#@ a crack in time: whERES TAL

[loveriotss]

Hello :)

I really enjoy your work, I've read all of it even if I didn't like the character bc your writing style is just so good I want to chop you up and put you into a stew in the best way possible

do you think you could do a bakugo x reader where the reader has a similar personality to him? they would be such a power couple + I'm a fiend for mean readers

also, may I be 🛸anon?

DOUBLE TROUBLE ⸻ katsuki bakugo

INCLUDES — gn! reader, headcannons, drabbles, fluff, crack WARNINGS — swearing

main masterlist — mha masterlist ༊*·˚

BEFORE DATING —

you both always tried to one up the other.

both in studies and combat training, y'all were rivals.

during training exercises, aizawa would have to use his capturing weapons on you two because sometimes your arguments would get out of hand.

[bkg] "HAH! I WON!" [y/n] "YOU CHEATED YOU MOTHERFU-" [aizawa] "that is enough. i will expel both of you if you keep doing this.

you both would get annoyed at times because of how similar you are.

ideas and tastes clashing occasionally and sometimes, even insults.

like an argument would be going on and suddenly you both spew out the same insult 😭😭.

[y/n] "shut the fuck up bakugo no one cares if you don't like this movie, we all are watching it." [bkg] "tch whatever, i don't want to watch a movie with your dumbass in the room anyway." [y/n] "yeah sure bakugo, make excuse. we all know the real reason is because it's past your bedtime." [bkg] "THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME!?" [y/n] "OH I DIDN'T KNOW YOU'RE DEAF TOO!" [kiri] "uh hey guys? y'know this is a movie marathon, you both could pick out one movie each-" [bkg + y/n] "SHUT UP IDIOT" "SHUT UP IDIOT"

and now you two are having another fight because "you copied me!"

despite your bickering, there’s an underlying respect and understanding between you and him.

you recognize each other’s strengths and weaknesses and can see the drive and determination in one another, even if y'all don’t openly acknowledge it.

there will be times when you silently exchange your notebooks where you've written quirk/fight techniques and read through them, sometimes adding small tips on the side.

you might bond over your shared ambitions and goals.

conversations sometimes revolving around your dreams and aspirations, and both of you motivating each other to push harder, even if you guys don’t show it directly.

mixed signals, mixed signals, mixed signals!!!

both of your dumbasses can't tell if the other sees them as a rival or something more.

like yeah you maybe 'hate' his guts but there's no one more understanding than him, no one who'd help you with your combat as much as him, no one who'd motivate you to stride further as much as him.

katsuki would be in denial for a bit, thinking these feelings would pass.

but honestly, he knew he was lying to himself. he admired you a lot as a person and his romantic feelings for you stemmed from there.

after he admitted his feelings to himself, he attempts to give you hints.

but poor boy doesn't know how to show that he cares for you properly and so all of his attempts fail as you take them as his usual brashness.

even people from outside your class start noticing how big of a crush you two have on eachother. always bickering but always together.

eventually you had decided that you'd confess soon. no use in dragging this out right?

but i fear katsuki beat you to it.

the ua dorms were quiet at this hour, save for the whisper of wind rustling through the trees. behind the building, where shadows danced in the moonlight, katsuki bakugo stood with his back against the wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest. you approached cautiously, glancing around to make sure no one else was near. you had a feeling this meeting wasn’t about a routine patrol or a late-night training session. when your eyes met bakugo’s, you saw something different — a rare vulnerability. he cleared his throat, the tension in his shoulders betraying his nervousness. “look, i've never done this and I’m not good at talking about feelings or whatever. i like you, okay? i’m not gonna be all sappy but i wanted you to know.” his eyes darted away, focusing on a distant tree, as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. your heart raced, a smile tugging at your lips. “ah shit, you beat me to it bakugo.” bakugo’s head snapped back to you, eyes wide with surprise. for a moment, the air crackled with an unspoken tension before you both let out a chuckle, the gravity of the confession settling between you. "katsuki." he says, as your eyebrows rose in surprise. "call me katsuki, no more bakugo." you laugh before replying. what an honor. the bakugo katsuki is telling you to call him by his first name. "then you call me y/n. no more dumbass." you reply. "i'll think about it." "HEY!" the night air seemed to have grown warmer, the two of you stayed outside for another hour, simply taking strolls and talking. before you two headed back in, katsuki stopped behind you, causing you to turn around. “so . .” katsuki began, his voice less abrasive now, “we're like . . together right?” you pause, reaching your hand out to him. “we just confessed to each other you idiot. obviously we are.” a small hint of a smile appeared on katsuki's face as he took your hand in his. "i said to call me katsuki." "be quiet."

WHILE DATING —

you and katsuki had decided to not tell anyone about your relationship.

it wasn't a secret or anything, you two just didn't bother to tell anybody.

now this had driven your class mad. they knew something had happened between the two of you but they couldn't point out what.

it wasn't uncommon for you and katsuki to disappear at times. everyone assumed that it was for extra training.

so when you both would be leaving randomly in the afternoons, returning close together with not a sweat droplet in sight, they started suspecting something is going on.

[mina] "these two are killing mee! there is something going on, i'm so sure of it!" [tsu] "you're right mina. i think i even saw them wearing the same bracelet?" [jiro] "no way. i thought it was just a coincidence but now that you pointed it out, they did start wearing it from this week. getting the same bracelet is one thing, but at the same time?" [toru] "oh my god i feel like they're doing this on purpose to annoy us! i asked y/n about it and they just made a face at me and left."

you and katsuki know damn well about what y'all are doing. not oblivious to some of your classmates glancing at you two when you both leave to 'train' (going on a date).

it's absolutely hilarious to both of you when you see your classmates going crazy over your relationship.

when you and katsuki do decide to drop the bomb on them, they actually go ballistic.

the common room was a buzz of energy as class 1-a settled in for their usual friday night tradition: snacks, board games, and a new episode of their favorite show. the table was cluttered with bowls of popcorn, candy, soda cans and laughter filled the air as the group organized the evening’s activities. katsuki and you were sitting on the carpet, backs against the couch as y'all played an intense game of monopoly with mina and kirishima. everyone got really competitive, occasionally shifting their focus towards the show before continuing to play. after a while, you emerged victorious, shoving your victory into kirishima and mina's face as katsuki yawned and stretched beside you. “i’m heading to bed,” he announced, his tone as casual as if he were commenting on the weather. you glanced up from the board, nodding in acknowledgment. “goodnight,” you said. katsuki stood up, gave you a quick kiss on the forehead, and turned to head towards the dorms. his demeanor was so matter-of-fact that it was as if he’d merely forgotten his snacks in the kitchen. the entire common room went silent, eyes widening in shock. the gesture had been so casual, yet it spoke volumes. kirishima broke the silence with an excited shout. “i knew it!” he ran off to sero who reluctantly handed him some yen. wonderful, your classmates had a bet on you two. a wave of murmurs and surprised exclamations rippled through the room. “wait, you guys are together?” denki says, his eyes as big as saucers. you shrugged, a smirk tugging at your lips as you propped yourself up to the couch. “what do you think stupid? did he just kiss my forehead for fun?” denki opened his mouth to retort back but was interrupted by squeals from mina. “OH MY GOD YES!! YOU BOTH ARE OFFICIALLY MY FAVORITE COUPLE!” mina exclaimed, interlocking her fingers with toru excitedly.

word travels fast in ua and by the end of the weekend, everyone and their moms know about you.

it couple, power couple (sometimes even literally because of how strong/powerful you both are), the couple. all these titles were easily taken by you and katsuki.

you both had a private relationship, everyone knew you were dating but never knew anything other than that.

both of you still have your competitive nature when it comes to training, however it has taken on a more balanced role.

while y'all still enjoy challenging each other, there's a greater sense of teamwork. you both support each other's goals and work together to achieve them, blending your rivalry with cooperation.

your arguments become less frequent and more constructive.

you've learned to communicate better and understand each other’s triggers and emotional responses.

instead of heated arguments, your interactions often involve playful and affectionate teasing.

you both have learned to express affection through shared humor and banter, making your interactions more enjoyable.

while y'all might still show a tough exterior in public, you have a more private and tender side to your relationship.

when alone, you both share moments of vulnerability and affection that are hidden from the outside world.

katsuki's protective instincts become more apparent and openly acknowledged.

he knows you're strong enough to handle yourself, but he can't stop himself from always looking out for you and feeling the need to protect you.

overall you both have a sweet and healthy relationship. always being there for each other and correcting the other when necessary.

NOTE — OMG THANK YOUU THATS SO SWEET 😭💕. OFCC YOU CAN BE 🛸 ANON!! hope you liked this! im so sorry this took so long, school has started and i get really busy on the weekdays so i only have time to write on weekendss.

©loveriotss — all rights reserved to me. please don’t try to copy/steal my work. please do not use any of my ideas/translate my work without my permission.

[daitranscripts]

Cole Conversations

Companion Comments

Cole Masterpost

Dialogue options:

Cassandra [1]

Blackwall [2]

Iron Bull [3]

Dorian [4]

Solas [5]

Vivienne [6]

Varric [7]

Sera [8]

Leliana [9]

Josephine [10]

Cullen [11]

1 - Cassandra

Romanced Cole: Petals fall open as lips shape words that rhyme. Candlelight softens the edges.

Cassandra’s personal quest incomplete Cole: Stomach full of mantras, she burns like a beacon, Faith a flame to bring succor for a Seeker.

Cassandra’s personal quest complete Cole: Faith seeks a friend in Compassion, cautious, careful, too much grey but growing.

2 - Blackwall

Romanced He feels naked without the name on the armor, but now he knows you want him naked.

Blackwall’s personal quest incomplete An old name burns inside armor that shouldn't fit, lit by faces of the children he couldn't save.

Blackwall’s personal quest complete The name breaks free, pulls the pain with it. A black wall to shield the self when the sky is rainier.

3 - Iron Bull

Romanced Tied, but tenderly, loving in the letters of a word that would stop it, knots in satin scarves.

Personal quest active “The,” a joke. He laughs to himself, imagining herds of cattle in fields of iron, but now he worries it fits.

Personal quest complete, made Tal-Vashoth Salt-spray smell of Seheron. Lost in smoke from a burning ship. Guilt at not feeling guiltier.

Personal quest complete, sacrificed the Chargers Copper on the lips. Dalish lies dead-eyed beside me. He'll come, he'll call, he won't leave us. Horns pointing up.

4 - Dorian

Romanced Glittering to gloss a hidden hurt. Unlearning not to hope for more. Stumbling steps where the wall used to be.

Giselle gave letter, have not met Dorian’s father Bright, like the fish that kill you if you eat them. Can't hate you for hiding if you burn so brilliantly.

After meeting Dorian’s father He tried to melt a snowflake because he liked waterfalls. Swallowing bile and pride as he sees his son defend himself.

5 - Solas

Cole’s personal quest complete Voice ringing with fullness from both worlds, guiding me to the shining places. He calls himself Pride.

High approval, other conditions unknown Old pain, shadows forgotten from dreams too real. This side is slow and heavy, but here is what can change.

Personal quest completed Wisdom knows enduring is pain. He hurts for her, another of many he couldn't save. He carries necessary deaths.

6 - Vivienne

Personal quest not started A breath-caught smile from the Enchanter as the candle lights. The walls are safe; she will never be hungry again.

Personal quest completed A cold flame blazes in a robe worth more than children. Protect her, and she consumes you, burning because she can.

7 - Varric

Cole’s personal quest complete Kid, says the stone. Kid, kidding. It would keep me kept with a name, but the cairn can't catch me.

Hawke lives, other conditions unknown He writes words that aren't real, but they are for him, in a quiet place whose stone shape shakes the ground.

Hawke left in the Fade The stone is cracked, split, jagged. The hawk would have been safe if it had stayed, but that isn't what hawks do.

8 - Sera

Romanced Fleet-footed and free, the arrow that caught the miller's sack, but no longer shot alone, aquiver in a quiver.

Cole more human Shite. He's wrong. Dead-eyed crazy, shite. I called him a 'him'. Is he alive, is everything alive, shite. I hate raisins.

Cole more spirit She hurts, but helping hurts more. She sees the strings that pull me, eyes like raisins in a stale cookie.

9 - Leliana

Leliana’s personal quest not started The Left Hand remembers a knife slipped to her in the darkness, and wonders why the flower blooms.

Leliana hardened The Left Hand is harder, faith fallen in folly. It makes the dreams worse, but sends them away faster.

Leliana softened The Left Hand blooms on the bush, remembering the light that shone in her darkness. She knows how to sing again.

10 - Josephine

Romanced Steel flashes, like at the top of the stairs, but this time she knows her voice and it ends with a kiss.

Josephine’s personal quest started She spins, plucking strings, matching wits and words, an admiral who will never send ships of her own.

Josephine’s personal quest complete Ships launch on changing winds. Dizzy sometimes, like the top of the stairs, but sometimes like dancing.

11 - Cullen

Romanced Safe and solid, protecting and proud. He feels like quiet, stronger when you hold him.

Personal quest incomplete, talked about lyrium He is quiet, behind the noise. The little bottle makes him shake, but he tests the chains.

Continued lyrium He sounds right again with the chains in place, but the music makes him sad.

Quit lyrium He sounds new, echoes of laughter on an empty riverbed. Not for sailing, but safer.

[scarlet-traveler]

My first fic for KRBK Cuddles Week! I combined the prompts common room, movie night, sleepy, and cozy cuddles. Enjoy!

~

When Eijirou woke up to sweat-soaked sheets and his heart pounding in his throat, he didn’t think he’d be able to go back to sleep that night.

The bright 1:26 AM that blinded him as he checked the time on his phone showed that staying awake would be a terrible idea; doing a full day of school and hero training on only three hours of sleep spelled disaster.

The tried and true method it was, then.

Blanket in tow, Eijirou stepped out into the hallway and walked the short distance to the next room. Loud enough for the occupant to hear but soft enough to not disturb anybody else, he rapped on the door, only having to wait seconds before it swung open to reveal Bakugou’s glare. The heat behind it died when his eyes landed on Eijirou, his face clearing to just a sleepy pout.

Eijirou didn’t say anything, just smiled sheepishly. Bakugou frowned, his eyes taking in Eijirou’s face, the tired squint to his eyes and the dark circles that were no doubt under them, his hair that he hadn’t made an attempt to smooth out before leaving his room, the blanket bundled in his arms.

Eijirou waited as he took it all in, the rapid thrum of his heart rate easing some under Bakugou’s stare, until Bakugou finally disappeared back into his room to grab his own blanket and his phone and joined Eijirou in the hallway.

It was silent as they made their way down to the kitchen. Hot chocolate was made (Eijirou’s mama’s recipe, a sure-fire way to help him feel better and Bakugou had managed to recreate the drink perfectly), a movie was set up on the TV (Eijirou didn’t know what it was, nor did he care; the flickering light of the screen and the shifting images from the near-muted film was all he needed), and they both migrated to the couch, mugs in hand and blankets around shoulders.

Eijirou leaned into where he and Bakugou were pressed shoulder to hip as he sipped from his mug. The creamy liquid soothed his nerves further, the kick of cinnamon a reminder that Eijirou was awake, here with Bakugou, not trapped in the Shie Hassaikai hideout in the dark with lightning fists pounding into his arms, cracking skin and breaking bones- 

Eijirou took a bigger swig, burning his tongue in the process but he didn’t care.

“Not gonna do you any good to choke from drinking too fast,” Bakugou mumbled around the lip of his own cup, all snark but lacking the bite. A lighthouse to shine through the dark, guide him to safety.

Eijirou leaned into that light with a soft laugh. “I can’t help that you made amazing cocoa, dude.”

Bakugou hummed, but Eijirou could see the corner of his lip twitch upward as he took a sip.

His own mug was drained in no time, and Bakugou was setting his mug on the coffee table as Eijirou did even though it was still half full. Eijirou didn’t question it, instead accepting the embrace Bakugou offered once he’d settled against the arm of the couch. There was a lot of shuffling, ribs elbowed and whispered swears and hushed apologies, before Eijirou sighed in contentment as he sank into Bakugou’s hold, his head tucked under his chin and his nose brushing his neck.

It wasn’t often that he was in this position. Usually he was the one holding Bakugou, giving him comfort in the wake of his nightmares that had been rampant, almost nightly, after Kamino. 

They’d figured out this routine not long into their time in the dorms. Their rooms often felt too cramped when the fear still clung to them and lurked in the corners; sitting in the wide open common room in front of the obnoxiously huge TV made it feel like the terror wasn’t pressing into them as much.

Eijirou had already felt it lessening as he sat with his cocoa, but now the fear and the shaking seeped out in waves as Bakugou held him to his chest, one hand idly running through his loose strands but otherwise resting tangled in them. His heart pounded strong, steady in his chest.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Bakugou asked softly some time after they got settled.

“Mm, not really. It’s just the same stuff.”

Bakugou hummed, the sound rumbling through his chest. Fingers idly scratched at Eijirou’s scalp, and he sank further against his friend.

Bakugou snorted. “You really are a fucking dog.”

“M’not,” Eijirou mumbled.

“Are too. Just a big ol’ puppy.”

Eijirou propped his chin on Bakugou’s chest to pout at him. “You’re supposed to be comforting me, not making fun of me.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes, but still gently guided Eijirou’s head to rest back against him with the hand in his hair. “I am. No big-bads are gonna get ya while I’m poking fun at you.”

A surprised laugh bubbled up out of Eijirou’s mouth, and he buried his smile into Bakugou’s neck. “So mean, dude.”

“I know,” Bakugou said, even as he pulled Eijirou closer and pressed a kiss to the crown of his head. “Sleep. Alarm is already set.”

Sleep sounded nice, the remnants of the nightmare barely a whisper in the back of his mind. Those little wisps didn’t mean anything, not when Bakugou’s arms were wrapped so securely around him, his own heart slowed to match the steady beat pressed against his ear. 

Eijirou yawned, snuggling deeper into Bakugou. “Mkay,” he mumbled. One eye pressed closed against his chest, the other watched the TV screen, too low to hear. He watched the characters act out their hijinks, Bakugou’s heart the only audio track he needed, until sleep claimed him, gently, peacefully.

Just as gently he was being roused by a hand on his shoulder and lips on his forehead, the sun barely tinting the sky. No words needed to be spoken as they switched off the TV and gathered their blankets, their mugs washed and put away. 

Not a trace of their presence was left behind as they shuffled upstairs to catch a few more winks, their ritual a secret between them and the night.

~

Also on AO3, lemme know your thoughts! <3

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 96

Ah, I see, so THIS is why Liam looks like a cute beatnik from a 50s jazz club ... oh boy ... he's brought back the German accent BIG TIME and it's giving me massive Caleb vibes ... meanwhile Tal's clearly having EVEN MORE fun with this ... oh my gods ... wow ... that's a DOOZY, definitely ...

Marisha (cracking up): "It sounded like there was more!" Travis: "I know!"

So ... yeah ... it was all SO HEAVY when we ended it last week ... the group is WELL on the way to imploding under the weight of what just happened in the night ... can they come back from this? This is SO WORRYING ...

Oh boy ... RIGHT BACK where we were at the end ... wow ... so it's just the two of them again ... O.O

Fuck ... now even LAUDNA can feel Delilah's starting to take over ... that's not good at all ...

This is starting to sound SO MUCH like Laudna knows she's not going to be around when this is all done ... oh man ... AND she's starting to think maybe that's A GOOD THING? Fuck ... no, really, NO ...

Imogen's trying SO HARD to keep this all together for BOTH OF THEM but I can feel her breaking too ...

Come on, Imogen, that's it, bring her back from the brink ... LISTEN TO HER, Laudna. She's the best thing in your life, and she feels the same way about you, luv. You need to buck up ...

Imogen: "I'm gonna miss our little cottage." Oh fuck ...

Ah shit ... the tissues ... yeah, that's how it is with ALL OF US right now ...

Crap ... that's right, Dorian's missed A WHOLE LOT, he doesn't KNOW about Delilah, not really ... oh, and also about IMODNA ... XD ... AND Chetney's threesome with Fearne and his ex ...

Oh yeah ... Bordor ... that was a whole bunch of wrong ... that took a whole lot out of ALL OF 'em ...

Ashton being all philosphical again abdout villains trying NOT TO BE ... yeah ... he's pretty spot on ...

Dorian: "CAN she be trusted?" Oof ...

Ashton: "You okay?" Imogen: "No." Ahston: "SHE okay?" Imogen: "No." Ahston: "Okay."

Laudna's just been having a good powerful MOPE while all of this has been going on ... yeah, of course she has ... oh FUCK OFF, Delilah. You're not welcome right now ... oh yeah, Fearne, great timing, snap her out of it!

Orym: "Are you all right? I didn't hurt you too terribly did I?" Laudna: "Oh, I think I can see a few ribs ..."

Yes ... please, come on you too, make up. You're FRIENDS, you mean so much to each other. MAKE UP. Yeah. That's it. Exactly that.

Yeah, exactly. Fuck Delilah, we just want our LAUDNA.

This is exactly it, yeah ... she's not alone, they're ALL carrying their own big mistake baggage, she's not alone in that ...

Awwwww ... Ashton's BIG SISTER Laudna ... I love it ... :3

Wow ... yeah, it may be a joke, but Chetney DOES have a point there ... Dorian's the one true innocent in the group now ... you poor sweet summer chaild ...

Nice move, Chet. Yeah, that works.

Oh, that's interesting ... yeah ... that pipe ... yeah ... that could be REALLY GOOD for Laudna right now ... go on, girl, take a puff ...don't be afraid, this can only HELP ...

And then Dorian comes in with the sweetest cap for all that ... awwww ... :3

AAAAAAND just like that Chetney's OUT. XD ... of course he is.

Spin the bottle? REALLY?!!! LOL ...

Wow ... not they're just getting ridiculous ... XD ... "Hammer time?" Yeah, that's the worst one yet ... "Chetney needs sleep"? Slightly better, maybe ...

More rest, at least ... which is needed ...

Liam'#s giving Orym a point of exhaustion for NECESSITIES ... of course he is ... wee selfless lad ... we love him but he does punish himself sometimes ...

THAT'S what the Gambler's Blade does? DORIAN!!! O.O

Essek is a bit ... MOODY this morning ... hmmmm ...

"I like pulp!" XD

Ah, so everything's ready for them ,then? Sweet ... cue gearing up montage ... LOL ... oh, and descriptions too ...

Hot Shots: Part Deux for Chetney ... XD

Oh shit ... that's right ... they're back from the Moon ... IS Orym a little different? And our boy's a bit toussled now ... yeah, that's CUTE, I'm sure ...

Imogen's wearing PANTS now? Okay ...

Dorian's wearing "THE SLUTTIEST SHIRT"! Cute ...

Nipple talk ... oh dear ... XD

Oh wow ... Laudna's kind of giving me some subtle Harrow the Ninth vibes right now ...with a touch of DELILAH too, which is ... worrying, just a little ... O.O

Ashley's alwasy SO GOOD at weaving a beautiful picture, she really is ... and a utility belt. Yeah ... :3

Ashton's rocking a CROPTOP right now? Awwwwww ... and a spike trade with Fearne, too ... cute ... ooooooh ... and "Smiley Day" ... oh man ... I love it ...

Matt makes a rather pointed "prepare your spells" statement that everybody IMMEDIATELY takes as SUSPICIOUS and I'm right along with them. What are you planning, Mercer?

Yeah ... that fucking bloody apron's just gonna leave a trail behind them THE WHOLE WAY ...

Divvying up stuff ... here we go, ten minutes of inventory bookkeeping while we wait for the game itself to start up again ... XD

Ah ... sucking up one Ring of Protection with the harness ... hmmm ...

Imogen's jealous of Essek's floating thing ... not surprising ...

Ooooh ... ExU: Calamity recap ... cute ...

A FEW tries? Oh, I don't like the sound of that ...

Wow ... they're all REALLY crossing their fingers ... XD

Rolling a D100? Oh fuck ... 14? Hmmmmm ... ouch ... oh, that didn't go well ... they went NOWHERE and took 11 points of Force damage each ... bugger ...

Second try ... ANOTHER roll ... 45? Okay ... SEEMS like the right place ... an abandoned encampment? Interesting ... oh, sounds like it's NOT where they should be, then ...

Lyrengorm? Where?

He can only do it ONCE MORE for the day? Bollocks ...

A final roll ... 61 ... MORE snow ... much colder ... Orym's ENTIRELY BURIED ... a particularly AGGRESSIVE mountain range this time ... some kind of VERY fancy castle ... oh, so we ARE in Eisselcross ... but we're not sure WHERE ... oof ...

Crap ... they've been spotted ... by SOMEBODY ... big lumbering somebodies ...

Undead ice giants? Yeesh ... yeah, better hide ... argh ...

Matt: "There's a reason you took a BOAT to Esselcross last time!"

And now it's time for a break ...

Do they run? Do they fly? WHAT DO THEY DO?!!! Hiding's obviously out of the question ... eep ...

A DISTANT Command on one of them? Risky, Imogen ... "HALT!!!" Oh, it doesn't work on undead? BALLS ...

And now one of them flung a rock ... BAIT & SWITCH!!! Nice save, Orym! Crunch ... STILL 26 points of damage ... ow ...

There's a whole BUNCH of 'em coming now ... AAAAAAAH!!!

Essek's trying a HIGHER level Teleport ... okay ... one more roll ... 48? Oh bollocks, Laura! This is so bad ...

DO NOT give Mercer ideas, Ashley! O.O

More snow ... elsewhere ... hmmmm ... Essek has no idea where they are ... great ...

Yes. Sniff the wind, Chetney ... the air is THINNER ... oh, they're AT ALTITUDE right now ... cute ... on a mountain, then ... that's just PEACHY ...

Oh, if they had something FROM Aeor? I mean THEY COULD just use a piece of FCG ...

Looking into Essek's memories, then ... O.O ... and a glimpse of Aeor ... it's all VERY dramatic ...

Aha, a specific anchoring point ... good idea ...

Laura: "Guidance? Will that help?" Matt: "No, but it's nice to have." XD

So, the Staff ... oh boy ... this could go SO BAD .... she rolls 99 for it ... well, that's ... potentially good?

A frozen woodland glade ... Huh?

Don't shoot the rabbits with your harp, Chetney. They'll only explode and that's not what ANYONE wants ...

An amber coloured dome of energy over them? Oh, yeah, that definitely rings a bell ... XD

At least it's nice and warm in here ... although they are in danger of getting buried under the snow before morning ...

Essek's just IMMEDIATELY going to sleep, then ...

Fearne, you're adorable ... :3

Chetney's going hunting. WITH THE HARP. Oh boy ...

And he shoots a boar? Oh, okay, I suppose that's too big to just blow up ... food!

There's a huge city out there? Hmmmm ... no chance that's Vasselheim, maybe?

Time for food, then ...

Another try at Teleporting, then ... roll AGAIN ... 53? Fuck ...

They land ON THE SLOPE of a mountain ... AAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Another jump ... another roll ... 46? No, NINETY-six ... somewhere icy and cold ... oh, that's it, then. They made it ... phew ...

Yup, they're here. On the VERY EDGE of the ruins, then ...

Time for Stealth, then ... group check time ... oh boy ... fucking hell, Travis ... 41?!!! How the FUCK did you do THAT?!!!

Shit ... are those more of theose undead ice giants? Oh no ... gods, bo what to know WHAT these things are ... eep ... O.O

Going down into the gloomy underground darkness ...

ICE TROLLS?!!! Lovely ... yeah, just GO QUIETLY, please ...

It's getting STUPID tight in here ... this is NOT GOOD ... Chetney's going ahead to check the route ...

Oh, that's a DROP. Great ... now what?

So they have to climb down with the rope ... great ... oh, Chet wonders if he could ICE-CLIMB down? I really don't know about that ... oh, the Immovable Rod, that shoudl be helpful ...

Yeah, this couldn't possibly go wrong ... O.O

A ruined courtyard? Fascinating ... smelling for anything alive down here ... a clean must? Strange ...

So he's climbing down, then ... okay ... the others getting down will be ... INTERESTING ...

Oh yeah, some light might be helpful now ...

Bones? Frozen into the ice underfoot? Hmmm ... that could be ... problematic ... and some bodies too ... oh lovely ... there's SOMETHING unpleasant down here, clearly ...

Wait ... WHO is this? Oh ... FUCK ... shit! Oh, that is SWEET!!! Nice callback ... O.O

So, going EAST then ...

The Praesidis Ward? Hmmm ...

A giant cavern that was once a city ... weird ...

It's getting WARMER? Hmmm ...

Fearne has a point ... this DOES look like that weird ruined city in the cavern on Ruidus ...

Wait ... there's SCARY things down here to be on the lookout for? Way to bury the lead there, Essek ...

Yeah, DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING, people ...

He became a FISH. Really? Fascinating ...

Another Group Stealth check ... generally good rolls once more ...

Skeletons? Lots of them? Great ... this place is like a necromancer's wet dream ... I really hope this isn't where Mercer's heading with this ...

Grim Psychometry? IN HERE?!!! Whoa, Chet ...

That is ... troubling and not terribly infomrative, really ...

Crap ... was that a troll?

Moving on, then ...

Weird creepy corpse ... which wasn't there LAST TIME Essek passed through ... charming ... it IS moving, but, like, RIDICULOUSLY slow? Oh, that's unnerving ...

Imogen, AGAIN, don't touch ...

Oh, this seems like a nice, fancy place ... but Essek's not taking any chances with it, clearly ... and somebody's been through here, too ... hmmm ...

HE did this? Interesting ... well, at least he hasn't lost his sense of humour ...

Another cavern ... more industrial environs this time ... fascinating ... and it's curving UPWARDS as it goes ...

The Genesis Ward ...

It just smells of metal and water ... okay ...

So we have a specific destination now, then ...

What, try to home in on Ludinus' Harness? Could that work?

Oh, so there really ARE other things moving around in here besides the group ... that's disconcerting ...

A tent? Really? Well THAT is a pretty major sign of life ... I think they may have found what they're looking for ...

Arcane Eye? Cool ...

Oh, so something happened here ... something VIOLENT, according to the blood ... and CORPSES ... Ruby Vanguard? Oh wow ... THAT'S interesting ... this was ... relatively recent, looks like ...

More of an eagele's eye view of the cavern now ... a big jagged hole in the floor, off in the distance ... great ...

Heading in to take a look at the tent, then ...

So the deaths happened within a space of DAYS, then ... it looks like they all killed EACH OTHER?!!! O.O ... whoever did this was ENJOYING themselves? Charming ... and one of them killed HIMSELF ... and apparently was very HAPPY when he did it ... that's just LOVELY ...

It's a pretty nondescript knife, Imogen ...

Grim Psychometry again, then ... oh boy ...

Oh, so the elf was the one who killed them all ... really violently, with SIGNIFICANT manic strength ... carves soemthing into his chest ... and then kills himself too ... wow ...

Chetney DRAMATICALLY unveils the elf's chest ... a sigil ... what is it, then? Ask Essek ... he doesn;t recognise it ... Laudna casts Eyes of the Rune Keeper ... no joy, it seems ... hmmmmm ...

Oh ... Laudna asks DELILAH if she recognises it ... great ... she doesn't either ... great ...

Don't take a pee on the arcane time dome, Orym ...

Something's grinding out there ... stone on stone ...

A group stelth check, but grading everyone individually as they hide? Oh boy ...

Two groups, then ... roill well, guys ...

It's VERY TALL ... oh boy ... that is DISTURBING ... that's like ... it's a hood, but it DOESN'T actually have a head? Ye gods ... and it has a VERY BIG HAMMER it's gragging behind it ... and there's LOTS of teeth in a maw in its belly ... well THAT noise was just unsettling, Matthew ...

Fuck ... a whole bunch of creepy translucent scorpion-like creatures seem to crawl OUT OF IT ... charming ... and they're searching the area ...

Laudna just gave herself away ... and they're all going RIGHT FOR HER now ... oh fuck ...

And THIS is where Matt chooses to end it ... but not before he gives us a look at the Battlemap for next session ... and it's MASSIVE ...

Oh, this is gonna be a SCARY encounter to start things off next time ... But it's the end of the month, so that's gonna be a FORTNIGHT'S wait ...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

[kitschysandglass]

Justice Lords AU Jon/Damian Drabble

Lord! Jon / The Demon’s Head! Damian

Prompt: Faked Relationships + Arranged Marriage

So a friend give me this prompt and urged me to write this. Started as a drabble then some how ends in a short fic. 

Might post the whole thing on AO3 once finished. It’s a pure fluff crack fic. If I can write romance comedy in Superlords AU I can do anything.

+Based on JLU animation setting. I refuse to acknowledge the comic sequel in JL beyond

Enjoy!

 +++

 “I need you to marry me.”

By this, the Kryptonian nearly toppled and fell from where he was floating in midair, if that was something could be done.

“What?!” he squeaked, absolutely dumbfounded.

“Well, not marry me, to be exact,” the Demon’s Head waved a hand in a very much dismissive way, as if they were just talking about weather, “An engagement, more like it.”

Gawking, the young lord Jon-El, son of the supreme Lord Superman, watched his best friend, former mentor and the current leader of League of Assassins, Damian al Ghul, with sheer amount of disbelief.

He had known there was something in Damian’s mind the second he dropped by in the courtyard of Narda Parbat base, as his friend had not even complained when being pulled into a suffocatingly tight embrace, rather been eyeing him with a wistful silence - which was why Jon had offered a short flight, and ended it by stopping at their favorite spot on the mountainside, for a sparring session or whatever Damian felt like.

He had not expect that ‘something’ to be this, however.

“Where did that even come from?” Jon furrowed incredulously, hovering closer to the older male.

Damian’s lips pressed into a thin line, the corners of his mouth slightly tilted down in dismay. Jon noticed that he was putting on his I-have-a-favor-to-ask-but-I’m-the-Demon’s-Head-so-I-only-order-people-around face.“Mother has been pestering me with the topic of marriage and suitable consorts, again, lately.”

Jon blinked. Sometimes he really couldn’t understand what was with Talia’s temporary obsession about her son’s non-exist marital status, considering herself had never married, at least not formally, but - “Oh, okay, it’s not something hard to solve though. I can just —”

“You’re not going to kill another daughter or son of some significant political figure just because I said ‘they annoyed me so’, or lobotomize them,” Damian cut off curtly, voice cold and harsh, “Mother was quite upset the last time you’ve done this. We’ve spent months to neutralize the consequences, and I don’t think your father appreciated it very much either.”

“Dad doesn’t appreciate a lot of things.”

Damian sighed, ignoring his quip. “And you’re not going to kill mother,” he paused, before adding another warning, “As well as your father. We’ve been over this before.”

Jon deflated, then pouted like spoiled child. “Fine. It’s not like I hate aunt Tal, you know, just the option’s open at anytime.”

“Yes, Jon, I have no doubts that you’d do anything for me,” said Damian dryly, arm crossed, with barely a nick of sarcasm, “Which is why pretending to be my betrothal should at least be one of them.”

It was true, and they both knew it by hearts. The young Kryptonian would do literally everything and anything in his power, or die tried beyond his power to fulfill what Damian al Ghul had wished for; whether it was a country, the world, or stars and moon – he would bring them all down and offered before the Demon’s Head’s throne, with simply a word rolling off the other man’s tongue.

But it did not mean he would waste a chance to haggle.

“Um, yep. I just can’t figure out how and when did I come into the scheme.”

Damian’s shoulder tensed, yet eased down within seconds once more, and begrudgingly he started, “Well, in hope of ending this kind of conversations once and for all, I’ve may or may not told mother that I’m already betrothed to someone on my own behalf.”

Dead silence suddenly hanged down between the two of them, until Jon spoke softly, in the end.

“Dami, it hurt me to say this, but sometimes you’re really stupid,” he said in the most earnest and genuine voice.

The Demon’s Head resumed talking without a comment, only tapped one finger on the hilt of the Kryptonite dagger, sheathed at the side of his belt, displaying a clear attitude. “And I would like to make sure we’re both aware of the... detailed information about this relationship, since we’ll finally inform mother our engagement at dinner tonight, and she might have the curiosity for further inquiries.”

“Right. Sure, even though I still haven’t agreed on a single part here, but go on.” Jon chirped in a deliberately sickening sweet tone.

This earned him a threatening glare, which Jon blew out a raspberry in return, then floated even higher. Damian could not actually be angry with him when nothing had happened, moreover, when he was the one who had a favor to ask. True to the belief, his sole response was a familiar tutting sound, and the emerald eyes moved away to gaze at the mountains afar. After another minute of peaceful quietness, Damian eventually spoke and dropping the bombshell. “For your reference, we’ve been secretly engaged for several years by now.”

“Whoa, we have?”

Without batting an eye, Damian continued in an uncannily even and nonchalant tone. “To be more specific, we had confessed and exchanged our vows when you were nineteen. The year you paid a visit when I was in Europe, and we spent the summer together.”

“Oh Rao I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” Jon muttered under his breath. Just then he stilled, eyes widened, head perked up, and a dawning realization struck like a lighting, “Wait, is that one time you almost fell off from the Eiffel Tower?”

“Yes, that one time you almost dropped me off from the Eiffel Tower,” Damian spat, “But also no, it should be later, in Greece.”

“Parthenon?”

“Parthenon.”

“Was it before or after the accident that we nearly set it on fire? You know, together, by mistake, and somehow my fault was not in the larger proportion there.”

At last, the unwavering mask of indifference was cracked by the recollection of that particular incident. Damian winced. He opened his mouth while in search of a comeback, or any evidence for correction in details. There was none, and the only option he left was grunting like an ill-tempered cat.

“After that, possibly,” he mumbled through gritted teeth.

“Must be quite romantic then, I can imagine,” said the young lord in a sing-song voice, beaming with satisfaction.

Damian huffed with a sneer inside. “Indeed, everything seems extremely romantic after being at each other’s throat in a literal manner for the past thirty minutes.”

“I didn’t start that. I was just messing around with you.”

“If by ‘messing around’ you mean as ‘practicing homicide’.”

“Well it’s not me who thought it was a great idea to—” he feigned a surprised yelp when being suddenly dragged down by his cape. Did Jon see that coming? Of course. Could he dodge it? No problem. He could even stay still like a solid concrete and start a tug-of-war in air, but then Damian’s embarrassment might turn into true enragement. Thus he chose to offer the cheekiest smile to those blazing green eyes, now on horizontal level with and an inch too close, “’right, sorry, please do continue.”

Those eyes scrutinized his face for a while longer, before Damian’s own expression softened. He loosened the grip, yet refrained from completely let go of the silky white fabric, still holding it gently between his fingers. Following the subtle cue, Jon set feet to the ground and straightened up a little, as though being anchored by the hand that pulled him down.

“That makes the anniversary of our engagement on the 23rd of July,” and so Damian returned to the previous topic while thoroughly disregarding the small interlude, “Which is why we generally spent summer together since then.”

“Is it? Wait, we’re not actually engaged in the past few years, right? Are we?” Damian just stared at him, unimpressed by the display of idiocy.

“I assure you, we aren’t,” he then released the cape, “However, half a truth often makes up a great lie, and it works perfectly in this case.”

“And I thought we pretty much spent every summer together.”

“We didn’t. Not since you went back with your father when you were twelve,” Jon grimaced at that reminder, “Truthfully, I never know what’s your excuse whenever you disappeared for at least a whole month.”

The Kryptonian snorted.

“Dad doesn’t really care about what I’m doing as long as I’m not wrecking havoc to worsen his migranine. That is, since the whole Elite incident years ago,” he then paused for a few hesitant seconds. Jon-El slightly tilted head to met with the other’s eyes, as he was levitating on tip-toes in subconscious once again, “I have no quarrel with pretending to be your ‘betrothal’ or whatever, D, though clearly it’s one of your dumbest idea. But hey! Sounds fun! And the story totally sells, on some levels. Just you know nothing’s gonna be merely ‘fake boyfriend’ trope when it comes to our families, right?”

“Might as well,” Damian hummed, and he dared to start the explanation shamelessly under his friend’s now confused gaze, “It’s obvious that the Justice Lords are reconsidering their current partnership with the League and Leviathan. I doubt mother is too happy about some ‘trivial disagreements’ in recent as well, and I don’t always see eye to eye with people on either side.”

Jon stared at him. Damian stared back. The pregnant silence stretched longer this time, until Jon gasped loudly, eyes wide with disbelief. He dashed so high up into the air before dived down again in an instant.

Damian cursed in Arabic while busily trying to dust off the snow now covering his hair and robe, caused by the rapid gush of wind. Jon paid him no mind.

“Wow. Okay. Hold on. I can’t believe you’ve just talked me into a political marriage,” he half-shrieked, half-spluttered into the other’s ears, “Is this actually your mom’s idea? Am I in the ‘suitable consorts’ list?! Didn’t aunt Tal remark on how I’m never going to be a ‘passable husband material’ last month when I told that story about Beacon?”

“I’m pretty sure she still holds the same opinion,” Damian grumbled with a wince on his face. He pushed him away for a little, in sake of the eardrums, “Look, it’s not like the wedding will happen anytime soon. We’re just going to make the contract part official.”

“Ugh,” Jon pulled a face, “Why? Why’re you doing this to me? You know how much I hate those political stuff and formal occasions, and I hate to start anything that’s closer to a serious conversation with dad or the other lords. Why? Did I do something wrong? Are you still mad about that research station I had accidentally blown off? Or is it because I refused to help you sneak into the Fortress last time? You know you’ve already been there plenty of times!”

A muscle jumped on the Demon’s jaw when a certain event was mentioned, yet the only reaction he let out in the end was a sigh. “I’m still mad about that research station you had accidentally blown off, but that’s not the reason.”

“And it’s not mother’s idea, either. To be honest, I don’t think she’ll be rejoiced to hear this arrangement. Doubtlessly she has other plans in mind,” reluctant as he was, seeing Jon was still watching him skeptically, Damian could only supplied with another confession, “If that makes you feel better, I didn’t consider much when the ‘secretly bethrothed’ thing blurted out. I’m merely turning an impulsive mistake into a tactical strategy.”

“And you think your mom’s gonna agree with this? Since now it’s clear that I’m not an optional son-in-law in her ‘mother’s choice’ edition.”

“That is, exactly the cause behind our romantic backstory. I know this sounds unreal, but given the past record of herself, mother actually has a soft spot when it comes to the heart’s cause,” for a second, Damian looked like he wanted to avert his gaze to elsewhere and took aback everything had happened. He continued nonetheless, “I have to admit, considering the talk of marriage will eventually come up sooner or later, it’s much better to know that we’re in this together.”

The young lord did not respond. He remained completely still, the tip of his shoes left shallow grazes on the snow since he was hovering a few inches apart from the ground. The only sound he made was the sound of the pale white cape billowing in wind.

Jon-El snapped out from whatever outer body experience he was going through when Damian gently laid a hand on to his shoulder. He looked down at the hand, then back to Damian’s face, back upon at the hand on his shoulder again, and abruptly retreated a huge step back. The sky blue eyes flared a tint of red for a fleeting moment, as he sent Damian a menacing look right before he took lift with a sonic boom. It was a “just-watch-me-leave-you-here-and-try-to find-a-way-down-on-your-own” look, which the al Ghul was entirely capable of, since he was nine. However, Damian knew better than wasting energy unnessarily on a self-solved problem.

He yawned, counting seconds in mind while watching the shadowcasts of cloud flowing through the rugged silhouette of the mountains.

It took around two minutes and fourty-seven seconds for that monotone and crimson blur to reappear in the edge of his sight. Jon soared back and landed in front of him, raven black hair in a wind-blown state, with a light frown on his face, and the rest was unreadable. He puffed, finally, shoulder slumped in compromise.

“Alright. Fine. But you better give me a very nice ring.”

“That can be arranged.” Damian smiled smugly, which replied by another eye-rolling.

“Dad’s gonna be so pissed, and aunt Kara too. Kon’ll probably find this overly hilarious,” Jon murmured. Unsurprisingly, that grumpy pout gradually dissipated through the muttering, instead a wicked grin starting to spread on his face, “Oh such delight, I can’t wait for this month’s family dinner. If I’m going to suffer, I’d better turn this into everyone else’s problem.”

“You’re a menace.” Damian scoffed, yet the fondness overweighted mockery in it.

Without a warning, Jon lunged forward, two steel-strong arms choked the other in a too tight hug. Damian’s hands almost instinctly flied to the hilt of the sword, only Jon had slackened the clutch too quick. He twirled his position to spoon Damian from behind, still floating aloft, and rest his chin on the center of the hair whorl. Damian growled, but did not try any effort to push him off.

“Still can’t believe you’re making me do this,” Jon complained aloud, “You owed me an Apokolips-scaled favor now, which means you’re forbid to get mad at me from now on.”

“I think that’s still in need for further negotiation,” Damian commented in a deadpan tone.

“Have you already prepared a prenuptial agreement?”

“Hmm.”

“What kind of answer is that?” Jon pinched his friend and soon-to-be betrothal on cheek (without really using any strength, of course). Damian grunted and let it be, but caught his wrist at the second attempt.

“I’m afraid your halcyon days are over, Lord Jon-El. Welcome to my life and put responsibility into your dictionary,” mocked by the Demon’s Head.

To this, Jon sighed exasperately and tightened his hold before Damian’s chest, then nuzzled even closer. Both of them were well past the point to be bothered by this cold, but warmth was always welcomed.

“Hate you,” said Jon, voice a little too cheerul.

“Hate you more,” replied Damian, a barely contained laugh in tone.

-END/TBC-

Other background settings on this AU:

So Superman and Lois are still Jon’s biological parents in this setting, but only on genetic level. Lord! Superman had tried everything in hope to make Lois stay with him back then, so he used Kryptonian technology to create a child from his lab, using his and modified Lois’ gene (probably from blood samples or sth.) and take the baby to meet Lois.

My impression to Lois is that she would likely to wait for a chanse to strike back rather than commit suicide when there’s no way out. She then took care of Jon in those imprisoned years, until Jon fell gravely ill due to his unstable DNA and Lord Superman took him to somewhere else for treatment, and Lois had finally escaped in that period of time.

After Lois’ escapement, among other situations, Kal-El was busy with his work and didn’t have the will to raise the child, therefore send him to LoA through Lord Batman’s introduction. Jon was 5-6 yro back then, he and Damian were still 3 yrs apart in this AU.

Talia had informed Batman about their child a lot ealier in this setting, and Damian was basically always raised in the League. Jon went back with his father reluctantly when he was 12. Their relationship was strange and distant rather than tensed. Kal-El sort of viewed this child as the final reminiscence of Lois, while Jon just, honestly didn’t care(...) On the other hand, although Lord Superman might have not too many moral compass, he valued his rules, but Jon’s just pure chaotic, didn’t really care abt anything whatsoever unless it involved Damian.

Lois was now in an anti-Lords organisation. Jon called her Ms. Lane and paid visit to chat occassionally, and constantly mocking his father’s pathetic love life.

Ra’s died or couldn’t use pit to regenerate anymore at somepoint, then Damian became the Demon’s Head.

[the-conversation-pod]

Roses, Thorns, and Buds: A Last Twilight and The Sign Breakdown

AND WE'RE BACK! This week, we're unpacking the way Last Twilight let us down and all the ways The Sign tried to be so many things with mixed results. We tried a roses, thorns, and buds framework to find interesting things to talk about in our disappointment.

This week we're joined by @wen-kexing-apologist to discuss Last Twilight, and then by @so-much-yet-to-learn to discuss The Sign.

Timestamps

The timestamps will now correspond with chapters on Spotify for easier navigation.

00:00:00 - Welcome 00:01:16 - Introduction 00:03:54 - Last Twilight: Roses and Thorns 00:09:35 - Last Twilight: Failed Expectations 00:15:54 - Last Twilight: Ableism 00:22:02- Last Twilight: Buds 00:25:22 - Last Twilight: Final Thoughts and Ratings 00:29:26 - Intermezzo 00:32:43 - The Sign: Roses 00:39:32 - The Sign: Thorns 00:48:43 - The Sign: Buds 00:56:03 - The Sign: WTFery 01:04:24 - The Sign: Final Thoughts and Ratings 01:10:02 - Outro

The Conversation Transcripts!

Thanks to the continued efforts of @ginnymoonbeam as transcriber, and @lurkingshan as an editor and proofreader, we are able to bring you transcripts of the episodes.

We will endeavor to make the transcripts available when the episodes launch, and it is our goal to make them available for past episodes (Coming soon thanks to @wen-kexing-apologist). When transcripts are available, we will attach them to the episode post (like this one) and put the transcript behind a Read More cut to cut down on scrolling.

Please send our volunteers your thanks!

00:00:00 Welcome

NiNi

Welcome to The Conversation About BL, aka The Brown Liquor Podcast.

Ben

And there it is. I’m Ben.

NiNi

I’m NiNi.

Ben

And we’re your drunk Caribbean uncle and auntie here sitting on the porch in the rocking chairs.

NiNi

Four times a year we pop in to talk about what’s going on in the BL world.

Ben

We shoot the shit about stories and all the drama going into them. I review from a queer media lens.

NiNi

And I review from a romance and drama lens.

Ben

So if you like cracked-out takes and really intense emotional analysis…

NiNi

If you like talking about artistry, industry, and the discourse…

Ben

And if you generally just love simping…

NiNi

There is a lot of simping on this podcast…

Ben

We are the show for you!

00:01:16 - Introduction

Ben 

And we're back. Last week, we got to have a lot of fun talking about She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat and dunking on Chaser Game W. This week we're talking about the confusing messes that were Last Twilight and The Sign. 

We ended up bringing two guests on at different times for this one. You’re gonna feel it in the listen for this, we had a really difficult time working through our feelings on Last Twilight. And I think, unlike a lot of the shows we talk on here, where we're just sort of talking about a story that we're having a little fun with, because Last Twilight was a disability narrative, it felt inappropriate for us to maybe make a ton of fun of it and dunk on it. And so large sections of our discussion are us spending a great deal of time personally unpacking where this show let us down. 

So it's not [laughs] our favorite discussion we've had on The Conversation. The show kind of let us down in ways that we didn't really recognize until we were in the booth together. 

NiNi 

Yeah, Last Twilight kind of bummed us out, and I think you definitely hear it on the recording. There was so much that we wanted it to be and so much that we thought it was being, and then the way that it went in the end… yeah, it bummed us out. And you feel that. 

Ben 

However, when we get to The Sign, we will be back to poking fun at some of the silly things that that show was trying to do and try to unpack everything that was the smorgasbord of genres and waistlines. 

NiNi 

[laughs] Not waistlines! 

Ben 

There were a lot of great ones in that show. 

NiNi 

When it comes to being able to have a little bit of a cracked out time, it seems like IdolFactory is always going to take us there. I think this is the most fun that I've had since we did the Gap episode. Having a good old cackle with Aiden; talking through action and all the different myriad, many, multiple genres that this show tried to achieve all at once and didn't quite? I think overall we were just looking in this episode at things that didn't work, why they didn't work, and particularly why things start well and then don't, in the end, deliver. 

Okay, so first up, you'll hear us talking with Captain Hands about Last Twilight. 

00:03:54 - Last Twilight: Roses and Thorns

NiNi 

So we are here with friend of the pod Captain Hands. Say hello, Captain Hands.  

Captain Hands 

Hello! 

NiNi 

And we are going to talk Last Twilight. Ben, take it away. 

Ben 

So, Last Twilight is the last directorial outing that we can expect from Aof Noppharnach for a while — at least that’s what he told us. A young college-aged athlete, after an unexpected injury, begins a rapid decline in his vision. He is no longer really capable of taking care of himself on his own, as he's adapting to his new circumstances, and his family decides to hire a caregiver to help him out. The young man's name is Day, and he is resistant to having someone else following him around, most especially his older brother Night. He is eventually paired with a slightly older young man named Mhok, who is an ex-con who ended up in jail because of a huge street fight he got into. He is struggling to find work, as an ex-con, and he has never really taken the time to properly grieve the untimely death of his older sister. Over the course of the show, Mhok adapts to his new role as Day's caregiver, and because we're in BL, the two of them end up becoming very close and finding something more than just friendship between them. The show wants to follow Day's journey as he comes to terms with what it means for himself to be blind, and Mhok essentially changing his career path as a result of contact with Day. We'll get into how the show tried to wrap up some of these threads. 

NiNi 

Okay, so this is the roses, thorns and buds episode. So let's start with that. Captain Hands, why don't you start with a rose. 

Captain Hands 

A rose for me was the physical intimacy. They did a lot really well with how they used touch in this show, and that I was really thankful for. 

NiNi 

What about you, Ben? Give me a rose. 

Ben 

Every rose does have its thorn. [NiNi laughs] Let's see. I'm going to give a rose to the teamwork between Jimmy and Sea. I don't think that we were necessarily positively disposed to them when we were entering the show. I've been watching some of their BGP for like the last year or so, and I know that they've been working really hard at being comfortable around each other, and I think their teamwork and all the effort they put in really paid off. I think the… pacing of the intimacy between their characters was really easy to follow, and I think a big part of that is the two of them having a lot of trust in each other. 

NiNi 

I am also here to praise Jimmy, not to bury him. I am not a Jimmy fan. I am on record as being terribly worried about how this was going to go because I was not so sure about his acting. I come out of this a little higher on him than I went into it. I think that he did an okay job. And I came out of this really loving Sea. 

In terms of what my rose is, my rose is definitely some of the visual filmmaking. I liked some of the style that went into this in terms of what was happening with the camera, and where some of the shots landed up. 

Okay, so [laughs] I feel like there's gonna be a lot of thorns that we're gonna get into, but everybody just hit me with one thorn. Let's go in reverse order, Ben, what's one of your thorns? 

Ben 

My thorn for Last Twilight is the Dangerous Romance mistake with Jimmy's character, in that they started the show in his character’s perspective, but then wanted to switch over to Day's perspective for basically the rest of the show. It creates this imbalanced expectation in the show for me. I was waiting to get back to the drama that they set up with Mhok, like his issues finding work. What does it mean to him to be coming out of prison and struggling at this point? Or his un-really resolved trauma around his relationship with his sister. I did not get satisfaction in the writing around his character. 

NiNi 

Captain Hands? 

Captain Hands 

My thorn is episode 12. Just all of episode 12. 

NiNi 

I mean, that's one hell of a thorn. [laughs] My thorn is that I think the show was conflicted about whether it maybe wanted to be about temporary disability or permanent disability, and that conflict led to what felt like a swerve at the end that was not handled well at all. 

00:09:35 - Last Twilight: Failed Expectations

NiNi 

We'll save the buds for later so that we have a little bit of hope at the end, but let's kind of dive a little bit more into how you felt about the show, what you were hoping to get out of the show when you went into it, that kind of thing.

Captain Hands 

I was really interested in coming into Last Twilight specifically to see how Aof handled a disability narrative. Of the 109 BLs I have watched, I can count about six that have some form of physical disability or chronic physiological illness. Four of those are Aof’s shows. And so when GMMTV announced Last Twilight was going to be about a character going blind, I was like, oh, cool. I want to see what Aof does when he has a full amount of time to dedicate to a disability narrative. 

NiNi 

Ben, what about you? 

Ben 

Going into this, I was hoping that they were going to delve more into the complexities of class. Day’s family… currently, it seems like they're rich, but it doesn't seem that they started this way. And so, like, Day’s currently a rich kid, but now that he's seen as in some ways an invalid, he no longer feels like he has the status that he's used to having. And so I was really hoping that we’d get this examination about who Day used to be, who he is now, how people used to see him, how people see him now. And use Mhok’s place of always being poor, but now also being considered a criminal…I was hoping there would be way more play with that going into it. I was really hoping that because we were going to be focusing on cross-class romance, and also what it means to care for someone with a disability, that this would be a more… active part of the show? 

NiNi 

This is something that's come up in multiple GMMTV story narratives at this point, where they seem to want to have conversations about class and interclass relationships, and then back away from those conversations almost immediately. The person who is the quote-unquote ‘lower class’ person in the relationship gets lost a little bit? Their problems get subsumed into the problems of the rich person. If you're going to do an interclass romance, do an interclass romance. Take it seriously. Take both sides of the romance seriously — or if you're going to only do one side, do the side of the poorer person. In all these romances, they talk about balance between characters. I don't find these romances are ever balanced. There is always a main character and a love interest, it's never really two main characters. And if you're going to do that, then in some cases I think they need to be switching who is the main character and who is the love interest. 

Captain Hands 

Aof has managed to do some level of interclass dynamics in Moonlight Chicken and so, like, I know that he's capable of doing it. I think here I'm worried that Aof got too in the weeds with focusing on a disability narrative versus focusing on an overarching narrative structure. For me, it felt like every single aspect of this story, as we approached the end, started taking a back seat to Day and Day's disability. 

NiNi 

I think a lot of the issues here ended up with balance and pacing. If this is the story that they wanted to tell, then there were better decisions that could have been made in telling this story. Aof both wanted to focus on the disability and in some weird ways, didn’t to want to focus on it too much? There's a weird tension that runs throughout the entire show. Instead of it being finely balanced, it just feels like it's being pulled in several different directions. I've seen shows that feel like they're gonna pull themselves apart — as we say in Trinidad, “I didn't look for Aof there.” This is not to say that Aof is infallible, but in terms of where I think his narratives might fail, being pulled apart by all the things that they're trying to do is not one of the places I would expect an Aof narrative to fail. 

Captain Hands 

Aof has seemed, in the narratives I've watched of his, to be very intentional with the story that he's telling. That he's acknowledging these gaps in the story and trying to just like, wrap them up with a throw away line rather than deciding to, like, go down those paths. Having Aof open with Mhok with Rung’s death and then to move from that to Day’s blindness during his competition, for me that sets up a narrative where the bones of the story is about grief. Having two different perspectives on grief, following two people whose lives have been forever changed. How those two perspectives could come together to really help each other move on and accept the new realities that they have. And that's not what ended up happening, especially on Mhok’s side. 

Ben 

This hearkens back to my difficulties with Mhok’s writing. It's like the writers really wanted to focus on what Day was experiencing because they didn't want to feel like they were short changing the experience of somebody who had sight but is now blind. And so they really focused on Day, Day’s struggles, and such. And this would be fine if they had not forced me to think about Mhok so much by focusing on him. It was a bad choice in my opinion, to focus us on Mhok for so long, to then have him just be the perfect boyfriend to Day. 

00:15:54 - Last Twilight: Ableism

NiNi

I want to talk a little bit about the threads of ableism. I saw a lot of commentary around the ending, and it's kind of split into two camps: this sucks, Day should not have gotten his eyesight back. And then I saw a second camp: this is what the story set up all along, it's not that giving Day back his eyesight is the ableist bit, but the way in which it was done. Both kind of agree that the narrative got ableist, but they can't agree on why.

Ben

There's, for me, nothing inherently wrong with someone with a curable condition getting the cure to that condition and appreciating that. The frustration for me is they tie it to completing the resolution of the last romantic conflict, as this block that was in the way. It's not what they say from a textual perspective, but it feels like a reward for solving the romantic angst. And then, after spending the first part of your [final] episode in a montage about how well adjusted Day has become, we end on a monologue about how relieved he is to be normal again. And that felt super weird for me, particularly because we come out of the procedure with this really uncomfortable fake out, where we're not certain if Day can see now, and he almost steps into traffic, and then he helps another blind person cross the street. And then like the other guy walks away and is like, thank you. And it felt so weird. I'm still feeling, like, weirdly uncomfortable as I think about that scene.

Captain Hands

I want to make it clear before I really dig into this too much: I'm not blind, but I am disabled, and: in real life, if you have a disability that can be treated, eased, cured by some treatment, and you want to get that? Totally behind you, absolutely support it, go for it, I'm here, I agree. 

However, for me this is a fictional story with a narrative structure that I don't think, after episode 9's failed attempt at an eye donation, supports a secondary restoration of Day's vision. Day has overcome the aspects of his blindness that have kept him cooped up in his room, that have obliterated his self-confidence. He was able to not only survive, but thrive with his blindness. He graduated, he opened the bookstore. Great… We don't get enough time with that. I think if you are going to have the moments where Day’s vision is restored, then you need to get the proper nuance and time dedicated to pursuing that.

NiNi

For me, what happens is that I feel that Day actually gets lost in the disability narrative. Day was an athlete before he lost his vision. I don't have a sense of who Day is outside of that, that Day even has a conception of who he is outside of that, that that's something that he's struggling with in any way. I don't have a conception of what he sees his life looking like, whether or not he regains his vision. Day’s hopes, his dreams, the kinds of things that you would talk about with a lover, I don't get any conception of those things. The blindness is just hanging over everything. And I understand that that is a thing that happens, it just kind of blots out everything else, but my problem isn't so much with whether or not Day’s vision gets restored. My issue is really that — other than the fact that he's an asshole, [laughs] I don't have a sense really of who Day is and what his dreams and desires are aside from the blindness, aside from the accident, aside from the cornea transplant, aside from all this stuff surrounding that issue.

If he is in love with Mhok, you would think that these would be things that they would be talking about. You talk about things like your dreams and desires with the person that you love. You talk about your deep feelings. I just don't feel like that happens at all between them, but especially not for Day. And then when Day starts developing his life as a blind person, like accepting being blind, even if it's a long-term temporary thing, it's all montaged. It's montaged before he regains his vision, it's montaged after he regains his vision. I just lose Day entirely in that part of the story. I feel like after episode 9, I have lost both of the characters. I don't know who they are. I don't know where they're going. I wanted it to be deeper. It feels like the narrative of Last Twilight is floating on top of the real story underneath, which is what I wanted to get to.

Captain Hands

Honestly, the thing that bothers me the most about the choice to restore Day's vision is that Day never once does any type of significant support for Mhok throughout the entire show. And then he gets his vision back, and it is the first time that Mhok says he has somebody to look after him and take care of him. It eliminates any potential conflicts in the future with Day’s fears about Mhok pitying him, because now his vision is restored, so what is there to pity? I am all about reciprocity when it comes to the relationships that occur in BL, and that just does not exist in any way shape or form in this story at all.

00:22:02- Last Twilight: Buds

NiNi

I think we've reached the buds with that. So Ben, go ahead.

Ben

Let's discuss how this particular project could have been improved. I will go first.

[Ben and NiNi laugh]

NiNi

Proceed bestie, you have the floor.

Ben

Oh, I'm sorry, did you wanna go first, sis? I'll let you.

NiNi

Oh no no no no, you absolutely have to go first, I insist.

Ben

If we accept the first 11 episodes as they are, we just have to rewrite episode 12. Instead of time skipping three years immediately, we first come back to the day after the breakup and have Day and Mhok talk about what's going on. They could still make the choice to take a break from each other, recognizing that they've gotten way too wrapped up in each other. They could make the realization themselves that they have lost themselves in caring for Day and managing Day being blind. We can still have the episode 11 break up and the drama of that. And then their reconciliation or reunion in Thailand again could have a difference to it of, “I'm really happy to see you again, but I also feel a little bit different now.” And then we can have them working out their relationship together for a few years and then the eye donation thing comes up. We can still do all of that. We just don't do it from the, “I'm not gonna talk to you for three years. Hmmph!”

NiNi

So that's actually not my problem with it. Because as I said, Day’s an asshole, and he's also kind of stubborn. I can see him making the wrong decision in that moment, I can see that festering, I can see that turning into three years of silence. I can see all of that. What I can't see is that when Mhok comes back to Thailand, that Day hasn't been thinking about this, that he hasn't, over the intervening three years, realized that he was in the wrong. I don't see him not apologizing. That's where it got stuck for me. Even if it is that Mhok comes back and tries to be the one to apologize, then have Day say, “No, I was wrong.” That's all it would have taken for me, honestly, [laughs] but I'm super easy. We know that.

Captain Hands

I think you have Mhok’s trauma be at war with Day’s trauma, to lead to a bigger argument with more basis for it. Then you could break them up. You have them reconcile, be in their relationship for a while. Day gets to have a relationship with Mhok where you navigate having to readjust from being a caretaker to being a partner, and then you can have Day get the phone call from the eye donation center and you can end it ambiguously. If the last thing that had happened in this show was them unwrapping Day's bandages and us not knowing whether or not the surgery worked? If we could have ended on that ambiguity, that would have worked infinitely better, and also, I don't know that Day owes it to us to show us how that resolves.

00:25:22 - Last Twilight: Final Thoughts and Ratings

Ben

Wrapping up our discussion here on Last Twilight. NiNi, ratings and final thoughts?

NiNi

There are good parts to the show. Mark Pakin, always a winner.

Captain Hands

Always, always, always.

NiNi

I enjoyed Namtan in this. Despite me thinking Namtan is incredibly talented, I have not always enjoyed her, but I really enjoyed her in this role as Porjai. I I liked all the stuff surrounding Day’s old friends with Film and Baby Ohm, but I feel like all that stuff sort of ended up ephemeral. It didn't stick. It didn't feel like it was resonant. 

So I ended up at a 6.5. I never rate really in connection to anything else. All my ratings are independent of all my other ratings. I just kind of have general categories of enjoyment that land in certain brackets. A 6.5 on this show for me means that I think it was ultimately a failure, although there was a lot to recommend about it. I really loved Mark and Namtan. I really found myself enjoying Sea and Baby Ohm and being impressed by Jimmy. And then the visual storytelling, the camera work and some of all of that, some of the very real chemistry I felt between Jimmy and Sea in certain parts. 

So for all of that, it gets a 6.5. But in terms of the story, I think the story was a failure. I think that what it wanted to say, and what it thought it was saying, and what it was actually saying are three different things, and that's never good.

Ben

Okay. NiNi is going with 6.5. Captain Hands, give us your rating and final verdict on this show.

Captain Hands

I gave it a 3. I don't think that the ending was handled responsibly. There are moments of unconscious ableism peppered throughout that are really solidified by the ending, and I do think it undermines almost all of the narrative structure that Aof set up at the beginning.

Ben

I went with a 5. I think that the character writing for the core couple of this was a bit thin by the end. And it is why I think their finale doesn't land so well, because they're not entirely certain what to do with their own characters in the little tiny world they set up for them, and it eventually just sort of crumbles on itself. You can tell they weren't certain how to end it on a poignant note without feeling like they were going to be ableist, so they tried to go for a more, “everything's okay now” happy ending, and I just don't think it works out the way they hoped it would. 

Truly, I don't think the show was unwatchable for most of its run, but do I want to share this show with other people? And I kinda don't, and that's why I'm putting it at a 5.

NiNi

This is one that I think maybe should not have been a BL in the sense of it being a romance. I think that, very much like Never Let Me Go around this time last year, that trying to fit this story into BL conventions maybe harmed it, and what the story maybe wanted to be about got lost.

Ben

So with that, this show gets a dubious 4.5 or 5 from The Conversation. Thank you for joining us, Captain Hands.

Captain Hands

Thanks for having me!

Ben

We'll see you all in the next segment.

00:29:26 - Intermezzo

Ben 

Ben and NiNi from the future here again. It's so difficult to listen to this again. We recorded this a while ago and there was a ton that Captain Hands and I said that ends up not making it into the edit because it's a… basically long diatribe against so many things that the show did that were really off-putting towards the end? I feel like part of the angst in the conversation is not wanting to say mean things about Aof, but I think bro has to take his L on this one. 

NiNi 

I don't think it's necessarily about saying bad things about Aof, because Aof can definitely make mistakes and he definitely made a lot of mistakes on this show. I think it is just more a question of, at what point does our litany of woe start to feel like a real downer? [laughs] Like I said before in the introduction, this show just bummed us out. And the longer that goes on, I feel like the less that you want to keep listening to it. 

Ben 

I just feel like the next time I'm this irritated with a show, I'm gonna have to hit them with the same three minutes that I did on New Siwaj. [NiNi laughs] We just need to get it out. 

I think with any other show I might have just been like, well, this kind of sucked and I would have moved on. It's frustrating when the show feels like it was trying to take us into some really interesting space, and talking about the kinds of people we don't always see in any of our stories, let alone in queer stories, and then just really fucking it up at the end. That was just so truly, fundamentally disappointing. Particularly because we thought that this team had the bona fides to not do that. And I'm kind of bummed that this is the last thing we're going to probably see from Aof, maybe for a while. What a way to go out. 

NiNi 

If we go back to our recordings from before the show, I think we did have reservations going into this as to whether we were going to like it or not. Like, when we were looking at what was coming up in 2023, I think we were all kind of, “Ooh, I don't know, it's a heavy thing to take on. Let's see how they do with it.” And I think it was that experience of being skeptical going in, having it go well at the beginning, and then collapsing. We wanted to believe and then for a while we did believe and then our belief was not rewarded, and that experience is just never fun. 

Let's leave that behind. I think we've aired our feelings about it. It's a wrap. We will be moving from there into talking about something that was probably worse overall, but more entertaining to discuss. 

Ben 

That's right, listeners, thank you for spending a moody half hour with us over Last Twilight. Onto The Sign! Let's talk about Babe’s waistline. 

00:32:43 - The Sign: Roses

NiNi

We are here to talk about The Sign! And we have yet another very special guest and friend of the pod, Aiden, with us. Say hi Aiden!

Aiden

Hello.

NiNi

Ben, take us into it. What is The Sign about?

Ben

The Sign is a multi-genre project from IdolFactory that blends a reincarnation love story with fantastical elements built around Thai mythology about the Naga and Garuda, along with a murder mystery police pseudo-procedural, and also sort of an action thriller? To relatively mixed results. 

The show begins with Tharn, a young man who is in a very difficult sort of boot camp experience that's also a vetting process for an elite team of investigators. He's here along with his childhood friend who's kind of like a brother to him, Yai. And they are trying to prove their worth to join this elite unit because Tharn wants to investigate the death of his parents ‘cause he believes foul play was involved. Very early on, we get caught up in the supernatural stuff, where Tharn seems to have visions of impending doom about people, particularly one guy named Phaya who’s in his unit. Over the course of their early training, they end up kind of getting involved in a mystery investigation together… they and some other gays get selected to be part of this elite unit and then start working as supercops or whatever. And then proceed to get their asses beat every time they have to fight somebody for, like, the next nine episodes, while a bunch of other shit happens with the Naga and Garuda stuff. 

I want to describe the plot of this in a more coherent way, but it is kind of hard to because it isn't? There's a ongoing bit of drama with the doctor who's close to Tharn, who's also reincarnated, might be the same dude who's been trying to fuck Tharn for like, eight millennia or whatever. This is supposed to blend in with the cop mystery shit and the corrupt politician. It does not all come together well.

NiNi

This is the roses, buds, and thorns episode. So what are the roses on The Sign?

Aiden

They did a really solid job with the opening action scene. The trainees storming this compound and having to rescue different hostages, that was pretty well done. It was clear to me that it was a team that was in training or not really well gelled together. Really well done.

NiNi

Aiden is our resident action specialist.

Ben

We got tired of watching mid-tier BL on Mondays and started watching action film. [laughs] We watched My Dear Gangster Oppa like, “That's it, we're watching John Wick,” and then started watching all other sorts of action stuff. So we've been spending our boy time on ass-kicking lately.

Aiden

We wanted to enjoy the good stuff.

NiNi

Ben, do you have a rose on this show?

Ben

Oh yeah! Babe’s waistline.

NiNi

[laughs] Ben’s like, “that boy is beautiful!”

Ben

He is! All right, let's talk about Babe for a second, let me be real. I think Babe is one of the most perfectly designed BL boys we've had in a while. He has really well-cared-for skin, ample lips, an incredible waistline, and he plays off of his scene partners really well. It’s kind of notable when you look at some of the early sequences, when he's mostly in bro mode with Yai, Khem and Thongtai. He's very much playing the role of dude and bro with them, but there’s a much softer and more sensual aspect of him that we see a lot more of in his scenes with Phaya. I think Babe transitions into either of those modes fairly well across the show, even if I think he often gets let down by the script and unclear direction, particularly in the back half. I feel bad for Babe because I think he's really good in about the first six-to-eightish episodes? As things get really muddled in the last four to five episodes of the show, Babe is struggling a lot in some of his scenes, but I don't really think it's his fault. 

I actually think the cast chemistry of this show is really good. All of my favorite scenes in this show are when their cohort is together and just having a good time. Another rose: Yoshi Rinrada is in this! I was watching with David and in the first episode David made me pause. He's like, “We gotta stop. Who is this big ass man with these arms?” And then in like episode two or three, we meet Sand, his wife, and David's like, “Who is this woman and why does she get our man?” 

And I'm like, “Dude, that's Yoshi Rinrada. She's Miss Tiffany Universe 2017.”

“Oh shit, she's a sis? Well, she looks good in that top. I'm really glad that one of ours got this one.”

[NiNi laughs]

He's like, “Who is this woman, I'm gonna fight her. Oh, never mind.”

NiNi

Love it.

Ben

[laughs] I'ma count it as a win for us.

NiNi

My rose…I'm gonna give it to Billy actually. I've seen Billy in a few things at this point, but he used to act mostly opposite Seng Wichai, and Seng Wichai is so dazzling that I did not notice anything that Billy was doing next to Seng Wichai. Watching Billy in this and finally really seeing him, really paying attention to him, he is quite a good actor. He puts a lot into it. His character is very…stable, I guess is the best word? I don't lose bits of the character.

Ben

I think his performance is really consistent. Like, you can tell when he maintained the right level between takes.

NiNi

Yeah, definitely. He's very good. And I had not noticed him really before now, and that was my mistake. So Billy is my rose, Billy and Gap Jakarin and his arms and his face and his everything.

00:39:32 - The Sign: Thorns

Ben 

Let's get to thorns, let's talk about things that the show fucked up on. Let's start with the worst thing that this show did. This show sets up a multi-millennia reincarnation story about cycles repeating over every lifetime, does not do a great job showing us how this has been expressed through multiple lifetimes, has Tharn/Wansarat die in the same way like two or three times? And then the resolution to this conflict that has existed across eons happens off screen in the final episode, and they're just like, “It's over!”

Aiden 

For me, I think the most egregious thing was to set them up as trainees for an elite fighting force that are supposed to be these top-of-the-top investigators, and then at every turn they fail at both investigating and action, and every major interaction that they have is ineffectual at best? Like the finale, the bit where everybody is lining up in a row in front of the Jeep, firing in a line, standing still. [NiNi laughs] Phaya doesn't even have armor!

Ben 

It was very much giving, like, recent Fast and the Furious movies where, like, they're joking about how bullets don't touch them. 

NiNi 

Aiden is being very gentle and super sweet about really nailing this shit to the wall. Y'all know me, I'm about to be crass. What the fuck was this show? It wanted to be 17 things in a sack, and it ended up being sort of none of those things, and then ends as a wet fart. It just kind of [fart noise] ends. Like, what's happening here? What's going on? Why is this where we are? 

It all happens off screen! And then we get exposition at the end of the show! And then we're supposed to be excited because in a post-credits scene, Saint shows up and he has Garuda wings. No, absolutely not. Y’all did not earn any excitement for a potential future. Absolutely not! 

This show pissed me off. And I did not realize how much this show pissed me off until right this second. 

Ben 

Good. Kill ‘em, bestie. 

NiNi 

Like, legit. So earlier in this episode, we talked with Captain Hands about Last Twilight, and the problem with Last Twilight was that it was going pretty well, and then went completely off the rails right at the end. This show has been wobbly from the start, but it was still enjoyable. And then it started just sinking and sinking and sinking. It's like that horse drawing meme where the ass end of the horse is all beautiful and shaded and drawn correctly, and the front end of the horse is a fucking stick figure. And that's what this show is like. This show feels like whoever was doing the show ran out of steam. In terms of the story, they just kind of hand waved it at the end. Nothing made any sense from somewhere in the middle. There was way too much of this cop shit. Nobody was interested in it. Nobody says you can't do a cop show, but if you're gonna do a cop show, let's be slightly critical, I think, of what it is you're doing. At least in my personal view. 

I am just really upset because this show had so much potential, it just tried to do too many things at once and ended up doing none of them well. And I am much more pissed about that than I realized, whew.

Aiden 

Feel better now? 

NiNi 

No, [laughs] I do not, in fact, feel better.

Ben 

And another thing!

[Ben and NiNi laugh]

NiNi 

If the show wanted to be a fantasy BL about this mythology of the Naga and the Garuda and this love across millennia and multiple lifetimes thing, there is a way for it to do that really well. They had all the minerals to do that really well. Then they decided they were going to mix it up with this modern era cop shit. Okay, there's a way to make these two things play off of each other, and then it didn't do that either. And then, in the action BL, nobody can fight, even though they spend the first two episodes getting really good at fighting, apparently?

Ben 

Mmm yes, let's discuss this more. 

Aiden 

A training montage for nothing. [laughs]

Ben 

In the final episode, everybody's getting shot at, people are getting tied up. They get into this showdown where it's them against the mini boss who's been whooping their ass all season. And I'm like, literally, nothing has changed. He's just gonna kick their asses again. Oh, nevermind. I guess snake dude is here. Whatever. 

NiNi 

[laughs] But up until snake dude showed up, he was in fact whooping their asses. 

Ben 

They're like “Oh Tharn, go get him,” and I'm like, by himself? Again? Tharn has literally not won a fight in this show. [laughs] Why are we sending him out here by himself? 

NiNi 

Not won a single figh—like, I don't even unders—like, you're supposed to be an elite, highly trained, weird paramilitary cop thing, and literally, you have never won a fight. Not one!

Ben 

They go out of their way to establish these guys are good because they want to highlight that these other guys are also very good? But, like, we don't see them having moderate wins against other opponents. We just see them getting their asses kicked all the time. What was the point of the two fucking episodes of super cop shit? We don't get the transition of, okay they're good cops now doing good cop shit as we're dealing with the supernatural and the romance stuff, we just see this weird, useless cop shit happening. Just this meandering plot of whatever this fucking group is supposed to do. They end up doing guard duty at a party at some point. Why? They're a team of elite investigators! I don't get it. 

Aiden 

It's for the tuxedos. 

Ben 

Oh, there you go. Thank you, Aiden. 

NiNi 

But even the tuxedos were ill-fitting. The only good thing about that episode was Nat Sakdatorn. Hey, boo, hey, loved seeing you. You were fantastic. You deserved so much better than this. 

Ben 

In the case of an action story, the action has to help tell the story, and the problem with The Sign is most of its action sequences feel unmoored from any sort of character building and storytelling, and mostly just tell us that these guys are actually not that good. For all that we ragged on it, My Dear Gangster Oppa communicates that Thiu is actually good at violence: the storytelling and what they put him through reflects that he is competent at the violence portion of his job. 

Aiden 

If they wanted us to believe that this team was elite and effective, they needed to show that, and they jumped straight to the part where these bad guys are so powerful and effective that our elite fighting force is struggling. But you missed the point where you established them actually being an elite fighting force. 

Ben 

I really wish they had done, like a case of the week format, at least for a few episodes once they transitioned into being the investigators, because immediately throwing them into this meandering-ass police plot was just so fuckin’ boring and unsatisfying. And I'm an American, I've grown up watching a lot of fucking police procedurals. I don't remember the fucking plots of most of these fucking mysteries, but I remember following the format and being like, “ooh, look at everybody doing their job, solving the case, working together as a team. I love that shit. They got pensions, too. Amazing.” But that is just not here. At all. It sucks. 

NiNi 

[laughs] Not pensions! Not pensions, I hate you, bestie. 

Ben 

That's the primary appeal of the cop procedural. You're watching people who seem to like their jobs, seem to like and/or respect the people they work with, and pursue those jobs, and also sometimes try to maintain meaningful relationships inside and outside of that job. And we know that they're all gonna get to retire at some point, because older characters retiring is often one of the big struggles of, the team’s gonna change because [old cop voice] “It's been 40 years, man, it's time for me to go.” [NiNi laughs] Like, you don't get that in these when they don't build out those dynamics. 

This cast has good chemistry, but this whole work is bloated but also weirdly empty. There are moments that were really fun, Babe and Billy do a good job at the scene work between their characters, but the overall flow of this show is just not great. 

00:48:43 - The Sign: Buds

NiNi

We're clearly into the buds now.

Ben

We're in the weeds!

NiNi

[laughs] I wanna pick up on something that Aiden said about there having to be wins before the last boss, mini bosses in an action drama. You need to establish the competence of the mains before you throw them into a situation that they can't handle. This show seemed to be lacking that. 

So, my main bud is probably going to be throwing in some sort of shorter episodic case-of-the-week kind of things to build up that competency. I don't mind the way that the show was structured in arcs, but the arcs they chose were just weird, yo. Basically, none of the arcs made any sense. They didn't connect what was going on in the worldly arc to what is happening in the otherworldly arc. It just feels like a big ol’ mess. Like the first case, the first arc…

Ben

Now you made me mad. That arc could have been really interesting. It could have been this whole reveal about Chalothorn’s twisted sense of ire about this whole thing. He feels like Wansarat was stolen from him. There could have been this whole thing with the guy trying to torture all of the survivors conflating this with Chalothorn’s fucked up perspective that he is owed Wansarat’s affections, because he's like a fucked up men's rights activist type? But they don't really connect that back to the Chalothorn stuff. 

There's this clear Naga influence over this guy where he gets powered up and Tharn has to maybe tap into latent Naga powers that he may or may not have? That whole flare up of Naga nonsense never really got explained or tied into some of the stuff going on. There's like a whole bit where they're having Phaya take a break from regular police work to be like, what's all this weird shit happening? And there's not a lot of great payoff from that. And then there's, like, the point you made about some of the structure of when certain things should happen. Would you like to go on that rant now, bestie?

NiNi

Oh, the way they should have fucked in Nong Kai? Hello. [laughs]

Ben

There you go. How about you tell the people why they should have fucked in Nong Kai?

NiNi

Before we get there, Aiden, why don't you tell us some of your buds?

Aiden

I think the largest bud that I would have is the involvement of the CGI, the special effects. Saint has said in interviews that he sunk an awful lot of his own money in this, which seems to be a trend for him. Buddy, you gotta get stable here financially. But he really wanted to make sure to do it right, and take the time, and spend a lot of effort on those scenes. And it does show that that level of passion was there, but it could have been utilized plot-wise better. The choices of when and where, and the scenes that they portrayed, just like with the rest of the plot, it lacked the connection to really make it have that emotional resonance, or furthering the relationships in some way. 

Like, the Naga and Garuda fights? Well, they, that's awesome. Good job! It didn't really have much of an impact on the relationships as a whole. They could have had just the scenes of them in human form fighting and it would have had the same effect.

NiNi

Those Naga and Garuda fights, they had, like, a certain anime energy that I quite enjoyed, but I think there were too many of them. So by the time that you get to the end, you've kind of lost the freshness of the first one. The first Naga/Garuda fight was actually pretty good, but by the time you see like four or five of them, you’re just kind of like, “All right, what else have you got for me?” If they had used some of that CGI money to do like a whole episode of the Naga and the Garudas—

Ben

They tried. I think that was episode 7. It sucked.

NiNi

But they only did maybe one part of an episode? I think that there should have been one or two episodes of the backstory. We're talking about love across centuries, millennia, through multiple lifetimes kind of thing.

Ben

We get the backstory and it's weak. Why did we spend 20 minutes on info that we basically already had? The whole reveal about Wansarat and whatever Phaya’s last character's name was—because I don't even think they mentioned it in that episode—is not that compelling. It's basically what we already knew or presumed.

NiNi

What happened in that episode: it gives us the plot, but not the story. There is no resonance from what they gave us. They don't let us sit in it. They don't let us feel the feelings. We don't even know how they fell in love! One moment Wansarat is saving the Garuda from dying because he was fighting with Chalothorn in the sky and, like, fell to Earth. She's like, “I hate you, but I guess I'll save your life.” And then the literal next second we see them, they're already in love and we're like, “Wait, how did this even happen?”

Ben

I wish they had kept the original plan, which was it takes them multiple lifetimes before they fall. That her initial reasons for getting involved were more noble and not romantic.

NiNi

This show put its energy in all the wrong places. All of the energy of the show went into things that were around the edges. There's too much going on and none of it is connecting. There's all these things that they wanted to do, they wanted to show off that they could do these things. But the center of this feels hollow, it feels really empty at the core of it. It doesn't feel like there's anything to hold onto. It feels like an orb of glass, and if I grip it too hard, it's gonna shatter and there's nothing inside. Like a sugar cube. They spent apparently something close to three million dollars on this show. I don't feel like that money was well spent, I just don't.

Ben

I think it stands out in the fuckin’ finale, where we're about to have their last sex scene. Whatever he agreed to with Chalothorn happens off screen. We know he's gonna leave, but Tharn doing self-sacrificial, stay-away-from-me-bro shit because he's worried people are gonna die is just in line with his character. So it doesn't really land as this major moment of, like, a sad choice happening. I'm just like, okay, whatever, you guys can have your sex, I hope it’s good.

NiNi

It felt empty, like everything else towards the end of the show felt empty.

Ben

That shot of the water under the bed, though? That was really fucking cool.

NiNi

That hit—

Aiden

Definitely.

NiNi

—I do have to say, but it was just a moment. It hit, yes, but the resonance that I wanted to feel, I wanted it to hurt, not just hit.

00:56:03 - The Sign: WTFery

Ben 

What the fuck does Tharn’s grandmother know, by the way? 

NiNi

Oh!

Ben

I do not trust that woman. 

Aiden 

Too much and she doesn't say enough. 

NiNi 

Aiden, I need you to get into this because I feel like you are probably the most pissed at how little anybody told Tharn about what was happening. 

Aiden 

He was shut out from everybody in his life. His grandma, the monk, and then Phaya also is told by them to not say a single thing to Tharn to keep him informed, to make the decisions of his own life. This entire time, the grandma has known that Chalothorn is bad news and has never said a single thing to Tharn about it. 

We were also robbed of the old woman yuri! [Aiden and NiNi laugh] That's another story. 

NiNi 

Ooh, she fainted directly into homegirl's arms and it was beautiful.

Ben 

Right into her titties. [NiNi and Aiden laugh] Rest on her boobs, it will help. 

NiNi 

I hope we get more lesbians this year because we need them. 

Aiden 

Speaking of which, the side with the sister and Dao, that was another potential that went nowhere. That seems to solely have been put there for soft launching their pairing. 

Ben

[whispers] Oh my god.

NiNi 

What was even the point of Dao as a character?

Ben 

She came. She served. She left. 

NiNi

Did she serve? 

Ben

She did. 

NiNi 

Where? 

Ben 

When she wore like a little booty dress [laughs] to the fucking hospital. [NiNi and Aiden laugh] Like, oh, is your brother having a hard time? Well here's my thighs, maybe they’ll help.

Aiden 

I mean, was she wrong? 

Ben 

Yes! That was not hygienic. 

Aiden 

She's not a doctor. 

NiNi 

She’s gonna end up with a staph infection in her coochie or something. It’s not good. You shouldn’t wear anything that short to the hospital, bestie! You don't know what's floating around out there. No! 

Ben 

I don't feel like the Khem and Thongthai backstory did much for us, either. It was implied that they were having, like, gay relationship drama, where like Khem is a pretty affectionate lover, but he struggles with exclusivity, and then they just don't do anything with that? The seal clap shit was funny, but–

NiNi 

Hilarious, I do have to say. [Aiden and NiNi laugh]

Ben 

–I don’t think it really adds anything to the experience we got with them as characters or their role in the story. The sides aren't really used well. You’ve got Khem and Thongthai, who could have served as, like, a foil or comparison for the relationship that Tharn and Phaya were having, or maybe even one that Yai was having with Sand, and that just doesn't really work that well here. We came close to that once where Tharn is having the conversation with Sand about his reticence, about how people around him seem to die mysteriously. 

Again, there was potential here with Chalothorn fucking around with Tharn’s life, killing people close to him because he needs to fuck him so badly. But that also has no interesting payoff whatsoever. 

NiNi 

Let's count the dropped plots and the dropped threads. So that's one, anything to do with Dao, that was a dropped thread. Mayris. Where the fuck did Mayris go? Could somebody tell me where Mayris is? Where was she last? When did we last see her? 

Ben 

She was crying in the finale somewhere. 

NiNi 

What? Where? I didn't see her. 

Aiden 

Outside the interrogation room. 

NiNi 

Oh, I desperately must not have paid that much attention to the finale, then. 

Ben 

See? I mean you asked, damn. 

NiNi 

I did not even see her. 

[all laugh]

Ben 

Chalothorn clearly manipulating multiple people around their cases. 

Aiden 

Having powers over their mindset. Montree was kept aside to turn on whoever was behind him. That went nowhere. 

Ben 

I guess that's supposed to be a season 2 thread. 

Aiden 

Of course. 

NiNi 

No.

[Ben laughs]

Aiden 

Chart being shot and then, he's fine! 

Ben 

Offscreen–he's fine! 

NiNi 

Not just Chart, Chart and Khem both get shot!

Aiden 

Yes, yes. 

NiNi 

And they are just like, “ehh, they're okay, they're gonna be fine.” Can we see them? That would be good. 

If I start counting these things up, it's gonna be dramatic. 

Aiden 

Tharn’s Exposition Fairy and her thing that she had for Chalothorn went nowhere. 

Ben 

Oh yeah, the sister. Wanwisa. 

NiNi 

Where did she go? 

Ben 

The Abbott’s ability to speak. 

Aiden

Yeah! [laughs]

NiNi 

There was an implication that the Abbott was also a Naga, and that got dropped. When you're doing fantasy, you have to explain the world and the rules of the world. However you choose to do that, there are multiple ways to do that. But this show does not explain the world, it doesn't explain the rules of the world, it doesn't explain the backstory of the world, it doesn't explain how these characters are all connected in that backstory. It just kind of hand waves a lot. It leaves some pretty big gaps. I don't even know that it expects the audience to fill those gaps, because how would the audience fill those gaps? There are no clues for the audience to fill in those gaps. It's just, holes. Like, [laughs]. Holes, I’m 12. 

Ben 

Did you really just send yourself into a giggle fit over that? 

NiNi

I did!

Ben

There was a whole joke in, like, “This show just leaves a Gap everywhere (the Series).” Insert it instead. 

[Aiden laughs]

NiNi 

No, but the thing is, people complain all the time about these shows, about, “Oh this is a plot hole and this is a plot hole” and most of the times, these are not plot holes that they're complaining about, just stuff that they didn't like or stuff that you could actually fill in from the context clues. This show has actual plot holes in it, like, massive, could-drive-a-truck-into-them plot holes. It's not good besties. It just really is not good. 

And then let's talk about the cash grab at the end and how it ruined any chance the show had of being successful. When a show is fun but not great, you want to keep the momentum going so that people don't have time to stop and think about how the show is not great. For them [laughs] to spend three weeks between the second to last episode and the last episode in order to do a cash grab in the middle, killed any sense of momentum they might have had going into the finale and makes the finale feel even worse and emptier. 

Ben 

That's true. Being away from the show for two weeks, I had no real sense of anticipation coming back into the finale. I'm like, what the fuck was happening? I heard, like, Tony the Tiger was loose in the jungle or some shit? I don't know. 

Aiden 

They fell off a cliff. 

NiNi 

That's another dropped plot thread. How did they fall off the cliff and end up in a cave? Nobody knows. And then they're in the cave for like two minutes, and then Yai comes and gets them. This show pissed me off so bad. 

Aiden 

I want to mention the bit where they changed the ending for the censored version that aired on TV in Thailand to be the tragic ending where Phaya is just grieving. That wasn't it. 

NiNi 

Yes, but also, given the actual reconciliation, who really lost? Was it the people who watched the censored version [NiNi and Aiden laugh] or the people who watched the uncensored version? I don't know. 

01:04:24 - The Sign: Final Thoughts and Ratings

NiNi 

[sighs] I am going to have to give this—let me count up the things that I enjoyed about it and the things that worked and balance them against the things that didn't. I'm probably gonna give this a solid 5, and why it's getting a 5 among everything else…let's go back to the fact that they should have fucked in Nong Khai. Let's talk about the actual romance [laughs] and how the contours of the romance are also not good, and this is a BL! The romance is supposed to be the point! So the fact that the actual shape and plot and arc of the romance does not work because they're trying to be precious about the sexy times? Horrible. It's a 5. It's bad. 

Aiden, give us your rating. What do you think? 

Aiden 

Oh goodness, I very very rarely give things an actual numerical rating. I'd say 5.5. With a half knocked off for most of the finale that failed to stick multiple landings. I would have given it a 6 right up until then, I think. 

NiNi 

You only knocked off a half for that? You are such a generous and kind soul. [laughs] Ben, what about you? What did you rate it? 

Ben 

I originally gave it a 6.5 because I liked some of the experimental stuff going on on the production side. But most of that was in service to bad copaganda, so, I decided to remove the “you tried” 1.5 I had given it, and I'm knocking it down to a 5. Because, I don't ever want to watch it again, and I really don't want to recommend it to people so that they can then try to talk to me about it. 

[NiNi and Aiden laugh]

NiNi 

Ben’s like, I'm gonna give this a rating so that you know we shall never speak about this. 

Ben 

It sucks! I don't really wanna rate one of Saint’s projects poorly and dunk on it, but this was a miss. It was an interesting swing, but it's a miss. I'm not mad at this show, I'm just bored and disappointed. This is not what I hoped we were getting. Oh well, I hope I get to see Babe again. That's where I am. [laughs] 

Aiden 

Likewise, they had so many good potentials with the cast, they spent a ton of time training for the action sequences, and they spent a lot of money on the CGI. I love that they gave the attempt. It just fell flat on the writing. 

Ben 

You know why I'm also giving it a 5? Phaya wanted Tharn to rail him and he didn't get that. 

NiNi 

Thank you, bestie! Thank you so much. 

Aiden

Mmhmm. 

NiNi

Billy was giving out top quality rail me energy the entire time and the character did not get railed. And I am very upset about this. 

Aiden 

He's due on the next one. 

NiNi 

So let's see. 5, 5.5 and 5, it gets a 5 from The Conversation. The Sign is not recommended. 

[Ben and NiNi laugh]

Ben 

It's not a show that's worth recommending. If you watch the show through gifsets only, you have seen the best of the show. The version of the show that exists in your head is the best version of the show you're gonna get. Do not ruin that by actually watching it. 

NiNi 

I'm just so disappointed. Before the show started, given all of IdolFactory’s work up until now, I thought the show was going to be saying something about queerness. The IdolFactory work that we've gotten so far, what we've gotten in Gap, what we got in Secret Crush on You, they're delving into fats and fems, delving into lesbians. And this show, I thought it was gonna be about hypermasculinity. 

Ben 

And they brought Surprise back from when he played the chunky friend, and he was fit this time! 

NiNi 

Waste of time. What was he even there for?

Ben 

He was there so I could make surprise, Surprise jokes every week. 

NiNi 

If you are the writer — or worse, if you are the editor. Looking at the script and looking at the footage that you have in front of you, this is the story that you cut together? Legit, what's going on here? We need to have a conversation. 

Ben 

IdolFactory’s run by actors, and it's very clear that the writers, editors, and the money nerds are not the ones who are in the strongest decision making position. It's clearly the costuming team and the actors who are in charge. 

[Ben and Aiden laughs]

NiNi 

Everything always looks really good. Everybody's very pretty and it makes no goddamn sense. [laughs] But when it makes no goddamn sense, it could still be fun like Gap was. How is Secret Crush On You, like, its high water mark so far? 

Ben 

Because Cheewin’s work is usually coherent. Well…sometimes. 

NiNi 

[laughs] I was about to say, coherent is a very strong word, but um, it usually… has something to say. 

Ben

Yeah.

NiNi

I feel like I don't know what this show wanted to say. 

Ben 

That's really the thing. It felt very vapid at the end. 

NiNi 

It felt very vapid, period. We don't like it, besties. It's a no from us. 

Ben 

One chop.

[Ben and NiNi laugh]

Aiden 

Two chops. 

NiNi 

Three motherfucking chops. 

01:10:02 - Outro

Ben 

Ben and NiNi from the future for the last time, for the first time. 

NiNi 

For all the times. [Ben and NiNi laugh] 

First off, we didn't get to let Aiden say bye to the people, so—

Ben 

[whispers] Oh my God. [laughs] 

NiNi

— I just wanted to say, I just wanted to say from the future, thank you, Aiden, for joining us. And next time, we will ensure that you say bye to the people properly. [laughs] 

Ben 

Oh my God. 

NiNi 

Okay. So we talked about Last Twilight, we talked about The Sign. Now we're going to talk about why Thai BL has been having performance issues. This is definitely something that Ben has been very grumpy about recently. I have also been grumpy, but probably to a slightly lesser extent. Ben, what are you feeling when it comes to these shows sort of going down at the last hurdle? 

Ben 

The concern I have is that it doesn't really matter. The finances of BL don't really care about endings, they care about pitches. They just need the audience to think that the story is engaging or interesting or pretty enough to commit on the front end to line up all of their sponsors, to get them in the room. And it doesn't exactly matter if the story is good or bad because we already got paid, and the actors were charming enough that we can milk that for more advertising later, and then move on. And I'm concerned that we are going to see a lot more products designed to just titillate fan interest in the actor pair, and not care about whether or not there's anything meaningful from a storytelling perspective happening around that, because it doesn't matter. And that irks me as a lover of stories. There is not a financial incentive, I think, with the way romance is structured, for them to stick the landing. The writers’ pressure that they're feeling, economically and financially, is not about finishing the story strong. It's about starting them strong and holding through, like, the 60% drama part. As long as that part isn't horrendous, they're gonna get paid and they're gonna be fine. I don't know that Thai BL exists in a framework where they have to care about how their shows end. 

NiNi 

I think all that said is true, but I think when it comes to these two shows in particular, I'm not sure that the failures are that mercenary. And this is where I am giving a little bit of grace based on the past when it comes to these two creative teams. When it comes to Saint and IdolFactory, I feel like Saint definitely has a mission that he wants to fulfill outside of the financial. 

When it came to the story of The Sign, this is an adaptation. This is not an original story. I just feel like maybe they took on too much and ran out of steam more, necessarily, than they didn't care about what the ending looked like. When it came to Last Twilight, which is an original story, I think it's just a question of the writers getting too cutesy around an ending. Everybody wants to have an ending that gets people talking, and they fail at it because… sometimes you just need to end the story. Sometimes you just need to take the story through to its logical conclusion and do it well. 

We talked about that when we were talking about La Pluie, how good it was at doing that. La Pluie is not gonna light the world on fire in terms of novelty, but what it was was a solid story. I think that what happened when it came to Last Twilight, is that they didn't know how to end it. 

Ben 

I just would like to not always feel this way. It's not fun to watch shows falling apart narratively in real time. For all that we enjoyed Last Twilight through episode 9, and for all that we enjoyed parts of The Sign through maybe episode… 5ish? 

NiNi 

Oh bestie, I was done when they didn't fuck in Nong Khai. 

Ben 

We walk away from these shows in the end, feeling dispirited or kind of baffled or dismissive of them. And like, that's fine. But it also just sort of depresses the conversation around these pieces for me. How do we have interesting conversations about these things going forward? “Well, everybody was pretty and I enjoyed that.” Okay, but like, is that enough? For some, not for me. And it bums me out. When these shows are so fundamentally disappointing in the end, they don't inspire me to share them with other people. And a big part of what I want from BL is to have discerning viewers with taste connect to it, and to have other queer people connect to it, and it's really hard to do that when a significant portion of it doesn't satisfy the viewer at the end. Finishing strong is a really important part of telling a good and compelling story. 

NiNi 

I think that there definitely is something to the cumulative impact of these shows sort of falling apart one after the other, especially when you watch a lot of them. 

Ben 

This is fatiguing as viewers. It's not fun to anticipate every show you enjoy shitting the bed 60% of the way into it, and I would really like for that to not be a common experience going forward. 

NiNi 

Okay, and on that downer note [Ben and NiNi laugh] that is going to wrap us up on our Roses, Thorns, and Buds episode. I think our next episode is going to be a lot more fun. We're headed into some grab bags, ladies and theydies. So, look out for that next week. Until then, we out. Say bye to the people, Ben. 

Ben 

Peace. 

[psychelis-new]

pick a pile: "Spring sprang sprung"

take a breath and choose the photo or number that calls you the most to read about your upcoming spring time and what may bring you/what may happen for you.

don’t take the reading too seriously. only take what resonates with you and leave the rest. if you're not called by any pile, let this reading slid as it may not hold messages for you. if you're called by more than one, there may be messages in each of those piles. remember that is a general reading and some things may not resonate with you. energies can change and readings are based on present ones (as you read); you're always in charge of your life.

(photos found on unsplash)

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12 34 - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 1

Spring may bring you a few opportunities. And I think they may be of different type and in different fields. I think you'll need to prepare for them cause you may get a few actually... Tbh, it could also be that you're only in need to prepare yourself in spring and by its end or summer, you'll actually be able to see/manifest these opportunities. I suddenly had to crack my neck as if I was preparing for exercising or a run. So yeah, it could also be about competition... maybe you'll be competing for something soon, even a job place somewhere important (or the agency of your dreams, for example). Just... there's something that blocks you. I don't feel the excitement I would feel. I think you may be trying to not be too hyped "just in case it won't go as well" or.. you may even renounce to join the competition cause you feel not good enough to win. On one side I totally get you (I mean, the not-getting-too-hyped-part, despite it is not entirely right either), but on the other... the message here is clear: do not let your fears block you. Take part in this competition, try: the worst that can happen is that you may not get the place but you'll gain experience, you won't have regrets and you'll gain strenght. I do think it may go better than you can imagine. Fly high, not low (as I keep hearing).

song: she's so high | tal bachman

- ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 2

Your spring is all about delicacy and love. My heart chakra is fluttering. I think you will either focus on your self love more or you may meet either a friend or somoene that may become something more than a friend. You may have tendencies to self sabotage, feeling lonely and on some tougher days you may find it hard to deal with these emotions... like you cannot see a way out, or how you can actually find your people and stop this pain. Worrying is normal, especially if all your life has gone always the same way, but it won't take you anywhere different. Make a choice of stopping this overthinking, stop bringing yourself down for any reason: see that you are worthy, and start being more hopeful and more aware of who you really are. Go out, start some new hobby, go for a run, start new classes... you name it. Just focus on whatever makes you feel happier and passionate, and don't worry about what others may think. They aren't you. You like dancing? Go dancing. You like baking? Go baking. It's up to you. The moment you leave this "lacking" mentality and feeling you always end up putting yourself in, your people will show up magically. Just believe you deserve them (and be sure they deserve you).

song: love songs - bonus | kaash paige

- ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 3

You may find it hard to focus on all the things you'd like to. I do feel you need to choose something, and postpone the rest (if not stop it). The question is: where you wanna go? What you really want to do now? You may tend to overwork and stress yourself sometimes, just because you feel good and you cannot really stop. You may really like what you do but... on the long run, you won't be able to keep up with the pace. You need to meditate and decide what it is that you want the most, what makes you happy. Leave others outside for a moment and decide for yourself. There's a new beginning in store for you, with loads of things happening, but in order for it to start and to actually work as you'd like to, you need to make a change (in particular inside of you). Be in control, be detemined, and keep trusting even if you cannot see the whole picture yet. It's all good, it all is gonna be more clear and happen fast to you, like one thing after the other, the moment you make your choice. (sadly the message isn't too clear cause indeed things cannot be too clear for you now: you need to sort things out first inside of you. Without knowing what's next, but deciding based on your guts). I suddenly feel hyped and my heart chakra kinda moved so I think it may also relate to love or relationships for a few but not necessarily: it may just be a lot of good things happening and making you happy. Many things happening one after the otehr and it'll feel confusing, so be ready.

song: it won't stop | sevyn streeter, chris brown

- ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ - ’ -

pile 4

Your spring will be about closing some chapter, saying goodbye to something, and maybe working on something as well (mostly related about your personal life, so shadow work of sort; but ofc it could also be planning something career/school related for some of you). It will take you lot of effort, especially closing chapters (be it with generally your past or someone specific), but it's gonna be worth it. After this, you'll feel more balanced and in control and you'll be able to focus better on your dreams and goals (and this is also where "planning" comes out again. Plan about what you want to have, where/who you want to be and how. It's up to you). I see clarity after a quite heavy/difficult moment in which you may have felt kinda stuck or confused about something (may be a specific situation too). You will also be more into your own power, more appreciative of yourself, of your efforts and the person you are inside/out. All in all, despite a slightly tougher start with the goodbyes and all, this spring will end on a very positive note. I think for some may also sign the start of something new especially in career but also in your personal life (self confidence, change of style...), or receiving a good news about something or meeting someone new as well.

song: release | ken elkinson

[ostensiblywhump]

Explosion Ribbon

Whumpuary day 9: trapped under rubble | gunpoint | out of time

Word count: 865

Content warnings: major injury, vomiting, blood, fear of death

———(0)———

Oh. That’s … a very large rock.

Then his vision dims, and goes even more topsy-turvy than it already was, and—

Talbot snaps into lucidity with his body screaming at him. A sharp bit of what is probably shattered cobblestone is digging into his cheek, and his tongue is gritty with dust and minerals. He spits out the taste—splutters, more like, then retches when his stomach takes that as permission to rebel, the movement jostling every hurt in him. He doesn’t bring anything up except the acrid warning of bile in the back of his throat; he didn’t eat breakfast today. Probably. He probably didn’t eat breakfast today.

His eyelashes are choked with dust too, when he blinks heavy eyelids. It is incredibly tempting to let that weight win, let it sink him down into sleep, into the embrace of the harsh ground. Especially with the strengthening sunlight driving a spike through his eye. Ow.

He cringes into the cracked cobble in an attempt to get away from the light; it only serves to send a jolt through his body again, and his leg reminds him, very loudly and un-ignorably, that it is present and does not like existing at this moment. Well, that makes two of them. If his leg was an actual person. And not a leg. Which is not sentient. Or at least can’t be assigned … something values. Cannot be personified. Have personification.

… He may be concussed.

The light is very upset to be ignored. So is his leg. Definitely concussed. Except for the leg; that’s not a concussion symptom. What is up with that stupid thing, anyway? Stupid leg. Check that, why is he concussed? He should … find that out. Ugh.

Cracking his eyes open again is an immediate regret, as is starting to crane his neck. He’s basically one giant bruise, sharper sensations in his head (concussion) leg (who knows what) and lung. Lung? He breathes in, and it’s shallow, quick, comes back out in a weak cough. It rattles faintly, wet. Punctured lung. Not something he can solve. He keeps slowly shuffling around, abused bones creaking at every motion.

Oh. That’s … a lot of debris. And a very large rock. Well, a very large piece of wall, more like. And a flash of yellow, made nearly indistinguishable from its gray surroundings by the powdered rubble settling on everything.

Tal snaps his head over, cringes when it makes his head spin and his next breath to come out more ragged, but it is a yellow thing—an important yellow thing, actually, because it’s a head of familiar blond hair, Ruika’s characteristic fluffball hairstyle, nearly buried under the wreckage of the house Tal is starting to remember they were in. He can only see that hair and a scraped-up, dirty arm, poking out of the debris and angled towards where Tal is.

His heart leaps up to join the bile aftertaste in his throat—neither Ruika’s arm nor his head is moving, not a quip coming out of that mouth that doesn’t know how to stop running any more than the boy it belongs to. With everything covering him, Tal can’t even see if he’s breath—

“Ruika,” he mouths, too choked by dust, by injury and fear, to make any noise. He coughs, swallows dryly, gasps an inhale that hurts to make so deep, and his next attempt is audible, if raspy: “Ruika.”

Nothing.

“Ruika,” Tal says again. “Ruika. Ruika! Rui—”

“Well, isn’t this a sight to see.”

The kick of adrenaline makes his turn hurt less, as Talbot stares at the last person he’d want to see approaching, uninjured and swaggering towards him with a grin on his face. Their target, the man they were trying to find. The one that probably made the house explode on them. (The one who killed Ru—no. No counting bodies before confirmed death.)

“Wouldja look at that!” the man says, stopped just out of arm’s reach of Tal. Not out of striking distance, if Tal actually thought he could muster enough concentration to manipulate blood. “Two of my worst inconveniences, all wrapped up and presented at my feet.”

Tal doesn’t answer, too busy trying to scrape together some kind of offense. No way can he get the knife sheathed at his belt before this man (what was his name?) fouls the attempt, and it’s very hard to do hemokinesis when you’re concussed and don’t really have the blood to spare. Also, fuck this guy and his attempt to make Tal beg, he’s not getting shit out of oh hell that’s a gun.

“Nothing to say?” the man says, barrel of the gun pointed straight at Tal.

“Not to you,” Tal says, and the gun’s safety audibly clicks off. Oh. Maybe he should’ve tried begging. Or talking, or taking a swing, or trying to hold out for Piri, or literally anything to make this man decide he’s more useful dead.

“Then I guess this is goodbye,” the man says, mock-regretful, and as time slows down, Tal watching the man’s trigger finger tighten, all he can hope for is Piri to pop up and pull off a miracle.

[wildflowerteas]

hella couldn't read today cause she was busy so she's gonna catch up tomorrow🫶 despite the fact that there was one less person, I still have enough screenshots for two asks cause we can't stop yapping. in my defense im pretty sure this chapter is like 15k minimum. and you stuffed it with plot. anyway yeah part 1

IM SO SERIOUS ABOUT RESPONDING TO THESE YOU GUYS MAKE ME SO INSANE.

just going to preface by saying i seriously appreciate these so much. you're not at all obligated to send me these and I'm just really grateful that I get to see the real-time reactions to the chapters. it makes the work extra worth it. and I always have the most stupid smile on my face while I'm reading . . . seriously. tysm

*cracks knuckles* shin-soukoku being unbearable was such a fun way to start this chapter. i think because of the pace of skk in the 50s they feel too slow at times, but it's been like . . . two weeks since they got together and the 70s timeline only lasts from july to . . . october ( but don't quote me on that, since there is a plan for an epilogue ). they get more moments like this, compared to dazai and chuuya jumping forward weeks at a time. and they're so fun to write.

"the first chapter was set up where we kinda bounced from povs to avoid what atsushi was THINKING we don't know why he took the case" TALS YOU ARE CRAZY FOR NOTICING THAT. Yes. Atsushi's pov is avoided like the plague unless it's about Ryuu for a very specific reason. His past too. I think the most vulnerable he's been with the reader is during his conversation with Mori and the moment right after his dream about Brown's murder, when he's alone in his apartment. And as Stendec ( beloved and fellow writer ) mentioned in their comment about this chapter, a lot of personal details about Atsushi are glossed unless it's Ryuu noticing them ( like his watch, an Enicar ). Rori your comment "This is also a dazaism i think" is spot on.

my lips are sealed about the watch though. but you are pretty close with that BEAST connection.

CACKLING AT THE KUNIDAZAI MENTION. It definitely can be read as that! It hasn't been mentioned yet, but Sasaki Kunikida and Dazai work on cases often ( as evident by their closeness ) but that closeness didn't just come out of nowhere ( think Dazai's Entrance Exam ). No matter how much Dazai tries to deny his relationships at the precinct, they're real ( as seen with his hesitance and the fact that he has yet to report Tachihara to Mori ).

ohhhhughhgf this case. the formatting of these transcripts is also a detail i really liked sorting out. the ones from the interlude chapter are in a more modern format ( late 60s onward i believe, I don't remember the exact year the switch was made ). so formatting this case as it would have been back in the 50s was fun! extra details are always fun!

omg i'm so sorry the wording about goldman was off. no canon murders are reported in the six months between De la Mare and Goldman, but all the non-canons happened before Chuuya!

Hella you are missed. I hope she sees this and knows that I started watching ATLA and BNHA ( again) because of her posts. I'm gearing up to consume taob content.

[soloragoldsun]

Just gotta stop in and talk about The Iron Bull for a sec. Again.

This time, I’d like to focus on how his whole storyline is basically that of someone either being freed from or doubling down on a cult-like religion. Because that’s what the Qun is. Anything that puts certain people on leashes and has “re-educators” that are meant to “fix” people who start thinking differently is a freaking cult!

Bull is shown to be on the fence when it comes to a lot of things. While he insists on being true Qunari and a follower of the Qun, he also shows discomfort when the Qunari offers the alliance with the Inquisition. He flat out says that he’s grown used to them being “over there.” He even acknowledges that the Qun isn’t the right way for everyone.

If you let the Chargers die, he says that the Qun demanded the sacrifice, but you can see cracks in his armor and how much he hates making that decision both during the battle and after Gatt and the Inquisitor secure the alliance at Skyhold. As a result, he doubles down on his devotion to the Qun. The Iron Bull becomes just a role he plays. He becomes Hissrad. How else can he deal with the guilt of leading the people who had become his family to their deaths? He has to believe that it was necessary, and to do that, he has to believe in the Qun unquestioningly.

If Cole is in the party during his betrayal in Trespasser, he comments on how Bull didn’t feel anything when he betrays the party. I’d bet anything that between the end of Inquisition and the beginning of Trespasser, he submitted willingly to the re-educators, masking his emotions and eliminating what was left of The Iron Bull.

On the other hand, if you order the retreat, he doesn’t hesitate to blow that horn. He smiles when he sees his men are safe. When you correct Gatt and say that his name is Iron Bull and not Hissrad, Bull approves. If you say that there’s still something to do to salvage the alliance, he disapproves. Once he’s Tal-Vashoth, he commits almost immediately and acts as if a weight has been lifted.

He smiles while sparring with Krem. He tells you that, whatever he regrets, he’s where he wants to be. Most of his inner conflict comes with the realization that much of what he believed was wrong, that being Tal-Vashoth doesn’t make one a monster. So, what does that make him, someone who has killed many Tal-Vashoth over the years?

No matter what playthrough I do, I will always save the Chargers, both because I love them, and because it’s the best thing for The Iron Bull. One choice allows him to move forward and become his own person. The other forces him to regress into what he once was as a way to avoid his guilt.

[inkedeye2345]

Got on the wrong foot Pt.6

Tales of the hidden city (Leo's part of the episode)

rise Leo x OC

(Warning: non but cursing)

Leo's pov: "Hidden city zoo" "ohhh luxury resort" "battle nexus" "ohhh witch town!" "I could really use a massage" we all pointed to the map

"alright we narrowed down our list to 200 activities I don't want to spend my whole day in the hidden city voting so I say we each do our own thing" we all said our goody good bye and I get to spend some time with my new girlfriend

until I see Donnie grab Kyle and talk to her and I walk closer "hey Dee whatcha guys tal-" "sorry nardo I needed to talk to Kyle for a moment so can I borrow her for a moment?" I was confused and I kept my smirk "ya go ahead" I walk away (ofc he's going to eavesdrop he's Leo what do you think he is a hob-)

I had an idea so Kyle would understand right I hide behind a stand and tried to hear what they're saying "okay I know my dumb dumb brother so if you or him get in trouble call me you have my number okay" I see Kyle nod her head and Donnie pats her head so I walk in "hey you guys done yet?"

i see Kyle smile sweetly I look at Donnie and I glare at him he looks at me with a straight face and April grabbed his arm "come on Donnie I want to go to witch town!" "Ya Donnie go to witch town" Donnie glares at me "scoff I will goodbye nardo" and he looks at Kyle and does a small smile and pats her head and walks away

I wrapped my arm around Kyle "you okay" I look down at her and smirk "of course I'm okay im Leonardo the nexus champion" she giggles but damn i needed that to calm me down and we walk to a stand as we see a map and I opened it "whoa food, chronic , and fun in the sun at the HIRSUTE' resort and spa you know I have been busting my show with the heroing lately time for a chilling day with for a epic day with chillaxian with my girl!" I hear Kyle laugh and cheer

(time skip)

We got to Hirsute resort and I was shocked

"whoaaa" and I whistle looking at the stuff that's going on but i didn't know why Kyle had a towel covering her body, glasses on, and a straw hat covering her face she had that when we got here

she kept a hold of my shirt for some reason but we kept on walking and we saw a little buck inside and I bent down "hey bub it is bub isn't it? Which way to your lounges lounge chair?" And the buck pointed to an outside beach and I grab kyle's hand and drag her to the seats as I sit down and look up at her "come on mi amor you can take that off no one's going to judge you" she shakes her head

"it's not that you know everyone in the city knows me cause I used to be a foot soldier and a nexus champion before you!" I look at her and shrug

"come on for me por favor" she hesitated and nods her head let's just say I wasn't ready

I immediately got up stole someone's cardigan robe and put it on them covering her I was a green mess and sat her down and sat down next to her clinging on her

(Something like this just imagine it) I sit up "time to work on the base tan" I threw my hat and got back to my position with Kyle until she taps me and I turn around to see two unicorns and I was annoyed who do they think they are ruining me and my girlfriends time together

"Excuse me buds you're in my sun" and the guys looked pissed "sorry sir and ma'am this is a privet club members only" when they said that I wrapped my arm around both of the unicorns neck "look friend like the Poca shells by the way, me and my girl have been hearing all week and we need a little RNR so can we just look the other way?” I put money in the crack of his arm

I see Kyle get up taking her hat and sun glasses off “can you pls let go of my boyfriend…” they threw me out of the place “ow that was not chillaxing” I rub my head and I see Kyle trying to get to me but a whole crowd asked for stupid shit and the buck guy was in front of me “why won’t you try the resort across the street” I look at where he’s pointed at smiling gasping until my smile drops

mane I see a scary ass resort as I walk in “the nerve of them treating a battle nexus champion that way!”

(time skip cause I’m to lazy)

I walk in the resort with my odachi resting in my shoulder and everyone is mesmerized and everyone came up to me the small buck “welcome sir! Coconut water?” He had a coconut drink in his tray as I grabbed it, drink it and threw it then the unicorns “voice towlet?” I grabbed the towel and rubbed it on my hair Then a girl fox “commentary beachside pedicure?” I then s e Kyle trying to get out of a crowd that are surrounding her

and I picked her up

(I know she got a nice ass not talking about the oc talking about it’s the girl and just pretend that’s how Leo picks her up)

“L-LEO!? How how did you-“ I cut her off “no te preocupes de eso hermosa” I make her sit down and I lay down between her legs (no it’s not getting sus yet calm down wait in one or three chapters)

(Idc if I’m putting to much photos)

(time skip)

everything was a disaster Kyle was being dragged around even tho she’s a enemy with the foot clan but people can’t understand that and I was fighting my alive hair that made me steal money and shit when I was asleep until I shaved my hair off getting mad at the short ass guy who gave me the hair and Kyle confessed to the crowd that she is not apart of the foot clan anymore

And when me and Kyle got outside telling them that it was the shirt guy they thought it was me and since they found out that Kyle isn’t apart of the foot clan so they took us to jail

but when we got there Donnie got pissed at me “HOW IN THE WORLD OF LOGIC DID YOU FUCKING GET KYLE IN JAIL!?!?!??!?!???!” I roll my eyes “look I took great care of her it’s not my fault you don’t fucking trust me” Raph decided to come in the mother fucking argument “look guys Raph doesn’t like it when we curse or argue” but me and Donnie kept on yelling at each other

“Guys stop…” i didn’t hear Kyle so we kept on yelling at each other “why don’t you trust me” “because you’re irresponsible and don’t think about others but you! You self centered piece of shit!” My eyes widened “Donnie!!” I hear Kyle and April yell “I’m saying the truth!” I felt Kyle cup my cheeks “he didn’t mean it okay I love you mi armor don’t listen to him pls don’t…” I hear her whisper I lean in her touch

Placing my hand on the back of hers and I felt her peck my lips and she smiles “you know that I’ll love you right…?” I nod my head

(time skip)

she was sitting down and I had my head on her lap until we see master splinter and Mikey in our jail well with disguises with a cake and master splinter gave me my odachi and I stood up and I picked Kyle up when i opened the portal

and I ran in with her in my arms and I also got the cake

(Hello so I hope you liked this one and the other ones too so I just wanted to say how come MY MOTHER F#CKING MEMES GET MORE LIKES THAN MY GOD DAMN ATORYS SURE SOME OF THEM MIGHT BE SHORT BUT IT TAKES ME A LONG ASS TIME TO MAKE THEM *clears throat* i don’t mean that stuff *kai you said nothing bad so stfu and NON BINARY UP!*…my friends right I am schizophrenic…now let’s put that aside so it’s midnight and i can’t believe I’m trying to make these everyday for you guys to enjoy ruining my fricking 8 hours of sleep but I may not be able to post the rest of the story’s because there’s a thunderstorm or just a storm for short but it’s going to be for a week so my lights and everything will go off so I might not be able to post so ya 🥲 but I’ll do my best to make you guys happy that’s just a reminder that I may not post for a week probably but if I do post that means IM BACK BABY HAHAHA-….what was I doing again? *my lesbian friend: you’re going to tell them about the so-* OH YA so the song until I found you idk the person who made it so just go find it on Spotify- why in the f#ck is this note so f#cling long *my lesbian friend:that’s on you dumbass* me:🖕…. So ya that’s all I’m now going to knock the f#ck out so have a good day or night and god bless you beautiful people byeee 💙)

PREVIOUS NEXT

[no-shxme]

so i read Mercy and HOLY FUCK where do i even start so first off talon is CLEARLY a trained bottom that man was so thoroughly a bottom from the first time sett had his hand around his throat in the storage room that is so very clear i love sett just being no-nonsense and animalistic god damn he's fun and then also we have the fact that not only do i ship this now, it is in my top 3 ships because i cant decide if i like rhaayn, twisted graves, or settalon more do you put crack in your writing or something? because holy shit, i am addicted, this was wonderful honestly im going to have to look up so much sett/talon content now jesus christ this was amazing and since it's part of a series im sure there'll be more in this storyline for me to enjoy-

AOHHHHHHHHH SETT/TAL MY BELOVED. OHH IM SO HAPPY YOU READ IT AND FCKED WITH IT. OHHHHHHHh (immense relief)

talon is so bottom he'll bite and fight but in the end he likes it ;w; though he wouldn't admit it. AND SETT is SO FUN. not only to write by himself but how he interacts with talon specifically. (i have and could continue to go on and on about why their dynamic is so interesting).

AHHHHHH sett/talon is like, the most sickeningly rare pair that i never stop thinking about ever. i forget that i have a lot of stuff for them that i havent posted yet. (though there are i think 8 or 9 fics on my ao3 featuring them.) i do recommend the rest of the series (mostly just grit, as it establishes them pretty good i think) and then if you want other flavors i suggest tarnish (cowboy bias) or one of the other one shots ive written of them. or if you want something way more serious and also longer then i'm currently writing Teeth, which contains about 2 metric tons of angst and more serious topics.

[stardust948]

Thanks for the tag @ekwolfwriter-blog!!!

My words are Dreams, Flying, Sunrise.

Tagging @waterfire1848 @longing-for-rain @zutaranation

Words for your game: Rest, Music, and Love

Dreams:

Zuko laid wide awake on his bed still in his crisp white funeral robes. Firelord Azulon’s funeral was mere hours ago and yet it felt like the whole world had caved in on itself. Everyone mourned Azulon and praised the freshly crowned Ozai, but no one said a word about Ursa. Not father. Not the servants. Not even Azula after this morning when she taunted him. Ursa’s room was stripped bare and painting taken down.

It was like she never existed.

“Where are you Mom…” Zuko whispered. “Why did you leave me?”

A tear rolled down his cheek. Then another. Zuko buried his head into the pillow and cried. He didn’t care that it was the trait of weakness and vulnerability. No one can see him. He was alone.

Truly alone now.

<em>Foolish boy.</em>

Zuko flinched. Someone was here. Must be one of the servants. How did he not hear them come in?

“I didn’t give permission to enter. Leave!”

<em>Tch. Why am I wasting my time?</em>

Sadness quickly turned to anger as he shot up and snared. “How dare-“

The words died on his tongue. The intruder was no servant. Even with his back towards him heading for the door, Zuko knew.

“G-Grandfather…?”

Azulon turned as surprise covered his face. He was still in his sleepwear with his hair loose. But what disturbed Zuko the most was his skin. His whole body really. Nearly transparent. Like it was almost whole but not really. Caught in between.

<em>The boy is spirit touched.</em>

“N-No. This isn’t happening. You’re dead!”

<em>Obviously.</em> Azulon drew closer to the frighten boy. <em>Do you know why? </em>

Zuko closed his eyes and beat his head. “This isn’t real!”

<em>Answer me boy!</em>

Azulon’s tone left know room for argument. Zuko instantly sat up like he was drilled to by his tutors.

“H-Heart failure?”

Azulon let out a bitter laugh. <em>Yes I supposed that would happen after ingesting POISON!</em>

Zuko scooted back, terrified.

“What are you tal-“

<em>Where’s your wretched mother?!</em>

“I-I…”

<em>She did this to me! To preserve you!</em>

Zuko’s eyes widened. Azula was right.

Father really was going to kill him per Azulon’s request. But Mom…

<em>I vowed to haunt that wretch for the rest of her miserable life for what she did to me.</em> Azulon glared at Zuko. <em>But… even the best laid plan can be modified. </em>

“Grandfather…?”

<em>Until you die boy.</em> Azulon walked right towards him.

“W-Wait. Stay back!” Zuko threw a fireball at him but it merely phased through.

<em>Or until he finally kills you.</em>

Azulon phased right through Zuko and disappeared. The boy shivered uncontrollably. He wrapped himself in the covers then pulled his knees to his chest, teeth still clattering. It was just a dream. He’ll wake up soon.

He had to.

Untitled Ghost AU

~*~

Fly(ing):

“Wait, you can’t fly? I thought dragons flew. I mean, you have wings for crying out loud!”

“Do you see any dragons around here who can teach me?”

“Right. Sorry.”

Azula grunted.

“Can I ask you something?”

“It’s not like I can stop you without ripping your tongue out. So proceed.”

Sokka was quiet for a moment. “How did you end up on Meteor Island alone?”

Azula’s ears flattened as she turned her head away.

“Oh, uh… forget I ask-“

“I killed my mother.”

Sokka blinked. “What-“

“I killed her with my demon flame.” She tried to sound nonchalant, but her voice cracked at the end.

“I’m sure it was a mistake-”

“SHUT UP!” Azula snapped. More blue scales formed on her skin as steamy breath escaped her mouth. “It was no mistake! I killed her because I’m a monster! Master placed me on this island for everyone’s protection!”

“You’re not a monster.”

Azula gripped her head and screamed.

“Azula!” Sokka touched her shoulder, only to be swatted away.

“GET OUT! LEAVE BEFORE I KILL YOU TOO!!!”

There was a bright flash of light that caused Sokka to stumble back. He shielded his eyes as his exposed skin burned hot against the sudden blast of heat. A mighty dragon roar sounded. Sokka looked up and saw the blue dragon.

“Azula!”

She pawed the ground then roared at him. Sokka covered his ears but stood his ground.

“I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have asked!” Sokka took a step closer. Azula let out a warning snarl and he stilled. “I lost my mother too.” Sokka dropped his eyes. “I can’t even remember what she looked like...”

Azula stopped snarling as her large eyes became glassy. Sokka looked up with his own eyes sparkling with unshed tears. The dragon backed up. Without a word, she turned and disappeared into the jungle, heavy footsteps slowly grew fainter. Sokka fell to his knees. Long awaited tears finally spilled out.

“I’m sorry…

The Dragon Princess and the Wolf Warrior

~*~

Sunrise:

Which is why after a sleepless night, Ozai rose from bed and went to Zuko’s room though sunrise were hours away. He didn’t hear the boy sneak out like usual, so that was good. Maybe he finally learned how to stay put. The bowl of food he left a couple of hours ago by Zuko’s mat was cold and untouched. Ozai knelt down and gently shook the lump under the blanket.

“Zuko.”

No response.

“Listen, I know you’re upset, and you think recusing the Avatar is the right thing to do. And you may be right, but I’m not willing to put you in harm’s way again for a hunch. We’ll find another way to help them.”

He sighed when there was still no response.

“I know you’re awake. Stop ignoring me.”

Ozai lifted the blanket reveling pillows underneath.

He didn’t.

Rivers in the desert

[runningfrom2am]

the sea around us; chapter eleven

In which Rafe Cameron has to choose between his dad and a pogue who's changing his outlook on life more and more every day.

(rafe cameron x f!oc)

(eventual!jj maybank x f!oc)

warnings/tags: violence, drug/alcohol use, smoking, sexual content (if you squint), slowburn, older brother’s best friend, (these tags are obv not exhaustive but regardless it’s pretty PG13)

wc: 1.8k

my masterlist

series masterlist

requests

*:･ﾟ✧*:･

"We can't loop him in on this. He cannot know, Snowy." Kie says, shaking her head at me as we pull away, and I wave at Rafe out the window. He gives me a quick wave, before revving the bike and taking off.

"No, I know. I won't tell him anything he doesn't have to know." I sigh. I already know that will be much easier said than done- especially when he ran to our rescue because he heard gunshots over the phone. Note to self: don't take calls while hunting the Royal Merchant.

We make it back to the chateau and open up the envelope as soon as we can. It has some paper and a tape recorder. We listen to it with John B, and by the end, he's in tears. He hasn't heard his father's voice in so long. I hug him as he cries in my arms. He deserves a break from all this treasure hunting and the royal merchant, just to grieve. My heart breaks for him.

The papers in the envelope turned out to be a folded-up map, with an 'X' marking a spot out off the shore. It must be where the merchant is. Big John found it. Now, we just have to figure out how to get to it.

The next morning, I woke up around six to the sound of John B making breakfast in the kitchen. I find myself with my head on JJ's shoulder, and I sit up, digging for my phone in the covers before getting up, climbing over JJ, and walking out into the living room.

"A beer? Already?" I laugh, opening the fridge and looking for something to eat.

"You know it."John B smiles, taking another sip. "We got a big day ahead."

I eventually decide it'll be better to wait until I head out for coffee with Rafe, and I'll get a cookie or something. I don't bother changing out of my pajamas to go sit on the hammock outside. I lay down, and look out at the water. It's going to be another beautiful day today- there's not a cloud in the sky. I grab my phone and turn it on, just Anna has sent me some pictures of very random things, including herself. Those will go ignored for now.

I text Rafe, figuring he'll see it when he wakes up and we can iron out our plans. I'm excited. I feel guilty, almost, that last week I was admitting to being in love with JJ, but now I don't feel so worried about that. My feelings for JJ haven't changed, I do love him, but was I ever in love with him if I could feel so giddy about spending time with someone else? about kissing someone else? It's just confusing. I'm pulled out of my thoughts when Rafe texts me back. He's up early.

R: oh hey, goodmorning S: you're up early? R: i'd say the same to you S: john b is a loud cooker. what's your excuse? R: gym. S: ah, gotcha. we still on for this morning? i would die for a caramel macchiato right now, lol R: yeah for sure :) i'll come get you after i'm done at around 7:20? S: sounds great! see you then :)

I lay my phone on my chest and lay back down, closing my eyes for about twenty minutes before I decide to go in and get dressed and ready. I grab a twisted tea from the fridge and walk back towards the bedroom. "Oh so now you agree it's not too early to drink." John B laughs from the porch.

"It's tea, John B. Everyone drinks tea in the morning." I joke, cracking it open.

JJ is still fast asleep when I enter, so I grab my bag and head into the bathroom. I lock the door behind me and get changed into this yellow romper, and I actually find myself with some time to do my makeup after putting my hair up in a claw clip, which is a time-consuming event. I think my hair is just too heavy, so I always end up only putting half of it up. By the time I'm finished, it's about 7:15.

I hear John B talking to JJ as I come out, throwing my phone and wallet into my tote back and walking out into the living room. "Damn, you look nice," JJ says.

"I'd get changed though, we've got big plans that are probably not safe for clean clothes." He adds and John B hits his shoulder.

"She's got a date."

"Oh, right." JJ nods. "Will you be back when we get Kie and Pope at like, lunchtime?" He asks.

"Yes sir." I salute him, looking out the window when I hear a car pull up.

"It's Rafe, I gotta run," I say, downing whatever is left of my tea and leaving the can on the counter as I run out.

I hop in the passenger seat of the red convertible and put my bag at my feet. "Good morning." I smile, already fixing my hair.

"Morning," Rafe replies, putting his arm on the back of my seat and looking out the back window to reverse onto the street.

"This is a sweet car. Is it yours?" I ask and Rafe shakes his head as we drive away.

"No, no... It's my dad's." He says and I nod.

"Well, nice of him to lend it to you."

"More or less." He agrees. "He left the keys on the counter." Rafe laughs slightly.

"Oh.. is that okay? I mean, if I took my dad's truck he would probably run me over with it." I laugh. Rafe doesn't, tough crowd today.

We grab our coffees and decide to walk down the marina.

"What was happening last night?" Rafe asked, suddenly changing the subject and stopping me from rambling about the time I watched Pope and JJ climb a cell tower.

This caught me off guard, but it shouldn't. I knew he would want to know more. "We were just hanging out, like I told you," I answer, grabbing his hand as we keep walking.

"People don't shoot at kids just hanging out, Snowy." Rafe replies, looking down at me.

"Okay, yeah... You're right. JJ just isn't in their good books at the moment. Something to do with his dad and drug money or something.." I lie, knowing Luke well enough to know that it would check out.

"Right.." Rafe nods. "I just- I know I can't tell you what to do, so I won't, but that's some shit you can't get mixed up in- okay?" He says seriously.

"Yeah, I know."

"I just don't want you to get hurt. I care about you, I know I'm being crazy but I don't want to be chasing you around Kildare making sure you don't get shot." Rafe explains, running his free hand through his hair. "Your brother would lose his mind- I can't, I can't deal with that. I can't deal with you being gone I just can't-"

"You're not being crazy, Rafe. I understand." I tell him, stopping to look into his eyes. I can tell he's upset. "I still can't believe you heard gunshots and decided to run right into that mess." I laugh a little, making him smile slightly as his gaze softens.

"I'd do it for you a million times." He says and I already feel the blush spreading across my cheeks. "But, I just hope I won't have to, is what I mean."

"That was a one-time thing. It's okay." I promise him.

Rafe sighs and nods. "Good. Thank you." We keep walking, and after a few moments of silence, he continues. "I just- you know, like I said the other night, I'm pretty sure I really like you. I like being around you, I like this." I blush as he says this.

"I like it too." I smile. "You know, you're not what I thought you would be like," I add, looking up at him as we continue to walk.

"What, did you think I was mean and scary?" He chuckles.

"Yeah." I giggle.

"Yeah, well, I kind of thought the same about you." He jokes.

"Really? You're joking."

"No, I swear. I just really only know what your brother has told me about you. That you're mean, angry, entitled... but I couldn't believe you could fit that much anger in such a tiny, cute body." He laughs and I shake my head, rolling my eyes.

"Of course, he would say that."

"But, then he'd say, you don't back down from a fight, and you don't let people tell you what to do, and you don't have patience for people." He says and I nod sarcastically. "Now, the way I see it anyways, you have to be those things to make it out here. And they're not all bad. I think we're a lot alike, actually."

"Mean and scary?" I ask, laughing a little.

"Yeah, we're mean and scary." He agrees, smiling at me.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･

We eventually turn back and walk back the way we came, towards the car which we left outside the coffee shop. We talk about nonsense, pretty much the whole way. I do, mostly, but lucky for me he likes to listen.

"So, uh.. should we do this again?" He asks and I nod. I haven't just had a chill, casually fun time since we stumbled onto that Grady White.

"Yeah, this was fun. I hardly spend time away from my friends, but I liked it." I smile, shielding my eyes from the sun as I look over at the brunette boy. "Speaking of.." I sigh, "I've got to get back to them. We have plans at twelve."

"Of course, yeah." Rafe nods, but I can see his jaw get tense.

Just then, I look down at my phone and see a text from John B.

JB: meet us at kook club ? S: sure? see you there

"Hey, Rafe, can you drop me off at that country club? I don't remember what it's called, you know the one." I try and explain. He looks at me confused.

"Uh, yeah sure, but are you sure they'll let you in?" He jokes.

"Not a clue- John B just asked me to meet them outside." I shrug.

When we arrive, I see everyone waiting on the grass outside, just outside the parking lot.

"Thanks so much, Rafe. I'll text you in a bit." I smile at him as he pulls over near my friends, and I reach for the door handle.

Before I get out he grabs my arm, and when I turn and look at him he kisses me. I melt into him as I kiss him back, pulling away just a few seconds later when I hear my friends shouting at us.

"Literally get a room," Kie says, and I hear the boys groaning.

I turn my head to look back at them, but Rafe stops me by putting his hand on my chin, making me face him again. "I'll see you later, Juliette." He whispers, and I give him a quick kiss before getting out and waving him off, staring as he drives away.

My friends make fun of me because they've never seen my face so red. It's well deserved.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･

A/N; this part is dull as hell i'm sorry LMAO but please bear with me here bc it'll get better once the plot gets more intense, i promise -R

[ethereousdelirious]

Would you consider writing Klapollo? 👀 While I love some Apollo whump I'm a big fan of bullying Klavier, maybe he's allergic to flowers his adoring fans have sent him, or he's so burnt out from a recent tour his voice is all wrecked, and a blossoming cold isn't helping matters, both of which Apollo (somewhat begrudgingly) would help him with 💖 Klav is such a show off but his usually perfect appearance being ruined by circumstances outside of his control, maybe his hair is down, or in a ponytail or messy bun instead of its usual drill, avoiding Apollo when he usually /loves/ to tease him. Anyway. I'm rambling sorry 💀

🙇 bully klav gav pls

Wow wow my first time ever writing Kl.apollo :0 Thank you for being my guinea pig!

Wordcount: 1.5k

Warnings: A lil touch of mess? Not very messy, but like. It's not NOT there. (Kl.av sneezes into Ap.ollo's [clothed] chest lmao)

Notes: This is post AJ, presumably before DD. I didn't clarify bc it distracted from the snz, but I imagine this taking place at like. a community cente theater thing, like for a charity fundraiser or smth. Hence why Kl.av is performing solo.

Pre-slash, a lil heavy on the UST. Apollo may be on the cusp of learning something new about himself (👃🏼)

N-E-way, I hope you like it! My first time writing for a pairing is always a challenge, so I'd definitely like to revisit these 2 in the future (maybe even this same concept bc. there's so much K.lavier-wrecking that can be done 👀)

Klavier's sneeze announced his presence before anything else. The sudden "hk'TCHEH!" punched the air, scaring Apollo's disordered thoughts back to darker corners of his brain.

Right.

He was being silly.

He looked around the dressing room, straightening his shirt despite himself. Klavier had arranged his belongings into orderly piles, though the room still felt cramped. There was no glamor, no mystique in the white walls and humming yellow fluorescents.

He'd waited in Klavier's dressing rooms before. It wasn't that strange.

The door creaked open a crack, then a little more. Klavier's blond head peered in, and the smile on his face looked strained, somehow. "Herr Forehea— Hhheehh—" He wrinkled tje bridge of his nose and something about it made Apollo relax all at once. "I— Ach…" He wiggled his nose like a rabbit, tears sparkling in his lashes, then stopped abruptly. "Could you help me with the door, please?"

"Right!" Apollo leapt up and grabbed it, swinging it open so Klavier could come in. "Are you okay?"

The answer was obvious now. Klavier held a crystal vase in both his hands. Flowers exploded from the top of it, out to the sides, in all variety of colors and shapes. Yellow pollen floated in the water and dusted Klavier's face where the stamens had rubbed against his skin.

Klavier's nose wrinkled again, the delicate skin creasing up in straight little lines. Like a maze only Apollo could solve. His gleaming lips parted, wafting the smell of cherry lip gloss over the fragrance of flower's for a fleeting moment. "Ahh… hhk'kTSCH!" His body rocked forward, sloshing water up toward the edge of the vase.

The force of his exhalation sent a great plume of pollen into the air and Apollo winced. "Uh, Gesundheit?"

"Vielen Dank," Klavier said drily, and Apollo tried not to shudder. "What, ah…" He smiled at Apollo, blinking tears out of his eyes. This dulled some of the resplendent dazzle of him, but none of the charm, and Apollo bit his lip. Klavier sniffled. "What did you think of the show?"

"Too loud," Apollo said bluntly. He held out his hands for the vase. "Here, let me take that."

"'Too loud,'" Klavier repeated. "You're one to t-tal—" He froze for a split second too long, mouth hanging open. "KkH'TSCH! Ugh…"

Apollo hefted the vase and forced himself not to stare at Klavier. "Maybe I should throw these out…" He stared at the pristine flowers and the pollen dusting the leaves. It was all over his hands now.

Klavier shook his head and motioned for Apollo to set them down. "They, hhh— They were a gift," he explained breathlessly, artfully arranging himself in a chair. "From the event organizers." He scrunched up his nose between words like it itched.

Apollo couldn't help but stare. "Well, yeah, but—"

Klavier smiled again, that spotlight grin that made Apollo feel like the center of the universe. How he could help but cringe away from it? How could he help but lower his eyes? "They're lovely flowers, Herr Justice. I'm keeping th— ahK'TSCHEH!" 

"Gesundheit."

"Mm." Klavier was still for a moment, perfectly still. The lights made his lips glimmer, and his eyes, and his nose. His cheeks had broken out in a flush.

Apollo licked his lips.

The sight before him was unreal, a weeping Madonna in gold, in purple, in delicate pink and gorgeous brown. Here was Klavier Gavin as few had seen him.

This last sneeze had caused his hair to come loose and fall around his shoulders in ringlets and smears of pollen made lines upon his cheeks.

And.

He was still perfect.

Klavier blinked hard and touched his fingertips beneath one eye. They came away black with eyeliner. He closed off all at once, his posture stiffening. When he laughed, the sound was stiff and humorless. "I must look frightening right now," he said.

The gentle self-deprecation rang too true. Apollo swallowed hard. And even worse than that, Klavier's shoulders now shook.

"Hhk'TSCHF! Ahk'TSHEH!" He bent double in the chair, aiming his desperate, breathy sneezes at the floor between his legs. "Kk'KSTSXH! EkH'TSCH!"

A moment stretched out between them.

Klavier hid his eyes behind his hand, his breathing wet and unsteady.

"...you done?" Apollo asked feebly. When Klavier didn't move, he half-rose. "Hey, Kl‐ Gavin?

Klavier gestured vaguely with his free hand, shooing Apollo away. "Don't look at me."

In any other situation, it might have been a joke. Vain Prosecutor Gavin, rockstar, unable to stomach the idea of being seen in any state of dishevelment. As it was, his voice trembled and fell flat.

"Hey, it's just me." Spying a box of tissues on the vanity, Apollo grabbed a handful and nudged Klavier's knee. "Here, blow your nose."

Klavier took the tissues and scrubbed at his face with them and blew his nose with an airy hiss that didn't sound at all satisfying.

"D'you really want me to leave?" Apollo asked, trying hard not to sound half as crushed as he felt.

"I just..." Klavier sounded very young when he spoke. "I can't imagine I'm very pleasant company right— heh…" He sniffled hard behind the tissues. "Right now."

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

Klavier peered at him over the tissues. His eyeliner had run and smudged, drawing black moons beneath the pink rims of his irritated eyes. He blinked and a few more tears streamed past, landing in the tissues. "Don't I look like a mess?" he asked, searching Apollo's face.

"I mean." Apollo considered him again. Watery pink eyes, messy makeup, hair falling around his shoulders like some kind of Norse god. "A little I guess? So what?"

A hint of pink surged up Klavier's cheeks, bypassing the tissues. It didn't stand out much against the gentle brown of his skin, but Apollo's sharp eyes picked it up anyway. "Doesn't it bother y— hhHK'TSHEH!"

Apollo sighed and stood up. "Not as much as those sneezes do."

They were big, roaring things that bent Klavier double every time. As befitting a rockstar, but they sounded painful.

Klavier answered with another gasp behind the tissues. "Heh—! Hehk'schCH!"

"C'mon, sit up." Apollo snatched up and handful of tissues and tilted Klavier's chin upward. Startled, watering eyes blinked at him, the fluorescents making bright rectangles across deep blue irises. Apollo dabbed at Klavier's eyes and cheeks, bringing up black eyeliner and yellow pollen in irregular splotches. Folding the tissues, he moved downward to Klavier's nose, careful not to irritate the delicate skin.

Still, Klavier twitched and scrunched up his nose. "Careful, A-Apoll—" His chest hitched with stuttering gasps, the skin beneath either nostril gleaming. His breath left his mouth in one brief exhale. "Gah—"

Apollo bit his lip. His fist had clenched around the tissues, ripping them beneath the blunt ends of his nails. "Sorry," he breathed.

Klavier tucked his hair behind his ears and looked around.

"What do you need?" Apollo asked. Seeing Klavier like this— sheepish, exposed— had stirred something in him. He couldn't let Klavier feel so ashamed of something he couldn't help.

"A hair tie, if you can find one." Still, Klavier kept his face turned away, eyes down.

Apollo found one on the vanity and brought it over. At the kast second, he also grabbed a package of makeup wipes. "Here, Ga— Uh." His face warmed. "Klavier."

He watched Klavier tie his hair back in a messy bun, golden locks framing his face. But when Klavier looked inquiringly at the makeup wipes, Apollo shook his head. "Let me help."

Klavier's mouth twitched. "Herr Forehead thinks he's a pro at taking off makeup?"

"Wh— N-no, of course not!" Apollo stammered. The sudden reappearance of Klavier's easy smile calmed him for once instead of riling him up further and he exhaled. "I just want to help."

"Oh?" Klavier spread his legs, sinking down a little in the chair, and all the smudged makeup blurring his features could not censor the brief, lascivious look that flashed across his face. "Then come help."

There was the confidence that Apollo loathed and loved in equal measure. But was it real? Or was Klavier merely posturing because he felt ashamed?

Apollo's cheeks burned regardless and he had to make a conscious effort to unclench the muscles in his thighs before he could take his position in front of Klavier.

He took Klavier's chin in his hand. "Hold still."

As with the tissues, he started with the eyes. Stubborn lines of black still clung to Klavier's lash lines, intensifying his gaze. His eyes were deep blue, mottled with lighter and darker shades closer to his pupils.

Apollo swallowed and moved on to the cheeks, but found no salvation there. The light layer of foundation rubbed away to reveal gentle lines where Klavier smiled, where he wrinkled his nose, and little brown freckles scattered down the bridge of his nose.

Apollo swiped the makeup wipe down Klavier's nose like he could mop them up and Klavier gasped a little. "Careful there—!"

Ah, yes. Prosecutor Gavin and his sensitive nose.

"Sorry," Apollo said, swiping away one last smear of pollen that had clung to the outer edge of Klavier's nostril.

"Apollo!" was all he managed before a sneeze rammed his head solidly into Apollo's chest. "Hhk'KSCH! " The sudden expulsion of breath warmed the skin of Apollo's chest, though not as much as the delayed realization that Klavier was shaking his head a little, rubbing his nose against Apollo's dress shirt. "Kk'tsXch!" Another burst of warmth.

Of their own accord, Apollo's hands found the back of Klavier's head. He rested them there gently, tracing things line of soft hair leading up toward Klavier's bun.

"Get me out of here," Klavier mumbled into Apollo's dress shirt. A moment later, he stiffened and pulled back, staring at Apollo's chest with wide eyes. "I— Your shirt—"

"It's okay." Apollo didn't bother to look down and assess the damage. "Let's get you home."

How could be even a little upset when Klavier was staring at him with those wide, wide eyes? When the strands of hair that had freed themselves from his bun sparkled in the lights? When cheeks burned pink with exertion and embarrassment? How could Apollo ever, ever hold a grudge?

Even if his shirt felt a little clammy now, well… He'd deal with it later.

For now, he had a Prosecutor to look after.

[fr0wningsmiles]

HELLO TUMBLR!!

What I bring to you today is quite exciting,,, my first story that I’ve written and completed in a long time.

It has no name I’m afraid , but that’s okay!

WARNINGS/WHAT TO EXPECT ? ;

Tallulah Centric {At the start}

Based off my memories as a Qsmp and Dsmp Wilbur fictionkin , so consider them to be headcanons !

TNTDUO!!!! LOTS OF IT LATER , NEAR THE END !

Now with that being said , please keep in mind this is based off my own ideas/headcanons and memories of my own as a fictionkin!!! ENJOY !!

—————————————————————————

[INSERT CREATIVE TITLE HERE]

Wilbur’s breath felt shallow, his chest completely empty filled with the numb feeling of fear. Where was his daughter? Was she okay? It was crazy for him to even consider being gone as long as he usually was. And to think that just the other day Wilbur didn’t want a new kid. That’s what was ‘special’ about him. Memories from past homes, past mistakes, past- children. He winced at the thought of a child of the past. Now wasn’t the time to worry about that though, Tallulah was more important in this second.

Wilbur had heard that she had gotten hurt, bad, almost on the verge of death. “Tallulah!?” The British voice filled with fear, shaky with the thought of another child being lost to the hands of death once more, Wilbur being powerless to stop it. The man inhaled sharply when there was no sound in reply. “If ANYTHING happened to her, so help me.” Wilbur mumbled loudly to himself, finally nearing close enough to Phil’s home, when Tallulah was left to be babysat by grandpa. “Tal-” Wilbur was cut off by the small shape of her egg slowly waddling around a corner, just about to enter the main room where her worried sick father stood, looking around wildly.

“Tallulah!” Wilbur exclaimed, rushing forward and scooping the small dragon egg up into his arms and holding her close to his chest, it still feeling empty, hollow and his breathing shallow and anxious. Even with his daughter so close to him, it was still a worrying thought. “Tallulah, are you okay? I heard you got hurt.” He attempted to keep his voice steady, trying to not panic the young egg. Tallulah wiggled out of Wilbur’s grasp and quickly set a sign down, explaining at a rapid pace about how scary it was, and how much she had missed him while he was away. “I’m so sorry.” Wilbur mumbled, his eyes widening, sadness and dismay flaring up in the deep pools of brown.

Tallulah didn’t seem that bothered. She was just happy to have her dad with her once more. She rushed to him and rested up against his leg. “I can see that you’ve already forgiven me?” Wilbur asked with a small chuckle, attempting to joke away the fear that just overtook his thoughts, as well as his body. All was well until he spotted a large crack running down her shell. “What- what is that?” Wilbur asked, his voice on the verge of shattering, just as his heart had just done deep inside the worried father’s chest. Tallulah, at first seemed confused. Why was her father so scared? She surely didn’t understand, so instead of asking, she just sat and allowed him to inspect her closely.

A long, thin crack ran from one end of Tallulah, to the bottom of her egg shape. Of course, she hadn’t noticed as she couldn’t see herself at all, so this would be a large surprise to her. “Lullah?” Wilbur’s voice was shaky as he looked down at his daughter that stayed neatly nestled in her father’s arms. She looked up at him and said nothing still, very confused. “Where did this huge crack come from?” Wilbur asked finally, the question sour on his tongue. Tallulah struggled to wiggle out of her father’s arms, stressed suddenly. “No , no Lullah ! It’s okay, okay it’s okay.” The girl dad , known as Wilbur Soot, struggled to keep calm in this scenario, as well as calming down his daughter at the same time.

The egg ran around madly as the fox man standing far above her watched in distress at the chaos that happened in front of him. “Honey, listen, listen I have a theory.” Wilbur slowly spoke, speaking softly, his once stressed tone calmed down to that of a worried father. The egg stopped suddenly, looking up at him trembling. “You’re at the age where you will probably- be hatching.” He looked nervous, like he was coaching a child through puberty once more. At least this time it would go better than with- Fundy. Squinting, Wilbur cleared his throat, and swiftly continued. “That crack is probably normal.” It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than his daughter. Tallulah attempted to tilt her head, although she didn’t have a neck, but Wilbur understood. “We need to get you resting.” Wilbur stated, sounding frazzled by this whole thing. Scooping the egg up, the duo slowly approached the man’s house, clutching the egg to his chest as they walked, the egg herself trying not to squirm. Hatching? That sounded scary! What if she wanted to be an egg forever? Many thoughts rushed through her mind, many pertaining to staying a child forever, just a small egg forever. No matter how hard she could try to convince herself, she was sure that it wouldn’t work, so she nestled in her father’s arms again, letting the idea of her fate rest slowly into her head.

Time had passed. Days went by, more cracks appeared, one after the other. Wilbur was scared, mortified even, while Tallulah started to warm up to the idea of hatching everyday that passed by. Days were spent between the father and daughter, talks of stress and fear with parents and friends. Wilbur lost count of just how many times he had gone and visited his father, Phil just to ask what was normal and what wasn’t. And every time that he did, he was always teased, always asked if he had ever done this before. Wilbur knew that Phil was simply trying to get under his skin and make him think about Fundy, but it wasn’t working, he just wanted Tallulah to be like how she was before, crack free and young. No, he would never ever be able to say that out loud, but he could always think it. Always hold the idea close to him and never let it go no matter what.

Time continued to move on at a rapid pace, Tallulah becoming more cracked, and Wilbur becoming more stressed, watching his daughter, the light of his life grow older. He had many conversations with Quackity, the supposed father of his child due to marriage, and adoption. Tallulah didn’t seem to mind him all that much, but she definitely was getting done with his nonsense and his constant depressing jokes about his own dead kid. Quackity seemed more stoked about Tallulah hatching then Wilbur was, which made Tallulah giggle more than feel hurt about it. She knew deep down that Wilbur would always be excited for her, would always be there and happy to be there for her in any way that he could be, so just for now, Tallulah figured she could let it go.

Finally, after one more convenient timeskip, the day came where the final clear spot on Tallulah’s shell shattered. Basically, it was her time to hatch, to emerge as someone new. Wilbur paced back and forth, back and forth whilst Quackity stared expectantly at Tallulah, Phil and his child trying to comfort the father with everything that they could, offering comforting words that Tallulah would be okay, no matter what. “Must it be so soon!?” Wilbur exclaimed in fear, his eyes widened, and his hands shaking as Tallulah herself shook, pieces of the bright egg shell shattering off from her body. “Yea, mate I’m afraid so. Chyanne hatched a long while ago, it’s only a matter of time.” Phil’s words were gentle, although amusement glittered in his eyes, and a laugh stayed in the back of his throat. “Yea yea, I’m sure whatever you guys are saying is important, but your daughter is hatching, Wilbur.” Quackity cut in between the sweet monologue between a father and a son, getting mildly frustrated with Wilbur’s logic, and basic thinking patterns. They were so extra, but that’s what he had to expect after being engaged to this man for quite some time.

“What!?” Wilbur perked up and stared at his daughter as the final shell fell from Tallulah, revealing her human-like form. Small, stumpy dragon-like horns sprouted from Tallulah’s head, sharp claws glittered in the light of the room and a long, scaly tail grew from her back, two fox ears rested neatly on her head. The girl’s outfit was similar to Wilbur’s but with more color, more bright, bright color. Wilbur slapped his hand over his mouth in shock whilst Quackity, Phil and Chyanne celebrated, already stating proclamations of congratulations on working to get out the tough dragon eggs. “Lullah,,” Wilbur’s voice came out as a hush whisper, his eyes wide once more, welling up with tears in the deep corners of his eyes. The father rushed forward and scooped his daughter up into his arms, Talluah swiftly returning the hug and clinging onto her father, her one important person. The fox cooed quietly to her, holding her and rocking her in his arms, fatherly instincts kicking in from oh so long ago.

As it could be expected, Wilbur never let Tallulah out of his sight. Because she was birthed, brand new out of the dragon egg that she had been confined in for months, to almost a year, he was as protective of her as a wild animal is to their new young. Wilbur picked up the personality of a stressed parent once more, watching every move of any person that came close to his daughter. And Tallulah? Well, she was adjusting nicely, even if it was difficult, she overcame it nicely. Wilbur was swiftly helping her learn some basic English words to say out loud, whilst she helped him understand sign language in order to communicate with one another, without having to use bulky signs that took forever to set up.

“It’s sweet to see honestly.” Phil spoke quietly, glancing at Quackity as Wilbur chased Tallulah around the back garden that was connected to the house they had gathered at. “Although, I do wish it could always be like this, I know with time things will go back to normal.” The wise man continued, staring out the window for a few moments longer, Quackity’s eyes following the old man’s gaze. “Yea.” Quackity’s only reply seemed empty and cold as he watched the happy father and daughter. Was he a little salty? Yes, incredibly. But just because he was hurting didn’t mean that he could take that out on his new husband and child. “You know, Big Q, Wilbur’s been acting odd.” Phil finally addressed the elephant in the room. Wilbur’s weird behaviors. “I know.” He said quietly in reply. “With time, if he ever wants to tell me, I’ll let him.”

Wilbur stopped chasing his daughter, pressing his head tightly up against his back, groaning a bit as it cracked. “Why don’t you go find Chyanna, Lullah? Papa needs a break.” The dragonette nodded and rushed off, Phil laughed a little as his son approached, raising one eyebrow. “How's dad life?” He asked. “Delightful.” Wilbur replied, sarcasm lacing his tone. Wilbue knew that the older man was just trying to get under his skin. “It’s a blast, that’s why I raised three kids.” Phil chuckled again, glancing over at Quackity who raised an eyebrow. Sometimes Wilbur forgot that not everyone remembers past lives like his family did. Squinting, Wilbur rolled his eyes and turned away from the two and left to hide around the house.

Wilbur slowly brought his knees up to his chest and stared at the ground blankly ahead, his eyes unfocusing. Sometimes life was hard, but for once in all of his lives, all of his worlds that he’s been in, he felt content. Fundy would always haunt him. Who he was on that foul server is something that he could never confront. Phil wouldn’t listen to him commonly, when he spoke about it, probably because he was guilt ridden. The father grunted, and hid his face in his arms that rested neatly on top of his long, scarred legs. Sometimes he could still see Fundy. How? Through Tallulah mainly. He sees what his son once was in the small dragonette, the fox-like features that she took on from her father only further made Wilbur more convinced that Tallulah was simply some sort of sick joke put together by a group of people on this server. It made him sad. Tallulah was different then Fundy, she was- young, excited, what Fundy was before Wilbur ruined it with his stupid presidency dreams.

Before the fox knew it, he was asleep on the cold ground, curled up in a little ball, hidden away from his family. Tallulah was worried sick, even if he was so close, yet he was so far. She kept herself busy with Chyanne, but Quackity simply couldn’t. The duck decided to go see Wilbur. Shaking him awake, Quackity looked down at him, his face twisted in confusion. “What in the world are you doing?” Wilbur awoke with a start, looking around madly. “Huh?” He grunted out in confusion, his eyes blurry and not allowing him to blink out the sleep in them. “Wilbur, you were dead asleep on the ground for hours.” Quackity deadpanned, raising an eyebrow in judgment. “Oh.” Was all the fox said in reply. “OH?” Quackity asked in surprise, anger lacing his tone. “What has gotten into you? Ever since Tallulah hatched, you’ve been acting weird.” The duck seemed to be fed up with the nonsense that Wilbur was displaying for the family to see.

At first, all the fox could seem to do was flinch and stare dead ahead at something that the duck couldn’t see. “Fundy.” Wilbur said, nothing more, just that one name. “Who is that?” Quackity asked, scoffing again. “Has Phil never said anything to you about him?” The British accent that was once laced with excitement grew monotone, and sore. “I’m different from you, Quackity. I remember things that no one else but Phil does.” Wilbur continued speaking, rather slowly at that, each word he chose carefully thought out. “What does that have to do with anything?” The shorter male snapped. “Fundy was my son.” Wilbur finally admitted, his deep gaze not glancing at his husband. “In another life that is.” His voice grew shaky for a moment. “And I let him down.” Wilbur spoke softly, his ears resting back on his head. “Why do you think Phil makes jokes about how ‘I’ve done this before’? Because I have done this before. I have been a parent before and I have failed, all because of some stupid dream that I tried to chase!” Wilbur slowly grew more confident, standing up straight, his tone growing louder with each sentence that came out of his mouth. “I failed my son because of some stupid, idiotic dream I KNEW I could never achieve.” He snapped, his emotions rolling out of him in steady ways. All he could quietly hope was that Tallulah wasn’t here to see it.

“I see him in Tallulah sometimes.” His voice shattered, and grew more shaky, his eyes threatening to spill a waterfall of tears. “I see him when I don’t want to. And I don’t know how to stop it. Maybe that makes me a bad parent again, I don’t know.” The fox took a step back from Quackity, seemingly ready to rush out from the side of the house, into the deep abyss of the night that was creeping upon the family home that glowed a comforting yellow as a grandfather, and two children cuddled together chatting about family. “Wilbur-” Quackity didn’t know what to say. He didn’t fully understand. But clearly the understanding could wait, he wasn’t just going to stand here and watch his husband cry while doing nothing about it. “That doesn’t make you a bad parent.” He said finally, squinting at him. “You’re remembering things you don’t want to.” Quackity seemed more calm about this now, piecing the story together one bit at a time. He’d have to ask Phil about it later. “I don’t know anything about your past life, or mine, but I know that whatever happened wasn’t your fault.” Oh sweet naive Quackity. Wilbur blinked at the ground, thinking quiet thoughts. “You couldn’t be further from the truth, but I’ll accept it as I know you’re trying to be kind to me. It is appreciated.” Wilbur’s tears were starting to subside, his movements shaky as he neared closer to the small man.

Dropping to his knees harshly on the hard ground, Wilbur winced but said nothing about his pain as it was his own fault. He decided being on his knees would be easier for him to hold Quackity. Wrapping his long, lanky arms around Quackity, the fox rested his head on the other’s shoulder, closing his eyes and letting out a shuddery breath. Normally Quackity would’ve gotten offended by Wilbur’s action, but now didn’t seem like it was the time. It would never be the time. The duck swiftly hugged the fox and held him there. He would never know what this man meant, what he remembered or what he would do in the future, but he knew that in the end their little family would be okay.

“We need to go check on Tallulah.” Wilbur’s muffled voice broke the silence as they stood there, one on the ground and holding the other like they were a teddy bear. The taller man’s face still stayed buried in Quackity’s shoulder, his smell bringing the other comfort. “Let’s go then.” The duck moved a little bit, grabbing Wilbur’s hand and helping him up to his feet, the large fox tail puffing out as they moved to the house, Wilbur wincing at the pain in his knees. Quackity chuckled quietly, earning a smile from Wilbur as they entered the family home. Now imagine the most heartwarming scene of Tallulah rushing to hold her father, vowing to never let him go. Even if for a while, it’ll hurt Wilbur to think, he knew it’d pass. Besides, he fulfilled his goal. Finding his soulmate in every universe. And, his new little ray of sunshine. Tallulah would never replace Fundy, but Wilbur knew he had to move on. Life would be different now, and he was excited to see what the future held in this happy world of family, and homosexuality.