#the more i think about it the more i realize the two main dooms very much would not get along

[south-sea]

Ooh, how about "X" for your black arms crew?

i'm including Neutral End in this too yahooo (from this!)

X. What's their biggest fear?

aruna he's been through so much these past 13+ years that he's swung pretty hard into "desensitized" territory. to most, he would seem eerily unfazed and always collected. the exception might be disorientation in relation to waking from particularly nasty nightmares, but those rarely happen, and tend to happen only under specific circumstances, so i'm not counting it.

it's less that he's afraid of traditional tangible things at this point, and more about concepts. the thought of forgetting fills him with so much dread it's hard for him to process. when he starts to get into it, there comes a point where he has to force himself to stop thinking about it or he'll drive himself mad trying to recall what's no longer there, or the sinking feeling that there's something he's already missing.

nearly his entire self-proclaimed purpose in life now, other than to live for himself, is to remember. memories are all he has left to keep his people alive. so for him to forget even the smallest detail is to essentially be a failure who's lost his purpose for living in place of... literally everyone else. the survivor's guilt is real, and it is heavy. it doesn't manifest with sadness. it's simply this.

he likes to think he remembers everything perfectly. time and trauma have seen to it that he does not. he claims his people didn't have songs. he's forgotten black moth knew and sang the last of their kind.

black moth it's a little odd for a "moth", maybe, but bright lights instill an almost primal sense of dread in him. he can't pinpoint any rhyme or reason for it. in most other situations, he'd have the "fight" reaction when adrenaline kicks in, but when it comes to this, he just freezes.

and by bright lights i don't mean just any. it's not as if he's going to freak out if you turn on overhead fluorescent lights or something, even if he's not a fan of those in general. it's if he's already in a dark room and you shine a single beam on him from overhead, or things like extremely bright, large spotlights in the distance.

he assumes it's fear, anyway. maybe it would be more accurate to say it's awe. the last traces of some long-buried memory.

black moth remembers the songs. black doom remembers the illuminated rings their planet had. they've both forgotten pieces of their history they once held dear, and all that's left in those empty places is dread. but maybe it's better to fear this empty unknown than to mourn it.

alt doom defeat or mistakes he can't come back from. he has been beaten and pushed into a corner countless times, but he always comes out on top in some way, or knows when to employ a strategic retreat. this guy is ruthless and thorough in a much more strategic way, or at least the little mishap with gerald taught him to be.

if he knew what aruna had been through to end up with his entire species eradicated, he'd be a) dumbfounded by aruna's "stupidity", and b) horrified by the outcome. alt doom cannot fathom a reason or a route where he himself would get desperate enough for it to end like that. the possibility of losing that badly, and that much, is almost beyond his ability to comprehend.

he's lucky that arrogance hasn't been his undoing. if he were still in existential peril these days, maybe it would be.

neutral end doom he's kind of just aruna give or take some steps, and that's intentional, but by the end he's different enough to have a place on this list. especially since his fear is different: time. he's genuinely just afraid of running out of time, despite staring that fact in the face constantly. past a certain point in his hive, his kind dying and fizzling out is just a known inevitability.

he knows that, and yet he refuses to let it consume him. so he claims. that broken hourglass hangs heavy from his chains.

neutral end shadow honorary black arms. the running trend here is loss. he is keenly aware now-his-kind are going to die. he's seen countless black arms be cut down or wither away. he doesn't want to lose anyone else, least of all black doom or black moth.

it's inevitable, he knows. he's seen the hourglass too. but he'll be thankful for the time they have left until there's no one left to be thankful for.

#i didn't expect any to come in i was just stashing it to do for myself on the side heheh #thank you! always happy to have more excuses to talk about my favorite squeaky toy #sea answers #measlyfurball13 #aruna stuff #black arms: black moth #alt doom #neutral end au #the more i think about it the more i realize the two main dooms very much would not get along #runa would want to tear alt to pieces after like five minutes of them chatting #but that's for another post

[storiesofsvu]

Decadent Desires Ch 2

Future Emily Prentiss x reader Warnings: language, alcohol consumption, sexual situations alluded to. Okay y'all were super interactive on the first chapter so I figured I'd give you an early chapter as a treat. Lol.

A full week had passed, another one full of overbearing work, handling the slight squabbling from the team while also dealing with constant badgering from the higher ups and Emily was over it. She scooped the final bite of linguine out of the pan, chewing it down while she moved the dish into the dishwasher thankful at least that she didn’t have to hand wash things tonight. It had been an annoying week and the bottle of wine on the counter had been calling her name since about two in the afternoon, the thought of an orgasm to relieve some stress on her mind from the moment she got home. However it wasn’t close enough to shower or bed time yet so the wine would have to do for now.

Emily refilled her glass, picked up her phone and opened the door to the patio, figuring at the very least she could enjoy the warm evening and actually get some fresh air after being cooped up in the office all week. Settling into one of the chairs she swiped open her phone and immediately had to resist the temptation to check her email, reminding herself she wouldn’t be so frustrated if she left work at work unless it was completely urgent. So she scrolled through a couple of social media apps, wasting time looking at pictures posted by friends, which in turn made her feel even more like she was missing out on something. She closed Instagram and her thumb hovered over the screen while she tried to figure out what to doom-scroll on next, finding herself staring at the little red apps Heather had installed. She took a breath, a large sip of wine and bit the bullet, opening the first one and she was pleasantly surprised she could scroll through a handful of profiles without setting one up for herself first.

‘Caitlin. 21.’

“Okay well you’re barely legal.” Emily muttered to herself, scrolling down further.

‘Steven. 32.’

A better age, but still a step in the wrong direction.

‘Kyla. 38.’

Better. But she could only see the main picture, age and location. Pulling her lip into her mouth she flicked around through a couple of pages until she found the how to tips and realized she would have to make a profile after all, even if it was just to see more information. She let out a huff, closing the app, hesitating only a minute before she opened up her text conversation with Heather.

‘Are you SURE this is a good idea?’

Her phone buzzed only a few seconds later.

‘The apps are fine. I’m assuming you haven’t even made a profile yet and it’s just pushing out what it thinks people want to see. You can curate your own experience once you put in your preferences.’

‘And if it still sucks?’

‘Oh come on, what’s the harm in one date? At the very least it’ll keep you entertained.’

‘Who said I’m not entertained?’

‘It’s Friday night and you’re texting me instead of being out somewhere.’

‘And you’re answering.’

‘I’m waiting for Rob to pull the car around; you just caught me at a convenient time.’  ‘Make a profile. There’s no harm in seeing what’s out there. You can blame me if it’s terrible.’

‘Add on a free lunch.’

‘Tell you what, this doesn’t work, I’ll bump it up to dinner and show you a couple of the discreet clubs around the city.’

‘Mark me down as intrigued. Deal.’

Emily let out a huff, swigging back a mouthful of wine before finally reopening the first app to start to put together her own profile. Maybe there really was a chance that this could work out.

*

Carly. 35.

Emily was almost late, one work call turning into another, turning into getting put on hold meant she didn’t have time to go change after work, arriving at Smoke and Mirrors still in her business casual. She was just in the nick of time and instantly found her date nestled into a cozy table on the patio overlooking the river, martini already in front of her.

It wasn’t necessarily that she slipped back into work mode, but her job did help her meet and interact with new people on a regular basis fairly easily. A warm smile and greeting, unsure how awkward something like a handshake would be considering the situation. A few rounds of drinks, a couple of split appetizers, and a decent enough time. While Carly could hold a perfectly good conversation and Emily could see them perhaps being friendly in the future, it wasn’t the right vibe. It certainly wasn’t helping that Emily could practically feel every set of eyes in the lounge on them throughout the night and that you didn’t have to be a profiler to put it together what kind of a situation was going on. It made Emily uncomfortable, like everyone was judging them, more specifically, her. If the two of them had been more friendly to each other right off the bat you might have been able to tell that it wasn’t a date, that they were colleagues or friends but that simply wasn’t the case. Her mind wandered to the thought that there was someone in the room that likely just assumed they were mother, daughter and that made her skin absolutely crawl and instantly ask if they could get the check. She at least felt a little bit better when Carly offered to split it, offering her a small smile that meant she was about on the same page.  

*

Alice. 36.

This time Emily gave herself more than enough time to get home, have a glass of wine to help her relax and change into something more date appropriate. Alice had recommended Fiola and Emily had simply gone along with it, not realizing just how high end it actually was, her eyes widening at the fact that a single cocktail could set you back twenty-five to almost thirty dollars much less the food menu. At the very least, it seemed like the restaurant’s lounge was the place to be for date night on a Thursday, couples scattered throughout the place in various levels of dress. She noticed something on the menu advertising it being the place to be prior to theatre events and their server asked if they were attending a show tonight.

Emily had a little bit more faith in this one, feeling more comfortable considering the setting, actually relaxing as she laughed over her very expensive drink. It didn’t take long for the conversation to roll around to what one did when not out on the town and she let it slip that she worked for the government, a few more carefully worded questions and Alice had enough to figure out she was a fed, excusing herself to use the bathroom. When the room started to clear and Emily realized the other woman’s purse was gone from the back of her chair she let out a soft groan, realizing she was definitely stuck with the pricey cheque.

*

Lily 31.

Emily knew going in this one could be risky based off age alone. Lily’s profile seemed like she did this full time and she already wasn’t sure about things by the time she set foot into 1798. Her suspicions were confirmed when her phone went off with an urgent call she had to take, letting out a sigh as she returned to the table explaining that she had to leave for work and likely wouldn’t be back for a few days at least. In return Lily let out a huff and a whine like she was a toddler, crossing her arms over her chest and demanded that Emily pay for a three course dinner and send her roses each day she was going to be gone since she had wasted her time. Emily outwardly laughed, saying drinks were the only thing she’d even agreed to have, much less pay for and left as fast as she came in.

*

Kimberly. 39.

This one got postponed immediately as a case kept them out of town longer than anticipated. They were still only chatting back and fourth on the app and Emily was venting about being the one in charge and how her team were agents and you’d think they could handle certain things themselves but apparently not. She woke up the next morning to find a couple of messages that insinuated Kimberly might have been doing other things for money that weren’t exactly legal and thought it wasn’t a good idea to get involved with a cop. After Emily sent a reply agreeing, the match disappeared.

*

Emma. 34.

This one started off slow, a match, Emily shot off a message and waited a while to hear back. She was pleasantly surprised when her phone pinged with the reply she’d been hoping to get for a few days. They got along wonderfully, everything seemed to be falling right into place, their opinions, expectations, they shared a handful of the same favourite movies, foods, for once it seemed like things would be perfect. Emily opened the app when she got home from work that night to ask her out for drinks that weekend to find that she’d been completely ghosted, unmatched and no way to find Emma again.

*

Kori. 40.

The second match that had gone off without a hitch and a plan to meet at Blue Duck Tavern that coming Thursday night. Emily arrived a little bit early thanks to a complete lack of traffic and figured she would just grab a drink at the bar while waiting. You could only imagine her confusion when she was tapped on the shoulder and turned around to see an older than middle aged man with a timid smile introducing himself, apologizing that he didn’t look like his pictures.

That one earned an eye roll and a ‘yeah, right’ before Emily was heading for the door.

*

The week had finally come to a close and Emily had dismissed the BAU shortly after lunch, telling the team to get out of there while they still had the chance and everyone was quick to leave the building, herself included. Construction rerouted her normal commute home and when she ended up in the same neighbourhood as Heather’s office her mind wandered back to how unsuccessful her past two weeks had been and before she even really realized it, she was pulling into the parking lot.

“I’m being serious Heather, it’s fucking terrible.” She groaned, dropping down into a chair across from the other woman’s desk. “This is almost as bad as dating men was.”

“From what I heard some of them are men.” Heather replied with a tease and Emily shot her a glare.

“I just thought this would be easier.”

“Finding the right fit is the hard part, it’ll smooth over once you do.” Heather flipped the book in front of her closed, standing from her chair and crossing over to the liquor cart, filling up two glasses of scotch.

“I didn’t want to deal with the hard part though.” Emily continued to mope, thanking her for the glass.

“Drink. You’re too pent up.” She settled back at her desk, “you really do need to get laid.”

“Don’t you think I’m trying!?” She sucked back a mouthful of the liquor, stewing in her thoughts for a moment. “Please tell me you’re having more success in this than I am, how’s your bartender doing?”

“Are you kidding?” Heather laughed, “you saw her. She’s practically pathetic. She was pretty enough, but my god the level of insecurity? The constant whining and worrying? Don’t get me wrong, I love a good brat but there was no way she wouldn’t have been crying on my doorstep begging me to leave my husband in a week’s time.”

“Have you had that happen before?” Her eyes widened at the sheer thought of it as Heather nodded.

“Best piece of advice I can give you, don’t let them know where you live. Stick to hotels.”

“Noted.”

“What are you having the biggest trouble with? Maybe I can help.”

Emily sighed softly, swirling her cup as she stared into it, sorting through the string of failed dates, “honestly I don’t even know. Maybe I just need to play around with the age range…. Would probably help to bump it up a little it.”

“Anything under thirty-five does usually end up getting messy.”

“I want someone who has their life a little bit more put together; you know?”

“Mmhmm.” Heather replied over the rim of her drink, “you need to make sure that this isn’t their only source of income, that they have something else going on to fill their time and bank account up. Maybe someone who has an actual partner.”

“I don’t know about that.” Her nose crinkled, “would feel wrong. But someone who has a full time job and wouldn’t be completely dependant on me certainly would be nice. I don’t have the time or energy for that.”

“You need a gorgeous, ambitious girl who knows how to be discreet in public and likes get her brains fucked out in private.”

“Exactly.” She laughed, taking another sip of her drink as Heather tilted her phone screen towards her, hitting a couple of buttons before returning her attention to the other woman, “you know, if you ever think of changing career paths…”

“Become a matchmaker for sugar babies?” She chuckled, “there would likely be a market for that, maybe after retirement.”

Emily laughed, shaking her head as she watched the wheels start turning in the other woman’s head. She heard a brief knock on the door behind her before it swung open,

“I didn’t realize you needed this by the end of the day, sorry.” You swung through the office, coming to perch on the side of Heather’s desk as you handed her the file.

“It’s alright, it slipped my mind too.” Heather replied as she opened the file, skimming through it.

Her eyes flicked over to Emily briefly, watching the way her gaze drifted from the designer heels on your feet all the way to the necklace laying against your collarbone. You were dressed professionally yet incredibly stylish, dark pencil skirt, a peach sleeveless blouse tucked into it, blazer no doubt laying over the back of your desk chair. A delicate silver watch around one wrist, perfectly manicured nails and eyes that were suddenly set on her.

“Hi, sorry to interrupt. You’re FBI, right? Prentiss?” Your words jolted her out of her trance and she caught herself scrambling over the fact that you knew her name, wondering if she’d left her ID badge on after work.

“Well now I feel bad.” She laughed.

“Don’t.” Heather cut in, her eyes back on the file, “she just does checks on anyone that comes in here.”

“Ignore her.” You replied with a grin, sticking out your hand to introduce yourself, “y/n Walton.”

“And you’re what? Secret security?” Emily asked with a tease and you laughed as Heather tucked the file away into her desk.

“She’s the head of my PR team, does incredible work.”

“I should hope so, you practically groomed me into the assistant you needed.”

“I did not—” Heather scoffed, “you’re a horrible tease.”

“I do my job and then some, and I do it phenomenally.” You showboated for a second, grinning over at Emily before looking up at your boss, “which is why I’m double checking it’s still okay to duck out early tonight?”

“Why?” The other woman asked with a smirk, “you have a hot date or something?”

“Heather, please.” You barked out a laugh, “you’re a slave driver! You know I don’t have time to properly date with my schedule.”

“So why the need to play hooky?”

“A new Netflix special drops at six and I have a frozen pizza, a pint of ice cream and that bottle of Bordeaux screaming my name.” You slipped off the side of her desk, “besides, you still owe me the OT for putting together the gift baskets and flower arrangements for Senator Reeves. You do remember you have an assistant for that kind of shit, right?”

“Oh but sweetheart you’re so much better than them.”

“I know.” You grinned at her, “which is why I’m leaving early.”

She laughed, shaking her head, “keep your phone on.”

“Of course.” You turned, smiling across at Emily, “nice to meet you Agent Prentiss.”

Emily couldn’t help the way her eyes followed you out of the room before she finally turned back to Heather who was grinning like the cheshire cat over the rim of her drink.

“What?” She asked, feigning confusion and Heather chuckled.

“You liked what you saw.”

“Hard not to.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drool like that over someone before.”

“I—I was not drooling!”

“Maybe not from your mouth.”

“Heather!” Emily felt her cheeks begin to burn, attempting to hide behind her glass as the brunette let out a dark laugh.

“Here, at least take her phone number.” Picking up a pen she scrawled the digits out onto a post it note, handing it to Emily.

“I don’t have time to date, you know this.”

“And you heard her.” She gestured toward the door, “she doesn’t either. You wanted someone with their head on straight who is comfortable occupying themselves when you’re working. I make her schedule; I guarantee she works as many hours as you do. Besides… she’s done this a couple of times before.”

That caught Emily’s attention, looking up from the yellow paper in her hand with her brow furrowed, “really?”

“Yes.”

“With women?”

“She needed some help through college, I was bored.” Heather shrugged, “worked out for both of us and now she’s on my actual payroll.”

“She’s been working for you that long?”

“Mmhm.” Heather nodded.

“So you really did groom her?” Emily teased and it was Heather’s turn to scoff, rolling her eyes.

“Just call her.” She half glared, “god knows she could use a night out, and one where she doesn’t have to rub elbows with politicians the entire time. She deserves a break and likely needs a good fuck, both of which I’m sure you can give to her.”

“We really don’t need to have that conversation.” She laughed, tucking the post it into her pocket, “but thank you. I will think about it.”

“Don’t think too long.” Heather smiled as Emily got up from her chair, scooping up her jacket from the back of it. “If you come back here in two weeks complaining about the shitty apps and you haven’t called her yet I’ll start feeding her lies about how much you suck.”

“Okay, okay.” She laughed, “I’ll call. And I’ll see you later.”

_________________

@mickey-gomez @momlifebehard @daddy-heather-dunbar @maybe-a-humanbean @rustyzebra @leftoverenvy @kades95 @dextur @supercriminalbean @emilyprentisssluvr @lex13cm @zizzlekwum @emobabeyy @riveramorylunar @scorpsik @onmykneesformarvel @inlovewithemilyprentiss @regalmilfs4me @ara-a-bird @five-bi-five-mind @inlovewithmiddleagewomen @hotchs-bitch @ollysmulti @kmc1989 @irishavengersassemble @hopedoesntknow @venromanova @waitaminuteashh @noahrex @imlike-so-gaydude @wittygutsy @cx-emerald-cx @momily @nilaues @borinxnovak @soverign @v3nusxsky @blackbird-brewster @mccdreamys-writes @l4yne @obsessedwjill @supercorpstan97 @asolitaryrose3 @honeyycatt @trauma-factory @lisqueen

#emily prentiss #emily prentiss x reader #criminal minds #decadent desires #criminal minds fanfic #emily prentiss fanfiction #heather dunbar

[ccieatchildren]

OKAY BUT THE CALLUM WHUMP IN THE DRAGON PRINCE SEASON 5!!!

Specifically S5 E8.

First, just him being locked away in the captain’s cabin, isolated and tortured by Finnegrin for the dark magic info.

And him absolutely refusing to reveal anything right now, laughing at Finnegrin for what he sees as a hypocritical thought process, because it would go against his morals and he doesn’t want to give Finnegrin the ability to kill Domina Profundis.

Finnegrin taunting him about his dark magic usage, typical villain spiel of asking if Callum has never thought about it or wanted/needed to use it. Learning that Callum has studied it extensively (and though Callum points out that he has also studied the other types, his curiosity always seems to get the better of him) and has once used it, to save his friends. Finnegrin taking this information in and twisting it on the boy. The defeated way Callum gets pushed out by Finnegrin, seeing all his friends chained up and having to make a “decision” for Finnegrin.

Finnegrin forcing Callum to choose one of his friends' hand to cut off. Not being able to choose anyone, and the gang standing up for each other, offering their own hands. Preaching the love and friendship deal, only to peeve off Finnegrin even more, who tries to goad Callum into using dark magic once again. You can see the way he actually thinks about it, the guilt in his eyes but also the determination to save his friends. Only for Rayla to escape, making sure to take any option for dark magic out of Callum's hands. I believe if Rayla hadn't intervened, Callum would've eventually gone through with it, as the main thing holding him back was said guilt and own mental blockage. Finnegrin then freezing Rayla's blood, putting her in excruciating pain, and Callum, doing a full 180, goes batshite over Rayla being tortured, decking Finnegrin full force in the face. He is calm when faced with his own pain, but when someone he loves is hurt, especially due to his inability to do anything, he immediately loses his temper.

However, this small win ends them back up at square one, with Callum tied up and at the captain's mercy. When Finnegrin tells him that he's gonna feed Rayla to the leviathan, and Callum can't do anything, he immediately gives up the info, thinking that would save her. Only for Finnegrin to turn around and go "nuh-uh," completely destroying him.

He can't even save the person he loves. Callum may have primal magic (one or two of the arcanum depending on how you want to look at it), but he still can't do anything; he is completely useless in this moment. Realizing this, all hope drains out of him, and he does the only thing he can think of, spill the beans. He begins to break his principles by telling Finnegrin the dark magic spell (one of the darkest spells at that), in hopes of him releasing Rayla, only for it to backfire and be completely for nothing. Now, not only can he not save Rayla, but now Finnegrin can kill Domina Profundis. The guilt weighs even harder on him, he has essentially doomed everyone.

Then, Callum gets out, stands up to Finnegrin, using his own arcanum against him, gaining said arcanum at the same time (also, I just really love how he figured it out, using Finnegrin's words against him, and the idea behind the ocean arcanum is just very fun, I just really liked this moment), and save his homies.

So, everything turns out fine, right? Nope!

Callum had to use dark magic to get out, preforming the same snake chain spell he had before on his restraints. When he was all out of options, Callum always reverts back to what he knows, even if it might break his morals. And while this action is totally justifiable, as he basically had to, Callum doesn't really seem to see it that way. Despite knowing that there are parts of himself he can't understand, he still is riddled with grief over it. The deep pain and guilt on his face as he hugs Rayla, not telling her or anyone else what he had to do to get out, shows us that he believes he had committed a grave sin. In his eyes, he is just as bad as Viren and Claudia, and he is still dealing with the PTSD of being possessed by Aaravos, of having the chance to turn completely to the dark side. This paranoia and anxiety makes him keep everything to himself. He doesn't think they would understand or forgive him, and he doesn't think they should, as he doesn't really either.

The ocean arcanum also gives us a look into Callum. He states himself about how it is accepting the hidden depths in oneself, even if you may not truly understand it. Callum's ability and willingness to do dark magic at times is part of those deeper depths. He doesn't truly understand it yet, and may never will, but, like any other human, there are many paths for him to follow. I do not think he is truly evil, or what he has done is irredeemable, but I believe that Callum, like all of us, is neither truly good or bad, but chooses where he takes himself (we also see this with Viren throughout the season). He could become someone filled with light and kindness, a "do-gooder" if you will, which is what I believe he wants to be, but he could also lead himself down a much darker path if he isn't careful, placing himself among the ranks of Aaravos, Viren, and Finnegrin, or he could be someone who carefully struts the line in the middle. The point is that it is up to him. Though he has become in tune with the ocean arcanum and those "hidden depths," him not accurately understanding his potential for darkness could usher him into a much more disastrous existence. Hopefully linking with the ocean arcanum will allow him to slowly accept these parts of himself and find a true balance between dark and primal magic, whatever that balance may be.

(Also the implications of him being the one in the intro rather than Viren...)

All in all, this whole episode was just very whump (even in the B plot somewhat). Callum and Finnegrin were very much whumpee and whumper -coded and you can't convince me otherwise.

The emotions in this episode for the main gang were top-notch. Watching what each character did to try to help themselves and their friends, and seeing the physical and emotional consequences of their actions (whether positive or negative) was amazing. Not just with Callum, but also the others (Ezran instantly offering himself up again and again, practically begging; Rayla breaking herself out to try and save Callum, only to be quickly and severely subdued; and Soren continuously taking the hits to help Elmer find his own worth, saving the gang in the process), was very well done.

ABSOLUTELY SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS!

I hope we get more moments like this in future seasons.

#☡ #the dragon prince #the dragon prince: mystery of aaravos #callum #callum tdp #rayla #rayllum #whump #whumper #whumpee #finnegrin #tdp s5 #tdp spoilers #whumblr #does this make yall realize how much i love and have hyperfixated over this episode #my analysis #also loved the many rayllum moments in this ep #very nice

[ellesliterarycorner]

Writing Subplots

Who doesn’t love a good subplot? Some of my favorites books are the ones that have super interesting subplots because who doesn’t love hearing about that secondary character development arc or those lovely side characters with the inevitably doomed romance? What’s not to like? But, subplots can often be one of the hardest to write and the most misunderstood storytelling elements. They aren’t part of the main narrative thread, so they can’t overtake it, but they also need to have their own story arc separate from the main plot. It’s a delicate balance that can be kind hard to strike, because subplots aren’t just secondary plot-lines, they have to serve a narrative purpose and engage with the story’s central conflict. 

First, let us define some different kinds of subplots

Mirror Subplot: A subplot where a side character experiences a conflict that mirrors the protagonist’s main conflict and gives the protagonist the insight or motivation they need to resolve their own conflict.

Romantic Subplot: The protagonist’s relationship with a love interest complicates their journey to resolve the story’s central conflict.

Parallel Subplot: a subplot where something seemingly unrelated occurs at the same time as the main plot and then all of a sudden the two plots collide towards the end of the book.

Complicating Subplot: a subplot where a secondary character’s actions actively complicates the protagonist’s journey with the central conflict

Foil Subplot: a subplot where a secondary character experiences the same or a very similar conflict as the protag but wants to resolve that in a different way (this contracts or creates a “foil” that highlights the protagonists qualities and characteristics)

There are a lot more different kinds of subplots, but these are some of the most common, so here are some tips for writing subplots!

Is That Necessary? 

This is the first question we should ask ourselves anytime we add anything to our stories, but especially subplots. Sometimes, authors (meaning me) will get to the end of writing their first draft and realize that they are not anywhere close to their goal word count. To remedy this, they will just throw in a cute little subplot. Unfortunately, friends, this does not work. The best, effective subplots should be integral to a story’s central conflict. If you can remove your subplot from the story without their being a big impact on the central conflict, then the subplot doesn’t really serve a strong narrative purpose. We most often see this problem arise in romantic subplots. Authors will just throw in a romance or the dreaded love-triangle as a subplot for absolutely no reason. I’m the first person to admit I love a good romantic subplot, but I also like it to be there for a good reason. That is why the Hunger Games will never go out of my top five all time books/series because despite what a lot of people think the romantic subplot in that story is essential. Katniss and Peeta’s love story is the reason they both survive the Games which is the central conflict of the book. It works perfectly, and if you want a good example of a subplot done well, look no further.

Keep the SUB in Subplot

Honestly, sometimes the subplot really is better than the main plot. That’s not necessarily a good thing, but I think we have all read a book where the main plot just drags and you just can’t wait to get back to your favorite side characters and their little adventure. But, a good subplot shouldn’t steal the limelight from the main plot. It should enhance the main plot and maybe add a layer of complexity but never overshadow. Going back to my example for the day, the Hungers Games does a really good job of this. I read something once where someone said Katniss’s romance overshadows the Games and the Rebellion, and I was like, did we read the same book? If you go back and read the books, Katniss doesn’t think about her romance with Gale or Peeta all that much. She’s mostly thinking about her own survival and the survival of her family. Both of which relate directly to the main plot. We never forget about the romance in the book because it is important, but in my opinion, it never overshadows the main plot of the Games and the Rebellion even in the first book where it’s more heavily featured. 

But, Its Still A Plot

On the flip-side of that, even though the subplot shouldn’t overshadow the main plot, it still needs to follow its own narrative arc. This is where a lot of new author’s get lost. A subplot is way more than just a short conversation or a quick event that inconveniences or helps the protagonists. All your subplots need their own beginning, middle, and end. Make sure that you definitely developed all of your story’s subplots accordingly. That includes paying attention to all of your characters’ goals, motivations, and the conflict that they experience. Generally when I’m in the development stages of the subplot, I develop it the same way that I develop one of my main plots. While they do not necessarily need the same attention or development as your main plot, developing them with the same goals in mind will only help you in the long run!

#writers #writers on tumblr #writerscorner #write #writing tip #writing tips #writing advice #writing plots #writing subplots #writing resources #writing resource #writing reference #writing references

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Can we please get a scenario to how the main three proxies (Masky/Tim, Hoodie/Brian, and Toby) act if they have an anxiety or panic attack? I just want to see your thought on them, because I’ve noticed many people act entirely different, and I find it interesting.

I didn't include Masky/Hoodie specifically because I really don't think either of them have panic attacks, but the other three are here. Sometimes I include the two of them in these sorts of things but they don't fit here for me.

Also, I included if they do or don't have a s/o in this as well. One of the boys ended up being a lot like me in terms of symptoms and only I know which one.

Tim:

Tim doesn't often get panic attacks, I think honestly in the mansion he gets them the least amount of anyone. I think Tim can mostly fly under the radar with his panic attacks unless it's a really bad one. He'll get sweaty, shaky hands, tremble a bit, but he can usually get control over himself and he'll just excuse himself to the bathroom for a moment so he can catch his breath and shake off whatever's got him so panicked. However, if it's a much larger panic attack, things are different for Tim. Usually, these panic attacks occur because of stress from their job, or because of Tim having to deal with Masky being inside of him. Tim gets hit pretty hard; sense of doom, chest pain, dizziness, nausea, detachment, shortness of breath, and shaking. 

Tim gets incredibly scared during these times, as though he's fully shutting down, and he tends to try to run away and hide from people, sometimes collapsing where he is on the way to do so. If he has you, you're the person he immediately tries to find in times like this, all but crumbling into your arms, into his safety net. He calms down much easier in your presence, clinging onto you in ways only you've seen, apologizing and crying, weeping because he feels so guilty in his anxiety for letting his fears get to him, and only your calming words and gentle touch are able to relax him. If he doesn't have you, he tries with all his might to get to his bedroom, to be alone. He'll stay in there, isolated from everyone else as he spends what could be minutes or hours trying to calm himself down, as not even Brian is allowed to see him like this. 

Brian:

Brian I think is second after Tim in terms of least likely to have a panic attack, as I think Brian tends to be good at managing his stress and anxiety, but I think his anxiety actually gets to him more often than it does Tim. I think Brian's panic attacks tend to escalate to the same level each time because when he realizes he's going to have one it causes his fear and anxiety to greatly spiral. It starts with hot flashes for Brian, sweatiness, and headaches. After that, he starts to realize what's happening, and he starts to get shaky and his voice starts to tremble, and he'll try and excuse himself from whatever he's doing. If he has you, he'll have you try and help him upstairs so he doesn't have to be alone because he hates being alone during a panic attack. 

He'll curl into you, hugging you and trying to do breathing exercises with you to calm down before the brunt of it hits him. He'll start to get nauseous, choking on his breath and swaying back and forth in dizziness, so he often likes to lay down beside you. He often breaks down in tears, clinging to you because he feels terrified that something is really wrong with him, and he gets an impending feeling that he's going to die, that he's going to disappear. His panic attacks are very scary for him. If he doesn't have you, he'll go through a similar process with Tim or Slender, one of them being the one to keep him company, although Brian will instead be laying down under a blanket, curled up and hugging a pillow as he tries to calm himself while they comforting rub his back and assure him he'll be okay, that he can get through this, but it usually takes him about an hour to get through one.

Toby:

Toby, on the other hand, has panic attacks on a very regular basis because of his trauma and the very high level of stress and anxiety that I think he feels on a very regular basis. I'd say Toby has a panic attack at least once or twice a week, but some weeks he could be having them every other day when he's going through a very rough patch, although Toby's panic attacks can tend to vary on how they show up for him. Sometimes he feels physically sick, he'll have nausea, and dizziness, and have an extremely rapidly pounding heart rate, with sweat coating his body, breaking down in tears, and unable to stop crying. Sometimes he has an extreme sense of fear, with the impending doom that he's going to lose control of his life, that his dad will come back and take him away, that he's going to die, that he's going to lose control of his life, and he'll start shaking incredibly bad, almost unable to walk, unable to breathe properly and dizziness overtaking him as he finds himself nearly paralyzed and unable to move. 

Sometimes he finds himself growing silent, unable to communicate, his vision blurry, his mind in a sense of detachment so strong he can't even tell he's conscious anymore, his body swaying back and forth, his breathing slowed and shallow, a numb sense of fear humming inside of him. If he has you by his side during any of these, he tends to cling to you, silently asking you not to leave him alone. He won't be talkative at all, in fact, other than his iron grip on you he might seem as though he's avoidant and doesn't want you there, but he's just lost in the confusion of it and unable to communicate what he wants. He just knows that he trusts you, and he wants you to remain by his side so he can have a glimpse of feeling safe. If he doesn't have you, he tends to isolate himself and go through them alone, although sometimes he might prefer to have Slender by his side, comforting him and just being around him so he can know he's not alone or in danger anymore.

#creepypasta #creepypasta headcanons #creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta x reader #slender mansion mayhem #ticci toby #ticci toby headcanons #ticci toby headcanon #ticci toby x reader #tim wright x reader #tim wright headcanons #tim wright #tim wright headcanon #brian thomas #brian thomas headcanons #brian thomas x reader

[depressedbagpipe]

Ka-Chaow (Charles Leclerc x female!reader)

Chapter three

Words: 4024 Warnings: french cursing?, cringey dialogue, reader being a main character, charles being charles, ferrari being ferrari, mentions of wine, me not understanding how life works in Monaco. A/N: thank you mel for translating the french bits for me, i owe you a coffee. I'm not 100% happy with how this turned out but i think i like the way I'm slowly giving info about the reader. also, life has been hectic lately but I'm slowly back on track. as an apology here you go, a cute Charles gif Series Taglist: @heavengirls111, @roseamongthorns13, @mishaandthebrits, @charlesswife, @silscintilla

Series Masterlist Previous chapter

Monte-Carlo, January 8th, 2023

I had only ever moved twice before in my life. The first time was from a dirty shoe box on the lowliest side of town to a comfortable house in Hammersmith. Namely, I was only two years old when that happened and I don’t recall much, but I know every single detail of everything that happened as it was always conveniently brought up every Christmas dinner; when the entire family would get together and unironically thank God for every opportunity given to them. 

The second time happened after I graduated and got my job at Ink’n’Paper. Mr. Williamson needed someone nearby to manage his appointments, and I had been perfect for the job, apparently, so it made sense that I finally moved out of my parent's house and got my own place in the city, closer to the office I lost part of my sanity at every day. 

I skipped moving for college, thankfully, so I didn’t have to deal with thousands of other overbearing parents lecturing their kids on how to be responsible 18-year-olds. That also meant I got the lecture later in life, but I still appreciated the tips, like doing laundry at night when light was cheaper, and pre-planning meals for the week –which I now appreciated immensely, due to the hectic schedule my job worked on. 

And now, I found myself finally moving the last of my boxes up the stairs to my new Monaco apartment, with tired arms and knees from bending so many times. My back was also strained, but it was nothing a good night's sleep couldn’t fix.

I always prided myself on being an intelligent and strong independent woman, but as soon as the movers left, I realized, just maybe, I could’ve asked for more help. I felt bad after seeing them struggle with the dishwasher and thought I would save them some effort by doing the rest myself, but after the first few boxes, I realized I was doomed. But honestly, what newly-renovated apartment doesn’t come with a dishwasher?

It was also a bit eerie, how I didn’t even see any of my neighbors. I knew the building was entirely new, but I thought maybe a few other residents would have already complained about my grunts in effort and the constant going up and down the stairs. Because, obviously, the elevator didn’t work just yet. Neither did the pool on the roof, or the gym. 

‘We need a few more final touches, but all the apartments are ready to be lived in,’ the realtor had explained after the short tour of the building since half of it was still missing. 

‘And do you know when it’ll finally be open?’ I had asked, out of pure curiosity. I certainly wasn’t planning on running on a treadmill if I could help it. 

The man had only shrugged his shoulders and bid me farewell shortly after, leaving me alone in the middle of the reception hall to wait for the movers to bring my things. That had been over four hours ago, and now I was desperate for food and sleep. Instead, I was struggling with my very last cardboard box full of books, blindingly going up the stairs through a very restricted field of vision.

It was just my luck that, right on my floor, only after walking two steps into the hall to my apartment, I crashed into someone.

Under any other circumstance, I would’ve found the irony and cliché of the situation; accidentally colliding into someone, papers spilling everywhere, getting down to retrieve them and brushing fingers and meeting gazes. Maybe a smile or two. That’s actually how I met Alec. Both of us were running late, him to a band rehearsal, and me to my first interview at Ink’n’Paper. My résumé got mixed with his songs and an hour later we found ourselves sitting at a cute café, sharing stories over warm coffee slowly falling in love with each other. Only this time, I was tired, sore, and buried under a nearly-broken box filled to the brim with books, with some of them unceremoniously lying on the floor half-opened. 

The impact with the floor knocked the wind out of my lungs, and for a split second, I debated whether I should just lay there for the rest of my life. But a familiar accent decided otherwise.

‘Oh, mon dieu, je suis desolé, ca va?’ (Oh my god, I’m so sorry, are you alright?)

For a second I froze. Surely, the universe was playing some sick joke on me. I groaned as I stood up, barely noticing the two hands helping me up. I dusted my pants as I looked down at the spilled mess, internally groaning at the thought of having to bend down to pick everything up again. 

‘Je vous ai fais mal?’ (Did I hurt you?) the man repeated, and it was only then that I mustered the courage to look up at him. And it suddenly dawned on me that I was standing right before Charles Leclerc.

I shook my head, not knowing how to respond. It was the second time the young driver stood in front of me, but just like the first one, I didn’t know what to do with myself. 

‘Sorry, uh, I don’t speak French,’ I stammered. I was trying hard not to tremble, even though I could always blame the pain from the fall for it.

‘Oh, it’s alright. Are you okay, though? Did I hurt you? That was a nasty fall,’ he switched to English as he eyed me up and down, probably checking for any injury.

I tried hard not to blush or giggle, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that my biggest crush was casually there, in my apartment building, and was making sure I was alright. 

‘Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Thank you, though,’ I replied.

He then seemed to notice the box and books on the floor. ‘Here, let me,’ he said before bending down and grabbing the heavy box into his hands.

My eyes scanned over his hands, noticing the way his fingers flexed and strongly grabbed the sides. Again, under any other circumstance, I would’ve found the irony of the situation, but my nerves were making me shake slightly and I wasn’t too proud of that.

I too bent down, taking the scattered books in my arms and not caring about their state anymore. I only wanted to have an excuse to stop my hands from shaking and to look anywhere but at him.

‘It’s okay, really, I can handle these,’ I said, completely embarrassed. Seconds before I had been flat on the ground in front of him. I really just wanted to dig a hole and bury myself in it for the rest of my life after that.

He smiled briefly at me, but his hands remained on the box, effortlessly grabbing it under one of his arms before extending a hand towards me. I stared at it, noticing the rings on his fingers and his expensive watch. Without thinking I took it, and I tried not to dwell too much on the warmth of his skin and his firm grip on mine as he helped me up. 

‘Wait, have we met? Your face seems familiar,’ he scrunched his eyebrows while he looked at me. 

I was still appalled at the fact that I was talking to him, but I slowly nodded my head, remembering our brief interaction back at the Fiorano track. 

‘Yeah, um, we met at Maranello? I’m Mr. Williamson’s assistant,’ I explained, but Charles only seemed more confused. ‘The guy that’s supposed to write the book about Ferrari,’ I added.

His eyes widened in recognition, and my heart beat loudly as I let a breath out. 

‘Oh, right! We were introduced at the track! Well, it’s lovely to see you again!’ he smiled, shaking my hand with a short laugh.

I hadn’t even noticed that he was still holding me, and while I would normally be too socially awkward to keep the contact up, I didn’t mind his one bit. But eventually, I let go, because I could feel the grip of the books slipping with every passing second. 

‘Yeah, you too! What are you doing here? I mean, do you know anybody in the building?’ I asked before I could stop myself. Surely, the man had more important stuff to do.

To my surprise, he shook his head. ‘Nope. I live here.’

The equivalent of breaking glass was the only sound that went through my brain. 

‘Wait, really?’ I asked him.

He nodded. ‘Yeah, I came back a few days ago. And I’m guessing you just moved here too,’ he motioned to the box still under his arm.

I nodded too. ‘Yeah. Today,’ I dumbly answered, feeling the strain in my arms under the weight of the books.

He definitely noticed, because he jumped in his place and profusely apologized. ‘Merde, let me help you with that,’ he looked at the box and then back at me again. ‘So, um, which way to your apartment? In the least creepy way possible?’ he chuckled in embarrassment, yet I found it incredibly cute. (Shit)

I couldn’t help but laugh too. ‘5A.’

His mouth opened in clear surprise. ‘Hey, I’m 5B!’ his eyes almost disappeared when he smiled. 

His smirk was contagious, that much I already knew. I would be lying if I said I had never watched his post-race interviews or any other promotion for his team whatsoever, but I obviously couldn’t straight up tell him that. So finding out that not only we were neighbors, but there would only be a rather thin wall separating us, was enough to send me into cardiac arrest.

‘Wow, that sure is a coincidence!’ I dumbly added.

For someone known to have a response for anything, I suddenly ran out of words.

But either he didn’t notice, or he didn’t care.

‘Well, better take these to their new home. I don’t think this floor has been cleaned in a while,’ he chuckled, walking back into the hall and in my apartment’s direction. 

I shrugged my shoulders, following after him, thinking all of it had to be some weird dream I was having because there was absolutely no way in hell Charles Leclerc was casually waiting by my door holding a box full of my shit and helping me move into my new apartment in Monaco. 

‘Oh, the door’s open,’ I said while I walked past him and inside the flat. With a tilt of my head, I beckoned Charles inside too.

The look he sent me was hilarious. ‘It’s been open this whole time?’

I winced as I put the books down on the kitchen island, which overlooked the wide living space. It was certainly bigger than my apartment in London, but the clean-white walls and lack of furniture made it look like a mansion compared to the other residence, full of books and half-burnt candles.

‘I mean, I was going up and down with boxes and I didn’t want to have to open and close the door every time,’ I said, rubbing my sore arms.

He left the box on the island as well, shyly looking around the pretty empty apartment. 

‘Well, nice place you got here,’ he chuckled at his joke. I laughed too, but mine was rather a combination of nerves, disbelief, and sheer anxiety. ‘Sorry, I… I don’t think I remember your name, I apologize for that.’

I shook my head quickly as I answered, saying it was totally fine. Just the fact that he vaguely remembered my face was already a huge accomplishment on his part, knowing that he met new people every single day. 

‘Thank you for helping me, by the way,’ I told him, gesturing to the books. I laced my hands behind my back, frantically spinning the ring on my finger in an anxious tic I had developed throughout the years. 

He shook his head with a grin, waving his hand in the air. ‘I’m happy to help. Honestly, I’ve been quite jet-lagged lately and I’ve been sleeping all day, but had I been up, I would’ve helped you through it.’

I felt the heat on my cheeks, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. ‘It’s fine, really. You know, I even thought I was the only one here. I saw nobody, literally. And if somebody saw me then they didn’t say anything,’ I frowned at the thought. 

He grinned at me again, and it felt weird to see those dimples in real life. ‘I don’t think there are that many people living here yet, to be honest. I still haven’t seen anybody else besides you. Kinda creepy, too.’

I laughed, feeling somewhat relaxed now at the thought of living so close to him. Not as a fan, per se, but as a walking person I could turn to in case I needed salt.

‘I would treat you to some tea but I have absolutely nothing to eat right now. I haven’t gone grocery shopping yet. And I have no dishes or cutlery, either. I do have a dishwasher, though,’ I said, wanting to repay the favor somehow, although everything that came from my mouth felt worse than the previous one. 

‘You have a dishwasher?’ he gaped at me.

I nodded. ‘Got it installed this morning. I’m never washing dirty dishes with my hands again.’

He chuckled again before looking back at the door, which had stayed open. It wasn’t like there was anyone that could come in, though. ‘Well, maybe this sounds weird, but, if you’d like, we could have dinner together? As in a… housewarming party?’ Charles offered. 

I tried hard not to blush at his request, and I definitely felt the strain in my lips trying to control the grin. ‘Shouldn’t I be the one throwing the party?’ I lifted an eyebrow at him. 

He nodded. ‘Yeah. But it’s seven in the afternoon and all the markets are closed,’ he pointed out after checking the hour on his watch.

I gaped at him. ‘Is it that late, really?’ I asked, grabbing my phone and checking the time too, but to my dismay, Charles was right. I had completely lost track of time.

‘Time flies when you’re having fun, eh?’ he tried to laugh it off, and I appreciated it.

‘Well, shit. Guess I’m not having breakfast tomorrow either,’ I joked, yet a pit of anxiety settled in my stomach. I was far too hungry for such disappointment.

‘You’re welcome for breakfast, too,’ Charles added quickly. I stared at him with a frown. ‘Again, if I had been awake, I would’ve helped you, and you wouldn’t be stuck now without food until tomorrow morning.’

My heart ached slightly at his beaten expression. ‘It’s not your fault, Charles. You don’t have to feel bad about it. I mean, you literally have no responsibility over anything.’

He took a few seconds, eyeing me. His eyes then moved to the side, checking the empty kitchen, and the boxes piled right at the center of the living space, and he frowned again.

‘I still want you over. I’m not the greatest chef, but I can make some nice pasta. And I think I’ve got some tea left, for the morning. Not like I’m asking you to spend the night, you know, that’d be weird, but like, if you wanna come over for a quick snack… Although I wake up really early to train, you know… you’re welcome to,’ he rambled.

I stared at him for a whole minute, registering his words. Now more than ever, it really felt like a dream. And despite knowing better than going to a random stranger’s apartment for free dinner on the sole basis of human kindness, I nodded.

‘Alright, I’m not gonna say “no” to pasta. And if you’re trying to murder me, know that my mum is a lawyer. And a really good one at that. And she knows where I am, so,’ I said, pointing a finger menacingly at him with squint eyes. Might as well throw some spice in it. 

He smiled at me, again with those dimples showing, holding his palms up in surrender. ‘Great! And I’m not trying to murder you. Then uh, why don’t you come by in like two hours? So I can prepare things and clean around?’

‘Sure!’ I smirked. 

‘Alright, then, uh, I’ll see you later!’ he grinned.

‘Great!’

‘Okay, um, ciao!’ Charles said with a final wave. He walked out of the apartment, and I caught his eye as he closed the door, with the ghost of a smirk decorating his lips. (Bye!)

—

‘And you just moved here, then? I asked him.

‘Yeah. Somehow fans found my old address and it wasn’t safe for me anymore. Besides, my neighbors “invited” me to leave so… apparently I yell too much at the simulator,’ he confessed, making me chuckle.

‘I’m sorry about that,’ I said with a grimace, remembering his Instagram posts.

‘Don’t be. I mean I knew stuff like this would happen, just not to me,’ he chuckled.

I stared at him in disbelief. Surely, had to be joking, right?

‘Life works in mysterious ways, I guess,’ I added, taking a sip of the expensive wine he had opened for us at the beginning of the dinner. 

‘So, how come you moved to Monaco, then?’ Charles asked before taking a big bite of his pasta.

I swallowed before responding. I still felt quite nervous, trying to look and act decently before him. I had never been one to talk about myself that openly, and it sucked to think our conversation resembled that of a date, even though it wasn’t. 

‘Well, as I said, I work at this publishing house as Mr. Stephen Williamson’s assistant, which, for the record, is a pretty big name in the industry. And last November he got this deal to write about Ferrari, so… here I am,’ I tried to explain. 

I didn’t want to bore him with the details, but if anything, it only made him even more curious.

‘How do you go from working as an assistant to living in Monaco?’ he asked.

I sighed. ‘I don’t even know. We flew to Italy last month to sign the deal and stuff, and apparently, my boss wanted me to move here to oversee the writing process.’

‘But he’s in London.’

‘Yeah.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Me neither.’

He laughed. ‘Well, I’m glad we’re both on the same page.’

‘Right?’ I chuckled too. ‘No, but seriously, I know he’s got other stuff to work on and he thought it better that I was the one to come here in his place,’ I continued, still waiting for further instruction from both Mr. Williamson and Mr. Vigna’s part to proceed to the next phase. ‘Let’s just say he’s not… in the best state right now…’ I bit my lip, not wanting to reveal too much, for Mr. Williamson’s sake. ‘So, effectively, I’m the one in charge of getting all the data, interviews, experiences…’

‘And Monaco is the best place for that,’ Charles finished for me as he also finished his pasta. 

I nodded, taking another bite. He was a fast eater, for sure.

‘Exactly. Mr. Vigna said they’re opening a new office here and many workers are commuting so… It shouldn’t be hard,’ I added after taking a deep breath. 

‘Wow, and you just left? What about your family? Friends? Boyfriend?’ Charles asked, with his eyes fixed on my face. 

I choked on my pasta. He patted my back repeatedly as I brought the wine glass to my lips, desperate to calm my aching throat. 

‘Sorry, no, no boyfriend,’ I coughed again. I swore his eyes glistened ever so slightly. ‘And my people understand. It’s not going to be forever, you know? Just a few months. And I’m constantly on the phone with them, and I’ll travel back and forth. But it’s easier when half the grid is already here,’ I answered once I was calm enough.

He nodded. ‘You’re right. So I’m guessing I’ll see you around the paddock this year.’

‘Yeah, you definitely will. I mean, according to Mr. Williamson, until he’s able to commit full-time to this project, I am to become Ferrari’s own shadow. A fly on the wall. Any conversation? I’ll be there listening,’ I recalled the conversation with my boss, thinking he had been a bit too dramatic at first, only to later realize he was being completely honest. 

He had made a name for himself thanks to his decent spying qualities, which he favorably used in his work to portray the most realistic picture of whatever matter was at hand. Anyone with a brain knew that required skill and time, and the fact that he had entrusted me with it spoke volumes of his faith in me. Or of his inebriation. 

Charles whistled. ‘That’s a huge responsibility.’

‘Well, I’m not Spider-Man, but yeah, it’s a huge power too.’

He grinned. ‘If you need any help, you know where to find me. You know, it was always my dream to drive for Ferrari.’

‘I’m sorry.’

He laughed. ‘Well, last year certainly didn’t go as I expected, but I’m excited for this season.’

Charles’ eyes shone whenever he spoke about driving. I hadn’t spent much time with him yet, but it was easy to share his enthusiasm for the sport, even after going in tangents about laps, sectors, and front and rear wings. He spoke with the excitement of a little kid, and at times, it was hard to believe he was a twenty-five-year-old man. 

‘But I don’t want to bore you with it, sorry,’ he caught himself after a while, but I shook my head.

‘Not at all. I’m a fan of the sport too, you know,’ I said, suddenly feeling embarrassed and shy.

But his face didn’t seem to mind it one bit. His eyes, in fact, widened. ‘Really?’

I nodded. ‘Yeah. My dad is a huge motorsport fan so he made sure his only daughter followed his steps.’

‘May I ask which team are you supporting?’ he asked.

‘Don’t want to inflate your ego even more, but Ferrari,’ I chuckled.

He grinned again. ‘Red is the best color, after all.’

‘It’s all about the Italian in us.’

‘Certainly.’

Our dinner was long finished, but we both stayed at the table, drinking wine and sharing stories for the rest of the night. 

It was easy to talk to him, contrary to popular belief. When I had knocked on his door a few hours before, I had been a mess of anxiety and nerves. I had tried so hard to come up with the best possible outfit right after exiting the shower, wanting to look good and put-together, yet not too formal. I had rehearsed over and over how to say hello, how to compliment his food, and how to thank him again for the immense favor he was doing me, but all that evaporated as soon as he opened the door. Pleasantries were exchanged, some more apologies as well, and before I could even react, we were already sitting down, enjoying some warm meal over good wine. Charles turned out to be excellent company too, and I could only thank the universe for having met him on my first night in Monaco. I truly felt a bit less alone, all thanks to him. 

I had been scared about moving to a different country by myself, away from my parents and my friends. I hadn’t even had time to sit down and think about it. Twenty-four hours ago I was packing my bags after the longest Christmas celebrations ever and now I was smiling and chuckling away with someone I was hoping to call a friend sometime soon. Even after getting in bed, tired, but happy, no tears came. I wasn’t scared anymore. For once, even after all the heartbreak and stress, I was excited for what was to come, despite not knowing what was in store for me. And I was ready to find out. 

Next chapter

General Taglist: @angiewhoohooo, @azaleaniath, @mishaandthebrits, @celestialcharles

#charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x female!reader #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc x y/n #charles leclerc imagine #formula 1 #f1 x reader #f1 fanfic #f1 fic

[ystrike1]

I Became the Obsessive Villain's Babysitter - By Seongyeong Oh (6.5/10)

This is another comedy that may flop. It's about a Saintess who refuses to be sacrificed. She runs into a man who is known for his cruelty and madness, but he also has two cute(?) younger siblings. He agrees to protect her, as long as she agrees to care for them.

Saint Meia is a side character in a novel called "The Flower of Shakir". She's more like a "holy object" instead of a person. When her holy powers awaken she dutifully gives them to The Emperor, who is the main character. Then she dies off screen from blood loss.

She gets no reward for her pious, devoted life. She exists to buff the main character for the final battle. When Saint Meia is possessed by a regular woman from our era she develops a spine. She realizes that the holy people around her don't give a damn about her life.

By the way...Saint Meia's death is slow and agonizing. After she gives her powers to the handsome Emperor her body turns on her. By the time she dies she is a vegetable in constant pain.

Yeah...no.

New Meia doesn't feel obligated to do that to help the Emperor, or the jerks who are totally willing to sacrifice her.

She runs away before the ceremony can begin.

While she is running she accidentally knocks out a handsome man. This is Duke Rakha. In the original novel he tries to destroy the country to get his hands on the heroine. He kidnaps. He tortures. He's a classic yandere.

Rakha's siblings assume she was trying to kill him, and she almost dies. All three family members have powerful dark magic.

Meia has to beg for her life...again...

The Flower of Shakir is Reina. She is the only one that can get along with the demonic brats, and Rakha. The family is hostile and evil to everybody but her. Meia thinks she's doomed at first.

Rakha has no conscience. He even tries to kill the righteous Emperor to marry Reina. He locks her up in the original story. He's unreasonable and rude and...he can totally protect Meia from the church...

The Emperor is going to come after her. He has a magical disease which is preventing him from sleeping or functioning properly.

Nobody can save him but the Saint...but she has no interest in dying for him.

Meia pretends to "save" Rakha, even though he's just unconscious. The kids stop trying to kill her when they think she is saving their beloved, evil brother.

The humor is very silly.

It's not for everyone, but Rakha does seem like a classic yandere. Our heroine is pretty selfish too, and that's fun.

#yandere #male yandere #yandere male #yandere boy #recommendations #recs #rec #recommended #webtoon #otome isekai #I Became the Obsessive Villain's Babysitter

[therainscene]

Crazy together: Byler, Cthulhu, and cosmic horror

Cthulhu is a queer horror film from 2007 that I've always been fond of. I rewatched it recently and was struck by some of its similarities to Stranger Things: small town vibes, conformity themes, cosmic horror as queer allegory, a gay protagonist with a childhood best friend slash love interest named Mike...

The film has an ambiguously villainous ending for its main character, Russ Marsh, and it's an ending that suits this story pretty well, imo -- so given how much it reminds me of Will's story, I thought it would be interesting to compare the two.

[Content warning for rape and (bloody) attempted suicide, both depicted in the movie and mentioned below the cut.]

👆 [That's the entire movie available for free on YouTube, courtesy of its director. You don't need to watch it to understand this analysis tho. Spoilers ahead.]

Cthulhu is a (very) loose adaptation of The Shadow over Innsmouth, a cosmic horror story about an outsider who arrives in a small fishing town and unearths a cult that interbreeds with immortal sea-dwelling monsters. He ends up making the horrifying discovery that he's descended from the cult's founder and thus doomed to turn into a monster himself.

The film uses this premise to talk about queerness: As an openly gay man, Russ has always been an outsider and was never going to participate in his hometown's, uh, traditions. Unfortunately, his father is the cult's leader and his sister is infertile -- Russ must participate.

[Yes, that's Cara Buono. If you enjoyed her portrayal of Karen as a loving but deeply conformist family member who does a better job of supporting the status quo than supporting her loved one, but just wished her character was more one-dimensional -- then this is the movie for you!]

Russ doesn't actually know much about the cult at the start of the film -- he fled to the city in his teens and dismisses his father's proselytizing as "Joseph Smith frontier horseshit" -- so it isn't until he returns for his mother's funeral that he begins to unravel the truth.

It's a good metaphor for how it feels to look back on a bigoted or abusive upbringing and realize: wow, that was a lot more fucked up than I thought it was.

As you might expect from cosmic horror though, this isn't a healing or empowering process for Russ.

Rather, he just keeps running into brutal reminders of how powerless he is in the face of the town's overwhelming, ingrained homophobia: at one point he's raped to satisfy his father's need for an heir; at another he's falsely jailed for the rape and murder of a boy he was trying to rescue from the cult.

It's similar to the torture Will endures in S1 and S2: he's kidnapped and symbolically raped, reflecting Troy's coded "killed by some other queer" comment, then bullied for having the audacity to survive it. He even stands up to a literal eldritch monstrosity and is rewarded for his bravery with yet more loss of autonomy.

You might be wondering if these stories even count as cosmic horror. Cthulhu only ever vaguely hints at the existence of, well, Cthulhu, and Stranger Things (which deliberately tweaks its genre every season) reveals that the Mind Flayer was basically just some guy all along.

But I think it's a bit of a misconception that cosmic horror is about star-sized masses of eyeballs and tentacles that drive you insane with their inhuman incomprehensibility.

Really, cosmic horror is about powerlessness, inevitability, and comprehending all too well. To know that horrors exist beyond the everyday facade of human existence -- whether they take the form of unknowable monstrosities from the void or of violent bigotry in an otherwise pleasant town -- is to know that your existence is nothing more than a delicate soap bubble floating in a vast, uncaring universe made exclusively of sharp edges. Even if you return to the everyday world, you can never return to blissful ignorance.

And that’s what drives you insane.

Will has something of a knowledge motif following him around: He's a wizard named Will the Wise. He illuminates. He has True Sight. He's a super-spy. He's part of the hive mind. He was studied in the lab. He was violated at school and in a library. His neck prickles when Vecna is close. He knows what Vecna is thinking.

It's too much cursed knowledge for one little boy to bear.

But he doesn't have to bear it alone.

Will is lucky to have a bunch of loving friends and family, and their support does a lot to help him cope... but even his fiercest supporters, Joyce and Jonathan, tend to be absent for long swathes of time. There's only one character who can be consistently found by Will's side through the majority of every season, and that's the boy who promised to go crazy with him.

[Strictly speaking Mike wasn't by his side in S1... but he fought hard to bring him home the whole time they were apart. Tomayto tomahto.]

Russ has a Mike too. (Literally -- his name is Michael Shields lol.) His childhood best friend reconnects with him soon after he arrives back in town and pretty much immediately becomes his sole trusted confidant as Russ falls down the cultist rabbit hole.

A quick aside -- Russ's past with Mike is a glimpse into a possible future for Byler.

Russ and Will have both been saved by their Mikes from giving in to the despair of being treated so brutally by their towns: Russ's Mike caught him mid-suicide attempt when they were teenagers--

--and Will's Mike, of course, helped rescue him from the Upside Down and sat patiently with him the whole time he was possessed.

Unfortunately, both Mikes are also conformists who are unwilling to leave the safety of comphet. Russ ran away to a more liberal environment where he could exist in peace, but Mike stayed behind and married a woman. This could easily end up being Byler's fate too.

So while Russ and Will might be alive thanks to their Mikes, they now have to live the rest of their lives without the love of the boy who gave them the drive to face it in the first place.

And it isn't as though the boy doesn't want to love him back.

The jury is officially still out on Byler, but Russ's backstory is very much not about a sad gay boy having to get over his sad gay crush on his straight best friend -- it's about a pair of would-be lovers getting torn apart by a town that refuses to let them be themselves.

I want to emphasize that both of these pairings consist of a visibly gay guy and a straight-passing guy.

In both stories it's typically the visibly queer one who actually interacts with the horrors, while the straight-passing one tends to observe from a position of relative safety, either escaping before anything too nasty happens to him, or more often, simply learning about the horrors second-hand from the visible one.

(There's one key exception at the end of Cthulhu -- but we'll come back to that.)

This is such an important dynamic that it's even unsubtly foreshadowed in Byler's first scene together:

This informs the way the characters support each other. We've already seen the obvious the safe one acts as a mental tether for the endangered one so he doesn't go insane with despair dynamic, but there's a reversal too: the authentic one inspires the conformist to join him in what was never really insanity so much as a different way of looking at the world.

Russ doesn't have any designs on seducing Mike -- much like Will, all he expects is some support from his best friend -- but his dogged questioning of the town's status quo still leads directly to Mike breaking out of comphet and admitting to what he's always really wanted:

[Learn from your elders, Byers: this is the proper way to respond when your love interest says that home just isn't the same without you.]

But Cthulhu's protagonists are confident adults who know how to quickly resolve their romantic tension. Byler are frightened kids in a five-act coming-of-age story -- their version is a little messier.

Mike has always been inspired by Will, right from the very first episode -- he decided to risk looking for him in the woods because he figured that's what his brave and kind friend Will would do.

The first two seasons thus show us Byler's dynamic at its best: an endless feedback loop of Will's strength and insight inspires Mike and Mike's devotion supports Will. (Very cleric and paladin of them.) But they're still children at this point, and don't really notice the blossoming queerness in their relationship yet.

S3 adds puberty to the mix and oh boy do they notice the queerness now. Too scary no thank you cancel unsubscribe uninstall. Will's bravery falters. Mike devotes himself to the grim duty of having a girlfriend. The loop breaks under the pressure.

They fight about it in the same location that introduced us to their dynamic and call each other out on failing to hold up their respective ends of the bargain:

"Why aren't you there for me anymore?"

"Why are you refusing to face reality all of a sudden?"

Note that Will's knowledge motif makes a return here -- just before the fight, he dresses up in his Will the Wise costume in an effort to inspire Mike again. But the tone of the scene is silly and cringey -- as correct as Will is to point out that they don't need to abandon their childhood dynamic just because they're growing up, pretending that it isn't going to mature as they age is, um. Unsustainable.

Deep down, Will knows that he'll eventually have to address the terrifying truth that keeps tapping insistently at the back of his neck.

By S4, Mike is starting to come around -- he's still deep in comphet, but he at least recognizes that it's making him unhappy, so he reaches out to Will the Wise for advice. Unfortunately, Will learned the wrong lesson in S3, and all the advice he offers is designed to push Mike back into the arms of comphet.

By the end of the season, Will has even orchestrated a grand heterosexual love confession in the foolish hope that sacrificing his heart on the altar of heteronormativity might finally make the horrors go away. (How's that working out for you, Byers?)

And so we've arrived at that ambiguously villainous ending.

By the climax of Cthulhu, Russ has uncovered the awful truth: his mother was murdered by his father to lure him home, extract offspring from him, and trigger the apocalypse. It's already begun; there's no stopping it. Shambling horrors -- his ancestors -- emerge from the rising sea. Russ is expected to become the immortal leader of this sunken new world.

He and Mike make plans to flee town together, but Russ runs into his father. He's brought to the shore to admire his kingdom before being handed a weapon and commanded to make sacrifice to Cthulhu:

Russ glances between Mike and his father, assessing his options. Soon even the cities will be consumed; he can't Smalltown Boy his way out of this again.

He raises his weapon--

--cut to black, roll credits.

All too often, queer villainy is shown from a straight perspective, presenting queerness as inherently threatening. This is the type of villainy embodied by Vecna: he's a vengeful and predatory outcast who forces his version of reality on others (especially children) and refuses to compromise his dangerous nature.

Cthulhu shows us queer villainy from a queer perspective. Russ, like Will, is harmless: he's kind, has no interest in vengeance, and just wants to live his life in peace. What drives him to villainy is the temptation to throw queerness under the bus in the twisted belief that appeasing the majority is the key to escaping homophobia.

Of course, there is no escape. Sacrificing the man who trusted him to guide him gently into the reality of queerness just means he's succumbed to the madness and become a homophobe himself.

S4 concludes with Will in a similar position to Russ: teetering on the precipice of madness as he helplessly watches the world fall apart at the hands of the villain who would stop at nothing to force him to join his cause.

But where their situations differ is in what cause that villain represents.

Russ's antagonist is a straight homophobe, representing societal homophobia -- far too powerful a force for one man and his lover to have any hope of defeating. But Will's antagonist is that offensively queer-coded-for-straights villain, representing internalized homophobia -- all along, the prickling at the back of Will's neck has been his own instincts warning him of what happens when you allow bigots and abusers to have a say in how you define yourself.

True love can certainly defeat that.

Unlike Russ, Will hasn't reached the end of his story yet--

--and unlike his older namesake, Mike isn't kneeling on the sacrificial altar, but standing by the side of the boy he promised to go crazy with, ready to face the horrors of Hawkins -- together.

[@bylerween2023 day 4 🐙]

#bylerween2023 #day 4 #psychological horror #cosmic horror #cthulhu #stranger things #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #my analysis #tw self harm #tw rape

[rayshippouuchiha]

*deep breath* ok ok so

This mahwa is action-fantasy so I'm expecting the stereotypical uber-OP or hardworking underdog kind of main characters, but then we meet our MC and the thing he does is:

And immeditely I'm intrigued, because quite honestly he seemed pathetic. I wondered how they were gonna turn him around.

For some background info: our MC, Gong-ya, is an average person living in a world where a mysterious tower filled with monsters sprung up out of nowhere. People inside the tower are in general from the lower classes, looking for treasure and opportunities by challenging the many levels of the tower. Our MC is jealous of the current #1 player, who is wealthy and irreverent, and wants to be like him so much that the system rewards him for (lol)

with the skill to randomly receive a skill from his murderer.

Soon after that, while he's drowning his sorrows in alcohol from receiving this seemingly useless skill, the MC overhears the #1 murdering another player, and is subsequently killed himself just for being nearby. Fortunately for him, he receives the #1's skill to revive 24hrs prior to dying (though it comes with a cost). Realizing how twisted he is, how many people have probably died in much the same way, and that the #1 is unkillable with such a skill, the MC exploits his newly acquired skill to go back 11 years into the past (via ~4050 suicides) and murder the #1 before he gained any of his skills.

I think what I love about our MC most is how utterly human he is. He is petty, and sassy, and a little bit pathetic, and he wants recognition and power and money, but he is also the goddamned KINDEST human being you'll ever see. Instead of swearing vengeance and powering up gradually to "destroy" the #1, he decides to turn back the clock to before the #1 received his revival skill, in order to both avenge himself and prevent the murders of the thousands that had previously been killed by him. He learns that the power he had so coveted often comes from psychopathic behavior, and becomes determined to never be like that himself.

And he's so empathetic to others, often in little ways that go unseen and unrewarded, yet he soldiers on, dying again and again and again, reliving the trauma of his killers every time and somehow becoming MORE empathetic every time.

He is not overpowered, and he has to earn every victory inch by bloody inch through pain and effort and death, while simultaneously living through so much trauma that he struggles to maintain his ego intact. He doesn't just depend solely on his skills, he's also incredibly freaking clever, finding the best way to use his strengths and those of people around him every time. With every revival he gains just a smidgen more information, just a bit more of the battle moves and strategies of his opponents, sometimes gaining just a few seconds of progress. And wonderfully, instead of growing colder and more jaded he BECOMES KINDER STILL, determined to avoid the most bad endings for the greatest amount of people he can,and I just ahfjhsjgdhsgdshgsh I love him SO MUCH

I also love how, very frequently, we start out in a setting that seems comedic, ridiculous or stupid, but we're later given an explanation that sheds devastating light on the situation.

For example, at some point the MC arrives in a doomed, dying "martial arts" world plagued by a zombie apocalypse, where the only two surviving people are members of opposing factions that refuse to stop fighting even though their world is completely collapsed around them.

Seems stupid right?

Turns out that both of those people were already bitten, and were holding off the infection through their ki temporarily. And as martial artists, they were terrified of dying a meaningless death, rotting away on the floor, unmoving, alone, and forgotten.

So they fought.

And fought.

And fought.

Even though they had been using almost all of their strength holding back the infection

Even though all they could manage to do was bite and pull hair and slap

They fought, and hoped the other could manage to strike a killing blow, and they could go out in a "blaze of glory", fighting their life-long rival

And yet they never could bring themselves to go all out, because they knew - if one of them was the victor, the other was doomed to die rotting alone.

So our wonderful, amazing MC finds this out and not only becomes the disciple of one of the survivors so they can live on in their teachings (despite having to die hundreds of times over in order to master the pain-based martial arts of his new teacher), but also collects the findings of his alchemist every time until they manage to create a cure within the time limit, AND brings back more disciples, AND gets his master a duel of sorts with the only martial artist on her level before she passes in his arms.

And it's beautiful, and heartbreaking, and I loved it I LOVED IT SO SO MUCH YOU DONT UNDERSTAND

The manhwa is called "SSS class suicide hunter" and EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ IT I SWEAR YOU GUYS ITS SO GOOD YOU WONT REGRET IT

Holy shit this looks magnificent

#sss class revival hunter #SSS class suicide hunter #RayRambles

[annah-kitathryne]

7, 12, and 24 for helena bertinelli?

Helena Bertinelli

7. A quote of them that you remember?

Kid: Do you have super strength?

Helena: No.

Kid: Are you invulnerable?

Helena: I'm afraid not.

Kid: Then how are you gonna save him? What are you gonna do?

Helena: I'm going to do everything I'm capable of doing!

-)(-

Helena: Hypocrite

-)(-

Helena: Jabberwook

12. Sexuality headcanon?

I'm of two minds that exist hand in hand. Demisexual, Demiromantic, Bisexual. She wouldn't use those words for it, though. She knows she's queer and Bi, but doesn't exactly want to dig any deeper.

Also just realized the flag colors for all those identities (except for the demiromantic green) have matched her costume at some point throughout her history. No serious it matches.

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

I think about this one a lot, actually. So far up to my reading, she doesn't talk explicitly about memories she has with her immediate family.. I think she keeps those to herself. She talks about her family history, but that's stuff that reasonably anyone could find out, but the personal stuff? She keeps those to herself. The moments where her mother brushes her hair or would pick out a dress, the moments at meals where they were almost normal. What she named her toys. She also keeps all the memories of her brother to herself.

She also keeps a lot of stuff private about her faith. Sure, she talks about it and devoted it with Artemis, but it's another thing for herself. Something that can't be taken away. Her family is dead, and a vigilante identity can be stripped, but her faith is her own. Even in the moments where her faith won't allow her in, it's still hers and hers alone.

I think she also stays quite on just how lonely she can be. How she doesn't have a family, she only started making friends later on, how that friendship can feel conditional, how separated she can be from people. It's never quite there, but still there. She loves working on her own, being herself. She does it and loves it. But sometimes it hits her just how alone she is. Moments where she remembered she was the only one in her building, using recorded conversation to fill up the empty space.

I also think she keeps quite on just how much she cares for the younger vigilantes. Robin and Spoiler, to be exact. Now, in canon so far in my reading, Huntress and Spoiler have met and teamed up 1.5 times. I think despite that very short list, Huntress cares a lot. She doesn't want another kid in a costume, as seen from Blunt Trauma. She's a teacher, she cares about her students, and she cares about the kids she saves. She goes out of her way to try to help kids even if logically she knows it's doomed. She doesn't want more kids going down the vigilante path. She sees Spoiler, and she hopes that it's not too late to turn her away from vigilantism even though she knows it won't work because she cares. She doesn't want anyone else to become a part of this life. Robin (Tim) she has a much longer history. She would never admit how much she wants to be an older sister, how she feels like an older sibling when around him. She won't admit it but she's proud of him.

She won't ever admit, not even on her death bed, just how much Batman's rejection into the main circle hurt. Sure, people know it. But not how deep it was.

#dc #dc comics #helena bertinelli #batfam #batfamily #huntress dc #dc huntress #the huntress #helena my love #ask game #I have so many thoughts on Huntress #thanks for giving me a reason to talk about it #mika tag

[menelaus-blue]

i had a very important realization while i was out walking today. out of the main four vnc characters, noé is the one we know the least about. he fits into a category of what i would call the glass protagonist–a guy who basically exists only to narrate the story, joining the ranks of those like nick carraway and richard papen, except he's just like way more mysterious.

see, part of what makes a narrator like nick work narratively is that we know just enough about him to 1) understand his perspective on the events of the story and 2) know what his role in the story is. nick is able to give his insider/outsider view of gatsby because he is neither part of the buchanans' world nor part of gatsby's, and his role in the story is to serve as a kind of mediator between the two of them. he's daisy's cousin in long island, but he's also a working man in city, etc, etc.

the funky thing about noé is we just...don't know anything about him. we're told a couple of things about his childhood; that he was adopted by an old couple in the human world, that they died and he was somehow on sale in altus, and that the comte took him in. but really, the time before and after louis's death is uncannily empty for the guy who we're following through this world. yes, of course it's fair to say that we know the most important things about noé, but we honestly know way more of vanitas's childhood than his, and that's a big part of the central mystery of the story.

(there's an element to this, of course, that comes from both of the examples i gave before, the great gatsby and the secret history, being novels. as readers, we get an extra level of introspection from nick and richard that is very difficult to translate directly into manga as a medium. however, i would argue that it's not impossible, and all that being said it does sometimes feel intentional on mochijun's part just how little of noé's background she's shown us.)

both nick and richard narrate their respective stories onto the reader from their position as outsiders, which we know is noé's role in vnc from the get-go. i mean, he says this explicitly in chapter one: "this is the tale of how i met vanitas, and how we walked together, of all we gained and lost, and of how, at the end of that journey, i would kill him with my own two hands". he's the narrator and this is his story, just like nick and richard, right?

but while nick and richard are the narrators, and give us, the readers, an excuse to look into their worlds, they are not exactly essential players on the board. both the great gatsby and the secret history give the impression that, without their narrators, they would have continued nearly exactly as written; the characters were doomed to fail long before the story began, and the intervention of some white guy isn't enough to either stop that. and yes, vanitas is doomed as well, but we are introduced to his death as an event that is intrinsically tied to noé himself.

"with my own two hands", noé says. he is not only an actor in the saga leading up to vanitas's demise, he is a starring player in it. (and yes, we ofc later learn that vanitas is going to die with or without noé's intervention but i think it's important to understand that this is our introduction to noé, vanitas, and the story itself) in this way, noé differentiates himself from his glass counterparts, in that he inserts himself irrevocably into the plot. he is both a character in the story and an observer, a chess piece and the one playing the game. this is why the gaps in his backstory feel so jarring, at least to me, because we are not meant to view him as solely a window into the world of vnc, but as a character all on his own.

anyways, all that being said, i'm hoping with the introduction of lady archiviste we're finally going to learn more about noé and his time with the comte, just because it's like a HUGE gap in the story.

#i think it goes without saying that domi's line about noé being a hermit for the past several years really stuck with me bc like. what. #she just dropped that line and then it was never mentioned again #noé also says in chapter one that he was sent to paris by his “former teacher” #like what does that mean. has he just not seen the comte in several years? has he been living somewhere else? what happened between them? #sometimes i think that maybe noé himself doesn't remember everything but ig we'll see #noé archiviste #vanitas #vnc #vanitas no carte #the case study of vanitas #the great gatsby #nick carraway #the secret history #richard papen #sorry if this got a little rambly by the end ahhhh

[pythoneon]

Someone might’ve posted about this before, but while i have the persistent brainrot, I wanna ramble about hatchetfield and the perpetual cycle of missed opportunities.

The first couple is pretty obvious: Paul and Emma. They’re two people who don’t get the chance to move past the early stages of a relationship. In TGWDLM, they’ve just gotten on a first name basis, even though he’s a regular and there’s a connection between them. It’s a slow burn that fizzles out because of the circumstances. Black Friday is a bit different because, while they’re not an official couple, Emma cares enough about Paul to bring her to what she thinks is a belated Thanksgiving dinner with estranged family. But that musical ends with everyone being blown to kingdom come, so again, it doesn’t evolve further than being “intimate” with each other. Then, of course, there’s their brief interaction in NPMD which parallels TGWDLM, with an interruption by Officer Bailey. In Nightmare Time, only Paul 23 and Android! Emma have a happy ending, but not without hiccups of course. They seem like an inevitability-pun fully intended-in every universe. Oftentimes, their potential is never fully realized.

Becky and Tom is an interesting couple because they’re the only main pairing that dated and broke up, only to get back together later on. They dated in high school and were pulled apart by circumstance. Tom goes to war, and in the interim, Becky becomes entangled with her abusive husband that keeps them apart even after he comes back. In Black Friday, they reunite, bone in the movie theater, but again, they get fucking bombed at the end. In Jane’s A Car, they actually get to rekindle their relationship, getting to the point that Tom brings Becky home to meet his son. Tim even likes Becky, acknowledging that she can’t replace his mom but she’s a good presence for them both. Unfortunately, Tom’s grief and guilt drives them apart again-pun not intended this time. There could be other worlds where they get back together as well, but that comes after years of heartbreak, trauma, and separation.

Lex and Ethan are interesting because in every world we’ve seen thus far, they start each story in a very committed relationship. We don’t see their beginning stages like the others, so we already know how they are together. This makes Black Friday even more devastating when we watch Ethan die protecting Hannah, and Lex never finds this out. She dies unaware of his fate. Then in Witch in a Web, they’re both in jail after trying to make money to get Hannah out of their neglectful mother’s home. Yellow Jacket is the worst, I think. Because Ethan wants the best for Lex and Hannah, he allows Hannah to take part in the super kid fight club, which accidentally dooms his relationship after they kill Otho and have to go on the run from Charlie. We see him getting her a ring, preparing to propose to her, but he never gets the chance. Lex leaves him behind in Hatchetfield to relieve him of the burden of having to protect her and Hannah. Ethan loves Lex so much that while trying to save her, he loses her.

Finally, our newest and most hopeful addition: Steph and Pete. The babies. We see them first in Abstinence Camp, finding kindred spirits in each other because they see themselves outcasts in their environment. I’d argue this is also true in NPMD. They’re both outliers in their social groups, and connect because of this. In TGWDLM, we can assume they both are infected before ever meeting-the same thing goes for Black Friday. The nice thing about their relationship is, in both Abstinence Camp and NPMD, they end the story in the early stages of their romance, and we can assume it’ll develop further because they both trust each other and have ‘defeated’ the monster. However, they don’t get through it unscathed. Nobody does. But I’ll be optimistic and say they’re the only ones who actually get the happy ending they deserve.

Some honorable mentions:

- Ted and Charlotte, and Ted and Jenny. Ted seems to truly care for Charlotte, and in TGWDLM, he watches her die for her scummy husband. In Black Friday, they’re briefly seen together at the end, but again, BOMB. Then there’s Forever & Always, where it’s revealed Ted is responsible for the death of his one true love, and also his own.

- Linda and Gerald is less subtle, considering they’re both batshit, but their insanity makes them a match made in hell. So, it’s pretty sad when, in Nightmare Time 2, Gerald dies helping Linda become the titular Honey Queen. And, of course, Linda dies in Black Friday while on the phone with him.

- DUKE AND MISS HOLLOWAY. OH BOY DO I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THEM. THE TRAGEDY OF FALLING FOR SOMEONE WHO YOU CAN NEVER SHARE YOUR LIFE WITH BECAUSE BUT YEARNING TO BE IN THEIR LIFE IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE. THE PAINS OF BEING IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE THAT YOU NEVER REALLY KNEW, NOR COULD YOU EVER TRULY KNOW HER, BUT YOU LOVE HER REGARDLESS, AND YOULL ALWAYS LOVE HER. PROTECTING THE PERSON YOU LOVE EVEN IF IT MEANS ACCIDENTALLY DAMNING YOURSELF INTO STARTING OVER WITHOUT THAT PERSON. GOD THEY MAKE ME SO SAD

#starkid #hatchetfield #nerdy prudes must die #starkid npmd #hatchetverse #nightmare time #npmd #the guy who didn't like musicals #tgwdlm #paulkins #lautksi #barneston #holloweane #lex foster #ethan green #pete spankoffski #steph lauter #becky barnes #tom houston #paul matthews #emma perkins #ted spankoffski #charlotte sweetly #linda monroe #gerald monroe #duke keane #miss holloway

[mister-faltine]

Unpopular opinion. #1

Dormammu is the one who should be the Main Villain in "The Multiverse Saga".

Arts made by Anthony Francisco and Kevin Maguire.

Warning: English is not my main language, I'm sorry if there are some errors in the text.

_______________________________________________

If Marvel is really going to try to replace Kang as the main villain in the saga, then Dormammu is one of the best options at the moment.

Dormammu is already a multiversal threat in the MCU and has been here since 2016 trying to get revenge against Stephen (The "Anchor" of the MCU, according to Kevin Feige).

Dormammu and Stephen have a long rivalry in the comics, not to mention that the two are very similar in certain aspects, such as their ego, ignorance and pride.

Stephen Strange's greatest love is, literally, the niece of his greatest enemy. Imagine the potential that this could be used to develop their rivalry and even explore what Clea's relationship with Dormammu is like in the MCU. Let you know, I'm a fan of the idea of ​​Dormammu and Clea having a "Father and Daughter" relationship in the MCU, I think it would be an interesting dynamic and would make Dormammu become a more complex antagonist.

Nothing against Doctor Doom replacing Kang in the MCU, because he is one of the best villains in Marvel and is the most likely option to happen. However, my fear is that they will have to introduce him in the middle of the saga and perhaps his introduction will be too rushed, negatively affecting the character's adaptation. Galactus has the same problem.

Dormammu is an easier villain to write in the MCU because he has always been portrayed as a villain who is "Evil for the sake of being Evil." There's no problem with him being like this in the MCU, because that would save Marvel a huge headache if they used Kang or Doctor Doom. Furthermore, there is a way to make simple villains work in the MCU, the High Evolutionary is an example. Villains can be pure evil and still care about certain people, this could be put into Dormammu and explore that side of him a little.

If Marvel wants so badly to adapt "Secret Wars" into the MCU, then there are two possibilities for doing so: They could leave out 2015's Secret Wars and focus on the first Secret Wars (Beyonder), but replace the Beyonder with Dormammu. The other option is to try to adapt the comic "Defenders (2005)", because in that comic, Dormammu managed to use the power of Eternity to recreate the Multiverse in his image. These two options could save 2015's Secret Wars and be adapted in the future with Doctor Doom.

The first Doctor Strange film established that the Dark Dimension is "Beyond Time". This could be used as an excuse for Dormammu to not be affected by Kang's (or the Council of Kangs') manipulations. Furthermore, this would give Dormammu an advantage in eliminating these threats and taking their place as the Main Villain.

_______________________________________________

Well, that was my opinion on who should replace Kang in the MCU. I know this will never happen, because Marvel doesn't realize the potential they are losing by leaving the Faltines aside. I know it's still possible for them to just replace Kang's actor with another actor, but I wanted to base my post on the possibility of the character being completely replaced, because it's more interesting.

#Marvel #Marvel Comics #Marvel Studios #Marvel Cinematic Universe #Comics #Comic Books #Marvel Movies #MCU #Dormammu #Umar #Clea #Doctor Strange #Stephen Strange #Kang The Conqueror #Doctor Doom #The Multiverse Saga #Phase 4 #Phase 5 #Phase 6 #Secret Wars #Marvel Villains #Marvel Heroes #Heroes And Villains #Faltine #Dark Dimension #Unpopular Opinion #Anthony Francisco #Kevin Maguire

[bcbdrums]

Top 10 Soul Eater episodes?

As in, favorite episodes?? Or best episodes??

I'll do...favorites I guess? If that's even possible my gosh... I'm hard-pressed at this point to find any I don't like, and others are like...yes this one and this one and this one and this one.... Like the whole underground battle series of like seven??? Is just one giant episode to me, lol.

ANYWAY.... FAVORITE Top Ten episodes, listed in airing order not a ranking cuz that's impossible, lol.

Now, to absolutely no one's surprise...

These are all Stein and/or Spirit feature episodes. Except maybe two. Here we gooooo!

Episode 4: "Engage the Witch Hunter! A Remedial Lesson in the Graveyard?"

Why a fave? Okay well first of all...we get to see the four main characters fighting together against an enemy. The episode starts with the feeling of...okay, here we go... Like setting the tone of the anime after the concept and chars have been introduced. Gonna be a monster of the week thing, fighting new enemies and collecting souls. Like Digimon but not you know?

So we see awesome techniques from both Maka and Black Star and Sid as a char is super creative, so it's all that stuff to start with. And then...then we start to get that tiny bit of backstory at the end about Spirit and Stein and it's like, wait say what now?? The red-head is more than a comic drunk deadbeat dad? So then...

Episode 5: "Shape of the Soul – Enter the Ultimate Meister, Stein?"

Yeah okay... I mean. Obviously. We see Stein and it's like whoa that design is creepy this guy is creepy and then we hear Spirit blubbering drunkenly about the past and it's like creepy and oh snap I am now sympathetic to Spirit and there is a far deeper backstory going on here with these adults cuz we had the privilege of seeing Sid alive before you know and suddenly he's dead in the prior ep so mystery and...yeah. And then it's very much presented as wow...Stein is...unbeatable. They're doomed. And that twist ending I was just as much huh??? as Soul was and I just. Got captivated by the backstory.

Episode 7: "Black-blooded Terror – There's a Weapon inside Crona?"

More Spirit and Stein stuff. I swear that hospital scene was my favorite scene in the entire show for the longest time. It's hilarious, I still crack up watching it. The toes thing is just... And that way too long dramatic pause and camera pull before he reveals the divorce, and Stein freaking already knows and just...yeah I'm getting giddy thinking about it. But ALSO it's like, okay...now we've departed from the casual anime silliness. We skipped the 30+ eps of growth like Digimon and went straight to the big major character issue. Which you know, makes sense the further into the anime we go for this anime. But...yeah. It gets. Real. Not kids anymore. Crona with Ragnarok are hilarious I love them, and Crona is highkey relatable; Crona is every teenager to exist ever. But yeah then Soul's sacrifice, for Maka... It's just...wow. Yeah it got real.

Episode 8: "The Witch Medusa – Bearer of the Great Terrible Soul?"

Truthfully, probably my favorite episode as things stand right now. My mind may change later. Why? Because obviously...Spirit and Stein get to fight together. We get to see what the future is... It's like seeing the past in Star Wars, the very beginning of Ep. 1 you know where we see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan fight and it's like...yessss this is how things are supposed to be in a world that isn't broken. Seeing Stein and Spirit fight together like that is just... Yeah my heart is pounding thinking about how insanely awesome that is. Also Stein is hot. Plus more of that...not kids anymore. Maka's pure terror at sensing Medusa's soul, seeing her...seeing what a real witch is. Like yeah kid the little kishin egg monsters and magical cats you've been playing with are nothing. Maka realizes the world of meisters and weapons she's in is quite a bit different than her experience so far. And can we talk about how Maka wasn't going to leave Soul's side??? Was just gonna take the hit and die right beside him, because he died for her??? MY HEART! Also Stein is hot yes I know I said it already it bears repeating and man that...seriousness...the way Stein looks at Medusa, the way the witch knows who they are which in itself shows a greater threat... That utter gravity that falls over that moment at the end there, after Stein blocks her attack and it's like....oh snap. Now what? Not to mention all the new tiny details we get about soul resonance and the possibilities and how a weapon can take on features of their meister in the special attacks! (Spirit takes on stitches here on the witch hunter blade, and in the last episodes he takes on Lord Death's skull face on the kishin hunter blade. That's so cool...) Okay I have to stop. I could go on. Like I said...favorite episode as things stand right now.

Episode 13: "The Man with the Magic Eye – Soul and Maka's Diverging Soul Wavelength?"

This one surprised me because initially I didn't care for it. I don't care for Free's design, shark!wolf just doesn't appeal to me. But over time this really grew on me. The writing is excellent and soooooo many major things happen. We get the first bit of touching on the morality issue, like, is DWMA really the correct moral power? Free says something about it and then it becomes a bigger theme going forward. We get the beginning of the black blood effects and the battle against/with it and the start of what all that means... The start of the "acceptance" theme even if it isn't named. We hear Soul's piano for the first time even though it isn't named as such until Brew. We get to see Soul and Maka both so confused but both so dedicated to each other, and the maturing starting to happen, that needs to still happen... It's a huge ep for their relationship. And also...Eruka. I love Eruka. All things Eruka. Any episode with Eruka is a delight. But yeah this episode is just SO deep and excellent, it needs more love. (Also in the candle room fight if you listen close we hear that Spirit has an outy belly button and I'm just alksjdahkjghsd how silly.)

Episode 14: "The Super Written Exam – Heart-Pounding, Reeling, and Restless. You're Kidding!?"

Ehhh heheheh...heheh... Pure absurdity. Pure comedic awesomeness. Everything about this episode. I love things where many characters are featured in more than a cameo and get real attention. We see more of all their homes, more of what they do and who they are when not in battle... Spirit being an absolute fool... That hilarious buildup timer to the end of the exam... Blair ruining what should have been something GOOD agh silly cat I'm still annoyed, lol. I'm not gonna say much here since I said so much about the last episode but man, yeah. Just pure comedy gold, I never ever tire of this episode. "Giraffe, giraffe~" Heheheh.

Episode 23: "Dead or Alive – In the Rift between Revival and Dazzlement?"

Okay like I said before... The entire underground battle, starting with the anniversary party, I consider one giant episode. I name all of those as favorites. I selected this one for here because it's where we get some of Stein's backstory I think? Flashback to he and Spirit as young teens, and we learn where Stein's mental state really is. We get to see more of his and Spirit's dynamic, how they work together both successfully and less successfully... Many headcanons borne of this battle in this episode. My gosh I just...can't put it into words in any brief way. I could write an epic length post breaking down nearly every line, look, gesture... And is this also the episode where the kishin emerges and my gosh if that isn't the creepiest most suspenseful moment I've ever seen. Also, we see more of Eruka! I adore her. And Free. But yeah whole episode... Fantastic.

Episode 25: "The Death Scythes Convene – Stop Dad's Staff Reassignment!?"

And this episode...also silly and ridiculous, but awesome because we get to see a little more of the "adult" side of the DWMA and how things operate. Comedically yes, cuz Soul Eater is a comedy, but still there's quite a bit of seriousness too. Stein's madness as a plot point... But my gosh... Marie, Azusa... Justin... The dynamic between all the adults. I would give ANYTHING for a prequel anime where we get to see all these complete idiots in the academy and how it all went down between them. And my gosh we've had plenty backstory teased already with Stein's experiments against Spirit, Sid and baby Black Star... Seeing the adults as kids would be the perfect "reboot" series for me. Plus that basketball ending, bringing it all full-circle in terms of...okay, here we are again, and here we go again... Onto the next phase of the show/of our lives. It's a fantastic turning-point episode and I never tire of it.

Episode 31: "Drying Happiness! Whose Tears Sparkle in the Moonlight?"

This one...so much happens here. We get delightful glimpses of normal life, we get the reminder that Soul plays piano which becomes important quite soon... We get the comedy of Spirit having to parrot Lord Death to Justin because they just won't make the kid take out his earbuds! We get a moment of Crona and Ragnarok actually getting along and having a normal conversation and ohhh myyyy gosshhhhhh I wish we'd had more of that in the show. I adore Ragnarok. But then...ugh. The saga of pain that begins. You get everyone reaching out, you get to see Crona happy... Marie after wandering around lost, saying if there's ever anything you need... Later inviting Crona to her home... Only to be betrayed. And the absolute skill and execution of the writing as they make us believe for a moment that Marie is okay in returning the pen...and then it's revealed that Crona put a snake in the coffee. Just. Oh man. Ugh the pain. Whyyyy Crona whyyy when you had the entire academy to back you up, everyone on your side, full protection from friends, from a death scythe who trusted you to invite to her home, from Lord Death who gave you a second chance... But you still betrayed them all. And then of course, that little snake then is the catalyst for SO much of what happens in the next episodes... Big deal. This ep is so huge. So many different feels...

Episode 40: "The Cards Are Cut – Medusa Surrenders to the DWMA?"

Spirit feature, Spirit feature! I like getting to see a little more of Spirit's responsibilities other than hovering at Lord Death's shoulder waiting 800 years bound to Death City what the heck his poor death scythes for battles that will never come. I know logically he has other jobs as the death scythe, but it's nice to see him doing some of it and more of his relationship with Lord Death (those two raised their children side by side I mean come on there's so much comedic opportunity here). Also the sheer TENSION in the episode from the fact it's Medusa, and Maka's reaction, and Stein's reaction, and then the deal at the end... It's like...okay this is a serious tone-shift and no clue now what is coming. It's a lot of weight all at once leaving me feel like I'm in a whirlwind and kicks off the final arcs of the show and...yeah. This is a good one.

Also hey guess what!

Turning this ask into a tag game! So...what are your top ten favorite episodes??

@midnightcaptions @memethebum @chickycherrycola @blackbloodteeth @mellancholy-morose @beeejayy (that's right Sunny start interacting with fandom LOL) @takeyourcyanide @cannibal-nightmares

AND...anybody else who wants to take this on! Have fun!

And BONUS... Any and all episodes with Excalibur are awesome and if you don't love him you are wrong. That's okay you're allowed to be, you do you. 😘

#soul eater #maka albarn #soul evans #soul eater evans #franken stein #spirit albarn #excalibur #crona #marie mjolnir #sid barett #sid barrett #lord death #shinigami #stein #spirit #death scythe #free #eruka #medusa #medusa gorgon #crona gorgon #ragnarok #justin law #azusa yumi #black star #death the kid #dtk #black*star #liz thompson #patty thompson

[afirewiel]

Loki, Sylvie, Sylki, and the Future of the MCU.

Firstly, as you may have heard, the MCU is reportedly scrapping the whole Kang storyline and replacing him with Dr. Doom. I have no doubt that this is in response to the domestic abuse allegations made against Jonathan Majors. The issue, however, is how are they going to write Kang out of the MCU? They spent years, both seasons of Loki, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania setting up a multiversal war with Kang's numerous variants. So how are they going to swap out Kang for Dr. Doom? They can't just pretend Kang never existed or was a threat. That would be absolutely terrible writing. The only thing I can think of is to have the Dr. Doom variants take out the Kang variants because they want to be the most powerful.

My next point of concern is Sylki and just what the MCU is going to do with it. I know that it can't be the main focus, not with so many other characters needed to fight the war. But I do want them to at least acknowledge it was a romance. The writers of Loki have said several times that it is a romantic relationship. It just didn't feel that strong in season 2 and I think they need to actually commit to the bit. Especially if, as I suspect, this is might be the last phase and end of the MCU.

I really don't want Sylvie and Loki's first reunion since the end of season 2 to happen off screen. It's something they need to show. So either a) only a short amount of time has passed when we get the reunion or b) HWR's tempad cannot take Sylvie to where Loki is. I say this part because I really hate the idea of Sylvie not going to find Loki quickly. Even Sophia said in a recent interview that Sylvie wouldn't leave Loki alone for long and the only way I will accept her not doing so is if she is unable to go to him. Plus, imagine the drama of their reunion if that ends up being the case.

Of course that is assuming that we get show-Loki (which it sounds like we are). I wouldn't mind getting movie-Loki, but not just him. If we only get one Loki, I want it to be show-Loki. What's the point of making him the God of Stories and replacing HWR otherwise if they're not going to have him participate in the multiversal war? And I'd hate to have the only Loki we get be one who doesn't know who Sylvie is. If they brought in both Lokis, though, they could really have some fun with it. Just imagine Sylvie meeting movie-Loki, quickly realizing it's not her Loki, and going "Damn! Wrong Loki!" and he just goes, "What are you talking about? I'm the only Loki!" Plus, it would be awesome to see how the two Lokis play off each other. Especially considering just how different their lives have been after the battle of New York.

Speaking of different versions of the same character, I know because this is dealing with the mutliverse, we are very likely to get variants of the other characters. And I'm fine with that, but the one character that I want our version of and not just a variant is Thor. I want our Thor to meet show-Loki and learn what he's done. It just wouldn't hit the same with a different version of Thor. And think about how much our Thor has lost. He's lost both of his parents, Loki (multiple times), Heimdall, Vlostagg, Hogun, Fandral, maybe Sif, his home, and now Jane. Yes, he gained an adopted daughter at the end of Love and Thunder, but that's just one gain compared to all of his losses. He needs to gain more. He needs Loki back. He needs to meet Sylvie and take her to heart as a sister (which he would totally do).

All in all, I guess you could say that I'm mildly optimistic about the future of the MCU.

#mcu #loki #sylvie #sylki

[destinygoldenstar]

Which Pretty Cure Would WIN Squid Game? (2024 Update)

Hello.

A couple years back I made an analysis post discussing which Pretty Cure would win Squid Game in that scenario, taking their skills in mind and being as non-bias as I could.

Since then, more seasons have come out. AND my opinions on certain characters placements have changed as I realized some errors in my logic.

So we’re re-doing it!

Fun, right???

I’m going to go through every challenge in Squid Game and see who’d be front runners and who’d be eliminated. Until we get a final two and then a winner.

Some rules though:

No weapons

No power ups. This is based on their own natural skill. If their Pretty Cure powers give them skills they don’t have without it, then that ability will not be factored.

I am only doing major Cure characters. Bright & Windy are the same characters of Bloom & Egret. No ancient Cures, no 11th hour ally’s, as they simply don’t have enough about them to factor.

My opinion on them as characters doesn’t matter here. Some characters I don’t care for can do great in the game while some of my favorites get eliminated very early. I’ll give reasons why I make the choices I do

I won’t be doing Wonderful. That season isn’t done yet. We can’t factor it. There’s just not enough info.

So that gives us 78 Cures as contestants.

Let’s begin.

Red Light Green Light

This game is about patience and mobility. Contestants have go get across the finish line without getting caught moving by a red light. An inability to stay still and wait the light out will spell doom.

Front Runners Of This Challenge Include:

The Suite Cures ; I never factored it the last time I did this, but I realized that because they’re all music based characters, they have an excellent sense of rhythm that gives them a huge advantage. So they’d be really good at the game and knowing when a red light would hit. (Plus I think Ellen and Ako are the types to hide behind people) So this season of Cures pass with flying colors.

Cure Beauty ; If you rewatch Smile, she specifically has avoided getting snagged at stuff more than her teammates. She’s very calm in situations and is persistent in all of them.

Cure Amour ; She’s a literal robot, so… you know. I know some would say that should be non-factored. But it’s not from any Pretty Cure powers, that’s just her body. As such, she’d be great at following directions.

Cure Macaroon & Cure Cosmo ; Same reasons. They’re the types that would take advantage of the game and hide behind people. Can’t ignore that.

And… that’s all the front runners I can think of.

Now for the hard part.

For the Cures that DON’T pass this….

I think Futari Wa-Fresh are all fine.

Blossom. I know people are gonna ask. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she passes this, but BARELY. I know she’s very shy and scared, but unlike some others I can think of, she has shown she can be patient even in scary situations.

As for her partner, Cure Marine, that’s our first one to go.

I know. We’re already losing fan favorites.

But this girl just CANNOT stay still no matter what you do. On top of her being insanely reckless of a character.

There’s even an episode where she actually got frozen and her face was STILL moving.

Especially if she thinks she can take a bullet to the forehead…

Yeah she’s a goner.

Sorry Erika Stan’s.

And we’re keeping the ‘getting rid of fan favorites’ train going, because Cure Happy is also out.

More than other pinks, she’s a huge klutz. And that’s for multiple reasons, whether that be hyperactivity, recklessness, or just plain bad luck. If anyone’s the first to trip under pressure, it’d be her.

Cure Peace is joining her.

I love her as a character.

BUT a main trait of hers is that she is extremely sensitive and a huge crybaby.

First bullet fired, she’s gonna freak out and try to run away.

Cure Felice is eliminated for a different reason.

This one in particular solves all her problems through magic. Which isn’t allowed here.

Considering that overconfidence, she’d not care about a red light and try to run it. Not because she’s arrogant, but because she’s a kid without that discipline.

Cure Custard is also out.

For the same reasons as Yayoi was pretty much. Especially since she is based on a squirrel, which is a pretty skittish creature that jumps at anything.

And the final one eliminated this round is…

Cure Sparkle.

One big factor of this character is that she is not good at following directions. We know she means well, but in a game like this, that’s just a fatal flaw that spells your doom.

I was debating on Cure Earth as well, but after thinking about it I think she’d pass barely. She’s a newborn born in an adults body and incredibly naive about the world but she’s not necessarily dense. (No offense Sparkle)

That’s 6 Cures out ; 72 Cross the Finish Line and move on to the next round

Honeycomb

In this challenge, contestants have to perfectly carve out a shape of a honeycomb candy. Breaking it will result in failure. This challenge involves contestants to be able to manage a steady hand to be able to carve out the shape.

Right off the bat, EVERY Cure from KiraKira and Delicious Party are INSTANT survivors.

No questions asked. Both of these seasons are heavily based around cooking, KiraKira especially specializing in candy. Which means these Cures have the exact skills, so this challenge is a breeze.

I mean except for Himari, who already got eliminated. RIP.

Amour, AGAIN, would also pass this.

Yes her strength is… nuts. And inhuman even without powers. BUT not only does she have great steadiness, she also proved she can carve stuff out well.

It’s not about strength. It’s about controlling that strength. And Ruru has proved she can.

For that same reason, Cure Sunny is surprisingly also safe.

Yes she’s the hardest hitter of her team, and a volleyball player, but 1) Volleyball does require you to aim the ball with your arm effectively, AND 2) Akane has a culinary background and shown to have skills to save herself.

Cure Honey is also a very obvious stand out.

Same reasons for Akane, except even more so. Food and cooking is pretty much her entire character.

And… come on her name is literally Cure Honey. She’s got this.

Cure Scarlet also survives.

Thanks to her violin skills and her nature of tranquility with her craft, she knows exactly what she’s doing.

So we have quite a few Cures that pass with flying colors. But what about the ones that break their cookie?

Despite the success last round, the first one on this list to go is Cure Beat.

Siren is, well, a cat. Born a cat with PAWS.

And even after she became human there’s not any moment in the show where she’s shown to have a steady hand, in fact the opposite with her massive handwriting and her skill being a guitar.

I know people are gonna argue I should’ve given her a pass like Towa because they both play instruments, but keep in mind Towa has more going for her than that, and the guitar is a much more loose instrument than a violin. Especially the one she uses.

The reason the other cats pass is because they’re either chefs, or in Yuni’s case, was an alien form of a cat that had hands. And both those characters are far less reckless than Siren is.

I hope that’s a good reason that you can understand.

Milky Rose is also out.

This one is a born mascot plushie without the steady hand. Now not to say she never had precision, but Milk is known to have such an arrogant sweet tooth that she would just not care about the challenge and eat the cookie.

And even if she didn’t, she doesn’t have much skill involving the candy to save herself.

But now we move on to a sadder one to see go, Cure Sword.

Yeah… this is kind of an obvious one. And I’m pretty sure no one will argue against it.

This girls hand is HARD. In this case for the worst. And she has next to NO skill involving a steady hand as shown constantly. That includes cooking related when she slashes a cutting board by just hitting it once.

Yeah, that’s a quick break right there.

Okay, so Cure Magical is at a very unique disadvantage.

Liko is a stubborn perfectionist and is very hyper focused on getting things right.

She’s the type to overanalyze the best strategy to cut her cookie-

And then the timer would run out in her.

And even if that’s not the case, we’ve seen what her magic does.

But since we eliminated four purples in a row, let’s change it up. Cure Yell.

She’s designed as a cheerleader. But that does NOT translate to ‘steady hand’ in any way.

If her hair styling skills are horrible, what chance does she have?

I know some might say that Flora should be out too for these reasons, but the difference is that Haruka actually showed improvement in hand steady skills and that can’t be ignored. Hana on the other hand doesn’t really have these moments.

Though if people are sad about losing a well liked Pink, not to fear, we’re losing one of the least popular Pinks also, Cure Star.

Hikaru is RECKLESS with a capital R. I’m someone who doesn’t dislike her as much as other people for it, but I can’t ignore that it’s doom spelling in a game like this.

Plus she’s also daring enough to pick a harder shape like the Star. (Ha. Cure STAR.) But she would NOT know what to do with that.

Okay breaks over from the Purple Cure slaughter. Next out is Cure Earth.

I gave her a past last time. That ends here.

Again, she’s a newborn in an adults body. And just… it would just be impossible to have that precise knowledge to be able to do this.

Cure Majesty is also gone for that same reason.

But it’s even more so, as she’s a BABY. There’s just… there’s no way.

And lastly, in a pretty bittersweet, mostly bitter case, Cure Summer and Cure La Mer go out together.

For different reasons. Minatsu is like Hikaru in the sense that she’s more of a reckless character, and in her case a victim of slapstick. Unlike her teammates she just doesn’t have any noteworthy hand steady moments to save herself.

Laura on the other hand is a mermaid. Mermaids live in the water where pressure is very different. So she’d easily get the pressure to cut a cookie wrong.

You can say Melon Bread should be a factor, but I’d disagree as that’s a much softer sweet than honeycomb.

So yeah, it’s sad. But hey, at least they go out together.

10 Cures Break Their Cookies ; 62 Successfully Cut Out Their Shapes And Move On

That number was bigger last time. But after thinking about it I do feel I was too harsh on some of the sporty characters and didn’t acknowledge sports DO have precision involved to do these sports. So I guess I redeemed myself there.

Midnight Brawl

This isn’t really a canon challenge, but several victims are claimed in it that it should be counted for. A lack of needs and sanity breaking events will snap a ton of people to violence. So it’s everyone for themself here.

This is a tricky one as there’s multiple ways you can survive this. Whether it’s naturally being a good fighter who can defend themself or being stealthy event to hide and wait the brawl out.

In this case, it’s tricky cause they’re ALL fighters in a way. It’s just about who is better at fighting than others.

Cure Macaroon is a stealthy person and a deceptive one. She will have no trouble hiding out the event.

Cure Muse is also in that category. As despite her small size, she was a vigilante for such a long time and kept to the shadows. Hiding is pretty natural to her.

Cure Cosmo could actually do it either way. She has the skill to defend herself AND she is a master at disguise like Ako. She has no problem here.

Cure Sunshine, even without powers, is a master at combat being from a dojo and all. She has no problem defending herself.

Cure Moonlight is also a veteran warrior, so she’d have no problem with defense.

Cure Rosetta is also someone who has trained in martial arts outside of powers, so she’d survive no problem. Even if she’s the barrier warrior of her team.

Cure Flamingo has absolutely no trouble committing to assault when she deems necessary. She’d probably be the first to snap.

Cure Sky is also a trained warrior with plenty of strength to go around. So she has no problem.

Now for the hard part. Who doesn’t survive the night?

The first one to go is Cure Whip.

Unlike the rest of her teammates, Ichika has nothing going for her besides being a baker. And with KiraKira’s combat style compared to the others, she’s far less capable of a fist fight as a result.

What can she do? Cream someone??

Yeah that just won’t work.

Cure Yum Yum is also gone.

For the same reasons that she is just a cook. And her personality in particular makes herself very noticeable.

But while Yui is a soccer player, Kokone is quiet and can hide, and Amane is a vigilante with skill, Ran just doesn’t have anything.

Shiny Luminous is probably the weakest cure remaining.

Aside from from being an amplifier, Hikari just does not have anything compared to the others around her.

Of the Yes 5 Cures, Cure Lemonade has the worst shot at this.

She’s expressive in lifestyle so she wouldn’t think about hiding, and compared to her teammates she has the least noteworthy of skill to fight anyone off.

Unless she had rope, but no weapons.

And now we lose a fan favorite unfortunately, Cure Blossom.

For the mockery of ‘weakest Cure ever’, Tsubomi should be really proud of herself for surviving the first two games.

Unfortunately her run ends here. As that mockery does play a factor. Tsubomi is very easy to scare, so it’s not hard to find her, and she’s just too fragile to fight anyone off.

But if that’s too upsetting, not to worry, Cure Ace is also out.

This might be controversial, as Aguri is one of the most overpowered Cures ever…

But only WITH her powers.

Without them, she’s just a regular girl. And given her nature of always butting into things, always saying her opinions, and going on anyway, she’d be too arrogant of a character to hide.

And without her powers, she’s done for.

It hurts cause she’s one of the younger Cures here… but that’s probably the only reason why it hurts.

And finally, the last elimination is, and it absolutely breaks my heart as a Stan…

Cure Grace.

Look, I can’t be bias here. Nodoka doesn’t have much going for her here.

Her hospitalization background does no favors and gives her a physically weak disadvantage going in. Without her powers, she can’t do anything, and even if she tried, it’s damage her health, which would sure be deteriorated at this point in the game already.

That and Nodoka is a pacifist. Sure she’ll fight when it deems right. But she’s one to look for the least harm as a solution. In the world of Squid Game, this is a failing move.

So sorry. She’s my fave. It hurts.

7 Cures Get The Boot ; 55 Cures Survive The Night

Tug Of War

This is another strength based game. Two teams play tug of war against each other and losing side falls to their doom.

This game requires good strength and teamwork. Preferably both.

Now, in the context of Squid Game, there’s be two teams.

I’m not doing that here. Because you come up with ANY match up here, and results would vary.

Instead I’m gonna continue to factor them individually and you can infer from that they’re on the losing team.

From future Eliminations you can interpret the 27 that’d get eliminated here.

This is also tricky, as naturally, all of them are strong and good at teamwork to a degree.

But for the BEST ones at this,

All the Duos left together. (Melody & Rhythm, Black & White, Bloom & Egret, Lovely & Princess, Amour & Ma’Cheri, Sky & Prism, Wing & Butterfly)

More than the others, these Cures are VERY devoted to their teammates and it shows. They’d survive easily.

The Fresh Cures are all very team focused in their move sets and lifestyles.

Also helps that all four of them are still here.

Cure Dream is an excellent leader of a team of 6.

And shes the only 6 Team Leader left in the game. She’d be great at working with a team.

Cure March and Cure Soliel are both strong and the eldest of many siblings. They’re known for teamwork.

Cure Heart is a HUGE standout here.

She’s the student council president, the leader of her team, and a very strong a determined fighter on her own, and is always taking the selfless route of her team first.

More than anyone else here, if anyone’s carrying the team to victory, it’s her.

And finally, Cure Moonlight.

This is a strange one, as last time, I actually eliminated her in this round because she wasn’t a very big team player and took the longest of anyone to join a team. And even then there were complications.

BUT, looking back, I feel like that was my biggest error in that previous list. As while that IS true, you can’t ignore that Yuri IS one of the STRONGEST Cures remaining.

Regardless if she is a good team player or not, if you’re strong enough to hold the rope, you can survive.

So there, I redeemed myself.

So yeah, there’s a lot of good Cures here. What a shock, a show all about teamwork has characters great at teamwork.

But there ARE exceptions to that, surprisingly.

First one is Cure Muse.

1, she’s the smallest and therefore weakest one left.

2, she’s a loner. It’s who she is.

Lethal combo.

And sadly Cure Cosmo.

She was a front runner before, so WOW, what a downfall.

Literally.

While she’s not as weak as Ako, she is also a huge loner and didn’t cooperate with a team even after joining, she was just kinda along for the ride.

Cure Spicy and Cure Finale are both gone here.

Both of them are natural loner who struggle with others, and constantly go on their own and are just social communicators.

Cure Fortune. For… pretty much all the same reasons as the previous combined.

And finally,

Cure Miracle and Cure Fontaine.

The thing that screws them over here is their respective teammates, the Mahou Tsukai Cures and the Healin Good Cures.

Who, aside from themselves, have ALREADY been eliminated.

So they’re alone here.

It’s sad, honestly.

7 Cures Are On The Losing Team ; 48 Cures would hypothetically survive

Marbles

In this came, pairings are pinned against each other to ensure one of them gets all the marbles.

There’s multiple ways to go at this. You can play a marble game. Or if you’re not good at that, there’s always manipulation.

With that in mind, I think the obvious contenders are the villain Cures, especially the born ones.

That’s Amour & Passion.

They’d have no problem.

Cure Macaroon is also a master manipulator without even needing to be a villain.

It’s honestly impressive.

And… that’s it.

Not a lot. That’s because all of these characters are so good hearted that they just wouldn’t be able to hurt their partners.

With that in mind…

We gotta talk about the partners.

I think we’d know who’s pair up with who, not knowing what the game is.

And if Amour made it…

That means her little Cure Ma’Cheri is a goner.

It doesn’t help that she’s younger, and therefore just not a manipulative person.

Plus I think she would allow Ruru to go on.

If Cure Peach is Setsuna’s partner, then she’d also go.

Love is an overbearing person anyway who devotes herself to people.

And then, Cure Chocolot.

Try and convince me Yukari wouldn’t be Akira’s partner. But Akira is very loyal and devoted to people. Sure she’d try to fight to save them both, but once she realizes they can’t, Akira would give Yukari the marbles.

Then there’s the other duos. Melody & Rhythm, Black & White, Bloom & Egret, Lovely & Princess, Sky & Prism, Wing & Butterfly, and the other teams left with just two of them left. Berry & Pine, Sunshine & Moonlight, Gelato & Parfait, Ange & Etoile.

I don’t see these characters manipulating the other. SO… Which ones would sacrifice themselves so the other would move on?

I feel it would be…

Rhythm, White, Egret, Lovely, Prism, Butterfly, Pine, Moonlight, Parfait, Ange

These characters I feel like would have a slightly more devotion towards their partners that they’d sacrifice themselves.

Then there’s the others.

March, Heart, and Soliel, though front runners last time, go here.

They’re all very loyal and devoted, overbearingly so.

Cure Honey goes here, as she’s very trusting towards villains as shown

Cure Scarlet is an interesting elimination.

Yes she’s also an ex villain, but she’s a BRAINWASHED ex villain. It’s because she was manipulated as a child. And years of that would taint her ability to BE manipulative herself without that.

And to even it out to have 24, we need to eliminate six more.

I believe this would be…

Precious, Sunny, Mint, Flora, Milky, & Coral

I’m putting these six together because I don’t have a good reason for it individually.

It’s just that the others have more brain power and guts going for them.

That was a brutal round. And it’s gonna get worse with 24 left.

Glass Stepping Stones

This is by far the worst one.

Get in line. Step on one of two glass panels one at a time. One is safe, the other breaks and you’re gone.

There are NO stand outs here.

This is mostly based on LUCK.

BUT there is ONE factor that we can use to determine a final two.

The line order.

They get to pick their numbers. So it really goes down to who is prideful enough to pick a low number and who’s resilient enough not to.

Out of these, the one I feel would pick #1 is…

Cure Princess.

Out of all them, Hime is easily the most prideful and spoiled of the bunch with her inheritage.

And that will spell her doom for sure.

Cure Sky is not too far behind.

Her whole thing is being the hero, therefore, she’s very confident in her abilities and would think she could pass this.

And going on with it, I think it’s safe to say student council characters would definitely feel the urge to do sooner.

So…

Sunshine, Beauty, Aqua, Diamond, Mermaid, & Selene.

Then there’s more headstrong characters.

Melody, Black, Bloom, Gelato, Dream, Flamingo, Rouge, & Twinkle

Which leaves 8, who I feel would be humble enough to pick higher numbers.

This is hard.

SLIGHTLY, I think the next ones would be Macaroon, Berry, Rosetta, & Papaya.

Which leaves 4

And with that in mind, Etoile and Passion BARELY miss the Top 2

This might be VERY controversial, but of the four left, that half is the lesser stable.

Homare has trauma from her figure skating career and taking on a major role, which is why she’s be further in the back, BUT she HAS shown improvement on such and thus that can’t be ignored. It’d be a dare she’d make to pick the 4th to last number instead of the last one.

And Setsuna, while she is NOT dumb, or arrogant, or even prideful, she is someone who acts on impulse when it comes to time. Especially if, at that point, the timer was almost out. She’s be desperate. And to call her a very emotionally stable person in these sorts of situations is just false.

Which leaves the Final Two, Cure Amour and Cure Wing.

Cure Wing because I feel he would be the one to pick the back number out of everyone. He has survived in his own in hiding for a long time and never broke in sanity, and his nature, while selfless, is also reserved and patient enough to recognize his playing field.

Therefore, he would be the most humble and go last.

And Cure Amour because she too, while able to hold her own, also recognizes when to stay in the back and reserve herself. She did go in disguise. I know that probably means the same should apply to Setsuna, but there is one thing that made me choose Ruru over her.

Her robot nature.

If ANYONE here would be able to tell the glass apart, it’s her.

So she’s at a pretty huge advantage no one else has.

Squid Game

And now, the titular Squid Game. The finale. One acts as the defender. The other acts as the offenser.

And… honestly in the game it’s more of a ‘fight to the death’ type of deal.

And considering which two are left…

I feel like this is even less of a debate than last time.

We LOVE Tsubasa and he deserves it, BUT this scrawny bird boy stands next to NO chance against Ruru.

Ruru is a robotic figure with better defense than him, she’s so much stronger than him that she could throw people in space with ease, and could predict his moves before he could even make them.

Maybe Tsubasa is faster. But that can’t play any factor if he can’t get through her robotic figure. Which he has no ability that can do that.

So… yeah, the Bird Boy falls here.

Cure Amour Wins Squid Game.

She was the victor last time, and… that didn’t change on redoing it. She just had all the skills necessary to win.

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