#I'll miss this show if season 5 is the last

[quillandrapier]

Do you think they'll tell us if it's the last season of Ghosts before it comes out or will we find out after it airs? I just hate to be unprepared.

[skydaemon]

so wwdits ended

[choccorin]

lovers quarrel

tags. hurt / comfort, sakura haruka x gn!reader

you've been ignoring sakura because of the argument you both had two days ago. he missed out on your date, again. this is the third time this happened in your relationship of 5 months, sure, it wasn't a big deal but for you it is.

the two of you are busy students, he's busy at furin and you're busy with your school works. you can rarely hangout these days due to it being exam season, both of your schedules were packed.

you were so excited that day, you waited at the cafe you both planned to meet at but after two hours, he still didn't show up. you tried calling him, no answer, you tried contacting his friends, also no response. you went home after waiting for three hours, you felt embarrassed because the staff kept checking up on you, so you just left.

you understand that he has things to take care of back at furin but can't he make some time for you, even just a day? you're both still new to relationships, in fact, this is your and his first relationship. you start doubting yourself if getting into one was a good idea, you love him — you're sure of that. and he loves you too, but can the both of you maintain a relationship with little to no experience?

these questions cloud your mind while you're walking back to your apartment, you halt when you see him outside, standing and looking down, he's drenched in the rain. what is he doing here, you ask yourself. don't tell me he's walked here, in this weather?!

“sakura .. ” you call out to him

he lifts his head and looks at you, his eyes are glimmering with hope. he looks tired, the dark circles forming under his eyes say so. are you the reason for them?

you hesitantly walk towards him, “why did you walk here while it's raining? idiot.” you mumble that last word, looking away from his gaze.

“ah, s-sorry.. i was in a hurry to talk to you.. ” his voice is trembling — he sounds like he's about to burst into tears.

you sigh, “ get in first. ”, you unlock your door, letting him in.

“i'll bring a towel, wait here. ”

“(y/n), can we please talk? .. please.” he's pleading you, you've never heard him like this before.

you stop walking, only glancing at him from behind since you're still upset with him.

“fine, talk.” your voice sounds cold and sakura doesn't like that.

“listen. i .. ”, he breathes in, “i'm sorry. i didn't mean to bail on you, it was just that a lot of things happened like a gang was threatening to hurt the town an-”

“just forget it, what's done is done.”

“but i-”

“there's no point in apologizing, sakura!” you wince, that came out harsher than you expected.

the silence in the room felt like a heavy weight crushing you, almost suffocating. both of you were just standing there — waiting for the other person to speak up, but there was nothing. only the sound of the rain .. and sniffles.

he's crying.

you turn around to face him, he's looking down but you can tell he's crying his heart out. his shoulders and hands were trembling, you felt guilty yelling at him.

“haruka, i'm sorry! i was just upset and-” you scramble your words, trying to explain your side to make him stop crying but he cuts you off.

“no. you're right, there's point in apologizing. it's my fault for missing another date and i .. i know i mess up a lot but just please, please don't leave me.” he holds your hands, tears streaming down his face, “i can't go on without you, you've made me the happiest guy in the world in just a few months and-”

you pull him into you, hugging him as tightly and gently as you can, “i'm not leaving you, you idiot. why would you think that.. ”, your voice is shaking, you were crying now too.

he hugs you back, “please don't let me go .. ” sakura mumbles against your neck, hugging you tighter — afraid that you'll let him go.

you kiss his forehead, holding him tighter against you — not caring about his drenched clothes, “i won't hakura, i promise. ”.

both of you stay like this for a couple of minutes, melting in each others hold. but your mind snaps out of it when you feel your clothes getting wet, you wipe your tears away. telling him that he needs to change or else he'll catch a cold, you full him into your bathroom, ignoring his protests, and leave him there to get new clothes, a t-shirt and short that the left at your place just in case.

you tell him that once he gets changed, both of you will talk properly and fix this, even if you two have little to no experience in relationships.

n. this is so bad but i needed to get something off my mind so here's this.

t. @kyoghurts, hi again, i hope u don't mind me posting another sakura fic >_<

[shurisasthmaticgf]

wait a damn minute: max verstappen x black fem! reader

summary: in the midst of the biggest worldwide IT outage you realize your name has come up at the worst time possible

author's note: i wrote this on friday when the entire thing happened, i thought i posted it but turns out it was camped out in my drafts still. this is my first max fic so i hope it's an enjoyable read! feedback and comments are always appreciated and highly encouraged, i like to know what you all think of my work!

warnings: google translated dutch

the hungarian grand prix was only days away and you couldn't wait to surprise your boyfriend with a visit. it killed you to miss his races but you'd recently been promoted to a new position in your company which required more days in office than remote. you'd managed to balance work and personal life pretty well but when you weren't missing due to your new job, you had something else happen last minute. finally, after weeks of working long hours on end in an office, you were in the clear to start remote working more frequently.

you managed to clock out of work right on time so the minute the clock hit 6:00 pm, you were logging out and grabbing your already packed bag. one of your coworkers passed by you in the elevator, he was the only one around your age in the entire department so immediately you both clicked. he lightly bumped you with his shoulder and commented, "three side profiles and a headshot or selfie." you furrowed your brows in confusion and he clarified, "photo requests for my husband of course." the two of you burst into laughter as you teased, "was the autographed photocard not enough for you, théo? i even decorated it and put it in a holder for your desk." the young man smiled fondly thinking of the small 3x4 inch card that sat on the corner of his main monitor. he brushed one of his locs from his face and dramatically sighed, "fine i won't be pushy...i only want the selfie." you shook your head and refused with a chuckle, "i'm not asking toto wolff for a selfie, théo." your coworker let out a fake sigh of disappointment and lightly pushed you in the other direction as you parted ways to your cars. you laughed and called out, "i'll see what i can do, no promises though!" his face lit up and he blew your air kisses before calling out a goodnight.

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

just thinking about seeing your boyfriend racing again brought butterflies to your stomach. although he was doing well this season a few problems had cost him a few wins here and there. fans had jokingly mentioned that you not being at races was the cause of the missed first place wins because coincidentally, every race you've ever attended, max has won exactly that. for weeks fans have asked about your whereabouts and you'd practically ghosted them simply because you were working so much. you were known as one of the more down to earth f1 WAGs who had no problem interacting with fans in person and over social media. so you suddenly not showing up for max and not interacting with people online made them wonder what was going on with you during the past few weeks. now that work had chilled out, you were happy to be back online again, and even happier to be able to make it out to hungary this weekend.

the moment you stepped into your apartment you made a beeline for your bedroom to change out of your professional clothes. you snatched a pair of scissors, a spray bottle, conditioner, a towel, a comb, and a crumpled up paper bag and cozied up on the couch with shrek queued on the tv. you sprayed your head with the warm water in the bottle and spread a glob of conditioner all over the roots of your hair. you pulled one of your braids forward and snipped the end before unraveling it and picking out whatever knots formed in the 6 weeks your hair had been tucked away. thankfully this time it didn’t take too long to get your braids out, only 3 hours compared to the usual 5 when you didn’t have your boyfriend’s help.

right as the last strands of synthetic hair slipped out of your own curls, your phone rang the familiar tune and a picture of your boyfriend flashed on your screen. a warm smile spread across your face as his camera turned on to show face. you braided you hair on each side to get it out of your face as you spoke, “hi my love how was your day?” he rolled over to his side and grumbled sleepily, “long, usual press day so you know how that goes.” you frowned slightly, “i wish i was there with you today.” max hummed and admitted, “i do as well. but your work is more important so i can deal with this.” you watched as his eyes lingered on your face and you giggled while moving out of the frame shyly, “stop looking at me like that.” although it was dimly lit in hotel room you could see the light pink tint to his cheeks as he smiled, “i can’t admire my lovely girlfriend?” he yawned mid sentence and you insisted, “as much as i love talking to you i know you’re tired and you need to go to sleep. so i’ll talk to you tomorrow, yeah?” he sleepily agreed and murmured, “welterusten mijn liefste.” you blew him a kiss and whispered softly, "goodnight baby." [goodnight, my love]

instead of heading straight to sleep you chose to wash your hair rather than waiting until the morning to do so. the flight you managed to snag last minute to hungary was set for tomorrow evening and you hadn't packed anything. not wanting to get onto a plane with a damp head of coils, you decided to just deal with it tonight. the entire process didn't take as long since you were speeding through just so you could sleep. by the time you were done it was around 2 AM and you were more than happy with the results. a dozen thick twists hung past your shoulders until you wrapped them up into a scarf and covered them with your bonnet to head to bed.

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

when you woke up in the morning you noticed your phone had over 50 missed calls, messages, and emails. your mind conjured up the worst possible thoughts as you called your boyfriend to see what was the matter. max answered on the first few rings and you anxiously stammered, "baby? maxie? what's going on are you okay? where are you?" on the other line max answered clearly confused on what you were talking about, "schat? i am fine, i'm heading to the track. nothing is wrong here, what are you talking about?" you started to calm down realizing that he was fine but you responded, "i thought- didn't you blow up my phone early this morning? i was worried something happened and-" your boyfriend interjected with a calm tone, "y/n, i promise you nothing is the matter-"

an incoming call from théo, your coworker cut max off and you spoke up, "i'm sorry i think it's work related because théo is calling me." max let out an annoyed sound and you laughed, "i don't get why you don't like him." max scoffed, "he is too touchy and handsy with you." there was a playful groan, "oh god here you go- max, we've been over this. théo is a 27 year old gay man from san francisco who's convinced he's princess diana's reincarnate. he's the least of your worries okay?" max conceded, "okay fine i guess...but i still have my eye on him." another call from théo interrupted your conversation and you added, "but he's blowing up my phone so i need to see what's wrong. i'll talk to you later okay?" max agreed and bid you goodbye before hanging up the phone.

meanwhile you answered théo's call and he was literally running through what looked like the parking garage of his high rise. he panted, "you- you nee-...oh god i'm out of shape- you need to get up right now.. i'll be there to pick you up in fifteen minutes so be ready downstairs." you looked around confused and your coworker/ friend explained, "there's some massive outage or something happening. i know we had off today but they're calling the entire office in to see if we can figure it out." you were already climbing out of bed and you pressed for more information, "what do you mean an outage?" théo shrugged and wiped sweat from his brow as he tried to make himself look less winded, "i dunno i was thinking a breach or something? whatever it is we'll find out but we gotta go right now babes." you hurriedly grabbed an outfit from your closet and started to get dressed and ready to go, keeping him on the line.

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

when you finally managed to get to his car, théo pointed to your phone and told you, "check twitter too, the fans are making jokes that you did something to the platform." despite having no idea what the hell he was talking about you opened twitter to see the flood of tweets under your name on the trending topics list. a pit formed in your stomach and you nearly fainted when you realized what he was talking about. you were completely new to this job and panic coursed through your veins on the thought of losing everything you worked hard for. the look of panic drew a laugh from your best friend and coworker as he jested, "they're funny aren't they?!" you shook your head and nearly shouted, "no it's not i'm gonna get fired!" théo waved off your concern, "girl the issue is definitely not from you and nobody thinks so. besides, dante from marketing and eleni from HR were sending the funny ones to our group chat...not that this isn't serious but just to make light of a shitty situation you know?" you shifted in your seat unsure how to feel and he promised, "i guarantee it's fine."

when you actually got to work with théo you were pulled into a meeting where you all were briefed about the situation. they clarified that they knew it was an issue with an update that was sent out early in the morning. after the meeting your boss told you that he knew you weren't supposed to be working today but you did need to stay and potentially over the weekend as well to help your team mitigate the issue as much as you all could. despite it being a global issue and not directly an issue from the monaco office, you knew that he meant he needed you there to help deploy the solution when it came through. he let you have a fifteen minute break to rearrange your travel plans and make the cancellations you needed before having you start work.

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

the work day ended later than usual, the later hours were spent at your home office while you were on meetings with other people on your team. luckily you were able to catch up with the results of max's first and second practice sessions through peeking at live updates while you worked. when you got the okay to clock out, you nearly fell asleep on your desk but waking back up when your boyfriend's ringtone jump scared you.

you kept your head on the desk as you opened the video call, "hey you." max's features softened when he noticed the look of exhaustion on your face, "it was that bad huh?" you gave a silent thumbs up and sighed, "i wish it didn't happen...i was so excited to come surprise you and finally be there to see you again. i'm sorry i can't make it work." max rushed to your defense, "er zijn nog genoeg andere races over in het seizoen, je kunt in plaats daarvan naar die races komen kijken." you let out an annoyed groan, "i know but i wanted to be there this time. now you'll have bad luck." max chuckled at the mention of the running joke of you being his lucky charm, "it's alright. don't worry your pretty little head about me. now come on let's go to sleep, i know you're tired." you shuffled your feet against your bedroom floor as you took your phone with you to get ready for the night. [there are plenty of other races left in the season, you can come and watch those races instead.]

as you lay in bed with your lights off max asked, "did you see they asked me about you today?" you hummed a soft, "nuh uh." he smiled at the memory and explained, "i was in an interview and they mentioned that your name was trending on twitter and asked if i saw it. i only saw that your name was trending but i didn't see what for so they told me fans made jokes that you crashed the mercedes, mclaren, and williams servers so that i could win this weekend." a sleepy smile crossed your lips and you asked, "what'd you say?" he turned over in his bed and answered, "i told them it wasn't you because you don't make mistakes in your work. you're too good at what you do. also that you aren't the one that sends out the updates so people don't need to use your name in a bad light." you grinned wider already knowing what he was going to say, "and how did that go over?" max let out an sigh and small chuckle, "the guys have been making fun of me all night for it." you let out the loudest laugh max has heard from you in weeks making him somewhat more fine with getting teased by his friends.

your laughter subsided and you told him, "tell me about something interesting." max thought for a moment then started rambling on about the geologic history of the netherlands, watching as your eyes started to droop with the passing minutes. falling asleep with your boyfriend still on the phone became a habit especially in the early days of you dating. but now you were spending more time with him that occurrences like this just started happening once more, leaving you missing his presence at night. as for now, this was the best you could get.

‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

the end.

[lukolabrainrot]

The "Boyfriend" Pics of L on N's IG

I thought we needed a little good energy after the week we had. So I have compiled all the "boyfriend" pics of L on N's grid from this year. I might have missed some, and I didn't include the pics of any of the promo shoots (except one from Milan because it had a vibe). But there are soooo many photos of L on her grid. The man is ALLL over her page. Yes, some of that is due to the fact that they were promoting the show. However, all of these particular images below have a very certain energy... I'll talk more about my thoughts on these pics at the end.

N posted on her grid 4-29-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 5-3-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 5-11-24 (Italy stop of the WT)

N posted on her grid 5-16-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 5-17-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 5-19-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 5-30-24 (Brazil stop of the WT)

N posted on her grid 6-2-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 6-10-24 (Ireland stop of the WT)

N posted on her grid 6-11-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 6-18-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 7-4-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 7-16-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)

N posted on her grid 8-22-24 (Bridgerton Season 3 BTS)-> This is the same pic from the polaroid above from 5-16-24, just a different pose, which I found interestingggg 🤔

Alright, here are my thoughts/theories:

We know photos are one of N's love languages, and she communicates through them. L WAS NEVER GOING TO BE POSTING A BUNCH OF PICS OF N ON HIS GRID RN. For LOTS of different reasons. However, these type of pics started popping up at the end of April, which is when the WT really started picking up. I think N was using these types of pics to communicate with us on her feelings for L, and how she sees him. She wanted us to see him through HER lens (if that makes sense). These photos signal trust, comfort, love, joy, silliness, safety, connectedness/intimacy etc. Regardless of the public optics of what was going on, N wanted us to know that she and L have a very special connection 😍

She also doesn't have pics like this of ANYONE else on her grid this year (I haven't looked through her whole grid, so I don't know about posts from before this year, except that one of her and L after his play that blew up lol). Now yes, like I mentioned, a lot of the pics N has of L on her grid from this year is Bridgerton Season 3 promotional material, but there was something different about these photos. I have a lot of theories on why N decided to post these, but this is what I will say. I think these photos served as a message that things were changing for L/N BTS during the WT, and tbh, I think she wanted to show him off on her grid 😉 She just did it by hiding behind Polin and the tour, so there was plausible deniability.

I also found it VERY interesting that L seemed fine with N posting all these specific photos the last few months, but A could only post his freaking hand. This could have been for a lot of different reasons, but I just find it very interestingggg 🤔 I just feel like I know who has L's heart, and hint, it's not 🐜.

Also, some of these photos were actually taken with a camera that L gifted TO N, so he knows how important photos are to her, and that it is one of the ways she communicates and shows her love 🤔

Lastly, ALL of these photos are still on N's grid. Just saying...

[carryonthroughtheages]

Carry On Through the Ages 2024 Masterlist

COTTA is a Simon Snow fandom event where content creators celebrate their love of history along with their love of Snowbaz. We had open posting this past week, and I am so excited to see the incredible content everyone came up with!

Here's a handy list of contributions:

Fanfiction:

(You can also view our collection over at AO3 here)

"give them hope, give them strength, give them life" by @wellbelesbian (Tumblr post) Rated M, Chapters 2/2 posted, late 20th century AU.

A look into Simon and Baz's life through the years. Set after Shoulder To Shoulder, Hand To Hand (from COTTA 2023).

"Fin de siècle" by @ninemagicks (Tumblr post) Rated T, Chapters 1/5 posted, a turn-of-the-20th-century AU.

It's 1900, and as one century is set to be put to rest, its successor seems destined for a treacherous start. T. Basilton Grimm-Pitch, famed Book Keeper, spends his days repairing magickal texts infected by a rampaging spell-chewing malaise. When he receives a knock at the door late one night, he allows a stranger to slip into his life whom it might prove difficult to ever be rid of... ...Simon Snow, naturally, is no ordinary customer. He couldn't tell you the last book he read if his life depended on it, for one thing. The other thing is that he's really a thief, and one on a mission. No magickal bookshop or much-maligned Book Keeper is safe...

"The Bishop's Escape" by @run-for-chamo-miles (Tumblr post) Rated M, Chapter 1/1 posted, medieval era AU

Simon and Baz find a connection. Then, they try to hold onto it. Baz has to battle the conformist voices in his head, and Simon needs some time before he’s ready to open up about his past.

"My Favorite Things" by @run-for-chamo-miles (Tumblr post) Rated T, Chapter 1/1 posted, 1960's AU

1965; Simon gets Baz tickets to a show at ABC Theatre.

"In Truth" by @fiend-for-culture (Tumblr post) Rated M, Chapters 3/12 posted, Regency era AU

A Regency Era AU in which the long absent Tyrannus Basilton makes a reappearance in society at the start of London's Social Season much to the thrill and torment of his former roommate one Simon Snow.

Fanart:

“Spit it out Pitch, I know you’re plotting something!” by @alexalexinii (Film Noir)

"An old photograph" by @ic3que3n (inspired by a vintage photograph)

"Hostis Humani Generis" by @lamentable-comedy (Pirates!)

"Soda Jerk" by @rimeswithpurple (Norman Rockwell inspired, 1950's)

"A Prophesied Rivalry" by @iamamythologicalcreature (Ancient Egyptian AU, collab with @monbons)

"Baz and the Prophecy" by @monbons (Ancient Egyptian AU, collab with @iamamythologicalcreature)

Thank you everyone for a truly phenomenal event!

And a huge thank you to @bazzybelle for creating this fandom event in the first place. Thank you so much for trusting me with this <3

See you again next year for COTTA 2025!

(If I missed anything in this list, please let me know! And if you submit something after this goes up, lmk and I'll edit your entry in. Cheers!)

[mongrel-mage]

A Spoiler-free review of Edge of Sleep

Fucking incredible. Like...9/10 and the only reason I say so is because there were only 6 20-ish minute episodes and I wanted the show to be longer and give us more backstory on the characters and such. It'll be a bit longer of a post, but rest assured that there are no spoilers under the link.

Main differences from the podcast, but still minor: the character of The Trespasser does not feature in the show, nor do Dave's story about the Moobles and the ensuing hallucinations he describes. However, I was satisfied with how they used the information from The Trespasser's subplot in the actual TV show, and there was a little reference to him at the beginning of Episode 5 that made me smile, so I'm really not that fussed about those things being missing.

I'm going to take a minute to rave about Eve Harlow, who plays Linda. What a goddamn POWERHOUSE of an actress, honestly. Perfect casting. She nailed a character who is tough as iron, focused, determined, and intelligent without making Linda come across as unnecessarily cold or unlikeable--I'll go so far to say that Linda was my favorite character (by a slim margin, but still there). Eve Harlow has an incredibly expressive face and eyes that convey complex emotions without relying on the same few expressions or overacting what she's feeling. I really want to see her get some sort of awards or accolades for her performance because she carried damn near all of her scenes.

Let's talk about Mark. I already knew that he could act well because I'd watched his other projects, but most/if not all of them have at least some level of comedy, humor, or character who lightens the mental load at least a little bit. We all know that he's a giggly bitch and likes to have fun, and there's nothing wrong with that. That said, I'm comfortable saying that Edge of Sleep is easily his most ambitiously dramatic project--there was a lot of raw stress, grief, anger, and pain that Dave Torres went through, and I was impressed at how well Mark portrayed it. It's obvious how much he tries and how hard he cares; it's so clear that this wasn't some celebrity vanity project. You can really feel the love and the energy and the care that he put into this, and I was, like I said, impressed at his range as a drama/horror actor. There were some moments and expressions he had in the show (namely in the first episode, when the people at the party are giving Dave a hard time about his sleep disorder and past episodes) that hit me unexpectedly hard. Amazing performance, Mark. I'm proud of you.

I also want to take another moment to rave about the makeup and hair department. Standing ovation. The gradual increase of the characters' exhaustion and general levels of dishevelment (the thing that stuck with me the most was Linda's makeup and hair, SO good) looked very real and read well on camera. Anyone who knows me irl knows what a freak I am for good practical effects/makeup, and I want to make sure that those artists are acknowledged and appreciated. I'm also going to throw in some kudos for whoever was behind the Elephant Monster--that thing was FUCKED UP (/pos). I love a Creature and it was sufficiently more disturbing than I had expected it to be, since The Elephant isn't given much of a description in the podcast. I'm not sure if it was practical effects or something computer generated, but whatever it was it was amazing. Hats off to the Creature Crew!

Lastly: I WANT SEASON TWO. GIVE IT TO ME. I WANT TO RIP IT APART WITH MY TEETH. I HAVE BEEN GOOD AND COHERENT FOR THIS LONG NOW GIVE ME MORE.

Also. I promised no spoilers and there shall be none. But that last shot of the last episode? fucking HAUNTING. Here's hoping that us catapulting Edge of Sleep to the TOP FIVE, BEFORE THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH, will seriously throw some weight to whoever can decide to give us a second season.

[theglamorousferal]

Persephone's Binding Part 13

Hardcover/Anger Management ship Sacrificial Bride au

AO3 Prompt Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

"Raven said she can be here in an hour." Dick prompted as he read the message on his communicator. He was hanging upside down from a trapeze set up in the Batcave after having run through a routine to work out some frustration.

The cultists had been frustratingly vague, and the guy who could read it had bitten his own tongue to keep from talking. The leader had said something about gaining a boon from a king for sacrificing a powerful warrior who already had death magic associated with them. As Red Hood is a powerful crime lord and vigilante, he was considered a powerful warrior. They're still not sure how they would have found out he was death-touched though.

What does death-touched even mean? Dick thought. I'll have to ask Rae when she gets here.

"Any luck with the book Tim?" He yelled out to where Tim was downing yet another energy drink while trying to read the book they had acquired earlier. A grunt of frustration and the sound of an empty can hitting the side of the recycling bin was his only response.

Dick flipped himself down and went to read over his shoulder. At first, the letters seemed like gibberish with a few things here and there that looked familiar. Dick reached for the book from Tim's hands, who squawked in response, but gave the book anyway. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at the page, and slowly the words started to make sense.

"This ritual grants power to those-" The letters seemed to move as he tried to read. "The more powerful the sacrifice, the more power gained." It was like reading a language he knew only part of and was trying to make sense from context clues. "Only one of our kingdom may be given as sacrifice." He turned the page and it showed two blurry spheres seeming to merge with each other. "The sacrifice is bound for eternity to the ruler of our Realms." He couldn't make out the subject of the next sentence. "-power will become twofold as their souls are bound to each other."

"How did you manage to read that? I've been staring at it for the last hour!" Tim had his fingers buried in his own hair in frustration.

"I don't know, it's like the letters moved so I could read them. Not well mind you." He skimmed over the pages again. "I'm still missing words though."

"Ugh, whatever, I'm logging what you've read so far." Tim moved over to the Batcomputer and brought up a report file to start filling out.

Dick leafed through the book, not trying to read anything as he was starting to get a bit of a headache from it and just looked at the sketches and paintings in the book. One page had what appeared to be a seasonal calendar. It had two solstices and two equinoxes. There were different symbols for each, likely holidays wherever 'our kingdom' was. There were two other symbols on the line, one moving faster than the other.

The sound of the Zeta echoed throughout the 'Cave announcing Raven's arrival.

"Okay, lets see if we can bring him home. Let me see the book." Raven demanded as soon as she arrived, floating quickly to where Dick stood with the book.

He handed it over and she began reading, sitting crisscross in the air. A notepad and pen that were on the desk next to Tim floated over, surrounded by the black energy that indicated Raven's powers. The pen began taking notes as Raven read, and it seemed as though she actually could.

"You can read it no problem? I had issues with it and Tim couldn't read it at all." Dick asked. The pan paused and Raven herself froze and looked at him.

"You could read this?" Her eyes narrowed.

Dick swallowed. "Um, yeah? It was hard to do, and I missed some words, but I could read it."

"Richard Grayson, when did you die?" Raven growled out.

Dick's eyes went wide and he swallowed again. "Um, a while ago? It was brief, just my heart stopping to keep a bomb from going off, I was resuscitated immediately afterwards." He frantically told her.

"Hmm." Her eyes narrowed further into a proper glare. "We will be discussing this later."

"Why do you ask?"

She sighed. "Only people who are death-touched can read this book. It's in the language of the dead. I'm assuming since yours was brief it means you aren't fully fluent. I was gone for however long it was between me being sacrificed and you bringing me back, so I can read it fine."

"So death-touched means someone who has died and come back?" At his question she nodded. "How would the cultists have known that Jason was death-touched?"

"It's a low-level necromancy spell, easy enough to learn." She turned back to the book before closing it. "So, good news, he's not dead, or at least, he still exists." She glanced over her notes again. "Bad news, he's been wife-sacrificed to the King of Ghosts." She sighed. "Worse news, is it's extremely difficult to summon anyone from the Realms as most beings there are extra-dimensional. It's going to be next to impossible to summon him back."

[blackbackedjackal]

Soul Eater has always been a bizarre case. on one end of the spectrum there's characters like Kilik Rung, Mira Nygus, and even major manga antagonist Noah. on the other end there's the infamous bg jazz band that are straight up minstrels (they look identical in the manga. this was not studio bones' artistic liberty) and the death scythe repping Africa named Dengu Dinga who wears a mashup of "african flavoured" clothing. and then there's Sid, obviously i can't pass judgement on what's good or bad design rep but there certainly was a scene where Maka literally calls him a "mean blue gorilla"..

sorry for rambling, but Ohkubo absolutely takes inspiration from graffiti art and hip hop aesthetics in his work which makes the antiblackness even more disrespectful

Feel free to ignore that ask if the topic is bogging you down btw, I didn't see your last post if you're done engaging with the topic for now feel free to delete it. Looking forward to what you do with strawberry moon <3

Oh dude you're good. I just needed a nap before I answered more lol. I'll try and answer as many of these as I can because I'm honestly enjoying the discussion even though I have to step away from it for a bit. It's triggering to me but not in a way that I can't talk about it, just bogs down my mind ya know?

Anyway, I've never watched Soul Eater so I had no idea of the Black characters in the show! I had to look them up and I see what you're saying. Mira is a stereotype because I'd consider her a sexualized Black woman in this context. Kilik is like 100% fine to me at a glance, like he just looks like a Black guy though there may be some writing I'm missing that still makes him a stereotype.

I had no idea that he was influenced by graffiti art but I TOTALLY see it now in his shape language. Sid is by far the worst since he still has the big white teeth and a more 'gangster' aesthetic. Especially considering the time period Soul Eater was released, it's in poor taste at best and still perpetuating Black stereotypes at worse.

Anime is it's own sub-genre of racism in animation. White people LOOOOOVE to say "oh it's a different culture and they don't know" LMAO YES THEY DO DON'T PLAY stop infantilizing Asians you fucking sickos.

Colorism alone is such an issue in Asian countries. I've lived with people from China, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, and the Philippines. I've heard first hand accounts of people from the Philippines being treated like lesser human beings just for having a slightly darker skin-tone and don't get me started on how Chinese imperialism has impacted Taiwanese people. I'm not going to speak for disenfranchised Asian people but it's easy to find if you look it up. But my point is if colorism is that prevalent, imagine how much worse it is when your entire culture has a history of being exploited to the point that blackface is a worldwide issue.

Also the Boondocks exists and though not a perfect example, it still has some of the best depictions of Black people in an anime style. There's no excuse to draw racist stereotypes when there's literally 5 seasons worth of overall solid Black character designs that can be referenced for other series.

[sarah-bear706318]

Chasing Storms and Finding Love. Chapter 5:

Series Summary: When Tyler's baby sister joins him and his team for a season she seems to catch the eye of a certain StormPar member much to her brothers dismay... will she listen listen to her big brother or follow her heart?

Chapter Summary: You go to breakfast with Scott and start to become closer feeling yourself falling harder and harder for him.

Pairing: Scott Miller X fem!reader, Tyler Owens x sister!reader

@nikkicloudie @papichulo120627 @thespillingvoid @turnerintoabutler @Lindsayjoy444 @glenpowellluver @harrysgothicbitch

Warnings: Sneaking around, Pissed off Tyler, Love Struck Scott, ALOTS of kissing, A little age gap, Cussing, Drinking, Storms(duh), Falling in love, Slow burn

A/N:Sorry this Chapter took so long! Its also a bit of a longer Chapter but I don't think yall will be disappointed, at least I hope you aren't

You woke up the next morning (well really later that morning) with a smile still on your face. Scott kissed you last night you still can't believe it. He is making you feel like a high schooler with a crush not a woman who just graduated with her doctorate. You reach other to the beside table to grab your phone

🩵ScottyBlueEyes🩵:Good morning beautiful! Hope you slept good, I know I did:)

Y/N: Good morning scotty blue eyes:) I slept great had a dream a really cute guy kissed me☺️

You didn't have to wait long before your phone dinged in your hand

🩵ScottyBlueEyes🩵: You know I had a dream a beautiful girl let me kiss her last night

🩵ScottyBlueEyes🩵: Scotty blue eyes? That's cute I like it I'll have to think of a nickname for you. Let me think🤔

Y/N: Thats a smart and lucky girl getting to kiss a handsome man like you ;) And a nickname for me... Can't wait to see what you come up:)

🩵ScottyBlueEyes🩵: What about "My whiskey girl" or "My little Longhorn"

Y/N: Well I do love my jack daniels and my longhorns🤘🏻 but I'll leave it up to you Scotty blue eye:)

Y/N: Plus my little whiskey girl is probably my favorite Toby Keith song☺️

🩵ScottyBlueEyes🩵: Think I'll go with my whiskey girl! So my whiskey girl what do you say to meeting me for breakfast?

Y/N: That sounds great! Meet you downstairs in 20?

🩵ScottyBlueEyes🩵: I'll do you one better I'll be at your door in 20!

Y/N: I'll be ready😊

Before you put your phone down you see a few other text you missed 2 from your brother, one from your Sorority sister Casey and one from your mom

Big Brother🤪: Why the hell did you leave with Scott? You better not do anything with him Y/N Y/M/N OWENS!

you roll your eyes and ignore that one. You didn't do anything with Scott but even if you had your a grown woman you could if you wanted to.

Big Brother🤪: You're probably sleeping(HOPEFULLY ALONE🤞🏻) but wanted to let you know I'm crashing in Javi's room still discussing the team up. See you in the morning. Love you little sister

That brought a smile to your face as much as his overprotectiveness gets on your nerves sometimes Tyler was not only your big brother but one of your best friends.

Y/N: Of course I slept alone asshole, I don't give it up that easy gotta make him work for the goodies🤭 anyways glad you are safe. He may not have stayed the night but I am going to breakfast with him so I might not be here when you get back. Love you big brother

Big Brother🤪:oh and don't come over here showing your ass or I will call mama and you can deal with her😊

You also decide to text your mom and Casey back before you get up. You don't your mom you were ok and you'd call her later. And text Casey telling her you met a guy and couldn't wait to tell her about it.

20 minutes later there is a knock at your door and you smile from ear to ear knowing who it is.

"Hello my whiskey girl" Scott greets you with a smile and a peck on the cheek.

"Hello Scotty blue eyes" you greet him back.

You step out and close your door, and Scott grabs your hand as you both make your way down the stairs. You walk across the parking lot in comfortable silence to the diner you ate at yesterday.

Scott opens and holds the door open for you and you walk in. The waitress seats you and takes your drink order.

"A caramel iced coffee with almond milk please" you say

"Black coffee for me thank you" Scott replies

The waitress walks off and the two of you start looking over the menu, while making small talk on what looks good. "The cinnamon roll pancakes are good if you like cinnamon" you say looking over to Scott. "I do like cinnamon rolls, they are one of favorite breakfast foods, is that what you're gonna get" Scott says looking up from his menu with a smile. "I was thinking about the banana chocolate chip ones today" you laugh. The waitress come back and takes both your orders.

While waiting for the food you can Scott fall into comfortable conversation. He tells you about some of the chases him and Javi have done, a couple stories about is M.I.T days, and a few of his likes and dislikes.

"So you must has some stories from your college days" he says while taking a sip of his coffee.

"Oh you have no idea but I don't wanna scare you off" you say with a wink. "I don't think that could even be possible sweetheart" "I don't know I was a pretty hardcore party girl" you say in a sing song voice. That makes Scott laugh and really wants to know more

"How about while we wait for our food you tell me a couple storys from your partying days deal" you give him a look and after a few seconds you agree "deal but don't say I didn't warn you"

You tell him a spring break story about how you and some of your sorority sisters won a body shot contest, another where your sisters convinced you it was a good idea to get drunk and go skinny dipping in the campus pool that ended up with all of yall in handcuffs, a story where at a mixer when you and Casey shot gunned more beers then the boys at the Kappa Tau house.

"Wow you were a party girl, sounds like you had a real college experience" Scott says with a laugh

"Yeah it was blast, sometimes I'm still amazed I was able to get my PhD with the way I partied"

The waitress comes back with your food and gives you both a refill of your coffees, you thank her and start eating once again falling into small talk.

You both are just about done when you hear yours and Scotts name being called, you look around and see Javi and another member of StormPar walking towards your table.

"Hey guys Owens said yall would be here"

"Hey Javi" you greet him with a smile "what else did my brother say"

"Ummmm" Javi looks away before finishing his sentence "nothing just that you both were here"

"Yeah that's bullshit I know my brother"

"ok ok he might have grumbled something about Scott better not be putting the moves on his baby sister" he says with an awkward laugh

"He's so ridiculous, and I'm guessing he didn't come with you because I told him if he came and showed his ass I'd call mama, and he doesn't want to deal with her?" You look to Javi with raised eyebrows

"Yep thats the reason" Javi says looking between you and Scott. You rolls your eyes and laugh " So funny my big bad tornado wrangler brother is scared of mama"

"I think a he's a bit scared of you too" Javi says and that makes you smile and Scott laugh.

"Good, now if you gentleman will excuse me I'm gonna run to the restroom" you say putting up and leaving the boys to talk.

After you're done in the bathroom and walking back to the table you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket.

Big Brother🤪: When is your your little breakfast "date" with Mr.Clipboard gonna be done? I found a good storm on the radar and I want your fancy PhD doctor brain to look at it and give me your opinion.

Y/N: His name is Scott or Mr.Soft lips if we are going for nicknames😁 but breakfast is just about over give me 20 minutes!

Big Brother🤪: YOU KISSED HIM ARE YOU KIDDNG ME Y/N🤬

Y/N: Yep:) See you 20 big brother🤣

As you approach the table Scott sees you coming and slides over for you to sit next to him since Javi stole your seat. They seem to be talking business and the partnership with the wranglers so you sit and listen for a moment before you speak up.

"Its gonna be fun chasing with yall any idea when our chase with yall will be?" You ask looking at Scott Javi.

"We're thinking tomorrow" Javi speaks first

"We have a few lose ends to tie up before it can be official hopefully that will be done today" Scott add

"So when we do chase with yall any chance I get to ride with you ScottyBlueEyes" you ask Scott with a smile

"You can count on it baby" Scott says then kisses your hand. You smile and blush at the new nickname" As long as your bother doesn't superglue you to his front seat you can ride with me every chase" he adds

"ScottyBlueEyes?" Javi says trying to hold in a laugh. You and Scott both give him a look and he puts his hands up an shakes his head.

"Speaking of my brother he wants me to meet him in..." you look at you phone and let out a huff"10 minutes now"

"That's fine sweetheart let me grab the check and I'll walk you over" Scott raising his hand to get the waitress attention, a few seconds she's at the table.

"Can I get the check please" Scott ask pulling out his wallet. "Sir you bill is paid for, here's your card ma'am" she says with a smirk and hands you your card, you thank her and hand her some cash for a tip.

Scott looks at you in shock before speaking "You sneaky girl when did you give her your card" "When I get to the bathroom, you paid for all my drinks last night and my breakfast yesterday it was the least I could do" "you're sneaky" Scott says "you have no idea" you wink at him.

"You got breakfast then I'll get dinner deal?" Scott says

"Deal it's a date"

You leave the diner a few minutes later with both Scott and Javi on either side of you. You scan the parking lot for your brother and spot him by his truck.

"Hey big brother" at the sound of you voice Tyler lefts his head from what he's doing and smiles. The smile fades away when he sees your with Scott.

"Thanks for walking me back" you tell Scott

"Its not a problem baby, I'll see you tonight for dinner" he says then leans down and kisses your cheek. Scott walks off without a word to Tyler whileJavi bids you and your brother a good bye then turns around and follows after Scott.

You watch as Scott walks away, before he gets in one of the StormPars truck he turns and gives you a wink and it brings a smile and blush to your face. You turn back to you brother who has a very unamused face before speaking

"What" you ask your brother

"Really Y/n "what", you kiss him last night breakfast this morning pet names anything else"

"You forgot dinner plans for tonight the texting and he just kissed my cheek" you say with a smartass smile

"I don't like him, or you with him, or just him kissing you, or..." you cut him off.

"It doesn't matter what you like or don't like Tyler don't make me call mama"

"You can't threaten to call mom on everything"

"wanna bet, now show me the radar"

"This isn't over Y/n" you rolls your eyes as he shows you the radar.

You study the radar for about 10 minutes and in that time the rest of the crew comes over "The cell to the west looks bigger and moving more slowly so it's gonna be better for data collection and a show. The cell to the northeast is faster moving, you'd still get ok data but it's not as big I don't think the cap will break so it she won't put on a good show for the stream" you say looking up at you brother.

"You heard Dr.Owens crew let's move" Tyler claps his hands together, and the crew goes to get their stuff together.

************************************************************************

The storm was an intense EF3 and touched down in a small town about an hour away from where your hotel was. The little town was destroyed and it broke your heart seeing all the families affected. You were use to being behind a screen studying storms and their aftermath, but seeing it in person hits very different!

As you're standing looking around wondering where to help when you feel a tug on your leg, you look down and see a little girl who can't be older then 4 or 5 with tears in her eyes.

"Can you pwease help me miss lady I cant find my mommy or daddy I'm wealy scared" she says in a small voice

"Of course I'll help you sweetheart, my names Y/n what's your name"

"Mia" she whispers

"Well Mia it's nice to meet you, let's go find your mommy and daddy what do they look like" you take her hand and start walking down what's left of the street. You and Mia have been looking for about an hour when you hear a frantic woman.

"Oh my God Mia" the woman is now running towards you and the little girl, Mia let's go of your hand and starts to run to the woman.

"Mommy mommy" Mia yells as she reaches her mother and they both embrace one another. You stand behind watching the reunion unfold with tears in your eyes.

"Mommy this is my new fwiend Y/n she help me found you"

"Thank you so much Y/n I was so worried something happened to her, I turned around for just a minute and Mia was gonna oh my God thank you" the woman sobs while holding her daughter.

"Its really no problem I promise I'm glad I was able to help, if yall are hungry our crew is set up right over there handing out food and water"

"We'll go check that out I know Mia must be hungry, thank you again for helping my baby I can't tell you enough" she says one final time before walking off.

You felt a little better being able to help little Mia but there was still so much heartache you felt looking around. Your mind was out in space you didn't even see your brother walking up to you.

"How you doing little sister" your brother ask pulling you into a hug, and that's when the dam broke. Your brother held you until you calmed out enough to speak

"I don't know how you do it TyTy, seeing homes and towns being destroyed family's losing everything sometimes even each other" you say with tears coming down your face

"Well jellybean thats why we do what we do so we can help, and hopefully all the data we collect will help future victims" Tyler says whipping the tears from your face.

"You haven't called me jellybean since I was kid and you were leaving for college" you say with a laugh

"Well that was the last time I saw you this upset" he said with a smile. "I saw you help that little girl find her mom can you help me find a little boy his dog"

"Of course" you say walking off with your brother to help him find the dog. All of a sudden you feel your phone vibrating, you see it's Scott and he's not only send you one text but several along with calls.

Scott's POV:

Scott has been frantically trying to get a hold of you since he saw on his own radar how big the tornado became knowing that was the cell you were chasing. He was in the passenger seat with Javi driving, but he was still about 2 hours from where the tornado touched down.

"I'm sure she's fine man Owens would never let anything happen to his baby sister, he'd die before that." Javi says looking over to Scott.

"Then why is she not answering her fucking dude! I get Owen's would protect her but it's mother nature we're talking about here"

"Scott dude you got it bad for the Dr don't you" Javi says with a smirk still looking at the road while Scott is still trying to get ahold of Y/n.

Scott: please tell me you're ok sweetheart! I know this is the millionth text I've sent but I'm really worried about you!!

MyWhiskeyGirl🥃: You were worried about me? I'm fine Scotty I promise. I'm sorry if I worried you I didn't hear my phone. Were in a small town I think it called " Soonersville"?🤔 about an hour from the hotel.

MyWhiskeyGirl🥃: I've spent the last hour helping a little girl find her family now I'm helping with a dog recuse for a little boy.

Scott: Thank God you're ok baby I was scared out of my mind why wouldn't I be my favorite girl wasn't answering after an EF3!

Scott: I know where Soonersville is we're about 2 hours from there. But since it's getting dark soon we're just heading back to the hotel. Are you still up for dinner?

MyWhiskeyGirl🥃: Of course I am been looking forward to it all day:) but you think instead of going out we can order take out and maybe watch a movie and relax? It's been a long draining day I just want some peace and quiet with you!

Scott: That sounds perfect to me sweetheart! What kind of takeout are you thinking?

Scott: Aren't you sharing a room with your brother tho?

MyWhiskeyGirl🥃: No Ty got me my own room;) room 206!

MyWhiskeyGirl🥃: How does Chinese or sushi sound😋

Scott:That sounds perfect sweetheart! I'll order it when I get back in town! Please be safe I'll see you soon!

MyWhiskeyGirl🥃: I'll do my best! I'll let you know when we are heading back😘

************************************************************************

You and your brother find the little boys dog and help the crew hand out food, water, and other supplies before packing up and heading back. Its been such a long day you are looking forward to a shower and seeing Scott! You text Scott to let him know you were heading back. You must have dozed off because the next thing you know your brother is shaking you awake.

You make your way to your room and tell the crew and your brother goodnight. Once in your room you you tell Scott to give you about 45 minutes, then head to the bathroom to shower to wash of the days dirt and grime. As the hot water hits your skin you let out a small moan thinking how great it feels.

You get out throw your hair in a messy bun, and go to find clothes, but have no idea what to wear. You wanna look cute but not to dressed up since you are just gonna be hanging out in your room. After about 15 minutes you are dressed, you decided on a pair on of white pj pants and your long sleeve gray ZBZ shirt. Just your done getting dressed you hear a knock at your door.

You open the door to see Scott holding a bag of take out in one hand and flowers in the other.

"Good evening handsome" you greet him with a smile and openeing the door more to let him in.

"You look beautiful, and these are for you" he says while handing you a small bouquet with sunflowers

"They are beautiful how did you know they were my favorite?

"I didn't but I saw your tattoo and figured they were" he said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I love them thank you so much i've never gotten flowers before you say turning around going to get a glass the hotel has to put them in. Scott frowns at that, how can someone so amazing as you not ever been given flowers? Well he was gonna change that!

You both sit on the bed unpacking the food and chatting. "I got didn't know what you liked so I got the safest choices in Chinese and in sushi hope that's ok I probably should have called and asked" "No Scott this great I'm not picky, I'm a pretty simple girl" you say with a smile "any ideas what you want to watch" you add "Anything is fine with me babygirl" "So any of the Harry Potter movies, I'm a total Potter head" you laugh "Harry Potter is fine"

A while later the food is put away and you sit on your bed watching tv and talking, you talk for hours well into the 3rd movie. He tells you stories from his college days, and to your surprise he got a little rowdy, how he got into storm chasing and that he's a big "lord of the rings" and "star wars" fan and growing up in Florida. And you tell him about your ZBZ days and cheering in both high school and college and growing up in Texas, then he ask about your tattoos and piercings...

"How many do you have" he ask

"I have 7 tattoos and 8 piercings, and my brother hates all of them" you say with a laugh Most of your tattoos are visible and so are your piercings but a few, like the one on your foot and upper spine area, and your belly ring.

As Scott looks at the tattoos his eyes focus on the one on your ribs and reaches out to touch it. "I like this one" he whispers your breath hitches and goosebumps form all over your body.

"Thank you its from Beauty and The Beast" You say in a low voice your head slowly turning to look at Scott.

He reaches his other hand to move the small bit of hair that has fallen in your face, he looks from your lips to your eyes, as you do the same and you nod to him. Thats all he needs before he leans him and captures your lips with his in heated breath taking kiss. He swipes his tongue over your bottom lip asking permission and without hesitation you grant it. You feel the sparks down in your toes, you have never felt this feeling before and its a high you plan to chase.

You straddle his lab rubbing your hands through his hair while he runs his hand up and down your waist. As you tug on his hair you hear a groan escape his lips and feel him start to get hard under you and you smile and do it again.

"You're gonna be the death of me baby" he says pulling away

"Oh but what a way to go huh scotty blue"

"I'd die a happy man" he says as he starts to kiss down your neck bringing a small moan from your lips, now its his turn to smile into the kiss. He moves back to your lip "Oh my God this man is such a good kisser I could kiss him for days" You feel yourself getting more turned on then you ever thought possible. You wanna take things slow but you are falling so hard so fast for him its almost impossible. You find the strength to pull away.

"Scott" you say breathless

"Are you ok do you want me to stop did i do something wrong" he says a little panic in his voice

"Oh no I'm very much enjoying this but I wanna take things slow" you say then look up grabbing his face with both hands and looking into his eyes before speaking again, "I feel myself falling for you and that scares me but excites me at the same time, I don't have the best track record with guys."

"Y/n we can go as slow as you want we don't have to go any further or do anything that makes you uncomfortable, the last thing I wanna do is scare you away because trust me I am falling just as fast if not faster" Scott says "I know your brother and his crew don't like me and i come across as an asshole but I wanna make this work with you, make you mine" Scott says looking in your eyes

"I want that too Scott so much, so what does this make us"

"If its not to soon for you what would you say if I asked you to be my girl officially"

"I'd say yes and not to quote my brother but if you feel like *KISS* chase it" you laugh while running your hand through his hair and Scott shaking his head.

You slip off his lab and lay in his arms just as the "Goblet of Fire" starts. It doesnt take either of you long before you fall alseep in each others embrace.

The next morning you are startled awake with a very angry big brother...

"WHAT THE FUCK..."

[thedinosapien]

Theory: Brooklynn talked to N5 before leaving

The finale leaves many things implied or even confusing – in a way that makes it seem like something happened, especially between the scenes where Ben warns Brooklynn about the Bumpy's egg in the suitcase and the scene where B leaves. I invite you to rewatch the final scene, so it will be easier to understand what I say:

It is implied that Brooklynn had a conversation with the Nublar 5 off-screen, hidden from the viewer. The implications of the scene:

Ben is the one who talks about Bumpy's egg, so he obviously put himself in front of his friends. In the next scene, we see the position of each of the boys and girls: in front, Ben (who talked about the egg in the case), behind him, Darius and lastly, Kenji, then we have Sammy in ahead of Yasmina. Keep Brooklynn's reaction finding out about the egg in mind, I'll talk about it later.

Although Ben asks for the egg, the one who has it in his hands in the last scenes is Kenji. It's not Ben, who loves Bumpy more than anyone, or Darius, who is Brooklynn's best friend. She decided to give the egg to Kenji, proving that:

A. Maybe she trusts him more than Ben or Darius (understandable, since Pincus didn't do what she asked and D left her with the Allo, but it would be a bit strange for the scene, don't you agree? After all, Ben is Bumpy's dad);

B. There was more to the scene than what is revealed to the viewer. A conversation, probably.

The only one Brooklynn hadn't seen before in the season was Kenji, so she didn't know about the affection he has for the baby in the shell, that is, she had no reason to choose him, again indicating that there was an exchange of words between the characters.

There is two hypothesis about what must happened:

• Before giving the egg to Ben, he (Kenji) interrupted and demanded to receive it in Ben's place. It would be strange, since one way or another they would already have the egg in hands – in very safe hands –, changing only the fact that it would be with Ben Pincus;

• Or better, Brooklynn took advantage of the great opportunity she had to give essential explanations for the third season: Santos would kill them if she noticed any sign of betrayal on B's part, but with only one egg missing and the promise that none of her "ex-friends" would get in the way of the plan, everything would be safer for Santos. B just had to take advantage of the small gap to tell her friends WHAT she was doing, WHERE she was going and WHY she was going there – remember, the others don't know anything about Sayona's plans. Those informations will be essential for the characters!

It makes sense, doesn't it? After all, part of the arc of Kenji's relationship with the others is that "nobody tells me anything". Having him as the center of the scene, being, somehow, the priority of information, implies a development in his arc and a future advancement in the others' as well.

Note, in the beginning, Kon was the last, but in the end he is the one who is the most ahead of his friends. There really was something.

Now, the final detail that is totally related to Brooklynn's reaction to the egg: Throughout the season she never knew that Bumpy would have a baby. Her reaction reveals that she realized she lost a lot. It's exactly what Earnest said: "You're nothing special [...]. You're never happy with the good thing you've got, right in front of you." This reinforces that Brooklynn's story is about enjoying the things she already has, what she loses with her obsession and what she also has to gain from it. She needs to balance a lot of things in order to finally understand, by herself, what the truly wants and needs.

——————

A stupid theory I posted on reddit and thought it would be nice to post here. Tumblr must be more active, so activity ≃ interaction + addiction/correction for the theory.

I should stop thinking too much abt this show

If it turn out to be totally wrong, I hope you guys don't remember my post lol

[nausikaaa]

Six Sentence Books Sunday

hello y'all! i've been having a busy week, trying to get all my christmas shopping done before December even begins, because otherwise i know the entire month will escape me and i'll wind up realising i've missed someone on christmas eve. despite my efforts, i still haven't got anything for my dad- usually he's the easy one to buy for, but this year i'm just stumped.

i'm also putting my billy goat Hadrian out with the girls (Juno, Daisy, Lucy and Mina) in just under a week, but Daisy was getting pushed around and picked on, so i separated her last week so she can put on a little weight and relax beforehand, because if she's stressed, she may not come into season. then it snowed. goats are herd animals, they prefer to have company, so i made sure she could see the others through the fence, but it turns out she is absolutely loving having her warm little hut to herself while the others all share the big shed, while Hadrian has a corner of the hay shed to himself, with wickets keeping him from the hay.

flattering photos of the handsome chap and damsel in distress before the snow hit:

sorry for the ramble. anyway! writing! well... i haven't been doing much lately, to be honest. when i'm in a writing slump, i like to read instead, and i view it as putting words in my brain so that it can make it's own words. it also helps me pick out things i do and don't want to emulate in my own writing. so instead of sentences, here are six books I read this year which i took something from:

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman, from which I am taking that it's okay to just use "said" instead of using a billion synonyms, as it blends in to the background and allows the story to flow more naturally. unless the way something is said is really relevant, it's better to show a character's feelings another way.

American Hippo by Sarah Gailey, which has such easy to follow yet engaging action and fight scenes, which I aspire to.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie, which had me sobbing inconsolably at the end. if a book prompts a physical reaction in me, that's an instant 5 stars. it's based on the ancient greek play Antigone, and though you don't need to know the play to enjoy the book, it really does deal an additional sucker punch to know how that story ends and yet hope so desperately the whole time: maybe it will turn out okay this time? a masterclass of foreshadowing and implication, somebody can literally die and it go unsaid, but you will know and it will destroy you.

Alcestis by Katherine Beutner. I hated this book. Plot? I barely know her. Consent? What's that? Resolution? Nah, pass. I learned what not to do from this garbage.

Percy Jackson: Wrath Of The Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan. I actually read both of the new pjo books that came out this year and honestly, they've shown me that sometimes a book can just be fun. There's no world ending drama, but still emotional moments and tension, and the whole story takes place over a matter of days. It doesn't have to be perfect, it can just be a good time.

The Amber Fury by Natalie Haynes. As somebody who writes a lot about grief, this book really helped with that by depicting it in such a raw and honest way, allowing the audience to connect with it even if they've never experienced the kind of loss the main character has. I do draw on my own experiences, but this helped me put it into words. It also shows how healing is always possible, no matter how severe the grief, so long as you have the right support system, something I am still muddling through.

an invitation to share some sentences or some books: @forabeatofadrum @cutestkilla @run-for-chamo-miles @roomwithanopenfire @prettygoododds @bookish-bogwitch @ic3-que3n @blackberrysummerblog @j-nipper-95 @youarenevertooold @larkral @that-disabled-princess @orange-peony @aristocratic-otter @thewholelemon @alexalexinii @confused-bi-queer @shrekgogurt @comesitintheclover @raenestee @hushed-chorus @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @noblecorgi @shemakesmeforget @ileadacharmedlife @supercutedinosaurs @artsyunderstudy @otherpeoplesheartachept-2 and @ninemagicks

[fast-moon]

I'm 30 years late, but...

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine originally aired when I was 10 years old. I loved Next Generation when I was a kid, so I gave DS9 a try back then... and immediately grew bored of it. They weren't going to new planets or having space battles, they were just sitting around in one place discussing space politics, and there wasn't even anyone funny like Data to hold my attention. So, I stopped watching after a couple episodes.

But, since I keep hearing it ended up being the best Trek seres, I've decided to go ahead and give it a full watch-through. Maybe now that I'm 40 and have more life experience under my belt, I can appreciate it more.

Turns out I do! I've finished the first season, so I'll give a run-down of what I thought of the S1 episodes below the cut:

1-2. Emissary: All right, I actually understand the premise this time which completely went over my head as a kid. The Bajorans were under Cardassian occupation for decades, the Federation showed up and drove them out, now the Federation is in control of the Cardassian space station DS9 to help the Bajorans rebuild and return to self-governance. But wait! Turns out there's a wormhole that goes to the other side of the galaxy here and it's suddenly become prime space real-estate! And the wormhole is inhabited by... mysterious non-temporal entities that spit out a magic orbs from time to time and the Bajorans worship them as prophets.

3. Past Prologue: Garak is queer-coded like whoa and gives Bashir a taste of his own medicine about not respecting boundaries. Is also possibly like a quadruple-agent. And tailors a fine suit. Also, Kira got a haircut. There's rats on spaceships?! Oh, that's just Odo. Okay. Still, the fact that he considered that a convincing disguise means there's rats on spaceships?!

4. A Man Alone: A guy backstabs himself and blames Odo for it.

5. Babel: Poor overworked O'Brien gets so stressed out he starts speaking in tongues. Then it turns out it's contagious. And it turns out that it's because someone sabotaged the station decades ago with a dyslexia virus and then just kind of forgot about it.

6. Captive Pursuit: This actually touches on a moral question I'd been wondering about if we ever end up with sentient AI: If something is bred/programmed to like being oppressed, is it more moral to remove it from its oppression even if that makes it miserable, or to return it to its oppression if that's what makes it happy? This episode chose the latter.

7. Q-Less: A surprisingly boring Q-centric episode whose only shenanigans involved a space stingray Vash was trying to sell off. Q really does miss Picard.

8. Dax: Oh, another philosophical thought-experiment: If you committed a crime and then get reincarnated in a traceable manner and retain all the memories of your previous incarnation, can your current incarnation be held liable for your previous incarnation's actions? This episode decides it doesn't want to answer this because she's not guilty, anyway.

9. The Passenger: Bashir becomes even more insufferable and nobody notices.

10. Move Along Home: Samurai hippies come through the wormhole and demand everyone LARP with them whether they like it or not.

11. The Nagus: Quark falls victim to one of the classic blunders, the most famous of which is "Never get involved in a land war with Asia". But only slightly less well-known is this: "Never get involved with a Ferengi when profit is on the line".

12. Vortex: So... Odo just lets a guy get away with murder because he has a sob story and claimed he knew others of his kind? Just because he was wanted unjustly on his home planet does not change the fact that he murdered a guy for hire. Also, Odo can get knocked out by a rock?

13. Battle Lines: Remember that "Great Divide" episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender that everyone hated? No reason.

14. The Storyteller: O'Brien goes down to Bajor to fix the pipes, becomes God.

15. Progress: Kira has to go convince a Boomer to leave his land because they need the resources to rebuild the planet, but he's all "I got mine, screw them." She humors his sexist behavior all episode, then burns his house down.

16. If Wishes Were Horses: Bashir wishes for his own personal side-piece Dax, and real Dax is weirdly okay with this because "boys will be boys". The conflict in this episode is literally solved by thinking happy thoughts.

17. The Forsaken: Odo gets sexually harassed so reports it to HR who just laughs him off because they think it would be good for him to get laid. Then he gets stuck in an elevator with his stalker and it's revealed just how physically strenuous it is for him to maintain his human form all day, and yet he has never been afforded any accommodations beyond a bucket to sleep in. This poor space slime, no wonder he's always so grumpy. #JusticeForOdo

18. Dramatis Personae: TNG's "The Inner Light", but stupid. Once again Odo has to save the day because he's immune to the humanoid crazypox that seems to infect the station every half-dozen episodes, and yet they still just can't find it in their effects budget to adjust station operations enough to allow him the minimal comfort of not having to contort himself into human form every day until he collapses just to do his job.

19. Duet: I am a sucker for "Did the janitors on the Death Star deserve to die?" sorts of moral discussions, and this episode delivered that very well. Also, I'm in lesbians with Kira.

20. In the Hands of the Prophets: Lady who doesn't even have kids at the school nevertheless takes issue that the children aren't being taught in accordance to her religious beliefs. It's been 30 years since this came out and nothing changes.

All in all, a decent season 1. It does show its age in places, especially in its treatment of female characters, and being written before the internet and smartphones caused seismic cultural shifts that its vision of the future failed to take into account. But still, I'm liking it now that I actually understand what's going on. On to season 2!

[monarchisms]

so for those who missed it, geoff talked a bit more about achievement hunter coming to an end on a f**kface break show on september 18th. some of it was stuff we've already learned from the announcement video/thread from AH themselves, but some additional information was mentioned exclusively on the f**kface stream. with rooster teeth being so great (sarcasm) at relaying info to their audience, i had to rely on a fan recording of the stream from twitter to get more context sooner, since the official recording won't be available until the 22nd at the earliest.

i'll put a full transcript of all the clips of the twitter thread under the cut, but if you want a tl;dr:

geoff's known about AH coming to an end for about 6 months (since march 2023), and that the decision to end it wasn't made lightly

he compares AH ending to when he went to quit red vs blue 15 years ago to co-create AH, somewhere between seasons 5-7, and how he continued to work on rvb until he couldn't anymore

also talks about how everyone at the company at the time (like burnie, gus, matt, and jason) were really supportive towards him, and how that led to AH lasting 15 years

he hopes that michael, trevor, alfredo, and joe get the same support he got from the audience when he made AH, and then eventually f**kface. also reassures the audience that all the content on the AH channel will stay as it is

heavily emphasizes that this decision wasn't made by the higher ups at rt or warner brothers, and wanted to nip that in the bud before the rumor went too far. notes that AH didn't fail, it just ended

talks about how there will be a couple more weeks of new achievement hunter content before they close up shop. some of the content includes the members paying an homage to past series and people at AH. it will eventually culminate into a final video that geoff's in where he gets "fucking verbose" about his feelings in relation to everything

gives a shoutout to matt, jeremy, and ray in regards to their streams on twitch, and finally ends his speech by saying that the audience should respect that the past + current AH members are continuing to do the things they love doing while being entertaining, just in their own unique ways

the full transcript:

Geoff: "The Achievement Hunter brand is coming to a close. We have decided to sunset it and to end it. And I've seen a lot of- for a very good reason- and that announcement came in tandem with another announcement, a very exciting announcement about a new brand called Dogbark. And I've seen a lot of excitement, a lot of appreciation from people, a lot of people supporting Michael and those guys [referring to Trevor, Joe, and Alfredo] going off into doing their own thing.

I've seen a lot of fear and uncertainty. I totally get and understand that; you guys are hearing this for the first time. Um, I've known about this for about six months. You know, this has been in some form of discussion or preparation for a while now. This wasn't a decision that was made lightly, uhh... but I think it's the right decision, and I hope that you'll understand and support that, and here's why:

15 years ago, I went to Burnie and Matt and Gus, and I said 'Hey, I'm losing my mind making Red vs Blue.' It was season 5 or 6, and I- I think it was 6 or 7, actually- and I was just so creatively drained and stifled. And I had such a wonderful time making Red vs Blue, but I had made it until I couldn't make it anymore. And I had this idea, and I was very passionate about this idea of this thing I wanted to try. And Burnie and Gus and Matt were so kind and supportive to give me the creative runway to launch and test Achievement Hunter out at a time when everybody- friends- everybody was telling me 'What are you doing, quitting making Red vs Blue? It's a huge hit! You're like, the #2 guy on it. You're a big part of this! Why would you leave that to do this unproven, untested thing?' And I had to! I had to follow my dream, I had to follow my passion. And like I said, Burnie and Matt and Gus and everybody else, Jason, everybody involved in Rooster Teeth at the time, were so fucking supportive and so wonderful to me in that period that 15 years later, we've had 15 years of Achievement Hunter.

We wouldn't be here on this set right now in front of all this Zimmer stuff, in front of fucking dumb pictures of Gavin and Garbage Pail Kids and Barbie and- fucking new Dallas poster, by the way. Uh, all of this has existed because they allowed me to take a chance and supported me taking that chance. And uh- I would be some kind of fucking hypocrite if I didn't provide the same level of support and genuine enthusiasm to Michael and Alfredo and Joe and Trevor as they embark on the same journey I went on 15 years ago! And this is a very- I don't want to speak for them. They didn't make this decision lightly, I guarantee you, and they will explain it in their own voice over the next few weeks as we say goodbye to Achievement Hunter and say hello to Dogbark. [actual dog barks in the background] We worked on that ahead of time.

Uhh... and so I would only ask that you give them the same level of support that the audience gave me when I tried out Achievement Hunter, this untested, unproven thing, and the same level of support you all gave us when we decided that we're going to make F**kface, an audio-only podcast recorded remotely, which is something that I never in a million years wanted to do or thought was a good idea until we did it, and found out it was simply too good, found out that it worked and it ended up becoming, I think, hopefully the best thing I've participated in. I really ju- I really just want to drive that point home. Joe and Trevor and Michael and Alfredo have spent years and years and years making content that they believe in to support and entertain you. And that's all they want to do with this new production.

Everything comes to an end. It's okay for things to end. I know it's scary and it's sad, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen, and that doesn't mean it's going away. We have 15 years of Achievement Hunter content online that you can still watch and enjoy. Hundreds of thousands of hours of content, hundreds upon hundreds of episodes of Minecraft and GTA that are still there for you to go and watch. I mean, hell, I think Emily and I are a great example of that. We've been watching a show that came out in 1978 called Dallas. It ran from 1978 to 1992, and that was 40 fucking years ago. And yet here we are enjoying it, just as if it came out yesterday. Justice for Sue Ellen, I think we can all agree, justice for Sue Ellen. So I would just say that I hope that you'll be excited about this new journey in their careers and this new opportunity for Rooster Teeth. It's sad to say goodbye to a thing, but it's not disappearing. It's still there. You can still go watch all those videos. You can still go enjoy- enjoy all that content, but you can also support them in what they're doing.

And one other little inaccuracy, or not even inaccuracy, but one thing I want to touch on- and then I'll get to breaking cards and being an idiot- is a thing that kind of bugs me, is that- I'm sure you've heard this phrase or some variation of this phrase before where it's uh, said that a lie can travel halfway across the world, while the truth is still putting its pants on, and-"

Emily: "That's kinda deep! I've never heard that before." Geoff: "You've never heard that before?" Emily: "No!"

Geoff: "Yeah, and I've seen a lot of supposition and people saying things that just aren't true. And I want to stop that right now before they travel halfway across the world. Because there is no truth to the idea that like- anytime we make a change that's controversial or a bit scary or different or new or unexpected, there's this idea that there's uh, some dude in a suit from Warner Brothers or Rooster Teeth standing just off-camera, sternly going, 'Make this decision. Follow this algorithm. We're chasing a demographic.' None of that is true. Rooster Teeth would be very happy if they continued making Achievement Hunter forever, but they weren't happy making Achievement Hunter, and they wanted to try a new thing.

They wanted to do what I did 15 years ago! They wanted to do what Ray did when he left Achievement Hunter, right? They wanted to bet on themselves and make their production. I love the work they put into- to mine, and I did my best to make it ours. But at the end of the day, I left Achievement Hunter five years ago! Uh, it would be really foolhardy and stupid and- and dickhead-ish of me to have a problem with them doing the same thing, uh, but it's also them. This is a decision that they made, that they wanted to make. It didn't come from anybody at Rooster Teeth or Warner Brothers. There was no, I don't know, this marketing department you always hear about that's telling them to make these decisions and- 'Chase the Gen Z crowd and come up- This is the name we've workshopped.' None of that's true! They came up with the name. They came up with the logo, they came up with the design, the color palette, the trailer, the content that's going to be released in a couple of weeks, that's all them! That's what they wanna do.

That is them following the same passion that I followed 15 years ago and the same passion that I followed when I created Let's Play, and the same passion that I that I followed when I created F**kface. And hopefully the same passion, the same passion that I created this with, and hopefully the same passion that I'll create the next and the next and the next thing with, and hopefully the same passion that they get to do, uh, as they continue their career. So all I'm asking for is give the new thing a chance, support it. It's a brave thing to do to walk out of the safety of Achievement Hunter into a new thing.

And also, uh, I've seen a lot of doomers that are saying like 'Ah, I called it ten years ago! I knew it was gonna fail!' It didn't fail. It ended. It was 15 fucking awesome years. And I'm going to stop talking now because I'm just going to get rambly. But I will say: There's a couple of weeks left of Achievement Hunter content coming out where they pay homage, if you will, to a lot of the videos and the shows from the past,, and the people from the past, and they have a lot of sweet things that they're going to do. And it'll culminate at the end with one last video that I am in where I get fucking verbose about my feelings about all of it. So if you want to hear more about my feelings of the 15 years of Achievement Hunter, I ask that you tune in to that last Achievement Hunter video. But I also ask that you tune into every video between now and then, because they're going to be saying goodbye to Achievement Hunter with a lot of love and respect and humor. And uh, I think that's what it deserves. And I hope that we all get to share in that together, and then, and then subscribe to Dogbark and give it a shot. [dog barks again] Thank you.

And uh, remember that all of these people that you've loved that have come and gone are still making content right now. Jack and BK, I think Jack's on vacation, but Jack and BK are over there in Inside Gaming, making content, playing video games 3, 4 hours a day, 3 or 4 days a week, playing Minecraft, playing all those old games that you loved to see us play. And Michael is making Face Jam every week. And Michael and Trevor and Alfredo and Joe are going to be making Dogbark every fucking day. And Gavin and I, we're making F**kface every day. And I'm making ANMA and I'm making So... Alright, and Ky has helped producing it all uh, behind the scenes.

Matt and Jeremy and Ray, they're streaming every fucking day of their lives, I believe. I think Jeremy's on, like, 18 days in a row right now, or something? [referring to Jeremy's uncapped subathon]. So all the people that you loved to support and who uh, entertained you throughout the years, they're still doing the thing that they love. They're just doing it in the way that they wanna do it, in the way that makes sense to them. And I just hope that you will be... respectful of that, and give them an opportunity to entertain you uh, in much the same way they entertained you last year and the year before and 5 years ago and 10 years ago. They just want to get up every day and make the best content they can make, and they're not- they're not making these decisions for any other reason than this is where their creative interests are leading them. And much like you gave me a chance 15 years ago, let's all give them a chance today. [dog barks again] That's it. I'm done. Let's open up some fucking cards."

[bestialopez]

break up | marc marquez

requested🤧

summary: you and marc are long time teammates but this gonna change in 2024

masterlist

------------------------------------------------------

hrc_motogp

liked by yourusername and 41 872 others

hrc_motogp we are delighted to announce that @/yourusername and @/marcmarquez93 will be teammates in 2023!

user fav duo is back🤩

marcmarquez93 let's go team🔥

You and Marc have been teammates since 2019. You two are always have been super competitive and this was proved by honda's wins and podiums. You two have been unbreakable always spending time together. You also are friends with his brother. People were even joking that you three are one big couple by the amount of time you had been spending.

2023 season started badly for Honda. Missing points and lots of crashes. It wasn't the same Honda as everyone knew. You two have been working so hard to get Honda the glory but nothing was working out. During summer break, the rumours started to spread. People were saying that Marc is gonna leave the team. You didn't wanted to believe them, especially when Marc wasn't giving any signals. Next months, you two have been working even harder but you felt that Marc is not as much motivated as you. All questions about the rumours was getting him mad so you didn't wanted to ask him the same question again. After the Indonesian Grand Prix, Marc asked you to go with him into his motorhome. You went and got suprised to heard these words:

Marc: I'm leaving Honda

You: WHAT?

Marc: I signed contract for 2024 with Gresini. You are the first one I actually told this.

You: Better tell this to the whole team you had been working since 2013.

All mad, you left his motorhome. You knew you should be happy for him but deep down you didn't wanted to lose him as a teammate. He was with you your whole motogp career and next year, he will be in way different garage. After this conversation, you haven't spoke to him until the next race. You knew that your reaction was bad and all you wanted was to apologise.

You: Can we talk?

Marc: Sure, what's up?

You: I'm sorry for my reaction last week. I'm super happy that you are going to better team and I acted a little bit selfish because it's gonna be so weird to have someone different as a teammate and friend.

Marc: Hey, you are not losing me. We might be in different teams but we still gonna be best buddies.

You: I hope for it.

Last 5 races have been tough. Honda was still struggling with scoring points and now also losing their best rider. Valencia weekend had been emotional for all of you. Marc was sad and very sentimental. Honda knew that they gonna be way different team since monday. You was happy for him and was trying to show it. You actually was the first one to run and congratulate him of scoring the podium in sprint. This is what he needed as a farewall. Sadly, none of you finished the last race of the season but you two shared an amazing moments and time during these 5 years together. Now you've became best friends and best rivals.

yourusername

liked by marcmarquez93 and 27 943 others

yourusername goodbye, you were bigger then the whole sky✨

marcmarquez93 i'll be next door😘

| yourusername IT'S NOT THE SAME

------------------------------------------------------

hope you like it xx

[xerith-42]

Glenda

Remember Glenda? No you don't, only I do because The Tragedy of Cadenza Zvahl haunts me in my every waking moment.

Here's an entire essay about a character who shows up in a grand total of... I think 5 episodes? And yet she has one of the greatest and most forgotten impacts on the narrative.

For those of you who need a quick refresher, Glenda is Hayden's head guard in Meteli, first introduced in episode 26 of the first season, along with all the other Meteli characters. She's initially shown as a pretty strict, no nonsense guard. But in episode 27 we get to see her open up. At the time Cadenza is missing, and Glenda expresses great worry for her safety and says the following line

(sorry for how dark this is I took the screenie on my phone at like midnight)

So uhm. That's a bit of a big deal right off the bat, right? Cadenza is an orphan. Just before this Hayden speaks about how he found Cadenza picking flowers next to a burning village, about how she lost everyone and he took her in. And while Hayden acted as her father, Glenda acted as her mother. Cadenza had a mother.

This is where things get a bit... Mirky. I think a lot of us forget this, but Cadenza and Laurance being siblings isn't something that's revealed until [checks my notes] Episode 54. Which might not seem like a big deal, but Laurance has multiple conversations between episodes 26-40 (he dies in ep 40) about Cadenza, about growing up in Meteli, conversations where he could have said something, anything to indicate that Cadenza is his sister. But he doesn't.

He doesn't refer to Hayden as "our dad", he never refers to Glenda as Mom (which I'll get into later), he doesn't even say the phrase "Cadenza is like a sister to me" until AFTER they've both undergone their transformations. Me personally if I was the head guard of the swamp village, my sister goes missing, and my dad and her not boyfriend start fighting about it, and then some random woman shows up to help, I'd mention to the woman that this missing girl is my sister and this is a family affair. But Laurance... Doesn't.

This makes me think that them being siblings is an idea that came to the writers at some point after Laurance was introduced, but before he came back from the Nether. But this idea was either never incorporated, or they decided to put off incorporating it until after Laurance made his redesigned return.

Who knows. All I know is that Laurance and Cadenza were not intended to be siblings at first, and later retconned into that. And that's fine! They're not related, they're both adopted orphans, it's totally fine to make this retroactive change. But this change is important to remember regarding Glenda.

Yeah that's still who this post is about but there's so little to say that I padded it out with my whole tangent about the Zvahl family retcon. Anyways, Glenda, like everyone in Cadenza's family, is incredibly protective of her daughter, and clearly worried for her safety. This worry doesn't extend to... Doing anything, but that's because Aphmau had to show up and main character her way through things.

But it does lead to criticizing Aphmau when she seemingly fails as a main character. Aphmau does know where Cadenza is and knows that she's safe, but she lies to Hayden and Kenmur about it so they don't hurt Castor, and Glenda is PISSED. Not only because Aphmau promised she'd find Cadenza and failed, but she took one of their swords the last time she was in Meteli too! The disrespect of this woman! And she's the Lord of Phoenix Drop?! How low has this world gotten...?

Anyways the next time we see Glenda she's debating if she'll sign her life away. Now... I could go on about The Oath for... [glances at Oathbreakers word count] a while. But I'll try to keep it brief and focused on Glenda, who it actually has the most direct impact on. In episode 42 Garroth makes all the guards signing an oath swearing that they will take their own lives before they become a Shadow Knight and kill their lord, or to prevent themselves from doing so as a result of Shadow influences.

And while everyone else at the guard meeting is largely down with this, Glenda isn't. She's hesitant. Unsure. We don't get an explanation as to why in the episode, at least not the true one. But there are two things we can get from her. One, her eye color has changed. Which Aphmau doesn't notice at all or even comment on.

Two, she jumps immediately to leaving Hayden's guard, but stops herself because Cadenza is missing. And that's all that she says on it. Because after that, Glenda quits her job. She abandons the guard and we don't even hear about that happening until EPISODE 86. WE GO A FULL 44 EPISODES WITHOUT HER HAVING ANY RELEVANCE TO THE PLOT OR MENTION BY ANY CHARACTERS WHO KNEW HER LIKE I DUNNO

HER DAUGHTER???

And when she comes back in episode 86 we get the big reveal that Glenda was actually a Shadow Knight! And she framed Castor for murder all so she could draw Cadenza out, get her alone, kidnap her, and then sacrifice her to open a Nether portal and presumably return home.

There's a lot of questions this whole series of events raises, but not a single one of them are answered. I'm not even being hyperbolic, once Cadenza wakes up she is (understandably) more focused on the fact that her dad is alive and getting him back to safety. But she doesn't say anything about Glenda, doesn't give any sign of grieving or insight on the matter to Aphmau, she doesn't seem to care because her dad is safe.

The only details we're given are from Laurance, but these also raise questions. He says that Glenda must have become a Shadow Knight "at some point", and quit Hayden's guard because she planned to kill him to gain immortality. But... If that was the case, why fake his death? Why not have him actually be fully murdered with all the other evidence still stacked against Castor? Why not kill him, get immortality, and then kidnap your daughter and try to sacrifice her. Is it because she still cares about Hayden? Is it because she doesn't want to hurt Cadenza? She's about to kill her so I doubt it's that.

So much just doesn't add up with Glenda, so much that I have a never ending series of questions. When did she become a Shadow Knight? Was it in the Nether when they left Sasha behind? Was it before that? Did she go on that mission to save Hayden as a Shadow Knight and somehow not blow her cover? Or was it after that, in the brief window of time between Sasha coming back and Cadenza going missing, that she somehow ended up dead, in the Nether, and then back in the over world without raising an eyebrow? Or was she a Shadow Knight the whole time? Did Cadenza spend her entire childhood being raised by one?? Will I ever get answers as to any details regarding Cadenza's childhood outside of Laurance?! (The answer to that one is no)

But then one question made me really stop and think. One that matters more than any questions if lore, or continuity, or a series of events to follow.

Did the writers remember that they made Glenda Cadenza's mom?

And let's be clear, it's not like, a sin if they forgot. I'm a writer and I forget my own plotlines all the time. I go back through my drafts and other chapters all the time to make sure I'm maintaining at least some semblance of continuity, and I know that in a world as big and full of characters as this one, some details are going to get left behind or forgotten.

But it is mad disappointing because if the writers did remember that Glenda was a maternal figure to Cadenza, then they would also then realize that every member of her family has been either killed by shadow knights, nearly killed by shadow knights, or become shadow knights. Every. Single. One.

If Glenda was able to properly be Cadenza's mother there's a wellspring of character work to go down. It's never directly stated where Cadenza learned to sew from, so what if she learned it from her mother? One of her greatest forms of self expression is seemingly forever tainted with the presence of the monster who took the place of the mother who taught her everything she knows.

And how does Laurance feel about all this? He never refers to Glenda as a mother, even after he starts tossing around the Dad word around Hayden. It gives a sign that maybe Glenda didn't have an interest in raising Laurance, perhaps that while Hayden and Joh may have had some kind of co-parenting or gay marriage set up, Glenda was exclusively focused on being the mother of Cadenza. Or maybe she tried but Laurance pushed her away and she never tried hard enough. Maybe Laurance rejects the idea that he can have a mother. A father can be replaced, but a mother? Nobody can replace the woman who nearly gave her life just to bring him into this world. No one.

As it is in canon, Glenda is a footnote in Cadenza's tragedy. Just another shadow creature that tried to hurt Cadenza, without a proper recognition of just how significant her betrayal is. If Glenda's status as Cadenza's Mother was used to its fullest effect, we could have a family tragedy to surpass the Ro'Meave's, one where a single girl can be at the center of so much shadow and still barely manage to be a beacon of light in the darkness, even if her own family tries to kill her.

I've just. I dunno I've been thinking about Glenda a lot recently