Guess what! I got food stamps back!

Literally the only way we were able to make this happen is by finding out that one of Tyrell’s friends works for job and family services– so she was able to arrange some phone calls for us and got me through! So food for Remy is now covered for a while :’) 🥳

But we could really use some help with a bag of Arlo food ($15-$40ish size depending), and I’m 6 days late on my $80 monthly doctor bill. Arlo’s held over for now but it’s running low.

It’ll still be a couple of weeks before this litter of rats is ready to be homed. Tyrell’s been out of work herself this week healing from an injury so it’s a little harder for her to help this month. If you can spare any, ... 🙏🏼 Venmo: @remywolfe CashApp: $remywolfe PayPal: [email protected] or paypal.me/wolfstephollow ApplePay: 4805199559 kofi: ko-fi.com/remywolfe

katsuki with a disabled partner

writing this because i’m having the shittiest flare rn and wanted some comfort fluff so here u go.

this is where i think katsuki (aged up) would truly shine as a partner; he shows his love in actions and in touch, and caring for you is his way of doing that. katsuki can more than handle the strain disability adds to a relationship.

anything you need on your worst days, he will do it: hold you, reassure you, bathe you, brush your hair, make your food, feed you, help you change, carry you across the house, catch you when you fall, schedule appointments, you name it. nothing is too difficult or off limits because he loves you. he insists on caring for you - almost overbearingly so - because it makes him feel less helpless when you’re struggling.

he will drop everything to be by your side. as a pro hero that’s not always possible, but if there is a way, he will find it. he’d never tell you, but the times he can’t be there when you need him is what keeps him up at night.

refuses to let you push through when you’re struggling and is the first person to insist that you put your well-being before anything else. (which you think to be ironic coming from someone who by all metrics is a workaholic.)

and yes, he will talk to anyone who gives you flak if he has to. he has leverage and he’s not afraid to use it (much to your embarrassment at times). refuses to let you feel guilty for what’s outside of your control.

gets angry when you try to do something without his help. “the fuck you think you’re doin? i’m right here. i’m gonna take care of you.” also gets mad if you have a bad flare, get injured, etc. and you don’t tell him immediately.

at the same time, he’ll eventually learn when to back off. he doesn’t want you stripped of your independence. but push yourself too hard after insisting you were fine? you bet he’s gonna give you a little shit for it (lovingly).

i don’t see him being put off by known long term disability early on in a relationship, esp. if a deaf!katsuki hc is involved.

sudden disability due to health changes or trauma: it’s almost like it doesn’t phase him because he just handles it. he’s dealt with a fair amount of shit himself before you and with you by his side. it’s not easy, but it’s familiar, so he knows what to do.

lots of comfort sex - for both of you. yeah, he has his rough, mean side (which you love), but he’s more than capable of making love. when you’re struggling but still able, he fucks you in a way that makes you believe everything will be okay. he looks you in the eyes and loves you so tenderly that only you might believe he’s the same man everyone else knows. he doesn’t just do it for you. it’s a comfort to him, too. he needs the world to fall away for just a moment so he can love you. it doesn’t fix life’s problems or keep him from worrying about you, but it’s healing and eases the pain.

bonus: comfort kink for the same reasons. whether it’s light impact play to ground you when you’re dissociated, encouraging you to slip into that subby headspace that makes you feel safe, or edging you until you can’t think to keep your mind occupied, he’s okay with it. i feel like he’d also be surprisingly soft for moments like this.

the great (horrifying) thing about supernatural horror involving little kids is the underlying thread of helplessness that isn't really present with adult characters/stories

like with Skinamarink, we could debate whether the happenings of the film are physically "happening" or whether they're a metaphor for something more realistic (like child abuse/neglect), but at the end of the day the result is the same: these kids are 100% completely powerless

to a kid, an omnipotent god-entity is at the same level of confusing and powerful as a particularly cruel adult. without any way to call for help (or any way to get adults to listen to them), they're fucked either way. this is especially true if the kid is too young to have really internalized "rules of reality" yet-- they don't know how the world is "supposed" to work yet, so they prolly won't pick up on subtle spacial/metaphysical fuckery. they just know that they're scared and hurt and confused, and no one is around to help them

it rly puts into perspective the kinda world kids are forced to navigate, esp when we don't take the time to meet them at their level or care to listen to them. and, alternately, I think it also serves as an interesting way to view cosmic horror-- entities that often overlook the gaps in our perspectives and don't (or maybe can't) properly explain their motives or actions, and have the power to wreak devastating trauma on us if they have the inclination

those baggy knee highs on seungmin…. i just started rattling the bars of my enclosure😛

inspired to tie him down and mark up his pretty thighs with bites. give him attention everywhere but where he wants, no, NEEDS you most. until he’s writhing and crying for more. maybe then giving in and letting him feel the slightest pleasure before going back to square one 😌

i’m always toeing the line of being soft dom and hard dom with seungmo, guess it’s just one of those nights 💔🔨 -🐾

no one is responsible for the person they become when seungmin’s thighs are involved ♡_♡ they’re so soft yet toned, putting him in shorts is a dangerous game

and i feel that so hard…do you wanna reward him for being so good and obedient, or test him to see how far you can push his limits 😽 can you imagine if you tied him up while he was still dressed in that little prince outfit so there’s no chance for him to feel you touch him where he needs you most without a pesky barrier of clothing in the way~ the only place you can properly stimulate him is his bare thighs, biting and sucking further down until his shorts are pushed as far up as they can go and his pretty skin is covered in red splotches. getting seungmin to the point of writhing n crying would be unbelievably gratifying he might even start to let out that cute, wailing laugh of his that he does when he feels helpless bc he really thinks he’ll go crazy if you don’t touch him properly. esp if you palmed him through his shorts just a bit only to pull away before he can gain any real friction from it

or maybe you could make him cum like that with just a few touches so that he ruins his pretty shorts <3

in the college au who all lives together? maki toge yuuta and panda? how do they (maki esp) feel about gojo paying their rent?

omg, hi !! thank you for taking notice of my college au 🥺

living arrangements:

• yuuta, toge, and maki live together in an apartment they rent near the school. none of them have a particularly good home life, so by the time they met, it was an easy decision.

• they rented a three bedroom before yuuta and toge started dating. once yuuta started studying abroad, toge started sleeping in his room when he got particularly stressed. it wasn’t uncommon for maki to crack the door open and see him huddling on his bed, wearing a stolen hoodie, blankly staring ahead. sometimes she’d sit with him, other times she could only drag him to the living room and put his stupid youtubers on

• once yuuta came back and everything got sorted between them, toge just moved into his room permanently. it was essentially his room anyway, his bed had already turned in a source of comfort for him. yuuta will never gain ownership of his hoodies again, and they have a new plushie corner of pandas.

• they turned the extra room into a guest space for when their friends want to stay over. panda probably uses it the most, but he has a good relationship with his adoptive dad, yaga, so he still lives with him at their home.

• nobara eventually starts staying over eventually too, though she immediately takes over maki’s room and becomes an honorary roommate. it’s not too uncommon for maki and yuuta to come home to toge cooking and nobara pouring over designs on the kitchen table.

• yuuji lives in his grandpa’s house with his brothers: choso, kechizu, eso, and maybe sukuna who is being tortured for atonement lol.

• megumi lives with his sister and gojo who loves making fun of him.

• eventually megumi starts staying over at yuuji’s, and eventually they’ll get their own apartment together.

scholarship kids:

• initially maki was okay with the scholarship she received for her skills in the naginata club she was captain in through high school. she didn’t know gojo at the time as anything but someone who recognized her skills, so a full-ride scholarship was game-changing for her with a middle finger to her family who always looked down on her.

• after getting to know him and finding out he was paying the apartment off, she definitely felt like he was treating them as charity cases. it offended her and she confronted him with no small amount of hostility. his sincerity in helping them was off-putting, his comment about needing a lawyer someday even more so. but eventually they settled on an agreement. maki would be sending gojo, who did not tell her the actual rent cost lol, her share. he also doesn’t tell her that he just uses it to increase her scholarship. sometimes stubborn kids just need a little underhandedness to succeed.

• for toge, the scholarship initially made him uncomfortable. he was good at school because he had to be, the scholarship was almost a binding vow that his family taunted him with. yet, gojo paying his rent made him feel immensely guilty. it was to the point where he was ready to back out, but yuuta unashamedly begged him. a pinch of manipulation was involved because the gojo-okkotsu family does not play fair. but all yuuta had to do was open the empty cabinets, look a little helpless, and say ‘i need you,’ before toge was folding. toge still pays him back in meals, every time gojo visits he makes a feast with way too many sweets. but gojo is the closest thing he’s ever had to a savior, the only way he escaped the abuse. even if he can’t say it, a beautiful cake is always waiting for gojo’s arrival.

• yuuta tried to object at first, since technically he wasn’t a scholarship winner, but gojo is honestly too exhausting for him. not having to worry about rent was also a huge relief to all of them so yuuta was also pretty easy to convince. gojo justifies it by saying it’s too lonely to live by yourself and yuuta just can’t argue.

• i think it’s understating it to say that gojo does love these kids. i know his relationship with megumi is highlighted the most but he’s saved so many of them and likely at such a young age. toge and maki especially have always been rejected, and he was likely the first to accept them. he’s their parental figure, even if he might be childish and annoying, those are his kids !!

• he couldn’t protect them in their past life, but at least here, he can finally give them happiness.

adding this here:

• panda is a human !! i headcanon him having vitiligo and a mild pain insensitivity, which made yaga extremely overprotective, hence not moving in with his friends lol

thank you for the question, feel free to send in any more !! 🥺

Spoilers alert

Spy x Family Chapter 70 Spoilers and Blind Guesses

1. I see a lot of people say that Anya actively tries to defuse the situation simply because Anya thinks she’s the mc of a spy movie and she has become used to this sort of situations. I mean I guess these are part of the reasons, but note that Anya stepped up right after this:

All other children are immediately soothed right after Bill’s words, and Squire further emphasises on how they are precious children of important people. While other children are most likely to sit back and think that help would be on the way because their parents would protect them (esp Becky), Anya tries to actively help with the situation because she is reminded of her parents. 

She didn’t do it for waku waku, and she didn’t do it for stellar stars. She did it because of her parents. Although she knows her parents are going to save her, she always tries to help to make their jobs easier. And that is why this scene struck me the hardest.

2. Not sure how Yor would be involved. A lot of people mentioned how Yor might see it on the news since Becky and Anya successfully got the message out. BUT! Do note that Yor works as a civil servant and she might be able to get info within the government (if so, going to Matthew McMahon for further info would be a sensible choice, and Matthew McMahon is the Director of Policy at the Berlint City Hall so the following chapter might show how much the Garden is involved with Ostanian politics.) 

3. Franky would most likely inform Twilight, but Twilight most likely won’t be there till last minute. 

Unpopular opinion: I agree that this could be the start of Twilight questioning his allegiance with WISE, but rather than doing this purely because of his “family”, I think Twilight would start to question how different his ideologies and WISE’s are.

A hijacked school bus + the political mess behind = a bunch of helpless kid crying

We already know Twilight knows what the sensible thing is to do, and we have already seen what he chose to do despite knowing all of these political stuffs. He would definitely choose the children over anything and everything else. 

In Chapter 62 we already know Twilight didn’t become a spy because he likes what WISE or Westalis does. (When you really think about it, Westalis basically decided that his friends had to go to a battle that was doomed to fail for the greater good, and Ostalians killed them.) There will be a fallout sooner or later. Anya with a bomb strapped onto her neck would probably be the last straw.

I don’t mean to downplay his love for his family. But I don’t think Endo is the kind of person who would go LOVE CONQUERS ALL!!!!!! That means if Twilight is to get out of his “leaving the family behind” mindset, it should be because he doesn’t see how that is something necessary or even useful anymore. He has to step out of the shadows of his past on his own, but his family, or his growing love for his family, would continue to inspire or even show him the directions on the way.

4. It would most likely be a Yuri/SSS arc. Obviously Yuri would want Anya to be safe because he knows how important the little girl is to his sister. It will be much sweeter if Yuri could bond with Anya because of Anya’s behaviour/reaction. Anya is trying to survive and stay strong in an extremely hostile situation while her parents could not be there for her. She is a commoner dragged into the situation because the Red Circus wanted to use the rich kids as leverage against the big guns. Doesn’t that remind you of Yor/Yuri’s childhood? And to think how hard Yuri had to work to become successful in this classist society, and why Yuri would give up his position as a diplomat to become an SSS officer while being a diplomat is already respectable enough for most people?

Yep, a possible Yuri backstory arc.

5. If there is no Yuri backstory, it would most likely be a glimpse of Anya’s backstory (because “the Red Circus is funded in part by foreign interests”.) If so, Endo has chosen violence: “You think a bomb strapped on Anya’s neck is dark huh? Cute.”

6. I don’t think it will be a Nightfall arc because she is still a spy, although her love for Twilight has made her quite unprofessional at times. (And also Nightfall doesn’t really like Anya as well because Anya is not “good enough”. Remember how ready she was to be ultra-strict tough-love mom to Anya? But it’s too late to get another child to replace Anya now.) 

If Nightfall is to impress Twilight, her go-to method will not be showing Twilight how much of a “good” mother she is to Anya. She would most likely want to prove how valuable an asset she could be to Operation Strix, and in this case, she might even think it is best to keep it from Twilight so he can do his spy work somewhere else while she takes care of the situation. 

HOWEVER, the following chapters might show how she (sent by WISE) tries to cooperate with the SSS, and thus it could be a Yuri x Nightfall collaboration arc.

7. Plan D is now possible: Blackbell x WISE anyone? The Lady Patriots Society would most likely not be involved in the fight, but they could be instrumental to the decision-making during the process and ESPECIALLY the aftermath imo. Still on the fence if Melinda would appear. Demetrius would most probably appear because I think he and Desmond are the closest in the family.

8. Will there be a mini vacation arc after this serious arc? Pretty please?

what powers would you give the reimagined twilight characters according to the gender swap? Since Bella has the power of Charlie enhanced, shouldn't Beau have a power more like Renné's? if edward and edythe existed in the same universe as twins what gift would edythe have?

I think the Renee/Charlie swap and would be really interesting! Especially the twist on SM's kind of established gender dynamics because it would be a boy that everyone is just falling all over themselves to protect and care for rather than a girl if Beau had an enhanced version of Renee's power.

And if it's enhanced, how so? Is he aware he is doing it while Renee is not? Does it border on actual mind control? Beau's truck breaks down and he needs a ride home; suddenly every car on the road pulls over and everyone rolls down the window and asks, 'do you need a ride, young man?' in perfect, creepy unison . . . or does he single out one car purposefully to come pull over and offer him a ride. Is it not just what he needs but also what he wants? Because that can get dark pretty fast. SM wouldn't go there because he's Good, but still.

How would it affect his relationships? How would he know if people really loved and cared for him or if they were just compelled to do it? Presumably Edythe would be able to read his mind in this scenario (or maybe he still gets some of Charlie's gift so his mind is just muffled enough Edythe can't 'hear' his Renee-style gift).

I mean, tbh everyone fawning over Bella and Renesmee makes 10000% more sense if they ALSO inherited the Renee gift, but I don't think SM meant that at least not originally (could be retconned post Midnight Sun), I think she just meant for them to be THAT special and Good.

For the others, maybe Carine has an actual superpower because her innate compassion was encouraged in her human life in a way Carlisle's was not. A gentle, compassionate daughter is a blessing; a gentle, compassionate son when you wanted a righteously vengeful monster hunter is a disappointment. Maybe she could take other's pain from them, either physical and mental or both? Or actual healing powers? If Edythe and Edward were twins and we keep Edward as the mind-reader, maybe Edythe gets the reverse--sort of like how Renesmee got the opposite from Edward (Edythe would be getting the opposite from Elizabeth who I think a lot of us headcanon as having some sort of ESP that allowed her to figure out Carlisle's deal and make the request she did), or how Jane and Alec's gifts complement each other. But Renesmee's gift where she has to touch you to show you things is . . . how do I put this nicely . . . absolutely useless on anyone but a helpless baby. So maybe there's no touching involved and Edythe can sort of plant thoughts in people. Not mind-control because I don't like that from a loss of free will sense, but more like . . . the power of suggestion. She can't make you DO something, but she can put a thought in your head that makes you likely to act on it. Say if she wanted to play matchmaker for Angela and Ben, she could put the thought in his head of like "Edward Cullen wants to ask her out" to inspire him to ask her out first.

So tired of people holding Ollie solely accountable for everything that transpires in his relationship with people, and with Dinah in particular. Idk how to tell y'all this but any thing that leads to a significant fallout in a relationship is generally because of both the parties involved. Ollie has made mistakes in dealing with the people he is close to but he isn't responsible for all of them.

Also as long as we're talking about his relationship with Dinah I would love for y'all to give allocate her with the fare share of responsibility because she has also fucked up a fair amount but like, that goes completely unacknowledged since a) canon generally doesn't hold her responsible for anything and b) a lot of people who talk about them and their relationship haven't actually read much of their stuff, esp. together (barring maybe rebirth) and generally don't have any first hand information on them. Plus I'm tired of their relationship being interpreted solely as 'Dinah feels victimized because Ollie fucked up as always, being with him is a punishment, she can do better' or, for the slightly positive takes to be all 'Ollie is a nice himbo guy infatuated with his superbadass gf and is mostly helpless on his own'.

Neither interpretation treats both parties as capable adults, conscious of their decisions and how they function as a couple (and equally capable for taking responsibility for what they do). It's annoying how little energy comic readers, esp non arrowfam fans devote to actually learning about these characters, yet chime in with not-very-well-informed opinions when anyone mentions them.

Continuing my FF7 character headcanons, my next one is Tseng. Now, to me, Tseng is the most dangerous of the Turks. Not because he’s ‘evil’ (he’s not), but because he’s patient and clever. I think in one of my fics I had Hojo describe him as the spider in the center of the web and I feel like that’s an apt descriptor. We never see him actively fight but I imagine he can and is good at it too but his real strength is his brain. I see him as an expert manipulator as well, a man in his position would likely have to be considering the people he works with. I feel like Tseng is a deeply conflicted man. Watching his progression through the FF7 stories, from BC and CC where he’s relatively approachable and seemingly friendly (esp to Zack Fair who I would say was someone he considered a friend) to the man he becomes in the OG and Remake proves it to me. Also the other Turks’ reaction to this change show that this is new and they don’t like it. The reason Reno and Rude get so angry and shocked at Tseng’s change is because it’s NOT who he is, if it was it wouldn’t have been surprising. This is the same man who sent his Turks out to track Zack Fair down to not only help him (which, if found out, would have resulted in their deaths. Doubt Shinra would be so forgiving a second time even with his son’s intervention) but to give him Aerith’s letters. I feel that the cause of this conflict is partly due to a sense of helplessness, at least to an extent. Realising that, despite being director of a pretty powerful department, he doesn’t really have the power to change much until he allies himself with Rufus and partly due to a facade he’s convinced he needs to have to be able to do his job. I have a headcanon of Tseng as having a very awkward and difficult relationship with religion. Wutai has always struck me as a pretty religious country and since that’s where I, and many other fans, think he comes from it feels right to me. I like to make up various reasons for this in my fics. On a similar note I headcanon Tseng as being considered very ‘odd’ in his native country. Someone who struggled to fit in, didn’t have many friends in his age group. So, I see him as having been socially excluded except for maybe one or two people in his homeland.  Tseng’s hair is important. I know that in many cultures across the world hair has cultural and religious significance and the fact that Tseng, who is in a job that involves fighting wears his so long seems an odd thing to do unless it had some other purpose. I mean, it’s easy to grab someone’s hair if it’s long and use it to disable them and stuff. (Reno’s hair strikes me as more to do with laziness than anything else, lol). Also that scene in BC when Tseng properly takes over from Veld he lets his hair down to indicate that the Turks are entering a new ‘era’ with him at the head. This seemed very significant to me.  Tseng had great respect for Aerith and even loved her. Not necessarily in a romantic way, although I know that is a ship but he spent a LOT of his life watching over her and that would easily breed some kind of feelings. I know the other Turks are very protective of Aerith but Tseng’s relationship with her is much deeper and much more complicated. Ok, on to my final major headcanon about Tseng. I believe that Tseng works with Rufus to actively bring down his father after BC. This decision is driven partially by revenge on his part, I believe that Tseng absolutely hates and is disgusted by old President Shinra. Mostly because he tried to have the Turks executed and forced Tseng to shoot his own mentor but also because I just don’t see Tseng being able to even remotely respect a man driven purely by greed. Now, Rufus is also greedy in his own way but he also has other motivations as well. I feel that Tseng is very protective of his found ‘family’, more than he lets on. He contrives the whole plot of faking two people’s deaths in order to protect them, he would do anything for them including plot to bring down President Shinra with his son.

Personal Fanfic Themes and Squicks

Themes I’m really into reading/writing and will probably start reading if the writing's even remotely decent, and also my squicks (themes I avoid like the plague, it's a really visceral reaction).

Favorite themes to read and write:

Power dynamics: liege/vassal and master/servant particularly, though any variation on those are great. (Part of why I'm really into Ayato/Thoma and Zhongli/yaksha-but-doesn't-necessarily-need-to-be-Xiao as some of my go-to ships. Other ships I'm into that fit this to some degree though not quite as well are Dainsleif/Halfdan, Dehya/Dunyarzad, Ningguang/Beidou.)

Hurt/comfort, trauma explorations in general, ideally with at least a little comfort somewhere in the story. Self-sacrifice and getting called out on it, overdoing it and being saved from themselves, characters worrying about other characters, self-destructiveness but it gets interrupted by other character(s).

Heavy kink, especially playing with psychological states, fear, objectification, risk, overwhelm, subspace, topspace, emotional sadism, helplessness, CNC. Lots of mechanisms and more specific kinks (eg impact play, bondage, knife/blade/insert-weapon-here play, physical sadomasochism/pain play, etc) can aid those states, but the mechanism matters less for my interest than the state itself.

Polyamory / non-monogamy: Bonus points if it involves proper communication, negotiations, and isn't automatically easy and perfect. (Ships I particularly like for this: Kaveh/Alhaitham/Ayato/Thoma which is slightly a crackship and I don't care, Zhongli/Childe/Xiao, Ayato/Thoma/Kazuha.)

Political intrigue: I loved Ayato's story quest and will absolutely read anything in that vein; same with the social intrigue part of Thoma's hangout. Game of Thrones, West Wing, Kushiel's Dart kind of stuff.

Slow burns, pining, misunderstandings that add more tension and sadness, but with an eventual resolution/coming-together.

Squicks:

Incest and anything remotely close to it (won’t touch adoptive incest or step-relative incest either, yes that means I'm not going anywhere near Diluc/Kaeya content)

Pregnancy and mpreg: It’s just a body horror thing for me, and probably partially related to gender stuff, but it’s strong enough of a squick that I’ll even pass on a fic if it has “breeding kink” even just as dirty talk. Automatic turnoff which is unfortunate, because it’s so common in Alpha/Beta/Omega fic which otherwise has a lot of the themes I enjoy.

Some kink related squicks (see behind the cut at the bottom of the post)

Student/teacher or client/therapist dual relationships. Why do these squick me out when master/servant and liege/vassal don't? I'm not sure, maybe because liege/vassal or master/servant are so abstracted outside my lived experience, so they're very much in the realm of fantasy. Versus feeling angry at even a fictional teacher or therapist for being Very Unethical and at the narrative for supporting/condoning it. Boss/employee is a context-and-author-dependent middle ground (e.g. I love Baizhu/Herbalist Gui in Teyvat, but modern AUs where a character is a CEO or manager and the love interest is one of their direct reports or employees is pretty close to a squick).

Just kinda meh, has to look really interesting or be by a writer I’m a huge fan of before I’ll try it:

AUs, unless it’s only a slight variation (eg the standard canon setting with this one twist).

Crossovers. Nothing wrong with them, just not interested in reading unless I'm really into both of the settings involved.

Ships that aren’t queer in some way. (It can be a male/female ship, but I'm not interested if it's heteronormative/cisnormative/mononormative. Best example of this is that Gomez and Morticia's relationship is absolutely queer, in the sense of being "queered" from normative relationship structures. Esp. since the Addams family is literally designed to be queered from "traditional nuclear family" norms. Talking about how untraditional the "traditional nuclear family" is will be outside the scope of this post and way too off topic.)

Love triangles that end in monogamy when they could easily be solved with nonmonogamy and open communication (e.g. all three people get along, two of them just happen to love the same person. It's a different story if all three people do not get along and there's actual emnity for reasons outside the love triangle, that can be way more interesting. but if I'm just wanting to shake the characters and go "this is false tension, there is a solution, just talk to each other, you can just date both people, they'll probably even be okay with it", look, I deal with that enough in mainstream media, I want better in my fanfic).

Tragedy/sad endings. I'm warming up to this one, used to avoid it constantly, but now I sometimes write/roleplay/read it and find it satisfying at times. But I have to be in the mood for it, or it has to be by someone whose writing I really like/trust.

Hurt-no-comfort, dubcon without comfort/repair, actual non-consent: Have to really be in a particular mood or the author has to be one I really like and trust. And probably I need a chaser of a more fluff story to feel better afterwards.

Pure fluff: I'll read it if I'm really needing something fluffy, but too often it feels disingenuous, saccharine, or out of character.

Kink squicks:

Scat or urine or vomit: Most bodily fluids, really, but I can deal with spit/semen/vaginal secretions, and sweat and blood are perfectly fine.

Food play: Look. Stickiness just grosses me out, okay? It's the same core problem as bodily fluids, I think.

Forced feminization or feminization kink: Not a particularly visceral squick, but I'm not into reading it and will usually scroll on past if it's "male identifying character wears a dress/maid outfit/etc and other-character is super into it". I suspect this is a Gender Issue for me as a transmasc nonbinary person because of how uncomfortable I feel as myself when pressured to present feminine, as I certainly don't have any issue when it's a person who identifies feminine in some way (my nesting partner is transfeminine nonbinary and I get so delighted when xe dresses up, for example, and my girlfriend is a cis woman and I love her feminine presentations. It's just when someone is feminizing counter to their identity and is having embarassment about it and it's made into a sexy thing that I get super uncomfortable and I Don't Grok It as a kink… Which when I say it that way, makes perfect sense as to why, given my own history.)

Rising Sign is in Cancer Very sensitive by nature, you prefer to be in your own familiar surroundings. Cautious and conservative, you make changes in your life only very slowly, if at all. You do not open up easily to strangers. Friendships are made for life, however -- once given, your trust is forever. Your mother, your home as a child and your early family life in general are very important to you. You are also very sentimental. When you feel self- confident, you are gentle, giving and protective of the needs of others. But when you feel insecure or threatened, you become overly sensitive to criticism, shy, withdrawn and moody. You have a strong need for security -- in the sense that you are being loved, nourished and protected. Sun is in Gemini You have a quick, bright and agile mind, but an extremely short attention span. You love the external, kaleidoscopic aspects of life, but you tend to avoid (and even fear) deep, close emotional involvements. As such, you seem to enjoy travel and sightseeing and generally being "on-the-go." You get quite listless when things around you become static and dull, but your excitement returns whenever you are stimulated by a new idea. Chatty, inquisitive and quite playful, you enjoy practical jokes and games in general. Your moods change quickly and often -- you are very restless and constantly in motion. You are known for your versatility and adaptability. Your vivaciousness enlivens any social gathering. Moon is in Pisces You have strong feelings and are extremely sensitive. It would help if you had a thicker skin -- you tend to react emotionally to every situation you come across. Kind, gentle and considerate of the feelings of others, you are good at taking care of the sick, wounded and helpless. But you tend to absorb the energy of others -- so avoid those who are always negative. You have a rich, creative and lively imagination, but you should be careful not to spend all your time daydreaming. Very intuitive, you have good ESP and may be quite clairvoyant or psychic. Remember that you too have the right to get what you want from life. If you are always defensive and kowtowing to others, people will take advantage of you and exploit you.

When sapnap and eldritch explain the situation for the rest would they make some new rules for both dream and the others? Or maybe not new rules but atleast tell the others the rules dream has already in place like stoplight.

I can imagine some people wanting to make rules that would greatly inconvinience dream and he would just be like "sure :D"

And for rules for the rest of the server would probably be not trying to confuse or lie to dream in a way that he is gonna get a wrong idea of how to do things or how things work. Like telling him something along the lines of "oh yeah humans like when you do (random untrue thing). You should go surprise someone with that :)"

So, "Stoplight" gets communicated before c!Dream & c!Sapnap even return. Pretty much as soon as those two are out, everyone else tries to figure out what happened. c!Ranboo & c!Tubbo are both incredibly confused but managed to figure out that "Stoplight" was the key word somehow. This gets communicated to c!Antfrost & c!Badboyhalo, who recognize it immediately and begin their respective emotional crises. The others are significantly more skeptical/confused, but when Sapnap & Dream show back up they confirm it. It takes awhile for them to show back up though, because Sapnap didn't want to go back until he felt Dream reasonably understood why what happened was wrong. And also Sapnap had a clue about what the fuck Dream is.

A good chunk of people are, reasonably, still not happy about it. Admittedly though, it's hard to make the argument that Dream is faking being an Eldritch horror when he can, you know, be an Eldritch horror.

There's a fair number of people that want Dream back in the prison. Sapnap gets it (and at this point isn't aware of what was happening in the prison) but like. Dream being in the prison means nothing. The guy can teleport. Or just break through the walls. Or turn transparent and move out. Also this isn't his full body anyways. It's at best security theater, and at worst no different from just asking Dream to sit in one spot and trusting him to do it.

Given that, and given that Dream is totally willing to change now that he no longer thinks they're in a game, Sapnap doesn't see any point in putting Dream back in the prison. If Sapnap says no, Dream isn't going along with it. He trusts Sapnap's judgement almost over anyone else's.

Some people do create "rules", or attempt to, and some of them do attempt to go to extremes. Realistically, Sapnap (and Bad when he joins the party) nixes half of these rules if they involve either meaningless shit or dangerous conditions/unfair treatment (Dream not being allowed to have items, having to wear restraints, not being allowed to fight back under any circumstance, etc). Dream is more confused about what's going on than anything else, so he listens to Sapnap & Bad for what he's actually meant to do. He doesn't particularly mind any of the proposed rules, although in practice he would probably be pretty bad at remembering to follow them.

There's not like, an official rule against lying to Dream about human stuff. After some time to recover, more than one member of the server definitely does it for amusement purposes. However, Dream isn't helpless nor unaware of what lying is, and it's usually never anything dangerous. Most of the time he just plays along for fun anyways though. Esp when it's Tubbo just trying to cause problems.

In general, Dream is able to grasp a lot of things about humans and communication. He understands what lying is, he knows how to lie and he has a sense of when he's being lied to. The big misunderstanding stems a lot more from Dream & the other Eldritches having a fundamentally different relationship with destruction. As well as Dream lacking a solid understanding of pain & loss in the way that a human has.

10 Anti LO Asks

1. so wait ... demeter could have been a QUEEN (thus allowing persephone to have near equal rank to hades so there isn't a huge power imbalance), but HADES stole that chance from her??? hades is a confirmed misogynist. i hate him lmao. does rachel think that makes him look good? persephone look at what he took from your mother and yourself???

2. it's comical how badly rachel is writing this. persephone has negative agency now because she's just that scared of letting persephone ever have a single Bad™️ action, but in the process all it shows us that Persephone is not a character, she's a puppet being tugged along, quite literally now, by rachel and the other characters. at this point we're going to find out [redacted] is also behind minthe's demise, apollo's actions, even hades' infertility, because that's how bad this is written.

3. So are we gonna just gloss over how RS plagiarized Sleeping Beauty or…?

4. women should be allowed to be emotional or cry, but idk there's something about rachel thinking "empowering" an actual goddess involves making her a weepy mess who needs hera and hades to "fix" everything for her while she really does nothing just seems wrong? especially when her "strong" moments are just of some vague "feeling" taking over her so she's not actually in control. rachel is basically just neutering a literal godess of agency and power/intimidation and thinking that's better?

5. its not even the fact LO is Problematic™️ it's the fact LO just isn't very good?? Like if it was written well and had consistently good art we know it once was capable of then that'd be one thing, but the writing has gotten worse esp when RS puts everything in a moralistic lens so HxP always looks Good™️ (+retconning everything to make it UnProblematic™️) & it's badly drawn?? It's a good idea on paper but RS just doesn't have to writing skill to execute it decently and too lazy to fix the art.

6. To me I think issues like the height difference and age gap aren't inherently bad in LO, it's only in combination with P's characterization that it becomes an issue. If they were closer in age (say P being 200 or smth) and she was more confident/intelligent it would be a non-issue, but making her so childish and helpless (+even in universe the age/maturity gap is seen as creepy) is where the height/age gap becomes far bigger issues that RS self-imposed on herself. IDK what she expected?

7. it's ridiculous there's so many webtoons (including popular romance ones) that have all started AND ended before LO is even half way done, if even that. you guys cant tell me rachel planned anything out ahead of time and isn't putting in filler/dragging it all out when so much less has happened LO while other comics have well done and wrapped up stories in less time. Yeah her next work will not be as successful as LO, but you'd rather have a short, good story versus a dragged out, bad one.

-----FP Spoilers/Mention-----

8. Fast past mention of the mid season finale:

I don't say this with any malice but literally what the heck is that punishment??? It's not even that bad why did P&H react so dramatically. They're immortal, so they can't see each other for a few years, big whoop. Like is that really the best RS could come up with? like talk about anticlimactic and underwhelming. 

9. FP Talk: This is basically Persephone getting a smack on the wrist and being let go easily. Just like every yt person in court to their crimes. I’m sick and tired of it as a POC. Another women getting blamed for what is PERSEPHONES FAULT???! Nah. Nah. Dos not pass the code check. 

10. FP// So if Eris is behind the AOW, why hype Persephone up as the feared Dread Queen? Persephone now has so little power Eris can just control her like a doll, so couldn't some other deity or even Eris herself just overtake Persephone's body and run rampant in the Underworld and use her Fertility powers for their own wants? Because that's what RS has set up here with this stupid reasoning. How can she dare claim this is a story about giving Persephone agency when she's now entirely devoid of it?

Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Natsume (pt. 27)

The closer we get to the end, the more nervous I am, and maybe you are too, because things are going to go horribly awry and only suffering is to come. Fate is adamant that a specific twelve year old must die, and we really have no choice but to watch it all unfold.

In this part, we will discuss the chapters building up to the New Year's Concert, where Reo will attempt to assassinate the ESP.

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Six

Ruka finds Natsume in the snow. He asks where he’s been, and Natsume responds that he went to see Mikan. Natsume imagines that Ruka will be jealous, because he feels guilty. He’d been putting his own wants first this whole night, and he hadn’t even considered Ruka.

Expectation vs. Reality. Ruka, best boy.

But Ruka is not jealous, or he’s very good at hiding it. He beams at Natsume, offering only congratulations and support. He’s happy for them, that both of their wishes came true. In fact, Ruka was also wishing for it, that Mikan and Natsume could find each other.

Natsume apologizes, because Ruka’s cheerful support only makes him feel more guilty, but he doesn’t tell him for what. He will not recount the details of the night, particularly of the many kisses shared between him and Mikan.

There’s a happy moment between Natsume and Ruka until, of course, Natsume starts coughing violently. He coughs up blood again, and when Ruka asks him if he’s okay, he’s ready to downplay it, already hiding his hand so that his best friend won’t worry. But Ruka grabs his hand and looks at the blood on the glove, and there’s a somber moment between them. Natsume tries to talk, but Ruka knows he’s just going to try and downplay it again, so he interrupts.

The best friendship in all of fiction. I stand by this forever. You can't change my mind.

Ruka has watched Natsume suffer the whole time they’ve been at the academy, even before then. He might not have had all the details, but he’s known that Natsume’s life was agony. He was helpless, and even became a burden (in his own view, not Natsume’s). He pleads with Natsume not to hide from him anymore. They’re meant to be best friends, and all Ruka has ever wanted was to be Natsume’s support system, but Natsume shut him out in the guise of protecting him. He keeps all his pain locked away and deals with it on his own.

Watching someone you love suffer and not being able to do anything about it is a tremendous pain, Ruka says. Natsume must sympathize. He will say something similar later on about Mikan’s situation.

Ruka loves Natsume. Natsume might have thought that he dragged his only friend into a bottomless pit of despair but Ruka asserts he’s never once regretted following him to the academy, not even for a second.

Ruka is confessing now. Natsume must know now that his existence is important to at least two people who love him unconditionally, but he doesn’t internalize it. Maybe he can’t. He’s too stuck in the role of martyr that straying from it would go against the very fabric of his own identity. He exists and has always existed to protect others. Protecting himself or even considering himself doesn’t align with that identity. No matter how much Mikan and Ruka plead with him to keep himself safe, he can’t abide. They’re more important than he is. He fails to see how much heartbreak and sorrow he will leave in his wake of self-destruction.

Natsume can’t internalize it. He can’t take it in and change course. It’s too late for that, in his mind. But he can tell Ruka the truth, because supporting Natsume is all Ruka wants.

He confesses too. He’s afraid. He doesn’t like thinking about the future, not even a year from now, because he’s scared he’ll be dead by then.

He says his secret fear out loud, that he won’t be able to protect her, and it’s still so heart-breaking that he still only sees his own value in how much he can protect people. He will shorten his own life to get her out of the darkness she’s ended up in. He doesn’t see worth in his existence just for the sake of living, of breathing, of smiling and laughing and crying and existing. Instead, his value is conditional. He is only so good as he is able to protect others and when he can’t anymore, then he is no longer valuable. It’s a glaring sign of a ridiculously low self-esteem.

He wants to choose life! He wants to live! Oh, this makes it worse...

But something has changed. He doesn’t want to die. He wants to live and be with her forever. He can’t be with her if he’s dead. It’s a selfish thought, and as I’ve been saying, that’s a wonderful thing. If only that selfish impulse were stronger, than maybe things wouldn’t be so doomed in the coming week. But Natsume’s ingrained martyr complex is stronger than anything, and his new flicker of selfishness doesn’t stand a chance.

Ruka promises he’ll do anything to support Natsume and Mikan’s future together. And so Natsume asks Ruka to protect Mikan if he’s no longer able to.

I personally don’t think he’s handing Mikan over here. This whole conversation’s context is specifically about protecting Mikan, and how Natsume wants only to keep her safe, even at the expense of his own life (though he’s actually more cavalier with that than he lets on, so it’s not much of an “even”, is it?). If Natsume is dead, he wants somebody he trusts to watch over her and prioritize her as he has. Who better than Ruka, who loves Mikan too and will want to keep her safe as well?

Or. You could just. Not die. Just a thought.

Natsume has never treated Mikan as an object to be won. He’s in fact made several comments about not “competing” at all. If he was able to give Mikan to Ruka, those two would be together now already and Natsume wouldn’t be the one holding Mikan’s alice stone. He is not any more capable of giving her away then he’s been before, and he’s less motivated to now than he’s ever been. Mikan is his, after all. Why would he “give her away” so soon after promising to be together forever?

He’s only concerned with Mikan’s safety and freedom here. If he dies in the pursuit of that, which he will, then someone else needs to make sure she’s safe and free. What she does with that safety and freedom is not in his or Ruka’s or anyone’s hands. I imagine Natsume, who got jealous of Mikan thinking of all her important people when making her alice stone would also get jealous at the thought of Mikan falling in love with somebody after his death. It might occur in the distant future, but it probably wouldn’t be any fun to imagine.

You may disagree with me, but I just can’t see it that way. I just don’t see it.

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Seven

It’s New Year’s. Mikan’s birthday. There’s a celebration happening in the dorms, just like last year, but Natsume isn’t dressed in traditional garb to welcome the new year and feast like all the other students.

Instead, he’s waiting for Narumi in a hallway.

He wants all the information he can get, so he can get Mikan out of her cage sooner. Narumi isn’t talking, always willing to act dumb to get out of things. But Natsume knows better. He saw Narumi in the flashbacks, and knows how much Narumi loved Yuka. He would’ve done anything for her, even if it resulted in his own death. Narumi should understand how Natsume feels, then. He knows Mikan is suffering and in danger, but he can’t do anything about it. He says something to the effect that he shouldn’t even be living at this point, again reiterating that his life only has value if he’s able to protect people, particularly Mikan. If he’s unable to do that, then he might as well die. There’s really no difference, he says.

Jeez, kid, relax.

Narumi tries to point out that Natsume is dying, as if perhaps the kid is unaware of this, but Natsume grabs him and declares that he will not end up like him. Natsume seems to understand Narumi (probably more than I can! Haha) and that his life has been empty and soulless for a long time. Narumi is full of regret and has been for years, but Natsume won’t be like that. He won’t live with regret. He’ll do anything he can to save Mikan, and he’ll die without a single regret. He also claims he won’t give up on the idea of sharing a future with Mikan, and that makes the inevitable doom of their romance all the more tragic. Natsume isn’t planning on dying. He’s not imagining that he doesn’t even have a full two days left to live. He’s thinking he’ll push himself to the end of his rope, save Mikan, and then live happily ever after. It’s naive and childish and ridiculous that he really believes he can have his cake and eat it too, but he does with his whole heart.

"I want to live," is enough for me. I stopped reading after that. LET THIS KID LIVE.

Natsume tells Narumi to stop underestimating him for his age. But Narumi agrees: he doesn’t want Natsume or any of the other kids to end up like him and his generation did. He wants things to be better, for the new generation to have a happy and hopeful future to look forward to instead of surrendering to a life of misery and regret.

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Nine

Natsume and Ruka are something like partners-in-crime now. They both know that taking out the ESP is the only way to free Mikan. They are spying on Reo, who has come under the guise of performing for the New Year’s concert, who spills that Z wants to assassinate the ESP.

Tsubasa and Tono quickly join the conversation, although they’re somewhat unwanted.

Reo keeps talking, and now all four of them are privy to his plan. Tono scolds Natsume for trying to get involved when it’s obvious Z is already on the case. Let them do it, he says. Keep yourself safe instead of putting everything on your own shoulders. Naturally, this is Natsume we’re talking about, so no amount of logic will get into his head, but it was worth a try, Tono.

Natsume's little face here is my favorite. His little angry expressions are always the highlight of any page.

Hearing this warning, Natsume can see the sense in it. He doesn’t want to leave his fiancee alone and heart-broken by his loss (more proof that he doesn’t really believe he’ll die) tomorrow, but to his horror, Koko was reading his thoughts aloud.

Natsume is embarrassed to be put on the spot, and he didn’t want to hurt Ruka’s feelings, so he takes out his anger on Koko. Then he punishes Tsubasa for teasing him about how fast he’s going with Mikan when Tsubasa is actually just slow with Misaki. Then it’s revealed that Tsubasa did finally confess to Misaki and got the answer he wanted, which only pisses Natsume off more, inexplicably. He’d be angry either way, just because it’s Tsubasa. He probably just wants to take the focus off himself and the fact that he’s already proposed to Mikan.

Tsubasa was in fact inspired by Natsume’s commitment to protecting Mikan. He confessed because his kouhai was so determined. But he also expresses concern for Natsume’s recklessness. Protecting people is a worthwhile pursuit, but so is valuing your own life. Other people depend on him and love him, and losing would hurt. He doesn’t have to do everything on his own. Working as a team can ensure his safety and keep him living longer. They’re all on the same page, after all, so why not join forces and get it done more efficiently without Natsume being the martyr again?

Yeah, Natsume, go to therapy. Like, yesterday.

But as the group splits up, Ruka holds Natsume still. He wants to talk about what happened on Christmas, but Natsume doesn’t. He’d rather keep that to himself, not at all willing to hurt Ruka’s feelings after he’s been nothing but supportive.

But he can’t lie, and Ruka has expressed interest in hearing all the truthbombs Natsume can dish out, so he comes clean. They exchanged alice stones. It looks like it pains Natsume to admit it. He’s consumed by guilt for the role he’s played in hurting Ruka. But Ruka is still just happy for him. He again offers congratulations, and all is well until Koko announces that Natsume and Mikan kissed a lot too. Apparently, Natsume has been thinking about the kisses so often and shamelessly to the point that Koko is concerned.

Ruka gets upset, but not out of jealousy. He hits Natsume rather pathetically, adamantly demanding that he be honest and tell him everything instead of keeping secrets all the time. Ruka doesn’t care that Natsume has been “selfish” and has kissed Mikan and gotten engaged with her and met with her. He is a fan! He’s Team NatsuMikan now too! He just wants Natsume to stop lying to him, not even to spare his feelings. If Natsume can’t be honest, then Ruka can’t do his job of supporting him. Friendship is a two-way street and can’t work if the friends can’t rely on each other for help and support. Going through good and tough times together is the key to any lasting relationship, and for that to work Natsume needs to talk to him instead of holding back.

Ruka is so cute here. Absolutely adorable. I shall adopt.

Natsume apologizes and the chapter ends on a light note, with the four of them teasing each other and laughing.

But tomorrow will be a different story. Many horrible things will happen tomorrow night, and the bright future Natsume has finally allowed himself to consider will burn up and die.

Conclusion

In the Rapunzel story, the prince was blinded and forced to walk around the forest unable to look for his lost love. I imagine that's why the chapter title image for Chapter 147 has his face covered in bandages. The story of Rapunzel is a tragic one, but it ends in a happily-ever-after. The consolation we have is that the story of NatsuMikan is more like the story of Rapunzel than of Romeo and Juliet, though it certainly doesn't feel like it for the next thirty-something chapters.

I didn't reread this at all before posting because I'm really tired. Thus, I claim no ownership over any mistakes. They can't be helped.

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oh and another ☕️: trashy/toxic enemies to lovers esp m/f ones

Oooh. So my feelings about this are complicated because there are different layers and several different reasons why a relationship can be trashy or toxic lol. (I'm excluding Zutara from this narrative because they are not trashy or toxic at all and I will fight people who say otherwise.)

(Quick disclaimer: All these opinions are my just my own. If you dislike enemies to lovers, any of the ships I talk positively about, or like any of the ships I talk negatively about, that's YOUR prerogative. I'm open to discussion but will block aggressiveness.)

First off, we have the 'both characters are assholes' kind of enemies to lovers ships. The ship I have that fits this trope is Villaneve.

From an outside perspective, Villaneve is without a doubt toxic. They have stabbed each other, shot each other, and a bunch of stuff in between lmao. But what I think gets misinterpreted about their relationship a lot is that they are not a case of the 'villain stalks the helpless victim who wants nothing to do with them' trope. While Villanelle is definitely the more outwardly villainous one between the two at the beginning of the show, Eve ACTIVELY seeks her out and is just as obsessed with Villanelle as Villanelle is with her. It's a game of cat and mouse where both of them are the cat AND the mouse at the same time. And while Eve isn't a serial killer at the beginning of the series the way Villanelle is, the show goes out of its way to show that she isn't a good person either and is willing to throw other things and people into the fire in order to fulfill her own needs. (Leaving Hugo to die in order to save Villanelle and destroying her marriage to Niko because of her obsession). It's not a hero/villain dynamic. Eve and Villanelle are the definition of asshole/asshole otp lol.

Another thing that makes Villaneve different from typical trashy enemies to lovers ships is that it isn't about Eve making Villanelle a better person (though Eve DOES awaken Villanelle's more human emotions in a way no one else except occasionally Konstatin does). There is no way to truly change Villanelle and Eve now understands that and accepts it. She still wants her and believes there's more to her than just being a killing machine the way people like Dasha and Helene believe her to be.

Villanelle: I've killed so many people, Eve

Eve: I know *continues to dance with her*

-

Dasha: She's a perfect killing machine. That's all she's there for. That's all she knows.

Eve: I don't think so

-

My initial reading of Villaneve was that it was about Villanelle awakening Eve's darkness. And while I think that is still partly true, I think it's more about the two of them meeting each other in the middle in darkness and light. Villanelle helps Eve release the darker emotions she's always harbored and makes her feel alive in a way no one ever has before.

-

Villanelle: I think my monster encourages your monster, right?

Eve: I think I wanted it to

-

In turn, Eve makes Villanelle feel more human (aka: more alive) and helps her feel genuine emotions, which we know from S2 is something that Villanelle has always craved from life. Their relationship is hella unconventional but they're not conventional people. Neither of them are looking to change the other, they just help awaken things that have always existed. And that's what makes them work as a god tier enemies-to-lovers ship for me.

Moving on from that....we have the more 'typical' trashy enemies to lovers ships. These ones involves the villainous characters being redeemed. But this is the trope where I'm usually like 'it's better when it's gay'. Examples: Catradora and Fuffy

Catradora is a bit more complicated than Fuffy because they aren't just straight forward enemies to lovers. They were best friends before they were enemies. This adds a more personal touch to them that might make them either worse or better in some peoples eyes.

But what makes ships like this work better than they might if they were het imo is the lack of a power dynamic. There is no societal pressure for either Adora or Buffy to give Catra and Faith the benefit of the doubt. And actually, the narrative allows Adora and Buffy to be rightfully angry at Catra and Faith. It takes Buffy a while to be on friendly terms with Faith again when Faith finally comes around, even after Faith apologizes. And while Adora allows Catra back into her life in S5 pretty quickly, it's only after Catra pretty much sacrifices her own life to save Glimmer. (And we have to remember that unlike Buffy and Faith, Catra and Adora have years of friendship under their belt that happened before they were enemies). And Adora makes it really clear that she's ready to leave if Catra ever slips back into her toxic habits. But both Faith and Catra make genuine efforts to change for the better and that's why I can ship them with Buffy and Adora in good conscience.

And then we have the het ships that follow under this kind of trope. (The most famous example probably being R*ylo). And like....look, I do think these kind of ships CAN be handled correctly. I'm not even including Zutara in this discussion because I don't consider them trashy or toxic and yet, they're a m/f enemies to lovers ship. But the problems I have with ships like R*ylo are as followed:

- The narrative makes the woman (Rey in this example) care about and coddle the villainous man without any proof that he's worth caring about. This happened in TLJ. The last time Rey saw Kylo he was attacking her and nearly killed her friend. So why was she all of a sudden trying to advocate for him???? It made no sense for the character that was established in TFA.

- The man shows little actual growth. I haven’t seen TROS but from what I heard, Kylo got a 'redemption' via death with little onscreen reflection about his actions. This kind of thing can work for some characters but not characters you're trying to pass off as a love interest.

- The woman's arc becomes solely about being a figure of redemption for the man. That's basically what Rey was reduced to as a character after TFA. Her story was all about Kylo. Fuck her own journey or any of her friends. It was just about him.

Basically, when it comes to 'trashy' enemies to lover ships, what they need to actually work in my eyes are:

- Both characters having narrative agency in the dynamic

- Their arcs not solely revolving around each other

- Actual growth for the character that needs growth

- AND actual proof that the villainous character has SOME redeeming qualities that serves as a reason for why the hero gives them the time of day. (Except for ships like Villaneve that are more complex than that and don't follow the typical mold for enemies to lovers.)

Thanks for the ask! :)

PGSM Reinako Headcanon 2

Here are my post-Special Act, PGSM Reinako headcanon no one asked for. Fair warning, it’s a really long read/rant and it may cause cavity from the excessive sweetness. ;)

This list of Headcanon includes:

Sleeping habits

The Reinako residence

Who cooks?

♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  

Here’s my take on answering one of the most important universal questions fans asks themselves when they think about their otp: BIG SPOON OR LITTLE SPOON?

My answer: They switch often.  Whoever is the second person to get into bed typically ends up being the big spoon.

Rei and Minako basically have very opposing sleep schedules. By practice as a miko and then priestess, Rei was conditioned to live a very healthy sleeping schedule that typically involves going to bed at ~9pm and waking up at 4am for morning meditations (I distantly recall this being canon in manga?).  Minako, on the other hand, has her sleep schedule dictated by her work schedule; some times she’s exhausted and goes to bed as early as 7pm on a weekend, other times she might not get home until the ungodly hours of 3am because of filming schedules.

Big spoon Rei is loving and considerate. She slides in from the back and gets as physically close as possible without risking waking her gf up from the much needed rest. She puts her outer arm around and hold’s onto the idol’s hand wherever it’s located, smiling whenever she feels Minako’s hand reflexively squeezes her hand. She makes sure they are both comfortably covered and snuggled in, and takes care to not hold onto Minako too tight in case Minako needs to get out of bed before she does.  Out of the two of them, Minako’s the one who’s more likely to need to leave in a rush for things, and Rei strives to make Minako’s day-to-day life as easy as possible. 

Opposite to that, Big Spoon Minako is playful and possessive.  Minako slips into bed and gets as physically close to Rei as possible, and is not concerned with accidentally jolting Rei awake, because dear god she misses her gf so much! Between her long work hours, and the much too often occasions that she doesn’t even get to be home with Rei due to traveling for concert tours or non-local filming locations, she doesn’t actually get to interact with Rei in person as much as she would like to.  Minako finds enjoyment in seeing grumpy Rei when  woken up, the puffed up cheeks and half-hearted glares are just too cute!  Between the two of them, Rei’s the person that’s easier to wake up anyway (not necessarily because she sleeps light, but more so her spiritual power just makes her more sensitive to a change in surroundings), so even if Minako TRIES to be considerate, there’s still a 50% Rei wakes up; if that’s the case, why not have fun with it anyway?  And the best part is, Minako will make it as DIFFICULT as she can for Rei to get out of bed in the morning at 4am. Minako sleeps deeply, and she finds it so hilarious to guess what Rei’s decision would be each morning in trying to get out of their tangled limbs that Minako caused: is she going to give up and just sleep in with Minako so to not wake Minako up? Or is Rei going to end up waking Minako up in the midst of getting out of bed? If the latter happens, Minako could then pout and guilt trip Rei to stay in bed with her. Either way, it’s a win-win for the idol!  And let’s be honest, it’s not like that Rei would be that against trading meditation time for some cuddle time with Minako!  

♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀

The Reinako Residence

While it took those two ridiculous long to get over themselves and disregard all  personal doubts before they admit their feelings for each other, the moment they took the first step, their relationship had solidified very quickly. After all, they have had time to be best friends for years and get to know each other super well before they officially became partners!

Soon after crossing the 1 year milestone in their romantic relationship, they’ve chosen to purchase a place and move in together alongside Artemis (and Luna who switches back and forth from the Chiba house). 

As they are both relatively high profile people, they’ve chosen to live in an apartment building with an built-in security system instead of a house.  Minako had also very quickly proclaimed that given their individual desire for personal space, work requirement and other personal desires, they apartment would need to be multi-story to accommodate everything. This had Rei face-palming quite loudly, but frankly, they both knew that Minako would get what she wants at the end of the day, so Rei just went with it.  Rei had learnt long ago that instead of trying to shutdown Minako’s idea completely, it’s easier to just curtail and moderate it.  So with all that, they ended up with a 2 stories penthouse apartment with the following features:

First floor:

An open concept living room + dining room + kitchen

The kitchen comes with a long ass kitchen island, and the two lovebirds always get teased for how closely they position to each together when working in the kitchen despite how much space there is.

The kitchen also becomes a great space for the Senshi to hangout around when they choose to have meal at the Reinako household, since unsurprisingly Makoto loves taking charge of the cooking and she’s absolutely in love with how amazing Reinako’s kitchen setup is. 

Guest Room #1

Guest Room #2

Guest bathroom

Second Floor

Master bedroom with en suite bathroom and walk in closet (the ratio of Minako’s clothing stored in the closet is MUCH higher than Rei’s.)

Guest Room #3  

^okay, seriously. Minako was adamant it’s needed for hosting Usagi, Makoto and Ami with their respective partners. Rei couldn’t argue against hosting their friends, but definitely had to shake her head in helplessness

A washroom with space for doing laundry in, along with the laundry machine and dryer.

A professionally done home studio for Minako to do her work in.

A den that is mainly used by Rei as a home office which she’s not bouncing between shrines, temples and universities for work.

I headcanon that Rei would resign from her position from the shrine after things became more serious and official with Minako, recognizing some of her personal value would clash with the more traditional aspect of Shinto. Due to her well known spiritual powers and fame within the Shinto circle, she transitioned to research work that is tied to folklore studies and religious studies, especially when it surrounds Shinto and Buddhism, which led her into academia work.

A special feature of the home office that Minako had kept as a surprise for Rei was it also comes with a self-contained but REAL fireplace connected to a ventilation system, allowing Rei to do her daily meditation and fire reading at home.  Rei was SUPER touched by the gesture, and cannot believe Minako got it perfect without asking her for ideas, not knowing Minako had gone through some of her books and research materials to make sure she get all the requirements right before handing the design to the architect to deal with the fire safety and temperature control side of things.

The overall design of their home is mainly based on the simplicity of modern Japanese home designs, with some heavier influence of traditional designs in the den to mirror some of the features of Rei’s room at Hikawa Shrine.  The place is simplistic in design, neither Minako or Rei liked over the top designs.  The tone of the place is created with a balanced use of wood matched with either warm white, light grey and dark grey, the colors used strategically to highlight the different areas of the apartment.

♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀  ♂  ♀   

Who cooks?

I like to imagine both of them enjoy cooking, but in different ways that reflects their personality. There are definitely things one’s good at and the other’s not so much, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they cannot do what the other person can at all.

Both are not actually picky with food choice, but they can be picky with food quality. Rei is more partial to Japanese meals though, while Minako is a bit more partial to western meals. Due to practice, having the patience, and typically having more time to do it, Rei’s much better than Minako with the day to day home cooked meals, especially with any dishes that may require more complicated steps in the meal prep process. Minako excels in making quick but tasty meals such as salads or pasta. (Rei rarely ever makes spaghetti because somehow Minako does magic with spaghetti even when using very simple ingredients.)  

They try to take turns to do the cooking depending on their individual work schedule.  And with that being the determining factor, naturally Rei cooks in the kitchen more often than Minako does. They would always save food for the other if they couldn’t eat together.  If both of them are too busy to cook though, they aren’t against just buying takeout, or if the travel between work and home works out for both of them, they would also choose to eat out on their way home (if the place has good space to allow them to maintain privacy esp for Minako. They are very used to calling a restaurant ahead without disclosing Minako’s identity to make sure they can get what they want without being treated differently as anyone else.)  

Their principle is basically to try spend as much time with each other when possible, because both of their work could pull them away from home at odd hours. Minako especially, absolutely loves coming home to find Rei in the kitchen preparing dinner for the two of them.  She would vehemently deny this ever happened, but the first time Minako walked through the door after work to find Rei preparing dinner in their kitchen, it felt so domestic that she actually teared up. Rei and Artemis were thoroughly shocked by the idol’s reaction.  

When it comes to preparing for more fancy meals, Minako’s definitely the better one (and more nitpicky) between the two of them.  Whenever there’s a large gathering or a celebration happening, Minako’s would be the one to take charge with menu design and Rei takes on an assistant role in the meal prep.  It fits Minako’s schedule better anyway because she would intentionally take days off to make time for the prep work, allowing her to do what she wants to do instead of scrambling.

As the bigger sweet tooth between the two of them, Minako’s also better at baking sweets, with the exception of pies. For some god damn reason, she ALWAYS either leaves her pie crust under-cooked, or overdone.  Rei noticed it’s because Minako just couldn’t figure out the timing and heat needed to ensure both wet ingredients and dry ingredients are done well, and she teases Minako for her lack of patience as the cause. 

Their cooking style does differ, where Minako relies on timers and thermometers when cooking for anything that requires precision, because she typically jumps to doing other things between wait time.  While Rei’s more patient and attentive in her style of cooking, not minding standing and just observing and checking the food frequently.