#like. they have a pretty clearly defined sibling-like relationship

[starbylers]

Here’s 7 of my favourite Byler proofs just from season 4. Pretty sure we all know these but just a refresher if anyone is feeling doubtful <3

Camera focusing on men wrestling when in Mike’s POV

There is no other explanation for this shot: Mike was watching the boys. Hinting at his sexuality is the only reasoning here that has actual narrative purpose.

Symbolism in the final scene

The dying Mlvn flowers vs the blooming flowers edited between Mike and Will.

El walking away from the love triangle framing, alone. Mike and Will centred as a pair between the other endgame couples. This is not an accident, the way everyone is positioned in twos is incredibly staged and deliberate.

Mike’s bedroom walls

The shirtless male dragon on a literal rainbow poster (this one is so obvious I have to laugh). Other characters have pictures of the gender they’re shown to be attracted to on their walls, why is it any different for Mike? And of course the one way sign. Set design is a professional career, these things were not thrown in at random. A character’s room is supposed to give us insight into who they are and their story.

The narrative. The most basic but strong evidence that exists.

El lying to Mike for months. Mike avoiding touching Will and pretending not to look at him in the airport, after finding out he likes a girl. Mike and El fighting and Mike using gaslighting language and shifting blame. El leaving Mike behind with ‘from El’. Their relationship is on the rocks. Will and Mike having multiple interrupted heart to hearts. Borderline flirting and definite gazing into each other’s eyes in the Dear Billy talk. Mike feeling insecure and inferior in his relationship. Will’s secret love confession making Mike feel happy and better about himself. That same confession encouraging Mike to give the monologue. The monologue being completely impersonal and containing at least one 100% confirmed lie (love at first sight). El fails to achieve her goal (save Max) despite Mike’s words. El having no response to Mike’s long-awaited ‘I love you’ when it’s been days.

Suzie’s house foreshadowing episode 9

Mike & Suzie’s dad both hit by the arrow (to show he represents Mike)

‘It looked genuine’ do I need to say more?

Also this foreshadowing is backed up by one of Suzie’s sibling’s lines ‘too much salt’ (aka reference to the salt bath).

The Suzie’s house sequence has absolutely no purpose to the plot. It exists for parallel purposes.

Fruit on pizza metaphor interrupting Mike’s alleged ‘I love you’ attempt

Mike: ‘That’s blasphemous! Putting fruit on pizza?’

Argyle: ‘Try before you deny.’ El: ‘It’s good!’

I think this metaphor is pretty self-explanatory. (Trying the ‘fruit’ = exploring his sexuality, Mike thinks it’s wrong, specifically using the word ‘blasphemous’ (which in simple terms is defined as ‘to disrespect God or religion’, and we know Mike grew up in a homophobic small town in the 80s). There are more detailed explanations of this elsewhere on Tumblr, this is just a mini summary).

Also, Argyle calling Mike Romeo (reference to a doomed relationship).

Again, this scene had absolutely no purpose plotwise or character-wise (at least explicitly). It was pure symbolism.

‘Straight doesn’t make sense’ map joke

Mike: ‘Straight, straight, straight…right on the money, as I said.’

Jonathan: ‘It just doesn’t make sense.’

Yet again, no plot or character purpose for this dialogue, or at least not for wording it this way. This was clearly a joke alluding to Mike’s sexuality (and him possibly being in denial), similar to the telemarketing joke in s3 (‘El? Sorry, not interested’).

#byler #these things are only scratching the surface of all the evidence but just wanted to ease people’s minds :) #we are getting our endgame guys

[ingravinoveritas]

I thought I was the only one who weirded out by the fact that a mother can define ON THE INTERNET her own daughter a “drunken accident”. Like??? Everyone find her so funny. Maybe I have no sense of humor, but I can’t tell from experience that knowing to be your parents’ accident hurts A LOT. It isn’t something you want to make public. And yes, she’s definitely bragging. We get it, Georgia, you’re the luckiest woman alive, now chill. There’s no need to remind us about your sex life, unless you have something to prove...

Hi there! I'm so sorry to hear of your negative experience, and that it affected you so deeply. It's a curious thing, too, because in the same post where Georgia wrote that caption, she has Birdie's face censored/covered up. So seeing her kids' faces is too private, but sharing that piece of information (about Birdie and about Georgia's sex life) is somehow okay? Because that seems like a pretty strange disconnect.

I also think what a lot of people are missing is that in many cases, using the word "accident" when referring to a pregnancy also tends to correlate with "unwanted." There is an entire media trope built around this that we see in both TV shows and movies (i.e., an older sibling saying to a younger sibling, "Mom told me you were an accident"). And while this can be and has been played for both comedy and drama, the underlying negative connotation is the same: That Sibling #1 is saying it as an insult/to be hurtful toward Sibling #2. And that feeling of being unwanted is not something lightly brushed aside.

But if the comments on this post are any indication, you are definitely not the only one who felt weirded out by Georgia's caption, and I would not at all say it has anything to do with a sense of humor. This is par for the course for Georgia, as she posted this about Ty on Valentine's Day last year (putting it side by side with today's post, so we have the comparison):

...As well as her repeated use of the hashtag #vaginabragsunday (or just #vaginabrag) when making posts about her kids. She even (inexplicably) used that tag on her post for David's 50th birthday a few years ago.

The common thread with all of these (the post about Birdie, the post about Ty, the post about David) is that these posts are meant to be about someone else, yet she manages to center herself in them instead. That's where I think much of the issue lies for many of us--that this post for Birdie's birthday was phrased as if directed toward her, yet Georgia is using it to brag about her sex life, and clearly aiming that/the post itself at the general public.

Which brings me to your assertion about her having something to prove. As we know by now, Georgia has pretty much built her brand around the concept of--to borrow a terrific turn of phrase from @clayisforgirls--"I shagged David Tennant and you didn’t." But what I feel like some people are missing is that "I had sex with David Tennant" is a world away from and not the same thing as "I had sex with my husband David, the man I love." And if she needs to brag and seek validation from complete strangers--on her own kid's birthday post, of all places--that seems to speak volumes about the state of her and David's relationship, and not in the way that most people commenting today seem to think it does.

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with me. I think folks often feel like they can't speak honestly about these things in the fandom, so I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to do so. Thanks for writing in! x

#nabrrie #reply post #georgia tennant #david tennant #soft scottish hipster gigolo #choices #not all of them good #also can we think for a moment how different this would be if the genders were reversed #if G was a man saying he had no self control with wine or his wife #that would seem at least slightly concerning #yet because Georgia's a woman no one seems to care #and any inkling of how David feels about this caption is completely missing #curiouser and curiouser #thoughts #discourse

[justmeinadaze]

We're a Family Part 4 (Steddie X You)

A/N: Sorry this took me awhile. I've been so obsessed with I'm in Control I hadn't really had any ideas for these 3. But alas...I bear you this. <3

Warnings: Steddie relationship and all that that implies ( I regret nothing!), as we know by now reader is pregnant but it's still early. Reader mentions missing her dad <3, smut of course (because Im always horny for these two).

Word Count: 3335

“Oh ma god.” Your sister danced around excitedly with the ultrasound in her hand. “I’m going to be aunt.”

“Hey!”, Dylan pouts from his place near the hood of her car.

“You know what I mean!” Kierra grins at him before hug tackling you. 

“Yeah, you’re not going to be anything if you blow up”, Eddie cleans his hands as he turns around. “Kierra, how long has it been since you did any kind of maintenance on this car?”

“Define ‘maintenance’.”

He laughs as he sighs. “I can get it running but you may really want to consider looking into getting a new mode of transportation.”

“Hey Kierra.” Steve greets your sister as he exits the house. “Hey, should you be that close to the car when your pregnant?” A small smile paints your face as your sibling giggles. “I mean with all the fumes and stuff.”

“Yeah, usually I would make fun of him to but with this vehicle threatening to send us to all to hell…” Dylan covers his mouth as he laughs at Eddie’s comment. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just be careful.” He places a quick peck on your lips as he runs to his car.

“Is he off to work?”, Kierra asks.

“No, he’s been spending every Wednesday with Robin. I think it helps clear his head with everything going on.”

“Speaking of everything, I haven’t heard anything from douchebag. No rumors of court dates or anything like that.”

“Eh, let’s take one stressful situation at a time.” You smile at her as the engine roars to life.

“Ah, Mr. Munson, you are my hero!”

####################

“Eddie! Baby! Get down here!”, Steve hollered from downstairs. 

“Jesus, dad. We’re coming!”, Eddie playfully whines as he stomps down the stairs. 

“Here you go little dude.” 

“Thank you, Steve.”

You and Eddie freeze in the kitchen doorway as you look around. Steve had made a pretty complex dinner that smelled amazing. He had set the table that your son was currently sitting at with a huge grin on his face. Now it wasn’t uncommon for him to cook or make dinner but usually it was something quick that you could throw in the oven or took at most ten minutes to prepare. He had clearly put in a lot of effort with this meal. 

“Ok, I think he may have upped his game and is now kidnapping us both. If the food tastes sour or like it’s been poisoned spit it out.”, the metalhead whispers loud enough for everyone to hear. 

“Calm down. I just wanted to do something nice especially after being a jerk a couple of weeks ago. Baby, I know you’ve been craving pasta so,” he gestures towards the table.

“I really have. It was the same with weirdo.” You point at Dylan as you take a seat. “That and Neapolitan ice cream. I’m not sure why but all the flavors mixed together just hit right.”

You four enjoy your dinner with your son asking a lot more questions about what you were like when you were pregnant with him and how he was when he was baby. After a while he asked if he could watch tv before running into the living room. 

“Steve, thank you for this. It was delicious.” He smiles at your compliment, reaching over to intertwine your fingers with his. 

“So, what’s going on, bud?”, Eddie asks.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve known you for a long time and while I do think this was an apology dinner…I also think you want to talk about something.”

Steve’s brown eyes meet yours as you nod, agreeing with the metalhead. “I didn’t want to push you. I figured you’d bring it up later when we were upstairs.”

“Can’t hide anything from either of you.”, he chuckles. “Okay, yeah, I’ve been keeping something a secret but I want to talk about it now.” Your thumb caresses his skin, comforting him. “I haven’t been hanging out with Robin every Wednesday. I’ve actually been going to a therapist in town.”

“Huh. That explains some things.” Eddie leans back in his chair, waiting for the other man to continue. 

“I don’t like the way I lashed out at both of you but especially you, Y/N. I promised you before we moved, you’d never have to worry about me making you feel unappreciated or worthless. You deserve better. You, Eds, Dylan, and that baby. I want to be better.”

“Honey, I’m proud of you for doing that. I don’t blame you for the way you reacted—”

“I do. It was unfair of me to put that all on you. And Eddie, I regret everything I said to you. I know I panicked but that’s no excuse.”

“I forgive you, man. The news shook us all. I’d be lying if I didn’t say there is a part of me that’s afraid I’ll fuck up and become my dad to but Wayne said that Y/N would sooner kill me then let that happen.”

“I mean, he’s not wrong.”, you laugh. “Steve, why didn’t you tell us when you started going?”

“I don’t know. I think I just wanted to test it out first and see if it would even do any good. Plus, I didn’t want you two to worry.”

“Why are you telling us now?”

“She suggested I should. I told her I wanted to make this apology dinner and she thought it would be the perfect opportunity to tell you I had been coming to see her.”

“I’m proud of you to, man.” Eddie gets up grabbing your plate along with his and takes it to the sink. 

###############

Steve sits along the edge of the porcelain tub in his boxers with his legs on either side behind you. His fingers glide under your chin and tenderly tip your head back. You sigh when you feel the warm water run down your hair. The sound of the plastic cup echoes through the bathroom as he places it to the side and reaches for your shampoo. Your eyes flutter closed as his hands firmly but gently massage the product into your scalp. 

Eddie leans against the other side across from you, a small smile on his lips as he watches your face. “So, when am I supposed to start rubbing your feet and all that.”

“Over a year ago when we started dating.”, you giggle as you lean back and kiss the other man’s knee. “That feels really good, Steve.”

“I saw it in a movie once a long time ago in school. Always wanted to try it.”

“I don’t remember us watching a movie like that in school.”

“Oh well you see, Eds, you would have actually had to show up.” Steve chuckles as Eddie splashes water at him. 

As the other boy reaches for the cup, he glances towards his friend and realizes he’s making an odd face towards you. Their eyes meet and the metalhead gestures with them at your face. Steve’s fingers tip your head back again just intime to see you blink back into reality. 

“Where did you go just then, honey?”

“Nowhere. I was just thinking.”

“About?”, Eddie asks.

“No, it’s fine. It’s not a big deal.” You smile as the fingers under your chin dip you further back so Steve can place a soft kiss on your lips. 

“Tell us, baby. Please.”

You let out a small sigh as he releases you and continues washing the shampoo out of your hair. “Have, um, have you two told anyone yet?”

The hands behind you stop for a moment before continuing their task. 

“I told Robin. I’d be lying if I said I know how to tell my parents.”

“I called Wayne after… after Harrington walked out that day. He’s excited.”, Eddie laughs. “He’s the only one I wanted to tell, honestly.”

Steve stands up and slides off his underwear before climbing into the tub, wrapping his arms around you. 

“What’s going on, baby?”, he whispers.

“I just… I want to tell my mom but…I know she doesn’t agree which makes me miss my dad…which…” You feel the tears threaten to fall as you force them back. 

Eddie leans forward and caresses your cheek with his thumb. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know it’s not the same but you know you always have us, Dylan, your sister, Wayne, Robin…fucking so many people that are here and behind you on this. You’re not alone.”

You breathily laugh as you lay back against Steve’s chest. “Thank you for saying that. I think it’s just…the hormones making me feel things.” 

“Are they making you feel anything else?” Eddie’s eyes shimmered with mischief. 

“Eddie, what ever could you mean?” He chuckled at your sarcasm, guiding you from Steve’s lap onto his own with your back now against him. His lips gently trailed along your shoulder up to your neck. 

“What do you think, princess? Do you think, Harrington has made it up to you with the dinner and the bath?”

Your eyes narrowed at Steve as his zeroed in on his friends. “Ok, now I’m genuinely asking. What do you mean?”, you giggle.

“What I’m asking you is do you think Stevie here has earned the right to cum tonight? Or do you think he needs to be punished a bit longer.”

“Eddie Munson, we are not punishing Steve. He apologized and has more than made up for what happened.”

“No, no honey. He’s right. I hurt you both and it seems Munson here thinks I haven’t repented enough.” Steve’s tone was light and you didn’t need to turn around to know they were both smirking at each other. 

“You wouldn’t last, Harrington. I bet you ten bucks when we’re done you will be begging to cum.”

“Seriously? Do I get a say in this?”, you giggle. “Because I bet twenty.”

“Oh ok. I see how it is.”

Eddie rose to his feet, pulling you up with him. “Stevie, can you dry her off and get her comfortable on the bed. I’ll be right back. No touching!”

You grin at Steve as he smiles down at you, drying off your wet skin. Quickly, he checks behind him before sneaking a light kiss on your lips. “I love you.”

“I love you to. You know I do forgive you, right?”

“I know, baby. Let the adorable idiot have his fun.”

“Excuse me! I don’t see a beautiful woman on our bed!”, Eddie calls making Steve jokingly rolls his eyes as he lifts you in his arms and carries you to the mattress. The metalhead pats a chair he had brought in from one of the other rooms. “Sit, please.”

“Can I at least put on boxers or…?”

“I’ll allow it.” You smile at Eddie’s tone as he messes with Steve. You’ve heard it before when he plays D & D with his friends or reads a story with Dylan before bed. 

The other boy sits in the chair presented to him placing his elbows on the armrests as he claps his fingers together in front of him. “I can’t wait to get my thirty bucks.”

“He’s so cocky.” 

“I know. It’s that asshole King Steve version of him that still resides under that sexy head of hair.” Eddie smirks as he sits beside you on the edge of the bed and pushes some hair behind your ear. “How are you feeling right now, sweetheart? You okay?”

You respond by cupping his face in your hands and pulling his lips to your own. He smiles into your kiss before lifting you on to his lap with your back once again to his chest. His fingers roam your warm skin as his mouth presses against your shoulder. 

“So beautiful, baby. Isn’t she beautiful, Stevie?”

“Of course.” Steve’s eyes meet your own as he grins. 

Eddie’s palms glide between your thighs, lifting you slightly as he places your legs on either side of his own displaying your sex to the boy in front of him. 

“Keep your eyes on his for as long as you can, princess. I can do the rest.”, he whispers in your ear so only you can hear. “He won’t last long.” You keen into his voice, finding his lips as your tongue grazes his. 

“Fuck…”, you whimper as his fingers press against your clit, rubbing slow circles as you roll your hips, silently begging for more. Eddie chuckles against your skin, swallowing down his own moans as your ass grinds against his cock. “Eddie, please…”

His lips find the shell of your ear as he talks to you in husky, lust driven tone. “Beg him, Y/N. Look in those gorgeous amber orbs and ask him to help you.”

“Steve,” you whine. “Please, make him… make touch me.”

“He is touching you, honey.” Steve tried to sound like he was in control of his emotions and need but you could see in his eyes he was struggling. 

“Please… I want... his fingers inside of me. Please, Stevie.”

“Eddie…Eddie, stop messing with her. Give her what… what she’s asking for.”

The metalhead’s chin rested on your shoulder as his knees open your legs wider and he pushed two of his fingers slowly inside of you. “Is she asking? Or is it you?”

Steve smirks as he shakes his head, licking his lips. “You suck, Munson.”

“Oh, come on, Harrington. You know you want to see her cum just as much as I do. I also know you are dying to feel how fucking wet she is. Jesus, she’s just dripping.” You moan as you lean your head back and he gradually quickens his pace. 

“I’m so fucking lucky that after I make her cum, I get to feel her tight pussy squeeze around my dick till she cums again.” Your whimpers are soon accompanied by some light groans from the boy across from you. “And that’s just the dirty stuff.”, Eddie smiles. “You won’t get to feel her lips or her touch on your chest. The way her nails run down your back or the way she moans and begs that moment right before…”

His fingers thrust into you quicker and you feel both sets of eyes on you as your back arches and the coil snaps. “Well, you’ll get to hear it but it won’t be because of you.” Eddie grips your cheek and turns your face to bring your lips to his. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you to. I feel bad for Steve.”

“Aw, baby. Why? Look at him. He’s just fine.” You both look at the boy and notice his cock standing at attention as he strokes it slowly with his palm.

“Hey. You said I couldn’t cum. You—mmm—you didn’t say I couldn’t touch myself.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.”, Eddie cackles. You lean over and whisper something in the man’s ear causing a huge grin to spread over his features as he kisses your cheek. 

Rising from his lap, you walk over till your right in front of Steve as he tilts his head up to look at you with a big grin. Your hair floats over your shoulder as you turn to glance at Eddie. “May I at least kiss him, your highness?”, you inquire with a sarcastic tone. 

“Madam, I am a dungeon master. Be correct. And yes, I’ll allow it.”

“Oh, ok.” You roll your eyes as you lean down to kiss the man’s lips. As you start to pull away, his free hand tries to keep you there.

“Hey, hey! I said kiss.” You giggle as Eddie tugs on your arm bringing your back against his chest. “Then again, Harrington. You know what you have to say…”, he sings.

“No. I’m fine. You two have your fun.” Steve gestures towards the bed as you both grin down at him. 

The other man brushes your hair over to one side before descending his palms down your body, pausing as he grips your hips. The cool air of the room hits your skin as his upper half leans back to watch what he’s doing as he guides his cock into your entrance. 

You mewl at the feeling, one of his hands drifting up to hold your stomach. Eddie’s hips steadily grind against yours allow you to get used to the position and feeling as he pushes deeper inside of you. 

“That’s not fair.” Steve’s breathy whine causes you and Eddie smile in triumph. 

You feel yourself start to tip forward and the metalhead hastily tightens his grip around you as one of his arms wraps around your chest lifting you both up to a more standing posture. 

“I’ve got you, baby. It’s ok.”, he whispers. As you turn to kiss his lips, both hands take hold of your biceps as he begins thrusting at a faster pace.

Moaning, you break away to lean your upper body towards Steve as Eddie holds on to you tightly. “God, that feels so good.” A palm suddenly touched your face and your eyes opened to meet the boy in front of you. 

“Do you remember that first night the three of us were together?”

“On the couch.” You bite your bottom lip as you smile at the memory. 

“This reminds me of that. Eddie was fucking you like this and—mmm—I was stroking my cock watching you two.”

“Fuck.” Your eyes squeezed shut as Eddie pumped into you harder, clinging to your wrists as you leaned farther forward. 

“You were so beautiful. Moaning about how deep he was and whispering to me about how good he felt. You’re still gorgeous, honey. The way—fuck—the way your eyes roll back and the way you fucking taste.” Steve groaned as he stroked himself faster.

Eddie grunted behind you as you felt his hips sputter and he pulled you back against him as he came. While thrusting his spend into you, he quickly reached around your front and aggressively circled your nub with his fingers. Your body folded into his as you fell over the edge and your pussy clenched around him. He hissed between his teeth as his arms held you tightly to him, both of you panting as you came down. 

“Fucking hell.”

You opened eyes to see Steve’s own flutter shut as his muscled tensed. He was about to cum and there was no going back now for him. You sank to your knees and crawled closer him, moving his hand and wrapping your mouth around his cock. 

His palm held the back of your head as he pumped rope after rope of his seed down your throat, swallowing everything he gave you. 

You grinned as you sat your butt flat on the floor, leaning against his leg. Eddie extended his hand for you to take and helped you up before twirling you towards the bed. As he cleaned between your legs, Steve came to lay by your side.

You pleasantly sighed as his fingers traced down your chest towards your stomach. 

“Do you think she thinks I was mad at her?” Your eyebrows came together as you turn to look at him. “Don’t laugh at me. While I wait in the lobby for my appointments, I’ve been reading this book about babies. It said she can kind of feel when you touch your stomach but, like, can she hear me yet?”

“I don’t think so because if she could I imagine HE would be annoyed you call him she.” Eddie jumps into bed on your other side as Steve jokingly scowls at him. 

“They’re still too little to really hear anything but I imagine even if they could they would know you love them.” You smile as you reach up to caress him cheek. 

“Good. Good.” He nods as he scoots down to lay his head on your tummy. “Because I do love you and just so you know I don’t care if you’re a boy or girl. I’m just happy you’ll finally be here.”

############

@adequate-superstar @kalinaselennespeaks @luna-munson83

@manda-panda-monium @decadentwombatmiracle

@katie-tibo @marsupiooo @local-stoner-bitch @steamystrangerfics

@lunatictardis @actuallyspencerreid @moviefreak1205

@waylandmorgernsternherondal-blog @kik51199

@strngrlytn @idkidknemore @damon-loves-pie @k-k0129

@micheledawn1975 @eddie86baby

@justmeandmymeanderingthoughts @3rriberri @sashaphantomhive

@chelebelletx @big-ope-vibes @munsonzzgf

#steddie x reader #steddie fluff #steddie smut #steddie fanfiction #steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson smut #eddie fanfic #eddie stranger things #steve fanfic #steve smut #steve stranger things #joe keery #joseph quinn #stranger things #fan fiction

[gravity-barbie]

Dating Ben and not knowing he’s famous HCs

Request

Masterlist

-Just meeting Ben is pretty miraculous as you must be living under a rock to not know who he is (or maybe you just have terrible facial recognition)

-He pursues you with the confidence of someone used to being fawned over but he’s somewhere between intrigued and impressed that you don’t

-You’re still interested in him though, he certainly has a lot of personality, ambition, even charm (though some might disagree with you there) so you decide to give him a chance, and you’re not disappointed

-But it’s only a couple dates in that he starts bringing up the sparrow academy -the place takes up at least half of his brain at all times after all- but all his comments are met with confusion from you until you both realise at the same time that he’s a sparrow and you didn’t know that

-You’ve heard of the sparrow academy of course but you were never a fan the way others seemed to be and you definitely didn’t keep up with news about them, which you explain to Ben to his shock and downright horror

-He’s honestly offended that you don’t recognise him (let alone care) and with a wounded ego he starts educating you on all the academy’s achievements

-You’re sympathetic to this clearly being a touchy subject for him but still hardly impressed, and just gently let him know that it doesn’t matter because you’re dating him, not the sparrow academy, which is kind of a mind-blowing concept for him

-As is the revelation that occurs to him that if you didn’t know he was a sparrow it means you fell for the real him, bizarre because he’s never found a lot of value in the parts of himself that weren’t defined by the academy

-He may not of consciously realised it but he’d suppose part of the reason he was drawn to you was because you just treated him like a person, you didn’t ask for his autograph, or act like you were interviewing him, or worst of all ask him to get you in touch with one of his other siblings, which he’s been burned with a couple times

-He finds himself glad that even now that you know, you don’t make a big deal out of it, making polite conversation about the academy but not changing how you treat him, it actually makes it a lot easier for him to let his guard down around you

-While sometimes he struggles to lower himself to the level of just another person, he comes to realise this is probably the best relationship he could have, you help him finally see there are things in the world and about himself that are worthwhile and have nothing to do with the academy

#ben hargreeves x reader #sparrow ben x reader #sparrow!ben x reader #the umbrella academy #tua #the sparrow academy #the umbrella academy imagine #the umbrella academy preferences #tua x you #tua x reader

[hello-nichya-here]

I really want Mai to have more depth than "I only changed because of my bf" but we don't see her ever go through the realization that imperialism is bad and what the FN are doing is wrong, so why did she change if it wasn't for Zuko? It definitely wasn't a political/moral decision and I don't think it was because of hatred towards Azula, because we don't really see her mistreat Mai when she fails missions or disobeys orders or being disrespectful. If anything, we still see them vent to each other and playing wing(wo)man for each other, so they seem to be close friends.

So of it wasn't about being against imperialism/racism, and it wasn't about hating Azula and it wasn't about Zuko with, what was it about?

1 - Mai's decision to change sides not being about "I realized imperialism is bad" doesn't mean it was all about Zuko. She clearly didn't like being told what to do, it is not that hard to assume she'd one day realize she was ALWAYS gonna end up being bossed around, by her parents, by Azula, by anyone with more power, in a system like the one she lived under.

2 - Mai doesn't hate Azula. That doesn't mean there was nothing wrong with how their dynamic worked. When refusing to follow Azula's orders in "The Drill", Mai says "She can shoot all the lightning she wants at me." It doesn't matter that, either out of a rare moment of mercy or just because she was too focused on other things, Azula didn't do anything about it - knowing that there's always a very real possibility your friend will hurt or KILL YOU if you don't do what they want you to is more than enough reason to decide "I really shouldn't be friends with this person."

3 - Mai loved Zuko and she wanted to make sure he would survive. Where's the sin in that? Zuko and Iroh saved each other a billion times, including after fights (see Iroh helping in "The Chase"). Same for the Gaang. Why is "I don't really agree with you, but I care about you so I won't let anyone hurt you" only a bad thing when Mai does it?

Why is Mai, who had an entire season of characterization in which Zuko is only mention twice and VERY briefly, reduced to "lives solely for her boyfriend" when she saves him, but he doesn't get the same treatment when he says "I left my girlfriend behind even though I really didn't want to, because leaving Ozai put a target on my back and I couldn't drag her into this mess"?

Sounds like yet another case of this fandom being VERY sexist. Male character does a nice thing for his love interest? That's just seen as one side of character. Female does the exact same thing? She's "defined/held back by romance and has nothing going on outside of it" - again, even though we spent an entire season watching Mai doing her thing, with Zuko rarely coming up.

Hell, even if Mai HAD been defined by her relationship with a guy, that wouldn't automatically mean she was a bad character. Azula's every action revolves around what would or would not please her father, to the point of destroying her friendships with Ty Lee and Mai, with ocasional moments of her trying to salvage her sibling bond with Zuko, and she immediately gets absolutely jealous and resentful towards Ty Lee because she's the one getting all the attention from random boys Azula doesn't care about, yet she still wants their praise more than she wants the praise of her female friend.

We saw where that need to be "perfect", the absolute best at everything, and please a man that did not hesitate to ditch her on what was supposed to be THEIR glory day and even gave her the title she always wanted - only now it was completely hollow, since he greated a higher ranking position for himself anyway - led her, and it was not pretty.

"Character needs to reconsider their priorities" does not always translate to "This character was poorly written." And like I already said, "boyfriend obsessed" doesn't even apply to Mai in the first place.

She ditched her parents and ran around traveling with Azula because it would offer her more freedom than she had in Omashu. But she was not Azula's equal, so when she had to choose between her and Zuko, the flawed but loving boyfriend that never tried to abuse his status as a prince to control her and was trying to get his shit together, it really is no wonder Mai chose the obviously better alternative.

If anyone want to see me rant about how this fandom should PUT SOME RESPECT ON MAI'S NAME ALREADY, here's the thing:

#asks #pro mai #pro maiko

[nyaagolor]

what do you think of Carmine and Kieran so far? My stance is that even though neither of them are abusive and do care deeply about each other (and seeing people say they are abusive, especially about Carmine, makes me really sad), I do think that their relationship is definitely NOT a "normal sibling relationship" and both of them do have a bunch of Capital I Issues. But them having Capital I Issues that complicate their relationship while still caring (which FURTHER complicates things) and not being bad people at all is what make them so interesting to me and it's a vicious cycle I LOVE VICIOUS CYCLES OF MISCOMMUNICATION AND MESSY RELATIONSHIPS!!! I'm so normal (lying)

absolutely adore them, Pokemon has really filled this game to the absolute brim with characters who 1. Behave like real people 2. Have actual personalities with arcs that don't act like complete archetypes. God fucking Bless.

The general reaction to the DLC tho has surprised me in the worst way possible. The characters in these games are significantly better written than any pokemon characters in the past but ultimately, they are still pokemon characters. Most of their personality traits are made abundantly and explicitly clear to the audience by the story's end. There is not much digging you really have to do here

And yet! I'm sitting here watching Carmine's reception and thinking back to Nemona, because both of them have a pretty clearly defined personality that I really didn't think were possible to misinterpret. Despite the fact that they are laughably easy characters to understand on a fundamental level people STILL have managed to mischaracterize them to the point of consistently putting discourse on my dash about it. "Carmine is abusive" Carmine is like 15. She is a teenage girl with a younger brother. This is how teenagers behave, especially insecure ones like Carmine is implied to be. She overcompensates and is kind of rude like 3 times and lets her caring nature slip constantly because she feels things extremely strongly. She gets really worked up over everything Because She Is A Teenager. I don't understand why this is difficult

I'm not even sure I would go as far as to say Carmine has Capital I Issues (tho that's a lil subjective, ymmv?) because everything just kinda feels like pretty typical teenager stuff? Like yeah she has issues but they're pretty much exactly what happened to like half the people I knew in high school. And honestly I adore that, it resonates with a lot of people and feels like a good representation of actual teenagers and their problems. It's not especially grandiose but it IS real. Her and Kieran's relationship having strain because they are both kids figuring out how to deal with each other and their emotions is a dope conflict to display in a pokemon game and I think fits in with the more grounded arcs and conflicts we've seen in the base game. It's nice

Kieran's fucked in the head tho idk what that bitch's problems are but I wanna watch him lose it. it'll be funny as hell. I hope his relationship with Carmine gets better but I want it to get worse first

#mod vex #ask #sorry this got long #i need people to be normal #please god.

[ihaveatheoryonthat]

Guess what? Actual writing!

This is based on @yewsoup Accidental Vampire AU, but focusing less on the ‘vampire’ side of things and more on the ‘bat Pokemon’ aspect, because I am nothing if not predictable.

---

Evolution was a little like hiccuping: a sudden, fluttering jolt that started in the core and echoed outward into the rest of one’s body.

If one knew how, it could be stopped, but Emmet hadn’t known how and, truthfully, wouldn’t have tried if he’d been fully aware of the circumstance; a Zubat’s heightened sense of hearing was helpful and a nuisance in equal measure, and, while nothing was stopping him from utilizing his sense of sight as a human, he was incredibly sick of lacking eyes in his alternate form.

In following with the analogy, Ingo insisted he’d squeaked when it started, and Emmet opted to ignore this blatantly false account. His poor brother had a Gligar’s keenness of sight, but clearly lacked proper sonar. He simply couldn’t be trusted in this regard.

Now that the precedent had been set, though, Emmet was acutely aware that there was nothing stopping him from reaching the final stage in a Zubat’s evolutionary line. He had no trainer, so it was impossible to say with certainty which of his bonds was resonating, but there was no small number to pick from.

And, like hiccuping, he might be able to avoid a second evolution for so long, but, eventually, it would sneak up on him.

He didn’t really see any reason to put it off. That was the trick-- if one didn’t fight the hiccups, and just learned to let it happen when it wasn’t horribly inconvenient, it was far easier to weather.

So, when the evening was winding down and things were calm, he flopped down on the couch next to-- and partially on top of-- his twin, contentedly melted into his alternate form, and let what would happen happen.

To his eternal vindication, he heard Ingo yelp in surprise, and proceeded to cackle his way into life as a Crobat.

“I’m happy that you’re happy,” Ingo said flatly, brushing an errant wing out of his face, “But was that entirely necessary?”

“Entirely.” Emmet agreed, and gave his limbs an experimental little shake, mindful not to whack his brother in the process.

Because, while he had no trainer and no definite answer where the affection needed to evolve originated, he was pretty damn sure. If he’d so chosen, he could have evolved a second time from his first moments as a Golbat, and as much as he loved their Pokemon, there was only one connection in his life quite that prolific. Regular Golbat were able to express the companionship they felt through evolution alone, secure in the knowledge that it was their defining relationship; Emmet had wanted to express that as well, yes, but he’d also seen no reason to deny himself. Why evolve anywhere but where he was most comfortable?

There was a heavy sigh above him, and he felt something brush against one of his upper limbs.

Oh, he’d almost forgotten! While they didn’t have hands per se, Crobat had something to grasp with-- the digits along their foremost set of wings. Eager to test them out, he seized whatever he’d gotten caught on and only just started to move when Ingo put a stop to it.

He grabbed his sibling with both hands and hefted him up to eye level-- where it became clear what Emmet had gotten a not-handful of-- and with weary patience said, “You’re a Crobat now-- far too mature for hair pulling. I would recommend that you stop that at once, and feel it prudent to remind you that I remain unevolved and have no reason not to retaliate.”

“Oh? What’s that?” Emmet asked, reaching forward to anchor himself onto the backrest. With a little doing, he hoisted himself up onto it and leaned into Ingo’s space, cheek to cheek, “Did you just imply that I’m the older brother, now?”

Belatedly, Ingo seemed to realize that he’d done just that.

Emmet turned his head and chuckled into his twin’s hair, “Aw, it’s alright. You are just a little Gligar. It’s not your responsibility to notice these things.” He stopped long enough to nip harmlessly at the hand that flew up to wave him away, at which point he announced, “It’s only fair, Ingo. You are older when we are humans. I am older when we are Pokemon. Equal and opposite.”

Finally, through vibration more than any actual sound, he felt Ingo begin to laugh. “I’m not entirely sure I agree that humans and Pokemon are opposite one another.”

Emmet hummed, and it came out as more of a screech than he’d intended. With an apologetic headbutt, he said, “The subject matter has gotten far too grey for my liking. I do not want to continue this conversation.”

“Ah, but I’m just a little Gligar,” Ingo argued, tone kept carefully even, “Isn’t it my duty to pose uncomfortably existential questions?”

“Nothing has ever stopped you before.” Emmet grumbled and, in a huff, switched back to human form, leaning over the back of the couch. Ingo reached up with a smile in his eyes and gave the hair hanging down two gentle tugs.

Emmet locked his jaw, physically preventing himself from breaking into a grin. “We are human right now, Ingo. Act your age.”

---

Months passed with little change. There wasn’t so much to adjust to, going from Zubat to Golbat to Crobat-- just minor amenities the previous forms had lacked, and one secondary pair of wings. Nailing the timing to keep them all in sync and himself airborne was arguably the steepest learning curve Emmet faced, and once he got it down-- equal and opposite, funny enough-- it was a cinch.

They revisited the topic of evolution order multiple times, either twin trying to bend it to their advantage as circumstance presented, and while Emmet had poked fun, he was… beginning to wonder.

Physically, there had been small changes to accommodate, but internally, he felt sturdier, stronger in ways he couldn’t have anticipated back when he was still a Zubat. Ingo didn’t seem to be in any hurry to pursue evolution, and that was perfectly fine-- unevolved Pokemon could be just as capable as their other forms, given the right training and strategies-- but it wasn’t just that. There was a hesitation whenever the matter came up absent the facetious tones they often fell into, an eagerness to shut the conversation down or change topics.

Emmet had once asked, in jest, if Ingo thought they had enough battle points to acquire a razor fang, and while the response had been perfectly composed, the discomfort that set into his brother’s form was easy to spot.

Having no desire to evolve was one thing. Being afraid of the prospect was something else entirely. In that sense, it was fortunate that Gliscor evolved in such a specific way-- there was no threat of a spontaneous, hiccuping evolution-- but Emmet knew his twin. If Ingo wasn’t forced to confront something, he’d be happy to make an indefinite detour around the affected track.

He didn’t want to force anything on his brother-- neither his opinion nor evolution itself-- but he did want to understand what was going on.

Passing his recent acquisition from palm to palm, Emmet chewed on his lip, deep in thought; had anyone been around to observe, the twins would have been indistinguishable in that moment.

Eventually, he schooled his features-- a futile endeavor in and of itself, but the faint smile was for his sake, not to try to fool Ingo-- and headed over to confront his brother.

“I have a question,” He said before he could think better of it.

It was answered by a hum of acknowledgment as Ingo maneuvered to look at him over the bulk of Eelektross’s body, and a waiting silence.

Emmet hesitated.

“It is not meant to be a leading question. I simply want to understand.”

Ingo’s brow furrowed and, as if in conference, Eelektross turned to blink at him, then to its trainer. Emmet himself jerked his head toward the kitchen, silently asking the eel to give them a moment, and it slipped away with only a quiet groan of complaint.

“You do not want to evolve. Why?”

There was a long break while Ingo processed that. Finally, he said, “I’m content as I am, is that not enough?”

“It’s a perfectly valid reason, yes. But that is not why you shy away from the subject every time it comes up. Again, I just want to understand.”

Ingo took a deep breath and, slowly, let it out. “Evolution is a very prompt, very permanent change, as you’re no doubt aware. I’m glad that your evolved forms have suited you, but am… not so confident that mine is right for me.”

Emmet cocked his head, getting slightly waylaid in spite of himself, “Gliscor are strong and tough. Physical attackers like you favor. Useful typing. Capable of Earthquake. Potential for verrrry strong combinations. I fail to see the problem.”

A hint of a grimace flashed through the crease of his brother’s eyes, but was quickly smoothed over, “While all of that is true, I’m afraid the species is also saddled with a rather… unsavory connotation. No Pokemon can be handled without risk, I understand that of course, but people seem to find Gliscor in particular-- shall we say off putting?”

Scary. The word he was skirting around was ‘scary’, and suddenly it all made a lot of sense. Ingo’s relative inability to shift away from his severe resting expression tended to draw attention, and that was very rarely a good thing. On one hand, maybe a Gliscor’s ever-present smile might help remedy the situation; on the other, it might only make things worse, pinging off of humanity’s underdeveloped sense for danger.

“Ah,” Emmet eventually said, “I see. Thank you for humoring me.”

There was a tense, expectant pause, broken only by, “You’re not going to argue with me?”

He gave his head a shake, shifting uncomfortably under his twin’s attention-- it was an unfamiliar feeling, and he didn’t enjoy the novelty of it one bit. “I knew discussion of it was beginning to wear on you. My intent was to learn why and to avoid the topic in the future.”

Taking mercy on his brother, Ingo’s gaze slid away to an undefined point beyond his shoulder, “Then you’ll find that you’ve reached your destination.”

Emmet stepped closer so he could perch on the arm of the couch, tilting to rest the side of his head against Ingo’s.

“I’m sorry.”

Without looking or making any move that might dislodge him, Ingo reached up to lay a warm hand on his arm.

“As you’ve said, you were only trying to make sense of the situation; there’s no need to apologize for that.”

Humming in something that was neither agreement nor argument, Emmet switched tracks, “You aren’t scary.”

“And I’m sure Gliscor can be perfectly wonderful companions in spite of their own reputation,” Ingo said dryly, “At this junction, however, I would prefer not to press my luck.”

He sighed against his twin’s crown, causing a section of hair to flutter in the artificial breeze, “That is entirely reasonable.”

There was a thin laugh in response, a weak, but legitimate attempt at levity, “I do have my moments.”

Pushing off of Ingo’s shoulder, Emmet pivoted and, finally, offered the item he’d been toying with for the entire conversation. The polished piece of eviolite was warm from the constant handling, this particular specimen erring more toward pink than it did purple-- color hadn’t initially been on his list of criteria, but there was certainly a meaning to be read into it now.

“For you,” He said rather unnecessarily, highlighting the words by physically tipping it into Ingo’s unoccupied hand before his brother had a chance to respond.

Ingo blinked down at it, and then looked back to Emmet, who was struck once again by how sad it was, how few people would recognize the joy that showed in every aspect save for his twin’s lips.

The vulnerable moment was left behind them as Ingo asked, “Do I want to know how you acquired this?”

And, without missing a beat, Emmet said back, “No you do not.”

---

There was a very clear turning point in Ingo’s opinion on evolving, a wonderful example of the impact good publicity could create.

It was a shift on the standard multi lines and their opponents’ combination of Tyranitar and Gliscor had proven a competent match for that day’s team. The usually-wicked chain of Crustle’s Sturdy, rocky helmet and Flail certainly wore the bat down, but despite their bugs’ best efforts, type advantages had simply won out.

At Emmet’s side, Ingo took a breath to congratulate their challengers, and habit carried him through the script as Emmet grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him over, raising a hand to stop the Gliscor’s trainer before they could recall it.

Bemused by the change of pace, the trainer humored him, their Pokemon glancing uncertainly between the parties involved. It had been a short conversation-- lasting only until the challengers were set to depart-- and while he wasn’t usually one to lead, in this instance Emmet had been happy to guide the discussion, asking after the teen’s history with it and how it fared outside of a battle facility.

Taking up the reins left Ingo to focus on the Pokemon itself, which was a nice bonus. Clearly the Gliscor recognized that something was afoot, even if not specifically what-- jaws parted to scent the air and eyes narrowed, perplexed. At one point, Emmet looked over to catch it raising one wing, trying to herd what it must have thought a very strange Gligar beneath it.

It had been a sweet Pokemon, and a very good learning experience.

Coincidences aside, though, Emmet wasn’t in the habit of pushing an evolutionary agenda. While he might try to soothe his brother’s anxieties where the species was concerned, he wholly accepted Ingo’s reasoning, and anything he encouraged was strictly for comfort’s sake.

So it was something of a surprise when, months down the line, Ingo asked if Emmet would mind holding onto something for him for the evening. Because they both knew he couldn’t resist, there had been no protest as he’d unfolded the extra pair of gloves to find a razor fang at its heart. Somewhere between comprehension and ignorance, he looked up.

“It seems prudent to have one on hand, just in case.” Had been Ingo’s only explanation.

And, well… that was progress. There was a certain amount of self-loathing to Ingo’s opinion on evolution that seemed unhealthy, and it was a comfort to see it begin to ease. Whether or not he would ever use the razor fang was a moot point; the only thing that mattered was that he wasn’t so vehemently opposed to the thought.

As before, the specter of evolution drifted quietly into the background.

---

Like any carnivorous bat, the subject swooped back into the fray without warning.

“Would you… mind staying with me, if I were to evolve?” Ingo asked one evening, apropos nothing.

Emmet waited several seconds for the full context, until he realized the delay seemed to be making his twin nervous. “Of course not. What is the rest of this hypothetical?”

“Ah.” Awkwardly, he forced his attention off of the floor and met Emmet’s eyes, “It’s not a hypothetical question. I think I’m ready. To… evolve.”

The train of thought slowly pulled into its charted destination, and as soon as it did, he bristled, “You do not need to do so. We have covered this. Did something happen?”

“Nothing in particular, no; I’ve just been affording it some more thought, lately, and this was the station I arrived at.”

“Because it is what you want?” Emmet demanded.

“Yes. Mostly.” At the look the amendment earned him, Ingo raised his hands in self defense, “I still have my concerns, but at this point in time, not knowing is worse. The longer I humor that anticipation, the greater it becomes.”

“So what you actually want is to get it over with.”

“I… suppose that’s an accurate assessment.”

Asking if he was certain would only make the situation worse. Surely Ingo had already given this plenty of thought-- he’d had years to consider it, after all. That he was only bringing it up now carried a great deal of weight.

So, without any further challenging words, Emmet held up his arms in invitation; Ingo accepted it with a surprising readiness, belying just how nervous he really was.

He needed something else to focus on, to distract him from the unease of deciding upon a drastic change of course after so long. Emmet could do that.

“Do you know where your razor fang is?” He asked, and could feel the indignant shiver running through his brother at the suggestion that he hadn’t thought that far ahead. Personally, Emmet thought it was a valid question; while it was far more likely that Ingo had checked and double-checked before making any declarative statements, there was always a chance the Joltik had spirited it away in the past five minutes.

Mutely, Ingo nodded to where Chandelure was hovering near the ceiling, one iron limb curled around the be-gloved fang.

Fair enough. If there was one way to ward Joltik off, that was probably it. He didn’t actually think she would do anything to the little bugs, but they would have to learn a healthy respect for her someday, and if that was today, then it was their own fault; the last thing he wanted to do right now was pluck one out of her personal space and get zapped for the effort.

Not for the first time, Emmet spared a thought for the indignity of having a type vulnerability to his own Pokemon, only for his twin to be utterly immune. Somewhere out there, Arceus was laughing.

There was nothing for it. He had more important matters to address.

While Ingo stepped away to call Chandelure down, he made no move to relieve her of her cargo, rightfully wary of handling the razor fang so long after sunset. She handed it over to Emmet without any fuss and, having overcome the anti-spider measures, he turned his attention back to the present.

“Where would you like to be for this?”

“The living room, I think,” A hesitation, and then, “Where you evolved.”

Ah. Well, perhaps Emmet should have seen that coming; his brother was a sentimental sap, and he loved him for it.

It took no time at all to get situated, leaving little more than to wait for Ingo’s lead. With a deep, bracing breath, he yielded to the smaller form of a Gligar, but it took a moment more for him to work up the nerve to open his eyes and greet the reality he was headed toward.

Unbothered, hands free of the evolutionary aid, Emmet steadied him, “Are you prepared for departure?”

There was a stiff nod against his chest, the pincers holding onto his arms trembling from the effort of staying somewhat slack. Before moving to take the fang up again, he moved one hand to either side of Ingo’s head and turned his face up.

“I will see you in just a moment.” He promised, and simultaneously pressed a kiss between long ears and the razor fang to a fluttering chest.

---

Evolution wasn’t like a case of the hiccups, it was the deep inhalation one took to choke them out. Doing so wasn’t necessary-- life would go on either way-- but if one so chose, they could take the plunge and hold their breath.

It was a building tension, a burning, overflowing wealth of energy begging to be set free, to show the world what it could do. It was also a sigh of relief as that potential found purchase and settled into what it was meant to be.

Where his head nestled against Emmet’s chest, a shuddering breath escaped Ingo, and he wasn’t entirely sure what emotion he could ascribe it to. For simplicity’s sake he might call it relief, but there were more layers to it than that might imply; not only that nothing had gone wrong, but also that the decision had been made. There was no going back. No matter what happened from here on out, his only recourse would be to make it work.

That was doable.

He stayed there a little while longer, larger arms more easily curving around his brother to maintain their hold; he slowly unfurled his wings, testing how it worked now that they were their own limbs, independent of the others. This quiet introspection was interrupted by laughter stifled against the top of his head.

With a chirp-- meaningless, save for its questioning note-- Ingo looked up at the culprit.

“Oh, you stopped.” Emmet said, complaint evident in his words, as if he hadn’t been the very thing to distract Ingo from… whatever it was he’d apparently been doing. Stretching his wings? He supposed he had drawn them back at the noise.

Puzzled, he spread them out again, to his twin’s further amusement.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m not entirely sure. You’re the one who was disappointed that I stopped.”

“Not that. You were chattering verrrry quietly. Low like a rumbling engine. It was cute.”

He was?

Oh. Yes. He’d overlooked the subconscious rolling of his vocal cords. In actuality, calling it ‘chattering’ was wholly inaccurate; it was, without a trace of doubt, a sustained purr. Suddenly very aware of himself, Ingo preemptively went to muffle any other noise he might make.

“Noooo,” Emmet laughed, all delighted dismay as he humored the wide face burrowing into his shirt, “Don’t be embarrassed!”

It was met by an undignified squeak of, “Then stop trying to embarrass me!”

“Oh, Ingo.” He drawled, amusement audible in spite of his ever-consistent tone, “I don’t have to try. You do it to yourself.”

He grumbled into the thin white fabric, distinct from the soft, content purr. Maybe he could try something else, experiment with a screech or non-offensive growl to distract from the incident. While it didn’t bother him, everything he vocalized was lower than it used to be, and it would take some getting used to.

He wondered, vaguely, if his larger stature meant he had access to his full lung capacity.

After a minute, he stopped theorizing and gathered his courage, emerging from his ineffectual hiding spot.

Emmet beamed at him, taking his face in both hands once more.

“There you are.” He said, and proved unable to resist ruffling his twin, fingers working into the coarse fur at his cheeks, “Better?”

One ear twitched and, methodically, Ingo ran through his systems, testing claws and wings and giving his tail an experimental thump; it was two-pronged now, the stinger substantially larger, lacking the dimorphic sizing in this secondary form. Different, yes, but not in a bad way. There was something about it that felt like holding his eviolite for the first time-- a protective layer establishing itself between himself and the world at large.

It made sense from a logical standpoint; a Gliscor’s defensive stats were higher than a Gligar’s, which was precisely what the eviolite was meant to emulate. Feeling it as an intrinsic part of his carapace, though, was bizarre.

“I believe it will be, with time.”

And, since the immediate concern had passed, of course it was open season.

“Now you get to learn how to fly properly. Your ‘membranes’ excuse has run out.”

Without removing himself from the couch, Ingo flapped his wings, just once. While he’d done his research ahead of time, the firsthand sense of it only drove home the fact that they were meant for catching a breeze and riding it; he likely could create an updraft, but it wasn’t an ideal application.

“Where’s Archeops?” Ingo asked instead of any proper reply, “I need to speak with him about forming a coalition. Perhaps then you’ll accept that not everyone with wings travels the way you do.”

“You are correct. Winged creatures generally do not take the subway. All three of us are outliers.”

Emmet managed to keep a mostly-straight face until Ingo craned up to nip at the ends of his hair, unimpressed. “Ah! None of that anymore! You’re a big Gliscor now. You should know better.”

He rolled his eyes-- to a bark of laughter-- and backed off, straightening, finally, to human form.

Everything felt normal. He glanced to Emmet for confirmation, judging via his twin’s expression, and found his attention lingering just a moment longer than expected. Before Ingo could ask, however, he met his eyes once more and broke out into a relaxed smile.

“I am happy that you’re happy.”

#ihaveatheoryonthat pkmn #submas #fanfic

[absolutebl]

ABL, hello! I finished my second rewatch of Ailongnhai and I have a linguistics question please? You have done an incredibly wonderful and indepth post previously on SCOY and Daisy & Touch regarding particle use and pronouns, which I loved reading and understanding the culture a little better. Coming back to watch ALN a second time made me realise that Ai is also using kha with Nhai. While Nhai accepts this and calling Ai hubby (if Ping wasn't as cute and endearing as he is, I would've had to cringe out), I'm interested to hear whether this is a regular occurrence (the kha usage, not hubby ugh) as I feel like I haven't heard it before in many shows - or whether this is specific to how Ai views/wants Nhai to act accordingly with him, and as a result we get the gradual softening over the series?

Yes, but the level to which Ai uses it is very queer coded. Like he "learned this from the gay dad's" kinda thing. It's pretty household and private, when Ai trots it out in public it's pure claiming. He is making A POINT to Nhai and others.

Kha is a real softening (its most common use by men is on much younger girls in a sibling way, see Pete do this with Ai's niece in Love By Chance), so it's usually only used (by a BL lead on a BL lead) to tease (and even then ja is more likely) or in private if the other half is significantly sweeter (or the kha user wants him to behave in a more needy manner). Kha implies under this context "I will look after you because I like you but also because you need looking after, you clearly can't take care of yourself."

So I could see Dino eventually using kha with Rak. Or trying to.

But Pat would never even attempt this with Pran (Bad Buddy) evcept as a big joke. I wouldn't put a ha past them (in private) though.

Another example might be DeanPharm. Pharm is the kind of character who might take a kha from a boyfriend, and Dean would use it on him if they'd worked that out, but because of Dean's formal reserved personality, the most likely would be ha, and then only in private. Dean doesn't have anything to prove, he knows their dynamic perfectly well.

Ai is almost entirely defined by a need to prove himself, his claim, his relationship, his gayness.

If Solo was the older character he likely would have used kha with Gui in Oxygen, but he's too young.

I guess what I am saying is you need the right character synamic to use this one.

It tends to work best and most naturally with a non-tsundere uke character. If Pete and Ai didn't have such a vast class difference between them, Ai might have gone to kha eventually with him. But the act of using kha ALSO softens the speaker, so the speaker has to be very confident in himself and his status to use it. Or very uncaring about others' perceptions of him.

I keep thinking of Dino similar to Ai. But that show has only just started. We shall see were it goes.

#thai particles #ai long nhai #love by chance #AiPete #AiNhai #deanpahrm #patpran #sologui #oxygen the series #thai language #thai linguisitcs #thai particales nuance in bl #thai bl

[mayybirds]

If you don’t mind, I’d love to hear more about the Winterses’ relationships to each other! Anything from little details and habits to just general explanations/rundowns would be treasured :D

Anon I always want to talk about the Winterses I 100% do not mind at all lol.

I think the family as a whole is simultaneously really closely bonded (partially due to the sheer trauma they experienced together) and also experience a lot of friction very easily. They love each other intensely but they weren't really Raised together and they all come from different backgrounds, be them religious, cultural, or socioeconomic. It leaves room for a lot of friction, especially between Delia and the kids. I think in the early years there was a lot of rapid oscillation between "You're not my mom, my mom is dead, fuck off and stop trying to parent me" and "Delia i'm so sorry i'm so scared please never leave me". Sometimes within the hour. She was a like 32 year old woman suddenly in charge of 3 teenagers, having no real childcare experience, and it was kind of a mess. She loves the kids though and they love her. As adults her relationships with Michael and Ethan are a lot more stable than they were when they were younger--though conversely, while Ava relied on her a lot as a traumatized kid desperate for a parental figure, Ava is a lot more stilted with her now as an adult. Delia has never pretended she knew what she was doing or that she was prepared for this, but she's always made sure the kids know she loves them and she didn't keep them with her just out of obligation. She wants to be in their lives--whether that's as their mom, their 'aunt', their guardian, or just their friend. They get to define who she is to them, and she's okay that sometimes that changes in the moment (see: Ethan's POV. He mixes up whether Delia is his 'aunt' or just 'Delia' in his thoughts a lot, while also very clearly viewing her as a mom even if he avoids calling her that most of the time).

Delia’s focus since RC has always been the kids. She’s so deeply embedded in survivor networks to this day because she was one of the first to go “look we need to figure out long term options for fake IDs and paperwork. I’ve got three kids who should be in school.” She worked a lot of odd jobs once they reached California to keep the lights on (yes they maybe squatted in a few places at first what about it). She was a mechanic in RC but after coming to California she ended up working primarily private security at first because it paid well and was mostly nights. She went back to being a mechanic when the kids got a little older and Michael and Ethan started helping with rent (despite her insistences otherwise. They were adults and they were gonna help Damn it). Michael keeps trying to get her to take it easy these days but she’s only 50 damn it! Don’t treat her like she’s old!!

Michael! Michael is the most well adjusted man in this house comparatively (which isn't a high bar but at least he cleared it. Ethan faceplanted tripping over it). He was the oldest when RC happened among the kids, and as an adult he still takes his role as 'big brother' pretty seriously. He loves his idiot siblings, and he loves Delia, too. When RC first happened he was pretty wary of Delia (fairly enough. the world is ending, your mom is dead, your dad is missing, everything's gone to hell in a handbasket, there's paramilitary weirdos running around, and this random white woman just fished you out of the river with this blood-spattered kid next to her? Nah), and in the months that followed he definitely better handled her treating him like a younger friend/ally ("I know you don't really need me, but Ethan and Ava need us both, so would you be willing to help me with them?" kind of vibe, even if Delia is also 'YOU ARE A CHILD' at Michael internally). He supported the ruse of passing them off as a family long before he saw them as one, but he grew attached to Ethan and Ava, and Delia, faster than he'd have ever copped to as a kid. And for all his grumbling about the stupidity of their various schemes and covers ("Sure Delia pass off three kids as half-siblings by three different fathers, one of which you'd have had to have as a teenager, that's believable" "DO YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA MICHAEL IF I SAY YOU'RE ADOPTED OR FOSTER KIDS THAT WILL RAISE EVEN MORE QUESTIONS"), he's kind of glad Delia always insisted on passing them off as a family, one way or another (the Winterses changed aliases and cover stories a lot when running from Raccoon City to avoid a clear trail, before they settled down in Cali). These days, he's the kid most unashamed to call her mom. She's his mom! He had another mom, too, and that's okay. Delia is his mom and she's also just Delia and he loves her. Michael still lives with her in California. He's lived on his own a lot, of course, and dated around, but relationships aren't really for him (he's a scrupulously honest person and hates that any relationship would require lying), and he likes being at home. He does have a robust friend network, though, and he likes to volunteer coaching the swim team at the local Y. He works as a manager at a local goodwill center. He’d have liked to have gone into social work or a medical field, but he worried about any profession that would have required a lot of background checks. He did take some nursing classes in community college, though. He attended school late, like Ethan did—both for financial reasons and because they wanted longer for their identities to be settled before they braved college paperwork.

Michael gets along with both of his siblings really well. He’s Ethan’s best friend (and the person Ethan was on the phone with at the beginning of RE7 in TtVtL canon), and has always looked out for him, even when they were teenagers (it defo painted an entertaining picture to everyone else. Michael was Cool and Ethan was Not and every other ~17yr old was not sure why he let this weedy 15yr old with the thousand yard stare follow him around. There was a lot of “excuse you that’s my BROTHER” energy). Michael meanwhile is very much the grounding older brother presence for Ava. She’s not good at taking Advice from Ethan because they’re closer in age and she thinks those in glass-houses-of-pretending-nothing-happened should not throw stones, but she’s better at taking it from Michael. She’s his baby sister and he wants to protect her but he also knows lecturing her doesn’t get him anywhere. I think as the two POC of the family they also just have bonding points on issues Ethan and Delia just can’t get.

Ava...loves her family. But it's hard to be around them. She's just still so angry about everything that happened, and her family respects her anger, but Delia just wants to keep the kids safe and Michael just wants to live a normal life and Ethan wants to pretend nothing happened. It's frustrating for her to try to talk to them about it because Ethan Doesn't want to talk about it and Michael mostly just is like "Ava babe please consider therapy" and Delia understands her anger but is also like. Her Mom. she wants her to be careful and safe and Ava doesn't want to be careful she wants the world to answer for what happened!! She fights with Ethan about it the most. But they still love each other--and would do anything to protect each other. She lives far away from the rest of the family and can't contact them a lot, but calls when she can. She has...employment. Her employer is not her day job. Her day job does not know her name is Ava Winters. She does not enjoy her work, but she thinks it's necessary. But if she had to choose between her job and her family? Her family. Always. She won't lose anyone again.

#and as for Ethan uhhh. *slaps his ass* you can fit so much repressed trauma in here #also he's the main POV character so i think you're already getting a fair estimate of his feelings about his family #asks #anonymous #through the valley to life #the winters family

[kob131]

This an half attempt to answer your quiestion, but you are by no means pressured to read it as it is just too long.

Now that i actually sit and think about it a bit more, I think i shouldnt have called them trait, rather the Impact that having a fucked up parent such as morgan had on them. Im sorry that i cant exactly point it out but i will try my best.

Even gawain who is a geniunely good person, can be too persistent as it seems and im pretty sure morgan was a pro in that regard. Gawain is a good person but he can be a bit fucked up too.

agravain is the one who hates morgan's guts the most while still not being able to completley able to escape the Impact she had on him. Being raised by morgan literally messed the dude up. Seeing morgan's probable short temper in agravain wasnt that hard for me. When he hates someone, the hatred is quite deep whether you even did something wrong or not. The "i hate women" line, while being extremly memeable, does imply that morgan definitely isnt the best female parental figure someone could have.

For mordred..... Oh boy, being isolated and having morgan as the only consistent influencial figure outside of your idol who didnt even know you exist , she was really unlucky. Mordred has a short temper which seems to be the easiest to point out.

We dont Know anything about gaheris *dramatic sobbing* outside of the fact that he is probebly the tallest among the five of them.

Either gareth was too young to remember her, or her brothers and lancelot's influence washed out any possible fucked upness. I would say the Impact the orkneys had on eachother did matter even if it isnt really brought up.

No no, I love reading.

I can see how Gawain's stubborness could have come from Morgan, given that both of their actions in the end did more harm than good.

Yeah, Agravain does seem to share Morgan's vindictiveness and fury. Kind of ironic considering he hates women in part because of Morgan's actions while he perpetuates those actions.

And...it might actually be worse for Mordred. A key part of Mordred's conflict is her inability to define herself (her Bond 10 Craft Essence is literally named 'Who Am I?') and a key aspect to Morgan is that her life is split in three to her three different roles. Three different parts of herself she likely could never reconcile between them.

I've said it once and I'll say it again- Mordred is probably the one person who could fully understand her mother.

Though, it's not like Gareth's personality is entirely separate from Morgan. Agravain may have ended up with issues but Gawain ended up as a pretty upstanding if stubborn guy. And remember Gawain's the ELDEST of the Orkney so logically he was exposed to Morgan the most. For him to have grown up that well adjusted, Morgan had to have been a good mother at some point. And it's said she also acted as a good sister/motherly figure to Arturia before finding out the full truth. Gareth's personality could very well be a reflection of who Morgan was before things fell apart.

But yeah, the Orkney siblings most certainly do affect each other quite a bit. Gawain is said to be the closest with Gareth, Agravain doesn't hate Gareth like he usually would (instead having a 'complicated' relationship) and Agravain does care about both Gawain and Mordred since he called out to Gawain after he was shot with Rhongyominad and questioned the Lion King's coldness towards Mordred in the Sixth Singularity. Remember, Lancelot having a lesser part in the Fall of Camelot caused his to utterly loathe the man- by all rights he shouldn't care about Mordred. Yet he clearly does.

P.S. Yeah...I wish we knew something about Gaheris too. Best we know is that he teased Gawain about not knowing how much Gareth looked up him in Garden Of Avalon.

[rimouskis]

Really empathizing with your recent life updates and hoping everything works out for you. I've also been experiencing some Life Events (not very fun lol) and i now have a very large urge to move to canada. Idk about you but im at that weird 20s stage of my life where everything seems so permanent and lifechanging but also not? So full support in your cross-country moving dreams!!

that's literally it sigh. I've recently had a lot of upheaval in my life that was out of my control and I think my instinctive reaction is grabbing everything I do have control over (like, to some degree, where I live) and also throwing that to the wind because I feel like my self-image is being radically reordered by forces outside of me, so I'm trying to gain control of everything by changing what I can change.

as I inch closer to my late 20s (maybe I'm there already, idk, pacing by age is stupid for a gazillion reasons yet we do it anyway) I also have that feeling where it's like: clearly nothing I do matters! and yet, for some reason, apparently every decision I make is life-defining! what the fuck! I have no power and all the power at the same time!

it's just tough. I've had a lot of friends go through pretty big changes lately; changes that to me, speak to an adulthood I don't have access to yet. some are getting married, others divorced, some are on their journeys to parenthood, or preparing for those journeys. and it's like... I feel like I'm frozen in time, untouched by the life markers of my age and peer group. hell, I'm barely coping with both of my younger siblings now having boyfriends they're comfortable telling me about/introducing to the family, but meanwhile I just experienced the first real crush of my life this year. I know "queer time" has been discussed more recently as a phenomenon but I was unprepared for experiencing it. I'm a million miles "behind" everyone in my life. and yet, I'm not even actually ready to be where they are. I want it and I don't. I want to reinvent myself so badly and yet I form attachments to where I am and who I am. I'm wishy washy because my decisions don't matter but they also do. it's just insane.

I'm really comfortable here, and I'm not ready to move yet, but I also refuse to make plans for my future concretely. I've never been the type to have a life plan, for better or worse. I just.... live, and I take life as it comes. but as I get older, I feel like ~I'm okay~ if I keep horse blinders on and only focus on myself and how I feel, but when I take the blinders off and look at the world around me, and the people I hold near and dear, suddenly I feel like I've been dumped into an olympic swimming pool and want to keep up with people who've been training their whole lives to swim.

by a lot of metrics I'm doing okay. I keep my wits about me when it comes to money. I've been very fortunate to travel a lot and to experience some of the world. I maintain good relationships with the people I've worked with. I have friends. I get by and live decently. and that should be enough, right? if I live well enough and enjoy my life day by day, that's what matters...?

but like you said, it's those sudden urges. that feeling of wanting to run away to something. I think it's being spoiled for choice. I don't really have ties to anyplace. I could go anywhere. I could do anything, in actuality. no one is reliant upon me. no one NEEDS me in any one place. I could move to freaking London if I wanted to. the world is my oyster, and I'm a little paralyzed by the true freedom of it. you can do anything. so what do you do?

the sensation isn't new to me, but it's been a while since I felt it. I've done too much crazy life development this last year, lol, I'm ready for a quieter season of life where I can sink into routine and make connections with interesting, kind people and reconnect with my passions (running, writing ... both of which I've been working on lately), but I feel so untethered and I think I'm chasing fantasy dreams (running away to the PNW) because I'm definitely the kind of person who, when plans go awry, sometimes feels the impulse to blow them up even further to pretend I'm in control of any part of the process.

which is to say: I feel you, good luck, and my DMs are always open if you wish to commiserate, haha.

#phew sorry for the diatribe

[csg-iii]

So I kinda assume everyone ships incest couples for the exact same reasons I do but a post by @shipcestuous made me realize that people have more than one reason.

So anyways, I'll tell you (overexplain and explore a pretty simple concept and line of reasoning till I'm no longer passionate about it and spend a few weeks away from the concept in anyone who will listen's general direction) mine if you tell me yours.

Once again time to see the follower count decrease after answering this haha.

I'll take some of Shipcestuous' (Astrid's) post 26 points about shipping siblings (also applies to cousins like Bwen) and add one or two of my own, which I think she didn't cover:

27) Sometimes we just prefer the shipcest over the canon pairings.

That's something I discussed  in a previous post of mine when talking about why I prefer Bwen over Benlie, Benkai and Gwevin. Fits some of my other shipcests too, like, I prefer Wanda x Pietro over Wanda x Vision, or (from Wizards of Waverly Place) Justin x Alex over Justin x Violet and Alex x Mason, or (from Frozen) Elsa x Anna over Anna x Kristoff.

A counterpoint would be: Ok, you don't like the canon pairings, but why not just ship the character with someone else that isn't a relative?

Sometimes I actually do that! For example, in Arrow I've never shipped the canon Oliver x Felicity, I used to ship Oliver x Laurel, and never felt like shipping Oliver with his sister Thea (though I have friends who do ship them).

But sometimes, I don't see a canon option that fits better than the shipcest, and that dives into Astrid's reason #18 ("you’re guaranteed “shippy” moments whether the romantic/sexual element is canon or not. The siblings are going to have sweet moments, significant moments, intense moments, emotional moments, pretty much no matter what.") Sometimes I feel like the better option is the relative (sibling, cousin) rather than another canon character. I don't like Wanda x Vision, so could I ship Wanda with, IDK, Thor? Yeah, I could, but I see her bond with Pietro much stronger, so I'm more inclined to ship her with Pietro rather than Thor.

28) Subtext is just WAY TOO strong

This I would point to Lauren and Andy from The Gifted. Nobody can watch a video like this and tell me they have a totally normal sibling relationship without any subtext of something else 

.

Now, I'll take some of Astrid's reasons that I most identify with.

10, 11) The "undivided loyalties" and "anti-change" aspect.

I'll once again give a Bwen example. In the Classic Series we see Gwen diving into the null-void to save Ben, pushing him out of a Florauna's way, and other moments. But in Alien Force, there is a scene where both Ben and Kevin are knocked out and she runs straight to check on Kevin rather than Ben. Then in Omniverse, Gwen leaves with Kevin, and Ben stays in Bellwood (later Rook joins him). Gwevin clearly changed the dynamics that I was used to between Ben and Gwen being devoted to protect each other, and I didn't want that to change.

A good counter-example to that, the Fantastic Four. They were always a family, Reed, his girlfriend/wife Sue, Sue's brother Johnny, and Reed's brother-from-another-mother Ben (and sometimes Reed's and Sue's children Franklin and Valeria). I like it that way, I wouldn't ship Sue and Johnny there because it would break that already established family dynamics.

9) Ulltimate codependency. In Astrids' words "Codependent characters who are also each others’ family are that much more codependent. No, it’s not always the healthiest situation, but there’s just something about a pairing that only has each other, who are each others’ everything." That defines at least three ships for me, Sam/Dean (Supernatural), Chris/Claire (Resident Evil), Hansel/Gretel (multiple media adaptations, but I mostly go with Witch Hunters).

1) Taboo/Forbidden aspect. Let's face it, this is probably the greatest consensual romantic taboo one can ship. There's a good deal of angst to write siblings or cousins hiding the nature of their relationship from the rest of their family. This I can put Ben and Gwen hiding it from their parents (and from Gwen's older brother, when he exists)

.

Last, but not least, another one of mine:

29) I ship what I want!

#shipcest #ask #proship #antis dni #anti anti

[ecoamerica]

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[jolyneswife-anime-reviews]

No game no life anime review

Spoilers for no game no life and tw for sexualisation of minors, death, trauma/separation issues, and mention of suggestive conversations surrounding step siblings with a large age gap 

"In every time, in every world, the strong polish their fangs while the weak polish their wisdom," - Sora

Disclaimer: I've only seen the episodes of no game no life available on Netflix

Genre: Fantasy, action, fanservice

Where I watched it: Netflix

Characterisation: 7/10 (I actually really liked the way some of the characters were built - they had fun personalities which were distinct and unique to them, as well as defining characteristics and detailed dynamics in relationships with other characters. Even though they sometimes were not developed enough, I felt like they had potential, with a prime example of this being Kurami. This clearly doesn't apply for all characters- I feel like characters like Izuna weren't really given a personality and were more there for fanservice)

Setting: 8.5/10 ( I really love the maximalist and fantastical design of the game world Sora and Shiro get transported to. It is full of different lands with mystical features, and the human land seems like something from a few centuries ago, which also fits very well.)

Art style: 9/10 (One of the main reasons I started watching the anime was that I loved the way the characters were drawn - everything, from the futuristic and bold colour pallets, the detail in the eyes, and the delightfully personal outfits felt on point. Settings are also drawn with a similar care and attention to detail, which makes some scenes delightful to watch.)

Originality: 8/10 (The concept of getting transported into a game land is nothing new, but there are several characteristics no game no life has that sets it apart. For one, instead of being scared of, or trying to escape said game land, Sora and Shiro thoroughly enjoy life there, integrating and even going as far as wanting to expand human territories by conquering those of other races and challenge god. The way fights work in this anime is also distinct- everything is decided with games, and there are a set of rules each challenge has to meet. Each race has its own "race piece,", which resemble chess pieces (there are 16 races in total); if you defeat all other races and win all the pieces, you earn the right to challenge god, which is Sora and Shiro's big goal in the anime. At the start of the series, humans are struggling to stay on the map - they have very little territory to call their own, because all the other races keep defeating them with their unique powers, but, through Sora and Shiro's strategies, things start to improve for humans bit by bit, with the first big victory being the race piece and territory of the war beasts, which Sora and Shiro defeated in a video game despite their secrecy and sixth sense.)

Plot: 4/10 (The main idea is good- I liked the fact that the step siblings were transported into a game world, as well as the idea of the conflict with the other nations and the rules surrounding that, but, despite sounding great on the drawing board, these ideas were badly executed. The plot moved slowly, with several filler scene, and little progress was often made towards the main goal. Many of the earlier episodes were forgettable and just felt like short stories instead of fragments leading to something bigger. Other issues issues I have with the plot include the way Shiro is sometimes sexualised despite being literally 11 and some of the mildly suggestive undertones in certain interactions between Sora and Shiro, who are step siblings and are 7 years apart in age, with the former being 18. It’s hinted that they’re traumatised due to a difficult past and struggle with separation due to this, but this was not expanded on in the episodes I watched.)

Philosophy: 6/10 (This definitely isn’t a deep anime, or something that can be analysed and picked apart- it makes for a pretty light, casual watch. However, there are some interesting ideas about using tactics, intellect and determination to defeat large powers with unimaginable abilities when you are the underdog, and making this weakness your strength in doing so.)

Addictiveness: 4/10 (As previously stated, the plot was slow and lacked any elements to make it engaging and dynamic. This meant that I didn’t really get hooked, and there wasn’t that necessity to see what happened next.)

Consistency: 6.5/10 (The quality stayed fairly consistent throughout, decreasing when the episodes became less dynamic and more filled with fan service or filler scenes than scenes that developed the plot. However, the games were usually pretty engaging to watch.) 

Comfort: 5.5/10 (While it’s a fairly light watch, there’s little comfort to this show- there is a nice friendship between the elf Fiel, and Zell, a human and her family’s former slave- they are clearly very attached to each other  and greatly care about each other, as well as a few wholesome moments with the cast.)

The plot

Sora and Shiro are step siblings who dominate all the video games they play together under the username of blank. Their parents have died, leaving them alone to live as shut ins in a world they consider to be something akin to a bad video game. One day, they receive a message asking if they ever felt like they were born in the wrong world. They are then challenged to a chess match by this unknown person, which Shiro takes on. Despite her superior intelligence, she finds the match unexpectedly difficult and her victory is a hard won one. Sora and Shiro are then transported to a strange world where everything is different- they meet the god of that world, who explains he transported them there and tells them the rules of his world, where everything is decided by playing games, a process which must  follow 3 concrete rules. Sora and Shiro quickly meet other humans, including Stephanie Dola, the princess of humanity, and learn that humanity is struggling to hold their own against all the other, more powerful, races in conflict, and have lost much territory and a lot of morale. However, her grandfather, who is now widely regarded as a fool, believed humans had the potential to win, and left that legacy behind. Gradually, and after winning the right to the throne in a game, Sora and Shiro begin to fight for humanity, using their intellect, tactics and impressive problem solving skills to compensate for their weaknesses and form successful strategies against impressive allies. After the first victory against Jibril, the flugel who had taken possession of the human library to satisfy her endless thirst for knowledge, humanity grew a bit more optimistic and the wheels were set in motion for more victories to win land from other races, which Soma and Shiro hope will eventually lead them to be able to challenge the god who introduced them to this world. 

Masterlist

#sora no game no life #no game no life #no game no life shiro #stephanie dola #no game no life jibril #chlammy zell #no game no life fiel #fiel nirvalen #no game no life tet #no game no life izuna #ino hatsuse #izuna hatsuse #fantasy #video games #fan service #anime and manga #anime review #anime recommendation #anime reccs #anime discussion #no game no life review #no game no life anime review #jolyneswifeanimereviews

[witchscribed]

BASICS

Full Name:  Luz Alejandra Noceda

Alias:  Berrie

Nicknames:  ??

Sex / Gender:  Female (AFAB)/Gender Non-Conforming

Right or Left:    Ambidextrous

Age:  15

Height:  5′6

Eye Color:  Brown

Hair Color:    Dark brown

Distinguishing Marks:    Eyebrow scar, scarring from cheeks

Paragraph Of Physical Traits:      Berrie stands proudly at 5′6″;   While she tends to appear of neither sex or gender, she will make deliberate decisions with some clothing items to appear a certain way. She’s a girl who wants to define what being a girl means to her. So she won’t “dress pretty” or “act properly” as society expects of her, and rejects the notions of phrases like “lady-like” and “proper woman”… she will however dress pretty because she wants to, as an example.   She tends to dress practically, even if it means being slovenly.   She has a single set of ear piercings.   She is very physically similar to most Luz Nocedas.

FAMILY / RELIGION

Parents / Guardians:  Camila Noceda, Alejandro Noceda (name hc, deceased)

Siblings:  None

Marital Status:    

Significant Other(s):    Amity “Ever” Blight

Children:  

Other Relatives:   A few cousins.

Pets:    An un-named egg palisman

Friends:    Cottage, Ever, Crab, Lynx, etc...

Enemies:  Belos,  Kikimora,  Eshu

Ethnicity:    Afro-latina

Religion:    N/A

Beliefs:  She’s always driven to do the right thing, she believes like most others that “no one should be punished for who they are”

Superstitions:    N/A

Languages:  Spanish and English

Diction / Accent:    Her english is spoken well with no hint of accent.

SCHOOL / WORK / HOME

Education:  Freshman into Sophomore.

Degree(s):  N/A

Occupation:    Cat Cafe.

Own or Rent:  Neither.

Living Space:  Wherever she can honestly.

Work Space:    N/A.

Main Mode of Transport:    Walking, but also Owlbert and Ghost at times

PSYCHOLOGY

Fears:      She is deeply afraid of losing the people she cares about, as well as her aforementioned fears (in EGF) of “jerks online who want to debate” and “cats with human faces”

Secrets:     As happy and cheerful as she appears on the outside, she is slowly becoming more sour and closed off.

IQ:    Fairly intelligent

Eating Habits: As good as she can.

Food Preferences:     She’ll eat just about anything

Sleeping Habits:    Very underslept

Music Preferences:    Tends to lean towards the band world, but also listens to and enjoys popular music

Leader or Follower:    Follower except when a leader is clearly needed.

Planner or Spontaneous:  A mix of both.   It depends on the day and if they’re with Cottage and Lynx.

Journal:  School notes, personal journal... she started making a relationship journal to talk about her feelings towards Ever

Hobbies:    Music, writing, drawing, video games

How Do They Relax:    Either reading or playing games or practicing.

What Excites Them:    Having fun with friends, playing games, playing music

What Stresses Them:    Belos, The collapse of the timeline

Pet Peeves:    Being called weak/baby/small

Prejudices:    Bullying

Attitudes:    Chaotic but also determined

Obsessions:    Good Witch Azura series

Addictions:    N/A

Ambitions:    

ASTROLOGY / PHISIOLOGY

Birth Date:  April 6th,  2007

Sign:  Aries

Traits Associated with Western Sign:   Aries is a passionate, motivated, and confident leader who builds community with their cheerful disposition and relentless determination. Uncomplicated and direct in their approach, they often get frustrated by exhaustive details and unnecessary nuances. They like things quick and dirty,

Chinese Zodiac Sign:    Pig

Traits Associated with Chinese Sign:    Pigs are diligent, compassionate, and generous. They have great concentration: once they set a goal, they will devote all their energy to achieving it. Though Pigs rarely seek help from others, they will not refuse to give others a hand.

Handwriting:   Ok.

Sexual History:  

General Health:      Fairly adequate.

Mental Disabilities:     ASD, Anxiety

Allergies:    Lactose intolerance.

OBJECTS KEPT IN

Purse / Bag:  phone, wallet, books

Wallet:      snails, dollars

Fridge:  Food.

Medicine Cabinet:   TONS of Advil from her camp supplies

Glove Compartment:    N/A

Junk Drawer:      N/A

Backpack:  Books, journals, practice materials/arrangements of popular music for tuba

Desk:  N/A

Clothes Pockets:  Usually their phone

OTHER

Halloween Costumes:  Usually Azura related

Talents:  Pennsylvania All-state tubist, good artist, good writer, can do “eyeball trick”

Politics:    Anti-Belos, Very Liberal at home, 

Flaws:     People-pleasing, Unfocused, disorganized, overly accommodating, overly optimistic, restless

Strengths:  Curious, Perceptive, Enthusiastic, Excellent Communicator, Festive, Good-natured

Drugs / Alcohol:  None

Passwords:  Password/Fingerprint

Prized Possessions:   A magic outfit,   it was a gift from Eda.  It’s something that was both practical and looked nice.  They are extremely grateful to their mentor.

Time and Place:        10:02pm. Typing this with one hand as Ever snoozes next to them

Special Places:    Her home.

Special Memories:     Their kiss after being broken out of Belos’s castle. It was the most romantic thing in the world.

#v; berries and cream #about berrie

[dilanfm]

aslihan malbora & she/her / cis woman ‷ watch out , dilan sunar has crash-landed into roswell !! they look twenty nine years old and celebrate their birthday on january 1st . they are from dallas, texas, reside in aurora apartments and are currently working as owner of feel good records. one thing you should know about them is she bought the record store on an impulsive whim and now is struggling with the financial side of things.

tw: accident, parental death.

FULL NAME: dilan sunar.

NICKNAMES: dil.

PARENTS: eren ( father, deceased ) & marlowe sunar ( mother, deceased ).

SIBLINGS: two younger siblings.

CHILDREN: ophelia ( 12 month old daughter with maverick persaud ).

ZODIAC: capricorn.

AGE: twenty-nine.

GENDER & PRONOUNS: cis woman & she / her.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: pansexual, demiromantic.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single.

OCCUPATION: owner of feel good records.

PERSONALITY TRAITS: gregarious, affectionate, generous, whimsical. impulsive, forgetful, scatterbrained, resentful.

about dilan.

Born as a first generation American-Turkish daughter of two marine biologists that constantly traveled around, Dilan couldn’t recall a moment in her childhood where she had a defined routine. The oldest of three, and the only biological child of the couple, she had to take responsibilities really early on whenever their parents would be gone for long periods of time. She surely didn’t blame them for having to work or having a career they were so passionate about, and it’s not even as if they were bad parents as they were actually pretty loving when they were around, but she just wished they could’ve been more mindful about the fact they also had three kids at home that needed them.

When Dilan was just seventeen, both of her parents died in a helicopter accident and the custody of her youngest siblings were basically thrown on the still underage woman. Even if she had taken care of them for most of her life, raising them more than their parents did, it still all felt too overwhelming, too much for her to handle, but she was able to push those feelings aside in order to step up for them.

That pretty much defined the person she would become later on—the one that constantly puts other people’s needs above her own, though she rarely sees that as a bad thing. She likes having a compassionate and caring soul, even if it’s something that tires the life out of her at times.

As the years passed and the three Sunar children grew older, Dilan was able to focus on her passions without having to worry much about her siblings. She traveled around for a while, trying to find herself. Having lost all of her teenage years by being the most responsible version of herself, she became more impulsive, reckless, eager to try all the things she had missed out on. That lead to some pretty awful life choices but at least she was able to collect some funny stories to share for shock value in bars or at the counter of the record store.

The opportunity to settle down somewhere came when her best friend moved to Roswell and, seeing as she needed a place to grow roots in, Dilan decided to follow her there, moving to a town that reminded her of the one she had grown up in. The impulsiveness, however, is something that stuck to her like a plague and that’s what lead to the decision of buying Feel Good Records when she knew close to nothing about how to run a business. Clearly, she’s struggling and always two seconds away from breaking down in tears, but hey! At least she’s trying and doing something that actually makes her happy, seeing as without all the responsibilities, she really does enjoy being the owner of the store.

wanted connections.

#this sucks but i wanted to get her intro up <3 #roswellintro #❛ ⠀ you flower; you feast ⠀ �� ⠀conversation ⠀ . #❛ ⠀ you flower; you feast ⠀ 、 ⠀face ⠀ . #❛ ⠀ you flower; you feast ⠀ 、 ⠀isms ⠀ . #❛ ⠀ you flower; you feast ⠀ 、 ⠀tunes ⠀ . #❛ ⠀ you flower; you feast ⠀ 、 ⠀messages ⠀ . #❛ ⠀ you flower; you feast ⠀ 、 ⠀social media ⠀ . #❛ ⠀ you flower; you feast ⠀ 、 ⠀answered ⠀ .

[july-19th-club]

Review for Roswell: New Mexico S2E07: “Como la Flor”: hurricane season

4/5 ⭐s

This episode is all about maternal legacies - in the A-plot, the Ortecho sisters’ very different, yet equally contentious relationships with their mother Helena, and in the B-plot Maria’s love for, and fear of the fates of, her mother Mimi and grandmother Patty, both of whom were diagnosed with a hard-to-pin-down degenerative memory condition that Maria, who experiences a frightening and disorienting vision near the start of the episode, believes has now come for her. We’ve met Mimi, who loses huge chunks of time at once, did used to consider herself a pretty good psychic, and is often mistaking the plots of movies related to the things she’s obsessing about for events she needs to remember. She has periods of lucidity where her daughter seeks comfort she’s still very able to give, and she has moments where she’s spaced out completely or living in a different decade. 

I had assumed so far that what she was suffering was an alien variant of dementia, that perhaps she was the child of one of the crash survivors and that was why doctors weren’t able to figure out what was wrong. But when Maria has a flash of Kyle standing under a bright light, stunned, she and Michael rush to the hospital, afraid he’s been abducted - and he’s just at work, completely fine. Now Maria’s really scared, so with Michael (who is at his caringest here, gently supporting Maria without letting her get too deep in her head about her fears) and Kyle’s help, she gets some tests done. According to the results, she’s not alien - or at least,  a protein found in all three of the siblings’ blood is not present in hers - but her grandmother Patty was involved in another one of those government trials that we keep hearing about. Maria, knowing the history of experiments borne out on Black bodies, does not think it was with full knowledge and consent. Between that, Kyle’s findings, and Michael’s research in the Caulfield documents, we’re shaping up to not be anywhere near done with the place. 

Maria’s relieved that her condition - if indeed it’s manifesting - is not evidence of direct extraterrestrial origins, but it’s still a scary illness that has hit her far earlier than it seems to have hit either her mother or grandmother, and when later she pieces together that what she saw was a small slice of the future - the bright lights were tire lights in a parking lot, not abduction from on high - she begins to think it could be made into something useful, maybe even life-saving. But first she has to not get lost in it, like the women she loves did before her. 

Mental illness in Ortecho women is a little less clearly defined - in a previous episode, Liz said bipolar disorder, but it’s never mentioned here - but the generational shadow of it is no less of a weight. In the first episode of the show, Liz worried that her confusion about the events of the shooting might mean she was beginning to hallucinate. For Rosa, fielding the mental minefield of despair and alienation (no pun intended) meant turning to coping mechanisms like art and, when that didn’t work, self-medicating. We’ve gotten some idea of how Helena’s experience affected her daughters, but when she shows up to sign over her portion of the diner (or, possibly, extort her family) it becomes quickly clear that much of what her family has distanced themselves from has less to do with addiction or mental health and more to do with run-of-the-mill, not-a-great-person opportunism. 

Rosa feels that neither Arturo nor Liz are really equipped to handle ‘Hurricane Helena’ - but as Liz points out, for her, Mom left just yesterday. They’ve had a decade to get steelier, and they make it through the whole dinner, power outages, stolen heirlooms, and all. They’re co-owners of the restaurant now, which will make it easier for Arturo to get his visa taken care of and for Liz to sleep at night - and he confesses he always knew Rosa wasn’t his biological daughter and he never saw that as a reason not to love her like she was. 

But Rosa doesn’t hear him say this, and it’s Rosa who suffers most tonight. Unable to confront her mother due to the whole ‘living dead girl’ thing, she lurks around the house, and can’t help hearing every conversation and get more and more upset and emotional all the time. Lights flicker, radios malfunction, Liz calls Isobel to come keep her company and for a little while they relive their teenage graffiti days. Except, of course, for Izzy those weren’t her experiences, and they wind up having a cruel little fight about their Noah trauma that ends with Rosa going back home, nearly torching Helena’s car, deciding not to...and then witnessing the last big fight of the evening and accidentally setting it on fire anyway. 

The sisters climb up to their spot on the diner sign after it all goes down, and Liz takes the position Rosa still wishes was hers, as the comforter. There’s a silver lining in all this, she insists, in that their mother has been clean for ten years, proof that it can be done. What Rosa doesn’t tell her big little sister is that when she was searching her mother’s car, she found a prescription bottle, which she still has. After Liz leaves, she takes one. Everything hurts, and old habits die hard. 

LITTLE STASH OF SPACE JAM

Amber Midthunder, as usual, makes the absolute most out of her material, which is usually pretty good, and she’s just so goddamn vulnerable and sympathetic. 

Early in the episode there’s one of my favorite kinds of pod squad conversations: Dunking On Max Hour. In today’s installment, Izzy is regaling the boys with the tale of her hot night out at Planet 7, Michael is congratulating her on the consummated bisexuality, and Max is getting ribbed for being straight (Izzy: “I’m just sayin, if it doesn’t work out with Liz? Save a horse, ride a cowboy”). Can confirm that this is most of what the bi agenda is all about. 

Max’s role in the episode is relatively small: he’s teaming up with Iz to help Rosa gain some control over her abilities, and takes Rosa’s sound rejection (“you resurrected me, I restarted your heart, we’re even, that doesn’t mean I like you or trust you or want your help”) in stride. He spends the rest of his screentime doing supportive boyfriend at the family dinner and dutifully, if reluctantly, agreeing to forgo power usage for his heart health. He does chase down Helena and sort of verbally strongarm her into giving back Liz’s grandmother’s ring, but this is low on the list of Max Takes Charge Of Something That’s Not Really His Business events, so I’m forgiving it.

Kyle’s subplot in this episode is to grow ever more suspicious about the identity of his hospital crush Steph, “the dean of surgery’s daughter,” who - what, did you think that we, the audience, wouldn’t notice your purse stash of nail polish remover in your second scene? Nobody on this show carries nail polish remover to remove polish from their nails. That bitch is drinking it. Anyway she seems to have some kind of medical problem that she refuses to disclose to Kyle, and he thinks she’s a ghost who is haunting him exclusively to make snide comments about his professional and personal worth. It’s a match made in heaven (mostly, Kyle bores me, and the most interesting thing about him right now is Steph). 

Another nice little mother moment - Arturo does not even care if he gets his mother’s ring back - “I have a lot more than that of her,” he says, half proud and half disdainful, making Max’s gesture a little bit moot (but hey, he wasn't making it to Arturo). 

Line of the episode goes to Amber this time for her description of how Liz used to doormat for their mother: “She turns you into this like, needy little spider monkey!” 

#reviews #roswell nm #roswell: new mexico #q