More happy than not

Aaron should be happy. He got everything he wants. Well not in the ways he wants or expects, but still he should be more than content. He has his loving cousin, a team he is begrudgingly tolerating, decent grades, his relationship with his brother is somehow mending because of some meddling ginger, and he got a boyfriend.

A sweet, caring, hot, smart boyfriend. Never in a million years will Aaron ever expect himself to date Kevin Day but here he is, in Kevin’s arms, lounging on the couch, Kevin reading some history books he like and Aaron napping until he woke up.

“Hey, I got to go practice, see you later,” giving Aaron a light peck, Kevin leaves, following Andrew and Neil to their car.

The thing is, Aaron only has Kevin because Andrew has Neil. Aaron knows that he is never the first choice, no, he isn’t even an option. Even before Kevin asked him out Aaron knows deep down, but Aaron is a masochist so he accepts because it is better to be the replacement and have a part of Kevin’s heart than none at all.

Every time Kevin leaves to practice with Andrew and Neil Aaron’s heart breaks a little more. But every kiss from Kevin brings those pieces back together, but it will never be whole because how can Aaron’s heart be whole when he knows that when Kevin is kissing Aaron all he is thinking about is Andrew. That Kevin wishes it is Andrew he is touching instead of Aaron. Aaron has accepted these facts since he agreed to be Kevin’s boyfriend. Yet it still hurts. Especially seeing the way Kevin’s eyes lit up when he sees Andrew actually putting in effort, and how Kevin turns away whenever Andrew kisses Neil. Of course Aaron has noticed all these details.

All these Aaron tries to convince himself maybe it is all his assumptions and paranoia. But a few months into their relationship, Kevin confesses when they are discussing past relationships.

“Yeah, my first kiss is actually Jean, not Thea. But then we were too afraid to do anything about it.”

“Do you regret it?”

“A little,” Kevin says honestly. One thing Aaron loves about Kevin is his ruthless honesty that people think is rude or heartless. But Aaron loves how he doesn’t hide anything. Doesn’t mean that his sharp, true words didn’t make his heart bleed.

“But I will always love Jean, as a friend. I’m just super happy for him and Jeremy, I’m glad he has him. I just hate how I left him and couldn’t be there for him.” Aaron squeezes Kevin tighter, and Kevin presses a kiss into Aaron’s hair and Aaron cannot help but melt.

“Just Thea then?” Aaron asks.

“Well, I think I did have a crush on Andrew.” Kevin says guiltily. Aaron tightens his arms around Kevin. “He is just there, promising to protect me from Riko. And, I was so lost, doesn’t help that he is also attractive.” Kevin winks at Aaron. Aaron feels like he cannot breath.

“Is it just Kaitlyn for you?” Kevin asks.

“Yeah,” and Aaron doesn’t elaborate because they all know the story.

It’s been several months since that conversation but there isn’t a single day that Aaron hasn’t thought about it. He trusts Kevin that he will never do anything to betray Aaron. And of course Andrew will never ever cheat on Neil. Anyone that knows them know that.

So, Aaron just lives with the fact that he is not the person his boyfriend wants but just the stand in, the next best thing Kevin can have because Aaron is just right there and conveniently looks like Andrew.

Every kiss from Kevin kills and melts him. Every hug from Kevin leaves him breathless. Every time they fuck Aaron feels like crying because of how good it is and-

Aaron Minyard should be grateful for all that he has now because he never thought he will mount to anything. So this is already more than he deserves.

coming out as a firm 'oliver is a bucktommy endgame truther' believer like oh the way he speaks about them in his interviews? i just know he wants them to be long-term bad and i hope all his wishes come true

how many belts and buckles does she need someone save me.

Ok here's a little (not really) analysis/theory post about Hades 2, because I'm obsessed. Its consumed all my thoughts. And I need to talk about a theme I think will (hopefully) be addressed as the game progresses.

Here's some examples of dialogue that starts to touch on this conflict between mortals and the gods. What exactly do mortals deserve? We also have literal Icarus "flew too close to the sun" here too (and probably Pandora). Chronos was able to sway many to his side with a promise of a golden age without the gods, which is presented by the narrative as a foolish venture. And not saying it isn't, or that Chronos is the secret good guy here, but I believe Chronos is taking advantage of a very real hurt that exists for mortals.

This line from Nemesis really stood out to me, because it implies that while mortals have a concept of evil, the gods don't. Which sounds ridiculous but the more you think about it makes total sense. The gods in Hades (and just greek myth in general), are kind of the worst. They are petty and selfish, they literally attack you if their boon isn't picked first, and most vitally in this context, often utterly disregard mortals.

For example, one of the things that drove me a little crazy in Hades 1, was how chill everyone was with Demeter's never ending winter. Demeter was killing possibly millions upon millions of mortals and everyone else just sort of let it happen. Maybe complained a bit because it was annoying to them, but just stood by. And that's just one example. Mortal's have a very valid reason to hate the gods.

And considering we have more areas of the surface to explore that aren't out yet, I have a feeling Melinoë is going to be meeting some of these discontent mortals. And my hope is they are going to be nuanced characters, that will challenge Melinoë not just in a fight, but her very ideals.

Because Melinoë is very deferential to the gods, waaaaaay more that Zag ever was. Unlike Zag, who was more like a bro to them and was willing to suck up to them for personal gain, Melinoë seems to genuinely mean all the respect she gives them. She praises them, defends them when they are insulted, and just generally very polite to them.

In a smaller scale, she describes Hypnos as having a wisdom about him and can somehow sense her intensions while asleep. Which as Nem implies, the version in Melinoë's head doesn't exactly line up with reality (though sidebar, I am a believer in Chekov's Hypnos and that he's going to somehow save the day and put Chronos in a never ending sleep or something, but that's beside the point haha).

Melinoë's reverence to the gods makes total sense of course. She was denied her family and a happy childhood, and because of that has glorified them all in her head. The Olympians are sending her vital aid on her holy mission for vengeance and to save her family, even as their own home is being attacked, how honorable of them!

And I think part of Melinoë's arc is that perfect picture of them breaking into pieces. Yes, they are the better of the two options between them and Chronos, but that doesn't mean they aren't also kind of the worst. That mortals deserve better than frivolous gods that can decide on a whim their fates for better or worse (love u Moros but I'm still fucked up over you and your sisters giving mortals horrible doom endings when you were bored. At least he feels bad now but still. Perfect example of gods even when not intending to having horrific consequences for mortals). And maybe like how Zag healed relations with his family, Melinoë can start repairing relations between the Gods and Mortals.

i think a lot about how early-series, demigods are referred to pretty equally as "demigods," "half-bloods," and "godlings," - the last used particularly by gods at demigods - but after that "godlings" is almost exclusively used to refer to minor gods.

something something i am literally always chewing on the concept of the line between immortals/demigods/monsters/etc being thinner than it appears

POV: you're Sabine. You get a cat. Do you:

a) name the cat something silly that fans will adore like Jabba the Catt

b) name the cat after someone close to you (and make fans go 🥲), like Tristan for example

c) name the cat something that is not humorous, interesting, or in any way whatsoever related to anything we care about, like Murley

idk I was just like “WHYYYY!?” when I found out that they didn't decide to do anything interesting there lol

HE IS FOREVER TURKEYLEGS IN OUR HEART 🔥🔥🔥

He was about to kill you, Lex. Or divulge something you didn't want me to know.

— SMALLVILLE, "Forever" (4.21)

+ bonus from "Arctic" (7.20):

so as literally everyone following me in the past 24 hours knows, im fucking obsessed with her. take her shes everything i have

HOW did you get this done so fast?? Seriously, you just came up with the idea yesterday!

There are so many little hints that I'm going to be puzzling along with Duke about. Ugh and forcing them not to use names but numbers? It shows that they're tools for the Regime but also maybe Kal trying to create separation between the recruits and Bruce? Maybe he won't bond with them quite so strongly like he does other kids? Another control tactic.

Brilliant. I am so stoked about this.

I accidentally consumed about 600 mg of caffeine today three hours before work was done so when I clocked out I jumped into a google doc and started typing. Then I stopped when my hands kept shaking LOL.

I was trying to have Duke notice stuff and all those tiny hints but not get it right away! He’s smart but he’s also a fish out of water. He needs to get his bearings and process those weird gut feelings and instincts.

Thank you for reading!

Okay so realistically speaking, giving birth is an excruciating, painful nightmare, and from the few Crocodad fics I've seen most people seem to prefer to write realistic pregnancy and make Luffy's birth a (physically) painful thing. Because it makes sense, it might be more relatable for some writers that way etc, and that's perfectly fine (like genuinely, it's not an issue at all, this is not a critique or a complaint)

God I don't know how to make this segue- Have any of you watched Ore Monogatari!! (My Love Story)? It's a great early 2010s romantic comedy series, funny as hell, super cute and sweet, would reccomend, but that aside. During the series the protagonist Takeo's mother gets pregnant and she ends up giving birth to Takeo's baby sister. And it's that scene, where Takeo's baby sister is born, that I keep on thinking back to whenever I wonder how Luffy's birth might've gone.

Takeo and his mother alike are Sturdy Motherfuckers. Like absolute gigachads, borderline superhuman, it's great and it's funny as hell. And because of that near superhuman nature... Takeo's mother goes to give birth at 4:15 pm. And she has finished giving birth at 4:16 pm. One fucking minute is what it took for this woman to bring a child into this world. An absolute legend

The screencaps do not do justice to how fucking funny this is in the actual episode

And so like

Like we know Crocodile's been through absolute hell, being an amputee and all. And as Domino told us at the entrance of Impel Down, we also know the man did not even flinch when forced into Impel Down's traditional 200 Celsius cleansing bath (or 392F)

So Crocodile has better pain tolerance than the average person. Like, you might have to put in a bit of effort to cause him actually hurt. So if giving birth to Luffy was an absolute cakewalk for Crocodile, not only would it make perfect sense in-universe and be completely in-character for him, but also

It would be objectively funny as hell

I personally headcanon Gwen actually does know Spanish (plus like other languages like French + Italian because why not???)

So just imagine Gwen waiting for a train meanwhile Miles is here to like say a goodbye or something and he straight up does a confession in Spanish like “I hope I can marry you someday/I love you” and Gwen is like “you know I understand Spanish right?” (with some kind of smirk going on) and goes into the train like a chad (and then has a panic attack on the train, meanwhile Miles is thinking like “wait W H A T”)

man I'm rewatching skybound (help) to focus on the misfortune crew so here's a kinda long ramble about Flintlocke and Nadakhan friendship below

the way Flintlocke's voice shakes when he says to Nadakhan he's doing a mutiny. when he says "stay right there"

I know it's most likely from fear, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was out of a broken heart too like- it's his captain. one he has most likely spent years at sea with. the one he'd trust with his life, and must've done so. most likely his best friend. AUGH

And how Nadakhan reacts to it, too! he gets angry, he doesn't believe what he's hearing! how dare they not trust him? (gee I wonder why)How is Flintlocke daring him to change things around?

Can you imagine watching someone you care about diving into some kind of infinite madness, and you not able to do shit about it? And it's not like Flintlocke could help much. Since yknow Nadakhan just lost all his people in a single moment after spending 300 years inside a teapot, and after losing the one he loves, too. And he sees something is wrong the moment he sees Nya. He knows Nadakhan too well, and I take it he's used to the captain sharing plans with them if he's already hella suspicious when Nadakhan doesn't tell him what he has in mind when coming back from Djinjago

And he's not the only one; like the whole 'close' crew (as I like to call them) notices how their captain is kinda getting distant? and losing it

But like what are you supposed to do about that? especially since they're pirates, and the captain has to be kind of scary if he still wants to handle psychopaths under an iron grip of some sort

And they were ready to trust him. To the end, I guess.

fuck! Nadakhan just ruined all that was left to him during skybound, didn't he? what a fucking idiot.

And Jay was this close to do the same with his own friends huh (NOT TO THAT EXTENT GUYS COME ON-)

I just love to think of parallels between Jay and Nadakhan. Cole and Flintlocke. The obvious (? I'm not really sure about this one) but awfully made Delara Nya one (not saying I made a good one in my fic either but eh)

But they're pirates. They're not good people, and Nadakhan is a fucking bitch. You have on one side how Arrakore dealt with the loss, and on the other, Nadakhan's, who was probably so used to being a prince and stuff he just- ugh.

But that doesn't mean they don't have emotions, which I'm trying to write about

also I'm noting Clancee probably noted Nya resembling Delara when he gave Nadakhan the newspaper. But he didn't say anything. Hm. I'm keeping that in mind.

anyway. back to writing I goooo

It is interesting, in retrospect, how during and immediately after their encounter with Delilah in episode 77, you can see it actively dawn on Imogen that Delilah is a 24/7 voyeur to everything that happens to/around Laudna, including her relationship with Laudna. Delilah taunts them by saying, "I'm always here" and Imogen whispers to herself, "Always," like this is the first time she's realized it and then immediately starts trying to plan a way, any way, to separate them, including saving the gods from Predathos specifically to call in a favor from one of them. It's such a numb, sudden, harrowing realization. It build perfectly to her admission of disgust when they were in the Fey Realm a couple episodes later

Not to get pedantic (oh who am i kidding that’s most of this blog) but I am genuinely fascinated by the potential applications of the established canon in HoO and TOA that the gods canonically have both historic and regional forms, and can appear as specific versions of those forms and have kids of those specific forms, which influence what powers the kid has/what pantheon they fall under/etc etc (and also the implication that demigods can be born under multiple forms of a singular deity). This is somewhat backed up even earlier in the first series when we’re told that Percy has earthquake powers because of his father being Poseidon “The Earthshaker” (which is Mycenaean Poseidon) - which could also tie into why Percy generally takes leadership roles, is hopping in and out of the Underworld a lot, and is apparently particularly powerful for even just a Big 3 kid, since all that would line up with Mycenaean Poseidon being generally put at the head of the pantheon and also being a chthonic deity.

Now this gets really interesting when we start looking at deities being combined and conflated, because a.) the Romans weren’t the only ones doing that and b.) the Romans had their own gods originally, they didn’t just take the Greek ones and slap a new name on them. They merged a lot with their own preexisting deities alongside adopting worship of deities from other cultures as the Romans spread (and the Greeks also did this), and c.) the ancient Greeks and Romans did exist at the same time.

Like, we know in terms of the Greeks and Romans that if their godly parents are “equivalent” then their demigod children are siblings, just like if Greek demigods have the “same” godly parent then they are also siblings. However, very few Greco-Roman gods are one-to-one, and a lot are like three gods in a trench coat, and then if you want to get into historical forms then you can start running into weird things like “Well, if you go back far enough, these two Greek gods may have originated from the same thing-” and also if we’re talking historical forms, again, the Greeks and Romans existed at the same time! Which means there would be historic forms of godly parents that are both Greek and Roman! So like, where do we go from there? Would Hazel be equally siblings to a child of Plutus as she is to Nico because both Hades and Plutus were conflated into Pluto? Orcus was also conflated with Pluto - does that mean when Nico killed Bryce Lawrence, he was killing his half-brother? (cause then that parallels just a couple chapters later when Will faces off against Octavian-) Are there demigods who, depending on their godly parents’ form(s), are technically both a Greek and Roman demigod? If Hermes and Pan possibly originated from the same god, does that mean all the satyrs are siblings with the Hermes kids? If we want to get into all the nonsense of Dionysus’ origins and Zagreus and Hades, does that mean Nico is technically siblings with Dionysus kids? Does Dionysus joke about this during their therapy sessions? Are some demigods in certain cabins siblings with kids in other cabins but each others’ siblings aren’t siblings depending on what form their godly parents were in?

I have a headache now.

Gortash with Durge & their new partner

POV: you are eridan