#it's just so much more satisfying seeing the protagonist lose their shit

[bvrtysbvtches]

corruption arc>>>redemption arc

#it's just so much more satisfying seeing the protagonist lose their shit #will graham #hannibal lecter #hannibal #eve polastri #villanelle #killing eve #libby rhodes #the atlas six #the atlas paradox #olivie blake #fang runin #the poppy war #rf kuang #book tropes

[jeweled-blue-eyes]

Recently I inhaled all translated volumes of the Ascendance of a Bookworm light novels, and I realized that the full beauty of this light novel cannot be appreciated until one has consumed a truckload of shitty otome isekai manhwas.

First off, there's actual worldbuilding. Praise be to the gods!

The following is... technically spoilers but I think it'll spark your interest and enhance one's appreciation for the author's brilliant execution.

The protagonist isekai's into a fantasy world, but doesn't really realize it's a full-on high fantasy world until she gets involved with the nobility because she was reborn into a peasant girl and peasants don't have much to do with magic and mana and all that jazz.

The protagonist, a peasant girl, gets adopted into nobility by her home duchy's highest-ranking nobleman (the archduke or “aub” as they're called, but don't let the name fool you— all rulers of duchies are called archdukes and her home duchy's actually somewhat on the lower end) but the process isn't all sunshines and rainbows, she loses her peasant family, they're alive but they're bound by a magic contract to never treat each other as family ever again— and it's heartwrenching because they truly, truly love each other and her family committed treason to save her (and she in turn was forced into the adoption to save her family from an execution). It's traumatizing.

The world is a fucked up place and the protagonist acknowledges it, and the dissonance between her own modern morality and the world's accepted customs make it hard for her to adjust, and she frequently comes across as an oddball or a threat/wildcard because of it instead of... I dunno, the modern protagonist taking over a reviled character's body and makes everyone love her by “girlboss”? (*side-eyeing Cha Siyeon* but ehhh it's not like she's the only one)

There's politics! Actual politics! And the protagonist starts off as a merchant apprentice and unlike so many otome isekai's that attempt to do merchant work this is actually... it's a world I can sink my teeth in and actually feel satisfied.

The first two arcs (or “parts” as they're called, the story's volumes are usually marked as “Part [#] Volume [#]”) are a bit more on the slice-of-life side with the world's darkness and politicking mostly in the background because the protagonist simply wasn't aware of the shit that was going on behind the scenes or outside her field of influence as she spent those two parts in the lower city as a peasant girl. And then she's forced into an adoption and shit ramps up.

The story doesn't allow itself to lull, there's always one thing or another constantly shaking up the status quo and honestly, I fucking adore it.

I can't quite vouch for the anime's quality as I haven't watched it (apparently a lot of stuff got condensed or cut out?) but I can wholeheartedly vouch for the light novels.

(it started out as a webnovel so I can see how it was written to be a deliberate subversion of the otome isekai genre as many korean manhwas of the same genre also generally start out as webnovels)

I remember Ascendance of the Bookwork! I must have watched the first few episodes when the anime first came out. Although I found the idea of a bookworm commoner protagonist refreshing I don't know why I didn't continue watching the series. It could be just like you said because they cut things and as a result of that the atmosphere seemed more lighthearted than in reality or it might have been that I didn't watch far enough and kind of forgot about the series as I often do with media where you have to wait for the next episode/season once you've caught up.

I had a totally different impression of the anime back then. I thought that the heroine would invent the letter press and start a book binding business. My interest dwindled when I saw a spoiler that she'd got adopted by a noble after her powers were revealed and mistakenly assumed that it would go the cliche route. I'm pleased to see that for once the adoption created a conflict and the real family actually cares about their child. (I think they discovered that she wasn't the real Myne but came to love her anyway? Which is great but must have come as a great shock to the family.) I might start watching the anime again. I don't know if I'll try the webnovel, because honestly I've never managed to fully enjoy a webnovel so far. Much to my regret, I want to feel what y'all are feeling. 😭 Why is classic lit a breeze for me but I struggle with webnovels?

Though can it be really a subversion of the Otome Isekai genre when the world is not a dating sim/romance novel? Is there something like an og hero/heroine protagonist who she runs into much later? When I think of subversion of Otome Isekai I think about stories like Surviving Romance and The Concubine Walkthrough.

#notanon #answered asks

[zaenaris]

⚠️Manga spoilers ahead⚠️

I love that the anime decided to show Koko less snarky and sweeter when talking with Inupi (kudos to Natsuki Hanae, Koko’s seiyuu, and the anime directors of course) especially since we manga readers now have context about their relationship.

While reading the manga while it was published weekly,  Wakui on one hand probably wanted to make the readers understand there was something going on with InuKoko, hinting about their infamous “promise”, making Inupi ask Koko twice in less than 24 hours (in universe) what Koko wanted to do and getting twice the same answer: “I’m sticking with you”.

On the other, he probably didn’t want to show too much, letting thing ambiguous. After all,  at this point in the story, people really have no reason to be super connected to Koko and Inupi, they’re just the “mini bosses” and antagonists of this arc and besides the more gentle interactions between each other and maybe Inupi’s consideration of Chifuyu’s strengh (showing he respects him as an opponent) we don’t really see the real them and their positive sides; sure after the episode we have some more context on Inupi’s past, his desire to recreate the BLACK DRAGON, but we still don’t know why. Because he was promised the leadership before going to reform school when the previous gen was destroyed? We learn later that’s not exactly the case, reasons are deeper.  

This arc is a prelude to their second and more emotionally intense flashback that we will see in Tenjiku. The incredible thing about Inupi and Koko is that, while they’re not the protagonist, they acquire importance in time, but their subplot, while tangles in the main plot through Inupi’s bonds to the first generation of BLACK DRAGON, is just theirs.

The “resolution” (which is really the first step to rebuild their relationship, but at still they got that and, considering how badly many characters have been treated in the last arc, in retrospective, is way more than I could have expected) is in the last arc of the manga and, considering how I dislike the reset that, if we consider the final timeline, undoes all the character development we have, giving us people we don’t know nothing about,  it’s still a kind of satisfying resolution, if we consider the TL we follow in the past and the characters we know. 

Sure, I still believe Wakui could have being bolder about their relationship, which is heavy implied to be romantic other than very tormented (and that’s why it’s interesting), but probably given the mainstream success of the manga, that wasn’t possible in order not to make people lose their shit (and Kodansha its money ofc)

But back to the anime depiction, now manga readers know and care for Koko and Inupi, know their past, why the acted the way they did, and why they had those façades in the BD arc. 

It’s a good directing decision to let us see better and sooner their gentler side when they interact with each other, especially Koko’s (his little run to reach Inupi is so cute💛)

Both these characters have been deeply misunderstood while the manga was published and they still are, but with the whole context, I see things are slowly getting better. That said, everyone is entitled to their opinions, many things are still ambiguous but other things have been clarified.

#tokyo revengers #inui seishu #kokonoi hajime #kokonui #inukoko #kokoinu #inui x koko #inupi x koko #tokyorev meta #tokyorev spoilers #tokyorev anime spoilers #zae talks about tr #zaenaris

[demonsfate]

LIKE. i get the whole jin being bullied thing was essential to the plot's overarching theme of "anger management" and how it's best to control your anger or else it'll make a devil of you. but jesus fucking christ, they couldn't do a better job of depicting this rather than have jin be physically + emotionally abused for WEEKS (like he even makes that a POINT, fucking WEEKS) finally fight back, only for jun to tell him how wrong that was. i get it, i get it, jin shouldn't lose himself to Anger or Hate. but i also hate the "if you stoop to your abusers level, then you're just as bad!!!" and it'd be ONE THING if jun had told jin to not lose his temper like this. but then she MAKES him apologize to them later????????? HELLO??????? like lady he's been getting the CRAP beaten out of him for WEEKS, these people have been TERRORIZING him and y....... you're gonna make him apologize for fighting back with the same shit they were dishing?????? AND THEN SHE TELLS HIM HE'S NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO SMILE OR BE HAPPY AFTER SHE TAKES DOWN A BULLY. LIKE GODDAMN. DUDE CAN'T EVEN FEEL HAPPY THAT HIS ABUSER GOT PUT IN HIS PLACE.

if they really wanted to showcase jin losing himself to anger, wouldn't it have been better to have him lose his temper over something more miniscule? OR OR Just have an argument over something trivial and then losing his shit? i mean yea it may feel out of character for jin but also this anime wasn't afraid to write him out of character and more emotional. so why not? like that would've been leagues better and got the message across rather than shaming somebody for being happy about their abusers getting hurt. it comes off as both pretentious, and also feels like it's lecturing the audience at the same time. because WHO wants to watch their protagonist juts get beaten down helplessly, and be shamed once the bullies got theirs? most people WANT to see the bad guys get a taste of their own medicine. like most superheroes (batman, spiderman, daredevil) all have a no kill rule, but we still see them beat the hell out of bad guys and making quips while they're at it. like this is SATISFYING to watch. bad people DESERVE bad things to happen to them. it's just that these bad guys never cross the line of Killing Them.

and yes i had people try to say "oh but it's jun and she saw this happened to kazuya and she doesn't want her son to go down the same path." and like... that would be fine, actually. i wouldn't mind that if this was just a character scolding jin, and not a show. especially if the character was presented as taking it too extreme because she's overprotective and strict. but there are two reasons i don't think this is the case. 1) the entire show is filled with the lecturing of jin "taking things too far". (it only really worked with leroy, it doesn't work with heihachi (another abuser who LITERALLY KILLED JIN either) and has character scolding him that you feel... probably wouldn't care as much as jun. and 2) jun and kazuya's relationship are just as unexplored in this anime as it is in the games. jun doesn't want to talk about kazuya. but we don't really know why. we can assume it's how he died, but we're not with jun enough to understand this. we're not shown jun and kaz through flashbacks of them ever loving each other. IN FACT, kaz is also depicted as cartoonishly evil in this anime, that it DOES make you wonder why jun even loved him in the first place. so if we lack the context of kaz being an okay person then getting worse, then that means jun lacks the motives as to why she's so scared about jin losing himself to rage.

I'M SORRY BUT I CAN'T GET OVER A CHARACTER BEING PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY BEATEN AND WHEN HE FINALLY STANDS UP FOR HIMSELF, HE IS SHAMED AND TOLD TO APOLOGIZE LIKE IT'S JUST WILD.

#✏️ - ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏsᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏsᴛ // (ooc) #// LIKE Y'ALL COULD'VE DONE ANYTHING ELSE..... #// HELL YOU COULD'VE HAD IT BE THAT JIN WAS TRAINING WITH PEERS AND TOOK IT TOO FAR AND JUN SCOLD HIM FOR THAT #// SDJFNSDFJNDF WHY THE ABUSERS????? WHY???? SDFNG DFGJSDFNDF #// WEIRD ROUTE TO GO DOWN

[maybeamiles]

Saw the last voyage of the demeter today. HOLY SHIT IT WAS FUN. 10/10 good first horror movie.

I am pleased to report that I was not too scared by it. The jumpscares were, well, jumpscares, but between knowing the monster in advance and not actually being scared of vampires, blood, or gollum-esque monsters, I was able to enjoy the movie and not be constantly looking over my shoulder when I got out of the theater.

(Of course, it helps that I live in the middle of a fucking desert and saw the 12 O'clock show. If I'd been in, say, Edinburgh and seen the evening show, I would probably be far more spooked.)

Anyways I have more thoughts but they are SPOILERS SO BE WARNED. THEY ARE UNDER A CUT FOR A REASON.

But if you want a TL;DR without the spoilers: Changes were made to the version we saw in Dracula, they were good and necessary changes, and Dr. Clements is going on my list of favorite characters who deserve a happy ending.

Alright, so yalls have seen the movie now? Okay let's go.

First of all, 10/10 for including a multicultural/multiracial cast. More period shows should do that.

Second of all, I love Dr. Clements. He is such a good protagonist for this story. He would fit in so well with the main dracula crew, and I now want to write a fanfiction where he meets Van Helsing in a bar somewhere and joins the Vampire-Hunting squad. Or bumps into the crew at the Abbey. That would be good, too.

It was fascinating to see Clements, a man of pure science, deal with the threat of the supernatural, and it was nice to see him go "this shouldn't be possible, but here we are, so I'm going to figure out why, and how to stop it." Then the more superstitious crew tried to blame anything other than what was in front of them. Him and Anna are a tiny microcosm of the whole Vampire-hunting crew, minus Van Helsing's expertise.

All of the new characters were good additions. Even the dog. I liked the little detail where, as things got more dangerous and the crew got whittled down, Anna put on mens clothes and integrated into the crew. And the stuff with the kid? GOD, THAT WAS HEARTBREAKING.

They did make some changes to the story of the crew. They didn't try to put blame on the first mate, they made the captain lose it a little bit over the death and vampirification of his grandson, they didn't have the captain tie himself to the wheel, and they didn't have anyone commit suicide in order to escape Dracula.

I think that these changes, while not the most accurate version of the original Demeter's story, worked very well. In the novel, the Demeter's story is dark foreshadowing, another glimpse at the terror that will be inflicted upon the main characters. They never learn the nature of the monster. That wouldn't work for a modern audience that would immediately think "vampire" the moment blood loss was mentioned. As such, we needed a sense of resolution that we wouldn't have gotten if they had just been "yep everyone died. We never see what killed them. Wow, that sucks."

There were even some changes to the vampire lore in dracula. Vampires are no longer repelled by crucifixes, and they burn in direct sunlight (which they don't do in Dracula). That makes Dracula a much more physical threat (and maybe means they actually had a chance of killing him).

The horror we got was very much a "bad things are happening, but we don't have the skills to fully stop them" kind of horror. The decision to have some of the crew members turn was amazing. It made things so much tenser when I realized there were two vampires they had to deal with, and then the scene where the kid turns and the captain kinda looses it? OUCH. And then Anna. Poor Anna. She had it so rough. I think she died in the water from cold or injuries or something, but her death was a very narratively satisfying end to her story.

And finally, the ending. GOD THAT ENDING. Logically, I know there's no way that Dr. Clements would survive if he actually found Dracula. He doesn't have the tools or knowledge to defeat him. But I still think it would be very cool to have a Dracula AU where he teams up with the main cast for whatever reason. I think this guy deserves a proper victory after everything. I had no clue how they would make an "everybody dies" story end in a satisfying way, but BOY did they pull it off. I want Clements to survive all future encounters with Dracula even if I know he shouldn't.

#last voyage of the demeter #movie review #dracula #horror movies #tw suicide mention #last voyage of the demeter spoilers

[fairymint]

6. Do they opmatically assume certain people are lesser than them?

7. Do you ever think that despite your muses actions/morality they do have a point when it comes to their reasons? - volo

It varies a lot whether it's lose verse or win verse, but consistently at the point of in and end game, He sees everyone as lesser, and not worth saving. In ship verses (romantic or platonic, but a concrete and definable bond has to have been formed!!! even if it hasn't actualized.) he does see the protagonist as an exception; they're either equal to him, or second place, slightly below him but greater than Everyone Else. Small children or kids in general would've likely been spared to bring over into the new world- they haven't had a chance to truly be people yet, and don't have the autonomy to change the world or be responsible for it, thanks to most parents' standards. Blank slates as well.

However, it is probably safe to say that win-verse is too far gone and completely selfish- everyone is lesser. Even a ship partner, but the dynamic is nuanced due to the situation- He has gained enough omniprescence and power to attempt to satisfy and soothe their actual desires, rather than needing to either guess, obtain or ask for the knowledge via mortal means. His aim is to spoil. It's complicated with npd, but that works into his personality (and Felix's, to an extent) that treating someone well is motivated by the desire for self-perfection. Volo does like to float quite grey in my opinion- between toxic and ideal; I feel as if you should wonder about him. uncomfortable, but possible not unacceptable. Right on or near the boundaries.

So when people mess up, it gives him an extreme sense of disgust. Verse mostly indicates if, or how he acts out about it. lose verse, aka good guy verse, tends to cope by withdrawing and redirecting, while win verse is active and much bolder in conduct.

But, since NPD deals with wild ego swings technically, this answer will always depend on the moment- such as post-lose verse where his ego will dip extremely low, and he will view himself as 'lesser' and desperate for help to pull him back up. When he messes up, if that's acknowledged in his brain at all, that same sense of disgust permeates in him- but without the want to simply give up- he is not abandoning the grind.

Do you ever think that despite your muses actions/morality they do have a point when it comes to their reasons?

Well of course; Volo as a general character is a symptom of something. Regardless of his autonomy and responsibility- He does not start off as a character that apparently just wakes up and decides to cause problems on purpose. It's more akin to vigilante behaviour. He did create the problem, he's just attempting to solve it in a way that may not be ideal. What the problems that he is a symptom of will depend on the writer, hence the range in portrayal.

I personally tackle a lot- whatever I come up with, but it includes Colonialism (remember Galar's RL equivilent was taking the world by storm IRL), ableism, racism/xenophobia, heteronormativity, and gender (specifically toxic masculinity and femininity respectively depending on verse.) Like, I write about real world scary shit, and I believe I lean more towards the ableism and gender side of these- more that he is an albino bisexual man (and possibly very genderqueer/fluid in god verse).

Like, him being destructive doesn't make the world not suck. The sentiment I see shared is more that people disagree with the way he went about it. It helps that the Xenophobia is straight up canon and demonstrated in game- it's kind of a shame that Volo had to be ironic about his own point and become what he hates (whether he knows that or not.)

#ask. #the27percent #headcanon. #volo. #long post.

[protagonistheavy]

Really wish that JCA episodes were listed in the right order, it's such a peeve that the season finale can happen but then there's extra episodes that should've been watched first. The worst offense is season 3, where I was really convinced that the season was losing out on tons of potential -- namely that the noble animals were never utilized outside their one episodes -- since it was getting to the finale so quickly. No, turns out there WAS an episode EXACTLY what I wanted before the finale... but it's listed immediately afterwards.

This compounded aspects of the finale I didn't like. I specify "compounded" because these issues would still be issues regardless if the episodes were in the right order, but the fact that I watched the finale thinking "this is the finale (<- dumbass)" the flaws just stand out more.

I quite enjoyed the power-up of the Dark Hand goons this season, and I was pumped to see Hak Fu eventually get in on it -- a nice way to raise the power levels and threats to the protagonist. But Hak Fu comes waaay too late in the show, only getting a couple episodes to even be around before he's returned to normal. Really would have liked to see Dark Chi Warrior Hak Fu get a little more use, especially since Dark Chi Dark Hand quickly became underwhelming.

This is made worse by the fact that everything happens so abruptly to end this season. Daolong literally turns around in his own evil lair, only to find Uncle casting a spell that just automatically reverts the Dark Chi Warriors into humans -- literally moments before they get supered up in magical armor, hyped up for a big battle against Shendu. All that gets dropped, because Uncle just finally happens to know the spell that makes Dark Chi Warriors turn to normal..... ughhhhhhhh

Uncle in particular is REALLY annoying this season, because almost all the conflict gets resolved by him and some bullshit magic that he just pulls out of his ass. He ruins so much tension by just having magical answers to everything, and its way too convenient how he just happens to know these spells when it matters -- and also immediately has a way to cast it. I like Uncle's magic shenanigans when there's some sort of obstacle in casting the spell, such as finding the right ingredients or getting the execution of the spell correct; it isn't fun when Uncle and an entire army of chanters just appear out of no where to stop the bad guys, which they do twice this episode, holy shit. In general it also just feels awkward that Uncle is now just fully equipped with magic lasers and shit this whole season, he goes from being a vulnerable bystander with a martial arts tricks, to a full-blown wizard that constantly equalizes the antagonist. It's just too much for Uncle, makes him a more important character than anyone else.

The plot with Shendu's rebirth was also a let-down, he just doesn't get to do anything meaningful before he's beat. By the time he gets his powers back, Uncle is already there with the spell lol. It would have been much, much cooler if Daolong and the Dark Hand had to help Jackie Chan beat Shendu, but nope, Daolong's only input is providing Uncle the sealing spell off-screen, for seemingly nothing in return except the vague idea of vengeance. Bah, stupid plot, it is what it is.

All in all this was a bit of a clunky season. Hunting for the talismans again was made more interesting by putting the powers into living animals, but not enough is done with the concept by the time it's over. Daolong sometimes poses as a credible threat, but he too often gets humiliated post-battles, and too often gets foiled by stupid shit that makes him less engaging as a villain -- but I do really like the evil chanting/vocalizing he does, aesthetically he's on-point. The finale really deserved to be a two-parter for a more satisfying climax. But otherwise it's still been good JCA fun.

[chiaki-c]

played the blue lions route on three hopes, both with and without byleth and now i must word vomit for a bit!!!!

I get that not many people played this (i got the game second hand myself bc...yeah i can't really justify to buying it at full price) but!!! How are people not losing their minds about this!!!!

Like, is it mostly fanservice stuff? Yes. Is it everything i ever wanted? Also definitely YES!!!!!

In the first half especially i really had lots of fun with the story. The last few chapters dragged a bit but i had moments where i was like man i wish 3 houses was more like this actually :/

I can't believe they gave me so much good dimitri/dedue/felix food??? Was this done for me especially????????

I distinctly remember writing here that i really wanted more interactions between dedue and felix in a king dimitri context.....WELL HERE IT IS

The dimidue cutscene......i can't believe they just Did That. I was so blindsided by it i couldn't believe it I WAS SO HAPPY 😭

This is definitely a more sanitized version of the story but i'll take it, yknow!!! It was nice seeing dimitri and felix being a team and relying on each other. Something about them filling the roles you only see glimpses of in 3 houses was especially satisfying

Oh and talking about shit that blindsided me!!!! Dimilix A support???? HELLLOOOOO???!!!! AGAIN WAS THIS DONE FOR ME ESPECIALLY

If you told me in 2k19 we would see felix picking up dimitri and carrying him to bed....unbelievable!!!!!

So many little nuggets here and there that are just. Dimitri Has 2 Hands

funny that a dimilix cutscene exists and is also sooo good but it's rodrigue's death. they're cutely bickering and rodrigue dies (again)!!! and it comes with additional bonding for them now that they're all out of father figures. like lol they must always be sooo tragic!!!!! well lucky me that's what i'm here for

Oh and playable rodrigue was also soo much good food!! All the dads content!!!!!! Matthias!!!!!

GLENN'S LETTER!!!!!!!!!!!

Bitter that we still don't have an official glenn design :/ no i will never shut up about glenn

Dimitri is super cute in this....... i love his stubborn streak!! so kingly!!!! then he turns around and tells you he doesn't wanna name his horses cause he might grow too fond of them :(((

Again, everything was much more...easygoing in this game BUT i think the effort to have dimitri still be dimitri, with what makes him compelling, is commendable. I don't necessarily think it's like...this great writing achievement they got going on but as far as intsys sanctioned fanfiction goes, i enjoyed it!

The other lions are. There. Unfortunately they are just literally there :(

I enjoyed some of the bonus supports, but nothing mind blowing. Sylvain and igrid's was verty cute!! Annette/mercedes was disappointing

Also did they...somehow make cathmir even more canon or is it just meee!!!!!!! but all the church people got done dirty

what really makes me happy about this game is that, with byleth out of the way, the characters relationships can really thrive. i mean shez is much more what i want from your protagonist character. they have a personality + aren't the be all end all of every character's life. i assume this is very unpopular but i can't stand byleth as they are in houses

that said shez's story is so messy...the last chapters were so whatever!! if you somehow didn't have the main game lore as context i imagine non of it would make the slightest sense. but i mean i'm not here bc i care about shez or the lore really!!

this is honestly just good fun if you wanna see more of your faves + some good nuggets of additional backstory here and there!!

#me: i'm over 3 houses. i will be normal about this #me 4 chapters in: oh my god where are my old fanfic drafts!!!!!!! #useless posts #3h

[sogno-ao3]

hi hello! i reread the whole book in one sitting and i just wanted to applaud you for creating such a complex and captivating protagonist that is mollie? i adore that she has her own aspirations, dreams, and values outside that of tommy's and the story isn't always about him (does this make sense? a lot of the fanfiction that i've read of tommy— unconsciously or not, the main character seems to do something with tommy in mind, never with just them?). we also see a realistic interactions and reactions from mollie to someone like tommy since he is very much just . . . something else. funnily enough, i don't think we don't know much about mollie besides her observations and love for literature— her internal dialogue is always about her surroundings, the people around her and never about her. yet, that in it self to me speaks that maybe she struggles with expressing herself emotionally because of being the eldest daughter of an immigrant family. it's like she represses such emotion to lessen the weight of her parents' responsibilities especially in a foreign country along with the racism that comes with it. with that, i'm glad you're writing a clear narrative that tommy needs to build an honest foundation between him and mollie before love between them can be built. that he needs to address the shit he done to her and the people around her to himself. and it's a breath of air since women really do fall on their knees for this man! so seeing him losing the emotional war he waged on mollie is very satisfying. that leaves me with thoughts of what will come next in the following chapters— honestly as much as i do want them to be together, i want mollie to go to med school. i want her to grow outside of tommy's influence and discover who she is and want she wants. in short, fuck tommy and let mollie li be happy. and that was the articulate comment (?) that i promised!

— 🐯 anon

hello 🐯 anon! thank you so much for this lovely, eloquent comment; these legit make me squeal more than writing the tense scenes between Tommy and Mollie lol

does this make sense? a lot of the fanfiction that i've read of tommy— unconsciously or not, the main character seems to do something with tommy in mind, never with just them?

yes! one of the reasons I started writing this story! though I can't blame them, Cillian Murphy's portrayal plays soooo well into the loveable bad boy trope

yet, that in it self to me speaks that maybe she struggles with expressing herself emotionally because of being the eldest daughter of an immigrant family. it's like she represses such emotion to lessen the weight of her parents' responsibilities especially in a foreign country along with the racism that comes with it.

agreed! also, as an obedient daughter, she's grown up accustomed to listening to others; if she does have feelings, it's not relevant--whereas now working for Tommy, in a twisted way, she has a measure of autonomy, and is trying to navigate making her own decisions for the first time.

in short, fuck tommy and let mollie li be happy.

amen

also 👀 on the tag "feminist themes"

#thanks for the ask! #ask box #tommy shelby x oc #stillwaters-ao3

[deviliciousdev]

✨appreciation post for the types✨

- from your local intp🖤

--------------------------------

✨The Intuitives ✨

entj (the commander)

Where to even start, as an intp i have a special place in my heart for entjs and that place is my whole heart. Your ambitious nature makes you charming and intriguing, but the fact that you're secretly a nerd and love learning new things no matter what the topic (and are a whole baby✨ aka the little spoon) is the reason you're simultaneously the intp's best friend and soul mate. 💖

p.s you're not mean, you're hilarious, and i love that you're the best out of all the types at roasting people.

entp (the debater)

ah yes the other half to the "nerds of chaos" dynamic duo. your determination and open mind, provide for some of the best times. if two types were ever the most similar to the point of twins, it would be the entp x intp best friend dynamic. truly there is no one i trust more to tell literally anything to. you're someone who will never belittle or judge in high horse way. but still be honest and leave nothing out. if you feel a way you say it, with no guessing or game playing. and your humor and pet peeves are the exact same as the intp's and as i'm sure you'll agree. being able to hate the same things and laugh at little kids eating shit (even though we're not suppose to 💀) is the pinochle of best friend twinning. (at least for xntps lol)

intj (the architect)

ohhhh, you, you little minx. and i know you hate being called that, which is why it would be your contact in my phone. your lowest points are probably the thing intp's (unlike everyone else), like the most. you know what i mean... don't pretend you don't... *whispers* your lil melt downs, when ya get real serial killery... *snorts with laughter* oh don't worry you're still the superior being. 😏 in all honesty what would the intp be without you... that was rhetorical! stop listing things! anyway, your organized methodical approach is so satisfying. and your smooth intellectual burns that go over most people's heads, brings true peace to all NTs souls. thank you for your service. 🙏

enfj (the protagonist)

you're the main character. and i mean really. when you're at your best, at a large scale, you can lead generations, save those in need, do some seriously rob stark from game of thrones type shit (the most beloved stark by the people and the best leader tbh) on a small scale, you motivate those around you to charge into battle even when we literally just live in the city and are trying to get through college and the corporate world. 💀 even the rogue, pride themselves on being individuals intps, would follow you into the fire. and it's not just because of your charisma either, you actually think in big terms and care about things and people. keep being the king/queen in north (what they called rob stark when he fought for the North's independence)

enfp (the campaigner)

ok not gonna lie, i was so excited to get to yours... you are so incredibly enthusiastic and confident and some how self deprecating at the same time. you are genuinely fun. like the definition of fun. if you were a dog you'd be a golden retriever. no matter how bad things get, you are the one that can make someone smile. your laugh is infectious and no one and i mean no one, can make an intp laugh soooo hard like you can. you can make anything interesting. your idealistic humor has had me crying laughing in the canned foods isle of a grocery store, while you held onto the cart holding a can of bean sprouts, even though we were there getting ingredients for waffles and french toast... like how did we even get on that isle?? why were you holding a can of bean sprouts?? who's to know when you're both intuitive perceivers. ilysm, never ever change. 🖤

infj (the advocate)

you're the best person to go to for advice. genuinely. no matter what you think about yourself (that day lol). you see things in people that they don't even see in themselves. you care about those around you so much to the point you don't like talk about your own troubles. it takes time for you to open up, but when you do, you can be just as weird and hilarious as intps and sometimes more so. we always have fun doing seemingly mundane things like watching crappy horror movies or making frozen pizza. you plan THEE most incredible parties and activities. like seriously some of the best holiday/travel memories i have came from your mind and your company. you bring a gentle order to the chaos of life. my thanks for your being and your infj services transcends words. so i'll just say fannnkksss 😁.

infp (the mediator)

the most opposite and simultaneously most similar to the intp. you are thhheeeee bessttt. you make everyone around you feel comfortable. i can always come to you when i feel like i'm losing my fucking mind and you always know how to explain emotions and human interactions to me. not to mention giving some real slap in the face advice that is much needed! so helpful, one of the best wingmen/match makers, and probably the funniest type when drunk (next to entj). you can chill and watch movies all day or go out to a winery and have a great time. i swear no one is more quotable. we still say hilarious words or sayings you've said years ago and has now been developed into our everyday vernacular. people seriously underestimate you and you do the most and never look for praise or self-aggrandizing ass kissing. you are the LAST person to be a teacher's pet and are one of the most selfless people i know. keep doin you boo 👻

*stay tuned for a letter to the sensors✨*

#16 personalities #mbti #mbti types #intuitives #intp thoughts #mbti humor #based on people i know irl #appreciation post #mbti friendships #mbti relationships #mbti thoughts #entj #entp #intp #intj #infj #infp #enfj #enfp #estj #estp #istp #istj #esfj #esfp #isfj #isfp #16 personality types #mbti memes

[attemptsonherlifepdf]

bojack horseman and bo burnham: the art of acting like you’re acting and the comedy of misery

at the core of bojack horseman, raphael bob-waksberg’s 2014 comedy, is a story about the relationship between performance and depression. the protagonist of this renowned tragicomedy is best described as a sympathetic villain; he is shown to clearly be in the wrong across various events of the show, and is explicitly referred to as a bad person, but the audience is granted deep access to his personal struggles, resulting in some portions of the audience finding themselves on bojack’s side. the duality of his character is complex, but can be broken down into some core components, that all stem from the impacts of stardom and performance. the standup comedy of bo burnham arguably echoes this sentiment in real time. having been a performer from a young age, burnham creates work that serves as a satirical commentary on the life of entertainers. he uses original songs to explore the reliance upon and resentment for his performative nature both onstage and within his personal life. both the comedian and the netflix show are widely understood to be thinly veiling their critiques of the entertainment industry behind a particular brand of witty and absurd humour.

both bojack and burnham’s content openly criticises their audiences and explicitly states the manufactured nature of the narrative the audience is fed. in the fifth season of bojack horseman, the show satirises itself by having bojack star in a police procedural drama, parts of which are actively written by other characters to reflect events of bojack’s life. the titular character he plays, philbert, is the epitome of selfish male angst, and an example of what bob-waksberg’s show could have been; another story about a sad and angry man whose guilt supposedly makes up for the people he has hurt. according to bojack, philbert teaches us ‘we’re all terrible, so we’re all okay’, an interpretation that is harshly disputed by diane: ‘that’s not the point of philbert, for guys to watch it and feel okay. i dont want you, or anyone else, justifying their shitty behaviour because of the show.’ this moment is a direct reaction to some of the online reception bojack horseman has received. various circles of the show’s fanbase have found themselves relating to the protagonist to the point of defending his untoward behaviour, a response not intentioned by the show’s creators. this is not the only example of bob-waksberg’s ability to make his work self-evaluative. in season six’s exposure of bojack and sarah lynn’s problematic relationship, characters question their sexual encounter from the first season. the writers use this as a way of examining their own choices, and the harmful tropes they played into when using this exploitative sexual encounter as a gag. this self-evaluative quality is what sets bojack apart as a show that assesses the performance it participates in, much like the comedy of bo burnham.

bo burnham is known for directly addressing his audience, particularly in terms of discouraging idolisation and parasocial relationships. some examples of this manifest as responses to hecklers rather than a planned bit in the show, for instance:

heckler: i love you!

bo: no you don’t

heckler: i love the IDEA of you!

bo: stop participating!

he actively addresses the issues posed by being an entertainer, and encourages the audience to understand and recognise that his onstage persona is just that: an exaggerated persona. not once does burnham claim to be fully authentic onstage, and even moments of authenticity we see in his latest special, inside, are staged. we make the assumption that having the physical setting of a stage stripped away grants us a more personal look at the entertainer’s life, but he makes it clear that even in his own home we still see the aspects he has carefully constructed rather than the full truth. arguably though, parts of the show really are authentic; in his monologue during make happy, bo deconstructs his own show in a way that is similar to bojack horseman’s later seasons, admitting that all he knows is performing and thus making a show about the more mundane and relatable aspects of life would feel ‘incredibly disingenuous.’ in his attempts to separate himself from this onstage persona he actually manages to blur the lines between what is acting and what is now part of his nature as a result of his job. this notion is echoed in bojack horseman as bojack’s attention seeking nature is attributed to his years acting in front of a camera every day.

bo suggests that the era of social media has created a space in which children’s identities mimic that of an entertainer like himself, describing the phenomenon as ‘performer and audience melded together.’ in this observation he criticises the phenomenon. bo attempts to force the audience to recognise the ways in which their lives are becoming shaped by the presence of an audience and to some extent uses his own life as a warning tale against this. he points out the way in which the ‘tortured artist trope’ means that your cries for help or roundabout attempts of addressing mature themes such as substance abuse, mental illness and trauma become part of that on stage persona and therefore become part of the joke. both bo and bojack address these topics in more discrete manners earlier in their careers, but this eventually becomes expected, and thus they are forced to explicitly detail their struggles with these topics in order to be taken seriously. even then, portions of the audience are inclined to see it as part of the persona or as something that fuels the creators creativity and thus does not need to be addressed as a legitimate issue. the emphasis on creating a character or persona promotes the commodification of mental illness: any struggle must be made into a song or a joke or a bit, must be turned into part of the act in order to have value. this actually serves to delegitimise these emotions and create a disconnect between the feeling and the person, as it becomes near impossible to exist without feeling as though you are acting. even when an artist’s cries for help become blatant, they continue to go ignored because now they serve the purpose of creating content that criticises the industry they stem from. online audiences can be seen as treating bo burnham and his insightful work as existing to demonstrate the negative effects entertaining can have, and because this insight is useful or thought-provoking to audiences, he is almost demanded to keep entertaining and creating. in response to this demand, his work becomes more meta and his messages become clearer, and the more obvious his messages, the more people he reaches. this increases audience demands and traps entertainers in a cycle fraught with internal conflict.

during bojack’s second season, bojack’s date asks him, ‘come on, do that bojack thing where you make a big deal and everyone laughs, but at the same time we relate, because you're saying the things polite society won't.’ this moment exemplifies how aspects of his genuine personality have now become a part of his persona and this is demanded of him in genuine and serious situations, undermining the validity of his emotional reactions. he immediately makes a rude comment to the waitress at the restaurant they’re in and satisfies his date by performing that character he has set himself out to be. some circles of the fan base have argued that bojack is written as a depiction of somebody with borderline personality disorder, offering a psychoanalytical lens through which to view this notion of performance. a defining symptom of borderline personality disorder is a fluctuating sense of self; having grown up on camera, being demanded to perform to others as young as six years old, bojack’s sense of self will have been primarily dictated by the need to act.  whether this acting is for the sake of comedy, or as a representation of masking his mental illness, when they need to act is taken away bojack entirely loses his sense of self and relapses into his addictions: ‘i felt like a xerox of a xerox of a person.’ burnham’s depictions of depression run along a similar vein; in his new special he poses the idea that his comedy no longer serves the same personal purpose it once did for him. he questions ‘shit should I be joking at a time like this?’ and satirises the idea that arts have enough value to change or impact the current global issues that we are facing. burnham’s ‘possible ending song’ to his latest special, he asks ‘does anybody want to joke when no-one’s laughing in the background? so this is how it is.’ implicit in this question is the idea that when the audience is taken away and there is nobody to perform his pain to, he is left with his pain. instead of being able to turn his musings and thoughts into a product to sell to the public, he is forced to just think about them in isolation and actually face them, an abrupt and distressing experience.

the value of performance and art is questioned by both bojack and burnham, particularly during the later years of their respective content. burnham’s infamous song, art is dead, appears to be a direct response to the question ‘what is the worth of art?’ he posits that performing is the result of a need for attention (‘my drug’s attention, i am an addict, but i get paid to indulge in my habit’) and repeatedly jokes throughout his career that the entertainment industry receives more respect that it deserves (‘i’m the same as you, im still doing a job or a service, i’m just massively overpaid’). his revelations regarding the inherent desire for attention that runs through all entertainers is frequently satirised in bojack horseman. bojack is comically, hyperbolically attention hungry and self-obsessed, and the show has a running gag in which he uses phrases along the lines of ‘hello, why is nobody paying attention to me, the famous movie star, instead of these other boring people.’ his constant attempts to direct the focus of others towards himself result in bojack feeling like ‘everybody loves you, but nobody likes you.’ his peers buy into his act and adore the comical, exaggerated, laughable aspects of his character, but find very little room to respond to him on a genuinely personal level because of this. interestingly, bojack appears to enjoy catering to his audience and the instant gratification it produces, whereas bo burnham becomes increasingly candid about his mixed feeling towards his audience. ‘i wanna please you, but i wanna stay true to myself, i wanna give you the night out that you deserve, but i wanna say what i think and not care what you think about it.’ he admits to catering to what audiences want from him, but resents both the audience and himself in the process as it reveals to himself which parts of his character are solely for the sake of people watching him.

within bojack horseman, this concept is applicable not only to the protagonist, but to the various forms of performer demonstrated in the plot. towards the show’s end, sarah lynn asks ‘what does being authentic have to do with anything?’ to which herb kazzaz responds, ‘when i finally stopped hiding behind a facade i could be at peace.’ this highlights the fact that because entertainers are demanded to continue the facade, they do not receive the opportunity to find ‘peace.’ this sentiment is scattered throughout the show, through a musical motif, the song ‘don’t stop dancing.’ the song stems from a life lesson bojack imparted to sarah lynn at a young age, and becomes more frequently used as the show progresses and bojack’s situation worsens.

sarah lynn is also used to explore the value of entertainers; in the show’s penultimate episode, she directly compares her work as a pop icon to the charity work of herb, arguing that if she suffered in order to produce her work. it has to mean something. she lists the struggles she faced when on tour: ‘i gave my whole life...my manager leaked my nudes to get more tour dates added, my mom pointed out every carb i ate, it was hell. but it gave millions of fans a show they will never forget and that has to mean something.’ implicit in this notion is the idea that entertainment is the epitome of self-sacrifice. there is a surplus of mentally ill individuals within the industry, largely due to the nature of the industry itself, but some may argue that the cultural grip the industry has, and the vast amounts of respect and money it generates annually, gives the suffering of these prolific individuals meaning.

the juxtaposing responses entertainers feel towards their audiences manifest as two forms of desperation: the desperation to be an individual who is held accountable, and the desperation to be loved and validated. we see both bojack and bo depict how they oscillate between  ‘this is all a lie’ and ‘my affection for my audience is genuine’, or between ‘do not become infatuated with me im a character’ and ‘please fucking love my character i do not know how to be loved on a personal level.’ bojack explicitly asks diane to write a slam piece on him and ‘hold him accountable’, similar to bo’s song ‘problematic’ in which the hook includes the phrase ‘isn’t anybody gonna hold me accountable?’ for his insensitive jokes as a late teenager. their self-awareness is what enables their self-evaluative qualities, but self-awareness is its own issue. bojack grapples with a narcissistic view of his own recognition of his behaviour before settling on a more nuanced, albeit depressing take. originally he makes the assumption that in recognising the negative aspects of himself, he is superior to those who behave similarly: ‘but i know im a piece of shit. that makes me better than all the pieces of shit that don’t know theyre pieces of shit.’ eventually, during his time at rehab he is forced to reconcile with the fact that self awareness does not, to put it bluntly, make you the superior asshole, it just makes you the more miserable one. the show does, however, make a point to recognise how the entertainment industry protects ‘pieces of shit’, prioritising their productive value over how much they deserve to be held accountable, demonstrated using characters like hank hippopoalus. the show itself obviously stems from the entertainment industry, as it is a form of media produced by netflix, one of the most popular streaming platforms available. bojack horseman and bo burnham represent the small corner of the industry that is reflective enough to showcase the damage it inflicts. this is powerful in terms of education and awareness, and urges audiences to question their own motives and versions of performance, but the reflection alone is not powerful enough to help the artists in question. burnham’s candid conversations surrounding his mental health continue to reveal a plethora of issues somewhat caused or sustained by the nature of his career. within bojack horseman, bojack is only able to stop hurting other characters when those characters construct a situation that forces him to face consequence, his introspection alone is not enough. while bojack ends on a message of hope, suggesting to the audience that reverting back to the status quo is not the only acceptable way for events to end, it leaves stinging lessons and social commentary with the audience regarding the unnatural and damaging narrative that performers live through. on a similar but markedly different note, bo burnham’s work and personal progression is playing out in real time, and not in a way that is as raw and genuine as it appears. each bit is planned, even the most vulnerable moments that appear unplanned and painful. his latest special is not entirely devoid of hope, but does translate to audiences as a somewhat exaggerated look around the era of social media and the development of performance, using himself as an example.

the absurdist humour that often acts as a vehicle for poignant statements or emotionally provocative questions is very specific to each media creator. bob-waksberg’s use of puns, tongue twisters and entirely ridiculous circumstances served to simultaneously characterise his points as an expected part of the show’s style of humour, similar to bojack’s emotional instability, but also to make them appear gut-punching in comparison to the humour. burnham’s work is similar in that poignant but blunt statements are often sandwiched between absurd and exaggerated jokes, making them stand out via contrast but not giving the audience too much time to dwell upon them as they are said. performance art is second nature to entertainers, and is presented a an issue that is infiltrating the general population via social media rather than solely affecting the ‘elites’. bojack horseman and bo burnham present the duality of artists simultaneously attempting to level the playing field and increase their chances of survival in the industry, and encourage audiences to know that everyone is bluffing and you’ll never have the right cards anyway.

i.k.b

#mine #bo burnham #bojack horseman #bojack analysis #bo burnham analysis #comedy #essay #analytical essay #diane nguyen #sarah lynn #inside bo burnham #make happy #bo burnham what #long post #bojack rewatch #bojack ending #bo burnham netflix #bo burnham special #bo burnham my beloved #bjhm #satire #raphael bob-waksberg #netflix #netflix special #original essay #copyright ikb #reblogs appreciated!

[totally-not-a-tickle-blog]

I saw the craig gang tickle fight and was wondering if we may get one with Stans gang? I forgot if you already made one or not so apologizes if you already made one!

I didn't, don't worry

And yesss, we may!

-------------------------------------

— The tickle war started because of Kyle and Cartman

— They always poked each other to shut the other up, and one day Kyle just got tired and decided to attack

— At first it was just them, but Cartman started to get scared and cheated, asking Kenny's help

— Kyle was absolutely wrecked

— Of course he won't forget it that easily.

— He and Stan made a team to win the other two.

— Cartman knows that Stan is the last ticklish person on the group, and if you're against him in a tickle fight, there's a huge chance for you to lose. So, being the little shit that he is, tried to convince the other two to let him help to get revenge on Kenny

— He did it. Lying a bit, but did it

— Kenny got more wrecked than Kyle-

— Cartman isn't satisfied with so little, he made a way to Stan and Kyle go against each other

— None of them wanted more team because they thought the person would betray them too, so NOW it was everyone VS everyone

— Cartman made a cardboard armor for himself lmao

— The first eliminated was obviously Kenny

— Eric was responsible for it. He decided to attack the easier targets first

— Kenny knew he couldn't win, so he just gave up and decided to watch

— The second one was Cartman himself, because of Kyle

— The first time he got tickled so much that he cried

— Kyle don't feel guilty about it and would do it again if he could

— Now, for the finals: Stan and Kyle.

— Just like Token and Craig, they're like protagonist VS antagonist, but if they were childhood friends who changed sides

— Yes, a dramatic speech happened, making it look like they were about to kill each other

— Cartman and Kenny were watching everything, just like an audience

— The winner was...

— Nobody. They gave up.

— Sorry, these super best friends wouldn't do such cruelty 😔

— The ones watching (aka Kenny and Eric) got super disappointed and asked for a real battle, but it didn't happened anyway

— They do bets to see which one would've won if the tickle fight happened

— Spoiler: Stan would

#Tickle #Tickling #Ticklish #South park #Stan marsh #Eric cartman #Kyle broflovski #Kenny mccormick #Headcanons

[percywinchester27]

La Petite Mort

Word count: 2.1K

Pairing: Dean X Reader AU

Warnings: None, just fluff, humour and implied sex ;)

Series Summary: The reader has just shifted to a new flat and boy, someone on the floor has a really banging sex life! The passionate moans have been keeping her up for several nights in row and enough is enough! Reader has her suspicions, but is it really the green-eyed hottie from room no. 307?  

A/N: It’s a neighbours!AU. I’m finally writing one. So excited to share it with you guys. Hope y’all like it! <3

Beta: The best babe, @deanssweetheart23​​​​​

Everything was fine till the banging started. Pun very much intended.

The shift had been smooth, the job was going great and life was finally on track. You had slid under the covers with the most satisfied smile in years only to be woken up to a lady very, very, very happy with her life.

Oh yeah… oh yeah… ahhh right there… oh fuck yeah…

You sat up right in your bed, eyes wide, face hot.

Third night in a row. Third fucking night. Literally.

What in the good heavens? The landlady might have mentioned this while renting out the flat!

Shoving the pillow over your ears, you fell back onto the mattress, closing your eyes shut very tightly. Eventually sleep overtook you and you lapsed into lousy dreams of trying to catch the taxi which kept evading you. Not a metaphor for your sex life at all. Nope.

The disturbed sleep didn’t help your mood the following day. Everyone at the office thought of you as a happy-go lucky person. Lately, they were seeing this whole new dark side of you. Sleep was essential to your functioning. 

In the evening, on your way back, you stopped by the coffee shop downstairs to pick up a brownie. It was a little place; busy yet quaint. The barista, Charlie, made two hearts in your coffee instead of one. That put the biggest smile on your face. 

At least, the day was ending on a high note.

Your newly rented flat was on the third floor of a very complicated building. One staircase did not directly lead into another. An entire hallway had to be crossed to get to it. The design probably broke a hundred different by laws and someone was definitely paid off in the city civil office to get a construction permit. You did not want to imagine how the people would fare in case of a fire emergency. Learning the escape plan was like memorising the map of a treasure hunt. You escape, you win. You lose… whoops! Better luck in next life. But the rent was cheap and you were already living all the clichés of a struggling writer- one incomplete book, a job at a publishing house and addiction to coffee. So, yes, you would brave fire when it came to being able to afford a living.

Struggling with the brownie package and the coffee in your hand you jammed the key into the door. It didn’t go in. 

What the hell?

You tried again, and once more the key got jammed. On a closer look, you realised that the lock didn’t resemble yours at all. Stepping back, you peered at the door. 307. Not 306- which was yours.

The floor design was insane and instead of the flats being lined up next to each other, they were all fronting one another in a haphazard fashion. Shaking your head, you took a step back and jammed the key into the lock of your own flat.

Jesus! You’re losing it, Y/N.

Shirking off the mild irritation, you cooked yourself a hot cup of instant noodles, put on your favourite TV show and slinked into your couch. Tonight’s episode was going to reveal who the murderer was and you had been dying for the suspense to finally end. 

Just when the protagonist was about to point a gun at the killer in the shadows…

Oh my God... you’re incredible… aahhhh… ahhhh… ahhh…

You completely abandoned the TV and jumped up from the sofa. The fire hazard might still be worth it, but the thin walls so weren’t.

On tiptoes, you made your way to the east side wall, putting your ear against it. The noise wasn’t coming from upstairs. That was the only sure thing. But it was impossible to pinpoint the direction. The moans were reverberating through the walls. So loudly that there was no escaping it. Not in the bedroom, the kitchen or the living room sofa. 

Of all of them, the east wall seemed like the culprit. 

Right there… yeah…

307. Whoever it was in that room needed to calm the FUCK down. You grabbed your blanket and dragged it to the end of the living room, fuming. What ticked you off was how much this was ticking you off.

It’s sleep you told yourself. The lack of sleep was the only thing making you mad. The sex noises couldn’t be it. Because there were other noises- a dog barked somewhere occasionally, one of the rooms had a very loud stereo and someone was too much into baking- the beater was ceaseless. No, it had to be the timing and your wrecked sleep schedule.

Just like the nights before, you covered your ears and started reciting the story of the manuscript you had been reading at work. Eventually, sleep overtook you again.

The next morning you woke up in a crappier mood. If that was even possible.

Breathing down on anything and everything, you locked the door on your way out for work. Turning into the corridor, you ran into a wall of solid flesh. 

In your groggy, sleep deprived state, the first thing you noticed was the way he smelled- leather and whiskey and something headier than that. It was divine. Next, you looked up into those eyes- stunning green, like sparkling water running over jade.

“Easy there, sweetheart!” The guy smirked. 

You straightened yourself and took a step back. In front of you stood the most handsome guy you had ever seen. He was tall, with dirty blond hair, almost brown, and those stunning eyes. 

“I’m so sorry,” you muttered, trying to collect your scattered thoughts. You had one of those dumb faces that gave away every damn thought crossing through your brain, so obviously you tried your best not to meet his gaze. Which was a shame really. That face demanded to be ogled at. Let alone the body that followed.

“No, no… I didn’t mind at all.” 

You saw him reach out to the door of 307.

“You’re the one who lives there?” You asked through gritted teeth. 

He raised an eyebrow. “Sure. You want a tour?”

Uhgg the best looking guy and he has to be such a douche!

Slipping past him, you stomped off towards the stairs. This too-good-looking-for-the-world asshat had been ruining your nights and in turn your life. 

You knew it was wrong to be mad at him without, at least, talking about the issue first. A polite conversation explaining your situation wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world now, would it? But how does one start a conversation pertaining to that? After all, he wasn’t exactly the one making the noise. What would you say?

So, hey would you mind pleasuring your girlfriend a little less? 

Or better. Ever heard of a ball gag?

Mere thought of it made you shudder.

The work day was spent trying to shove your neighbour's stupidly handsome face out of your mind. It didn’t help that your mother kept calling, repeatedly. You knew what she had to say. How you should have taken that bigger job at Royal’s publishing. How the writing career might never take off. How you really should get a boyfriend now, or you’ll be the only unmarried cousin in the family.

Usually you could entertain your mother with well-timed hmms and ahhs. Today wasn’t that day.

Bone-tired and absentminded, you jammed the key in the keyhole in the evening, only for it to get stuck again. You looked up at the door. 307.

Well, shit!

Putting both your hands into it, you yanked the key with all your might, just as the door opened. There he stood, with his crooked smirk, dimples digging in, wearing nothing but a thin cotton t-shirt and sweatpants that hung all too low on those hips.

“You don’t need to break into my house. I already offered a tour.” Of course, god gave him an irresistible voice. Cause at this point, why not?

“Sorry,” you muttered, looking anywhere but at him. “I keep getting the wrong door. This one’s mine.”

“Oh, so you’re the one in 306!” You could feel his smirk more than see it. “Looks like you’re having a good ol’ time in there.”

“Excuse me?”

The guy raised scratched the back of his neck, face apologetic. “You might… ya know… just keep the voice down in there?”

The audacity of this guy!

“Rich of you to ask anyone to keep it down!” You hissed. “Why don’t you tell your girlfriend to keep it low?” 

With that, you shut your door in his surprised face. The worst part was, after bumping into him in the morning, your mind was producing distinct images of him in the bed, doing things to a woman. You had tried your best not to let them make a home in your head. But like a stickly tenant, they refused to evacuate. No wonder it was hard to look him in those brilliant, brilliant green eyes. The guy was hot! There was no denying that. You weren’t even willing to accept to yourself just how much time you had put into imagining him naked.

If anything, the denial mixed with your pre-existing irritation and sleep deprivation had you ready tonight. 

So the moment the enamoured voice started begging, you hopped out of your chair. You had every intention of yelling yourself hoarse at the delectable resident next door, but the moment you stepped into the corridor, you came face to face with the very man. 

He was- thankfully, completely clothed- looking a bit harassed, himself.

aahhhh… ahhhh… ahhh… right there...

Your head whipped up to the suspected direction of the voice, and back at him. “Wait, you aren’t… it’s not...?”

His face mirrored your expression of surprise and then he burst out laughing. “Looks like we’ve both been played.”

“Not intentionally,” you said, peering at the adjacent doors, mostly to not look at him. “Where do you think it’s coming from?”

He shot a glance at the door opposite to his. “If it’s not you, my best guess is that guy over there. I mean, if you ask me, Nick over there doesn’t look the type to make a woman that happy… but what do I know?”

“You shouldn’t make assumptions about people,” you said, taking a tentative step towards the said door.

Mr. hot guy smartpants laughed. “Oh, trust me. He’s the douchiest douche you’ll ever meet. Guy like that? Definitely selfish in bed.”

You frowned at him.

“He asks women in the street to smile more,” hot guy explained.

“Uhhgg… yeah you’re right. It’s definitely not him.”

Hot guy pointed his fingers at the rest of the doors. “That one’s rented by three guys. I don’t think it’s them. Mrs. Hendrickson over there works night shifts. I have no clue who lives in there,” he pointed to the last door, directly in front of you.

Goodness you’re amazing...

“Yes, lady, we already know!” He called out.

You couldn’t help the giggle that burst through your lips.

His eyes softened. “Dean Winchester,” he said, offering his hand.

“Y/N. Y/N Y/L/N,” you said, taking his. He had a firm grip. A very funny sensation gripped your stomach. Like a flutter. Nervousness? 

“It’s great to meet you, Y/N.” He smirked. “I sure wish the circumstances were better.”

You bit your lip. “Listen, I’m sorry for the comment about your girlfriend. I was just mad about, you know... “

“Don’t worry about it. My non-existent girlfriend is very cool. She took no offense.”

You snorted.

“I was dead serious about the house tour,” He winked. “I can promise great coffee.”

“Sure, sometime soon.”

He shot a look at the door with the unknown occupants again. “I hate to leave this here, but I think we should get whatever kind of shuteye we can while they’re quiet over there, huh?”

“Oh, yeah!” You hurried back to your flat. “Night, Dean.”

He gave you his crooked grin again, just a hint of mischief. “Night, Y/N.”

You knew it wasn’t him now, and he was right about making the most of the quiet and fucking off to sleep, and yet, each time you closed your eyes, your mind decided to replay your imaginations for you. With a start, you sat up in your bed, a thought occurring to you like a hit on the head- If you had been thinking about him that way? Had he been imagining you as well?

Blood rushed to your face at the very idea. Though a tiny part of you begged for the answer- would it be such a bad thing if he had?

*********************

A/N 2: So? So? SO??? What do you think?

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#dean x reader fluff #dean winchester x reader #neighbors!AU #bartender!Dean #dean winchester reader insert #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester fluff #dean fluff #neighbor!dean #Ana writes LPM #spn fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction #lpm 1 #anawrites #anawritesspn #q

[everythingblreview]

Slow Damage review 2.0 Part 2

Fujieda Towa’s route (True route)

I said before that Fujieda’s route is my favourite and the reason why is simple, because this route is actually Towa’s route, and Towa was for me, always the most interesting character in this game. The god endings of the other routes never left me satisfied, something always felt wrong.

Like it normal in bl games the other 3 routes were focused on the love interested, but this was different. From the beginning Towa was always different compared to other bl protagonist, and it was easy to tell that he had suffer some kind of a trauma. The Towa we met in the beginning is a broken person, he is not interested in other people, he doesn’t care when or if he dies, he lets himself get violated and raped (which he apparently “likes”) and he is not interested in any form of love. From the beginning on I wanted to know the reason for it and the reality of it was a lot darker than I could have ever imagine.

(For this review I’m going to summaries the route and write my opinion while I go on)

 The route starts out completely different, Towa “killed” someone the first time using [euphoria], and this changes the flow of the story (chapter 0)

Towa gets a package with things that are connected to his past. Looking at it Towa health condition imminently gets bed, his way of dealing with it is like always, getting violated and raped by guys. Some short time later we learn that Taku knows something about Towa past that he won’t tell, even going as far as to burn his mail so Towa doesn’t look into it future (Not really nice of you Taku). Towa feels really lost in this moment, because he can’t trust his friends and his nightmares he always has, get worse to the point he is scared of them.

In these hard times he first meets Fujieda for the first time. At first neither Fujieda or Towa trust each other, for Towa he and Fujieda live in completely different worlds, but after Towa finds out that Fujieda has information that could have a connection to his past, the two of them decide to work together. (It interesting that Fujieda still doesn’t trust Towa at this point while Towa does, he also acts like a very serious person like you imagine a megane to be but I find it funny that he never used polite language with Towa while he does it with anyone else) Anyway Towa mentions that he can’t read Fujieda at all, because his smoke is completely white (something Towa never seen before) and doesn’t show any kind of distortion.

The two then proceed to do more research about Towa’s past and at some point the end up in Fujieda’s apartment because of heavy rainfall after being chased and nearly shot. Here we learn that Fujieda is maybe not that all different from Towa because his body is also full of scars like Towa’s.

For Towa it changes everything, because he never seen someone with a body like his, and for the first time he begins to show interested in Fujieda and his secrets. (We also learn that Fujieda is not a real megane, and a total hottie) After they watch some TV show involving a red room Towa remembers his nightmare (the one he always has about a dark red room) and decides to talk to Fujieda about his nightmare. (At this point you can see that he trust Fujieda enough to talk about his nightmares)

Later they return to the clinic and here we see Taku being called out by Fujieda, for keeping the things he knows a secret even though he knows that Towa is suffering. (Finally, someone that acknowledge that Towa is suffering from his current lifestyle, it was always hard to see them just ignoring the horrible stuff Towa does to himself), after some discussion Taku tells them Towa’s real name (yes his name is fake btw), hearing it triggers Towa so much that he passes out (imagine how traumatized one must be to pass out only by hearing his real name).

The next day they find out from a woman that worked with Towa’s mother in the past, that she was involved in some dark business involving child traffic and that the child Fujieda is looking for was a victim of it and was killed in the process. (Later we learn the „sister“ that Towa thought he had, was this girl and actually the sister of Fujieda) This information breaks Fujieda, who was looking all his life for his sister, after her mother sold her, and he completely flips and attacks Towa after they meet in the park again, even going as far as choking and raping him. Which only amuses Towa who is used to it (and wants that kind of treatment).

(Honestly I was not really happy that they included rape, while I understand that Fujieda doesn’t get at this point yet that Towa was also a victim and that he is devastated because his sister, he has been searching for was dead all along, was it really necessary to include rape? The only thing I can say what was not all too bad about it, is that we saw that he is also not a perfect human being and makes mistakes too. Still there was no need to include rape, beating Towa would have been enough but I guess this is a bl game after all …)

Anyway, here we see for the first time that Fujis smoke is changing and is now turning pink/red (whatever you call it).

Some stuff happened, Fujieda’s office get attacked, Towa finds a picture in it after sneaking into it, of the girl (and please look at baby fuji), Fujieda is looking for and he gets a headache from it again. After he meets Fuji (Fuji tells Towa that he will not apologise for his doings and I was not really happy with that statement and only forgive him because I know that he is not that kind of a person and he regrets it, [will explain more later on], also please notice that Fujieda’s smoke is now a pastel pink colour) and they decide to continue to work together. (Towa likes that this is relationship is only based on cooperation without any feelings involved oh honey you got a big storm coming)

The next day, Taku gets kidnapped by Madarme all of the love interested meet up in the deathmatch area, Madarame who is here of course to fuck shit up, fights Fuji for whatever reason, which is not really to Towa’s liking because Madarame is overpowered, so he tries to protect Fuji and gets hit in the process. (look at Towa trying to protect his future boyfriend) Madarame loses all interested, tells Towa he changed and leaves into the sunset to be never seen again, but not before telling Towa that if he want to know about his past he should look in that western style mansion he shows him (this scene annoyed me because Madarame tells Towa that he “changed” but he is not that all different from Towa in Madarame’s route the only difference is that Madarame could not manipulated Towa into thinking he is like he was in the past) After that Fuji and Towa decide to visit the western style mansion, where Towa finally remembers his past, that he was treated as a tool by his mother and sold to customers that did all the horrible things to a child no one even wants to think about, and Fujiedas sister was with him at the time, and she was the one that tried to help him and they tried to escape together but failed, which led to her getting killed. Remembering his past really broke Towa, because his reason to stay alive was his wish to see and draw the desire of people, but it turns out that this was all manipulation by his mother and that he had been doing the same horrible stuff she done (fulfil the desire of disgusting people, that abuse children) without even knowing it and he, for the first time in his life feels guilty because the girl that was helped him and was his only light in the dark please was dead while he is still alive. He wishes that she was alive instead of him. (You can see how much Towa liked her, probably the first person Towa had strong feelings for, she is the one that helped him in this horrible time. Towa was a really quiet kid, and he never went against his mother but she was the reason he tried to break free from her chains). After he understands he goes out trying to completely distract himself like he always does by getting raped and violated. (This scene was so horrible I could barely deal with it)

Towa’s mind works completely different how a healthy person would react. He was abused as a child and the only thing he could do was to accept it, after he lost his memory he stills to continue to get abused because it’s the only thing he know, it’s his way to deal with his trauma, by repeat it again and again. From the beginning he tells us that he doesn’t want love, he only wants to be treated as a tool, because this is what was always done to him, his love for violence is not real, it’s only a reflection of the abuse he went through. He has no desire to use violence on others, he only wants it for himself. (I really like the writing in the parts where Towa got violated because while Towa himself sells us that he likes it, the writing makes it sounds like deep down he actually doesn’t like it) A big part of his personality is not real, it something made up but his mother and the question is who is the real Towa, what makes Towa, Towa? This is something he probably wonders himself in the moment. And since he was confronted with his past, his way of dealing of it, does not work anymore and the only thing that could satisfy his desire is… death. (From the beginning of the game I always had a feeling that at some point, he will break at will try to kill himself, and sadly it came true. The scene is probably saddest in the game because you can really feel how he reached an end, nothing is holding him back anymore, he is all calm when he is confronted with idea of dying…luckily never happens because in the moments Fujieda burst in the room.

(He is the only person who could save Towa in this moment) Fujieda tells him that he should not throw his life away because this isn’t something his sister wanted, who tried to protect Towa and that her last wish before being killed was for Towa to live. He also tells Towa that he was attracted to him from the beginning, but he was scared because he knew that he and Towa where the same but he didn’t want to admit it because it would mean admitting his existence is miserable like Towa’s, but he just could not leave Towa alone. (This confession)

After making sure Towa is not trying to die anymore, he put him in the bath, because Towa tried to light himself on fire using oil on himself and he is all beaten up from before. (I like how atmosphere changes here, the music changes the room gets brighter, you can really feel like the heavy weight is lifted from them).

Fujieda washes Towa hair and talks about the time he did with his sister  (you can really feel that Towa already became an important person to him already) he treats him very gentle and asked him if anything hurts, and gets really angry when he says the “traces” left by the men that raped him, and tells him not to do it anymore (finally someone said it) after Fuji tries to wash Towa’s body, Towa pulls him close and asks him to show him his scars, and he does (this scene is really beautiful because they standing facing each other naked bodies covered in scars, like a mirror) and Towa touches his scars and say they are the same, (like he finally found someone that he can related to, he also looks very vulnerable in this scene) after looking at his scars, he just kissed him, not even knowing why. Lucky for him Fujieda returns his kiss and this leads to them having a passionate moment on Towa bed. (Normally I don’t talk about the sexy times on in my reviews, because it’s more of a fanservice moment in games, but here it’s different)

Normally Towa only goes for violence during sex and doesn’t like gentleness (because he feels nothing), but with Fujieda who has sex skills over 9000 it was the first time that gentleness felt good to him, (Probably because it was the first time, he did it with someone he is attracted to) he also never experienced painless sex and doesn’t even know it can feel good and was really surprised by this unknow feeling. I also like that they keep on kissing each other’s scars, like they wanted to comfort each other (even though Fujieda didn’t like Towa doing it because he, unlike Towa, hates his scars). The scene is really focused on what they are feeling rather than just the actual act itself, and it’s just really wholesome and cute.

After they are done the sit awkwardly on the bed, thinking about what they just did (They sure didn’t expect it to happen, but the moment was right and they just let their feeling go).  Fuji asked him about his love for scares, because he himself can’t understand it, he also asked if it felt good for Towa lmao no confident in his over 9000 sex skills, Towa tells him that it was the first time he felt like that and that it scared him, but it also felt extremely good. (Love a honest man) After that he tells Towa about his past that he and his sister were abused by their parents and his sister later sold by their mother, and Fujieda did everything to search for her. He worked as host in the beginning, earning enough money from his rich costumers to study (he basically was a male prostitute) and later become a lawyer. That’s why they he understands Towa so well because they share the same horrible past and are directly linked to each other by his sister. Also Fujieda’s name is fake like Towa his real name is Yuzuki Minato(first name) Fujieda also suggest for them to support each other rather than licking each other wounds (so it doesn’t sounds like they are just using each other), and when Towa asks him if he want to have this kind of relationship with him he gets all blushy. (Look at him who would have thought that behind this serous looking guy is a gently but very shy man).

Important thing to notice here is, that Fujieda’s smoke changed after this scene and is now completely pink/red and it’s the exact colour that Towa has, Towa also tells him that he can see smoke of people in this scene (I loved how they include this colour transformation, the more his smoke got pink/red the more we saw his real personality, and that his and Towa colour is the same, it’s like they are fated to be). They agree to start this kind of relationship and Towa gives him a little kiss to seal this promise. (Btw Towa always initiates everything, all their kisses and even the sex, Fujieda stop being shy)

The next day Taku asks Towa if he eat something delicious, because his face that looks dead normally, now has colour to it (thanks Taku, he had the best food you can have:love and affection), later on they decide to look for the person, who sent Towa the package and Towa ends up with Rei at Sakakis apartment, where Towa gets kidnapped by Sakaki and Eiji (never trusted him). They bring him back to the mansion, where Towa was abused by his mother, and Sakaki (who is a big piece of trash and adores his trash mother) tortures him by playing his mother voice recording, telling him because he killed his mother, he has to become his mother now. Apparently, Towa pushed her down the stairs, after she attacked him with a knife because he tried to escape with Fujieda’s sister. (I really like how small Towa who never went against his mother, for the first time in his life went against her, you can really see how much influence Fujieda’s sister had on him, even breaking him free from the chains of his mother. And that Fujieda and his sister both had an important role in Towa’s life) Before something can happened Fujieda shows up (our hero) to save Towa, the situation escalates and Fujieda ends up fighting Sakaki, who pulled out a gun try to shoot him.  I loved how Towa, who normally never cares for people tries everything even though his hand are tied up, to protect Fujieda from being shot, you can really see how important he is now to Towa). The scene ends and with Towa acting like his mother tricking Sakaki (he got this idea from Fuji, who he can understand perfectly now even without a lot of communication) and Sakaki falling down the stairs to his death (yay happy end <3). Towa and Fujieda can finally both go home and get treated because they both got shot. Some days later they went back to the mansion, after getting a hint from Eiji, to look for his mother diary (some pages of the diary were sent to Towa). Here we find out Towa birthday (he didn’t know it himself) and that his mother did love him but she was a monster that could not control her horrible desire and that she always felt alone, after reading it Towa end up crying (this poor child) and Fujieda hold him to comfort him. Credit roll

Fast forward half a year later, Towa now lives with Fujieda (yay happy husband life) because he now helps Fujieda with work so they decide that living together would be better and totally not because they are interested in each other of course, also Fujieda is a bad cook, so bad that he even burns scrambled egg (lol). Towa also stops painting after completing Fujieda’s painting, but Fujieda, who is a supportive and loving boyfriend, encourages him to draw more, because his painting will be now free from his mother influence. Towa also ends up losing his ability to see the smoke of people and the colour that he always saw in his vision are also gone (so the colour was always something his mental state projected and not real) Around a month later the visit the beach together because they never went to the beach, and Fujieda tell him since both of their childhood were so horrible they never had such experience and now he want them to experience it together (asdfd why is this so cute) he also accidentally ends up implying that they are married but doesn’t understand it of course because he is a social awkward person and his way of speaking too hard lol. Anyways it ends with them playing in the water and plashing water at each other faces like small children. Still not the end, in the last scene Towa (with his husband of course) visits the shop of the grandma (best side character btw), who sells snacks. And there is this one painting that for Towa was always a black canvas, but it all colourful now. Turns out this painting was bought by his mother for him, and it inspired him to start drawing and all the time he could not see it. He wonders if the sky is such a colour and that he sees the true colour of it now, and most important, for the first time in his life he really feel alive. The end

At this point I was really crying, imagine how horrible your life must be if you never even felt like you were alive, this end scene really shows the greatness of the game, because here you finally understand what you just saw and how great this experience was (at least for me it was like that). I love this scene so much.

When you play the game the first time, after this last scene and the credit roll the room in the start menu that always been dark will turn completely bright like it tells you that Towa is finally free from the darkness. There are more metaphors with darkness and brightness in the game I noticed, Towa’s room is dark in the beginning, and he never opens his windows, but guess who does in one scene, Fujieda. Opening the windows bringing change in the room, also everything in Fujieda’s apartment is dark or just black, his windows are shut with black curtains, but we see in the end when they stared living together that their home is bright with white furniture and big open windows. And one more thing I notice, the credit roll has a black background but in the true route it’s white. I really like it that they made it like this.

Next up for the character analysis

We know a big part of Towa’s personality is an influence by his mother or something made from his trauma, but what part is the real Towa we see? And I want to talk about the part what make Towa such a great character not involving his trauma. A big part why I like him has to do (and I noticed it even more in the replay) with him being extremely smart. He has that what other protags are missing: a brain. I loved how smart he was, there is no scene in the game where I would say he acts dumb, he knows what he is doing. In Rei’s route he knew something was wrong with Mizuno, and he even tricked him into revealing his true self. In the first chapter he knew that Ikuina sent him the flower, in Takus route he knew that he was kidnapped to blackmail Taku, and what to do to get out of the situation. In the true route after he remembered his past, he understands instantly that he was manipulated by his mother. I really respect him for it. Another part I like about him is that he is honest, he is not a tsundere, he will always say his honest opinion, he also has no shame and no problem with admitting he likes and wants sex. Even when he has a problem with liking people, he does cares about the one that are close to him in his own way. Also, he is a fun person and likes to make jokes with his friends. Because of his trauma he has no understanding the feeling of “love” and “like” and almost never says he likes something (he only ever said he likes scars), him actually starting a relationship with people only worked because it was always someone that has been close to him a long time. (In Fujieda’s case it was because their similarities, because of that they could understand better than anyone else from the love interests, and their past is connected through Fujieda’s sister, so they are indirectly linked from the beginning). Unexpectedly he can be really cute sometimes, I didn’t expect him to blush at all but he did. From the beginning you may not think it, but Towa is a really calm person. He never screams, never curses, he avoid fights and is not extremely social, still he does seems to enjoy hanging out with his friends. He is a great artist and I enjoyed his paintings.

One last thing I really like about Towa and what differentiates him from a lot of other protagonists, he acts and feels like an adult. Compared to N+C last main character Aoba who is still very childish, Towa does not feel like a child at all, giving him a totally different atmosphere.  

Fujiedas personality is not that all different to Towa, they are similar any many ways and it’s a reason why they work together. It’s funny how they tried to make him look like he is the serious megane even introducing him as someone who looks down on Towa and you really think in the beginning, he is liked that, but he is completely different. He is a hardworking person that doesn’t like to lose and sometimes comes of a little hard in the way he speaks, but in reality, he is just a very social awkward person with trust issues. From his backstory we can assume he probably didn’t have anyone that was close to him beside his sister like in no friends, and that since he has this trust issue he never let anyone near his heart. He is just not used to talking open with someone and this shows in the way he speaks and if really funny sometimes, he is also a little shy because of it. I love how gentle and caring he is after he finally opened up to Towa. Like Towa, he is honest person and also doesn’t understand the feeling of love I read that some people say that Fujieda feels like a side character and the story would work without him, I completely disagree with it. The feeling of him of a side character comes from the fact that people are just not used for the story to focus on the main character of the game and is always dealing with the problem of the love interest, but here it’s focused on Towa also on Fujieda but Fujieda’s only problem in life is his missing sister, nothing else is there to “fix” about him. In the first place the story was always about Towa, in the routes before you could reach happiness for the other characters and not Towa but this time everything is focused on Towa’s happiness. Because there is so much story in the true route the part where it’s focused on the relationship between them is short. The most important part is the before and after sex talk if you really want to understand their relationship.

The true route would also never work with the other characters, it only works because of Fujieda. He is the main key for the story and for Towa. He is someone Towa can relate to, he understands Towa and Towa understand him, no one else can related to Towa on this level. He pushes Towa to go forward and calls all the other out for not helping Towa, he is the support Towa needs in his life to get over his past, without him everything would fall apart in this route. The theme of the route is “equal”, and it fits them so well because they are always equal, no matter what they do. There is no one that is standing about the other, no top/bottom dynamic, they always do everything to be equal to each other. They have the perfect healthy relationship. Important to mention here is that we may thing Fujieda saved Towa, but Towa also saved Fujieda, fitting their theme. If you replay the game, there is a scene in the beginning where Fujieda tell that for him this world is nothing more than hell for him, and Towa frees him from it.

Last I would like to say that I like how the hinted at the story from the beginning on in every route (which you don’t notice the first time you play it) like with Towa’s nightmare and how he always felt drawn to children but he didn’t know why and that every aspect of the routes connected in the end. I really like games that keep the secret of the story hidden until the end, (some may say that it’s stupid that only the true route had it but that’s the point of a true route) and while all other pairings are also canon, I’m glad that they are the true pairing and the true end of the game. For me there is no better happy end I could have wished for.

[rouiyan]

𝘔𝘠 𝘗𝘜𝘊𝘒 𝘐𝘕 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘎𝘖𝘈𝘓 [ 𝘭.𝘥𝘩 ]

⧏ hyuck’s installment of the keep your cool collective ⧐

synopsis: you’ve decided that the boy in ‘66’ is yours.

✧ ice hockey player!hyuck x (fem.) reader x ice hockey player!jeno + best friend!renjun

✧ genres : fluff, minor angst ✧ word count : 2.3k ✧ disclaimer : swearing

✧ author’s note — finally my brain had the gall to pull through with this idea but i'm left with the realization that all my hyuck fics are just him simping for u.

hyuck internally sighs, his head ringing and ankles sore, as the buzzer goes off, signaling the end of the third round. he’s almost elated, even though he’s sure his team hasn’t won, by just the fact that the game is over. hyuck is by no means sick of ice hockey but lately, the mere idea of it drives him into exhaustion. as he turns to expect the disappointed stare of his coach, he’s surprised when he’s met with a halfhearted smirk. weird, the coach should know more than anyone how lazily this game had played out. but then, as an afterthought, he checks the scoreboard and realizes with an oh shit, that they were tied with the opposing team, somehow.

his line of vision is parting from the board when he makes unfortunate eye contact with the person entering the rink. your hair is pulled back with a pale pink scrunchie and your outfit is a certified mess of oversized hoodie and sweat shorts upon white sneakers. he can quite literally feel the heat that is quick to rush to his cheeks, unfailing to hide his flustered state. he knows he looks stupid but he still can't help but stare and ogle at new and blatant eye candy as she crosses the threshold into the cold space. half your figure is  now covered by the wall that separates the stands with the rink though it doesn't matter because he's still equally enamoured by simply your presence. 

"hyuck, why you staring at y/n?"

hyuck can only wince inwardly as he stutters out, "that's- that's y/n?" it seems unfair that renjun's been hoarding such a pretty specimen to himself. "like your best friend, y/n?"

"yeah, what about her?"

"br-bro, you never mentioned that she was pretty."

"hey, don't even think about it. you're the last possible person i'd set her up with. plus, she's with jeno, they went on a date after practice last time, remember?"

there's an underlying disappointment in donghyuck's tone when he's only able to produce a soft, "oh," because frankly he doesn't know why he's so worked up over someone who he's never even met and that's also dating one of his close teammates. amidst his confused trance, he almost fails to notice his coach call for a pre-game huddle.

he ends up tuning out most of it, now distracted by how jeno keeps glancing back at you and making funny faces, you returning them with the! cutest! little expressions he has ever had the pleasure to lay his eyes upon. the rest of the game is played out with enthusiasm on his part, even going so far as scoring in two more points. he's quick to doubt the truth but donghyuck knows that it's whoever that girl is in the front seats that's making him outdo himself.

the game ends and his team wins, claps and cheers at how the game had turned around in their favor, but donghyuck reverts into a sulky demeanor as soon as he's off the rink and into the locker rooms. he notices jeno, being quick and almost feisty with the other boys that are taking too long for his liking in hogging the showers. donghyuck assumes it has something to do with the (gorgeous, wtf) girl that's waiting on him for a date. hardly fair, he thinks, if only he'd met you earlier by chance, he knows he'd definitely have the ability to charm you out of your wits. after all, he's smart, his face is undeniably agreeable, his sense of humor is top notch, and well, what's not to like?

instead of getting closer to you as he so hoped he would, he ends up becoming more familiar with the routine disappointment, and yet delight, at seeing you show up after practices, games, and eventually, team gatherings outside the rink. he's okay with it, he thinks. but it becomes frequent, even, that you show up out of the blue, with the invitation from jeno, and he's starting to lose his cool when it comes to the simplest of interactions. being included in a conversation with you was no problem, as long as he wasn't talking. eye contact? bearable, but not for more than half a second. and the utmost unfortunate luck for the boy if you ever asked him to pass you a fork, or a spoon, or a goddamned napkin. 

he's not so sure anymore, one sullen night, that he could ever make you his, even if he was gifted the chance. when you're not by jeno's side, you're by renjun's, and if that isn't telling enough about how uncomfy you feel around everyone else, he wouldn't know any better. but even laying within the deepest, darkest parts of night, the screen on his phone displaying your more recent instagram post of you on jeno's back, a sun setting beach painted behind the two of you, he finds his heart yearning to know more about you. he knows you're not one to reach out, to make friends unless in a situation that calls for it, so he supposes now is as good as a time as any to shoot his shot, at being friends.

he braves himself for this hefty task. his breaths are ragged and his heart is already hammering a deep crater inside his chest at just the thought of following through with his plan. his fingers are shaking and his pupils are twitting at about the same pace and it appears that none of his bodily functions seem to be within his control anymore. but before he can press the button, his door is thunked wide open with a hard force, the handle even going so far as to lodge itself neatly into the wall that's now been broken through. donghyuck's mouth is hanging ajar but he's barely surprised to see that the culprit of such heinous and costly action is jeno. lee jeno. 

donghyuck makes swift and subtle actions to shove his phone underneath his pillow but when he takes a good look at the boy's face, he realizes that he didn't need to be so discrete in the first place. jeno's eyes are swollen, and not in the way that suggests he got into a big manly manly fight and came out the victor, but in the way that looks as if his three cats died, all at once, and he'd taken it upon himself to cry for each of their mothers respectively. 

the same eyes rove about the room before settling on the bed, his body following suit but moving as if it were part of another entity entirely. the mattress sinks down low with his body weight and he repositions himself so that he's laying down comfortably, his legs still hung over and down the side. donghyuck can hear jeno's ragged breaths, not unlike his own a minute ago, and he wonders what hell of a day the boy had had to render him into this state of numbed consciousness. but before he can even form the question that sits at the edge of his mind, jeno's voice reverberates lowly in the silence of the room.

"she broke up with me," donghyuck blinks purposefully, "something 'bout how she thinks she might like someone else, fucking bastard."

"is she the bastard?" donghyuck tries to disassociate his feelings from his words and come across as...helpful in lifting his friend's mood.

jeno chuckles, "no, hyuck, she's not the bastard. bastard's the guy who has her heart. i'm glad she told me though, she's never been one to hide things."

"yeah, would've been worse if she dragged it on, huh."

"yeah, a lot worse."

donghyuck's voice almost gets caught within the confines of his rationality, "did she tell you who he- the bastard is?" he sighs inwardly, knowing that this was none of his business whatsoever, but the desire to know seeps into his thoughts. 

jeno sighs as well, "no, not really. she said it was some boy on the team though, might even be you now that i think about it."

"oh," is, yet again, the only thing he is able to produce. 

the new revelations seem to give life to donghyuck. the mere idea that there's a possibility of interest in his direction is something that he thrives off of. mundane tasks like washing the dishes are now enjoyable hobbies, no actual brain work, head empty, thoughts of you exclusively. when it comes to practice, you're no longer there, your presence reduced to hushed talk between the boys and renjun, asking him if you really are the reason jeno's been so out of it, letting easy pucks into the goal left and right. hyuck is relieved, though, that he gets a break, a step back to rethink his crazed emotions. maybe it really was just simple infatuation. maybe it was just because he hadn't gotten laid in awhile. or even just the fact that he's been hanging out with the boys too much and that the first girl he set his eyes on in days ultimately became the protagonist to his daydreams. hell, he is especially glad that you decided it wasn't worth showing your face at the rink for the time being for jeno would've been downright devastated.

that whole paragraph of feelings is bluntly disregarded and thrown off track as he enters the corner cafe a few blocks down from his house and is met with you waving your hand excitedly at him and motioning for him to sit with you. he doesn't hesitate, of course, but makes sure he takes slow and deliberate steps to the window booth you're sitting at just to make sure he at least gets in four deep breaths before he is inevitably subjected to not breathing in your presence.

"hyuck, it's been awhile, i hope this doesn't make you uncomfortable or anything," your face morphs into an expression of realization as it hits you that calling him over was entirely to satisfy your own hopes and dreams. the boy sitting across from you, smiling lightly, might as well be feigning a pleasant disposition, grossed out by the girl that dumped his friend just because she thought she was interested in someone else. by the end of this thought, your voice is reduced to a timid pitch, "you can leave if you want, it's all good."

"actually, i think that it'd be more uncomfortable for you if i left." he feels his heart constrict at the sight and the knowledge that his words enlightened your composure. you take it upon yourself to start some light conversation, not wanting to disclose the reason you'd called him over in the first place just yet. your heart picks up pace, rivaling hyuck's own, and you can't help but think of the sheer likeliness of the luck you'd just encountered. just as you decided to brave up for once and not take advantage of your best friend setting you up on one too many blind dates that were just, too artificial for you, the boy whom you had taken a liking for had shown up before your eyes, breezing through those glass doors as if it were a sign for you to just take charge. 

"and i was telling him-"

"are you free friday?"

"what? oh, what?!"

"i'm asking if you're free friday."

"i- i mean yeah, i have practice at three, but i'm free afterwards."

"let's grab dinner together then."

"oh shoot, okay, like with the boys? 'cause i could ask them if they're down."

"no, i was hoping it could be just us. like a date."

"so, hold the fuck up, you're asking me out on a date?"

"yeah, why…? am i not allowed to do that? is going out on a date with me gonna break bro code or something?"

"n- no, nothing like that. it's just...you can't possibly be serious."

"oh, trust me, i'm dead serious."

"...holy shit, i'm in."

donghyuck fucks up big time at practice, his cheeks are way too hot and he's sweating gallons per second. his jaw is clenching and unclenching in hopes that the action might make him a little more attentive while on ice but instead, he finds his eyes roving over to your figure in the stands far more often than he'd like to admit. he thinks, no he hopes, that jeno is okay with the fact that you're not here for him but rather the 'boy on the team' he'd unknowingly referred to a few months back. hyuck knows, though, that renjun is definitely not okay with it, the aforementioned boy throwing just as many glares at hyuck as hyuck's many glances towards you.

practice is over long after he hoped it would be but you're patient and supportive nonetheless. his eyes crinkle and his smile widens as you sidle into him for warmth in the cool air of the ice rink. hyuck solves this by removing the hoodie from his own, accustomed body, and gently tugs it over your shivering one. he thinks he handles the wave of adoration that consumes him pretty well, even able to ease the corners of his lips down a tad bit. "you're cute," you pull at his cheeks and suddenly things are not so easy to handle. 

donghyuck does eventually get used to all the sneaky shit you pull just to get his ears red and shy smile blossoming, but he knows he'll never get used to the sight of you in the stands, adorning his spare 66 jersey with everything else fading, and fading further away until it's just you and him, and him and you.

copyright © 2020 rouiyan all rights reserved.

✧ end note — i hope you find someone that holds you in such high esteem as hyuck does in this fic, i'm sure you deserve it <3

#dreamwritersnet #neowritingsnet #nct-writers #nct haechan #haechanxreader #haechan fluff #haechan fics #nct scenarios #rouiyan fics #rouiyan writes

[wesavegotham]

So don’t hate me but I’m kinda liking damian’s animated versions better than his comic one I really like his comic one but after all the shit happening where he has been nerfed nonstop getting beat by Thomas Wayne Batman, the teen titans red hood (although Jason attacked from behind like a bitch) and now flatline beating him. Not to mention Bruce not being a father and Damian now Being blamed for everything when they all have no room to talk. God I was satisfied when his old team died in future.

This is going to be a really long post, my apologies in advance.

I absolutely get where you’re coming from. I personally still like comic Damian more because I feel like there is more nuance and layers to him compared to the animated universe Damian, but that is simply the fault of the limited time they could spent on him in the movies.

Movie!Damian certainly wins more fights than comic!Damian and was never regressed in any way that is comparable to the shitshow that was Teen Titans (2016).

You’re adressing a problem I have with comic!Damian too right now, a problem that I’ve already talked about with some people here on tumblr in private. Which is that for all the talk about what Damian can do the comics have rarely shown all those skills Damian should have being used in the actual story in recent years and that is frustrating. I find Damian’s arrogance interesting as long as I feel like he can at least back it up in some way, but in recent time he comes off as just an idiot because he has done almost nothing but fail and lose and the writers still have him act like he’s the greatest. But it doesn’t feel like he can back up his confidence anymore. At all.

If I had to name a skill that differentiates Damian from the other Robins right now then I could only list his skill to hide from Batman and that is a skill he only has for plot convenience. We don’t see him do anything to cover his tracks, we are only told that he somehow did it. And I’m pretty sure that the second this skill stops being convenient for the story it will vanish once again. It will probably end like it did with Jon, where Damian somehow hid so well that Jon said they would never find him in Teen Titans, when they wanted an excuse for Jon to not get involved with his friend’s fall into darkness, but now that DC wanted them to interact again all of that is forgotten and Jon has no problems finding Damian.

Damian is not the most social Robin, nor the most intelligent one and considering how he seemed to lose against everything and everyone in recent years I can’t say with a straight face that he’s the best at fighting or the most skilled. And that IS a problem. Damian will never be known for his social skills or his detective skills, those niches are already taken by Dick and Tim, but in theory he should be a great fighter or a highly skilled person. Damian has sacrificed his entire life for training, both in the league of assassins and during his time with the batfamily. But if Damian sucks at fighting (as in: he loses a lot more than he wins) and his skills play no significant role in advancing the plot, then what is the point of his character? Great, he’s good at drawing and likes manga now, but how will that help with a fighting tournament? Or with solving the mystery behind the league of lazarus? A protagonist is usually supposed to be able to change the situation he is in, that is why he’s the protagonist and not someone else. So what makes Damian so unique that only  he can solve the situation he finds himself in during Robin and not someone like Conner Hawke? Or what makes him unique in the batfamily? I hope Robin adresses that soon. 

Of course now one could say “He still has an unique position as Bruce’s biological child”, but that also was completely irrelevant in recent years. For all the moments since the start of Rebirth that had batfam-fans complaining that Damian was favored by DC because of his status as the only biological child of Bruce, there were actually very few interactions between the two. Stuff like Bruce talking about Damian or saying that he loves him was primarily found in scenes in which Damian was not present. Or it came way too late, like in Teen Titans (and Bruce refusing to hit Damian in the face because he is his child sets such a low bar, I refuse to acknowledge that as a sign of love)

If you look at how Bruce actually treats Damian or describes him then there is little love there. He ignored his 13th birthday, did nothing when Damian left him after the events of Justice League: No Justice, it had no impact on the Batman books at all, Bruce only called Damian for missions like two times, once in City of Bane (which was just so shitty, as I already explained in a previous post) and a second time in Detective Comics #1017 (He sent Damian to find a missing kid in a snow storm, while he dealt with something else), refused to comfort him at Alfred’s wake and when Bruce reflects on what happened in Teen Titans he blames most of it on Damian’s personality, both in Detective Comics #1030 and in Robin #1, and both times there is nobody questioning Bruce’s asessment. He really doesn’t have anything nice to say about Damian and apparently we are not supposed to disagree with him. So in summary: Damian seems to have no skills that make him indispensable for the batfamily, Bruce seems to have a very low opinion of Damian’s character and now that they have decided to give us Bruce searching for Damian the only reason for that seems to be that Bruce suddenly feels responsible for his child, even though that should have already been the case when Damian seperated from him in 2018 or at least directly after the second Teen Titans annual.

Even the kinda nice things Bruce says about Damian in Robin #1 can be called into question if you think about them. He says he has no doubt that Damian can take care of himself...and then we see Damian getting his heart ripped out at the end of the very same issue. Of course we know that Damian’s story doesn’t end there, so I won’t judge this too harshly yet, but to me this didn’t come off as Damian being able to take care of himself.

And I get letting Damian lose at the start of the tournament to establish Flatline as a threat and to make it clear that this tournament is not a game. I also get that Damian’s fight against King Snake was supposed to make sure that we still think of Damian as competent even though he loses later on. But at least for me, winning against King Snake was not cool or badass enough to make up for the fact that Damian was easily killed, in front of everyone, by a literal nobody like Flatline. King Snake is an old, blind guy, that didn’t show up in any DC comic I read since I started in 2018 and that was apparently beaten by Tim in his solo comic when he was 14 back in the 90s. Sorry, but that just isn’t impressive enough for me, especially since I’ve seen Damian lose so much in recent years. It doesn’t establish Flatline as a badass, it just makes me think that Damian is not that great of a fighter and shouldn’t be in this tournament.

I have some more thoughts on the tournament that make me wish that the arc will start being less about winning the tournament itself and more about something like taking down the league of lazarus soon (mainly the fact that a fight about being the best fighter is useless if the big guns are not taking part, the fact that you can only win by killing your oponent, which should be a problem for Damian and how nothing we know about the rewards for winning, becoming part of the league of lazarus und apparently immortality, is desirable for Damian), but this answer is already too long.

I’m going to be honest an admit that I did not like the ending of Robin #1 at all and that I hope that Williamson will show Damian being competent really soon because I’m not here for another pointless arc about Damian learning humility. I want to see Damian win for once, you know, like other protagonist usually do at the end of an arc and if Damian can’t even win or tell us what’s going on with him from his point of view in a book about him then I’m probably going to feel very disappointed by this book.