#like gods this isn't big deep and meaningful

[holybibly]

I think my brain refuses to accept anyone else but Seonghwa today. Sorry not sorry, bunnies, but if I suffer, you'll suffer too.

These are my unholy thoughts.

You've been an Ateez fan for a long time, so when you got the chance to go to their concert, even with VIP passes, you went crazy. God, to be able to see Ateez in real life—isn't that a dream come true?

You had a liking for all of the members—well, maybe not all of them. Seonghwa, you just weren't interested in him; you didn't really understand all the hype around him, and he wasn't really your type on the outside.

The sound check went well, and then you had the opportunity to have a quick chat with the members before the start of the show. You literally melted under Hongjoong's gaze, almost flowing across the floor and shining like the damn sun just from Yeosang smiling at you. The boy was an angel; you could see the divine light that was in his surroundings. San was such a gentleman, and Woo was so playful and full of fun. God, the way Mingi said your name in that deep voice of his took your breath away, and Jongho was so adorable you couldn't help but want to kiss his soft cheeks. Need I mention how gorgeous Yunho's hands were? He could literally wrap his whole arm around your neck.

And then there was Seonghwa, of course. You greeted him politely but were happy to escape his dark, feline gaze whenever you had the chance. He was... Intense and his presence beside you sent a shiver down your spine.

It would be an understatement to say that this drove Seonghwa crazy. The blood in his veins was literally boiling with rage.

"How dare you disregard him! He's a fucking Park Seonghwa."

But Seonghwa was determined that by the end of the concert, you would be drooling and your juices running down your thighs just looking at him, and damn, the boy did his best.

The fans went crazy, literally swooning over his sexy moves, demonic charisma, and, of course, his tongue. Seonghwa was even moving his hips a hundred times harder than usual, but you... you didn't even look in his direction; you were completely captivated by San and his damn dimpled smile. Seonghwa wasn't jealous. No, of course he wasn't. He is Park Seonghwa. He is the epitome of sexiness and greatness, and you didn't care about him. He hated you like hell.

For you, the concert was just great; you enjoyed every second of it, had a lot of fun, and seemed to have completely lost your mind over San. God, the man was literally a wet dream. All in all, you could say that your night had been a meaningful and joyful one, but Seonghwa was left with a bad taste in his mouth after you had left. When you met for the second time that day, this time for a sweet farewell, you didn't even approach him. You just turned towards him and bowed formally as a farewell.

You did fucking bow. As he watched Wooyoung shamelessly spin you around in his arms, his sensual, plump lips curled in disgust. A bit more, and his hands would have been on your buttocks in a kneading motion. Seonghwa didn't want his hands to touch your soft, plump flesh at all. And he didn't stare at your tits at all, which literally bounced with every move you made and made Yeosang's cheeks blush. He was a second away from the words to them:

"Go ahead, fuck her right here; don't mind me."

But it all ended as quickly as it had begun. Now you are leaving with the rest of the VIP fans, taking Seonghwa's interest in you with you.

Even the day after the concert Seonghwa couldn't stop thinking about you, you just wouldn't let him go. He needed to relax, clear his mind and forget about the stupid fan who didn't even understand her own happiness. He looked at you, maybe he even could fucked you, and you just kept on staring at San's damn dimples.

Seonghwa was literally seeing red.

So he had recourse to his favourite form of relaxation - dancing. And let's just say: Park Seonghwa had a very creative approach when it came to relaxing.

This club was not a big one, and it was certainly not known to the general public. It was very private, and it was by invitation only, which was more difficult to get hold of than tickets for a BTS concert. It made you feel very privileged, like royalty.

In the last few days, your life couldn't have been better. Yesterday you had an Ateez concert, and today a private strip club that was completely inaccessible to ordinary people—hell, not even all the rich and famous could be on the guest list. But you were. And you couldn't be more grateful to your friend, who was fucking the owner. Pussy power, as they call it.

The evening passed under a soft, sexy bass, and the alcohol consumption heightened the senses. Your inhibitions became more and more vague, which is why you didn't even think twice before you agreed to a lap dance with a super-elite and fucking unrealistic stripper. You didn't know what to expect when your friend laughed and pushed you into the small room, giggling and saying, "Have fun."

Waiting for the show to begin, you slowly sat down on the soft plush couch in front of the small stage. Before you entered the room, your friend pushed some papers into your hands, something about confidentiality or security. You still didn't understand it; your brain was foggy from all the cocktails you had drunk, but you signed everything they told you.

The lights dimmed and a sensual, slow bass filled the room. God, you have to fuck with music like that. Your eyes were fixed on the tall, lithe figure, surrounded by shadows, as he bent down around the pole. It was a man, and you had to say it was incredibly handsome, even though you had not yet seen his face, but you were sure of it.

His legs were long and slender, his hips swaying vulgarly as he fucked the air, and that slutty waist... Your mouth was in drool.

He made a few more turns around the pole, sliding down the length of it and arching his plump ass. And then, at last, you saw his face, and you froze like a deer caught in the headlights, your mouth opening and closing helplessly in a complete stupor.

With cat-like eyes, sharp cheek bones, and full, wet lips, the man standing in front of you was none other than Park Seonghwa.

When Seonghwa met the gaze of his 'client', he stopped breathing for a second. It was you, the girl, because of which he had come here today. He was supposed to point out that you looked damn sexy, all petite, curvy, and voluptuous in a tight, shiny sequin dress. It showed off your luscious big tits and sweet thighs. Seonghwa's teeth ached with the desire to bite when he saw the naked skin untouched by the sun.

You were so stunned that you didn't even notice the idol who was standing in front of you until his fingers had wrapped themselves around your chin.

"Isn't this my luck, kitten, hmm?" Seonghwa asked you as he stroked the side of your cheek with his thumb.

"I-I even..." But as Seonghwa straddled you with ease and rolled his hips sensually against you, all words died on your tongue. His tall figure towered over you, and in the purple light, he looked like a real demon who had come to take your soul away from you.

As he tilted your head back so that you looked into his eyes, his long fingers ran through your hair, tugging hard at the strands.

When he spoke, it was in a deep, sexy, angry voice.

"I'm going to teach you some respect, kitten. When I'm done with you, you'll know better than to ignore your mommy."

And Seonghwa meant every word, bending down to plant a harsh kiss on your soft, supple lips.

Yesterday's concert may have been great. But Seonghwa is going to give you a private show that will be a million times better.

#ateez smut #kpop smut #atz smut #ateez hard hours #ateez unholy hours #smut #seonghwa x reader #seonghwa smut #park seonghwa smut #ateez scenarios #ateez au #ateez x reader

[yellowocaballero]

Reading 'Solo Leveling' (a webtoon/webnovel about a guy who uses a game-like interface to level up and fight monsters and become ridiculously OP and the coolest and hottest guy in the whole wide world) really proves something to me that I've thought about.

The goal of a story is to achieve what it wants to achieve. Different genres have different certain marks the story should achieve. If it doesn't hit those marks, it's not a good example of the genre. In a lot of was it's not even a good story - it doesn't entertain the audience in the way that they want to be entertained. A romance novel isn't a bad story because it doesn't feature great action scenes, but neither is it a bad story because it doesn't delve deep into the sociopolitical implications of neocolonialism. Does it make the reader feel happy? Is it cathartic? Is there a happy ending? Then it's a good romance story - even if you think stories shouldn't need happy endings.

The 'satisfaction' of stories like Solo Leveling is the fact that is very entertaining to watch a guy be super powerful and mow down bad guys and have everybody around him go "WHOAH that's a cool guy". Maybe it's cool because you're projecting, or maybe you like great action scenes, or because you like 'underdog gets powerful' stories. It's a power fantasy. That is the goal of Solo Leveling, and so long as I'm going "WHOAH COOL", then it's a good story. And Solo Leveling is the example of the power fantasy video game dungeon OP protag. It does those elements, it executes them competently, it's a good story.

This is the third of these types of stories I've read more than 5 chapters of. The first was Omniscent Reader's Viewpoint. And baby. This is no ORV.

ORV a big reaction to Solo Levelling in a lot of ways, since Solo Levelling was very genre defining and influential, and it's hard to write these OP stories without having a relationship to Solo Leveling. It's like the most popular webtoon out there. The OP hero, the gaming interface and rules, the gods fucking you up, power fantasy - they're all checked off by ORV. It doesn't subvert them much. You watch kdj pull one over on a shmuck and you're like HEY YA BABY and you watch him utterly decimate some schmuck and you're like WHOAH COOL. You like ORV, basically, for the same reasons you like Solo Leveling. They're the same genre and in a lot of ways the same story.

But ORV has driven me nuts and after a while Solo Leveling has gotten boring. Because ORV has a fantastic supporting cast that puts the MC's OPness in relative perspective. Because there's cool action scenes with different teams, of different dynamics, giving freshness to each chapter. Because you get to see kdj slowly implement some nuts gambit of the course of the entire arc and when we finally hit the end point where it all comes together it's FUCK YEAH. I'm leaving out the actual depth here. But ORV and Solo Leveling do the same thing, except ORV has a great deal of other story elements that build into the main 'point' and escalate the satisfaction, joy, and intensity of those points. You don't read these OP hero novels for the supporting cast. You read it to watch a dude be cool. But ORV's supporting cast - and, like, the fact that they're actual characters, even the women - gives us a lot of other smaller 'hey yeah!' moments, gives it buildup, makes the OP moments meaningful, and gives a grand climax and huge satisfaction when kdj does what the SL guy did by himself. And the supporting cast is only one example of this. A story is a good story if it accomplishes its point, but a story like SL will never really deliver its promises nearly as well as ORV could. Not because ORV is deep and has """themes""" or fucked up shit like that. The 'WHOAH COOL's are just better. Because ORV knows why stories are good and what makes a good story.

Anyway I'm fucking begging you I have tears in my eyes this is why your fic needs more than the hot ship of the day I promise it won't detract from the ship it will make the ship BETTER but you have to get WHY you like these homosexuals so much and it's NOT just because they're CUTE sometimes there's OTHER REASONS THAT ARE IMPORTANT LIKE THE WOMAN YOU'VE BOOTED AND -

#you're killing me smalls #my writing #orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #solo leveling #solo leveling is good at what it does bc i've read 120 chapters of it #but it's not great because i don't actually care #man really early on the MC had PTSD and I felt like we were doing something with that #and why he was so desperate to grow stronger and i felt like that was a good character motivation for the #hashtag grindset #we like characters for other reasons than projection. i prommy. prommy i swear #the funny thing is that literlaly everybody who reads all 1 million words of orv #are a kim dokja kinnie and you do have to project insanely #because the story self-selects for kdj kinnies #if you weren't insane in the exact same way kdj was insane #you wouldn't have fucking finished orv now would you

[thegoldenappleofdiscord]

Idk if you’ve gotten this ask before, but is there anything you would have changed if you wrote pjo/hoo/toa? And how would you have written it?

never gotten this ask before! and oh man, yeah, there are some things i would change. i wouldn't call myself someone who does analysis on their favorite media (at least i don't do it very often) i just read/watch and enjoy, unless there's something that seriously strikes me as Kind of Very Weird. half the time i don't mind occasional bad writing if i enjoy the media very much, which is the case with pjo, but again, there are some things that were odd to me lol. keep in mind it's been a while since i've reread so these are just things i remember vividly as being something i very much didn't like/understand.

percy jackson and the olympians:

that whole 'entwining history' with pjo thing felt weird to me: like with harriet tubman being called a child of hermes? for one, it feels unnecessary, and two, it feels as though all the things she's done, all of her bravery, wit, courage, are being attributed to her demigod status, as hermes is the god of travelers, cunning, roads, etc. it feels insensitive and not handled very well. there's also a blurb that mentions that hitler was a child of hades, that world war II was a conflict of the big three, and that the civil war was a roman vs greek conflict - again, these all just feel so insensitive to the actual historical events that occurred, ascribing all that violence and catastrophe to a squabble between the children of the big three when the actual causes of these events were so much more complicated and deep-rooted. i believe it was an attempt at trying to see where the gods fit in the modern tapestry, but i don't think actual history needs to be bastardized in order to write smth like that. there's also the issue with the "western civilization" narrative portrayed in the story, but i don't feel like i could even adequately sum up the issue here.

the fix-it: just. don't have the historical stuff? the insertion of demigods in wwII is supposed to show the destruction of these big three children in battle, and the later prophecy would supposedly give more reasoning as to why the big three can't have children. but why not just have the prophecy recited before wwII and cut out the 'oh demigods partook in wwII" nonsense? [before the war, after the diangelos are born] the gods have already witnessed wars that actual demigods took part in, such as the trojan war, and saw how terrible those effects were. and there were hardly any big three kids in that battle that were main players. if demigods who weren't of big three ancestry caused that much destruction, wouldn't that be apt enough reason, along with the ominous prophecy, not to give birth to any kids? especially because greek mythology is rife with sons trying to overturn their fathers, and said fathers trying to overturn that future. that itself gives perfect context for why this child-making ban would be introduced, and why zeus especially would enforce it (ex. attempted murder of the diangelos) because. he's literally the "son who overturned his father" (kronos.)

luke having romantic feelings for annabeth: why. why. when i was reading the series i always assumed he had spared annabeth because of their familial ties, but in staff of hermes percy describes their relationship as "luke later gaining feelings for her" which...why? lmao

the fix-it: luke does love annabeth, but as a younger sister, and it is that sibling love that makes him spare her all the times he did, and inevitably helps him break from kronos' hold. i think it's much more meaningful, makes more sense [ties into the threeway "family" conflict between thalia, luke, and annabeth], and obviously isn't weird to think about it like the aforementioned canon dynamic.

heroes of olympus:

portrayal of poc characters: now, i'm going to be honest, when i first read hazel's description, i never thought there was anything wrong with it. my rationale for this was "oh, golden eyes because she controls minerals" however many people have brought up how this feeds into the exotic poc caricature. while many characters have oddly colored eyes, i haven't done enough in depth research on the history of written poc characters and their applied descriptors, i don't want to minimize what could be a genuine issue. on another note, while i don't claim to be an expert on native american culture and tradition, i am aware of the numerous claims that native american pjo fans have made about piper, especially her wearing feathers in her hair. i think in her case it's very much cut and dry; rick didn't do his research regarding her heritage, at least in the earlier books.

the fix-it: research.

portrayal of medea (and other mythological characters): in the lost hero, medea is portrayed as a "blood-thirsty psycho," all while ignoring the terrible way jason (from the mythos, not Grace) treated her and the hardships that she went through. and that is my point - pjo does subvert some tropes, like hades being the villain [although given the fact that it is also canon his children were on the axis side, well.] but many times it falls into the same overused narratives, like medusa being characterized as the killer when in reality she was born a gorgon and often visited by heroes who wanted to kill her for glory [the version where she was a priestess was written by ovid, and ovid seems to have a passionate hatred for athena and women in general, as can be seen in his retellings.] i can understand this in pjo, but i think heroes of olympus truly would have benefited from more nuanced characterizations.

the fix it: research!

di angelo's Otherness + the ooc behavior of characters: one detail i always remember is how leo and piper behaved around nico, and the apparent...teasing? bullying? that went on behind his back - at least, it's alluded to that they both make some not-so-nice remarks about him. and it doesn't make sense to me, especially when leo and piper are both victims of bullying, have been judged for their appearance, etc. leo's literal first scene is him making fun of a bully [dylan] to jason, and in the mark of athena, when he and hazel see the vision of sammy making fun of one of hazel's bullies, leo mentions that he used to do that all the time. i think having leo and piper behave this way was supposed to emphasize nico's "not-belonging" within the argo II environment, but why at the sake of their characters? additionally, the scene were he does make those comments seems another way to frame jason as nico's "ally" [which the fandom loves to do while ignoring jason's actions towards nico in general, but that's a whole other thing lmao.]

the fix-it: don't include that post-cupid jason + leo + piper scene. there was already a layer of distrust between that group and nico, which is enough to emphasize a divide.

the detriment of caleo on leo's character arc: romance is everywhere it doesn't need to be in this second series. everyone is with someone, for better or for worse. however, while relationships like jasper and frazel are either unnecessary or badly developed, there is no relationship, i think, that is as detrimental to a character's arc as caleo is to leo. i won't be doing a deep-dive, as there are other posts on this site that delve into the issue better than i could, but i wanted to list it as one of my biggest gripes - it basically takes all his struggles with self and decides to give him a girlfriend as a shoddy fix-all.

the fix-it: there are a lot of ways you could go about rewriting this, but i'd have calypso be freed after the second titanomachy, join the hunters as her sister did - that way she could retain her immortality - and travel the world with them. khione would blast leo off the ship - maybe he gets injured and has to find his way back, thinking all the while that his friends have probably moved on, but he finds that they're all still there, desperately searching. he tells them they should have moved on, and they'd say that they aren't leaving him behind, that he's important to them more than to the mission, etc. although i think for this to work other dynamics would need to be tweaked - [no jasper after the first book; focus is instead on strengthening the lost trio's friendship throughout the rest of the book.]

the ending + gaea: i think it's a general fandom consensus that the ending for blood of olympus left much to be desired. the final battle felt so rushed and...didn't make much sense to me? how do you lift a being who is the earth...out of the earth...? and that's the main issue with me, honestly. how do you defeat the earth? there was that whole "scatter her essence" blurb at the end of the book, but that also didn't make much sense to me. gaea as a villain seemed like a bad choice because a.) her rising up to destory the olympians because of their treatment of her children is a repeat of the gigantomachy, just as pjo is a second titanomachy. it feels like the same narrative is being recycled, and b.) because she is the earth. a primordial being. i don't know how to re-hash this, but it's simply unrealistic to have a band of teenagers defeat an entity as old and powerful in a handful of chapters.

the fix-it: different villain entirely! at least, that's what i would do, because i can't think of a way to destroy the earth that doesn't involve actively poisoning it/j. there are a plethora of interesting mythological figures who would make for good antagonists, and also shed light on issues besides the ones pjo already touched on.

trials of apollo: i have not reread this series in a long while, and unlike the others can't remember as vividly the details, but the thing i remember bothering me the most occured in the dark prophecy, in which two lesbian hunters of artemis describe how they had to leave the hunters on account of their relationship. @solisaureus has an in-depth post about this which effectively sums up the issues and goes into other problems with the hunters, and i think they break it down better than i do, so go check that out!

the sun and the star:

pacing: i enjoyed the book but did feel like it was paced weirdly - for a book all about a couple journeying into tartarus, they only entered tartarus during the last hundred pages. i think this contributes to the bad fight at the ending, too, as it felt very rushed. i think having the couple spend a lot of time in the underworld was supposed to establish will's discomfort and the later conflict, but three hundred pages is a bit much. i also find it difficult to believe that nyx, the literal definition of night, was defeated so quickly, or defeated at all. i did enjoy her as a villain more than i did gaea, but i had the same problem of being dissatisfied with the ending battle.

the fix-it: i feel like having the villain be akhlys would make sense. as the goddess of misery, she might want to convince nico that grief is eternal, inescapable, and that he may as well succumb to a life of tragedy. buuut that would also mean no cocoa puffs. and i like the cocoa puffs - so this one is a bit up in the air for me!

plague will: this is personal to me because i love this headcanon and when it became canon i was all "oh, woah" but then it was. never brought up again lmao.

the fix-it: have him use it earlier in the book [perhaps discover it when he goes out by himself] and try to suppress it, but eventually learn that his negative emotions + memories - "darkness" - shouldn't be suppressed, but rather released; that those aren't things to fear. or at least have him talk about it later with nico and try to sort out what their existence means for him. [there are other problems with tsats that people did bring up, but i don't actually have issues with them - i.e. "the first kiss," "coming-out scene," continuity errors, etc. the coming out scene is especially controversial, but my only issue with that is that nico asked out will without considering will's closeted status. the continuity errors aren't really something to dedicate a whole bullet point to, seeing as rick's timeline is eternally convoluted and just not worth getting irritated over at this point.]

if you want me to elaborate on any of these in a second post i can! thanks for the ask!

#long post #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #percy jackson #annabeth chase #annabeth chase pjo #luke castellan #hazel levesque #frank zhang #piper mclean #jason grace #leo valdez #nico di angelo #hunters of artemis #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #hoo #toa #pjo critical #hoo crit #the sun and the star #tsats #will solace #rrverse #pjo hoo toa #reeseanswers

[vanofasgard]

i have to rant about this or i might cease to exist. 

lokius...

for one, i love queer ships (canon or not) but i also like to stay true to the show i’m watching, and i personally don’t have a big problem with sylki (just a little underwhelmed with it if i’m being honest). but the more i look at loki and mobius’ relationship, the clues and that damn song, the more it feels actually plausible that this could turn into something real.

i’m going to somewhat rank these from 1 downward, 1 being its probably coincidental, down to this is too spot on to be nothing. all while i sip leisurely at my tea.

1. “i’ve studied almost every moment of your life..”

it kind of speaks for itself. its a pretty simple bit of dialogue, and most likely doesn’t mean all that much, but what is mobius’ fascination with loki variants? this is higher on the list mainly because mobius has been assigned this case, he's a detective and its his job to dig deep, he's consumed by his work, therefore it isn't strange for him to know so much about loki's life on the sacred timeline.

2. the tie adjustment scene

trust me, i'd love to put this lower on the list, but theres one thing that makes me believe this is-- albeit disappointingly-- a coincidence. it was improv. maybe that, for some people, is more of an indicator of canon lokius, that tom hiddleston felt that that scene was being led in such a flirtatious direction, however, this scene was more his following along owen's playful presence on set, which just makes it kind of sweet. but this is one of my favourites scenes, regardless of the intention behind it. loki will always be a flirt, after all.

3. loki's bisexuality

as much as i would have loved to see more on loki's sexuality-- perhaps slightly more explicitly given his status as the god of mischief-- i'm not going to hate on sylvie and loki, because that would simply erase the existence of bisexuality, hetero-presenting relationships exist and to deny so would again, erase the meaning of bisexuality. however, the ending of season 1 does raise some questions. loki and sylvie's separation sets up the future of marvel, it needed to happen, so this might not mean much at all and we now know that season 2 will focus on loki searching for sylvie through timelines. but how purely queer would it be for loki to realise some stronger feelings toward one agent mobius, and perhaps loki and sylvie's relationship was something that was meant to stay platonic, who knows? this is considerably more fanon than my other theories, but i had to include it, given that to me, its a reasonable arguement. lgbtq+ characters need to be introduced and this was kate herron's goal from the beginning. she also said that she hoped marvel went further with this new information and explored more thoroughly. forgive me for this more outlandish inclusion, but it has been on mind for awhile now.

4. the presence of the dagger / "love is a dagger..."

we all know this one, we've all screamed over it and we all hope it means something more than just a coincidence. with marvel's history of in-depth attention to detail (comic references, foreshadowing years prior to a movie's release), it feels a little too purposeful, doesn't it? again, i'm trying to keep rank these into something somewhat believable with viable evidence, so something i will mention is that loki has lacked any close friendships his whole life. gaining a relationship like this would hold deep value to him, and parting ways would likely pull forth some deep bittersweet emotions. platonic love is arguably more important than romantic, the need to be understood without judgement and that is what both mobius and loki have given each other. the tears in loki's eyes during this scene is a clear indicator of their care for each other, but whether that goes deeper is unclear.

my thoughts fluctuate on this one. for one, its simply so beautiful and meaningful to loki's development (and mobius') that whether its meant platonic or with an underlying romance, feels like it hardly matters, because it holds as much meaning either way. "love is a dagger", it appears in so many forms throughout the series: mobius giving loki his daggers, only for them to be taken away by B-15 a second later, this hug scene and loki and sylvie's fight in the citadel. its so prominent in this scene, its hard to dismiss, yet marvel fluctuates so much with their details that its hard to tell if this was intended the way i'm seeing. regardless, its beautiful and definitely a worthy inclusion.

5. the lokius song / mobius' apparent jealousy

lets get one thing straight, natalie holt is an amazing composer and i will back that to no end with my spotify wrapped this year, trust me on this. so when i first started listening through the second album, like a true neurodivergent kid, i was memorising every song name and i have to say, i lost it a little when i saw the name of this song. natalie confirmed that sif and loki had a 'thing' during the point that the time loop scene was set, so one cannot dismiss the possibility that she could know a little more about the prior scenes than we realise. i was skeptical when i first saw people's impressions of these scenes, after all, they had all reunited after loki technically betrayed mobius, so it was understandable that mobius wouldn't exactly be pleased with the circumstances that they're meeting again. but something about the way he looks at loki and sylvie when he's leading them down the hall, he just looks kind of heartbroken and disappointed. again, this could have been the result of loki's betrayal, if the way he calls him a bad friend is anything to go by, but the substance of this scene holds so much in it. and his little rant about loki and sylvie's "twisted romantic relationship" breaking his reality, hits a little hard. maybe this wouldn't have meant much if it hadn't been with that bloody song, because tell how just an angry, hurt mobius = lokius? it can be jealousy regardless of romantic feelings, friendships feel it too, but this feel a little more substantial.

worthy inclusions:

sylvie's "he cares about you" comment in the void, and loki's near dismissal of it.

loki falling asleep in the archives, he trusts mobius.

am i the only one that finds it cute how loki hangs out at mobius' desk while mobius is off doing other work?

conclusion:

look, i'm going to be honest here, i grow sceptical of my own arguments at times. these are very minor things, and i didn't even realise they were pushing loki and sylvie in the direction they were until they kiss (in other words, i'm a little oblivious), so i want you all to take this with a grain of salt. i like to stay true to the actual characters and their makers, i don't have unrealistic expectations and i am no director, actor or screenwriter. i am not saying how i think the next season should go, i just wish it could go to in this direction to some degree. i have my doubts, but my hopes too. regardless, i'm just happy to see these characters at all!

this is what so many seem to forget. there may be restrictions (cough cough disney), but everyone working on these shows and movies have put their hearts into it and i want to appreciate that for what it is! this doesn't mean you aren't entitled to your own opinion, of course you are! but just remember the show/characters you've fallen in love with and if you didn't have them at all. i'm overjoyed to see loki with a close friendship after so many years of watching him being proverbially kicked while he was down. ultimately, loki and mobius' friendship (and possible romance) is what technically saved loki and that's something beautiful in and of itself.

I don't think its impossible! but i keep an open mind for both directions their stories could take.

#lokius #wowki #mcu loki #loki #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #mobius m mobius #loki series #loki x mobius #shipping #lgbtqia #character analysis

[gamajun]

all the love and fame steve harrington's character got over the years truly doesn't mean SHIT when you realize that good 60% of you don't even understand his character, nor did you ever.

you may have all started worshiping him when he turned to kids, became a "mom" and god knows what else, but each and every one of you ignored the reason why he even became that in the first place.

nancy wheeler.

and this isn't even a discussion about which pairing you should love or prefer, this is a discussion about steve harrington's character and in order for anyone to understand a single thing about him, you have to go back to his roots and that will ALWAYS be nancy wheeler.

steve didn't become who he is today and went through his big development because he broke up with this girl, he did it because he LOVED her.

"i know you promised nance to keep us safe. so keep us safe."

the whole reason why he even got stuck with the whole upside down chaos is because he willingly came back to jonathan's house to apologize and after facing the madness in that house, he still chose to stay and fight. why? because his care for nancy wheeler is stronger than him being a coward.

and when he tells nancy to go with jonathan in season 2, while he offers to stay with the kids, he does it for the exact same reason. love and care for her. he quite literally doesn't have any other reason.

steve's connection with kids only grows afterwards and that's where his independence shines, because he is able to make meaningful impact on the audience just by continuing his growth and linking that with other great characters like dustin and robin only makes him more lovable.

but what started it all? what made him who he is today?

it's just baffling, because the show quite literally spells it out for y'all dumbasses that it's nancy wheeler who was there at the beginning of his whole journey and it's quite natural she will never leave because this is fiction and when you're writing a goddamn story, it's quite natural for your characters to make a full circle, reflect back and realize what is actually the one thing that's been there for them the whole time.

it's called making a great conclusion for an already great character.

but then i have to see y'all burying media literacy six feet deep into the ground by saying steve's love for nancy is ooc and he would absolutely NEVER dream about having a family with her, while being a same dumbass who called him a mom for five years straight. when i say it's depressing for us i'm not even kidding.

not to mention the very obvious way the writers tried to communicate how it's nancy the one that matters the most in that dream, and not her pumping six kids out for him, yet y'all chose to be the most pathetic bunch of dumbasses i've seen in fandom spaces and call that sweet moment a breeding kink.

have fun trying to be taken seriously in real life i guess.

#i had to say this otherwise i'd go insane #mutuals ignore #steve harrington #stancy

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

Feeling very violent rn so here's a very controversial opinion:

Everything after season one of Young Justice sucked.

Look, I know I'm obsessed with the show but that doesn't mean it's good, it means that I'm too deep into it at this point to get out. There are good moments within the other seasons but in general? They were not good.

I'm sorry. I understand that they wanted to be creative and have a neat narrative and deep lore and all that. And they do! The narrative and lore is extremely deep.

But the plot? The characters??

Season one was an actual functional show that balanced character development, plot and dialogue with world building, lore and messaging.

The other seasons do not do that.

Season two bounced back and forth between like 16 characters. We got some development for some characters but even that was minimal compared to the character development in S1. And this isn't me complaining that the og group wasn't in S2 enough. That's not my issue. I would've loved to focus on a new group and I think that Jaime, Bart, Ed and Gar would've been super cool to focus on. I loved what character development they did have and I craved more.

But the problem? The problem is when you have 16 fucking characters that you are trying to develop and shove into a coherent plot and have actual meaningful scenes. There just wasn't enough focus on S2. Imo, S2 was meh because the characters got left by the wayside. The plot, dialogue, world building, lore and messaging was fine, there just seemed to be a lack of heart/warmth in the show because of the characters. It's hard to get invested.

Then holy shit. S3 introduced more characters. And the plot got more contrived and 'big picture' to the point that it started to abstract. It felt like nothing mattered. There were no stakes, you were just watching things happen. There was 50 fucking things happening an episode and 80% of it was lore/world building. It felt like I was studying for a fictional history exam.

I'm pretty sure the main character in S3 was earth 16. Just the entire universe. Because goddamn. We checked in on almost every living being and EVERYTHING was a plot point. Most of it wasn't even relevant to anything happening in the season. Man it was.... it was bad.

And at that point it just wasn't enjoyable at all to watch. I probably should've stopped watching but at that point the sunk cost fallacy had already kicked in. I knew it could be good. Maybe it could be good again. And people were constantly praising it as cinematic genius so I was like 'okay well maybe I'm missing the point? Maybe you aren't supposed to enjoy shows? Maybe this is fine?'

But season four broke me.

The creators heard that people were frustrated by the lack of character focus and the episodes following 72 characters and the episodes switching between 50 different subplots every episode and their solution? Their solution was to take allllllll the different unconnected plots and, instead of evenly spreading them throughout the season, jam them all into 'arcs'. So you had a bunch of mini seasons consisting of 3-5 episodes dedicated to a cast of ~5-8 characters (some of them new). And each of these episodes had unconnected a plots, b plots and c plots.

THAT IS NOT A SOLUTION

Holy shit that is not a solution.

Not to mention the overarching plot of the season, in which we had no fucking clue what was happening until the final episodes where everything became a speedrun to wrap everything up. We literally had no idea what the main plot was until it was ending.

Good god it was bad. It's bad writing!

I know people liked it and good for them. You should like what you like and you don't have to justify it. But for me it was insanity. I'm sorry I actually don't want a season long subplot where Beast Boy is depressed and sleeps all day. I would be cool with it if it had anything to do with the larger story but, surprisingly, spending five minutes watching Beast Boy sleep every episode didn't make for compelling storytelling.

I'm still not over how we didn't even know who the main villain was until the end of the season. And then all of a sudden he does a villain monologue to tell everyone his evil plan and his motives. Super cool actually. I love it when I have no idea what the stakes are for the majority of a show. It's incredibly good storytelling when you leave the audience in the dark about a major player in the plot for all of the plot. And then doing an info dump evil monologue in the final episodes to rush through the explanation??? Fucking fantastic and not a sign of terrible pacing at all.

I'm just so frustrated. The show isn't about being a show anymore. The show is an entire cinematic universe shoved into 20 something episodes. It's desperate to tell every single story at once, audience, pacing and good writing be damned.

I'm so tired of the constant praising of Greg. His whole 'i don't write endings because life doesn't have endings' and 'i don't write cliffhangers, I just leave things open ended' thing is pretentious bullshit. I'm tired of pretending it's not. A good story has an ending. Stories are not life! Some of the best shows I've ever watched had planned endings. And oh my god. The cliffhanger thing... that's just semantics my guy. Greg you write cliffhangers. You can insist they aren't but I'm going to call a spade a spade.

It's also.... I'm fine with explaining things, in fact I love it because it's an excuse to talk about the stuff I love, and I have a fairly decent knowledge of comic book lore. So, I could not only understand what was happening in the show but I was also super enthusiastic about explaining it to people. But hey Greg? Hey buddy? If 90% of your audience doesn't know what the fuck is going on and needs to be familiar with super specific obscure comic characters from the 70's then you might have a problem.

I think I realized halfway through s4 that the most enjoyment I got from an episode was when an obscure comic character would cameo in it. But then I realized that a) they generally weren't explained at all and b) 50% of the time they weren't just hanging out in the background and they were vital to the plot. So to understand who the fuck they were and what the fuck was happening you had to be familiar with... well all of DC comics actually.

Anyway this rant is getting long and unhinged and I don't think there's a point so I'm going to cut myself off even though I have so much more to say on the topic. I think my general point is just that I didn't enjoy watching the later seasons and it's chill if you did and we should all respect each other's opinions ✌️

#rant #oh also the messaging sucked #the messages itself were fine. like 'you should go to therapy if you are depressed' and 'respect people's religions' and #'figuring out your gender/sexual identity is chill af' #those are great messages. the content is great and i don't disagree #BUT HOLY FUCK #yo Zatara ranting about his religion to Fate for 15 minutes is not how you get a message across #messages are supposed to be like themes and subtle points of the narrative #it's not supposed to be a fucking psa where the characters just talk for half the episode and say the message verbatim to the audience #itd be like if in season one M'gann stood up and spent ten minutes talking about the damaging psychological effects of body image issues #and everyone else just sat there and nothing happened and M'gann just kinda spoke about it #or if Artemis was just like 'im going to do a presentation on why child abuse is bad' #its just. thats not. thats not how messages in a plot work #but they didn't develop the characters enough. so instead of s1 where the messages were blatantly obvious #we just had side character zatara who we know nothing about talk about religion like he was doing a PSA for kindergartners #because we don't know his character and he had zero focus so that was literally the only way to get the message across #and im sorry but that's bad writing. if you are sacrificing character plot and narrative for a message then maybe scrap the message #or you know actually have a developed character do the message. like write the message through a developed character so it doesn't #need to be spoonfed to the audience like we're five year olds learning different shapes from a teacher

[inchidentally]

ouuhh that's not…

I swear I read it three times and looked through their blog hoping they were joking alfhaslfkh nope

BUT I do not want anyone to engage with this so I'm hiding the link - not just because it's ridiculous but because the best way to confine rpf ship drama is to leave it alone. (edit: so I lied abt this asofgsalfga I did reply to one person but only bc they put it in the main tags) I don't rly like blocking but I also don't want to have to create a million filtered tagged posts on my dash - and tbh I don't think anyone I've blocked will care anyway. this way I can still see carlando content for fun but none of the fandom nonsense.

I'm mostly posting this bc up til now I rly wanted to set aside the behavior of the fandom to continue enjoying carlando content but I just can't be bothered anymore. between the larrying and the rampant, disgusting casual misogyny - and ofc the competing with which friendship or fake ship blorbo 1 and 2 are "happier" with asgfjsalfglja. and it's not just this latest thing I get sent tweets and posts abt whole agendas to "prove" that Lando isn't "happy" with Oscar/Martin/insert man who is currently considered threatening to their concepts of Lando's relationships. some ppl even friendzone Max F and Lando and pretend Carlos means more to Lando than him so there's no limits to the insanity.

so for me atp there just isn't enough about carlando to make it worth constantly being reminded that the way too many of it's fans truly believe that these are two men are either as close to each other as they are to their real, acknowledged close friends and/or in a secret gay relationship, that their girlfriend(s) are cold-hearted PR plants/escorts rigged by an evil all-controlling PR department and once the blorbos are freed of homophobic forces (oh god Carlos' old tweets tiktokboom) they can finally have the kind of toxic heteronormative version of a queer relationship that is right with the universe.

like, rpf is only meant to be for fun and more important it is meant to be kept away from anyone involved/the general public !! but when ppl's delu results in the actual women these men choose as their partners being at best aggressively cropped out of pictures and videos* and at worst stalked, harassed, their families and employers harassed, abuse and slander left in comments sections on popular social media and team pages - yea carlando laughing together sometimes and slowed down bro hugging isn't enough lol

it’s also slightly the fact that if you picked a bunch of Lando’s reactions to Carlos and Daniel and no one knew context clues then no one would be able to tell which one he’s reacting to. Carlos/Daniel teases Lando, Lando shriek laughs and goes red, James Corden style gay innuendo, slightly tense undercurrent of men wanting to one up each other with jokes, iterations of bromance that are half sincere and half for the cameras, hashtag hashtag. Lando goes to Daniel's ranch on a whim, dando is special. Lando goes to Carlos' sister's huge society wedding, carlando is special. Lando's family likes Lando which makes carlando special. Lando and Daniel share mutual friends outside of racing which makes dando special. like, it's the same dynamic just rotated around at different times. I enjoy both ships to a certain degree but I'm kind of mystified at ppl choosing to see them as super deep and meaningful and worth fighting over.

side note g o d do I fully embrace that ppl who do these ship competitions and larrying nonsense have ZERO interest in landoscar bc we love Lily and support Lando in his many probable conquests - and bc the Lando and Oscar dynamic isn't a big bromance for the cameras and has no fake gay for fangirl consumption.

like yes pls absolutely consider landoscar inferior to carlando if it means they stay away from inventing conspiracy theories and saying they "just have a bad feeling" about Lily and start attributing everything Lando has achieved to his teammate instead of himself.

also I could be SO incredibly mean using charlos vs carlando and the difference between PR and the public trying to tear one apart but it persisting vs PR and the public being a major factor in the other persisting at all. or the fact that charlos does everything ppl want carlando to do. but there's no point spending more time on people who think that two adult men - who've both said they're as much rivals as friends and the bromance is more what the public sees - are laughing in metrically different and lesser degrees of happiness with their new teammates vs a former teammate.

like, as long as I can now not be exposed to those opinions then they have a perfect right to express them. god knows I'm not saying my blogs is worth a damn but at least I don't trash anyone's gf or try to stunt on other rpf ships for no reason

tl;dr I'm p much done trying to make carlando worthwhile for me to rb or post about. I enjoy seeing it on my dash for myself but that's it! no one will be affected by this change lafhlsahf

*I know there are a few ppl out there who do this bc they have a no-private life policy on their blogs and that's np. they aren't die hard carlando fans tho.

#inchreplies #wank adjacent #<- tag to block to avoid seeing these in future! #why do ppl want to constantly push things that get proven wrong #like just enjoy your ship and stop trying to edge it closer to them dating irl by competing w other ships it isn't happening #for reference

[fraye-complex]

I love seeing myself in the mirror, freshly fucked and still glowing from the way he held me during, even thinking about it now I can't help but melt for him. He loves me so much. I can feel it in the way he takes control of me, the way he holds me tight against him while he bruises my cervix each time he drops me onto himself. The way he stays steady and comforts me when I'm babbling and whining for him to break me, Breed me, please, I'm yours! Please fill me! Knock me up, I need your cum inside me!, He just squeezes me, rutting into me harder as he promises to Breed me, asking me so sweetly if I need him to knock me up, and I do, I need it so badly, and I just keep begging because it's all my poor little bird brain can think to do.

My big strong mate has me stripped bare, drunk on nectar, my mind in a sweet, tingly fog, as he bounces me in his lap. The soft lighting and intoxicants giving me just enough security to present my body to him, not that I could ever tell him no, I love the way he looks at me, even when he whistles or gives me a little snap of his teeth. Despite how silly it makes me feel in the moment, it makes me feel so wanted.

He had me clutched tight to his body as he worked so steadily to breed me, rutting up into my soaked entrance with a force that knocked the air from my lungs, I keep begging to be bred, filled, broken... Until I finally hear those magic words.

"I'm getting close..."

I'm holding him so tight, begging, pleading, with him to do it, to Breed Me, fill me up, knock me up...

He said something to me in the second before he bred me, I can't remember what he said to me, but I know it felt so good... It melted every stupid thought from my brain, letting me focus on my mate, my hubby, burying himself as deep into me as he can, giving me that special treat I can only get from him.

I want this man to put his spawn in me so bad. We're celebrating 5 years, as of the 1st. I know we need our own place and a semi-stable income before we even think about it... He's being so responsible about this, playing with me when I need it, but reminding me "Not yet" when I get too serious.

I can't help it, I keep marking the dates of when he breeds me, a tiny part of me hoping my pill will fail, maybe I've forgotten it and that just happens to be when he wants me bad enough to do something about it (who can say why), maybe I'm taking something new and hoping it'll block it out somehow... Deep down I know we're being safe enough, but I want to have just a peek at what our life could be like... I want to have his child, I want to live in cozy a little cottage with my love and our little one. I want the sweet days and slow nights, I want to know our strife, our success, I want to love you the way you deserve and for you to feel as loved as I do when you hold me like that... I want to heal the wounds caused by the world and others you trusted, I want to tend each one carefully, bandage them up so they don't have to face the elements tonight, or ever. I know I can't make it all better in one night but I hope I can soften things for you, I want you to feel safe with me like I feel safe with you.

Gods, I left to wash up and I miss him so much. I'm so sore though, so I need to make sure I take care of my more intimate areas, soothing all the bad pains away in a special bath. I'll be ready again next time he wants me, all ready to have him brutalize my body all over again.

He doesn't know, because it's so faint(and he's squeamish about it, so I don't mention it), but I love it when he gets rough enough to make me bleed. He's too big for me, and I love the way he breaks me, as long as he knows he isn't hurting me in any meaningful way, the way he pauses if he thinks something is wrong, but quickly continues tearing me apart the second he knows I'm okay.

I want this man to do such filthy, depraved things to me, things that would make me vomit if ever suggested by anyone else. This man could take my every trauma, replay it for me from start to finish, make it end better, make it end worse... And I would still never feel safer than I do with him.

I don't know how to tell him, I'm worried he'll be disgusted I ever thought of it, but I want so badly for him to hurt me in so many of the ways I've been hurt. I want to sob as he pushes me into the mattress, I want to feel him tear my clothes from my body as I squirm helplessly beneath him. I want him to take what he wants... Whether I want to give it or not... I want him to force into me, using only the wetness he coaxes from me as he thrusts into my poor, under prepared body. I love the sweet, aching pressure of his tip against my cervix as he hilts inside of me, pushing me to my limit... *Then completely disregarding me, pushing past my limit, his hand tight around my throat as he breaks me, mind and body, whispering such pretty things to me, things I would never want to hear from anyone else, but from him sound so beautiful.

Yes, my body is yours.

Please, put your baby in me.

My chest is covered in little reminders of him, I haven't checked my back yet, but I just remembered the way he scratched down my back.

This is perfect, I'm completely out of my gourd on smoke, drink, and passion. This is all I really need, I think. I just need to live in these moments, I can vaguely remembering almost sobbing to him that I never wanted it to stop, it felt so good, I could feel how much he loves me, I wanted to feel it forever.

Oh my gods I just sat up and you would not believe the whine I let out. I love it so much when he fucks me so hard my tummy hurts. I love remembering the things he did to me every time I breathe, or walk, or sit up.

I love being His.

#nblm yearning #nblm nsft #nblnb yearning #k!nk #k!nk talk #cnc k!nk #bd/sm kink #nblm textpost #rough kink #roughfuck #nblm ns/fw #nblm love #nblm #mlm and nblm only #nonbinary #nblnb ns/fw #nblnb nsft #nblnb post #intox kink #intox cnc #Fraye Complex

[toomuchracket]

Matty with Eilidh when she’s about 16/17. And she is pushing the limits and being rebellious and whatnot (literally just sneaking vodka to the park or something). You, exasperated with your daughter’s newfound love of defying authority, ask Matty to have a word with her and see if he can get through to her (they’ve had SUCH a bond her whole life). So he knocks on her bedroom door, and pokes his head in. He flops down on the bed next to her (because he IS her much older brother, not an uncle). Eilidh isn’t fooled (‘mum and dad sent you in, didn’t they?’). Matty tries to deny this (‘what?! No. I wanted to see my favourite angel child’). Anyway, they chat and Matty asks to look through her records and books. He’s delighted to find a few of the 1975 records.

She assures him nothing is that deep and she isn’t going off the rails. An hour later, Matty comes downstairs to you and Ross. Immediately you’re both like ‘what did she say?!’. And Matty just laughs (enjoying the attention) and assures you your daughter is going to be absolutely fine.

Same anon as the last 2 lol. I CANNOT stop thinking ab this Eilidh / Matty dynamic. When she’s like 12, she gets a bit cheeky AND a bit into the 1975 music. So she is forever quoting lyrics to Matty like the drug ones, the sex ones, all sorts. And every time, Matty pretends to be annoyed but he loves the banter and the fact she likes the music.

And then when she is 15ish (and the big feelings you feel at 15 are starting to brew), she talks to Matty about IAWDS or loving someone or something like that… one of their really meaningful songs. And it’s a really beautiful moment between the two of them. Matty gives her a pep talk and dedicates the song to her next time he plays it live.

altering slightly, but i love this dynamic between them, actually! like she loves her parents, but like they do have a tendency to do the parent thing of worrying a little bit too much, especially when she turns 15/16/17 and goes through that tumultuous teenage moment of being sullen and withdrawn and secretive. and like fair enough both you and ross get that, having been teenagers yourselves, but eilidh went from being a smiley tween to moody cool kid in about 3 seconds flat and it was a bit freaky - you both kind of err on the annoying side of asking her if she's ok, though, which is why she's exasperated and won't tell you lol. the vodka thing isn't even the issue (god knows you both did it), you genuinely just want to know if she's ok. and i don't even think you'd have to ask matty - he's over one day and eilidh speeds past you all like a little thunderstorm on her way to her room (in my head she's like tori from heartstopper actually lol), barely even saying hi to him (her big bro!), and he's like "ok let me see if i can figure out what's up". eilidh lets him in, maintaining she's ok, and the two of them just sit quietly for a minute before matty clocks her cd collection and starts a conversation about how good her taste is and is she going to any gigs with her friends over the summer. and eilidh goes quiet at that, and matty's like aha that's the issue and says "come on. you can tell me about friend drama, darlin', god knows i've been involved in enough"; she smiles and then hands him her abiior cd (matty smiles back and says she better not give him a row for swearing on it like she did when she was younger) and points to iawds, and quickly clarifies "it's not me, honestly, but it's to do with this". and basically eilidh, the dependable calming friend much like her dad, is supporting loads of her friends through mental health crises and getting a bit overwhelmed with it all, bless her. and matty just pulls her into a hug and tells her he's so proud of her for her kindness, then offers some advice on how to help her friends AND herself at the same time (because self-medicating with vodka is Not It) and tells her to phone him anytime she wants to talk about it at all (because he knows sometimes it's easier to not burden the people closest to you, like parents, with stuff like this). and she gives him another hug and they continue chatting, eilidh so clearly feeling lighter than she did beforehand. when matty comes downstairs, he reassures you and ross that your daughter is "fine, she's just friends with emos" to lighten the mood, before saying "nah she's alright, just worried about some of her friends. she's a good one, that daughter of yours"; you're both relieved and so grateful to matty, who both makes good on his promise to eilidh about being there when she needs him AND dedicates iawds to her, in a sense, at the next gig, saying something like "this one's for the people keeping the people who relate to this song together. we love you. thank you" <3

#mads muses #mads answers asks #matty asks #fluff asks #dad!ross #eilidh

[maddiviner]

Are soulmates real?? Do you believe in them?

Not really.

I can't count how many times someone told me they'd found their soulmate. I heard it from a metric fuckton of friends and their lovers in high school and university. The thing is? I can't help but notice that very few of those relationships worked out, and some of them weren't even healthy.

It often even seemed that the "soulmate" belief contributed to the relationship's downfall. The concept got used to justify codependency as well as other toxic stuff. If someone's really your soulmate, you can't give up, obviously, no matter how bad it gets, right? This creates huge problems.

Of course, nowadays, people argue that everyone has several soulmates. Imagine a sorta spiritual nakama? Yet, even that doesn't wash away a lot of the sheer toxicity of the concept. It only adds more people to the situation.

I'm not saying people don't form lifelong bonds. I definitely feel that. But we form those ourselves - I don't believe they're innate in a spiritual sense. I'm a big fan of taking pen to paper (reality) and writing your own life story, after all.

And, with that, I believe some people connect on a deep, spiritual level with their partners. This can feel incredible. It can be indescribable. That, again, is something you create together, not innate or inescapable. I'd argue it's more meaningful for that reason.

This might be a bit unrelated, but I also don't believe that loving, or sleeping with someone creates a "soul tie." Love almost always changes a person, IMHO. That's not always going to be a permanent, strong connection to the other person. We connect in some small way (spiritually, even) with a lot of people. Doesn't have to be life-altering bond that sticks with you forever.

And sex? Sex doesn't create that kinda bond unless you frame it as such, IMHO. Unless you seek it in earnest. And there's non-sexual ways of seeking strong bonds, too. A lot of people think it all hinges on sex, weirdly, which says a lot about cultural mindsets right now. Good god, imagine what someone with SA trauma would think hearing that, too. It's bullshit.

Any kinda love, etc can, of course, be spiritual, but that's a willful act. Do you want some kind of spiritual connection to a partner? People do it. It's usually a thing for longterm partnerships or for specific reasons. I have no judgement of anyone's relationship choices, ever, as long as both parties are, and can, consent.

It seems like a lot of New Agers believe in or look for an external locus of control. Here, it's not about working towards a goal yourself, writing your own destiny. They say it is, but it isn't.

It's more about looking outward towards "the Universe" for validation. That was true for a lot of the "soulmate" relationships I saw people have. They want "the Universe" somehow to confirm what they already want, rather than just seeking it.

Anyways, yeah. I don't believe in "soulmates." Don't get me started on the "twin flame" cult.

Meme above's from imgflip. Creator is unknown as is often the case with memes. Also, sorry it took so long to answer this one. Am trying to go through my drafts/asks today, but no promises!

#new age #soulmates #twin flame #witchcraft #soul ties #doused #eliza.txt #spirituality

[a-shrieking-cloud-of-bats]

What kind of audience do you think you'd recommend dwarf fortress to? It definetly looks very different from anything else I played

Hmm. that's a very good question anon and I'm going to break it down.

People that like making their own fun. At the end of the day, dwarf fortress is a game that's only as meaningful as you make it, due to the random generation. If you take everything literally it's just pseudo guided actions performed by randomly generated dwarves. What is a tragic tale of a soldier going on a rampage in the fort after a siege because his cat died in the fighting is very easily reduced to simple numbers, because the underlying systems are not very complex and they do not try very hard to hide themselves. Similarly after you've gotten over the initial hump, if the narrative stuff isn't quite selling you, you have to be willing to challenge yourself. I'm currently attempting to build a boat, in the ocean, and making a nice looking port town with it. None of this holds bearing on the world or how it interacts in any major way (I don't think, anyway, it's been a while), but it's a fun project and if I end up keeping the world it will continue to exist long after I'm finished playing it. I can go there in adventure mode, and dwarves from that fort that live can show up in other forts. That's pretty satisfying, if you ask me. Probably the most important part.

On to the actual game. It's mostly a logistics game, as you're attempting to wrangle a big group of mostly autonomous dwarves into doing things that will make the fort better and bigger and more like what you want it to be. The semi autonomous part is a big part of what seperates it from say, factorio, you are not exactly working with precision tools here. About the only thing you can guarantee is that you can build what and where you want to build, and the military control is pretty direct (but not setting up the military! Oh God No). Dwarves will take personal time, dwarves will sleep, dwarves will eat, dwarves will throw parties, dwarves will make artifacts (randomly generated, so there's that first point again! is that artifact sword with broccoli on it fun or dumb? that sort've random gen thing will be happening a lot.), dwarves will generally dick around a lot without any explicit order to do so. Sometimes for a startling amount of time. But that's kind've part of the fun too, even if it's sort've frustrating sometimes.

Combat and adventure mode. I mean.... it's not nothing? I've found the military more frustrating then anything and winning direct fights is usually pretty hard. But setting up an airtight fort with loads of traps and misdirection is fun too, to the right person, I'm sure. The adventure mode combat system is sort've neat and has an impressive amount of depth but you have to grind forever to get anywhere with it and it's extremely long winded, even as deep as it can get. There's an entire thread on the DF forums (or was, it's ben a while) about dwarf martial arts and how catching incoming attacks can be used to perform various complex actions. Any game where that's possible is pretty neat! It's still very long winded and nothing is easy as a result, though. I can't really speak on this much.

That's about it.

If you want to get started yourself, look for the lazy newb pack (it's a staple, don't feel bad for using it, mostly everyone does) and a video tutorial, I dunno a modern one but people used to be reccomending krugsmash I think it was? Maybe still good? Dunno. Also the wiki, which is an exhaustive source of information, but worry about that after you're done with the GUI. The dwarf fortress GUI is absolutely jam packed with information and learning how to navigate it is task number one. It's also the thing most people get stuck on, though I think it's probably a bit less of a difficulty wall now that easier alternatives are out (rimworld, gnomoria, I guess? it never really took off honestly) and some of the concepts have been used in a different place. Though dwarf fortress is still hard to start even considering that. Thankfully it's also the easiest thing to learn through a series of youtube videos.

You're never really Done learning the nuances of the UI but once you know how to make your dwarves do things, and how dwarves do things, you're through most of the meta difficulty that you don't impose on yourself.

I hope that helped! I kind've went on a bit.

#bats replies #dwarf fortress posting

[longsightmyth]

“Celeste was half-naked up against him in a hallway!” I accused, pointing a finger at her.

Her mouth popped open. “How did you know?”

“Has everyone been getting naked with Maxon?” Elise asked, horrified.

“We weren’t naked!” I shouted.

“Okay,” Kriss said, putting out her arms. “We need to clear this up. Who has done what with Maxon?”

Elise says she's kissed him three times. Kriss says she hasn't kissed him at all [on the lips] but he would if she let him.

“Well, I’ve kissed him plenty.” Celeste flipped her hair, deciding to be proud instead of embarrassed. “The best was in the hallway one night.” She eyed me. “We kept whispering about how exciting it was that we might get caught.”

Honestly I believe her. That's a big kink, and Maxon kept making out with her after noticing America eas there and left, so. Own it, Celeste. Everyone turns to America.

“I was Maxon’s first kiss, not Olivia. I didn’t want anyone to know. And we’ve had a few . . . more intimate moments, and one of those times Maxon’s shirt came off.”

I mean you're Maxon's first kiss as far as you know, but he also didn't tell you about kissing Elise or making out with Celeste, so what is the truth.

Anyway Kriss is like, okay now we all know where we stand, but frankly I would be more confused about my standing in Maxon's affections and his intentions than ever before if I was in the room with them in this moment.

Elise is like, uh. Where do we stand. And nobody has an answer, which checks out. America takes this moment to say that actually her moments with Maxon were deep and meaningful and she really cares about Maxon.

Celeste is like, excuse you, you think we don't?

(I really hope none of you actually really care about him but that cause was lost a long time ago, rip Bariel, you were a real one)

America says she knows Celeste doesn't give a shit. Celeste is like, excuse the fuck out of you.

“Celeste, it’s no secret that you want someone with power. I’m willing to bet you like Maxon well enough, but you’re not in love with him. You’re shooting for the crown.”

Without denying it, she turned on Elise.

Yeah? So? It's not like YOU were here for Maxon originally, god help me but I was about to call them the good old days.

Anyway Celeste says she hasn't seen any emotion from Elise (because of course Elise is the meek and retiring New Asian girl), and Elise says she is just reserved and she may not be head over heels but she could respect Maxon.

Please no, Elise, the man deserves no respect.

“In my family, all the marriages are arranged. I knew what was coming for me, and that’s all this is. I may nothing be head over heels for Maxon, but I respect him. Love can come later.”

Sympathetically, Kriss spoke. “That actually sounds kind of sad, Elise.”

Kris your family doesn't let you kiss until you're engaged, whereupon they expect to witness the first kiss. Let she who does not live in a creepy fundie cult wet dream cast the first fucking stone.

“It’s not. There are bigger things than love.”

We stared at Elise, her words echoing. I fought for my family out of love, and for Aspen, too. And now, though it scared me to think it, I was sure that all my actions where Maxon was concerned—even when they were hopelessly stupid—were driven by that feeling. Still, what if there was something more important here than that?

No, excuse me, I have to step back because I'm laughing too hard. AMERICA. Trying to pretend it isn't all about which boy she wants to bang. God the hilarity.

#myth rags on the one #myth rags on the selection

[faeflowerz]

Happy Birthday Riddle Rosehearts 🌹🌹🌹

No, I'm not late. I didn’t get caught up in Enstars. I didn’t forget to write this. I am also ignoring the characters I missed until their birthdays roll around again. also am not upset that i don't have his first bday outfit. Got his union thoooo ayyyy~

So I already knew I would love Riddle when I started playing. I'm not even a Wonderland fan (Neverland all the way babeyyy) but that lil tomato makes me tingly inside. What can I say? He's small in size but big in taste! 

And have yall seen prototype!Riddle??? Uhm?!?!? Hello?!?!?!?! Can I have both?!?!?!?

Let's get to it. 

So what has changed about the tiny tyrant? He was the first chapter and he ushered in the series with his Mommy issues. He's the best foot forward. I'm serious. Chapter 1 is solid compared to the others. It's my favorite chapter (1,6,3,4,5,2) and everyone sets the setting well. 

I think he's also up there on the most substantial change in characterization. While he's still got a stick in his ass, it's not as deep. He's showing more of his empathetic side and putting forth patience that the QOH isn't known for. A good queen must be fierce, but she also is fair in her deliverance of justice. She tends to her subjects and holds them to reasonable standards. Well, I at least think so. He's a palatable leader. 

Something I've started to notice about Riddle is that he's naive. But his naivety also gives him courage? While he has been sheltered most of his life, Riddle is sure of his skills. He's willing to fight Malleus if the fairy ever tries to come for his spot. Now, if he would win is not the point. The fact that this little boy is willing to say it to Mal on his birthday speaks volumes. He would probably lose if he challenged him as is. That's his naivety/confidence. Now, if it was like, after a year or something, he would go down swinging for sure. That's his talent and skill. He's also interested in the duel being a learning experience which is a mature way of viewing a dorm leader battle. I would say every battle is an exp but the stakes are meaningful in a leader duel. 

Speaking of which, it's cute that he would go there. Sure, it's to balance out the other picks, but Riddle would flourish in Diasomnia. He's packing a lot of power despite his size and if he learned how to keep his temper on lock, god. He'd be a big deal. Also he's good at fire magic for some reason like, is he an arsonist in training? Also the rose thorn motif on him sounds kinda hot. His OB uses thorns soooo.

Uhm, let's talk about his pick for a brother. 

You know…he's probably hiding the real reason why he wants Jade. Think about it. Riddle is the one who told Trey how Jade controls everything. Riddle shares a homeroom with Jade. He experiences him as much as he sees Silver and Sebek (maybe more depending on when they meet for clubs). He's right that Jade is seemingly polite and seemingly compliant with rules and shit. He's surreptitious with his power. That's what makes him efficient and dangerous. Riddle wants someone like that on his side. That's what he's not telling Azul. Hell, Riddle even admits that he's not fond of Jade's other traits.

As his younger brother amuses me too. His naivety is at work. I'm an only child but younger siblings won't always listen to you. Jade's too independent for any of that. He could probably be a better big brother since he steps back when he knows someone's gotta learn a lesson. Jade gently tried to offer to nip the Leona issue in the bud in chap 3. Azul foolishly barreled forward with his plans regardless. Azul fucked up and Jade knew it. So he let his bestie learn. So in Riddle's case, Jade would be a better older brother than little (bc Jade will deprogram his naivety). But I think he's got a better option for a little brother: Epel.

I was torn between him or Jack but I think Epel could benefit from Riddle's brand of micromanagement. Vil is strict, but Epel doesn't listen to Vil bc as we saw in chap 5, he was out to fix Epel. Vil does care and wants Epel to grow but the ulterior motives muddied their relationship. With Riddle, they both get to have a brother. Plus, size matters. A lot. Riddle, as I said before, is small but a powerhouse. From their interactions and voice lines, they seem fond of each other. Riddle is firm and he will get Epel to show more formality and respect but since he's the same height as him, Epel will be more receptive to what he has to say. And notice how Riddle always tells people to speak loudly and be 💯 instead of mumbling? That trait needs to be preserved in Epel. 

Riddle wants to do good and be a good mentor to his peers (imma talk about his career goals in a sec) so if Epel were to be taken under his wing, they would be fond of each other while also seeing Epel reach new heights that wouldn't be impeded by negative relationships. Plus Riddle is a little feminine (bc he emulates a queen too) so Epel will still unlearn toxic masculinity. 

Okay, so Riddle wants to be a doctor. A doctor. That's…unexpected. Well, not entirely. He has a classic doctor tiger mom (more on that later I promise) so I can see this being a "carry the legacy" type of thing. But as we can see, Riddle is clearly great with students. 

In his element, Riddle can educate upperclassmen as well as underclassmen. He's extremely smart and I think helping people in an educational setting is significantly more beneficial to his potential. Professor Rosehearts sounds super hot. He's firm yet gentle, and when he asks you to see him after class, you've got butterflies. He's handsome and when he talks, you're hooked on every word. You know he's scolding you for being so scatterbrained and distracted, but you can't help it. You're in love with him even though you know he wouldn't regret it if he would just take you and pin you to his desk-

So Riddle's mom is pretty…rough. I see people making jokes about her, usually projecting their own mama onto her. I personally think Riddle's mom wanted him, as in, he was a planned pregnancy. It only makes sense that they would only want one and then go to painstaking lengths to raise him "right". But unfortunately parenting is trial and error. I'm curious about how their family life has changed since he’s around other kids. I'm assuming he was homeschooled? Do we have any information on that? Anyway, school is usually when kids start finding their own identity and I wish we could get updates on how the OB gang is doing in specific areas where they were struggling. Since Twst is overloaded with characters, you gotta do your research on them rather than get main story satisfaction. 

So what do I want for Riddle going forward? I unno, he's perfect. And I stand behind that. He's working on himself and that's all I can ask for any of these characters. Each of them are sentimental to somebody in the fandom and as long as they continue to mature and develop through the series, I'm content. So to round out the last of the birthdays with the one who started it all,

Happy Birthday, Riddle! ❤🌹

#twisted wonderland #faes character reflection #twst posting #riddle rosehearts

[firebirdsdaughter]

Whelp…

… The V&V summary dropped and how many different ways can I say I called it?

#Kamen Rider Zero-One #Kamen Rider Zero One #siiiiiiiiiiiigh #I knew it's be Like this #I had no hope and I'm still disappointed #at the very least Takahashi… #let him be broken up about it? #like it doesn't fit w/ Fuwa to buy into the 'necessary evil' bullcrap for one thing #like… I have no expectations for Yua but… #can Fuwa pls just… care? #I know it's gonna 'Girl Gets '''''Hurt''''' So Guy Goes on Rampage' again which is just so tired #and w/ 01 has so many just… not great treads already #like please get some imagination #and hey maybe I am being harsh maybe they'll surprise me #I expected to be fucked over completely by the ending and they did let Horobi live like he deserved to at least #for like… five minutes before humans ruined it again but ya know #like gods this isn't big deep and meaningful #just accept that some humans are shit and that there need to be vocal Hu #maGear activists who aren't mister messiah Aruto #let mnjr be these poor androids have been through SO much already #Ikazuchi got bounced around like a beach ball #Naki got trodden all over and then shot and stuffed in some stranger's brain #Jin lost his whole family and himself #Horobi had everything taken from him and was gutted down to a puppet barely allowed a relationship w/ his son #they've bee through so much bc of humans can't we just let them rest??? #why is it such a horrible thing to let there be HumaGear aware of us being awful? #like what we can only coexist w/ HumaGear if we selectively train them to think how we want??? #is that your message Takahashi??? Well IS IT???? #BC THAT'S BULLSHIT #sorry I'm tired my ankle hurts and I am very grumpy

[georgianadarcies]

you probably answered this a million times but what are your top 5 literati moments and why

omg don't worry my answer probably changes every time I answer questions like this and I will literally take any excuse to gush about them

the scene in 6x08 when jess shows up at her grandparent's and then their talk in her bedroom. that scene is so so meaningful just like. the way that it's been so long and their last meeting wasn't exactly pleasant and yet bygones are immediately bygones and they fall back into their old routine and are just genuinely so happy to see each other after all this time. rory's unadulterated glee and pride when she finds out about his book too is one of the best things ever written and I will stand by that. jess saying he couldn't have done it without her. I need to sit down

the sprinkler scene in 3x05!! oh my god!! regardless of the fact that they are currently not on good terms jess immediately goes to help her and it's just this one soft reprieve from all the hurt and drama between them. him checking in and the look on his face and the look on HER face and jess turning the sprinkler back on so dean can help and won't get angry. his soft little "okay." his look as he leaves. her look as he walks away. poetic cinema.

their phone call at the end of 2x13. like no joke it is so short and yet so sweet and I could talk about it for hours. rory immediately calling him even after the whole dinner fiasco, and not even being able to articulate why, but knowing that she wanted to. him being glad that she called!! and telling her that!! and their conversation while normal and mundane for them is just. packed with meaning. jess taking her bracelet out of his BREAST POCKET right next to his HEART as if he’s in some fucking austen novel. rory’s smile. absolute insanity.

the teach me tonight car scene. fuck. okay this one is an all time favorite that I will always treasure. like I can barely explain how much I love it. them just laughing and joking around but also having a fairly deep conversation and rory sharing about her dreams and jess encouraging her (“I’m sure you’ll do it. you will, I promise.”) and rory encouraging HIM (“you could do more.”) literally they are each other’s biggest supporters. and the silent but packed glances are sooooo jimpam-esque. ALSO FUCKING “as you wish.” my god. the way he says it the look on his face the fact that it is so definitely a princess bride reference meaning “I love you.” oh and her saying turn left before that literally crazy people

actually kind of obsessed with 4x13 when he tells her he loves her. like the whole scene is so cinematic?? them locking eyes across the square basically and him literally chasing her through the street (they're actual idiots sometimes) and then her whole speech there? I basically have it memorized like. she's been thinking about him!! she's thought about this moment hundreds of times!! it's an insight into even if she isn't showing it how much him leaving hurt her and broke her heart and her anger at him for breaking her trust and just. him saying it too. like the big breath he takes and the look on his face and maybe he was a little stupid for running away right after but GOD the implications of that?? he has no ulterior motives expectations. in that moment all he needed was for her to know. that was enough. I might cry

again this changes periodically but currently. these are my favs

#ask #charismascarpenter #jess x rory #gilmore girls

[4lph4kidz]

What is it that you personally find intriguing about Jake?

I find his relationship to agency and lack of agency interesting, but you could say that about all the alpha kids in honesty.

yeah that's true!! they all have different relationships to that agency, though. man they're a fascinating bunch.

and god i really don't know if i can do my thoughts & feelings justice rn.... jake's a MESS of a character. hussie really wrote themselves into a corner with him. i don't know if i really Get Him, even now, but i do like him, so. i'll give it a shot!

heh... shot. like a gun. he likes guns.

ok so yeah jake. he's supposed to have all sorts of potential power and all these big hopes and dreams to live up to... but we don't see these things fully realized, at least not in a particularly impactful way. my point is, jake is put through a whole lot of shit and isn't given enough time or meaningful agency to fully work through or even being to process a lot of it. his canon arc has him reach his nadir on the quests beds, realising the self image he aspires to live up to isn't really right for him, and that deep down he's a deeply cowardly person. and after that... some stuff happens, and he plays a part in it, but i don't think anything really happens on his terms any more. (edit: any more? no, they never have. jake's forced to go along with events that are nearly always completely out of his control and often even his comprehension. all he can do is try to make sense of the mess with whatever narrative is convenient.)

so jake ends the comic by internalising some pretty terrible conclusions about himself and his capacity for relationships, and resolves to do his best in the final battle in a way that still reads to me like burying the problem / the same old dorky rough and tumble adventurer routine.

(this answer is already way too long, but i am going to keep going.) tbh guess your agency comment is the crux of the issue. but i also think that not being the person you want to, and struggling with that, is an interesting direction for the character to take.

there's also him being forced into the 'love interest' role which becomes outright objectification. which i don't. have the energy to get into a whole lot. i guess it's interesting that a male character is getting that treatment, but its played as a joke. it's. not funny when male characters are sexually harassed or abused. it's just not.

anyway. for me embracing jake's flaws and failure to fully realise his potential makes actually him more interesting... kind of??? i'd definitely like to see those struggles fucking GO somewhere, but i really don't want his weaknesses to be erased. i just think a narrative about realising you are 'weak' in some ways you wish you weren't is interesting, tho it'd be nice if he is able to manifest that potential on his own terms and reclaim some agency eventually ofc.

that said, i actually like how jake is written in the epilogues, really hammering home that theme of disempowerment and his trauma and terrible coping mechanisms. i mean, it's awful, grimdark, punishing woobification, and i feel not even a little bit charitable about the sexual objectification stuff, but i still like it taking all jake's unresolved issues a little bit seriously and turning them up to eleven. i'd be impressed if HS^2 him actually grow and come into some actual meaningful power, like this treatment was all an extension of his long road to power as a page, but. yeah i'm not counting on it!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!

also... idk, something about the way the external narrative frames and disempowers him, like on a meta level, is interesting. might be verging on wish fulfilment fanon territory here, but i really do think a fully realised page of hope could turn the story on its head if they wanted to. fingers crossed for my abraxian boygirl actually coming in clutch one day.

AND he provides absolutely vital bisexual/aromantic neurodivergent/brain damage traumacore genderfucky gentleman hotgirl enby rep, that's important too. /j

anyway i guess i'll cap this off by posting some screenshots i have from the somethingawful thread, discussing the way jake's character arc gets wrapped up towards the end of act 6:

tl;dr: the potential...

#did i even answer your question. who knows #sorry this answer is a mess but this character is a mess #ask #jake #i also think there's some gender/sexuality stuff tied to that.... BUT YEAH THAT ALSO GOES FOR ALL THE ALPHAS HDFBFHB #telaraneas pointed out to me that on a meta level what i referred to as 'unrealised potential' are 'informed attributes' #where on paper jake is all these things but we never truly see them realised or come to fruition #just as we're told jade's grandfather is this charismatic polymath adventurer only for him to be dead the whole time #anyway not to project but i really keep coming back to the coward thing because. me too #that was the exact word i fixated on when trying to describe my trauma and avoidance issues #it hurts to confront your own weakness #you need to be fair to yourself