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phantomrose96 · 25 days ago

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Actually I'm so incredibly lucky to have The Silt Verses because it gives me the kind of character dynamics I desperately love and so very rarely find.

I am an ABSOLUTE sucker for characters who go "I will move heaven and earth for you. I will be driven to both great and terrible decisions for your sake because of how I am defined by you" but I do... NOT... care about romance. I Don't Care About Romance. I don't want it. I don't relate. My immersion hits a cliff there. I'm an aromantic Character Enjoyer and I do not care about shipping at all.

So as you can imagine, it's a challenge to find "I will do everything for you" character dynamics which, if not canonically romantic, end up being ships that get treated like canon if you try to talk about the characters in fandom spaces.

I am incredibly drawn to sibling media and I think it's largely because that's the primary way I've found these dynamics and they don't get treated as "come on it's basically a canon romance" by the main chunk of the fandom. I'm an FMA enjoyer, a Gravity Falls enjoyer, an Over The Garden Wall enjoyer--fuck I'm a Supernatural enjoyer, for this reason. Do you know what that's like? When Supernatural gets you because you're so hungry?

And then... The Silt Verses... Filled, FILLED, with these "I will move heaven and earth for you" kinds of dynamics--healthy, unhealthy, as sources of hope and sources of absolute destruction. Of course I'm here for it. Of course I'm clocked in.

But it SHOULD be hopeless for me. I mean the only actual sibling dynamics are just within backstories--Carpenter and her brother Em. Faulkner and his brother Charlie. Hayward has no siblings. Paige's aren't relevant. Faulkner and Carpenter have exactly this intense dynamic I love--same with Paige and Hayward--and then Hayward and Carpenter--and I should be taking the L because this always ends in ships.

But Jon Ware and Muna Hussen--who I owe my life to--very intentionally did not do that. Carpenter is aromantic. She gets to be that canonically. There's never a hint of romantic tension between her and Faulkner. When they call each other brother and sister, it's religious formality first, and then it's an actual found-sibling kind of bond.

Hayward and Paige, in like any other media, would have been a couple. The way they save each other, and lean on each other, and leave their old selves behind to become someone new together. It's obvious. I've seen it a million times. But when Jon Ware got asked in a Q&A about what Paige and Hayward -are- to each other ... look I just need to go with direct quotes to do the answer justice

I think maybe there’s also an implicit question there about whether there’s something romantic going on – maybe I’m reading into it, but that is something that’s on my mind a lot, so I’d love to talk about it more. ... I personally, I don’t like writing fictional characters where the most important moment in their narrative arcs is when they get together with the person they were always meant to get together with. ... And again, I think [give the people what they want] can send you in the wrong direction, one that ends up being essentially flattening – we don’t think, "if these characters hook up, OK, what new opportunities does that give us to explore them, to understand them in greater depth?" ... And after we released maybe one episode of The Silt Verses, I saw a couple of folks online going ‘oh, god, I hope this isn’t going to end with Carpenter and Faulkner hooking up,’. And you go, "oh my god, I hadn’t considered that as a possibility for a second, that’s not who they are and that’s not what the relationship is here" - but of course all of us are primed for it, that enemies-to-lovers thread that is so common. ... Because it was freeing because after Season 1, nobody is expecting or hoping that Hayward gets together with anybody. No-one wants that particularly!

And Shrue and Val come along... each of whom has intense interactions and kinds of relationships with the people they encounter but, still, no romance. And nothing among the high katabasians or the adjudicators. If there WAS any kind of romantic read with Rane toward Faulkner, it does nothing to overshadow what was happening there. I liked someone's likening it to Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. The Thing going on between them can't really be reduced to shipping.

We DO even get the family-related bonds and trauma I usually lean on. Paige with her dad. Faulkner with his dad. Carpenter dealing with the trauma of her Nana and brother. Shrue left in harrowing limbo about the safety of their (maybe non-existent) children and husband.

Anyway I didn't even mean this to be so long. I'm just so blessed and lucky to have character dynamics where they're screaming and sobbing each other's names and no one is pulling the "There's no platonic explanation for this" card. I'm so glad.

#the silt verses #tsv #sister carpenter #brother faulkner #aromantic #chrissy listens to tsv

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mybabysittersnotavampire · 7 months ago

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My *made up* season 3 episode list and what each episode would be about and a quote from each episode

1 • Dusker Back From the Dead

(The title is a mix of both the season 1 and season 2 first episodes) Ethan and Benny use the Cubile Animus to bring Sarah back from the dead using Vice principal Stern as their sacrifice.

“Can you two stop referencing stupid movies and figure out how to get me out of here!” -Sarah

2 • The Date to (re)Start all Dates

Ethan struggles to plan out the perfect date for him and Sarah, afraid to mess it up he tries to make contact with Jesse to give him advice, but things take a turn for the worse when he finds himself stuck in the limbo dimension.

“Doesn’t feel so great to be trapped in limbo now does it.” -Jesse

3 • Della’s Vengeance

(idea partially by @comicbookddr)

When Della finds Benny’s missing spellbook she decides to use it against him as revenge. Making Benny discover she is also a spellmaster.

“Looks like you’re not the only spellmaster at our school” -Ethan

“…well this is just great..” -Benny

4 • Out of this World (inspired by alien candy)

When a new club forms at Whitechapel High, Rory and Benny find the members suspicious and begin to investigate them, nobody believes them until Ethan has an encounter with the club’s leader and finds out that the club is made up of aliens planning on invading their school.

“Rory stop worrying, they are not going to probe you.” -Ethan

5 • Sleepover Seance

When Jane is hosting a sleepover, the girls venture into the basement after watching a scary movie, wanting to have fun of their own they bring out 'Spirit Speaker'. But it isn't a ghost this time, a sleep demon comes out to play.

"How are they all asleep already?" -Rory

6 • Down the Wishing Well

Sarah discovers the local legend that there is an enchanted wishing well in Whitechapel that grants any wish, but at a cost. When she wishes to be human again, the evil spirits of the well possess her.

“I call on the spirits of this wishing well, I wish to be human again.” -Sarah

7 • Jedi’s Anonymous

When Erica finds herself going back to her old geek self, she joins an online chat room anonymously and starts flirting with another user, she decides to meet up with him in real life and discovers she had been talking to Benny the entire time.

“I’ve been talking to you idiot the entire time?!” -Erica

8 • Living Dead Girl

Rory falls six feet deep for the new girl in town. Although the boys quickly realize something isn’t as it seems when she appears in a yearbook over decades old.

“Well if she’s looking for brains, she definitely chose the wrong one..” -Ethan

9 • The Return of Betty & Veronica

Stephanie creates a golem to go to Whitechapel for junior year seeking vengeance. Betty and Veronica are back on the scene, Rory finds out the truth about Betty.

“These underwear are riding up my butt again” -Ethan

10 • Knights of Ninjitsu

Ethan is having trouble writing a fanfiction to send into his favorite game company as part of a contest. When he runs out of ideas he asks Benny to use a spell that gives him more ideas, Benny accidentally uses the wrong spell, trapping Ethan inside of a video game/his computer.

"Benny, do NOT open zombie stomper." -Ethan

11 • Jane’s Vision

When Jane snoops through her brother’s closet she discovers Ethan’s stash of items from their past enemies. The supernatural power radiating from it all makes Jane develop visions early.

12 • The Princess Leia to my Han Solo

Erica realizes that she has feelings for Benny but on her way to tell him she realizes he’s on a date with another girl. He soon finds out his new date isn’t what she seems.. (he finds out she’s a gorgon)

“That should be my geek out there!” -Erica

13 • The Fog is Coming

Grandma Weir senses another dark force coming and warns the boys, while doing so Ethan’s parents overhear, discovering all of him and his friend’s supernatural secrets, trying to keep Ethan from getting hurt they ground him from leaving the house. Will they stop the evil force coming to Whitechapel?

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

Anyways thanks for reading I know a lot of the titles probably sucked but they were so hard to come up with ok so go cry to your mother if you don’t like them

#mbav #my babysitter's a vampire #benny weir #my babysitters a vampire #ethan morgan #rory keaner #erica jones #sarah fox #mbav stuff

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bitchlessdino · 11 months ago

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Our Bitchless Masterlist VOLUME II

Favorites (🍬) Popular (🍭) Porn W/O Plot (😈)

Seventeen

scream your heart out (m) 🍬

[fem!reader x seventeen (???)] you and your friends get caught up in a classic horror slasher movie, only it's in real life. Now you're off to fend for yourselves in Seungcheol's million dollar home. The question is, did you keep them out, or did you just lock them in?

SEUNGCHEOL

nobody's home (m)

(neighbor male nanny!seungcheol x afab maid!reader)Seungcheol and you have never crossed paths for long, but boy have you imagined it. Too preoccupied with your jobs working for some of the richest families in the city, you've sacrificed your grueling hours when you could've been fucked your brains out all this time. However, big risks come with big rewards when the holidays arrive. Then there's nobody home to stop you.

JEONGHAN

boo-ty call (m) ft. seungkwan

(perverted ghost!jeonghan x cute neighbor!seungkwan x afab!reader) As far as unwanted roommates go, your ghostly companion was one you never anticipated. But when this specter began to assert himself and meddle in your dating life—or lack thereof—you started to reconsider your stance; maybe having a roommate wasn’t so bad after all. Especially if he's helping you get laid.

JOSHUA

stolen entries (m)

(fem!Reader x stalker!joshua) Diary entries of a man in love. Joshua knew he loved you the moment he laid his eyes on you and had to have you, even if it meant enduring the echoes of every intimate detail of every sexual encounter you’d had before him. But he knew you were worth the wait. He was worth the wait.

JUNHUI

Would you like a receipt? Pt. 1 Pt. 2

(Childhood bf!junhui x working class gn!reader) Coming across a grade school ex-boyfriend while you worked a shitty seasonal job around Valentines was not in your 2024 bingo card.

SOONYOUNG

WONWOO

pane-ting you a picture (f)

(wonwoo x gn!reader) Snow is beautiful—when you’re not trapped in it. After days of relentless snowstorms that left your family without electricity—let alone entertainment—you found an unexpected refuge: sketching on the condensation of your windows. What began as idle doodles soon turned into shared exchanges with someone in the neighboring cabin. Though you don’t know who they are or even what they look like, the icy walls and snow couldn’t keep them out your head.

JIHOON

SEOKMIN

Civil Affairs (m)

(husband of mistress!seokmin x fem married!reader) With the mutual understanding being cheated on, Seokmin finds solace in you, the beautiful stranger with ties to man that ruined his marriaged, Fortunately, light peeks out of the most inconvenient of circumstance.

MINGYU

reckless (m)

(Adult actor!mingyu x pervert afab!reader) Mingyu is a camboy and proud of it, as he should. Finally, he's getting the applause he deserves for his work and will be attending one of the biggest adult industry events to date. He just needs you to watch over while his house while he's gone. Easy enough, right? Unbeknownst to him, you happened to be a fan. A big one. One so big that you cant help but take advantage what Mingyu fans have only ever dreamed of.

MINGHAO

SEUNGKWAN

put it in writing (m)

(college student!seungkwan x Fem!TA!reader) You keep things professional--as you should--even if one of your students is someone you hooked up with one night before the college semester started. Meanwhile, Boo Seungkwan is anything but honest--he's a writer after all--but if he is honest about one thing, it's about wanting to write a new story with you.

boo-ty call (m) ft. Jeonghan

VERNON

CHAN

Like I can (m)

(Older woman!reader x ex’s younger brother!chan)

mind your business (m)

(Frenemy!fem!reader x minder reader!chan) If Chan had to read anyone’s mind, it had to be yours—the one person who seemed to loathe him with every ounce of your being. But before Halloween day, when that wish is suddenly granted, he begins to realize he’s opened a can of worms far bigger than he ever imagined—one that can’t be sealed shut again.

#seventeen smut #seventeen fanfic #seventeen x reader

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mandaplease10 · 7 months ago

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A Polin Take Nobody Asked For #6

Show Polin Vs. Book Polin Part 1

I have seen a lot of fans upset over the way the showrunner/writers handled Polin's story in comparison to the book version. Of course, we're always going to compare because it's a given. However, I'm a little shocked on how so many are complaining about it when their story was never really true to the books to begin with.

The biggest differences are their ages and time frame & their relationship prior to getting together.

In the book, both Pen and Colin are like a decade older than their characters in the show & they didn't really have a friendship before getting together either. The book is very much a best friend's brother's trope.

In the show, they're teenagers and have an established friendship meaning it's a true friends to lovers trope.

Let's take a deep dive and compare their stories and why the show handled it differently.

Show Polin: Ages

So, obviously the fact that they are teenagers/early 20's in the show means that they would not have the same level headedness as an adult. Both Pen and Colin are trying to find themselves and their purpose in life.

Colin very much feels like he has to be like Anthony & Benedict in order for them to take him seriously. They have always seen him as the little brother who tries to hard and doesn't think. He feels like he has to be someone he isn't because most people don't care about him truly being himself because every time he does he is talked down to and treated like he's too young to know what he wants. No one cares about his travels and no one even bothers to respond to his letters, which then makes him wonder if he's even wanted by his family.

Pen is tired of being the laughingstock of the Ton and in her own family. The only minuscule of happiest she gets is her time with Eloise and the Bridgertons & when she is writing her column. After her sisters are married and she's faced with living with her mother as a spinster, she is determined to get out of the house and get married, even if it isn't to the one person she wants. She still has the self esteem of a young naive girl, so she must learn how to grow her confidence into the clever, beautiful woman she is.

Book Polin: Their Ages

Colin has spent the majority of his teens and twenties traveling and being away from home. He has seen the world and has lived a well experienced life. We really don't get much of how he's feeling in regards to his life or how he felt over the years.

Pen has lived with her mother this whole time and as given up on the marriage mart. She's happy with living as a spinster and has created an empire with Lady Whistledown. She is super close with her younger sister and Eloise and doesn't seem to have the same initial longing as show Pen when it comes to marriage.

Show Polin: Friends to Lovers

In seasons 1 & 2, we see Pen and Colin's friendship blossom and grow into a very close relationship. I would even say that their friendship was closer than Pen and Eloise just because they both seemed to really listen to the other and offer support. We see the way that Colin is there for Pen when Cressida teases her and with Featherington Scheme in season 2. We also know that their letters to each other are meaningful and Colin started viewing her in a different light when he came back in season 2. Being with each other means they both can talk about anything that they couldn't with others because no one else bothered to take the time to listen.

Book Polin: Best Friend's Brother

We don't really see a relationship with Pen and Colin in the books other than Pen being Eloise's friend and a close friend to the family. It's mentioned that there were times Pen and Colin danced at Balls together, but it was purely at the request of Mama Bridgerton. There were no letters exchanged between them.

This is going to be multiple parts because it's gonna be a long one.

Stay tuned for part 2

Falling in Love

Lady Whistledown Reveal

Wedding & Aftermath

Part 3

Cressida's Blackmail

Love Confession

Epilogue

Part 4

How all of these changes affected the way the show storyline was written versus the book version.

Also, let me know if there are any other comparisons you want that I haven't thought to include.

#bridgerton #bridgerton spoilers #bridgerton season 3 #polin #bridgerton s3 #polin bridgerton #bridgerton netflix #romancing mister bridgerton #romancing mr. bridgerton #colin and penelope #penelope featherington #colin x penelope #colin bridgerton #penelope bridgerton #bridgerton books

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countryclubkook · 2 years ago

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Him or Me

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x fem!Thornton!Reader

Warnings: language, topper being a slight asshole, small mention of parent death and absent parent, not proof read so potential grammatical errors, slightly ooc/fanon Rafe I think that’s all but please let me know if there’s anymore I should add

Summary: when Topper finds out his best friend Rafe is secretly dating his sister behind his back, all hell breaks loose. Will they be able fix their relationship? Or will the betrayal be too much to recover from?

A/N: This is the first story i’ve written in months so i’m still a little rusty. I wanted to get something out though to get back into the groove of things. Italicized means flashback, this also is meant to take place in season 1 after Sarah and John B are together so I hope you all enjoy🤍 I left the ending of this slightly open for a potential part two if people want it/I decide to write one (Topper is 19 and reader is 18 for the sake of this story, Rafe is his canon age in the show)

“You know I’ll take care of you right?” he spoke with such certainty. How could you not believe him?

It was never supposed to be this way, you and your brother's best friend being together, but when he gave you those bedroom eyes and whispered those sweet nothings in your ear how could you resist? The both of you kept it a secret from Topper as long as you could knowing his overprotective nature when it came to you. He had found out when he saw the two of you kissing at the country club, that was a bad night for the three of you.

“My fucking sister dude? Are you kidding me? You could have any girl on this island but you go after my sister?” the vein on his neck popping out as he screamed at Rafe. Neither of you had expected him to be home, let alone for him to be waiting in the living room for you two to come back. As soon as Rafe stepped into the door he was thrown against the wall by his neck, a very angry Topper staring at him with pure hatred.

“Topper stop, let him go. Please.” you pleaded with him but it was no use, his grip stayed the same and he acted as if you weren't there. They were in their own world at that moment.

“Fucking relax man, I chose her for a reason. I love her, and you're not going to stop me from seeing her. So if you're going to hit me and tell me to stay away from her, do it so we can get this over with.” he was visibly annoyed by this as his tone confirmed it. Sure they were friends, but you meant more to Rafe than anyone else so your big brother trying to prevent your relationship was simply just an inconvenience that had no real effect at all.

The two men stared at each other for a moment, nostrils flaring and veins so visible you were getting concerned about their health. It wasn't until Topper let go of Rafe with a small scoff that you felt you could breathe again. You've never felt more shitty in your whole life than you did when Topper looked at you with such betrayal and hurt. He just shook his head and stormed out of the house, the front door slamming behind him.

“Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't know he would be here” you say as you rush over to him and examine his neck that was now red (and would inevitably bruise) from the grip Topper had on it. He watched as you examined him with such worry and such a gentle touch that it reminded him yet again why he was with you, that you were worth whatever argument ensued because you showed him love nobody else would.

“Baby, I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you being okay than my neck.” grabbing the sides of your face and forcing you to look at him. Your eyes were glossy with tears and your breathing slightly uneven. Your relationship with Topper was different than the one Rafe had with his sisters, it had always just been the two of you since you were growing up. Your dad had died when you were babies and your mom was a piece of shit who was never around so that left the two of you to protect and raise each other. Hurting him felt like the biggest stab in the chest and you felt terrible.

“I-” your sobs overpowered your voice before you could finish as you broke down in your lover's arms. His shushed comfort helped bring you some peace but not nearly enough to stop the feeling in your chest from growing. He had moved you over to the couch and held you in his lap until your cries eventually stopped and your breathing remained calm.

“Baby?” he asked quietly in case you had fallen asleep. When he got no response, he gently laid you on the couch and covered you with a blanket before kissing your cheek and heading out to find your brother. Rafe was probably the last person he wanted to see but he would try to talk to him for you.

That “talk” didn't go very well. You didn't know what was said, all you know is that Topper came home bloodied and bruised and didn't say a word to you. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together when you saw Rafes bruised knuckles the next day and his excuse was that he “wanted to try boxing without his gloves”. But a few weeks had passed since then and you thought it would be fine, you and Top would go back to normal and eventually he and Rafe would reconcile like nothing ever happened. If only it was that easy.

Topper had grown increasingly hostile toward you when he decided to acknowledge your existence. His responses were always short and snappy like you were the most horrible person to be speaking with. You knew the only way of fixing this was breaking up with Rafe but there was no way in hell you were doing that so you instead just tried to give him space when you could. But one day he decided that ignoring each other wasn't enough, he needed you to know your options.

‘We need to talk’ one text that always has the ability to make your heart race. You stare at it for 10 minutes trying to figure out the right response before you type back a simple ‘Okay’, his next text telling you he’d meet you at the house in ten minutes. You felt like throwing up and your anxiety was through the roof. You knew what he wanted to talk about, that's what made you nervous. It felt like hours had passed when you finally heard the front door open and heavy footsteps approach the kitchen. Your heartbeat had become very quick when he came into your peripheral vision.

“Hi” a simple word used to greet people now had a more hostile meaning behind it. You finally looked up to see him but he was already looking at you. He still had that same look in his eyes he had that day. Betrayal, disgust, anger, every emotion you had hoped you'd never see him have towards you.

“Hi” your voice much smaller as you tried to avoid his hard gaze. An awkward silence passed for a few moments before he finally spoke again. There was clearly no small talk to be made so it was now or never.

“I'm giving you two options, and I never thought I'd have to say this to you of all people but I guess you really can't trust everyone. I understand you think you love Rafe and that he loves you, but you don't know him like me. Rafe Cameron doesn't ever love someone, he uses them to his advantage until he no longer needs them around and then he leaves them in the dirt. I'm not staying around to watch that happen to you so it's him or me.” his voice was stern, there was no hesitation in his words. He meant every last thing he had just told you.

You stared at him for a moment trying to process what you just heard, did he really just give you an ultimatum? You half expected him to laugh and tell you he was just fucking with you, that he was still upset you hadn't told him but as long as you were happy so was he, but that moment never came. Instead, he continued to stare at you with a pierced gaze waiting for your response.

“Are you serious right now Top?” you chuckled in disbelief. There was no way this was happening right now.

“As serious as a heart attack” no hint of amusement in his voice. Your emotion quickly changed from guilt to anger as his words finally registered.

“You have no right to do that. None. Rafe and I do love each other, we don't think that. You don't know our relationship and this was exactly why we didn't want you finding out. I'm not a baby anymore Topper. I'm a big girl and I can make my own decisions about things, including who I date. If that backfires that's on me and I learn from it. You don't get to decide that for me.” your face had turned red and you felt hot. How dare he make you choose between them.

“Y/N you don't understand okay? I know how he works, I've seen it happen. He's only going to hurt you when-” he tried to argue but you cut him off.

“No. You don't understand. He treats me better than anyone else ever has, he makes me feel loved. You don't know anything about love, that's why your girlfriend cheated on you with a fucking pogue.” his face fell at the comment. You knew it was harsh and uncalled for but you were too upset to care.

“Fuck you Y/N. I'm giving you one last chance to make the right choice” you knew he meant that.

“Fine. You want me to choose so badly? I choose him, I'll always choose him.” your breathing was heavy as you yelled at him. There was no taking it back now so you could only hope it didn't end badly for you.

“Okay” he scoffed “just don't come crying to me when he breaks your heart. You mean nothing to me anymore” he spoke with such disgust that it took everything in you not to cry.

“I won't. He's never going to do that to me” you spoke to him with the same voice he had spoken to you. The two of you staring at each other with anger and a look of disbelief that this had happened to you. Topper gave one last shake of his head before going up the stairs to what you thought was his room. It wasn't until you heard a loud thud a few minutes later that you realized he was in yours.

One by one, bags and boxes of your things came flying down the stairs. Topper was standing at the top with his arms crossed and a satisfied look on his face.

“You want to be with him so bad you can go stay with him. I don't want a lying whore living with me.” his words hurt you more than would ever admit but you swallowed your tears and began packing your car with your things, getting in and starting the car to drive to Rafes once the last thing was thrown in.

He hadn't expected to see your text but all he could do was worry when you’d told him you were on your way to him. The only thing comforting him was pacing around the room and thinking of all the ways he could try and help you. He heard your call pull up and almost broke the door getting to you and his heart shattered when he saw you. Tears streamed down your face, eyes red and puffy, you looked destroyed.

As soon as you were in his arms you broke down, the both of you falling to the ground as your sobs echoed in the warm air. The familiar smell of Rafe's cologne made you feel safe, a feeling you hadn't fully felt since Rafe and Topper's fight. It felt like you were finally home and could relax, the war was over and you could just live again.

“Shh baby it's okay, you're safe now. I've got you” he said as he rested his head on top of yours and wrapped his arms around you tightly. There wasn't much that could be said to help you feel better about the situation but knowing you weren't alone did help to make you feel good. Topper was just jealous he didn't have this type of love with Sarah.

You'd finally calmed down enough to unload your things into Rafe's room. Ward adored you so letting you stay with them was absolutely no issue which you were so thankful for.

Hours had passed and your tears had long stopped. You had taken a nice long shower and now you were in bed with Rafe, it felt natural to you. He gave you a small nudge to get your attention and your eyes met his. He had a slight smirk on his face.

“What? Do I have something on my face” your eyes widening slightly worried you had forgotten to wipe some makeup off your face.

“No no it's not that, it's just… I could get used to this you know? It feels right” his voice was much softer now.

“It does, doesn't it? Maybe this whole situation isn't so bad after all” it was very bad, but maybe you could convince yourself otherwise if you said it enough.

Rafe could see you thinking about the situation again despite what you'd just said so he grabbed your face to hold it in place. His eyes never leaving yours for a second.

“You know I'll take care of you right?” and you had no doubt he would, fuck Topper. You just needed Rafe. He would never betray you like Topper, he would never hurt you the way your brother did. He loved you.

“I know” you smiled sweetly at him before giving him a soft kiss, both of you enjoying the moment of peace before pulling away to turn the lights off. Sleep slowly engulfing you as you relaxed into the others touch. This is how it was meant to be.

If only you knew exactly what getting involved with Rafe Cameron would turn into.

#rafe cameron imagine #rafe obx #rafe cameron x thornton!reader #rafe cameron x kook!reader #rafe cameron x y/n #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron fluff #obx angst #obx imagine

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thankeywa · 2 years ago

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Star-crossed | Lo'ak x fem!human!reader pt. 2

Part two of my Lo'ak x reader fic (you can find part 1 here), also posted on @lucozadehulahoop. Trying to post all of my avatar stuff on this account, so follow me on here like the 7 badasses who already have done so! Thank you all so much for the love, this story is ongoing so let me know if you want to be on the tag list. I will be getting to some requests next! Unfortunately, it is exam season for me y'all, but keep the requests coming because writing keeps me sane.

part 3 part 4

Warnings: once again, both Lo'ak and the reader are 20y/o, and there will be eventual mature stuffs, MINORS DO NOT INTERACT with this or anything on my accounts.

words: 1K

summary: reader is a human left behind on pandora, she grew up with the remaining humans who'd been aloud to stay on the planet after the war and has been friends with the Sully clan her entire life. She and Lo'ak were best friends until he began to pull away from her in their teen years for seemingly no reason. This story is about them reconnecting on the day of her twentieth birthday, and dealing with the feelings they have for each other and the obstacles that come with them being from two different worlds.

Translations for this chapter:

Ngaru lu fpom srak? = Are you alright?

Eywa ngahu = (May) Eywa be with you

Y/n stepped outside the bunker and turned around the corner. Lo'ak was there, after all, hastily trying to get up and off his ass before she could see him. He cussed, giving himself away, but only managed to get back up on his knees, before freezing in his tracks. He hadn't seen her face to face in so long, he didn't know what to do with himself. Why was it so hard for him to even say a word all of a sudden? Lo'ak felt like he couldn't breathe.

The sunlight had gone, but now the entirety of the forest was a glow with the night, along with the 'freckles' on the Na'vi's skin, making him look like a constellation come to life. Y/n could see it: how much taller Lo'ak had grown since the last time she'd seen him. He'd also filled out his lanky features a little more; she imagined it was due to all of that training Jake and Neytiri put their kids through. "Hey..." she hugged herself, not really dressed for the cold air of the night. "Ngaru lu fpom srak?" She asked in concern, but he simply stared back at her. "Are you hurt? Is something out there...?"

"I'm fine." Lo'ak managed finally, and y/n looked away.

That was all he had to say to her after all those years?

All of a sudden, Y/n felt stupid and naive. Who was to say he'd come to see her on purpose? It had just been her own wishful thinking playing tricks on her. With how much of a clutz she remembered Lo'ak being, he'd most likely just fallen out of a tree by accident. She'd just wanted to check he wasn't in any immediate danger.

"Well." She quipped. "If there's nothing I can do for you, Eywa ngahu." Y/n bid him goodnight, and Lo'ak had to bite his tongue to stop himself from calling out to her. He'd made the mess they were in, and now y/n probably thought he'd shown up just to mess with her head. Eywa knew, he hadn't meant for y/n to see him. He'd just wanted to get a glimpse of her, tired of hearing his family constantly talking about her with him no longer being a part of her life.

By his own fault, nobody else's, as Neteyam had said.

But no, it wasn't just that. What did his brother know? What did any of them understand of the pain he was in? He was in love with a human. With his best friend. Someone who could never want back him the same way he did. Someone so infuriatingly understanding and accepting of him, she'd just talked to him with the same kindness and patience in her eyes as she'd done since they'd been kids together. As if he hadn't thrown it all back in her face. As if the past four years had never happened.

Why couldn't she just hate him?

"You know what—" He started, but was immediately cut off.

The second y/n was a about to turn away and walk the other direction, a blood curling growl was heard from the not so far away distance, and she immediately reached out for Lo'ak, who was about to run his mouth as always. Too distracted with what was going on in his own head to see the danger around him. He'd knelt down to her level, which made shutting his mouth a lot easier.

Y/n hadn't even thought about the fact that she'd basically pinned the Na'vi against the outside wall of her home, as if she could shield him from whatever hell was out there, until she could feel his laboured breath against her skin.

Something was moving out there, and that was all she could think about.

"I-N-S-I-D-E." She signed across the plane of his chest. "N-O-W." y/n looked into Lo'ak's yellow eyes to see if he'd understood that they would have to reasume talking another time.

She leaned against his side, guiding them slowly through the dark, when suddenly the damn fool decided to hoist her up and start running. It didn't fail to alert the Thanator that had been out prowling nearby for a midnight snack. Y/n dug her nails into Lo'ak's skin, probably drawing blood, and struggled to keep quiet as they got through the door. She yanked the Na'vi inside with her, not trusting Lo'ak not to do something stupid like stand outside and fight the apex predator of the forests of Pandora.

"Shit, shit, shit‐"

"Shut. Up." They snapped at each other in the dark in hushed tones.

She put out all the lights and they both lay down on the floor, holding onto each other as they listened to the beast's heavy paws prowl the grounds just outside her door, along with the slight snarl it made every time it exhaled. Lo'ak held her close, maybe a little too tight, while his other hand went to his dagger.

If the Thanator did decide it was going to attack the bunker until it got through, Lo'ak was going to throw himself at it with everything he had. He wanted to say everything he hadn't told y/n up until that point, realizing how cruel it would be for either one of them to die thinking their once best friend hated them. Y/n saw the Thanator's shadow on her kitchen floor as it passed by the window, and closed her eyes, pressing her forehead against Lo'ak's shoulder.

"Eywa, please, not him. He is he one of your people... I'll do anything. Please..." She chanted, mustering up her best Na'vi as tears began to stream down her face.

Y/n couldn't believe it. She actually was praying. Not that she didn't believe Eywa was a very real goddess. Y/n simply didn't think humans had the right to ask anything of the Mother of Pandora. Yet she meant it, wholeheartedly. She would have repaid any debt in exchange for Lo'ak safety, knowing full well that the words that were leaving her mouth were not to be taken lightly.

And Lo'ak knew it too.

He was the one to muffle her ramblings this time, covering her mouth with his overly large hand, eyes wide with fear, and his ears now pointed backward. Y/n had just vouched for his life to be saved at any price.

What have you done?

Lo'ak wanted to scream at her, and he knew she could see it in his eyes. Y/n didn't care.

Her prayers had just been answered and the Thanator was gone.

tag list for the people who asked for part 2: @aleromania, @ghostjoohoney

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wizardsnorlax · 2 months ago

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Ok so actually writing to get to the parts in the bullet points is harder than I anticipated, especially on mobile but I do have a bunch of ideas that I need to get out, here's the first post for anyone who hasn't seen it

After Uni Jon starts working at The Institute because he's desperate for evidence of the Paranormal

He becomes one of the hardest working people in the Research department

Sasha becomes the Archivist and requests Tim as an assistant but she also gets Martin and Jon because Elias insists she needs more hands to help with organizing

She does NOT like either of them

She views Martin as incompetent and while Jon is surprisingly good at follow up, his refusal to use a ladder causes more chaos than she believes he's worth

Prentiss bullies Jon instead of Martin and the knocking sends him into such a severe panic that Michael shows up

Jon gets dropped face first into the Archives

Cue Martin finally connecting the dots that this is the same scrunkly little gremlin from childhood

Martin offers to let Jon stay with him but Jon is so worried about taking up space in Martin's flat that he declined

Season 1 events continue mostly as Canon but with Tim learning the extinguisher trick

Tim still loathes The Circus because while Jon and Martin's childhoods are different, Tim still has a dead brother

Instead of the worm attack happening because Jon saw a spider, Sasha catches Jon climbing the shelves and her scolding him so suddenly makes him lose footing

Not!Them remains bound to the table for Season 2 events

Breekon and Hope take the table at one point

Sasha+Tunnel=finding evidence of old man

Sasha becomes convinced that Jon is gunning for her position, Tim starts thinking Jon is sketchy ™️

Michael "bullies" Jon and it makes the poor guy feel worse than when he was a kid nobody believed

Jon's joints are a bit more flexible than usual, it's probably nothing

Tim is increasingly worried about Sasha's new obsession and becomes super paranoid about Jon's reactions but Jon is genuinely interested in Sasha's exploration and not so secretly wishes he could go in with her

Jon takes several convenient lunch breaks whenever the cops are in the Archives (he has a massive record of trespassing and B&E lol)

Jon was taking a nap in a spot that doesn't get checked when he witnesses the brutal pipe murder, gives Sasha Georgie's address so she can be safe

Sasha goes through the season 3 ringer

Martin spends a lot of time protecting Jon from the cops because he's the second highest suspect

Anyway, I might have more later but this is the easiest way to get things out while I try to get things into plain fanfic format

#jonathan sims #tma #the magnus archives #au fic

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pico-farad · 4 months ago

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This Time on Yu-Gi-Oh Vrains Analysis: How the Fuck Did Aoi's Writing Get Worse

Got sidetracked by GX Week, but I'm back to talk about Aoi again, because oh boy...

So for season 1, I'd heard the rumors of how they screwed her over, and they were mostly in line with the ways I expect Yugioh female characters to be failed by the writers. Overall I still liked Aoi and, while I found some decisions distasteful, I didn't think the actual quality of her writing was worse than other characters'.

Aoi's writing in season 2 is several times worse than it was in season 1. It's truly a disaster, amateurish and baffling, in a way that I think most viewers don't even consciously realize. And while it may not be the worst moment in Yugioh -- it is, in my opinion, the worst writing I've ever seen in Yugioh.

Anyway, that's how I wrote 4k words descending into Aoi madness. Enjoy!

---

Before I begin, a fair warning: I'm gonna say some harsh things in this post. Because being mean is funny, and I deserve it after what I just watched.

But I also want say up front that I don't think the Vrains writers are bad writers, and I still have respect for them. Writing for children's television is grueling work that I could never do, and there are many reasons why bad art is released into the world besides simple writing skill. Vrains clearly had a troubled production, and I have other suspicions about why it turned out the way it did. If there's interest, I think that could be its own post, too.

Also, I refer to the "writers" in this post when I criticize Vrains's storytelling, but to be clear, directors, producers, storyboarders, and others can have just as much influence over the show's story as writers, or even more so. I use the term writers for convenience's sake.

Without further ado...

⇀ Losing My Mind Immediately

Akira lets Aoi go into the restricted area, which nobody has ever returned from.

Ahem... WHO ARE YOU??? Why is Akira, overprotective onii-san numero uno, extremely willing to put his sister on house arrest for her own safety, has never given Aoi his permission to fight, suddenly letting her go off into a danger zone with a 0% survival rate, right after she lost to Spectre immediately in the Tower of Hanoi conflict.

Oh, so now you think she's capable? Why???

Not only that, they make Ghost Girl be the one to say it's too dangerous for her. What?? Ghost Girl is the one who encouraged Aoi to sneak out and into the danger zone in season 1. These are literally the last two characters who would say these things to Aoi.

Then, when they enter the restricted area, Aoi immediately gives up her emergency logout program to an NPC. Normally I'd brush this off. Naivety being used to emphasize female characters' moral virtuosity is passé, but it's not a big deal. It wouldn't be, if the next 30 seconds didn't make me completely go off the rails. This is the speech that is possibly the worst writing, line by line, that I have ever seen in Yugioh.

Roll the tape...

Aoi: Recent events have taught me that I'm still a child. I took on Hanoi for my brother, but look how that turned out. I troubled everyone, and they needed to save me. I was full of myself, thinking I can do anything on my own, but in truth, the world is full of people and we're all connected. Everyone saved me. So this time, I want to save everyone. I'll become stronger, so this time, I'll do everything I can!

Literally none of these sentences make sense... Half of them aren't even true. It reads like ChatGPT asked to write a shonen speech -- the facade of being inspiring, but ultimately empty and nonsensical.

"I took on Hanoi for my brother," This is blatantly false. She had a whole goddamn episode focused on why she decides to fight Hanoi, it's her duel with Baira, and it's specifically about how she's not doing this for her brother, she's not doing this for herself, she's doing this for everyone. If anything, she disregards her brother in order to fight Hanoi.

Blue Angel: I learned something from my duels. When people believe in you, you're fighting for everyone. So I will fight for everyone from now on!

Sound familiar? It's the same goddamn thing she's saying right now, "this time, I want to save everyone." Why are they framing this as Aoi having a new realization, having learned her lesson? What they demonstrate with this is that Aoi hasn't learned her lesson. The reason she lost to Spectre is because trying to save everyone includes trying to save him, and he takes advantage of her naivety.

Blue Angel: You're the same as me... When you were alone, you sought love, and Blue Angel's blue is the ultimate love! Blue Angel will descend into your heart, and save your soul! Spectre: Really? *bows mockingly* Please, then, save my soul!

Naively trying to save others is exactly what she's doing right now, by thoughtlessly giving away her emergency logout in a place that nobody has ever returned from. Her character has gone completely backwards. I said in my last post that losses are good because we get to see characters grow -- I stand by the opinion that they could have made the Spectre loss work -- but they've bungled it on three different levels. She loses horribly, then they retcon her reason for losing, in order to make her character regress.

Apparently, the real reason Aoi lost to Spectre, is because "she was full of herself, thinking she could do anything on her own." I'm so mad. First of all, Aoi clearly wasn't acting on her own and never thought she was, Go and Yusaku were both fighting Hanoi too. Why are they acting like Aoi lost because of hubris?

You know who thought he could do everything on his own? Yusaku. But clearly he didn't need to learn that "the world is full of people and we're all connected." He clearly believed the opposite, because he did everything by himself and tried to reject allyship at every turn and yet lo and behold, he hasn't lost a single duel.

"Everyone saved me. So this time, I want to save everyone." NO, LITERALLY ONE PERSON SOLO'D HANOI, AND EVERYONE ELSE DID JACK SHIT. This resolution that Aoi comes to not only regresses her character, but it makes no goddamn sense. Who is the everyone you're talking about, Aoi? Are they in the room with us right now?

Who am I kidding, it's obvious who the "everyone" is, because as she says it, the clip that plays is Akira's manpain as Aoi gets turned into data. Because even in this moment that has nothing to do with Akira, the writers cannot resist bending Aoi's character to revolve around how much she loves her beloved onii-san, even though it makes no sense in this context of trying to save a random NPC.

Frankly, the whole "everyone saved me" also makes no sense in the context of trying to save a random NPC. But like, even less sense than that, because the actual context of this "heartfelt" shonen speech is that she's trying to get Ghost Girl to give up her emergency logout button. Ghost Girl, established to be self-serving and willing to throw others under the bus to advance herself. Why does this speech convince her? It doesn't even have anything to do with her.

Great, so now not only have they botched Aoi's character, but for the rest of the show, Ghost Girl is stripped of the characteristics that actually made her engaging.

If they wanted Aoi to convince Ghost Girl to give up her escape program and become more selfless, it's simple. Have her say, "We saved you." Ghost Girl wouldn't be standing here right now, if Aoi and the others hadn't risked everything to save everyone.

There's more I could pick on about these 30 seconds, like how the writers aren't content with handing Aoi a humiliating loss, but they also make her act like she deserved to be "humbled" by that experience: "Recent events have taught me that I'm still a child," "I troubled everyone, and they needed to save me." It's like they're not content with infantilizing her in the narrative, they need to make sure she infantilizes herself.

Which brings me back to the point about Aoi's "hubris." Because what is implied by saying that Aoi lost because of hubris when nothing she said or did suggested that, is that it was hubris for Aoi to fight at all. It was hubris for Aoi, and the audience, to believe she could do anything. Which is just maddening.

And to top it all off, to add insult to indignity to injury to insanity, she finishes her speech by saying, "I'll become stronger! This time, I'll do everything I can!"

AND THEN. SHE LOSES. IN THE NEXT EPISODE.

This speech reads like a bad influencer apology. First they "admit" their mistake (that Blue Angel didn't do anything in the Hanoi fight), then they deflect and change the story about what actually happened (it's because she was being full of herself! That's definitely why she lost), and finally they promise to do better (don't worry, this season, Aoi will get stronger and get some wins!), but they don't.

I can talk more about how the writers give Aoi shallow girlboss speeches instead of actually demonstrating her strength in duels, but that will come when I talk about Blue Maiden.

Right now... it's time to talk about Blue Girl vs. Soulburner.

⇀ What's in a re-introductory duel?

Something that's pretty standard in Yugioh is the concept of the season 2 "re-introductory duel." Think Shou's promotion duel in GX, the filter episodes that came before the World Grand Prix arc started, the Sector Security battle royale in Arc-V. They can be story-relevant, or completely filler, but the point is to re-familiarize you with the main supporting characters. If you look at the first 10 episodes of a Yugioh season 2, you'll generally see all the main supporting characters represented in a duel. And if they aren't, it may reveal something about how relevant they are to the writers (Misawa GX, Ruka 5D's, Yuzu Arc-V...)

Go gets his re-introductory duel against Soulburner, and though I have my issues with how they handled Go in Season 2, which I went into in my previous post, it succeeds in every way a re-introductory duel should. It addresses the transition of his character between seasons, sets up his conflict for this season, introduces his new cards, adds character to Soulburner, and establishes a dynamic between the two. Their opposition is natural, and if anything, the season fails to capitalize on how well this duel set things up.

Aoi's re-introductory duel... is also against Soulburner. And their opposition... uh...

Look, I'll be frank, there is only one reason for Soulburner to duel Aoi, his third duel already in 10 episodes: they are fast-tracking him into main character slot #2. I talked about this in the Soulburner analysis.

Aoi and Soulburner have no reason to be fighting, this match-up is completely artificial. They went "well Aoi needs to get a re-introductory duel because that's the Yugioh formula, and Soulburner needs more screentime, so let's shove them together," regardless of how it doesn't make narrative sense. How do they do that?

Blue Girl: We came to find the Ignis. SOL-- I mean, my brother can help you. Soulburner: You don't understand. The Lost Incident made us suffer for a long time. SOL Technologies was partly responsible for that. Entrust our future to them? Thanks, but we'll solve our own problems. Blue Girl: *frowning* In that case, those Ignis originally belonged to SOL Technologies. Give them back. Soulburner: What?

This is completely out of character for her. She knows that they're victims of the Lost Incident, she knows what they've been through, and they've just told her they're trying to save someone whose consciousness was stolen. She just said that her motivation is saving people, specifically to pay back the people who saved her. Guess who the only person who saved you was, Aoi? It wasn't your onii-san.

It would've made more sense for Ghost Girl to duel Soulburner. She's the one who was established to be a self-serving bounty hunter in Season 1. Oh, but if you gave Ghost Girl a re-introductory duel, it might give off the wrong impression that she's relevant?

This duel doesn't even add anything to Soulburner's character either, the way that Soulburner vs. Go did.

What could they have done if they were actually thinking about Aoi?

How about Aoi vs. Akira? Akira tells her that if she can beat him in a duel, he'll believe that she's strong enough to go into the restricted zone. Or they could do Aoi vs. Ghost Girl -- same thing, Ghost Girl tells Akira that if Aoi wins, it proves she's equally capable of going on this mission.

Either of these would check all the boxes for a re-introductory duel. It's a memorable matchup, it re-establishes the personalities and (IN-CHARACTER) relationships of these three, and it addresses the transition between seasons -- we left off from Aoi's devastating loss, and this duel would bridge her into an upwards character arc in Season 2.

Of course, if they did that, they would have to make an upwards character arc for Aoi.

These two episodes have succeeded in the exact opposite of what a re-introductory episode is supposed to do. It's a garbage fire of bad writing. They regress her character, and call it progress. She's out of character, in order to be unsympathetic. They don't set up an arc for Aoi this season, because they haven't thought of one. They introduce new cards that never come back. But none of it matters anyway, because Aoi isn't actually important! We'll just make up something new the next time we're contractually obligated to give her a few episodes (but not too many, god forbid!)

I guess there's one part of her character they make consistent, which is making her lose in the worst ways possible.

⇀ Blue Girl vs. Soulburner

You know how in my last Aoi post, I said that it's good when characters lose duels, and that "X should have won that duel" is a comment that often misunderstands how outcomes are about narrative purpose rather than deck matchups?

Forget everything I said. Aoi ABSOLUTELY should have won that duel holy shit. I just witnessed a goddamn crime.

So there is actually one more reason that Soulburner duels Aoi. It's that it's a good concept for a duel. Aoi should annihilate Soulburner. Go ahead with your 72 step Salamangreat combo I dare you. Go ahead and use Burning Draw I dare you. Everyone likes seeing how the underdog comes out of a pinch, and if I came out of the duel thinking, "Wow, I can't believe Soulburner pulled that off!" I could have forgiven it.

Ha ha... wow..... I can't believe Soulburner pulled that off......

I'm not usually that bothered by hyper specific made up anime cards, but what the fuck is that trap that negates effect damage under 300. Countering exactly 1) Skull Invitation 2) Ojama Trio 3) Every one of Aoi's cards. Yeah okay, fuck you Aoi.

And Aoi still should have won, if Soulburner didn't one-up Aoi's own Fusion Summon by Burning Draw YOLO topdecking a fucking Salamangreat Super Poly out of nowhere. Why??? Because the scripter couldn't think of a way out of the situation other than copying one of the strongest cards ever designed?? Fuck you Aoi.

Even Ghost Girl knows how robbed she was.

It's salt on the wound to cap off her "I'll get stronger speech" by having her lose a duel that was 99-1 in her favor. Soulburner deletes her life points in one attack, she screams and gets slammed into a cliff, and Soulburner stands over her and says, "Blue Girl, you're stronger than before."

Jesus, just look at that condescending framing.

Aoi doesn't show up again in a relevant capacity for 20 episodes, and doesn't have another duel for 30 -- that's a quarter of Vrains. Her last words as Soulburner stands over her are "You won because of the bond between a duelist and an AI?" before she passes out.

This, I suppose, is their weak attempt at introducing a plot for Aoi this season. It's... well...

⇀ Aqua and Miyu

The Miyu backstory is lazy as hell.

I'm sorry to all the fans rooting for female characters and wlw ships, but this writing was unbelievably sloppy. Someone put "Aoi's childhood friend was a victim of the Lost Incident and that's how she gets the Water Ignis" into the show notes and then didn't think about it until it was time to write the episode.

Miyu is not a cardboard cutout. She's not cut from cardstock, both of those at least have structural integrity. Miyu has the character solidness of wet tissue. She's an NPC, a parody of a generic little girl. The only reason to care about her is if you buy into the cheap writing shortcut of damselling little girls, or you're a desperate lesbian. I'm sorry, lesbians.

They could have done anything to give Miyu an actual character, I'm not asking for a lot. Give her any kind of trait or interest -- maybe she loves the ocean and shows Aoi her collection of seashells, and she says they should go to the beach together one day but they never do. They could talk about idols, and maybe that's what inspires Aoi to later become one. They could talk about Duel Monsters, it's Yugioh for christsake. A playground duel would be adorable.

There's a million things they could have done that are more compelling than playing on the slide, but there's one that's so obvious it pains me.

The Blue Angel picture book. The one that Aoi said was her childhood treasure in the duel with Spectre, the one that motivated her to try and save him, a victim of the Lost Incident. The book that's an established part of her backstory, which made her take on the Blue Angel moniker. The book that's about a girl who is all alone until she makes friends and no longer has to cry blue tears.

Could it be more obvious? Have Miyu be the one who gave the book to Aoi. It's a backstory on a silver platter. If the writers cared about Aoi at all, if they didn't immediately forget every single thing about her the second they turn in the script for the contractually obligated Aoi episodes, they would know this. But they don't. Because even the Blue Angel picture book was clearly something they made up on the spot.

Imagine if Aoi's season 2 climax duel was vs. a controlled Miyu (à la Jin), the themes from the Spectre duel returned. Aoi questions if she really can save someone from the Lost Incident, or if it's just her own naivety, destined to be crushed over and over. But she breaks through, because this time it's her turn to save someone who's all alone. This is how you connect seasons 1 and 2, this is how you take a loss and turn it into a payoff. We can even get Spectre's perspective, he's there in the final fight.

But that's not what we get. Instead, they play on the slide, and then Miyu drops a ring down a drain, which I guess is what they think is a relatable cause of conflict for little girls. I can guarantee they would have come up with something more substantive if these were two male characters. And the pacing is just comically clunky. "Aoi-chan, look, it's my mother's ring! Isn't it pretty? Oh no, I dropped it! Wahhhhh!"

Aoi lies to Miyu's mom and says she's the one who dropped the ring, even though Miyu denies it vehemently, clearly crying and in great distress as her mother drags her away and never lets her see Aoi again.

This, we're told, is how Aoi "saved" Miyu.

Aqua: While she was imprisoned, you kept her strong, Aoi. No matter how many duels she lost, no matter how much pain she endured, even after her meals were reduced, she never broke and promised to escape. So she could see you again and apologize for that day.

.........APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT???

What the fuck kind of message is this supposed to be? Aqua is supposed to be the Ignis of TRUTH, why are she and Miyu glorifying Aoi's lie as some courageous, inspirational action, when clearly it did nothing but harm? I'm not crazy, am I? The obvious takeaway from this flashback is that even if you had good intentions lying to protect your friend, it caused miscommunication, distress, and led to their friendship breaking apart? Like, their lives would have been just fine if Aoi didn't lie, and Miyu learned a reasonable lesson about not being careless with other people's expensive objects?

This backstory is comically bad. Just imagine Miyu, going through kidnapping, starvation, and torture, sustained only by the thought that one day... she can tell the girl that she played on the slide with years ago... that she's so sorry... that her hand slipped when taking off a ring and it rolled into a drain 5 feet away.

The story would make more sense if it was me in the Lost Incident, and I was plagued by guilt over dumping Cheeto crumbs on Rachel from Pre-K, because at least I actually did something bad.

It's difficult to even articulate how much all these sloppy writing decisions compound on each other. Because they wasted Aoi's introductory episodes and didn't set up anything for her, she has no role in the story for 30 episodes. Because she was given nothing for 30 episodes, they have to shove an entire backstory for Aoi into one episode. Because they shoved the backstory into one episode, Miyu and Aoi's relationship with her are painfully rushed, generic, and flimsy. Because their relationship is so flimsy, this whole backstory, Aoi's motivation to fight, her entire season 2 plotline, is soulless garbage.

Aoi didn't remember Miyu until this episode. The writers didn't create Miyu until this episode. You cannot ask the audience to be invested in Aoi rescuing Miyu, when you don't even care enough to conceptualize her.

And this is the most damning conclusion of this post. The writers don't care about Miyu. And they don't care about Aoi. And they don't care if you care about them. You weren't meant to care about them.

Again, I'm not saying that the Vrains writers are bad writers, or they hate women. There are other factors to consider, like the specifics of gender relations in Japan, how Yugioh animes primarily exist to advertise trading cards to young boys, the fact that there has not been a single female writer on Yugioh since season 2 of GX. And obviously, Vrains had production issues, and every character suffered from flawed writing.

But my point is, Aoi suffered the most for it.

⇀ Final Thoughts

There's a lot more that I could say about Aoi for the rest of the show. Like how she gets a magical girl transformation sequence, only to be irrelevant for 10 episodes again, and we have to wait that entire time to see her new deck. Then the duel, which really needed to be a two-episoder, is about Haru instead. The pointlessness of the Bohman duel. The pointlessness of Yusaku's "identity reveal" to Aoi. How they needed to have a third and fourth Akira manpain scene as Aoi is "taken away" from him, though I guess in that last one Aoi gets to have some girlpain too.

I did plan to talk about each of these duels, and more about how I would do an Aoi vs. Miyu conflict, but this post has gotten way out of hand already, and I've made the points I wanted to make.

I hope it was cathartic for everyone who was disappointed with Aoi, and perhaps gave language to people who were frustrated but unable to articulate why. I did some research into what other people have said about Aoi's character, such as this video by YugiohEverything, but I find that a lot of discourse in Yugioh is not very good at pinpointing why something works or doesn't work, and the actual skill of writing is oversimplified. This is especially true when it comes to Yugioh girls, and criticisms tend to fall back on losing duels or getting put in a coma, and while those can suck, they aren't the real problem.

In my last Aoi post I said "I'll just have to hope that they don't fumble whatever new thing they give her... but things tend to get bleaker for female Yugioh characters as the show goes on and whatever initial involvement they had in the story fizzles out," and this, I think, has been the real problem persistently for Yugioh girls. The writers are contractually obligated to come up with something when a series is first pitched, but when that period is up, or when concessions have to be made, the female characters are the first to be forgotten.

I just didn't think it would be this bad for Aoi.

Well. Expectations lowered.

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First Aoi analysis

All Vrains season analysis

#if you read the whole thing you a real one #yugioh vrains #vrains season analysis #aoi zaizen #ygo #pico commentary

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honeycrispappletree · 5 months ago

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ON THE UNDER SIDE OF TOKYO // keiji akaashi

masterlist

PART 1: OBLIVION

" I never walk about after dark, It's my point of view

'Cause someone could break your neck, coming up behind you

Always coming and you'd never have a clue"

“UNIVERSITY OF KYOTO TAKES THE WIN FROM UTOKYO, 54-22!”

The stadium sighs in unison. Few UKyoto fans who are scattered around the stands cheer loudly. Another lost basketball game for the University of Tokyo. The exits start flooding with students, disappointed in the outcome and wanting to leave as quickly as possible.

Yn stayed in her seat at the back of the stands and finished her report. She drags her pen across the paper, trying to fabricate some interesting way to say the UTokyo basketball team absolutely sucks, and are 0-8 for the season so far. She hates being assigned to sports. But its much better than reporting on the meal schedule. Her journalism class assignments are mundane to say the least. Losing sports, knocked over trash cans around campus, and late buses are all things she knows very well.

Yn takes her attention off of her notebook and onto the moping players. They huddle together at the end of the court, getting yelled at by their coach. She cringes at the insults coming out of his mouth. It is his job on the line, after all. Her focus shifts to one specific player being shunned by the rest of the team, number 11. Throughout the game he had been missing shots and overshooting passes. His green eyes gazed down at the wood gym floor, in what she thought would be shame, but instead it was something else. She couldn't quite place it, but he looked like he wasn't even there. Not in the moment, everything being shouted at him seemed to be going in one ear and out the other. Yn tries to find out his name, but fails and just settles for writing down his jersey number. She jots down a few notes about his appearance before shoving her notebook in her backpack and leaving the gym.

Yn steps outside to be met with an ill omen, the sunset. A warning to hurry home, she quickens her pace as she heads to her dorm. Although her university campus is deemed as protected, she can't help but be skeptical. A few months ago, a guy she slightly knew from one of her classes went missing on campus. He just vanished from school without a trace. Some people thought he was kidnapped, but police never really entertained the idea. Everyone just assumed he must have dropped out. Nobody ever heard from him again. She shudders at the eerie reminder of her exposure. It reminds her of the stories her older brother used to scare her with. How sinister things happen at night, people wander in the subways and look at you strange, and if you ever walk alone you'll go missing. She followed his directions blindly as a child, but as she got older she realized they were dramatized tales. Now though, she wonders if there was any truth to it. Yn shakes her head, not wanting to think about this kind of thing as she's traveling in the dark. Almost to her dorm, she takes a left and passes a utility pole scattered with advertisements and stickers. School clubs, basement shows,missing people, campus elections…

Missing people.

Yn backtracks to the pole to check what her eyes were telling her. She in fact finds a missing person poster, pinned front and center. A girl about her age is staring right into her eyes. Something about it makes her feel sick to her stomach. The girl's smile is innocent and unknowing. She's frozen in time and has no idea what's happened to her. Yn studies the page closer.

Alisa Haiba. Her eyes are green and her hair is a muted shade of blonde. She's pretty. Too pretty to be missing. Yn notices at the bottom of the page a phone number of someone named Lev Haiba, and to call them with any information of Alisa’s whereabouts.

‘Odd,’ she thinks to herself, ‘wouldn't you call the police with something like this?’.

Although thousands of people go missing in Japan every year, something feels different about her. Yn can almost feel her asking for help. An unsettling feeling is creeping up her shoulders and neck as she stares at the printed page. The sun is no longer visible and there is only a tint of brightness in the night sky. Torn, yn decides to rip the poster down and shove it in her notebook. She doesn't really know what she's supposed to do, but she feels obligated to do something.

She whips her head around to check if anyone is nearby, and books it for her dorm. She makes sure the blinds are closed and the door is locked before slumping on her bed and pulling out her phone.

more!

akaashi and yn became friends in high school after becoming the co editors of their yearbook and running the school paper

very ambitious those two they both want to be succesful journalists

they work together well but are both very competitive towards each other

their professor gives them very lame stories and tears them to shreds when they arent interesting

yn's brother used to scare her with all the stories and she grew up and figured he was lying, but she isnt too sure about that recently

Utokyo has MISERABLE sports most of the time and yn is always put on basketball

her least favorite

Alisa was last seen entering the subway before dusk

taglist: none yet, reply or message to be added!

a/n: FIRST CHAPTER gang i cant write for actual shit im so sorry but i had fun anyway its fine im just better at my little text messages. im trying to make this ominous but like also funny but also sad and angsty but also cute but also everything at the same time ok Bye also the poster was supposed to be a png but it didn’t freaking work now it just looks DUMB

#haikyuu #haikyuu smau #haikyuu x reader #hq fanfic #hq smau #hq x reader #akaashi keji x reader #akaashi keiji #akaashi x y/n #haikyuu akaashi #akaashi x reader

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ilikepjo24 · 1 year ago

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Azula's character was written for redemption...

So, as some of you may know, Aaron Ehasz was the headwriter and co-executive producer of the first two seasons of Avatar the last Airbender, so by all means, he had a lot of say about the creation of the characters and the 2/3rds of their development, or in some cases, 1/2nds. It's safe to say that next to nobody knows those characters and their purposes as well as he does.

And as some of you also know, after the show had ended, Ehasz made a tweet, publicly announcing that he always intended for Azula to have a redemption arc. Always. It wasn't a last minute decision, it was the end goal from the beginning. Which means that, naturally, in order to create a plotline that doesn't feel forced or odd, Ehasz needed to write a character that always had the potential to be redeemed. He couldn't create an irredeemable character and try to redeem them later. It wouldn't make sense.

Which is why Azula's character always was and still is a perfectly redeemable character.

I genuinely believe that the people that can't see that, simply fail to understand Azula's intentions.

I've had conversations with people that have had perfect understanding of Azula's state of mind, personality and actions, but still failed to understand why she's so redeemable, because they didn't understand her intentions. And I don't blame them for not understanding. You can look at Azula's character all you want, and you still won't see it. Because it isn't just about Azula. It's about the Fire Nation as a whole.

The thing about the Fire Nation is that they genuinely believe they are doing something that is good. It's not just a bunch of people that saw the opportunity to do something evil and did it for fun. Sozin did something evil for power and then gaslighted entire generations into believing they were going something good. The Fire Nation is a bunch of people that think they are doing something good.

In Azula's case, I drew a picture to help you understand.

(Disclaimer: Ozai's crown isn't historically accurate.)

As you can see in the picture, yes, at the end of the day, Azula does bad stuff, but not because she recognizes they are bad and genuinely wants to do then just because. She's s victim of manipulation from an adult she had every reason to trust and brainwashed by the same propaganda that controlled the rest of the nation.

So yes, she did bad stuff and she's a villain.

But she is redeemable.

Every time we see Azula try hard to complete a mission, she's passionate about it. She's passionate to do the "right" thing and she's passionate to make the person that loves her proud. That's why she doesn't evil stuff. It's not because she enjoys pain. It's not because she gets off on people suffering. It's because she thinks it's right, and she's rewarded with love.

Which is what makes her redeemable.

Because being passionate about doing something you think is right means you want to do right things. You just need your view of right to align with what's objectively right. So by that logic, all Azula needs is someone to teach her what is actually right and her views will align with that, and then she'd be passionate about doing the real right thing. The good stuff.

And someone that would do that for her, is someone who would obviously love her, or at the very least, someone who wants the best for her. So with time, it's logical to assume that sooner or later, she'll want to make this person proud.

There's nothing wrong with Azula's mentality of "do good, make proud". It's not inherently evil. Just easy to use. Right now, Ozai has used this to fill the blanks and turn the situation into "do fire nation good, make father proud". All Azula needs to be redeemed is for someone to remove the "fire nation" and "father" proud. Assuming that this person is Zuko, he should just switch it to "do what is considered good on a worldwide level, make brother proud" and just like that, Azula has gone from evil to good.

It's obviously easier said than done, but it is possible. Azula's mentality is what allows her to be anything, evil and good. It's really impressive and fascinating how Ehasz wrote such a character, but he did it for a purpose. This kind of mentality is perfect for creating an evil character that gets redeemed. And it's the exact same mentality Zuko also has. And Zuko hot redeemed, so Azula can too.

This proven.

#atla #azula #azula meta #azula analysis #character analysis

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the-otherlands-official · 19 days ago

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Do you like magic? Adventure? Complicated characters? TV shows that are slowly being written by an amateur writer who have dedicated more time to it than they probably should? Queer representation? Screenwriting?

In that case, hello! My name is Milo (they/he) and I am currently writing a show titled The Otherlands! Please bear with me while I try and explain it. It's a fantasy adventure set in a world where only the people who have magic and were born with the gene for it can remember it. These people are called magicians, and they, along with other magical species, live in a small area dubbed The Otherlands, Oregon.

Season one stars:

HENRY LANDON, a seventeen year old boy who had a relatively ordinary life until his brother Beau went missing. That opened up a whole new mystery for him as he learns that, not only is magic real, but he has it.

ATLAS SONDERS, a sixteen year old ember--humanoid fire being--summoned by Henry and his friends for protection in finding Beau. Instead of wanting money or items in return, all he wants is friendship.. and a way to escape the past that is always creeping up on him.

The focus and protagonists shift as seasons go on and we delve deeper into the problem: everyone used to be able to learn magic, even if they weren't born with it. This all changed after someone used their magic to stop an attack... and ended up affecting everyone. There are two different organizations trying to fix the magic that caused the world to be the way it is now.

THE GUARD: A group of magicians dedicated to keeping The Otherlands relatively peaceful. They have a long history with the memory curse, and its mysterious captain is supposedly the one who put it up, though the world's memories of him are... strange and scattered.

THE INCENTIVE: An organization that exists simply to take the curse down and bring magic back to everyone. But they tend to go about it in violent ways, having grown impatient from all of the years of failed attempts.

But really, nobody is truly good or evil, are they? Everyone has their own secrets and problems.

People are complicated.

And that's what the Otherlands gets across, through delving into the lives and minds of different characters. Some other important characters, some that turn into protagonists by the later seasons:

PENN GRAVES, a seventeen year old girl who tries her best to be there for her friends while navigating her own struggles with pieces of her childhood that she really doesn't know how to feel about resurfacing.

BEAU LANDON, a nineteen year old magician who constantly tries to do what's best to help the people he cares about be okay, but doesn't know how to focus on himself and his own needs.

ACHERAN SONDERS, a nineteen year old ember with secrets kept even from herself. They care about their loved ones but, because of the situation they've been put in and the people who control them, they don't know how to feel that properly.

So if this sounds good to you, I'm thinking of posting the script for the first episode on here--and if people like it, I'll keep posting them! I've written up to season 3, episode 1 (there are nine episodes in a season) and outlined the entire show, so content is promised.

Let me know if this sounds good!

#screenwriting #the otherlands #original work #tv show #tv show idea #pitching a show? kind of?#fantasy adventure #lgbtq #please let me know if you'd like to read this!

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marginofthought · 3 months ago

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What are your favorite possessive!Dean/controlling!Dean moments from the show?

I love your writing so much by the way 🥰

Hii, thank you!! ♥

Canon isn't my speciality and these might be more possessive/protective but I gotta mention:

Season 1 Episode 16 - Dean opening up a little bit and admitting that he really wanted Sam back with him. All Dean wants is for Sam to be only his and always by his side.

Season 2 Episode 9 - one of my favorite quotes: “You make a move on him, you’ll be dead before you hit the ground” ugh yes please, nobody is allowed to touch him

Season 2 Episode 10 - Yeah, fuck Gordon, how dare he go after his Sammy

Season 4 Episode 13 - Dean being possessive and protective about Sam in High School? Fantastic, especially when they repeat the “gonna rip his lungs out”

Season 9 Episode 22 - “This is a dictatorship” Yeah you tell your little brother, how dare he not follow whatever you say!

Season 12 Episode 1 & 2 - Dean hated it so much that Sam was taken, ready to take on the world to get him back. Wish we could have seen him kill/torture that british bitch

And when we’re talking about controlling we can’t forget: Dean letting an angel possess his brother in order to save him (aka the ultimate rape metaphore) at the end of S8E23 just to let him get possessed by a demon just to get said angel out again in S9E10….

#spn #weirdcest #gencest

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ladymorghul · 3 months ago

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It's so confusing in every single post-episode interview, Ewan kept saying Alicent was Aemond's cryptonite, his soft spot, etc., and then, after the season finale, Geeta revealed it was Helaena all along. I don't have a clue why in the first half of the season they were making us believe Aemond didn't care about his sister (his reaction to BnC was going to the brothel where he had a good time and bragged Daemon sending assassin after him, he never mentioned Jaehaerys and didn't even brother to attend his nephew's funeral). Some were even speculating Daemon's notorious vision of Alyssa was , in fact, a mirror image of Aemond's secret desire to have sex with Alicent , who he was supposed to be obsessed with. Do you think there is a chance Helaena's actually the closest person to Aemond, just like Geeta said?

i totally get the confusion tbh.

i will get boo'ed for this but i do personally think they lowkey retconned aemond in s2 and in the first half had to diminish his story and involvement in the story to make space for aegon's and to gain aegon some sympathy through the writing.

it makes zero sense that aemond wasn't involved in the b&c aftermath, both with helaena and the rest of his family. daemon is only brought up once by him in the brothel and nobody speaks of him in relation to b&c outside of that at all. aemond is made to talk exclusively of luke when his nephew was straight up killed horribly. the only thing b&c related we have of aemond is something that iirc ewan mitchell came up with himself. the coin that he finds in his room, the one he fiddles with during the council. ewan says:

“i wanted to just remember that everything that coin represents very much lives in aemond's head rent-free. the idea that daemon got this close, and ultimately aemond's nephew paid the ultimate price, that's something that does haunt aemond.”

unfortunately unless you're someone who likes to analyze, maybe go back and rewatch, are good with details, this is something that can easily be missed. we have nothing else tying him to b&c and it is so sad they erased him from this plotline.

then there's also of course having helaena easily brush off the circumstances of b&c and having a significant part of the b&c plotline focus on alicent: her sex scene and her guilt, which helaena easily forgives.

i do think aemond craves validation from his mother, and even more love than whatever he got, and i do think he's affected by alicent's actions and attitude to a degree, but i'm not sure i would call her his "cryptonite"

that being said i know ewan talked extensively about alicent. then again, he also talked about loyalty to his family and we knew that was something to throw off the audience during promo season considering what was coming for rook's rest.

i do think geeta is right in that aemond has deeper feelings for helaena. personally, i think he always had them. on one hand i feel like he always had romantic feelings for helaena and also the bitterness that comes with being a second son not being able to be the one who gets to marry the sister.

as for "the closest person".. it's hard. if we look at it overall, he obviously had more scenes with his mother, however we also see a huge clash between who his mother is and who he is. the closeness they had in season 1 is definitely slipping in season 2. the problem here i think lies in the writing consistency and the actual lack of scenes of both aemond and helaena. hotd uses aemond a lot for promo but when you look at his screentime... i mean.... and the way they used that screentime in the first part of season 2 is especially lacking.

and i agree with geeta that aemond and helaena are definitely closer than aegon and helaena. phia says she doesn't live a married live, that this marriage was just to please her mother and never thinking about herself, but we saw in season 1 that she and aemond are closer, something that should have naturally spilled into season 2 with the aftermath of blood and cheese and how that would affect both characters and their relationship, but like i said... i feel like it was retconned to make space for aegon's story before he would be burned in rook's rest.

it's also not just geeta saying that aemond and helaena have a closer relationship, but also ewan mitchell and phia saban. and we can see that culminate in episode 8 when it's clear helaena is the only person who can get that type of reaction out of aemond thus far.

but the writers are pretty bad at showing this on screen consistently and building it naturally and it's not just with aemond and helaena, but other dynamics and plotlines.

#asks #helaemond

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jjtheresidentbaby · 1 year ago

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idk if u still do supernatural but r u open to a fic of little sam and cg dean? (i dont ship them i just love the brother dynamic they got)

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ not true ໒꒱ ⋆ﾟ⊹

|| dean winchester & sam winchester

a/n: ofc I still do spn!! I still write for all the fandoms listed on my navigation post unless they’re crossed out

warnings: hurt/comfort, swearing, set in season 1, rude people, protective dean, pet names talk of jess’ death/cg!jess

Dean feels Sam's face tuck into his neck before he sees his brother walk over, Sam presses himself into Deans side so something is obviously wrong.

"Sammy?" He asks, turning on his feet to look at Sam's face, his eyes glisten with un-shed tears, nose sniffling after a second. Dean feels dread twist up in his gut, this hunt should be an easy salt and burn, they had come to this shop to ask a few routine questions about the owner who had died and since come back to haunt the place that his daughter now owns. Sam shouldn’t be upset or hurt at all.

"Hey, hey, sweetheart what’s wrong?” Deans hand comes to cradle Sam’s cheek before he can stop himself, he knows that Sam has slipped into his headspace, it’s written all over his face.

“Nothin’ just some guy.” He mumbles and a spike of anger flares in Deans chest. This is the fourth hunt in that past however many months that someone’s said something about Sam, whether it be about his “childish” behavior or the rambles he gives on cases that are too intricate for the local pd to understand. Both make Dean angry, protective, but the comments about how “clingy” or “young” Sam is really get to him.

His brother has been through a lot throughout his life, something that Dean is keenly aware of. The latest trauma is Jess dying, it had shook Sam to his core, just like when Mary died and John became a mess. But they’re working through it and Sam regressing has been helpful, it’s only four months into Dean finding out about the coping mechanism and yet he’s fallen comfortably into the role of a caregiver for Sam. A role that Jess used to fill, Dean is always sure to be sensitive when that comes up.

The last thing Sam should have to deal with is a bunch of assholes who have nothing better to do than poke fun at someone they don’t know. It gets to Dean in different ways than it does Sam, the older Winchester wants to hunt the people down and give them a piece of his mind, while Sam would rather Dean leave it and let Sam latch around him a little more than normal.

It’s how Dean finds his hand gripped tightly in Sam’s as they walk down the crooked sidewalk back to the Impala, thankfully not wearing suits as he’s sure it’d be an odd sight for anyone passing by. It’s not a long walk by any means but Dean can feel his mind spiraling the more Sam squishes against his side, whatever was said must’ve been bad, really bad.

“Hey it’s okay Sammy, it’s just us now.” Dean assures as soft as he can. Sam’s staring up at him from where his head is rested on Deans side, his body halfway slid down the bench of the impala so he can be smaller than Dean. It’s something Dean noticed almost immediately, Sam always slumps himself down or curls his shoulders in when he’s regressed, just trying to shrink himself to be physically tinier.

“Can you tell me what they said? You don’t have to but if I know I might be able to help more.” There’s a low rumble as Dean drives down the road, now thankful that their motel is just outside of town and not in the middle where they could run into more rude people.

“I- I was just asking questions about the girl we’re trying to help but this- this guy came in and started to say stuff about how nobody like me could really help her.” He sniffles through the explanation and Dean has to focus half his energy on not turning around to go tear that guy a new one. It’d do no good, sure it’d satisfy him, but Sam would still be upset and probably even more so knowing Dean got into a fight because of him, despite none of it ever being Sam’s fault. The kids got a heart of gold that people love to prey on.

“That’s not true, it will never be true Sammy. You are an amazing hunter and anyone would be lucky to have your help.” The compliments fire off in instinct, of course Sam’s a good hunter, of course he’d be the person you’d want to get help from, Deans never thought anything different.

“But—.” Dean shakes his head firmly, glancing down at Sam’s soft face and hand gripping at the t-shirt Dean has on, Dean wishes he could stay like this forever. Just them, safe, in Baby, only worrying about each other.

“But that guy was a jerk and you don’t deserve to be talked to like that. Now c’mon we’ll order something and watch cartoons.” A tired but full smile spreads on Sam’s face as they both tumble out of the car, Dean already holding his hand out for his brother and a plan forming in his head for what they can do once this hunt wraps up, they could both use a little tlc in Deans opinion.

#jj writes #supernatural agere #caregiver!dean winchester #little!sam winchester #sam & dean #dean winchester #sam winchester

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