#(i am NOT tagging all the characters included in this post)

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Cool for the Summer 5

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, age gap, power dynamics, cheating, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: After finishing your degree, you return home only to find things aren’t as you left them.

Characters: Bucky Barnes

Note: merry monday.

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

You nearly plunge under the water as you tear away from Bucky’s grip. The thrum of the hot tub jets hum a low drown beneath the thumping of your heartbeat. Your thighs are hot and jittery. Your limbs feel disjointed from the rest of you. 

“Baby girl?” He purrs and reaches for you again. “Where you going?” 

You flail and twist in the water. You splash to the edge and hook your leg over gracelessly. You barely keep from flopping out onto the ground. You get your feet set and scramble away, wiping the speckle of water from your cheeks as water slakes from your shorts down your legs. 

He chuckles and the water stirs with his movement. Is he following you? You don’t wait to see as you race for the back door. 

Your adrenaline distorts the sunlight and noise of birds. You stumble inside, clinging to the door handle as your feet slip on the tile. You whimper and rush across the kitchen. You’re dizzy with confusion and fear. 

What just happened? What did he do? What did you do?! You’re just as guilty. You got in that hot tub, you let him get close, and then you... you did exactly what he accused you of. 

You stagger upstairs, so frantic you use your hands in a half-crawl on the ascent. You pump your legs and arms and charge into your bedroom. You slam the door and lean against it, panting. You close your mouth as you tamp down your breath and listen to the house. 

You don’t hear anything. You close your eyes and turn your head straight. Your clothes are wet and sopping, cooling as they stick uncomfortably to your skin. Your hand shakes as you feel along the front of your shorts. 

You slip your fingers under the mattress and your insides clench. Just the way the seam brushes against your cunt makes you squirm. You feel swollen and a bit sore. 

Oh god. You really did that. You’re not ignorant. You might be inexperienced but you’re human, you’ve been curious, and lonely. But that... 

That was wrong. Your mother’s boyfriend just watched you cum. He as good as made you himself. Then he tried to kiss you-- 

How are you going to explain all this? 

“Baby girlllll,” Bucky calls out. His voice is distant, “why’d you run away, doll? We were just getting started.” His timbre gets closer, he must be by the stairs. “Look at this mess you made. There’s water all over.” 

You hear him coming up the stairs, slow like a predator. He takes a deep breath and lets in out in a snicker. His steps clap down the hallway. 

“What am I gonna do with a dirty girl like you? Didn’t you already shower?” He clicks his tongue in disapproval. “Bad girl.” 

You whimper as he taps on the other side of your door. You cross your arms, holding yourself as a chill ripples over you. Goosebumps pinpoint over your skin painfully. 

“Hey, baby girl, we can go slow,” he jiggles the handle and you turn to grasp it, stilling his attempt to get in. “I just wanna have a look--” 

There’s a sudden honk. The little toot that comes from clicking the lock button on a key tag. You know it. It’s your mom’s car. You gulp and the tension loosens from the door handle. He sighs. 

“Shit...” the growl follows him to the opposite end of the hall. 

You hear rustling. You’re not sure what’s going on but you’re not coming out until your mom’s inside. The front door opens with the jingle of her keys and you ready yourself to run out and say everything. 

“Hey, honey,” Bucky’s voice keeps you pent up. “You’re home. Oh, be careful.” His weight creaks at the top of the stairs. “I was just about to get her to come clean that up. She wanted to try out the hot tub and think she forgot her towel.” 

What? No? He’s making it sound totally different. 

“Just been mowing the lawn,” he continues. 

“I saw that, honey,” your mom trills. “You are just the best, Bucky,” she comes up the stairs. “Oh, look at all this water.” 

You open the door, “mom! Mom, you’re home--” 

You hurry forward and she stops a few steps down to look at you. 

“Oh, sweetie, you tracked water all inside,” she tuts. 

“What? Mom--” you pause and look at Bucky. He’s dressed. A tee and jeans. His hairs a bit damp but it could just as easily be sweat... from mowing the lawn. You cringe. “Sorry, but--” 

“Oh, and why aren’t you wearing a proper swimsuit?” She reproaches. She comes up and sidles past Bucky with a whisper. He steps aside and turns to watch you over her shoulder. She gets to you and ushers you back to the room, “get changed and go find a mop.” 

“Mom--” 

“No, sweetie,” she glances back over her shoulder, “Oh, Bucky, do me a favour and put the kettle on for me.” 

“Sure, honey,” he agrees. 

She faces you again and he winks at you. Your mouth opens speechlessly. You shake your head. 

“Look, I don’t want to embarrass you,” she lowers her voice as Bucky descends. “But I can see right through that shirt.” 

You hug yourself and frown, “mom...” your lip trembles as you search her face. This looks bad but not for you. You don’t think she’ll believe you and you don’t think you would either. You’re soaking wet and a mess and he has the tan to prove his hard work. “I’ll clean it up.” 

“Alright, and if you’re gonna be in the hot tub. Take a towel.” She gives a half-smile then turns to head down to her own room. “I might just get in myself after today.” 

She disappears into her bedroom and you stare after her. Shell shocked. How did this happen? The morning is just a smear in your mind. 

You twitch as a high-pitched noise tweaks in your ear. Bucky whistles in the kitchen. He’s taunting you, mocking you. He played you like a toy, in more ways than one. 

���

You clean up the floors and do your best to avoid Bucky. Thankfully, your mom is a buffer between you. When you dry up the puddles left from your flight, you hide in your room. You don’t think that will be too suspicious; it's what you typically do. 

What isn’t usual is how your stomach bubbles like an overheated pot. You can’t get comfortable, you can’t focus, and you can barely think of anything but that morning. You retrace every step, ever word, and try to find one moment where you can’t blame yourself. 

What were you doing? You touched him, you brought him coffee, you got in that hot tub with him. You didn’t even try to push him away when he got too close. 

There’s a knock at the door just as you feel like you could doze off. It’s not a good time. Nearly six. You sit up and stare at the wood. 

“Um, hello?” You call out. 

“Sweetie, it’s mum. Bucky ordered some pad thai for dinner. Why don’t you come have some?” She asks. 

“Oh, er... I’m not very hungry,” you reply. 

“Right, but, well, I haven’t gotten to see much of you since you got back and I gotta work again tomorrow,” she counters. “If you’re not hungry, why don’t you just come out and spend some time with me?” 

You feel that pang in your chest. Not just for having neglected her but for everything else. Bucky should be focused on her, not you. What did you do to spoil that in less than a day? 

“Alright,” you relent. 

You get up and pull on a loose sweatshirt over your tee. You wear loose linen pajamas on the bottom. You open the door and your mom looks you over. 

“Oh, honey, you’re not going to wear that, are you?” 

“Are we going somewhere?” You ask. 

“No, but... Bucky’s here.” 

“Uh, yeah, okay. I’ll... I’ll meet you down there, I guess.” 

“Nothing special,” she says. “Just real clothes.” 

You nod and shut the door. You frown. She never cared as much before. 

You switch out your lounge wear for some jeans and a seersucker shirt. There’s nothing provocative about you. Never has been. 

You go down to find your mom and Bucky in the kitchen. She has a plate of noodles and a smile. “Smells, delicious, huh, honey?” She says as she passes. 

“Sure,” you agree. 

“Come here, baby girl,” Bucky drawls, his back to you, “I’ll serve you.” 

You’re mom’s already in the dining room. You drag your feet forward. He twirls noodles with a pair of tongs and piles them on a scallop-edged plate. He turns to you. 

“Not the only thing that looks delicious,” he growls in a low tone. 

You clutch the plate and your eyes round, “thanks.” 

You quickly take it and spin away, nearly spilling it on the floor. You hurry out to the table and heave shakily as you sit. Your mom waits, nails tapping on the table. 

“Don’t start until everyone’s sat,” she warns. You’re in no hurry to eat, just to be gone. 

Bucky enters with a plate of his own, “forgot this.” 

He sets a pair of chopsticks next to you. You look at them then sense someone watching you. Your mom. You eke out a thank you. 

“Well, this is nice. How long’s it been since we had a proper family dinner, boo?” She chimes. 

“Uh, yeah,” you agree and split the chop sticks. Bucky does the same, deftly perching them between his fingers. 

“Family,” Bucky hums. “Yeah, it’s nice.” 

Your mom smiles and your heart shrivels. 

“Well, I think we need to be honest with each other,” she begins. Your temples beat and your cheeks draw. You glance at Bucky. He's unbothered. “I did have a reason for asking you to come down for dinner, hon.” She looks at you. “I have a surprise?” 

“Oh?” Bucky intones. “You do. Well, looks like we’ll both be surprised.” 

“Ha, Bucky,” she grins at him. “It’s nothing special, really.” 

“A job?” He wonders. 

“If only,” she twists the noodles around her chop sticks. “But, I know that you’re looking hard, sweetie. No, it’s something that might keep you busy.” 

“Interesting,” he remarks. 

You’re nervous. If it’s not a job, maybe more chores. She would think that’s an exciting conversation. 

“A date!” She proclaims then stuffs her mouth full of noodles. 

You blink and Bucky pinches at his noodles. He takes a smaller bite and chews. You refuse to look at him. 

“A date?” You murmur. 

“Sure,” she says through her mouthful then swallows. “You’re more than old enough and I know you were so focused in school. It’s about time. And he’s a very nice boy.” 

“A nice boy? You know a lot of those, Laur?” Bucky asks. 

“Oh, come on, I’m well above his age range. No, you’ll love him, sweetie. Oh, he’s adorable.” 

“You know him well?” Bucky challenges. 

“Are you so worried? She’s young. And I know his aunt. He has a good reference,” she trills back. 

“Shouldn’t she focus on the job hunt first?” 

“Relax, she has time for both.” 

“Well... what do you think?” He directs his attention to you. 

Your eyes dart between him and your mother. He doesn’t look as calm anymore. There’s a furrow between his brows and a dimple in his cheek. You suppose any excuse is good to get some space. 

“It’s really nice of you to think of me, mom. Sure, I... I wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone,” you shrug. 

“No, you wouldn’t,” Bucky drones. 

Your mom smiles, completely oblivious to his chagrin. “Well, it’s going to be so nice. Oh, why don’t we go and buy you a new dress? That’d would be perfect.” 

Bucky hums dully and pokes at his plate. You do the same. You're not the best with strangers, and obviously, not with men. But someone your age would be easier to let down. Besides, it will get you out of the house. 

[omaano]

SW Hades AU January Update

Woohoo, look at that we have a header for the monthly updates now!

Some links and previous updates: May - June - July - August - September - October/November - December - everything else in this AU

I finally got around to not only finish Quinlan's character illustration, but also add a background, glow effect and text box to him.

I've got to say, I am very very proud and more than a little surprised at how well he turned out! Green is my nemesis of a color (that's partly why I decided to tackle Quinlan and Kit in one go - bite the bullet in one go and all that) but funnily enough all his greens are rather desaturated dark yellows (including his skin tone). Gosh, initially I'd picked those colours off of Ares, and up until I added the warmer red to the edges of the shadows on his skin I was very very terrified that I'd made a huge mistake here. (It's part of my art process, spending a significant amount of it being terrified that I messed up my colours beyond saving TT^TT) But he turned out amazing and super shiny!

Adding those snakebite piercings was also such a big brained idea (can you tell that I'm really really happy with him? XD) and this illustration is defnitely up there among my top faves with Shaak Ti.

Kit in comparison was a lot more straightforward (hah).

The foreshortening and positioning of his arms was... well. Not Fun, let's just stick with that, but I'm very good at dying on very small hills, and I'd got it in my head that I'm gonna push this pose A Bit. In the end it wasn't as much as I'd hoped for, but I did try for some exaggeration in the posing and anatomy as well. (Have you seen Ares's hands and forearms and Dionysos's thighs??)

Further SHOUTOUT and a million thanks to @hastalavistabyebye for their enthusiastic tags under all my Hades posts, and for being the genius mind behind these additional trinkets for this AU:

Fizzroot Shake for Nectar (we gotta be safe with teenagers around), and Tiingilar for Ambrosia ❤️❤️

Additional extra ramblings below the cut to save space on your dashboards:

Let's move from the trinkets back towards Kit and Quinlan last, yeah?

Fizzroot Shake and Tiingilar

It isn't as obvious with the big character illustrations as with the smaller images, but I really do have some trouble with keeping things - colours and shapes - simple. It's more obvious on small things that really cannot pack or fit in all those details, so I had to do a lot of repainting (like with the fizz fuzz foam of the shake, or the bowl of the tiingilar), and truth be told I'm still not happy. Might be that the drawing is still too detailed - but in my defense this was a wind-down project for me these past few weeks.

I have collected a few references for shapes and materials and colours from both Hades and Hades2 as you can see on the margins. I am still obsessed with the glow of Hestia's keepsake, it just glows, I love it! If I were to change a few things on these I think it would be to add some more orange/yellow to the Fizzroot Shake to offset the purple a little more (like how the purple bow balances out the very bright yellow/orange of the nectar/ambrosia), and work more black into the bowl of the tiingilar. I was thinking about adding more of that blue to it, but I wonder if even at this level there is too much of it...

Anyway, I will surely be forced to learn a lot more of this when I sit down to finish all my keepsake versions. Some of those are certainly still too detailed in their current design D:

Kit and Quinlan

I took a lot of inspiration for both Kit and Quinlan's clothing from concept art and character models from TCW. Especially for the pistols and the holsters for Quinlan's black getup that he would have worn if the Dark Acolyte storyline made it into the show, I believe.

I was also very very tempted to draw Kit wearing a really high cut swimming suit without the shorts/leggings. The ones that are cut so high they display the entirety of the hips and most of the ass as well probably? But I chickened out in the end, and stuck with a semi-see-through layer on his thighs too smh

I also try to be more intentional with my shapes in these designs. I'm not sure how I'm doing with that, but I tried for a lot of triangles with Kit. And lots of greens and orange, of course. To prove that I'm learning from those Hades style breakdown videos that I'd watched last year. So I made some notes on dominant shapes with the both of them (it was mostly triangles, and Kit also got a rectangle note as well), and to pick one bright, highlight colour while I keep the others desaturated to support that colour.

I think I did better on that front with Quinlan than with Kit. The yellow and gold of all his markings and jewelry pop real nice (and even the little "jewel" highlights of green and torqois worked so well in support of each other! I was really surprised, I generally hate adding them at the end...) and with his dark clothes, skin and hair they really support that metallic brightness even with the warmer tones worked in at the edges of shadows.

Kit on the other hand, I feel he turned out too bright and warm green, and so the orange in his vambraces and clothes don't pop that much. It lacks a bit of balance maybe. There was a time when he seemed to be too dark and desaturated a green, and that was likely the step when I got too scared to trust the process and turned up my saturation a bit too much. So I tried to work a bit of light yellow into him with that bottom lighting, and it did what it could but... oh well. I still quite like it, don't misunderstand me!

I know I sound a bit nitpicky here, but in truth I'm trying to work out what I could learn from these pieces that I might use in the next one! I'm trying to be more intentional with my work, but it doesn't come very easy to me, so working through these things in these posts do help a little. And who knows, maybe it will help someone else too :)

*

Taglist of anyone who wants to be pinged once a month for these updates <3 If you want to be added to the list send me a message, or just reply to this post (a 👀 would do, nothing fancy required ;))

@elwinged @yeehawgeek @velsayshi @lionsaint

If you want to be taken off the list just message me and I’ll take you off, no hard feelings :)

[agirlandherquill]

a little update straight from freshly dried ink

goodness me it's been a long time since i've been on writeblr - since early January I believe, and yes, it has been a long time, but I can tell you all now, with a great, big, stupidly wide smile on my face - that my time has been spent on important things, i've not just forgotten about Tumblr and let my blog go to waste (hell would freeze over before I ever let that happen),

my past month has been spent on things i couldn't update anybody about until they were done - and i can finally tell the wonderful world of writeblr that ruin's reprisal is done! final proofreads are complete (yes it did take me a long, long time to get through, but hey, juggling writing and life - especially at the start of semester 2 at uni - is an impressive skill i've been working on ever since I first found myself trying to write and I'm still learning the balance, even after years in the making) and i've got a fully finished off draft, if i can even call it that anymore, sitting in my files, and it's a day I never did think I'd get to, not considering this book has been around four years in the making, but I did it! it's done!

and another little update - truths, my little story I started on the 1st day of the year, ended up being around 3/4 complete by the end of January, which I'm very shocked about - I never thought I'd have it in me to create this story so quickly, and now that the week I took off writing it to focus solely on proofreading ruin's reprisal has finally paid off, I can get back to it! and i truly cannot wait to share more of truths and a few other things I have in store (which I'm not sharing quite yet, dear reader, you'll have to wait, but not for long, I give you my word)

but, to focus on the main point to this post - ruin's reprisal is done, which means... (insert drumroll if you will) i get to move onto the very final, polishing details - coming up with a blurb (the BANE of my existence), and more exciting things too! such as announcing a release date (soon, but tbd. ((deadlines be forgiving))) and creating a cover! (which I am both very much looking forward to and am equally terrified about) but for now, I can leave you all with a few stats about the book! Ruin's Reprisal is composed of 220,354 words, 566 pages, and 42 chapters (plus a bonus one i'm very excited about including since it's a glimpse at another character's pov during a very crucial scene - you'll understand come release, trust me :)) and who knows, there may be a little game full of teasers up my sleeve, we shall see, but for now, thank you for being a part of this journey and keeping my writing going writeblr, it means more than I could ever say to do it justice - keep writing and i'll speak to you all soon! ~ A Girl and Her Quill

~ ~ ~

now for the tag list!

(p.s if you'd like to be included/notified too, interact with this post :) p.p.s im finally getting around to updating it, so bear with me :))

@humbly-a-doppelganger @imawholeassmood @frostedlemonwriter @yrndrgn @abditorywriting

@riveriafalll @lead-to-code @casualsuitturtle @floweryprosegarden @joeys-piano

@catwingsathena @godsmostfuckedupgoblin @nothoughtsjustmhaandotherthings @anaisbebe

@drchenquill @leahnardo-da-veggie @tiredpapergirl @pastelpinkhobbies @a-mimsy-borogove @the-letterbox-archives @corinneglass @darkluminosity @kuebiko-writing

[mercutio-the-velaryon]

Okay so this was posted in the meljay tag so I'm allowed to be a bit of a cunt about it. But I am sincere in my criticisms. So, firstly I'd just like to remind you all that it is Black History Month and generally the expectation that comes with that is to maybe not regurgitate and perputuate harmful racial stereotypes the original media in itself did not include.

I will emphasise you do not have to like meljay but if you think you're doing Mel any favours by relishing in the comedy of her being unloved by the only character in the show who was sincere with her, you are not.

Now, if you were to make a comic about her falling in love with someone else, lest or sevika or an oc, there's validity in that, but that's obviously not what this is. it is explicitly not centring Mel, provides her no agency, and is actually quite a mockery of her borderline, a mammification. Now, if you don't like Mel by herself, that's fantastic. You could also just not draw her at all. Like for real.

I say this with the hope that you guys - because there are several people who think along these lines - are considerate in your approach of characters belonging to backgrounds and bodies that are unlike yours and have a distinctive and mostly horrifying relationship with media representation.

Also, tag etiquette, this does not belong in the meljay tag if it is portraying them like that.

Happy Black History Month to Mel Medarda, I guess.

Jayce and Mel

This is part 1 of a mini comic series I'm doing about Jayce and Mel break up

[djotime-allthetime]

Freaky Redheads

synopsis: interactions between you and fred hechinger at a red carpet event for gladiator ii.

wc: 2.5k+

rpf!!! don't like, don't read!!!

a/n: i love that soft, sweet, adorable man with all of my heart. my inspiration is how fred talks about sherry. the monkey. i'm down bad bro.

italics are supposed to be comments under tiktok clips of these interviews. i definitely have more in mind for these two, but we'll see how this goes. feedback is writer's fuel!

cross posted on AO3

next part>>

The flashing cameras and yelling reporters have started to become the new normal, which was so not normal for you. You couldn't believe how far you'd come.

Granted, your role in the movie was definitely more in the supporting cast territory, but you couldn't deny how massive the production was. But even as a supporting actress, you still had quite a bit of screen time as the unnamed favorite concubine to Emperor Caracalla.

The fans who knew you called out your name from behind the velvet ropes and you smiled and waved as you walked by.

"y/n! y/n! Over here!" A reporter called out. You nodded and smiled as you approached, indicating your acceptance of the carpet-side interview. Your agent had warned you that not every journalist might want to speak with you and that you should accept any interview you came by. Thankfully, as the start of your night would show, that wasn't the case.

"Hello!" You beamed, coming to a stop in front of the camera. The reporter greeted you back and handed you a microphone glued to a mini Romanesque column. "Oh, wow. I love the microphone!"

"Thank you," She smiled. With a quick glance at her blouse, you saw a name tag that said 'MTV UK: Claire'. "It was my idea, actually."

"Incredibly creative! They should give you a raise, Claire."

"If you wouldn't mind saying that directly into the camera..." Claire trailed off with a chuckle and a mischievous glint to her eye.

You shot the camera as serious a look as you could muster. "MTV, if you do not give this woman a raise, I will riot in the streets."

"Alright alright, enough of that." Claire laughed out loud with a few shakes of her head. "You look absolutely stunning!"

"Oh, this old thing?" You smiled bashfully, grabbing at your skirt to twirl it around. The styling department had made sure that all the gowns worn during press had some Roman inspiration behind them. The piece you were wearing was off white in color, representing your character's position in society. Even with your character in mind, your dress was still breathtaking. The gown was composed of yards and yards of fabric, giving it this dreamy, flowy silhouette. The neckline was so beautiful, in the cowl style and draped ever so slightly off your shoulders. To say that you loved it would be an understatement. "Thank you very much, you look amazing yourself."

"But you are on a different level!" Claire gasped, no doubt to return the topic to you. Just like you were media trained, the reporters were too. "What was the thought process behind your look tonight?"

Your eyes lit up as this was something you had wanted to talk about. "Well, the styling department and I actually workshopped this look together. Of course we wanted it to be glamorous, this is the red carpet after all. But we also wanted to show the character through the outfits, you know?" She nodded along.

"Right, your character was quite impactful even with the few lines you had." Claire added, and you smiled in thanks.

"Yeah, thank you." You felt your face heat up at the compliment. "We wanted to still be true to her, under all the glitz and glamour. So that's why we went with the understated color, to not only show her position in society but also her demeanor throughout the film."

"But your jewellery is anything but understated." She laughed.

"Yeah, I couldn't help myself." You laughed with her.

"Give us a quick tour."

You were almost dripping in gold, from your head to your toes. "We've got the hair piece." You brought a hand up to show the gold pins connected with chains littering your up-do. "Earrings upon earrings, all hoops." You pulled a strand back to show off your right ear clearly. Some were clip on earrings as you didn't have quite enough piercings to get them all. "The necklaces, of course. Some bracelets, some rings. But I think this cuff on my upper arm is my favorite."

"And these are all borrowed pieces from different brands?"

"Most of them are, yes." You confirmed with a nod. "But some are from my private collection. And some I might steal." You joked, getting a laugh out of Claire.

"Well, you really knocked it out of the park." Claire smiled, a tone of finality in her voice that showed you the interview was coming to a close. "And before we let you go, we've got one question we're asking everyone tonight. I think we can all agree that the cast of this movie is full of beautiful men." You giggled, a bit surprised at the turn in topic. "But people on the internet have separated them into two categories."

"Oh, have they now?" You asked, unaware of what she was talking about.

"Yes, they have. Gen Z has divided them into the brooding brunets and the freaky redheads." She explained, pulling up two little hand held signs. One with Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal, the brooding brunets, and the other with Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger, the freaky redheads.

You couldn't contain the surprised laugh that escaped you at the sight of their little printed faces. "Oh my goodness!"

"So, as the resident Gen Z-er on the cast, who is your pick?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm the only representation of Gen Z here." You mused as you grabbed both the signs from Claire. You lifted up the 'freaky redheads' sign and pointed to Fred. "My friend is right there with me in the Gen Z territory."

"Alright, as the representation of Gen Z women, which team is more your style?" Claire asked as you studied the signs. "People are saying they went into the movie for the brunets and came out converted to team redheads."

"That's actually really funny," You chuckled as you looked down at both signs. "This is hard." You mumbled. A small smirk found itself on your lips as you thought of Fred seeing this clip later. Someone no doubt showing it to him, as he wouldn't find it on his own. "I feel like- yeah." You nodded with determination. "I'm gonna have to go with Fred- I'm going with team freaky redheads." You nodded. "I think it would be treacherous otherwise."

"Good choice. You'd break Emperor Caracalla's heart."

"And then he'd have my head." You laughed, stepping back. "Thank you for your great questions."

"Thank you for your time." Claire waved as you walked away. "We're gonna have a tally going throughout the night, and we'll see who wins. Team brooding brunets, or team freaky redheads." You heard her say to the camera as you moved further down the carpet.

'She looks so pretty!!'

'i love the thought process behind the outfit, you can tell she really loved her character'

'the reporter asked y/n if she prefers lucius and acacius or geta and caracalla and this girl really said FRED 💀'

'i love seeing new faces in hollywood, give young new actors a chance!!' ↳ 'right?? im so sick of them recycling the same actors for every big budget movie'

'she mentioned fred, not caracalla, twice, unprompted. i see you, y/n. you're just like us.' ↳ 'have you seen his interviews? he's literally the cutest i cant blame her 🥺'

A few steps down, another reporter flagged you down. This time, the questions were more centered around the acting itself.

"And was it difficult? In a previous interview, you've said that your character's growth was significant, but she had almost no lines in the movie."

"Yeah, I think in the final cut she only has... three lines?" You winced, looking upwards as you tried to recall what was and wasn't cut. "Though I'm not sure."

"So there were scenes where she could've said more?"

"Oh yeah, for sure! There was a lot of experimentation with my character throughout filming. Ridley's a genius and he was kind enough to truly take in my suggestions. There were times where I felt like she would actually stay quiet during a scene, whereas other times I felt like she would speak up. But yeah," You breathed in and furrowed your brows in thought as you tried to focus your answer back to the original question. "It was definitely a challenge. I had to really work on my micro-expressions. Lots of research, lots of practice. And lots of trust, too. With a character like mine, I really relied on Fr- on my fellow actors in those scenes. So yeah, definitely challenging. But who doesn’t love a good challenge?"

"And did you take any inspiration from other people's work? Any source material that helped you out as you built your character?"

"Of course!" You smiled, a hint of humor in your tone as you thought of your response. "Yeah, I did. Actually, one of the biggest inspirations for my role, believe it or not, was Ferb. From 'Phineas and Ferb'."

"The- The children's show?" The interviewer questioned with a grin.

"Yeah, Ridley thought it was brilliant!" You laughed. "We watched compilations of Ferb scenes on youtube together. And I know that Fred- Fred Hechinger, who plays Emperor Caracalla-, he also brought up Sid Vicious with Ridley, as well as other sources like that. Sir Ridley Scott has great taste, there's no denying that."

'ferb as inspiration for a movie like this,,, gen z in the film industry really are the gift that keeps on giving'

'im just imagining y/n and ridley scott curled up on the couch watching phineas and ferb reruns. that man is 86 years old. this is brilliant.'

'bro didn't even have to say anything and y/n still brought up fred 💀'

'the gen z cast members making ridley scott watch cartoons is sending me'

'not her pretending she didn't mean to say fred when she talked about trust, we all heard you y/n'

Unbeknownst to you, Fred's interviews were going much like yours, only a few feet behind you on the carpet.

"You look amazing today!" Claire, the same reporter you spoke to, told Fred during his first interview on the carpet.

"Thank you, thank you." He replied bashfully as he tried to subtly look around for you, but he couldn't see you just yet. "Everyone looks so great, everyone."

She asked him a few questions and then came time for her ending segment.

"Alright, to close off, we've got a little game here."

"A game?" Fred smiled with raised brows. "I love games." He said softly, not realizing that the microphone would pick it up.

"Yes, a quick one. You just have to choose between team brooding brunets and team freaky redheads. We've asking everyone to join."

"Woah!" Fred exclaimed as he received the signs. "That's me." He pointed out his own face in the picture of him and Joseph. "What are we basing our choice on here?"

"Well, the internet is battling on who is more attractive."

"Oh my god." Fred chortled, not expecting that answer. "Who's played the game?" He asked, still examining the hand held signs.

"As of now, we've spoken to Joseph Quinn, Connie Nielsen, and y/n l/n." Claire recounted.

Fred's eyes lit up and his cheeks reddened at the mention of your name. "And what's the- what's the consensus so far?"

"It's two to one. Can you guess who's in the lead?" Claire asked.

"Let me think... Well, Joseph -my brother-, he definitely voted for us." He pondered aloud as he counted the votes off on his fingers. "Connie... I think Connie went for team brunets. I mean, it's her husband. She's gotta." He grinned when it came to you. "y/n chose me, right? We're in the lead?"

"Yeah, you're right on all counts! You really know your cast members." Claire laughed. "y/n didn't want to anger Emperor Caracalla."

"Oh, she couldn't. I’ve got too much of a soft spot for her." Fred shook his head emphatically.

"So, are you keeping team redheads in the lead? Or will you give us a tie?"

"No, I'm going team redheads!" Fred exclaimed. "I'm not helping out my competition, no way!"

'this man has bewitched me with his beautiful eyes and calming demeanor'

'he always calls joe his brother im CRYINGGG'

'did you see his face when they mention y/n, this man can't hide his crush for the life of him 🥺' ↳ 'neither can she lol'

'what do yall know about fred hechinger 🗣️🗣️🗣️'

'fred immediately knowing that y/n chose him, kill me right now.' ↳ 'mind you the choice was caracalla. she still said 'fred' and he said 'me'. can they be more obvious?'

'the way this man said 'i love games' protect him at all costs'

‘he said ‘i’ve got a soft spot for her’ is this the year of men yearning?’ ↳ ‘it’s just the paul mescal effect’

It was during his next interview that he saw you. He was talking about his experience building the character of Emperor Caracalla with Sir Ridley Scott as well as Joseph Quinn when he finally caught sight of you. You had spent a bit longer with a specific reporter down the carpet, causing Fred to catch up to you. 

“Of course, y/n was a great help as well.” He smiled, reaching over to brush against your elbow to catch your attention. At the perfect time, too, because you had just finished talking to the reporter in front of you.

“Oh, Fred!” You beamed, coming over to give him a hug. 

“Look at you.” Fred spoke against your shoulder. He pulled away from the hug and brought you into his side in front of the camera, almost like he was showing you off. “Look at her, isn’t she stunning.”

“Stop it,” you rolled your eyes as you tried your best not to show how his compliment affected you. “I’m sorry for interrupting, I just had to say hello.”

“No worries,” the reporter reassured you. “Fred was actually saying how you helped with the building of his character.”

“Yeah, we worked really closely during pre-production actually.” You nodded, acutely aware of Fred’s hands on you. He had one hand casually tucked into his pocket while his other arm draped across your waist, his hand resting against your hip. “My character was almost like Caracalla’s sidekick, so the motives for all her actions are really based around him.”

“I’d argue that she was more of a mirror, actually.” You turned to look at Fred, never passing up an opportunity to hear his view on these things. “She’s the complete opposite of Caracalla, but in a way she represents who he truly is under all the pressure of being in Geta’s shadow.”

“And under all the syphilis, of course.” You added, causing Fred to giggle.

“Yeah, and under the syphilis.”

‘he seems like such a sweet guy 🥺’

‘did you see his face when he saw her???  😫😫😫 theyre in love, your honor’

‘him showing her off like that is peak soft boyfriend behavior’

‘they just called me single in seven different languages’

‘his laugh is actually so cute, who is this man and why am i in love with him? 😍’ ↳ 'get in line' ↳'behind y/n, you mean?'

‘the way he’s touching her???? im just gonna go take a nap in front of an oncoming train’

‘im calling it, new hollywood it couple’

‘look at how he looks at her!!! may this love find me 🙏’

[ind1c0lite]

(Basic context is that AU of Duel Desinties where the phantom impersonates Phoenix to get him found guilty of Clay's murder, I talk more under the cut abt it jkhlj)

-Basically meant to be a parallel to turnabout trump, cause if you can have ONE boss get found guilty of murder, why not a second one?

-OK basically: everything in DD happens normally until like- a day before clays murder, Phoenix gets yoinked by the phantom somehow (he is still alive, just being held captive), Phantom is still Fulbright, but they've decided to be silly goofy (target Phoenix and get him found guilty of murder, escape police custody and then murder phoenix and make it seem like Phoenix accidentally died while on the run, thats why they didn't kill phoenix right away unlike the real Fulbright) there is an imposter amo-

-I dont have the logistics as to how this affects solving Metis's murder, and how it effects what evidence is used n whatnot and turnabout for tomorrow as a whole, so im just going nuts HGJKHLJ

-Originally I was actually imagining this taking place during turnabout for tomorrow and I wanted that case to be apollo v klavier instead of phoenix and edgeworth and thats why klav is in here instead of Simon (I decided that Simon got badly injured and couldn't stand in court for the retrial, so klavier was asked to step in)

-The courtroom bombing still happens the same way it does normally, but Apollo decides to take up the case again instead of taking a leave, instead of like, you know, healing from the traumatic event that just happened, turnabout countdown still happens as well

-Apollo and Athena do not find out about the phantom's existence until well after this trial, so they have no idea that Phoenix could've possibly been replaced, though simon, after hearing about the trial, might be suspicious about whether or not that was the real Phoenix

-The Phantom had been not only keeping an eye on Simon for a while, but was also stalking Phoenix and Edgeworth after they both started looking into UR-1, so they were able to impersonate phoenix so well that not even his own daughter thought that anything was up (though while Trucy did find him a *little* bit off, but she figured that it might've been the bombing that caused him to act ever so slightly weird, so she didn't pay much mind to it until she heard about his confession in court and realized it might've been because he possibly, ya know, killed someone)

-it's pretty much just switching Athena being framed for murder with Phoenix, and instead of the trial ending on a cliffhanger, it continues on (probably with Klavier insisting on it) ending with soloman being found innocent and Phoenix being declared guilty

-There's a couple days inbetween the end of the cosmic turnabout and the start of turnabout for tomorrow, so Athena, Apollo and Trucy all get a little bit to process the fact that "oh god my boss/my dad killed someone" (simons execution date is pushed back a bit in this au) and they probably get to talk with Klavier and eventually a lil bit with Simon after he gets out

-Im not sure how it all winds down in turnabout for tomorrow (Phoenix escaping and being at large is basically the perfect cover for the phantom to resume being fulbright for that trial) but they do eventually realize that the phoenix who confessed wasn't the real one and now there's a search on going to find out where the real one is being held captive, hes fineeee just ready to take a week long nap and a good vacation (along with every other waa member)

-I dont have anything else to add on rn but if you want to add something or just throw in a scenario feel free to!! this idea has been bouncing around my head for like a month now and Im very happy to finally show yall it

[llumimoon]

Hehehe this was a great way to draw some characters I don’t draw as often! <3

[kumakuma-circus]

follow-up to this post with an important amendment: eevee wild cards.

persona q more like persona v(ee)-

[tea-cat-arts]

"Wwx wouldn't wear high heels or mini skirts-" some of you are wildly underestimating what wwx would do for the bit

[seaweedstarshine]

Hi! Long time no yap but I've been really bothered by this thing and I know you're just the person I can go to with this (even if we don't always end up agreeing at times).

I got into a tiff with someone in a comments section of a post that was about Amy (Which character do you think deserved to become a villain? or something similar). They brought up Amy's abuse of her boyfriend. I may have tried to defend Amy (key word is tried. I am officially rubbish at debating) but then I may have said something? Because they said that I (and apparently a lot of other fans) was excusing Amy's abuse because of her trauma. It got me stumped because isn't young Amy's treatment of Rory rooted in her trauma? Did I miss the memo where we separate trauma and abuse? Am I missing something?

That statement bothered me a lot because if there's one thing I never want to do it's defend an abuser. So here I am, humbly asking and hoping to clear the muddy waters.

Your really confused and disturbed moot, Tia 💌

TIA!!!!! Thanks for the ask 💌 , and I send you all the hugs.

Discussion of abuse, trauma, ableism, infidelity, and unhealthy relationship dynamics beneath the cut.

(First off… while I really appreciate your faith in my explaining skills <3 <3 <3 my passion for traumatized characters and mentally ill+neurodivergent rights doesn't make me especially qualified to fully clear muddy waters especially not knowing the full context, but I feel you, and what follows is my informed perspective!)

Speaking generally first, harm done in media is best examined by the impact on the audience, with a different lens than harm done to real people. While relatable experiences in media can be useful and validating and incredibly important, you can’t be “defending an abuser” when the abuse is fictional. It's actually normal for traumatized/ND/mentally ill people to project onto mentally ill villains, when villains are the only significant representation for those stigmatized symptoms in a media landscape that excludes and demonizes us simply for existing. RTD can't stop people who hallucinate from reclaiming the Master's Drums and projecting onto the Master, for example — 90% of the best Doctor Who psychosis fic by psychotic authors is about the Master, whether RTD likes it or not. It's not true crime.

(This is speaking generally. Amy Pond is very much not the Master.)

Abuse is a behavior, and there can be many reasons for it, but reasons based in trauma don’t make it not abuse (some forms of generational trauma can propagate abusive parenting styles, when the parent thinks abusive parenting is normal, or lives entirely vicariously through their child). This absolutely should not be taken to mean trauma correlates with abusive behavior; rather that abusive behaviors from traumatized people are more likely to present in specific ways.

Abuse is also a targeted behavior, based in control — not consistently displayed C-PTSD symptoms as seen in Season 5 Amy Pond through many aspects of her life. Mental health symptoms don't become abuse just because they hinder one partner from meeting the other partner's needs. Any life event can do that.

Without knowing the context of the arguments, this is the aspect of their relationship I've seen you talk about before (which I also feel strongly about), and what I assume is what you were debating? So, here I will talk specifically in regard to Season 5.

We all know Amy — she's never attached to Leadworth because she never wanted to leave Scotland, no steady therapist because none of them stick up for her, can't stick with one job yet her first choice is a job that simulates intimacy because her avoidant behavior (a known trauma response) isn't sustainable to her wellbeing. Rory knows her fears of commitment stem from her repeated abandonments, it’s why he’ll always wait for her, and it's why he blames the Doctor “You make it so they don't want to let you down.”, who apart from having caused a lot of her trauma, has actively taken advantage of her being the “Scottish girl in the English village” who's “still got that accent,” because he wants to feel important, so yeah, I think interpreting Amy's issues (and how Amy and Rory transverse them) as Amy abusing Rory indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of their relationship, as well as a misunderstanding of the (raggedy) Doctor’s role in Amy’s formative self-image (which of course she works through in Season 6, but I am sticking to Season 5).

Abuse is always based in control. That just doesn’t fit here. While Amy's detachment from her real life includes things like calling Rory her “kind of boyfriend” (which she is upfront about to his face; differing commitment levels isn't abuse, though it can be a relationship red flag for both parties IRL) — her Season 5 disregard of Rory’s feelings occurs only in response to the fairytale embodiment of her trauma. It's never a response to Rory; it's a response to the Doctor, who stole her childhood and led her by the hand to her death. She cheats on Rory with the Doctor in her bedroom full of Doctor toys, drawings, models, she made from childhood to early adulthood.

(And yes, like many repeatedly-traumatized people, Amy is prone to being sensitive and reactive. Take her “Well, shut up then!” line in The Big Bang; but given Rory responds to this by hugging her, clearly he doesn’t take it as her actually dismissing him. He knows her better than that.)

And by no means do I meant to imply this is fair to young Rory, poor Rory, who's left struggling with the feeling that his role in her life is in competition with the role of her trauma (aka the Doctor). But not every unhealthy relationship dynamic is unhealthy because of abuse. Labelling Amy's treatment of Rory in Season 5 more accurately isn't the same as excusing her harmful choices — but making mistakes is part of being human, Amy's mistakes are certainly understandable, and she works through them out of love for Rory.

If there's one thing to say about Moffat women, it's that Moffat allows his female characters the same grace that the male characters *coughTENcough* have always had, to hurt and struggle and make realistic mistakes and overcome those mistakes and to heal without being demonized.

Amy isn't perfect, but she is a fully realized character, and her story gives us a resonant depiction of childhood trauma.

[billxharry]

Things I would pay any sum of money to have released since there's a 99.99999% chance Cher is talking about Stellan, Colin and Pierce here yes?

[hunter-sylvester]

Hunter's Drawings

I wish I had a better screenshot of the ones hanging on the wall in the last picture but they really don't get shown very well.

[murmurmurl]

a modern human au where nothing bad ever happenned to them and they got to grow up together. I am making myself cry with this chat

[sidesteppostinghours]

posts that took me 6 months to finish making. so anyway,

its too late in the night for me to be coherent about this but

"I don't distrust you," he admits since you've gone silent. "You're allowed to be here." He feels guilty. Guilty over how he's been treating you, but also over how things turned out.

"I take that as you've done some things you regret." "Many." Her brows draw together. "And some I blame myself for, even though I know I shouldn't."

There's more here. You can feel it simmering under the surface. He looked away last time. It couldn't be that bad, could it? He could have, he should have…[i]not this time.[/i]

"I feel like I actually got a chance to move on now that you're back in my life. I don't want to be the marshal that messed up and got half ${his} team killed; I want to change. But it's…hard. Harder than I thought."

"Good." The laughter sounds genuine. "I'd hate it if that part still showed."

thinking about fhr and second chances. about characters that live and make mistakes and regret and have to move on anyway. and maybe they do, or maybe they dont. thinking about how it reflects on sidestep, on all different versions of sidestep, and the ways they can handle their rebirth. thinking about sidesteps that try to fix things with the people theyve hurt, or find new people to help when they cant make it up to the people they need to. about steps that have to bury their regrets to have their new lease on life, and the ones who manage to lock up the skeletons in the closet vs the ones who still have the past hounding at their heels wherever they go.

theres the way it all interacts with eachother too. like, take argent, for example, somebody who cant afford to do anything but move on and hope that she can still be better this time around as a matter of survival. compare that with herald, that lived his life constantly thinking about the needs of others and so has to apologize for every minute problem he might have caused. or chen, who has such an understated self-loathing for the mistakes hes made in one lifetime and yet reaches the same conclusion of pushing aside his guilt so it doesnt crush him, so he can Get Things Done. ortega and mortum are different in the way they approach regrets too, where mortum cynically accepts it as part of life and ortega has to find literally any way they can make it right.

just like. man. fhr is a story about regret, huh.

also have a bonus hg quote from the 4.2 about it because it literally inspired this insanity and itd feel wrong not to include it LMFAO

[i]The arms around you pull you into a hug as you try to think. Smother you in caring and worry. Loss. Fear. Not letting you go. Not this time. Not again.

FUCKED UP SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS!!!! TO ME!!!!!!

[suolainensilakka]

Had a stressful day and then spent the rest of the evening making a compilation of Terra eye closeups to cope. Did not even remotely help with making me feel more normal but at least now I have much more extensive and obvious comparisons of his ffucking enormous prettyboy disney princess lashes oh my god what is his ISSUE

[lakesbian]

i was gonna make a joke about scrabbling at my keyboard while my pr team attempts to drag me away to prevent me from making a serious post considering the matter of whether or not rose thorburn junior jerks off but this is the same account where i posted a 1k+ word long analysis of blonde wildbow characters ranked by likeliness to have a piss kink so we all know i don't have a pr team