misplace my mind and follow my heart"

again, if you're able to make sae lose all rationality and let his heart guide him instead, then you've really done something. kudos to you for penetrating the walls of the coldest asshole known to mankind.

"i'll be a firework, not a flickering flame / treat life all around me like a one-player game"

this one lyric applies both to younger and older sae. younger sae is someone unafraid of risking it all if it means he can achieve something worthwhile. it doesn't matter how many players he has to defeat, how many people he has to leave behind. in this world, it is just him and the goal he has to accomplish.

however, after he's mellowed out after a few years (i'd say around middle age), he probably reinterprets this as something else. he's not going to constrain himself to his tunnel vision anymore. there's so much more to life than that.

"i'll go to the party and forget all the names / should it climb back to haunt me, / it ends all the same"

sae finally lets himself live the life he never thought he'd have. he does stupid things like get drunk and make a fool of himself. but you're there for him, so he doesn't really care. in fact, he can finally say that for the first time in a long time....he's having fun.

KAISER

the fanon answer is the weeknd. i'm not going to lie, i completely agree with this one. i saw this one edit of him to "party monster," and i can say i have been fully enlightened and converted. however, this is not just about a toxic male manipulator anthem. it's much more than that.

this is about running away from the ugliest parts of yourself, becoming a slave to your vices, knowing you're broken somewhere and you can never fix it. i would say his character is most similar to "starboy" in the fact that he literally flaunts everything he has to hide the fact that deep down inside, he really has nothing else to hold onto. "starboy" is all about the status symbol (money, red lamborghinis, glass table girls turning into ebony table girls lol). but at the end of the day, he doesn't really have anything except an empty heart and a satirical quip for all those who made him famous. the same theme applies to "the morning" and "house of balloons."

in the romantic sense, i think "don't break my heart" would represent kaiser. and no, this is not a justification for him being an f-boy. it's more so an exploration of why people might think he is an f-boy. i do not condone his actions, but i do try to understand them. in particular, i feel like the lyrics of "sacrifice" also fit him well.

"i was born in a city / where the winter nights don't ever sleep / so this life's always with me / the ice inside my veins will never bleed"

i headcanon kaiser as being born in either berlin or munich. and if you don't know anything about those two places, just know that you freeze your ass off during wintertime. i think it's interesting how his past could be intrinsically tied with a place, and he takes a piece of his past self with him wherever he goes. the ice in veins part also made me think about how kaiser would rather freeze up every weakness within himself than let them run free and make him human.

"every time you try to fix me / i know you'll never find that missing piece"

guys...did you hear that? to all you delusional people out there, this is your service announcement. you cannot fix someone who does not want to be fixed. write that down and memorize it. all meaningful change starts with a shift in mindset, and if they themselves are not in the right headspace to recognize that something is wrong and actively want to change, you're not going to get anywhere. so yeah....kaiser is not going to change unless HE starts doing the changing.

"i hold you through the toughest parts / when you feel like it's the end / 'cause life is still worth living"

i think this lyric sort of explores kaiser's dynamic with ness. on one front, he is the one picking ness up from his miserable past and instilling a sense of hope into him (intentionally or not.) but on another front, this could also be a problem. kaiser is almost forcefully optimistic in the way that he believes anything is possible. it has to be possible because there can be no other way. but the thing is.....you have to know your limits sometimes. blind optimism is, ironically, similar to cornering yourself.

"i can break you down and pick you up / and fuck like we are friends / but don't be catching feelings"

this is definitely the type of bullshit kaiser would spew. i could picture a fwb or situationship with him where y/n just constantly receives the short end of the stick. now this may be reaching, but i also feel like this is how kaiser projects his own trauma onto others. he himself clawed his way up to the top and put himself back together every time he fell down. the problem is that he also expects you to be that resilient. he's going to treat you badly because you're supposed to be like him: someone who can overcome everything and strive towards the impossible.

the headcanon answer to his top artist would be keshi. in particular, i think kaiser would fit the vibe of "2 soon" and "drunk." long story short, you finally broke up with him, and he's still reeling from the impact.

within my fics, i envision a dialogue between kaiser and y/n from each one of their perspectives. so based on that, i'm going to assign him the following songs/artists:

"gibson girl" by ethel cain

i know i said earlier that kaiser's character is not solely about toxic manipulation, but you have to understand that all bad habits originate from somewhere. kaiser is innately self-destructive, and he brings you down along with him. this song is about that but from y/n's perspective. there's this idea of trying to find agency in a situation where you have none. i don't have the word count to explain ethel cain lore in all of its naked glory, but all i can say is that this song is a banger and deals with themes like femininity as a performance, finding power in pain, religious motifs, etc.

"glory box" by portishead

this song is y/n's last plea to kaiser before they fully give up on him and leave. i'm also a sucker for anything that involves an exploration of gender dynamics and what it means to be a woman, and this song is riddled with it.

"suffocation" by crystal castles

this is kaiser post-isagi defeat (cue that one scene where he was trying to choke himself.) similar to sae, it's all or nothing with him. he suffers from this feeling of inferiority. everyone made him out to be this great figure of impossible dreams and legends, but look at him now. he's nothing. aren't you disappointed? he had you fooled, but he also fooled himself. so yeah....kaiser is definitely the most self-deprecating out of all of the boys at blue lock.

ISAGI

the fanon answer is laufey, and i also agree. he's so sweet, and laufey's music just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. he would also be that one love that came creeping up on you when you least expected it. "valentine" would be the song for that. i picture a reader who's had a series of unfortunate breakups and is right on the edge of giving up entirely. but then isagi comes along, and it's just so easy to love him. as easy as breathing. and then you think maybe it wasn't so bad after all. you just never found the right one until he came into your life. furthermore, isagi is a jazz pop princess, and you can't convince me otherwise.

the headcanon answer is IU. more specifically, i would say "troll" from her lilac album. i feel like even if you and isagi broke up, it would still be like you two never broke up at all. you're both on good terms, and even though you know it's counterproductive to keep cycling back to each other, you do it anyways. and it's okay because you're both still in love.

from my own playlists, i would assign the following songs/artists:

"winter bear" by v

this is my comfort song. it feels like those big sherpa blankets you tuck yourself under when you're lying next to the heater in winter. isagi would kiss your forehead and nuzzle your nose before you two drifted off to sleep.

"a boy named pluto" by hailey knox

this one is so romantic lol. i also like the dynamic where one party is afraid to love, but the other person loves them unconditionally. that would be isagi. he'd respect your decision and wait for you as long as you need it. but if you're ever ready to give him a chance, just know that he's going to treasure all of you.

"put your records on" by ritt momney

the inspiring thing about isagi is that he never lets anyone put him down. he takes rejection as redirection, failure as room for improvement. and in that way, i think this song encapsulates his resilience. he'd be such a good boyfriend not just romantically but in the way that he would literally pick you back up to your feet, dust you off, and make sure everything was alright.

"fairy of shampoo" by dosii

i picture isagi as someone who falls first and falls harder. he just loves you so much, and he doesn't even need a reason why. i saw somewhere that sometimes you don't love someone because they're your soulmate/twin flame/supernaturally fated other. you love them because you consciously made the decision to. isagi is like that. he loves you on purpose.

helppp why does this sound like an academic paper...i'm sorry anon. i got carried away with this, but i hope u like it.

#asks #blue lock imagines #blue lock #blue lock x reader #blue lock x you #blue lock x y/n #blue lock x female reader #blue lock x gender neutral reader #rin itoshi #rin itoshi x y/n #rin itoshi x reader #rin itoshi x you #blue lock fluff #blue lock headcanons #sae itoshi #sae itoshi x you #sae itoshi x y/n #sae itoshi x reader #michael kaiser #michael kaiser x you #michael kaiser x reader #michael kaiser x y/n #isagi x you #isagi yoichi #isagi x reader

[cozage]

Hello! I'm always tempted to go anon because for some reason, I expect judgment from people who are here for the same reason I am. It's very silly. But anyway. May I please have Law and Luffy in an Ace-Marineford situation (captured by the marines and set for public execution) with their s/o being the Luffy, head of the pack coming to save them. But like they survive! Maybe their s/o loses a limb or an eye or is badly hurt or something, but they survive and are together at the end. I'm here for angst, not more Marineford related trauma!

Thank you for your time.

A/N: Im so glad you don't turn anon! And I'm so glad you're here :) Ohhhkay! I imagine this takes place in Dressrosa. You get captured during the escape, and the Strawhats + Law rush to come to get you in Marineford. 

P.S. I realized you wanted Luffy and Law separately about 2/3rds through writing this story IM SO SORRY. 

Characters: gn reader x Strawhats & Law

Cw: reader peril, fighting, reader getting injured, Marineford spoilers

Total word count: 2k

How to Save a Life

Looking down at Marineford, Luffy found it all extremely foreign. He remembered the platform where you kneeled to the world. But everything else was unfamiliar. 

Of course, they had to rebuild a lot of it after Ace’s execution. Luffy remembered that much. The devastation that had been caused by both sides had been immense. But they had chosen to rebuild regardless. And now Luffy was back here again. For you. 

His entire command of 4,000 individuals had come along with him, as well as Law. But Luffy refused to allow the execution to drag on longer than it needed to. The world government knew how much of a threat he was now. And if he didn’t get to you quickly, they would kill you in a heartbeat. 

They had two Vice Admirals ready to perform the execution. Luffy’s conqueror haki wouldn’t impact them the way it had the last time. His best bet would be to get up close to you and get out. 

Everyone was frozen, waiting for the first person to make the move. 

“Please leave, Luffy!” you screamed, breaking the eerie silence that had begun the moment his ship rose from the sea. “It’s a tr-”

Akainu slammed his foot into your back, shoving you down into the ground to keep you quiet, and Luffy’s rage ignited. There was no way in hell that Luffy would allow Akainu to kill two people he loved. 

“Torao-”

As he spoke to get the other captain’s attention, a blue hue appeared around him. It didn’t encapsulate the entirety of Marineford, but it would get him closer to you. Close enough. 

“Ready!” Akainu commanded, and the two Vice Admirals raised their swords. 

Luffy gritted his teeth, praying he would get there in time. He felt his surroundings change, and suddenly he was in the middle of the air. His hand slung back and shot forward. But even if he could take out one of the executioners, there was still another sword that would end your life. You closed your eyes and braced yourself for the end. All you could do now is hope that Luffy and the others would make it out alive. 

A fist met your face, and you could feel your entire body blow backwards from the impact of the punch. You could hear the sound of two swords smack against the wooden platform, and you cracked an eye open to see what was happening. 

Luffy was soaring through the air, diving headfirst to you. He had punched you out of the way of the execution. It was such an idiotic but obvious answer, and of course Luffy thought of it.

He screamed your name, reaching out towards you. You could see the Marines tense, looking to Akainu for direction, but you didn’t care. The only person you cared about now was Luffy. 

“Luffy, wait!” you screamed, desperate to get him to stop. You expected that Akainu anticipated some kind of complication. To him, you were just bait for a bigger fish. “It’s a trap!”

“I’m coming for you!” Luffy yelled back. “Don’t stop fighting!” 

You knew he wouldn’t stop. You knew he didn't care if it was a trap. He had a panicked look in his eyes, only focused on you. So you listened to your captain. 

As Akainu approached you, his hand began flowing with magma. He was expecting you to cower, to be frozen in fear as Luffy had been the last time he was here. And when Akainu went in for the kill, Luffy would sacrifice himself to save you, just as Ace had last time. 

But you refused to let that happen. Luffy wouldn’t be dying for you. He wouldn’t be dying anytime soon. Not before he became king of the pirates. 

You scrambled away from Akainu as best you could, giving Luffy as much time as possible to come up with some kind of plan. Your shackles didn’t give you much movement on the platform, but it was enough to keep yourself away from him. 

You saw the outline of one of Luffy’s Elephant Gun attacks, and you braced yourself for another punch. The wooden platform splintered under you, and you felt rubber arms wrap around you, pulling you to him. 

“Watch the sea prism!” you cried out, but suddenly Zoro was next to you. He looked startled, as if he wasn’t expecting to be there, but he quickly examined the situation and drew his blades. He sliced your shackles off and grabbed your arm, trying to stop his forward momentum. You all tumbled to the ground, Luffy turning into a balloon at the last second to cushion your fall. 

“Stupid cannons,” Zoro mumbled, holding his swords out while looking at the Vice Admirals. Luffy stood next to him, gearing himself up for battle. Zoro glanced over at you and gritted his teeth in irritation. “Get back to the ship!”

You looked at the two of them, protecting you. “Luffy-” 

“Just get inside Torao’s room,” Luffy reasoned. For once in his life, he actually made sense. “Then we’ll join you.”

You nodded and turned on your heels to run towards the blue hue in the distance. You didn’t want to leave them, but you were the Navy’s primary target, and you knew everyone would be coming to attack you. You had to remind yourself this was a rescue mission, and if you died, then everything they did would be for nothing. 

You ran, fighting off Marines as you ran past them. You picked up a sword from a fallen soldier as defense, thankful for all of the times Zoro made you train with him. Marines were surrounding you slowly though, and you knew you wouldn’t last much longer like this. 

You had made a mistake. You knew that, and as much as you wanted to correct it, it was too late. Pain ripped through your abdomen, and you screamed out. A sword had found its way into your flesh, and you could see blood beginning to blossom from the wound area, spreading over your clothes. 

You wanted to collapse from the pain. To curl up and die, to give in to the will of the World Government. But you had to find a way to survive. You couldn’t die now, so close to freedom. Luffy would never forgive you. You couldn’t leave him alone. So you stabbed at the Marines, sweeping them to the side and continued on your journey. 

“Y/N!” Luffy’s voice came from behind you, screaming out in desperation. You were too tired to turn around and look at him, but you could hear the slap of his sandals as he approached you. It was all you could do to keep upright.

His arms wrapped around you, helping support you. The second you felt him, you leaned heavily into him, the adrenaline wearing off now that you knew you were safe. You still had at least 500 yards to go, but you knew Luffy wouldn’t let anything happen to you now. Your vision began to blur, and you suddenly felt very cold and very tired. 

“Don’t give up yet,” Luffy yelled, shaking you awake. “You have to keep moving.”

Luffy’s voice held a certain urgency that willed you back into the moment. You blinked away the sleep from your eyes and kept moving closer to the blue hue of safety. It was closing in fast, 400 yards, then 300, then 200. 

“Zoro?” You paused to look around for the mossy haired swordsman, but Luffy kept propelling you forward. 

“He’s holding off the admirals,” Luffy said, adjusting his grip around you. 

Luffy could feel you tense at that, but he kept moving. He was practically dragging you now from walking so fast. It was all your legs could do to not give out, but neither of you could worry about Zoro now. He was capable enough to hold his own against any enemies you faced, this was no different. 

You practically flung yourself into the blue sphere, and instantly felt weightless in the air, before dropping onto the deck of a ship. You groaned and rolled over, face to face with a green haired man that wasn’t Zoro. 

You yelped out in surprise, trying to scramble backwards away from the stranger. 

“Oh man, you look like you’re in rough shape!” the man said. “Nothing you haven’t been through before though, right?” 

You gave him a confused and irritated look, but he turned his attention from you and looked out. “A doctor! Y/N needs a doctor!”

“I’m a doctor, idiot!” You heard Law’s voice in the distance and felt calmer. At least you were amongst friends, even if you weren’t sure who they were.

“You can’t leave Mister Luffy and-” The green haired man spoke again.

“I’m not!” Law shot back. His voice was still strained, but it was softer when he addressed you. “Can you hold on a few minutes?”

You nodded, pressing your hand against your stomach wound. You needed to slow down the bleeding as much as possible. Your vision was hazy and you felt cold, but you forced your eyes to stay open. 

A few seconds later, Luffy and Zoro appeared next to you where some barrels were. Luffy ran to you, covering you in kisses. 

“Luffy,” you said, struggling to hang on to consciousness. “Tell Law I’m type F.”

“Type F?” he asked, looking at you with concern, but you had already given into the darkness. 

---

When your eyes fluttered open, you laid in a bed with bright lights above you. There was a mechanical whirring and steady beeps of machines, letting you know you were alive. 

“You were lucky,” Law said, looking down at you. “Incredibly lucky. If that blade had hit one more inch to the left and you wouldn’t be here now.”

You let out a shaky breath, scared of what could have been. “Thank you, Law,” you said.

He raised an eyebrow. “For what?” 

“Saving me?” you laughed, which in turn made you wince in pain.

“I didn’t save you,” Law said. “There wasn’t much I could do besides close up the wound.” His eyes darted to the bed next to you. “What you needed was a blood transfusion, which he helped with.”

You turned your head slightly to find Luffy sleeping in the bed next to you. He had a bandage wrapped around his arm, but other than that he looked relatively fine. 

“Luffy?” you asked, and Law nodded. 

At the mention of his name, Luffy stirred, mumbling a strew of syllables mixed between your name and different kinds of meat. After a moment, his eyes flicked wide open, and he bolted upright, looking around frantically. 

“Did we do it?” he asked, looking at Law. 

Law’s eyes darted over to you, and finally Luffy turned, his eyes meeting yours. A wide grin appeared across his face, and laughter bubbled up inside of him. 

“You’re okay!” he cried. Luffy jumped out of his bed and into yours, wrapping you tight in a hug.

You ignored the pain of your wound for the moment, thankful to be in his embrace again. 

“Get off!” Law scolded his fellow captain. “If that wound opens up again we’re all back where we started!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Luffy said, still giddy with the fact you were back in his arms. He loosened his grip, but didn’t let you go completely. 

You leaned in to him, trying your best not to cry. “Thank you, captain. Thank you for saving me. Twice.”

“I’ll always come back for you,” Luffy murmured in your ear, giving you a light squeeze. “No matter what. You’re stuck with me now, and I won’t let anything happen to you. That’s a promise.”

#one piece #one piece imagine #one piece scenario #one piece x reader #one piece x you #monkey d luffy #monkey d. luffy #luffy #luffy x y/n #luffy x reader #cozage #✧˚ luffy✧˚

[lukesdice]

Could you do one where y/n is part of the 5sos crew on tour. She also has always been their close friend. Especially to Luke. While playing their show in Amsterdam, he suddenly realises that he had feelings for y/n.

Amsterdam

Luke Hemmings x Reader

Word Count: 3.7k

Warning: Very small amount of swearing

Note: Thank you so much for the request! :) I hope you like it, and to anyone reading, please don't hesitate to send in more requests 🤍

You stared out the slightly dirty window of the 5sos tour bus, encapsulated by the many cyclists and artistic buildings stacked along the streets of Amsterdam.

It was the seventh night of The 5 Seconds of Summer Show World Tour and you were currently on your way to park the bus at the Ziggo Dome, the boys already hyped up to see their fans again.

You had been on the road with them for the entirety of the tour so far, working as their assistant whenever they needed something or had to haggle with employees of the different venues.

As well as their assistant, you were also joining them as a now long-time best friend of theirs, knowing the boys since you had met Luke at a party after the release of Sounds Good Feels Good, him and you quickly becoming close. He had taken little time to introduce you to the rest of the boys, quickly after you both became friends. However, you and Luke had always been the closest and not long after you met, you couldn’t help but develop a small crush on the lead singer, knowing it was wrong and that he only viewed you in a platonic way. That thought hurt your heart so you buried your true feelings deep below your skin and carried on as friends.

When you first met Luke in 2015, he had a girlfriend, who you couldn’t help feel a little jealous of as your crush developed on him. When they split in 2017, you felt ashamed that you had screamed internally with excitement and danced around your apartment a little. Even though you felt awful for Luke at the heartbreak he had felt at the time, you couldn’t deny to yourself that you had never really liked his girlfriend anyway. You always thought she treated him badly and just used him. Although you were happy they had split, you never showed that to him and instead you were by his side each step of the way to help him heal.

He had been through a lot the first few years you knew each other, and you had been his rock through all of his struggles and pain. But also through his happy days and highs. This had brought you closer together than anyone else could ever be.

“Y/N!”

You were suddenly ripped from your people watching and daydreaming, big blue eyes landing on you as you turned your head to where the excited voice was coming from.

“You were so out of it there” Luke laughed, his curly blond hair bouncing slightly.

You laughed in reply, nodding your head as you couldn’t rip your eyes away from his sparkling ones and his cute little dimples that were popping out as he laughed.

“Anyways, we are almost at the venue,” Luke began, “but me and the boys were wondering if you wanted to explore the city before soundcheck?”

You nodded enthusiastically as you tucked a stray hair behind your ear, smiling up at Luke who was leaning his elbow on the seat you were currently sitting on, his tall form towering over you and the smell of his cologne tingling your senses.

“Hell yeah, I would be well up for that” you replied, as Luke did a little happy dance at your reply. You giggled at how cringe he was, but you deeply loved it.

You stood up slowly and balanced yourself on the head rest of the seat, so not to fall over as the bus pulled into the parking area.

Luke gave you a soft smile and pulled his arm around your waist to steady you a little.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you”

Your heart warmed at his words and your stomach flip-flopped, the mixture of his firm arms around you, his hand tickling your hip and his kind words made you feel exceptionally dizzy. You desperately wished that you didn’t have to feel this way about him, because he certainly didn’t. You knew that, to him, this was just a mere friendship and he felt nothing when he touched you or hugged you, and that hurt so much more than the pain you felt over the years whenever you would see him dance with or kiss other girls.

“Thanks” you whispered in reply, as the bus slowed to a stop outside the venue.

“Alrighty, let’s go explore?” Michael piped up, standing and pulling a cap over his baby pink hair. “You coming Y/N?” He continued as you gave him a quick thumbs up.

“Of course!”

The five of you strolled down the streets of Amsterdam, stopping to buy little snacks and treats, as well as taking a quick look inside the Anne Frank House. You had stopped at a cute little clothing store, finding a furry pink coat that you had quickly forced Luke to put on, and taken a million pictures of him, gushing about how much it suited him. He had done a few poses in the long, narrow mirror that was propped against the dimly lit back area of the shop, before finding a matching pink cowboy hat and placing it on your head.

“How cute do we look?” He joked, as he snapped a quick picture of you both in the mirror, your bodies pressed against each other’s. You hoped and prayed that he couldn’t feel your heart beating out of your chest as your side was tucked into his, and as he leant his head against the top of yours.

“Oi you two, we are hiring bikes now, come on!” Calum shouted from the front door of the shop. You helped Luke pull off the pink coat before you both dashed out of the shop, catching up with the others who were now paying at a small bike kiosk.

You climbed onto one of the bikes as Ashton started peddling quickly past you, his curly hair blowing in the wind as you quickly peddled up beside him.

“Race you!” You joked as his eyes widened, the two of you trying to out-do one another.

“Hey suckers” Calum sang as he soared past the two of you on his own bike, instantly beating the both of you. You and Ashton looked at one another, rolling your eyes in amusement.

“Cheat!” Ashton yelled to Calum as you laughed at the pair, “Yeah Calum, such a cheat!” You called in unison with Ashton.

“What the fuck, how?” Calum laughed from in front, “you’re both just salty that I am a master cyclist” he boasted jokingly.

You started peddling slower so that Michael and Luke could catch up, who were just riding calmly and chatting with one another.

You smiled as you let the soft wind blow your hair backwards, admiring the trees dotted along the pavement and listening to the laughter of others as they walked hand-in-hand beside you or sat with their picnics on the grass that surrounded you.

“You look really pretty” Luke mused, as he struggled to balance his bike whilst cycling beside you, gazing over at you.

You turned your head to look at him, his cheeks tinted rosy pink as he realised what he had just said.

You felt your face go hot as the corners of your lips tilted upwards a little, your heart now hammering again, the happy noises around you suddenly drowning out.

“Um-I mean-” Luke stuttered.

“I mean, I’m very lucky to have such a pretty friend.”

Your heart sank a little at that. Friend. That’s all you would ever be to him.

You gave him a quick smile to say thanks, trying to shake his words off of you but not able to stop the word friend spinning in circles around and around in your brain, taunting at you and laughing at you.

Eventually you and Luke pulled your bikes to the side of the canal, colourful little and bigger boats dotted in lines down the side of the water bank. In your state of being lost in thought, you hadn’t even realised that you had lost the other boys.

“I think we lost the others” Luke said, circling his bike around slowly with his hands as he tried to find any sight of them.

“Oops” he continued when he couldn’t see them anywhere. He turned to look at you again, as you slipped back into your own thoughts.

“Y/N, you okay?” Luke asked, “you’ve been pretty quiet the last ten minutes.”

Luke had a small concerned frown on his face, his eyebrows slightly creased as a small curl fell in front of his left brow. This made you smile a little again, not being able to help yourself. He always looked so cute when he pulled his pouty frown-y face.

You shook yourself out of your thoughts, not wanting Luke to think something was up and start questioning further.

“Sorry no I’m fine, just lost in thought and enjoying the surroundings” you replied as Luke nodded in understanding, seemingly taking your explanation for fact.

“Hey, you want to take a short boat trip on the canal?” He asked, motioning towards one of the boats where a small man was leaning again the door that led into the boat, puffing on a cigarette with his arms folded, a small sign next to him, welcoming aboard passengers.

You excitedly nodded and leant your bike on the grass below you, “Yes definitely, I’ve always wanted to try this in Amsterdam, such a romantic thing to do-” you rambled, suddenly realising what you had just said and stopping yourself, looking bashfully at the ground and cursing at yourself in your head.

Luke chuckled beside you and entangled his hand with yours, pulling you closer towards the boats.

Your heart picked up in speed again as you let Luke hold your hand, his warm grip melting away all of your embarrassment and anxiety, the colours and blue sky around you suddenly feeling a little brighter.

“Very romantic indeed,” he chuckled, giving you a little wink before turning his attention to ask the small man about getting a quick canal tour.

You felt your breath fall away from you at his words but your head knew that he just probably said that as a joke, to make you feel better so you didn’t feel embarrassed, or maybe he was flirting? No he definitely wasn’t flirting, he only saw you as a friend.

The two of you sat at the railings of the outside section of the boat, side-by-side as you gazed up at the slow moving rows of old buildings, and listening to the calm waves of water that splashed against the edges of the boat.

Luke leaned closer to you, his shoulder brushing against yours, as he stared at you once again. You felt his gaze on you, suddenly a very nervous feeling washing over you. Every time Luke stared at you with that certain gaze, one that made you question if he really did like like you, you felt as if you couldn’t breath and that the whole universe suddenly became very dizzy and muffled.

“What?” You asked with a soft smile, finally turning to look at him. His blue eyes were shining as they melted into your own gaze, his lips turned a little upwards in a content smile, the blonde tufts, of the bottom of his mullet, tickled the back of his neck.

“Sorry,” he chuckled as he finally came back to reality, “nothing” he finished as he turned his attention back to the water ahead of you both.

“Forever a daydreamer, Luke” you giggled as you leant your head gently on his shoulder, him doing the same but instead atop of your head.

A few hours passed by, and you had eventually returned back to the venue for the show, finally meeting up with the other boys who were instantly jealous at the fact that the two of you had ‘sneaked’ off to a canal tour.

“We didn’t sneak off, if you all didn’t disappear and ditch us then maybe you could have come” Luke laughed as Calum rolled his eyes, “nah it was an elaborate plan to get rid of us!” Calum joked back, the boys already becoming silly and hyped up for their upcoming concert.

You had spent the next few hours running around and fulfilling your assistant duties, liaising with the venue staff and collecting drinks, snacks and equipment for the boys. As you dashed around, you heard loud chatter and excited cheering from the queues of fans outside, smiling to yourself and feeling intense pride for your best friends. You couldn’t be happier for them, and the fact that they were getting to fulfil their dream made your heart soar.

“Y/N, can you help me please?” Luke asked from behind you, half his body peering from behind the dressing room door.

You turned from setting up a tray of water bottles, nodding your head instantly without even knowing Luke’s request.

“Can you help me with my eyeshadow please?” He asked so innocently and softly, holding up a glittery palette and brush for you to take from him.

“Yes of course, let me work my magic” you giggled as you prized the makeup from his hands, and followed him to the dressing table which was situated in the corner of the room.

Soft rock music played in the background, a change from the normal loud music that they usually played before going on stage. The other boys had gone off elsewhere, probably to tune their instruments. You dipped the brush into the blue sparkly powder, Luke sitting on the seat below you as you hovered in front of him, your body situation in between his legs as you stood facing before him.

You dabbed the eyeshadow along his eyelids, swooping it out to create a small wing. You smiled at your work before re-focusing on making it look perfect.

The whole time Luke stared admiringly up at you, watching you as you intently made art upon his face, your free hand caressing his jawline to make sure his head stayed still in place.

You could feel his breath hitting your chin as both of your faces grew closer to one another’s, your own breath fanning his long lashes. You suddenly realised how close in proximity your lips were to each other’s, your noses almost brushing as you stopped applying the makeup for a short second. Your eyes flickered to his, which were already watching you closely.

“Hey” you whispered, letting your thumb run along his cheekbone ever so slightly, one of his blonde hairs curling around your pinky finger.

“Hey” he whispered in reply, as he reached his hand up to push one of your own strands of hair, which had fallen in front of your eyes, back to behind your ear, the cool metal of his rings brushing against your ear as he did so. You shivered a little at his touch.

“Just so you can see whilst doing my makeup” he spoke so softly, the soft beats of the music singing along to his gentle, velvety voice.

You nodded ever so slowly before casting your gaze back to your artwork, continuing on with his eyeshadow, as your heart rate sped up even more, breathing becoming heavier, and you hoped and prayed that Luke didn’t notice the state of anxious desperation you felt for him.

Suddenly a loud knocking was heard on the outside of the door, “Luke, five minutes until you need to be on stage!” You heard another of the employees yell from outside, you and Luke instantly locking eyes again. You quickly finished off his makeup and took a step back to admire your work.

“You look beautiful” you mumbled, a small smile on your lips as Luke’s cheeks became light scarlet.

He carefully stood up from his seat, once again towering over you and taking you in, with his eyes, for a short moment.

“I’ll see you after?” He questioned, acting as if he didn’t ask, then you would possibly disappear without a trace.

“Of course Luke, I’ll be waiting” you responded quietly.

“You’ll smash it, as you always do.”

The boys waved at the screaming and cheering fans, taking their places on stage as the bright orange curtain fell, the stage lights flashing and the beginning of ‘Bad Omens’ starting to play.

You took your place off the side of the stage, watching the boys begin to play and loose themselves to the feeling of euphoria, and to the rhythm of their songs. You danced a little and sang along as you did every night, grinning widely whenever Luke did his happy little bouncing movements, and whenever the crowd sang loudly to their lyrics.

‘Want You Back’ came to an end and Luke steadied his mic stand, lovingly looking out at the shining phone lights and happy fans in front of him.

“This next song is an old one” he began, as the crowd cheered crazily and excitedly.

“And I want to dedicate it to someone very special to me” he continued, the fans screaming even louder at his words.

“There’s someone in my life who I care for very much, someone who’s been by my side for the last eight years and whenever I’m with her-” he said breathlessly, the fans still going crazy over his small speech.

“I feel so disconnected from the world”

The fans cheered as the opening chords and lyrics of ‘Disconnected’ started playing.

For a moment you saw Luke turn and lock his eyes with yours, giving you a look from across the stage that made your heart batter against your ribcage, and almost knock you over from shock.

You didn’t want to be too presumptive but you were 100% sure that he had meant you, and when he gave you that look, you just knew.

As the set came to an end, the fans clapping and cheering as the boys took their final bow, waving and blowing kisses to the fans, you instantly felt nervous, impatiently waiting for Luke to be back with you.

Eventually the boys came tumbling off the stage, sweaty and full of their post concert high. Ashton galloped past you, giving you an excited hug, followed by Calum and Michael who were giggling with one another.

You smiled at them and congratulated them like you did after every show, matching their excitement.

You turned to face Luke who had just bounced off the stage towards you, his blonde hair all sweaty, the makeup you had delicately painted on him now a little smudged, but a huge grin still perfectly drawn on his face.

“You did amazing out there Luke, as always!” You cheered, as you pulled him into a warm hug. The two of you stood there in silence, arms wrapped around each other as the noise of the fans continued but began to die down a little as they began to leave.

“Did you hear my tribute?” He asked, suddenly becoming obviously nervous as he pulled away from your hug a little, but with his hands still grasping your sides.

You slowly nodded your head, unsure of what to reply, and hoping he would continue.

“Y/N, this is going to sound fucking cheesy and I might ruin our friendship saying this but I don’t give a fuck, I need to tell you” he began hurriedly, like if he didn’t say it fast enough then he would chicken out of what he was about to say.

“Whenever I’m with you, I find my sweet escape” he smiled, an air of confidence suddenly washing over him as he clearly knew how cringey he sounded but went with it anyway.

“And I’ve been worried for so long that you only thought of me as a friend and maybe you do, but Y/N,” he continued now more slowly.

“I fucking love you with all of my soul and mind and heart”

It took you a few moments to collect your thoughts, your whole body feeling weak and numb at his confession. You felt as if your heart just stopped, everything around the two of you blanking out as you stared dumbfounded into Luke’s worried blue eyes.

“What?” You asked, wanting him to say it again just to confirm it for you once more. Just to make sure that you hadn’t imagined the last minute that had passed by.

“I love you” he repeated, “and not in that platonic friendly I love you way, I love you like I love you” he rambled.

You laughed a little at his awkward way of wording his confession, but it made you fall for him even harder. You wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders, clasping your hands behind the nape of his neck as he closely watched your movements, his breathing heavy and irregular.

“I love you like I love you, too” you repeated his words back, as he let his shoulders drop in relief.

“Can I-uhm” he began nervously.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Mhm”

Luke leant down slowly, his nose brushing the tip of yours softly, his warm breath hitting your lips as you let your eyes flutter shut.

All of the noise and commotion around you became nothing, it was just you and Luke entangled in each other’s arms.

Luke finally pressed his lips to yours, both of you melting into one another and becoming one, as you felt him pull you even closer to him, his hands squeezing your hips gently.

You felt his tongue caress your bottom lip, noses pressed firmly against one another’s now, your hands tangled in his hair, as your lips deepened against his, never wanting to let go.

As you finally pulled apart, breathing heavily and staring into each other’s souls, chests rising and falling, and hearts beating in unison, the noises around you slowly became louder again as you were brought back into reality.

“Fucking finally,” Michael bellowed from behind you.

“I was sick of listening to Luke pine for you since he basically fucking met you!” He laughed, clearly happy for the two of you.

You smiled up at Luke, twirling the wet strands of his hair around your fingers.

“You were pining for me?”

Luke blushed a little again, “Guilty” he shrugged a little.

You laughed and lifted yourself back onto your tip toes to re-attach your lips to his, the two of you falling back into your disconnected world away from reality.

#5sos #5sos imagine #5sos x reader #5sos fic #luke hemmings #luke hemming imagines #luke hemmings fic #luke hemmings x reader #luke hemmings x you #luke hemmings x y/n #ashton irwin x reader #ashton irwin #calum hood x reader #calum hood #michael clifford x reader #michael clifford #5 seconds of summer

[nualaofthefaerie]

In another post you mentioned you had marked all your favorite Sunflower moments/interactions. Do you mind sharing your favorites with your devout followers?

Much love, Fauxraven

It is high time I come back to writing in here.

I will start by answering some questions, I've been overlooking for a while and then will share why I was away for as long as I have.

Let's discuss my favourite Sandflower interactions though. Thank you for the question and this is going to be quite lengthy as a post, but please bear with me. + the interactions are not ordered by how favourite of mine they are, but rather chronologically for the sake of order in the post 🪷

!Spoilers for the entirety of the Sandman comics under the divider!

Season of Mists

This one is very easy. It's the first time they meet and immediately two panels are very important to me as far as their relationship goes.

People make the VERY wrong assumption Nuala was always enthralled by Morpheus but she wasn't. She met him under her "Ice Maiden" title - a fairy so desired men died for a sliver of her attention. She went to the Dreaming as ordered by Titania, the reasons for which could be discussed in another post. Nuala being a gift to Morpheus is a very calculated move by Titania, putting both Nuala and Morpheus in extremely uncomfortable for them positions. Initially. The reason I love this panel is because it shows simultenously that Nuala didn't care about Morpheus at all and she was being arrogant towards him.

The second interaction in Season of Mists that I want to point out is this panel right here. Although on the surface this entire interaction is quite meaningful this panel right here is very important for two reasons. One and that is the obvious one, he is forcing Nuala on a journey of self-discovery and love, stripping the deceptive glamour thrusted upon her from the moment she first existed (all fairies wear glamour). Second, Morpheus notes to "misliking little magics in his realm", which is factually untrue - everything in his realm is magic in one form or another. What he dislikes is not being in control of the magic being distributed throughout his realm. So here already he had begun very clearly being dishonest with Nuala, which we will see further becomes a pattern - he will say one thing and do the exact opposite.

A Game of You

The famous page. But what people rarely talk about this panel is that Morpheus makes the active choice to be nice to her. Something he doesn't do. It is okay to not believe me, but go back, read for yourself, Morpheus doesn't praise people, he doesn't hand out empty compliments or say nice things to people in general. Now, this is the first time he does that with Nuala. He will do it one-two more times I think - he will praise her to other people and briefly before they separate for the last time. Nuala is someone Morpheus harbours positive feelings for. However, from that point forward, we will see Morpheus making the choice to act in a way he usually doesn't and do things he doesn't usually do. This is the face of the Sandflower community (me and my three bitches), but it is not my favourite panel by a long slide.

Brief Lives

I can choose a lot of interactions from "Brief Lives" however that will take an excrutiating amount of time. The most important thing about Brief Lives is the pendant Nuala receives from Thessaly, Morpheus' nasty attitude, because he is being whiny he got broken up with and what a wonderful pretty girl Lala is. This panel encapsulates that so that's why it's here.

THIS interaction has to be top 3 of my favourite interactions between them. Remember when I said in the beginning people hold big misconceptions about Nuala as a character - that she is a weak, spineless character that fades into the background. This panel is my favourite to disprove those.

"Nuala is meek to Morpheus."

No, Nuala likes Morpheus, there is a difference. Because if she was meek, she would've never stood up for herself or put him in his place, which she does in this very conversation despite their more than obvious power dynamics. While Morpheus shows open distain for her people, Nuala simply and confidently tells Morpheus she cannot change who she is, which is a surprise to the Dream Lord. She is unwilling to allow to be slandered like that whether he is a king or a jester.

This one is here because 1. He lets her keep the pendant, which at that point is not deliberate on his side but it will become a point of deep connection between them (there is a theory about the pendant, another post I want to write a lot), in a way he didn't have with Thessaly mind you. 2. He calls her "Little one" and I think that is adorable.

World's End

I will not put anything from Worlds End because it's the most important Sandflower volume in my opinion. I will, at some point write a whole post about Issue #52. For now, if you're interested go read Issue #52.

The Kindly Ones

This is my single favourite panel in the entire Sandman. Nuala and Morpheus were the original "You came/ You called" and I can't wait to see it in the series through the eyes of Nuala's actress and Tom Sturridge. ( I want to write a whole separate post about the pendant too, so, for now this is enough).

And lastly, I could put their whole conversation here and I could put the numerous comparison's between Morpheus' relationship with Thessaly and with Nuala. But I won't do that because they are irrelevant.

When Nuala became "The Maiden" both in the sense of the Kinly Ones and Persephone, she became a tragic figure bound by her love for a man that is quietly self-distructive. If you go back and read through the comic, there is a distinct uncertainty about Morpheus' coldness from his official partners - Calliope says he suddenly became cold; Thessaly believes he sees people as things he wants until he gets them and then he gets bored; Titania does not talk a lot about the nature of their relationship, however from context we can infer he also stopped responding to her at some point and she is still hung on him (as seen by her conversation with Nuala). Only Nuala recognizes his coldness for what it is - a deep inner hatred of himself and usage of loneliness as a means of punishment of himself. She ecognizes the patterns of his behaviours from his standpoint as opposed to her own, symbolizing the level to which they are connected, whether we as readers realize it or not (because I initially didn't). Nuala wants to save Morpheus, but she is very well aware that she can't.

As for Morpheus he choose Nuala as the last woman (because he did choose to go to her, he had every right to refuse and protect his kingdom, despite the boon) to visit before his death, even though Thessaly had at that point broken him up and he had given up (as by the red flowers in their feet). It is such a heartbreaking panel. Because it is the one that actually shows the depth to which Nuala sees Morpheus past his mask and the level to which Morpheus lies to her for a reason we never find out.

An amalgamation of all they had experienced together is him saying "He didn't notice" and yet, no one who has read the comics from start to finish believes Morpheus. He doesn't believe himself. She was the last person outside of his closest circle he ever saw. Why? Because of his responsibility to a boon? No. He could've left, he knew she would understand, even though she was most adamant he should stay. He stayed because he wanted.

~*~

My personal belief here is that Morpheus in his evident self-hatred did everything in his power to make Nuala turn away from him. He recognizes her as something good and we know Morpheus does not believe he deserves good things. So their last conversation is also a way for him to hurt her to a point where she wouldn't be in pain once he dies. Because she is good and he is not.

Author's note:

It's on posts like these that I realize how much I've uncovered about Sandflower since I first started. I genuinely thought I was in a crackhead space and yet, going back and reading again it's truly baffling how many times Neil wrote actions instead of words - because the good thing about comics is that we can not only read we can see, and the actions Morpheus takes towards someone he doesn't seemingly care about all that much, do not align with his words. I encourage everyone to make their own headcanons or draw their own conclusions. These are my personal and of course they highly reflect my biased viewpoints.

Love,

Li

#the sandman #nuala #nuala of the faerie #morpheus #sandflower #dream of the endless #the sandman netflix #nuala the sandman #Sandman analysis #sandman comics #the sandman comics #sandman meta

[hagumiluver]

Why I Love Shizuku Hinomori

This is less gonna be a full blown analysis and more me gushing over Shizuku and her unit focuses but here we go:

From first impressions, Shizuku comes off as someone who's absolutely gorgeous, but also an airhead. This is probably how alot of people perceive in her in the fandom.

But — just from the main story alone, you can see that's she's much more than that. During MMJ's main story, she offers to help train Minori in order to pass her idol audition, displaying her kindness from the very beginning. However, an altercation occurs between Shizuku and Airi — a fellow idol who's also her rival. Airi lashes out at her, admitting feelings of jealously towards the girl for being admired as an actual idol while she gets reduced to nothing but a laughing stock.

Shizuku runs away in tears, while Airi immediately regrets her actions towards the rival that she admired and looked up to. The tall idol thinks about her past, specifically with how Airi encouraged her to keep going as an idol despite her low confidence — which is why Airi's words shattered her heart deeply, as Shizuku believed that she was different from the others who only sought after her looks.

We also get to learn about CheerfulDays, the now ex idol group that Shizuku was in. They held very strong feelings towards her due to the fact that she was favored by their managers, and got special treatment, even though they all put in the effort as idols.

I'll talk about her treatment in CheerfulDays in more detail later, but for now... The idol makes a sudden decision to quit the group, which surprises Minori, Haruka, and especially Airi. The three go and confront CheerfulDays, ending with Shizuku bidding farewell to the idol group, holding no resentment to them despite their mistreatment of her.

Shizuku's kindness is something that gets displayed as early as the main story, with her accepting Airi's apology quickly, and politely saying goodbye to her ex group mates, even briefly apologizing for being disappointing as the center.

Fast forwarding a bit, MMJ gets formed — and makes the decision to do livestreams, as they seem to be best option for independent idol groups such as themselves.

During Shizuku's first event story, MMJ officially announces their formation to the world, with them getting mixed responses — mostly from the people who supported Airi, Haruka, and especially Shizuku in their past groups.

We get more elaboration on what exactly happend with Shizuku while she was in CheerfulDays, and learn that she acted very drastically from the girl that people close to her know her as. She was elegant, confident, and flawless — essentially "perfect."

However — this persona of hers was heavily pushed by her managers, with them editing out any mistakes in talk shows, TV recordings, and more. Alot of the attention she got was mostly from to her looks, which led people to have their own perceptions of how she acted, only to get deeply disappointed by Shizuku's actual personality.

This led to Shizuku feeling very self conscious of how she acted, making sure that she behaved exactly in line with how she was in CheerfulDays. This is the main conflict in her first event story, the fear that her fans wouldn't love her anymore if she stayed true to her actual character, and didn't act "perfect."

This belief gets affirmed by a mishap that happens in one of MMJ's livestreams, where Shizuku admits to putting miso soup in her container instead of the expected water, leading to an onslaught of confused and negative commenters — but one specific comment hit her the most: "this isn't Shizuku."

This encapsulates the way that Shizuku's feigned image has dominated the publics perception of her to the point where anything other than the flawless, perfect her is rejected in its entirety.

Airi compares her to a swan, which is accurate to her character. Swans look graceful and elegant, but under the surface — they're quickly paddling their feet in the water in order to swim, just like how Shizuku on a daily basis tries her hardest and practices 24/7 in order to keep up the image she's maintained for so long.

In the end, Shizuku's fans accept her for who she really is — a clumsy, airheaded yet kind and determined individual who tries her damn hardest ever single day.

Now — onto Shizuku's second focus, which centers around her insecurity and lack of confidence in herself.

MMJ makes a competition where they all design stage outfits for the group — with the winner getting their idea officially made by their fans.

Shizuku struggles with an outfit concept for the group, due to her lack of confidence in her own ideas from the trauma she has with a lack of self identity.

She eventually confides with MMJ Miku and remembers her first time in CheerfulDays preparing for a performance — where she wasn't confident at all despite the continuous practice she did prior.

But — after she officially gets introduced to her unit outfit, she gains enough confidence and the performance becomes a success — due to the support from her group mates prior to their conflict, and the outfit she was wearing — which essentially "transformed" her into a different person.

Shizuku finally gets motivated, and manages to make separate outfits for each member of MMJ aside from herself — each incorporating their differences while still looking unified.

The story ends with her wanting to spread the "magic" that was put on her when she wore the CheerfulDays outfit with the rest of MMJ, determined to aim for new heights together as a group.

We finally get to Shizuku's most recent focus, where she with the rest of MMJ are forced to confront CheerfulDays and resolve tension between the two groups.

When MMJ first get the sudden announcement of them holding a segment with CheerfulDays, she puts on a strong face in front of the group and says that she's fine with the situation.

However, Airi privately goes and asks her if she's really fine with the arrangement due to her rocky past with group, but Shizuku reassures her that she's fine — and has known for awhile that there was a possibility of the two groups encountering eachother sooner or later now that MMJ is officially entering the idol industry. Infact, she sees this as an opportunity to reconnect with her old idol group, and show them show much she's grown and changed since then.

Before the segment occurs — a flashback starts that explains CheerfulDays current attitude towards Shizuku. At first, they supported her, covering for her mistakes, which made Shizuku feel like she relied too much on the others as the center of the group and wanted to make up for that.

But — as time went on, she got scouted for more and more independent work due to her sheer popularity, to the point where she barely showed up for actual performances with the group. Conflict started occurring when Shizuku missed a theatre performance that was very important to the rest of the group for a shooting on the same day — despite the fact that she had the power to move the dates in advance.

This is when CheerfulDays started turning on her, frustrated at her lack of motivation as the center of the group, and how they essentially got reduced to Shizuku's background dancers. This culminated into them relentlessly bullying her for the prettiest of things, like her stage outfit being misplaced.

Now onto the actual segment with CheerfulDays and MMJ. The two groups talk about various different topics, before Arisa, the new center of the group brings up a question that wasn't in the script — Shizuku's drastic behavior shift from the one she showed in CheerfulDays.

Everyone in MMJ gets caught off guard with the question, Airi and Haruka calling out the malicious intent veiled with curiosity.

But in the end, Shizuku answers that she put on that "perfect" persona of hers due to her insecurity — which is simultaneously the truth and a lie at the same time, because while she lacked the confidence in herself — her managers pushed the image of a flawless person onto her, with them making scripts for her and the like. She answers this way as to absolve her former managers from any guilt in the situation.

She admits to the public that she troubled alot of people due to how poor she acted as a center, and formally apologizes on TV.

However — she also says that the her in CheerfulDays days and the her in mmj are the same person, and won't fault anyone that feels betrayed by her major personality shift. Despite those grievances, she asks for everyone to support the current her, as she'll try her best to spread hope to everyone in her own way — as a member of MMJ.

Everyone gets impressed by her response to the question, with Airi in particular admitting her admiration toward the idol — saying how her real self is much better than the one her managers came up with.

After the recording is over, Arisa goes up to MMJ privately — wanting to talk to Shizuku. She's met with hostility by Haruka and Airi before Shizuku steps in, intending on apologizing to Arisa.

She apologizes to the CheerfulDays center for something she said in the past — her wishing that someone else took the role as a center. Shizuku now recognizes that she took advantage of the position of power that many people yearn to someday have, and strives to do better as an idol, now being able to stand on her own without relying heavily on other people.

Her apology gets cut short by Arisa, who wishes her good luck in the idol industry — and bids her farewell. She doesn't reconcile with CheerfulDays, but she does manage to resolve tension in her relationship with Arisa — which may serve well in any future encounters between the two.

At the end of her third focus, Shizuku reflects upon the growth she's had between not even being able to speak without a script to now managing to properly confront her old group despite being caught by surprise. She desires to spread hope to all the people who supported her — regardless if it was her in CheerfulDays or MMJ. With that goal of hers cemented, the event ends.

One thing that all of Shizukus events have in common is the determination to stay true to herself despite her fears — from her recultancy from her first focus to her absolute confidence in her third focus. Shizuku has grown alot from the main story.

This analysis of her character focuses alot on her personal growth — but that's just one aspect of her character. There's many things to love about Shizuku, like her ability to emphasize with other people, her hardworking nature, the kindness she shows to everyone she comes across — and even her silly moments, like her struggle with phones, her absolutely horrible sense of direction, her short attention span, and much more.

I could ramble even more about how she tries to help people regardless of the results, like her attempts to help Haruka relax during his first focus. (I use he/him pronouns for haruka)

However, this is where I'm gonna end this analysis. Shizuku is an absolutely amazing character, and I'll be happy if other people get to appreciate her from reading this. Live laugh MMJ, that is all.

#analysis post #character analysis #project sekai #prsk #pjsk #shizuku hinomori #mmj shizuku #hinomori shizuku

[vethbrenatto]

A Pikelan aside because TLOVM is starving me of content

Because there should have been more Pikelan content in eps 1-3, I started to reflect on why I love them so much and just sort of had a mind journey about them.

So, like, they’re opposite attract, right? Or they should be. They should be utterly and inherently contradictory and that’s how it looks from the outside. The loud, obnoxious fuckboy and the devout holy woman.

But then, they in themselves are contradictory. The entirety of S1 hammers in this point for Pike- she is a devout holy woman and a whole-hearted believer, but... she’s not a Saint. And she doesn’t want to be. She’s a badass, she’s a monster, she wants to kick ass and fuck shit up. Her best friend is Goliath skull-crusher and one of her biggest wishes is to be like him, which is why she wears the gauntlets. She sleeps in the nude and hell, she’ll fight like that too. She curses and she drinks and she’s not what you think a holy woman should.

And Scanlan is all bravado and performance and showmanship, but it’s so easy to tell that much of that is a confidence mask. The scene with Osysa hammers it in- a man who should be so polarizing- you love him or hate him, his big fear being that no one at all cares about him. They don’t give a damn either way, they’re apathetic. Another contradiction of a larger than life personality who should so easily garner opinion, being scared that no one has any feelings towards him at all. Probably a more common trope than Pike’s, he’s a fuckboy with feelings. He’s not who he appears to be at surface-value. His comedy is a cover-up for the depth of his emotions.

So, yeah, they are at surface value a promiscuous playboy and divine darling, but they’re not really that, are they? Or they’re not just that. They’re so much deeper than that individually and that’s part of what makes them so great together. I think they’re some of the only people who understand each other in that way. Scanlan is one of the first (other than Grog, who just gets Pike) to really praise Pike for not being a sweet little cherub but an intense fighter and Pike is one of the first to really comprehend that there’s depth behind Scanlan’s mask.

I think these quotes from the finale really encapsulate them:

“I know your life, what you like to do and I'll give you freedom.” “No, I think the most free I've ever been is with you.”

#critical role #pikelan #vox machina #critical role meta #pike trickfoot #scanlan shorthalt

[spectralstitions]

THERE'S A MAP FINALLY LOL (EXPLODES)

Hey, it's Cas! In my last post about mapmaking, I wrote that the next time I posted about it, I hoped it'd be because my map was finished. Well, guess what? I FINISHED IT! It only took me, like... uh... half a year to get around to it. Well, here it is! Two versions: one plain, one labeled.

It's such a relief to have this finished. Finally, after a thousand years of just thinking about it, I have something resembling a visual resource! Yay! That said, it's not perfect, and definitely more of an approximation than anything. There are touch-ups to be made, many touch-ups, but I might just save that for an end-of-year progress check. For now, it's good enough!

The lack of labels has nothing to do with minimalism and everything to do with the fact that I really hate naming things. V-shaped icons point to major settlements. Dot icons mark settlements that are smaller, but subject to show up often for whatever reason. Those ones in particular I'm sure will get edited or shifted around over time.

Now, to meticulously explore each and every region!

I'll work from top to bottom!

Surprise, I'm starting with the name! I find myself drawn to names that sound simple but have lots of interesting connotations. In this case, I'd been searching for a name that captured the feeling of a far off, enigmatic place, something vast and always just beyond reach. Then, while I was searching, and in a manner not unlike that one Overwatch meme, the word "Hinterlands" played in the Lord Huron song I was listening to and I had my HOLY SHIT moment. There's no way a name this whimsical hasn't already been snagged by some cartoon or something, but I can live with that.

As an aside, if I were to pick just one piece of media that encapsulated what I'm going for with this project, it'd be the album Strange Trails by Lord Huron. Of all my many inspirations, it's the one that's had the most profound impact. So the name also works as a homage!

Starting off spooky with our first region, the Old Waythrough. It's a place most people don't like to talk or even think about, but it's always there, looming just under the surface. It has remarkably little presence even in local folklore, and what little there is has been cut into pieces and scattered about through generations of oral storytelling. That said, there are a couple surviving records of Parthans attempting flyovers, eager to prove their courage. None of them get very far, but interestingly, even across the centuries, their recounts have all been similar, describing endless, desolate lands that are empty save for random objects and footprints in the snow.

One famous story, and the tale behind the region's common name, recounts the miraculous journey of the first partha who made contact with the mainland using the Waythrough as a guide. If true, this partha is the only known creature to have crossed the Waythrough in its entirety—and in doing so, gave the fasa who saw them quite a scare!

Our next region is Parthesa, or the parthan homelands! Yeah, get ready for some confusing naming conventions. I'll try to break it down:

The species itself, singular and plural, is known as "partha". Its descriptive form is "parthan".

Partha born on Parthesa, as well as any outsider accepted into their flocks, are known as "Parthans" with a capital P.

All partha born on Parthesa are also called skyborn, while their mainland cousins are called wildborn.

It's a bit much, but I promise, so are they. Parthesa itself is frequently described as a paradise, mostly for the fact that there seems to be a strange lack of spirit activity on the islands themselves. Is that the full story, though? Who knows — Parthans aren't exactly scrambling to brag about how UNbetter-than-everyone-else they and their homeland are. On that note, did Parthans name themselves after their homeland, or did they name their homelands after themselves? Mysteries upon mysteries...

Famously, the islands are beautiful — flower fields, waterfalls, seaside cliffs, mountains and valleys to dip and dive through, and that wonderful ocean breeze! Plus, as long as you've got parthan feather insulation and love storms, the weather's great! Infamously, getting to Parthesa is incredibly dangerous without a Parthan guide, something that's hard to come by. Without one, travelers don't have a great track record of being seen again.

On the opposite side of the Waythrough, we've got the fasan homelands! This dashing, idyllic little landscape is defined by mountains, rivers, lakes, colorful flower fields, and forests of towering boreal trees. Also, ignore that green mountain I forgot to recolor.

Fasa like to incorporate waterways into their architecture in interesting ways, building settlements that trace the length of rivers. Despite their homeland's cutesy appearance, their deep forests harbor all sorts of dangers. Uniquely, this danger doesn't just concern spirits, but entire swathes of dangerous, predatory animals. Still, as long as you take the proper safety precautions, it's a lovely place to live. Their main city can be found by following the paths of the rivers into the mountains. Their harbor town is much newer but has quickly become prosperous!

Okay, you see this gigantic piece of land with almost zero markers in it? This one's my sandbox. Why does nobody seem to want to live here? Well, they tried. They really tried, judging by all the bizarre artifacts poking out of the ground everywhere. The place is a mass graveyard, with evidence of ancient raswa, fasa, and who knows what else engaged in constant territory spats going back centuries. However, these battles seemed to have stopped very suddenly. It's assumed that the appearance of spirits was the last straw that pushed people back into their homelands, finally convincing them the place was just not worth it, something that countless deaths couldn't accomplish. But it's been thousands of years, and people are making tentative attempts to settle again, this time in unity—and hey, so far so good! The few settlements that exist here are characterized by the diversity of their people.

If you follow the trails, you're sure to come across fellow travelers, traders, and the like, but the vast majority of the land is void of people. You could walk for weeks or longer and not come across a single soul! There's a lot to discover, but it's a bit lonely...

Down south, you'll find the Underbelly! The Underbelly is the common name given to this region of wetland and swamp. It's one of the deadliest—and in many people's opinions, the grossest—places in the Hinterlands. Miraculously, there are a hardy people who've managed to make a living in the deep swamp, their treehouse cities literal lights in the darkness. They trade with and have close relations to raswa!

Nearly done! Now we've come to the raswan homelands. Not to be an edgelord, but this region is one defined by utter darkness. Well, okay, it's supposed to be a little edgy, but that part of it comes second. On the left half sleeps an incredibly dense roofed forest, such that light rarely grazes the forest floor. Mushrooms spawn like wildfire, and only those with the grace of raswa are going to have much luck navigating it. On the other side of the mountains lies the raswan desert, a place where sandblood raswans lead nomadic lifestyles. It's also a place many go to get in touch with their spirituality. Sandblood raswa wander the depths of the desert, traveling by night, when sand in the air lights up like stars. With their unique skin colors and plain dark clothes, raswa disguise themselves as part of the night sky to avoid deadly desert spirits. The spirits are a pain in the forests, too—raswa have devised safe pathways for travelers, but all they can really do is hand you a charm and beg you not to stray. Due to the regions' conditions, the settlements here remain mostly raswa, save for their newer harbor town.

We're onto the last area! This island is in a weird spot, and it's kind of just weird in general, so I saved it for last. It's even weird in the formatting of this blog post! What is wrong with you, fae homelands? This island was created very recently by one of the gods, although they are all credited for it. "Homelands" is a strange word for fae to use, though, because most fae do not come from this land at all. In fact, there are barely any trees here! In any case, This island is what connects all people, encouraging unity in times of despair. From edge to edge, the place is a gigantic market space, full to bursting with different kinds of people, vivid colors, and overwhelming sounds and smells.

And that's that! I'll be real, I had way more fun just writing all that than I did even making the map, so I hope that even 1 person skimmed it and got something out of it. But if not, this'll be a good resource for me, too, so, I guess it's win-win.

I'm not really sure what's next for me! I kinda want to work on more visual development for the fauna, spirits, and gods, but the other, realer, and more boring side of me thinks I should probably figure out the extremely basic information like fasan & raswan government styles first. Cause, you know, the fundamental structure of their society is kind of important...

I've made progress in other areas as well, so I may make a separate post for that! But for now I need a short break. Hope you enjoyed. Yay!

#worldbuilding #fantasy #fantasy map #fantasy worldbuilding #my ocs #dear drifter #lore

[prince-of-the-moths]

The fact that I can put in my bio that I'm Jewish by faith and have Jewish people ask me, "So you're Jewish and Muslim? How does that work?" based on my parents really should suffice as answer to why I don't hang out with Jewish people much. I can spend hours working on my Hebrew and have never set foot in a mosque and work hard to try to observe every mitzvot I can but at the end of the day, a lot of people will just simply never see me as Jewish because my father had the audacity to be Muslim and not convert the second he married my mother. How dare he think he has a right to believe what he wants? How dare I think that Judaism is a thing a person can choose? I don't know which of us is more in the wrong in the eyes of these people but I do know this much: he had an abusive "enlightened atheist" stepfather who beat the shit out of him trying to get him to give up on "crazy superstitious bullshit" and not only did he stick to his faith, he made a vow he was never, ever going to lay an unkind hand on his children or tell them what to believe.

My Muslim dad supports me as a Jewish man more than other Jewish people do. It's not even a competition.

We talked about identity and identifiers in my last class today and the irrelevance of the prior tasted like copper in my mouth. You can be something and never be that something enough for others. How people choose to identify you based off of identifiers they either make up or decide are more important than what you yourself explicitly stated is something you have to learn to make your peace with, because it's the only thing that matters in the court of public opinion. Self-identification is a myth.

A girl in the back of the class said identifiers were good because they jump start understanding. I didn't manage to hold back the entirety of my laugh.

Understanding. Yes, surely that's what I feel when someone asks me how being Muslim and Jewish at the same time works after I say I'm Jewish. Understood. What word better encapsulates being treated as if I'm a paradox and not a person and having my words dismissed out of hand by other Jewish people than understood, truly?

#personal post #personal rant #child abuse mention #jumblr #judaism #the jewish mom = you're jewish thing #always has a me-sized exemption to it #as does the concept of taking someone at their word #but why ask if you think i'm lying? #sometimes #i fantasize about just passing for a goy #living free of this inquisition #getting to be treated like a person #not a paradox #not a theological question #just some guy #imagine being a person first and foremost #imagine being a person at all

[prophxtslash]

Henlo it is I, the bitch who requested the killer s/o with a tragic past a while ago- if requests are still open(I think they are), I was hoping to request a third one with Pyramid Head, Eddie(I know he's not from dbd but shhh), Huntress, and David?

everyone salute them right this instant, we've got a legend here fellas 🫡

Killer! S/O with a Tragic Past III

Pyramid Head | The Executioner

Pyramid Head is strange, off putting; something more akin to that of an animal than of a man. As such, many expect him to be almost dumb, blind to the wide spectrum of human emotion. How could he, one who carries out pain, carries out torture ever understand that another may ache?

And yet, who here would understand suffering more than him? This pain is familiar to Pyramid Head; one could say that he is intimate with it both in theory, and in practice. It’s a feeling he has come to know the entirety of his existence, both back at Silent Hill, and here in the Realms; and here, with you, this suffering encapsulating your very being. 

A long, pitiful groan reverberates from the inside of his helmet, a high pitch cascading upwards as you lean against him, your cheek pressed against his shoulder. The skin is rough, torn, but it doesn’t matter - the warmth of it seeps into you. Silence surrounds the two of you, the hallways of Midwich Elementary School long empty, devoid of any real, authentic life. 

Eddie Gluskin | The Groom

Eddie is extravagant, flamboyant; whatever is inherently, deeply wrong with him, he covers up through presentation, through love. If he were to dwell on what actually happened, on what they did to him, why, he wouldn’t have any time to dote upon you!

Eddie doesn’t cope, doesn’t think about this pain; to him, it simply was a bad dream, a nightmare from some horrible, alternate reality. He dwells in fantasy, in that of a perfect home life, with the perfect ‘Leave it to Beaver’ family. The truth is far, far too ugly, too tragic to come to terms with. As such, upon learning of your upbringing, your suffering is hard for him to swallow; hard for him to understand. 

“Darling,” Eddie’s words are sugar, honeyed, his hands splayed across your back. “I can’t stand to see you in such agony. Tell me who I must deal with.” An involuntary shiver crawls up the length of your spine; it’s impossible for him to make, to fulfill this promise. And yet, a little fantasy never hurt anyone, right? You relay the names dutifully, a wide, cruel smile splitting the Groom’s lips. 

Anna | The Huntress

Anna, at her very core, is a protector, a trait she had inherited from her own mother, who, in turn, inherited from her mother, and so on. An animalistic, primal instinct to care for her own runs deep within the Huntress; if you were to suffer, surely so would she. 

This almost telepathic empathy extends to both physical as well as mental pain; broken bones, nightmares, cracked skulls, memories - Anna knows and feels it all. No matter how small, no matter how unimportant, she will know it, and will always, always leap to protect you, come what may.

A deep set shudder courses along your body, your eyes fluttering shut as you fold into yourself, the painful pop! and flashes of a memory exploding behind your eyelids, the scene unavoidable, and all too familiar. And yet, something warm, something strong surrounds you, a solid surface curling over you, pressing against your back. The memory continues, but Anna shields you from the outside world, and should you will it, from the Entity itself. 

David King

Pain is something David is more than familiar with; whether it be the sting of a cut lip, the ugly swelling of a broken nose, or even the fractured shards of memories within his mind, David goes to bed with suffering, with ache more often than not. 

Although, despite this intimacy, David is detached, unavailable in terms of emotions, of feelings. He doesn’t like to deal with it, doesn’t like to dwell upon it; would rather shove it down, down so deep that such weakness could never hope to show its face ‘round him ever again. But that’s for him; as for you, it’s still rough, awkward almost, but he tries.

David clenches his jaw as he sways above you, your head hung and fingers gripping tight against your scalp. Nothing is said; the silence is stubbornness on everyone’s part - you, not wanting to show weakness, and him, not knowing what to do. It persists a few moments longer before David slides down next to you, his hand hesitating above your shoulder before it finally falls, a tight squeeze to the skin there. Despite the lack of words, despite the awkwardness, it’s enough that he’s there.

#pyramid head #pyramid head x reader #eddie gluskin #eddie gluskin x reader #the huntress #the huntress x reader #david king #david king x reader #dbd x reader #dbd headcanons #prophet writes #prophet answers #fr tho I love this series sm thank you for your service!!! 🫡 #how is it my writing gets more and more pretentious...yeesh..

[seandwalsh]

If it’s not too much to ask, could you provide a rundown of Mario and Peach’s relationship throughout the history of the games — any developer insights and supporting material included if applicable? Their interactions have never failed to make me smile; I feel like every moment between them, no matter how simple, elevate my enjoyment of the games.

Do you have a favorite moment? For me, I think the ending of the first Paper Mario is my definitive Mario and Peach moment. Everything from the music to the scenery to how innocent it plays out perfectly encapsulates their relationship.

While other series, like Splatoon or The Legend of Zelda tend to have a greater focus on their worldbuilding and backstory, I think Mario’s greatest strength when it comes to its lore is its rich characters and how their relationships come together. You don’t follow the same main cast in The Legend of Zelda for more than a game or two at a time. With Mario, well - he’s always the same Mario. He’s familiar, and his personality is so strong that he continues to be the Mario we know, no matter the medium. It seems that Mario’s current primary developers, Yoshiaki Koizumi and Kenta Motokura, feel the same way:

"No matter what worlds he takes on, Mario remains Mario. Maybe this is strange but I find that fact very comforting,"

[Source: Yoshiaki Koizumi, Director and Producer of the Super Mario series, CNN Business, September 2020]

“…you can take Mario, or a Mario franchise character, and put them in pretty much any situation and it makes it okay. […] Mario carries it off.”

[Source: Kenta Motokura, Designer and Director of the Super Mario series, GameInformer, June 2017]

“Mario himself is a very strong character, so wherever he is he is strong enough to stand alone and be a good character. And even if he's next to a dinosaur, he's Mario!”

[Source: Kenta Motokura, Designer and Director of the Super Mario series, Metro, June 2017]

That’s not to say that Mario doesn’t have quite in-depth worldbuilding and backstory as well, but I think these characters are greatly understood by the people who work with them while largely being overlooked, misunderstood or written off by fans.

This is why relationships, like the one shared between Mario and Peach, can be such a highlight for players.

Mario and Peach, while not explicitly dating, are absolutely smitten with each other.

In fact, it seems that Mario instantly fell in love with Peach the moment he saw her, when she kissed him in Super Mario Bros.. Mario was so in love with Princess Peach that, according to the team behind Donkey Kong (Game Boy), it’s what caused Mario to break up with Pauline:

“Apparently the land of mushrooms is somehow in the vicinity of Donkey Kong's stomping ground that appears at the end [of Donkey Kong (Game Boy)]. Around that point, he meets Peach, and probably starts to have a change of heart [about Pauline] (laughs).”

[Source: Shigeru Miyamoto, Producer of Donkey Kong (Game Boy), Game Boy Donkey Kong Wonder Life Special - APE Inc. Official Nintendo Guide, June 1994]

“After that, Mario became famous, so Pauline must have gotten dumped (laughs).”

[Source: Masayuki Kameyama, Director of Donkey Kong (Game Boy), Game Boy Donkey Kong Wonder Life Special - APE Inc. Official Nintendo Guide, June 1994]

Paper Mario in its entirety is certainly a great example of Mario and Peach’s relationship. While the ending where they watch the fireworks is a highlight, the intro also showcases her attempts to spend time with Mario, eagerly awaiting him in the upper parts of the castle and wanting him to accompany her to the balcony.

“Oh! By the way, Princess Peach has been waiting for you.”

[Source: A Green Toad Girl, Staff of Princess Peach’s Castle, Non-player Character in Paper Mario (Nintendo 64), February 2001]

“I think Princess Peach has been looking forward to seeing you since this morning, Mario. She's been restless... hee hee hee... How cute...”

[Source: A Pink Toad Girl, Staff of Princess Peach’s Castle, Non-player Character in Paper Mario (Nintendo 64), February 2001]

“Oh, Mario! You came to the party to see me! You're so sweet! Thank you!♥ I was just resting a bit. It gets tiring, greeting all those guests out there! Nobody will bother us here. Shall we relax and chat, just the two of us? It was a lovely day today, so I'm sure it's comfortable out on the balcony right now. Would you accompany me, Mario?”

[Source: Princess Peach, Ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Non-player Character in Paper Mario (Nintendo 64), February 2001]

She gets worried about him while she’s kidnapped:

“I wonder what Mario is doing right now... I wonder if he's hurt... I'm so worried about him!”

[Source: Princess Peach, Ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Non-player Character in Paper Mario (Nintendo 64), February 2001]

Later on, we even learn that Princess Peach keeps a photo of Mario beside her bed, which she reacts to with a heart emoticon:

“A photo of Mario.♥”

She even gets embarrassed about it when Twink points it out.

Generally, the game makes an effort to highlight Mario and Peach’s love for each other beyond most other games in the series:

“Do you know of a place called Shooting Star Summit? It's near this castle. It's such a romantic place... It's definitely the best place for a date. Trust me. Maybe you ought to, you know, ask the princess to go there...”

[Source: A Toad, Resident of the Mushroom Kingdom, Non-player Character in Paper Mario (Nintendo 64), February 2001]

“Does Princess Peach have a special man in her life? She's such a lovely lady... Whoever she loves must be very special indeed...”

[Source: A Green Toad, Resident of the Mushroom Kingdom, Non-player Character in Paper Mario (Nintendo 64), February 2001]

Princess Peach has a very specific view of love, which she has actually expressed before in-game:

“Love... How do I explain? Love tells you when you want to be with a person forever. It makes you feel happy just to see that person happy, smiling...having fun. When you love someone, you will do anything to help when he or she is in trouble.”

[Source: Princess Peach, Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Playable Character in Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door, October 2004]

It’s pretty clear that when she says this, she’s thinking about Mario, between his obvious outwardly happy nature or his willingness to do anything to help her when she’s in trouble. This is reflected in Peach’s own actions in Super Princess Peach, when she saves Mario from Bowser’s clutches. It’s clear from her actions across various games that Peach would do anything to help Mario, and she’s comforted by him even in times of peril.

From taking Mario on a romantic vacation in Super Mario Sunshine, to talking about how caring he is with her paper counterpart, to her team name with him being “Cutest Couple” in Mario Party 5 and Mario Party 6, it’s clear that these two have a strong, devoted and loving relationship with one-another.

But when it comes to my personal favorite moment between them, I feel that my answer is quite a controversial one.

My favourite moment between Mario and Peach is the ending of Super Mario Odyssey.

Now, now. Put your pitchforks away. The main issue with this is that people tend to completely misinterpret the meaning behind this ending, and while I’m not going to go into too much detail here, I think it’s important to understand the intended themes of Super Mario Odyssey.

“[Super Mario Odyssey] is a journey following Mario to save Princess Peach, one of his most [beloved], so we wanted to make this an epic journey.”

[Source: Kenta Motokura, Director of Super Mario Odyssey, Vice, June 2017]

“Mario and Peach's relationship has been a big part of the games for a long [time], and in this game we're getting deeper into it!”

[Source: Kenta Motokura, Director of Super Mario Odyssey, GQ, October 2017]

“I've always thought that Mario carries a bit of a torch for Peach. I think that's true even back in the 2D Mario games. If not, he wouldn't be wasting his time rescuing her over and over again. [As for if Peach feels the same way,] The heart of a woman is a mystery.”

[Source: Yoshiaki Koizumi, Producer of Super Mario Odyssey, GameInformer, June 2017]

It’s clear that Super Mario Odyssey’s story exists to highlight the intricacies of the relationship between Peach and Mario in ways that hadn’t been explored previously. This is why the ending of Super Mario Odyssey is so excellent to me.

“The ending of Super Mario Odyssey is the culmination of an adventure both magnificent and personal. An upbeat song plays in the background while the scene unfolds: the joy of being reunited with someone you've missed, the slight embarrassment that comes with thinking of the one you love, Mario and Bowser's open honesty, and Peach's independence. Through the theme of marriage - which had never been addressed in the series before we see another side of Mario, Peach, and Bowser. The relationship between the three looks like it'll continue for years to come. The odyssey they've embarked on is far from over!”

[Source: Kenta Motokura, Director of Super Mario Odyssey, The Art of Super Mario Odyssey, September 2018]

Mario finally makes his feelings known to Peach, through a proposal, but he does so in the worst possible way. Peach refuses to marry Mario because he was acting immaturely. Mario cannot handle losing control of a bad situation and often makes rash decisions. While the latter is sometimes a positive trait for him, in this instance it’s a flaw which caused him to fight Bowser for Peach’s hand. You can hear Mario grunting while attempting to push Bowser out of the way and get Peach to accept him.

This is not the Mario that Peach knows. It is not the Mario that she loves. Peach had just been kidnapped from her home, dragged around the world and almost forcefully married to a man she’s romantically repulsed by. She was rescued by the man she loves in the nick of time who was finally about to make his move and propose to her, before Bowser barged back in and ruined the moment, and Mario started acting irrationally. She was fed up, and rightfully so.

So she turns down Mario’s proposal, and leaves. Peach does not turn down Mario’s proposal because she doesn’t love him - it’s abundantly clear that she loves him very much - she turns him down because it was the wrong place, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons.

However, her love for the Mario she knows still rings true. Their relationship is so strong that even after all of that, they quickly recover, as is illuminated through Peach’s forgiveness. She takes a breath and calls out to Mario, inviting him to come home with her. It’s a showcase of the love they share for one-another, one more potent than we’ve seen before anywhere else. A truly well-crafted study of these characters and the intricacies of their interwoven lives.

#super mario #princess peach #mario lore #paper mario #super mario odyssey

[thedisablednaturalist]

My theory on why people have mid life crisises:

I think in the first part of our lives, when we are young, we spend a lot of time waiting. Waiting for the weekend, waiting for our birthday, waiting for our favorite holiday, waiting for vacation, waiting for finals to be over etc. Time seems to go by faster because we have taught ourselves to wait to enjoy things. We want the hard stuff to be over quickly so we can get to the good stuff. The good stuff being rare for the working class as we spend most of our time, well, working! And in our young adult years working is especially awful bc we have to prove our worth, don't usually have great benefits like vacation time, have to take more hours, and any free time we get we have to spend on adult responsibilities. So instead of being present, we turn our brains off and try to live in the future. And once we get to that future it goes by super fast because we've been living in it for a long time already. And especially for people who are working (and not still in college), life starts moving really fast. So in your middle twenties through your forties you're on that grind, years pass as you go to different jobs, move up the ladder, etc. And once you finally reach a point where you are stable and can afford more expensive things, go on vacation more often, take long weekends and actually enjoy your free time cause you can afford paying people to take some of the responsibilities off your shoulders, you start living in the present again. And then you realize oh shit! Look how much time has gone by. And I spent it all suffering compared to now! I'm already halfway through I gotta make the most of every moment! I can't believe I didn't do all these things I wanted to do! And then they get an expensive car, try out different clothes, because they are afraid to live in the present. Now they want to live in an idealized past. They don't want to live in the future because that's closer to The End.

Its probably different for people who aren't middle class American office workers. And I've noticed that most of the time, the ones who get mid life crisises are middle age, upper middle-class, American men! Correct me if I'm wrong but you don't hear much about it in different cultures, at least not in the same way. People may be sad they aren't young anymore but they aren't having a Midlife Crisis (TM). But even that stems from the same core issue of being afraid of running out of time.

If humans were able to make the most of every day, to not always be waiting for the weekend or for vacation or important events, I think time would go by slower, or at least we'd feel more satisfied with the time we've spent. But our society has to change to one where people can be doing what makes them happy, and they don't have to worry about survival. People can quit jobs they aren't happy with, people don't have to work if they don't want to or can't, people can access medicine and transportation easily.

These are just some thoughts I've had while driving, please take it with a grain of salt I'm not an expert. This is also from my point of view and does not encapsulate the entirety of the human experience.

#wrenfea.exe #thoughts #existentialism #existence #life #midlife crisis

[suuho]

something that is so beautifully encapsulated in good evening, and story of light in it’s entirety, as well as shinee’s subsequent work, is how healing it can be to openly long and yearn and grief. there is something so touching about how unafraid they have been to vocalize feelings of loss and love, the mere idea of simply missing someone and to declare their love for them. they make pop music in a ridiculously fast-paced and often damaging industry, and yet they decided to actively portray emotions that very rarely have any space in kpop. they have gone so far as to even put it on stage multiple times, to this day (the three story of light title tracks, kibum’s groks in the keyland performances, minho performing area two years after its initial release for his own solo comeback, etc.), and every time they have done so, they made sure for it to be framed very appropriately, respectfully, and in a way that is clearly very personal but never invasive. that, too, is obviously a way to reclaim a narrative that has been exploited to no end by the very industry they are part of. the work they have done to honor these feelings and that vulnerability is so important, and i hope it has helped them heal as well. what they have done and continuously decide to do is very brave, to choose softness and honesty when many wanted them to simply move along or crumble right in front of their feasting eyes. anyways. instead, they have turned grief into something beautiful, intimate, kind and loving. something that is so full of longing and yearning and that is never wrong to talk about, or make a space for. in a way, they pioneered and persevered with pure heart and kindness. i still think story of light is a perfect study in grief and i hope shinee never loses that softness, the fondness, and the pure love and devotion they have infused their work with. and i hope it has helped other people in their industry realize that they, too, have a place to long and yearn, and that it is never wrong to do that.

#just as much as you can do so in private #kaz talks #tw: grief

[zahri-melitor]

Brucepoll. Okay, I am going to handicap myself in this one and make me keep it to actual work in the Batman title, I think, and only post-Crisis. So my first move is to define what periods each writer had on Batman and what's famous/I like from each:

James Tynion IV: v2 8-28, v3 85-117. And immediately I have no opinion as I haven't read any of his post Flashpoint Batman. Quickly scanning through I see he wrote The Joker War and Fear State.

My feelings on him: honestly I don't have any yet, this one it's going to be too hard for me to dip in and out of.

Tom King: v3 1-85. Same. I know he built up to Bruce and Selina marrying and then editorial required him to destroy that, but haven't touched any of this yet.

My feelings on him: I suspect I am actually going to enjoy this run from what other people have said and then I will feel betrayed (as other people were). The allure of lots of Bruce/Selina may pull me in though.

Scott Snyder: v2 1-51. Court of the Owls. How do you feel about the Court of the Owls. Because Snyder is gonna keep writing about them.

Oh Snyder. I think you write interesting Bruce, I just don't particularly like the Court.

Grant Morrison: 655-685, 701-702 (skipping the Dick!Bats stuff). Highlights of Morrison's run include Batman and Son (aka Heeeeere's Damian!), Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, the return of the Club of Heroes, Batman RIP, and the resurrection of the concept of Batman of Zurr-En-Arrh.

I am politely going to not swear in public, but uh I don't think Morrison writes particularly good Bruce. Also he's the architect of all the 'actually Bruce has been dividing his personality up into separate mind palaces that come out when he activates them for various reasons' and while that is indeed incredibly Brucelike I'm not too fond of what it's done to Batman storytelling.

Judd Winick: 626-650 (also skipping Dick!Bats). Obviously, Under the Red Hood. Other stuff in his run includes War Games and the storyline where Tim's undercover as Caroline Hill.

Winick really likes conflicted, judgmental, my-way-or-the-highway Bruce a lot. And there aren't any real soft edges to his Bruce. Not my favourite.

Jeph Loeb: 608-619. This means the only Loeb in play for my rating is Hush. Fascinating Loeb never wrote another Batman or 'Tec run (he does have The Long Halloween of course).

Putting aside my feelings about Thomas Elliot, I actually like the way Loeb wrote Bruce in Hush? It spends a lot of time reflecting on his analysis skills and his connections and his detective work.

Ed Brubaker: 582-586, 591-607. The lead into Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive and the title itself. The complementary half to Rucka's overlapping 'Tec run.

Oooh. Brubaker gets Bruce during a period where he's trying to isolate himself, but he also writes how Bruce has trouble with that. He's got some great character piece work in this, and solid detective problem-solving storytelling. He wrote the 'I am Bruce Wayne' revelation.

Doug Moench: 481-559. The most famous highlights of this period are writing the Batman issues for the entirety of Knightfall/Knightquest/Knightsend, Prodigal, Contagion, Legacy, Cataclysm and Aftershock. (Moench also wrote basically all of pre-Crisis Jason Todd period)

How do you even encapsulate what Moench did over this period? He broke Bruce all the way down and built him back up. He wrote Bruce building back to having a family and connections. He wrote Alfred's return. He's never hugely stood out for me as a writer during this period though - he's just there. I often have to check covers to see who was writing for his stories.

Alan Grant: 448-449, 455-480. This basically covers Tim's novice period. It's bookended by Batman: Identity Crisis at one end and To the Father I Never Knew at the other.

So flipping through these my first memory is "there is a LOT of Harold in this" and there's a bunch of Batman-'Tec crossovers to tell 4 issue stories. I really enjoy Grant's character work. A lot of the great stuff in his run is about his relationships with others - particularly Tim, Alfred and Harold. I have to say, though, a lot of my preferred Bruce writing from Grant is actually in Shadow of the Bat.

Frank Miller: 404-407 Okay, restricting this LITERALLY only gives Batman Year One. This is fascinating because I think every single comics person seeing the words 'Frank Miller' and 'Batman' either thinks of ASBAR or Dark Knight Returns.

If you're going to read a Batman Miller story, this is the one to read, no question. It's the origin of so much gritty Batman and it gets referenced a lot, but it's nowhere near as grimdark as other Miller pieces.

#writer comparisons #bruce wayne