#and i wanted to do it for one of my favorite ships

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

I’m curious—is there an in-universe reason why Bismuth’s gem is at the leg ship instead of Lion’s mane? Or is it a meta decision made so Bismuth can play a role in the story without Rose bringing her out herself?

Great question!

I was hoping someone would ask this, because I set it up this way SPECIFICALLY. And also because all I've seen for the past 6 years is assumptions that Bismuth will be where she was in the show - in Lion's mane.

But here's my question to you all:

Why would Bismuth be in Lion's mane if Canon!Steven doesn't exist?

Let's rewind the clock and go back into the universe where this all started -

In the episode Lion 3 - Straight to Video, Steven enters Lion's mane for the first time. There, he finds a mysterious pocket dimension filled with what appears to be Rose's stuff. The flag, the sword, a t-shirt, Bismuth, yes........ but what ELSE?

The tape.

The tape specifically labeled to and made FOR Steven. Steven's tape. Yes, that tape.

IF Rose left the tape here, we can reasonably assume she hoped Steven would one day find it. Along with the OTHER items she left there, including some things that were important to her and Greg.

And including......Bismuth.

Bismuth, who is NOT in the locked chest. Bismuth, who is just hanging out by the tree. Not that far from reach. Very much in plain view.

So, we can safely assume from this that Rose LEFT Bismuth in Lion's mane for Steven to find. She knew she could never reconcile with Bismuth. She hoped Steven would be able to, instead.

Now - WHY is this important?

Because in this AU, Rose has not prepared Lion to be an inheritance box for Steven. Undoubtedly she keeps stuff in his mane - but why would she keep Bismuth in there?

Canon Steven, once he discovers it, uses Lion's mane as a personal storage locker. I have all my tokens on the bet that Rose was the same. She was diving in and out of that thing enough to make Lion annoyed, probably.

But ask yourself this - if you were Rose Quartz*

* The same Rose Quartz who has a built-in-trauma response of running away like a gazelle, who solved nearly every problem she had by hiding it or hiding FROM it, putting it up on the 'we're not thinking about that' shelf, chanting to herself "I do not see it"

If you were THAT Rose Quartz...

Would you REALLY be keeping Bismuth's bubble in the SAME space as your favorite knick-knacks?

Would you want to be seeing that bubble EVERY TIME you reached into your Lion for a pizza?

And look, yeah, I know she's a masochist who revisited her shattered and corrupted friends' bubbles frequently and pondered over how things could have gone differently, so there is an element of "I will purposefully subject myself to Guilty Self-Flagellation" but come on

Wouldn't you rather put Bismuth's bubble somewhere FURTHER AWAY for safekeeping - in a place that you can safely visit ALONE (or maybe never go back to at all), without ever fearing that someone ELSE could potentially discover it? In a place where you KNOW the Crystal Gems will never venture?

I think I've made my point But Wait

There's More

My other point is - Bismuth has been bubbled for like 5000 years, ever since her fallout with Rose, right before Pink's shattering.

And Lion? How long has he been around?

Well, there's less information, but if we presume that THIS lion Pride contained the future Pink Lion...

and indeed it DOES because the Lion that licks Buddy awake has a heart shaped nose

...we can safely guess that Lion was ONLY turned Pink MUCH later. Buddy's Book takes place circa 1837 - 1841, which sets us back about 100-150 years, give or take - that's approximately how old Lion is.

So where was Bismuth's bubble for the 4850 years BEFORE Lion existed?

Again - my answer would be "Somewhere Very Remote, where the other Crystal Gems would not think to go back to".

Hence.

Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk.

[probablyapinecone]

I was gonna just comment this but my hate is beyond just “it’s boring”

spoilers for bridge to terabithia but idk I think that’s one that everyone was forced to read in school

Do keep in mind I read this of my own accord btw. The whole book was meh, mediocre. I didn’t care much for the main character, but Leslie was great. I wanted to be her friend, she seemed so genuine and fun and like she’d help me get out of my little book nerd comfort zone.

anyway the book was really boring. Blah farm blah races at recess blah wtf fatshamimg out of nowhere blah museum blah WHAT THE FUCK THEY KILLED OFF MY FAVORITE CHARACTER OUT OF LITERALLY NOWHERE.

THEY LITERALLY HAD NO REASON TO DO THAT. NO PLOT DEVICE. NO FORESHADOWING. JUST KILLING OFF LESLIE FOR THE SAKE OF ENDING THE BOOK. LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE WOULD’VE BEEN A BETTER ENDING. I WOULD’VE APPRECIATED A FUCKING CANNED HETERO SHIP BETWEEN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLERS MORE THAN THAT, WHICH IS ARGUABLY THE WORST ENDING. WHY DID THEY DO THAT.

I also hate Ramona the Brave but that’s a different rant.

Enough about favorite books. What’s a book you read and absolutely hated? The book you’ve got a bone to pick with.

[floatyflowers]

Dark! Peter Pan X Captain Hook's Daughter! Reader

You were falling.

Again.

"Tinker Bell !" your voice cracked, clinging to your doll with one arm as your body twisted mid-air.

"P-Peter! Please, I'm-"

Your back struck the soft ground of the empty Mermaid Lagoon, the air knocked out of your lungs as you curled around your doll.

The third fall today. Or was it the fourth? Time didn't make sense here.

A shadow cast over you as Peter hovered above, barefoot, cocky grin tugging at his lips.

"Oh, come on! You said you liked flying."

"I didn't say I liked being thrown…" You hiccupped, choking back another sob.

Your doll was pressed so tight to your chest that its button eye was imprinting a red ring on your skin.

Peter twirled mid-air, arms out as if showing off.

"I'm just playing with you! I play rough, that's what we do in Neverland!”

You looked up, hair tangled, face sticky with tears.

"Father never treats me like this, he said I was his treasure"

Peter's eyes narrowed, his grin faltering. Something behind them flickered. Cold.

"Yeah," he muttered, descending and crouching beside you, his shadow stretching long and sharp behind him.

"Your Father, not me."

Your lips quivered, you had begged for weeks.

Pleaded in the treehouse he had built which felt like a cage.

You wanted to go home, you wanted your father’s warm coats and honey-sweet words, and the toys he gave you just because you pouted.

But Peter gave you nothing.

Except bruises, dizzy spells, and lies.

Unfortunately, you fall for his lies, as Peter promised he will fly you around for a little bit and then return you to the ship.

And you being a naive shaltred twelve year old, believed him.

“My princess,” he mocked in a sing-song tone, poking your doll, before snatching it away.

"Bet he made you feel so special."

"He loves me," you whispered, voice cracking.

"He's looking for me. I know it."

Peter tilted his head, eyes narrowing, and then he said it.

"No, he gave you to me."

Peter knew the truth, James Hook suffered from his family's neglect for years

The pirate would never abandon you or even dare to make you feel unwanted like how he felt in his childhood.

"You are lying."

He grinned wider, leaning in close, breath tickling your cheek.

"We made a deal, a long time ago, he broke his promise to me, he said he would never grow up, but he did, he ran away with some of my boys, and made himself a pirate king." Peter's voice hardened.

"So I took you."

"SHUT UP!!" you screamed, the sound ripping your throat raw.

Peter blinked, startled, then frowned.

"You are being ungrateful," he stated coldly.

"I feed you. I keep you young. I let you fly. You get me, that's better than being a pirate, isn't it?"

You turned away, after taking back your doll.

"Take me home…"

He leaned closer, lips brushing your ear.

"This is home."

Suddenly, he bent down and scooped you up into his arms, bridal style.

Your legs dangled limply, fever burning under your skin, but he cared less.

"There we go!" he chirped, all singsong and sunshine. "No more tears, little wife."

You blinked, stunned, dizzy as your cheek pressed against his shoulder.

"W-What…?"

Peter spun around with you in his arms, the treehouse nursery blurring past.

"I know what will cheer you up! Let's play your favorite game!"

You stiffened.

"House!" he declared, grinning wide.

"You remember, right? I will be the husband…"

He nuzzled his nose against your cheek with childlike glee.

"And you are the wife. Of course."

You shook your head weakly, tears slipping down your cheeks.

"Peter, I don't want to."

The rejection was ignored as he continued.

"And the Lost Boys are our adorable little children!"

[scatterpatter]

HEEEEERE'S JAMES~~~ (featuring the lovely @shrike-nest as Gordon and THANK U @kdm13 FOR SOME OF THE PICS!!)

[gwenie-creates]

Do You Like Scary Movies?

An F1 x Scream Au

Main Ships: Landoscar, Lestappen, Galex

Warnings: Fic contains major character deaths & graphic descriptions of violence

read on ao3 here!

Chapter One

It was late at night when Veronica got the call. She’d been sitting alone in her apartment, which was off campus, and was waiting for her boyfriend to come home. He was out clubbing with his friends, or so she thought. 

It wasn’t unusual for him to be out until late at night, partying and most likely cheating on her with some other girls from campus. The only reason Veronica stayed with him was because he– Brody– was captain of the football team, and his family was super rich. 

Veronica wouldn’t consider herself a shallow person– despite what others might think–  but she could admit that her reasons for staying in the relationship weren’t exactly respectable. She didn’t mind, though, dating Brody got her in with the ‘cool kids’ and allowed her to leave her loser reputation from high school behind. That being said, she pretended like she didn’t know about the cheating, preferring to keep her position as the football captain's girlfriend rather than go back to being a nobody. 

She’d been searching through Netflix, looking for a good movie to watch, when her phone suddenly started to ring. The sound cut through the silence of her apartment, making her jump. She glanced down at the screen, noticing the ‘no caller ID’. Huh, that’s odd, she thought, staring at it for a few moments before shrugging it off and answering the phone. 

“Hello?” She asked, expecting to hear the voice of a telemarketer who was trying to sell her car insurance or something similar. Instead, she was pleasantly surprised by the response she got. 

“Hi, is this Veronica? I’m Kyle, we have psychology together.” The voice– Kyle said. 

“Oh, Hi Kyle, yes, this is Veronica,” she paused, sitting up straighter. “What can I do for you?” Veronica asked, twirling a piece of hair around her finger. She remembered Kyle from class, remembered his big muscles, sly smile, and most importantly, that he was the captain of the basketball team. 

Kyle let out a small laugh. “Well, I was wanting to see if maybe you would like to go get drinks together sometime or maybe watch a movie?” Veronica could hear his flirty smile through the phone. “Oh, if you were wondering how I got your number, one of your friends– Cheryl, I believe, gave it to me.” Ahh, that makes sense. Although Veronica couldn’t really say she was all that concerned with how Kyle had gotten her number. 

“Well,” Veronica started, drawing her voice out in the flirty way that always got her boyfriend going. “I was actually about to watch a movie right now, if you wanted to join me…” she trailed off, letting Kyle fill in the blanks regarding her intentions. 

Kyle let out a smug laugh. “Oh really, well I’d love to. Tell me, Veronica, do you like scary movies?” His voice suddenly changes, becoming darker, more sinister. It sent shivers down Veronica’s spine, ruining her earlier flirty mood. 

“Uhh, not really,” Veronica replied, shifting uneasily. Something about the way Kyle had asked that made her uncomfortable, scared even. 

Kyle just laughed. “I do, I love a good scary movie. It’s always the pretty blonde ones who die first, you know.” Veronica stiffened, hand going up to hear bleach blonde hair. She sat up straighter, eyes glancing towards the window. Kyle continued, “Tell me, Veronica, what’s your favorite scary movie?” 

“I just told you I don’t like them,” Veronica replied, becoming sick of talking to Kyle. He was really starting to freak her out. “Kyle, I kind of just want to watch my movie now, my boyfriend's supposed to be home soon.” She started to get up, heading towards the kitchen, intending to use the old landline that their apartment had come with to call her boyfriend and ask him to get home soon. 

Kyle laughed, it was dark and cynical, almost mocking. “Oh please, we all know your slut of a boyfriend is out partying with some whores at a club. Now, sit back down before I gut you like a fish.” 

Veronica froze, hand just above the landline’s phone. “What?” she asked. “H-how did you know I was standing?” 

Kyle tsked. “Oh, Veronica.” Suddenly, his voice changed, becoming distorted and threatening. “I’m looking at you right now.” As the words left Kyle’s mouth, Veronica tore the phone away from her ear, eyes scanning the small apartment. She opened her mouth to speak, but Kyle continued. “Now, you’re going to do exactly as I say, unless you want your blood to paint the walls. They could use a new coat of paint, don’t you think? White was so last season.” 

Veronica gulped, nodding shakily as her heart rate began to speed up. “P-please,” she begged, voice wobbling. “What do you want from me!?” 

A maniacal laugh rang through the phone. “I want to play a game. Tell me, Veronica, what’s your favorite scary movie?” 

“I told you I don’t like them, you freak!” Veronica shouted. 

“Don’t you yell at me!” Kyle screamed back in response, his voice angry. “Go to the bathroom right this second or I’ll slit your throat!” Veronica shook in her place, fear making her freeze. “Now!” he barked. 

“Ok, ok,” Veronica said, sniffling as tears began to roll down her cheeks. She made her way out of the kitchen and headed towards the bathroom. She wanted to ask why she needed to go there, but was too scared of what would happen to her if she did. She stood in front of the door, hand hovering over the handle. “I’m here,” she whispered, voice trembling. 

“Open it,” Kyle instructed, and Veronica did. She grabbed the handle and twisted, swinging the door open. What she saw made her let out an ear-piercing scream. 

The bathroom was covered in blood. It was splattered on the walls, the floor, and all over the mirror and toilet. Her eyes scanned the room, landing on the bathtub that was completely red, soaked in blood. It wasn’t the amount of blood that made her feel like she was going to faint, but more so the source of it. Inside the tub sat her boyfriend, intestines on display as his stomach was ripped open. 

“Oh my god,” Veronica sobbed, fighting the urge to throw up. “Oh my god, Brody!” She wanted to get closer, grab his wrist, and check for a pulse, but she knew it was pointless. The blood had gone cold, and there was no way he could survive his body being ripped open like that, guts spilling out. 

“You sick monster!” Veronica screamed into the phone, backing out of the room as sobs fell from her lips. Her shoes were slick and sticky with blood, tracking footprints across the house as she stumbled towards the door. 

“Ah, ah, ah,” Kyle said. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” 

“Do what!?” Veronica shrieked, grabbing onto the door and struggling with the lock. 

“Try to escape,” Kyle replied before the call suddenly ended. Veronica ignored him, throwing the phone to the floor and finally undoing the lock. She flung the door open, intending to run down the hall and get help. She looked around, seeing no one, and made a run for it. 

Suddenly, a man appeared, dressed in some kind of Halloween costume. He brandished a knife, mockingly pointing it at her. “Hello, Veronica,” he said, before running towards her. Veronica ran in the other direction, screaming bloody murder. He grabbed her, throwing her to the ground. Veronica fought, kicking out at him and trying to twist out of his grip. It was no use; he kicked her in the gut, knocking the air out of her. He grabbed her ankle and began to pull her back towards her apartment. 

“Noooo!” Veronica screamed, clawing at the carpet-covered floor. “HELP!” Her voice rang through the hallway; surely someone would hear it. 

Kyle– or whoever this man was– pulled her into the apartment, throwing her inside and to the floor. He slammed the door shut, snapping the locks in place. He turned towards Veronica, face shielded by his mask. “Now, I was going to be nice if you had played my game, but not anymore.” Before Veronica could respond, he suddenly lunged at her. She scrambled backwards with a scream, kicking out at him and nailing him in the face. 

She heard him grunt in pain, reaching up to right his mask. She used that as her opportunity to get some distance between them, running towards the kitchen so she could grab a knife. 

“Not so fast, you little bitch,” he growled, running after her. Veronica grabbed one of the knives from the drawer, pointing it at him when he rounded the corner. He grabbed her wrist, twisting until she let out a shriek of pain and dropped the knife. “Nice try,” he said, sarcasm leaking from his voice. She threw herself in the other direction, breaking free of his bone-crushing grip. She scrambled towards the living room, cries echoing through the apartments. 

“Help!” she screamed, running towards the window in the living room and starting to bang on it. She continued to pound on the window, ignoring the footsteps that were becoming increasingly closer. There was nowhere for her to run, being trapped in the small apartment with this psychotic man. Her only hope was that her banging would get one of her neighbors’ attention. 

The footsteps stopped, making Veronica freeze. She stood stock still, holding her breath. She felt something ghost against her neck, making her spin around, coming face to face with the masked psycho. 

“Please–” she begged, being cut off when he brought his hand up, knife glinting in the moonlight. He swiftly brought it down, slicing it across her throat. She gasped, reaching a hand up to grab at her bleeding gash. The blood splattered across the window, rivets of it dripping down like tear drops. Veronica fell to her knees, hands grasping at her bleeding throat. The man stood over her, knife in hand. He crouched down, showing her the knife before stabbing it into her chest, straight into her heart. 

Veronica collapsed on the floor, her body giving out. Blood pooled around her, and maniacal laughter filled the room as the masked psycho stood over her limp body. 

“You should have played the game,” he whispered, stepping over her body and heading towards the door. “They never play the game.” 

***

“This just in, two students were brutally murdered in their apartment last night,” Nico said, holding his mic up to his mouth. “I’m standing in front of their apartment building with neighbor Daniel Ricciardo right now,” he paused, turning towards Daniel. “Daniel, did you hear anything last night? You live in the apartment below them, correct?” 

Daniel nodded, “Yes, I live below them. I didn’t hear anything because I was out late, but when I got home, one of my neighbors had asked me to go see what was going on upstairs because they had heard something banging around. She’s a sweet little old lady, Ethel is her name, and she couldn’t make it up the stairs because of her bad knee, and the elevator was broken. I told her I would go check it out, and that’s what I did. At first, nothing seemed strange. The floor was silent, so I figured whoever had been making the noise was just some drunk kids and they’d gone to bed. I was about to turn back when I noticed that something was oozing out from under the door of apartment 3465. I walked closer to see what it was, and that’s when I noticed that the door wasn’t locked. I pushed it open and saw,” he paused, looking like he was going to be sick. “I saw blood everywhere. It was on the walls, the floor, the furniture, just… everywhere. And–and then I saw the body. It–it was,” he paused, taking a deep breath to keep from vomiting. “It was Veronica, but her throat had been slit. She was hung up from the ceiling fan, a rope around her neck. I-I can’t, I’m sorry–” Daniel rushed out of the frame of the camera, the sounds of him puking could be heard. 

The camera settled back on Nico, who was looking towards Daniel with a shocked expression. “Well…. Umm, alright, that’s all from Daniel, but,” he paused, gaze looking off camera, he beckoned someone closer. “Here we have Sheriff Wolff.” Sheriff Wolff walked into the frame of the camera, grimacing. “Sheriff Wolff, what can you tell us about–” 

Oscar turned off the TV, cutting off whatever the news reporter had been about to say. He turned towards Lando, who was standing near the entryway of their bedrooms, frozen in place. Lando’s eyes snapped towards Oscar, fear radiating off of him. “Osc?” he asked, opening his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. 

They both froze, fear gripping their chests. ‘Who?’ Lando mouthed, eyes frantically moving between Oscar and the door. Oscar shook his head in response, just as lost. He raised a finger to his lips, waiting to see if whoever it was would go away. They didn’t; instead, the knocking got louder, like someone was pounding on the door. Oscar slowly got up, creeping towards the door, ignoring Lando’s whispered protests. 

When he reached the door, he looked through the peephole, letting out a sigh of relief. “It’s just our idiot friends,” he said, looking back at Lando before undoing the lock and opening the door. 

“Took you long enough,” Max said, pushing past Oscar and into the apartment, the others following suit. 

“No, just come right in,” Oscar mumbled, ignoring Max’s comment. 

“Did you see the news?” Charles asked, walking over towards Lando, who was still standing near the entrance to their bedrooms. 

Lando nodded, “Yeah,” he breathed. “We just did.” 

Carlos spoke next. “It was Danny’s neighbors; he saw the bodies.” 

“We know,” Oscar replied. “We just saw his interview.” 

Pierre and Logan stood quietly to the side, fidgeting nervously. “Do you think the killer will kill again?” Logan asked. 

“I don’t–” Oscar started. 

“Probably,” Max said, interrupting. “No one kills as brutally as that and only does it once.” 

“Twice,” Pierre mumbles. “He killed two people.” 

“Exactly,” Max says. “He’s already killed two people. Why would he stop?” 

“How do you know it’s a he?” Lando asked, moving closer and standing next to Oscar. He was standing closer than strictly necessary, but Oscar chose not to comment, knowing that Lando sought comfort through physical contact. 

“Because only a man could kill that brutally," Max replied. “Veronica’s throat was slit, and Brody was cut open, his guts were all over the bathroom.” 

Lando made a face, looking like he might be sick. “Nasty,” he mumbled, moving even closer to Oscar. 

A sudden knock rang through the apartment, making all of them jump. “Let us in, you assholes.” Came Alex's voice from the other side. They all let out sighs of relief, and Carlos opened the door. Both Alex and George rushed in. “We came as soon as we saw the news,” Alex said, pushing the door closed behind them. 

“Who do you think did it?” George asked, looking at all of them. 

“You think it was someone from campus?” Lando asked, shocked. 

George nodded. “That’s what the sheriff was saying. He thinks it has to be someone from campus because the murder had so much aggression behind it.” 

“And Veronica and Brody were pretty popular,” Alex added. “A lot of people hated them because they were so shallow.” 

Charles nodded. “They were always making fun of people, too.” 

Oscar looked towards Lando, remembering how Brody used to pick on him in their shared arts class. “So, you think it was deserved?” he asked. 

“What?” George said. “God, no. Their deaths were horrible; no one deserves that.” 

“But,” Charles added. “It’s not exactly a surprise they were the targets if the killer was a student here. It’s probably someone they bullied relentlessly.” 

“Or one of Veronica’s hook-ups,” Lando said, making everyone turn towards him. “What? It was common knowledge that neither of them was faithful to one another.” 

Oscar nodded, backing Lando up. “We saw them sneaking off with people all the time…” he trailed off, being interrupted by the sound of everyone’s phones pinging. They all grabbed theirs, pulling it out and staring at the campus-wide text message that had just been put out. 

‘This just in, a campus-wide curfew is now in place as an ongoing murder investigation breaks out. Lock your doors and stay inside after 8 pm. Deputies will be patrolling the campus 24/7. It is encouraged that if you have any information about the two most recent murders or about who might be the culprit, that you come forward with it now. Thank you and stay safe.’ 

“Well,” Oscar said. "Looks like we’ve found ourselves in a real-life horror movie.” The others gave weak laughs, fear gripping each and every one of them.

What if they were next?

Tag list:

@river410 , @jamespotterisbetter , @f1lovely , @sparklydinosaurpanda , @introvertstoriesblog , @mother-bear2020 , @magnificentwolfface , @that-1-short-friend , @enchantedtamales , @fizzpopsnap101 , @ezisregrettinglifedecisions , @brat-cedes , @iheartf1 , @saffry1633 , @lefrenchparrot , @chiefuniversityeggdonkey-blog , @booklover2003 , @shipahmoks , @httpspiastri , @bloemblossssom , @28cupsoftea , @mgcwife , @fan-girl-2008 , @mr-decapitation , @mrsbrock-hardy , @fangirlmusicbiashoe , @reesielive , @libby1203 , @yar16 , @stairstothe7th , @glowbugaroo , @o-rion-sta-r , @ursusmajora , @oddends , @the-devils-salsa , @muffintacing82

[katiekatdragon27]

"AWWWW BRO NOT THIS SHIT AGAIIIIIIIIN!!!" Me at myself for reattaching to an interest I had long before time had a name.

Anyways hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii I'm back with the milk- wait. How long have I been gone? *Looks at comically large Calander* 5 YEARS????? HOW HAS IT BEEN 5 YEARS???

Revisiting this game series has really showed me how much I've changed as a creative since quarantine. My old takes were all kindaaaaa severely mid (if anyone SOMEHOW remembers my old art from 2020 no you don't). Not to blame my younger self, I was veeeeery much just absorbing the general headcanons and shipping of the times, but MAAAAN are they kinda buns looking back. I'm happy with how I've grown as a media consumer and analyst lol.

It's lowk gonna be a yapfest below with lots of Rupert and... uagh... DURRRRTTT STUFFFF. So, if you wanna check those out feel free lol:

Henry: (There's no such thing as "bad people". Just good people who do bad things.) Rupert: Jump. Henry: (What?) Rupert: J U M P.

Rupert: WHEN I GET YOU STICKMIN GRRRRRRRRR Henry: (Hmm... I wonder if there's other banks I haven't robbed yet...)

Rupert. Oh Rupert, Rupert, Rupert. Watching you suffer is such a joy.

Yeah, guys, soooo actually paying attention to all the game plots has made me realize how much Rupert's hatred of Henry would not only be one of the strongest forces on Earth but also be incredibly one-sided. I could probably write a whole essay about how important Rupert is not just to the plot of the story, but to Henry as a staple of how his actions impact everyone who's interacted with him (Dave falls into this category too, but on the opposite side of the spectrum).

But to keep it simple, the entire trajectory of Rupert's life was swerved off because of Henry, and in a way, his own negligence. I do not blame Dave at all for the package. It quite literally just spawned in outta nowhere and he was new to the job. HOWEVER, I do blame Rupert because he was blatantly negligent with a new employee and in turn got the guy fired. Absolute blunder my man, do better.

And he did. In the police force. And then the military. By being a sweat. And being traumatized but that'll make this post too long.

Can you tell who my favorite character is? Can you? I bet you can't (It's actually Burt).

SPEAKING OF BURT. AND DAVE. And Rupert.

Burt: (Oh my god he's taller than me while slouching. If he tried to escape, I'm so COOKED.) Rupert: (WTF is he eating? He's so TALL.) Dave: Hello!

WHY DID YOUNGER ME HAVE SUCH BEEF WITH TALL DAVE BRO WHYYYYYYYYY??? IT'S SUCH A BASED DESIGN AND CHARACTER TRAIT EXPLORER.

I love tall Dave. And it's canon kinda, so heck yeah. The reason why he's kinda shorter as a prisoner is because he slouches a ton to make himself look smaller. (If you lined up these three at full posture it would go Burt, Rupert, and Dave.)

And heh, speaking of prisoner...

Mmmmm exploring dynamics that had no shot of being canon.

Younger me was such a Durt stan but would literally draw it like that one Yaoi base🥀🥀🥀 I got some people to ship them lol, but it was very poorly written. There were good ideas for it that I made, but I did not have the skill to write that level of complex relationship.

However, I've grown. So, here's another short synopsis of their hypothetical dynamic.

Okay for some context for this image: Dave has been imprisoned for a while at this point (this takes place after ItA if you don't free Dave) and is completely uncooperative with Tophat interrogations. It's gotten to a point where the clan basically left him to complete isolation, which messed him up BAD. That is until a rising communications member is transferred to the airship for a month.

When they meet, it's very neutral on the slightly negative side, but once they begin to talk, they begin to build a bond. For Burt, this means intel, especially because the clan wants to get their hands on the diamond before dipping into space, but it eventually turns into affectionate sympathy and sadness for the guy. For Dave, this means willing company, which then turns into sever codependency.

In the context of the image: Burt tells Dave that he's being relocated again to work on the spaceship, but he brings up how they are probably going to dump the prisoners in the jungle after takeoff so Dave could be a free man. Dave is very distraught about this, and insists he becomes a Tophat so that he and Burt can still be friends (or more) without Burt getting in trouble, completely ignoring his personal needs. Burt, however, knows being a Tophat would destroy Dave, so he has to put his foot down and helps Dave realize that he wouldn't want that life, and that there's no way they could be together in this reality. Burt brings up how Dave being happy is all he wants for the guy, but Dave doesn't know how to be happy alone anymore, and he cries about it into Burt's shoulder. But it was short, Burt's ship was going to arrive in 5 minutes, and they never see each other again.

So yeah, doomed Durt. As it should be.

Lastly, some random doodles and a character card of my persona as a thsc character (may or may not be lore relevant in a possible AU in the future).

Let's see how long the fixations sticks gang 💔Have a good one pookies.

[m1ssunderstanding]

The John Lennon Owner's Manual By Paul McCartney

1. Make him food. I mean actually cook for him. Don't just take him out. He needs to feel loved and settled. John had a bit of a difficult childhood. He won't say it, but he craves security, and a good home-cooked meal can give that to him if only momentarily. Steak and potatoes is his favorite for dinner. Black pudding for breakfast. He also recently got a taste for a good American picnic lunch. Just real, hearty food. Hopefully you know what I mean.

2. On the other hand, you can't fall for his ‘i just want to stay home on the couch all the time’ routine. That's bullshit. He'll kick and scream on the way out, but the minute he's out of the house, he's like a dog at the park, or a bird headed South. Take him to the water. Boating, swimming, just staring at crashing waves or ships in the harbor. Take him to those rotating art galleries with different exhibits each month. Clubs, but it's got to be the good kind. You won't know what I'm talking about. Ask Brian or Mal. When you're dancing, ignore John's tough guy act. Twirl him, dip him, show him off. While we're treating John like a woman, John loves shopping more than any bleeding bird (girl) you ever went with. Clothes, books, sweets, gadgets. Take him. And you can't worry about all the money he's spending. Just be very excited about whatever it is he's spending it on.

3. Speaking of money. I assume you've taken over all my assets with my identity. I actually am terrified of John spending everything he owns and ending up completely broke, and it's not because I'm crazy. It's a legitimate possibility. So what you have to do, if you actually care about John, is be very very VERY careful with my money so he's always got a safety net.

4. Listen to him. This one is important. Every joke is a fucking tear-jerking rib cracker. Every snide comment is a scripture you're going to memorize and carve into the mountainside. He is an actual genius. I'm not being funny. I'm not being in love. Or obsessive as you'd call it. John’s brain operates on a level that's beyond even me. Quicker, deeper. All of it. So to you, he's basically a god. Anyway, my point is, treat him like a gift to the world, because he is one. Back up his plans. Draw attention to his wildness. Explain away the behaviors that to smaller minds might seem cruel or immature etc. File away little details of things he tells you for future use. I would usually answer them in a song, which you can't do. But you could call back to them with a public private joke. Or if it's some insecurity he's confessed, bring up how insane that thought is when he's had some minor success. Mention some random fact he taught you when you're bragging about him to strangers. Buy him that thing he once pointed out in passing at the shops.

5. Keep him working. I think all people experience this one, really, so this is probably self-explanatory, but just in case. If a person is feeling sorry for themselves, they might lose the motivation they need for the projects that make them happy. So they might stop working on those projects, which means they lose both the joy they get from the actual work, and the satisfaction and pride they get from a job well done. Think about how this cycle works in you, multiply it by fifty, and you've got John on a good day. He needs to be pushed. But he can't think you're telling him what to do, and he can't think you don't believe he can do it alone. You've got to be a bit sneaky with it.

6. Touch him. You were right. This is where – well part of where – I know I let him down. He loves to be touched. Anywhere. All the time. Even stupid shit like an ankle kick under the table or a shoulder nudge in the hallway will get you the most rewarding beaming beautiful smile. I guess you must know all about John and sex, so I won't go into detail here, but again. Just in case. You probably know his m.o. with sex is tender, romantic, passionate. Kissing your neck and running soft fingers up your leg before he takes you in hand. Arching his back and throwing his head back with reckless grace when you grind into him. Staring into your eyes and holding you in him deep as you come. Cuddles and heart-to-hearts after. But he also loves it when you mix it up a bit, you know? He's open to quite literally anything and he needs variety here as in every area of his life. But really. The point is, he needs to be touched. Probably goes back to the difficult upbringing thing, I don't know. He’s a bloody good hugger. He needs more of that. I should've done more of that with him. A lot more.

7. You will never be able to make him truly happy. Not the way that I can. So until you give him up, you're lying to yourself about loving him and doing what's best and all of that. I'm not helping you because I'm scared for me but because I'm scared for John. Try not to fuck this up for him.

8. Which reminds me. If you're ever out walking with John, especially in London. Say you're walking to the studio or something. Make sure John's on the side of the sidewalk close to all the houses and shops etc. You stay on the side of the road. The streets get busy. He doesn't see well. It's your job now to keep him safe. Take it seriously.

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

film character - Sophie from Companion, my homicidal robot girl, I love you and your stalwart refusal to die

LGBT+ character - Alex Chen! you should be so much crazier and more dead than you are! I love your love for bright colors and random violence.

tv character - Gemma Scout! shoutout to dead wives who aren't really dead and have heads full of ghosts, s3 better be Your season

childhood favorite - Bluestar/Bluefur, I loved your book and your crazy parts were my favorite parts of the warriors series, you should have been Worse

comfort character - Kaaaate Marsh, fallen angel rising devil, you deserved to nuke your high school

f/f ship part 1 - CLAUDELEINE!!! I would have done drugs with you both and kept you alive forever (before you both ate me) my coven is claudia...

f/f ship part 2 - pricefield...what if you killed a shitload of people for me and we were both girls...

Character of color - Annnieeeee you are going to live forever and ever, more people should have listened to you, but more importantly more people should have been there for you, aargh

Old favorite Nausicaa! I loved this movie growing up, looking back you were probably one of my first crushes, lol

Disabled character - Autism coded and canonically epileptic, I love your joy in the little things and your talent for bloodshed

Character you relate to - Eudoxia from tvc! I share your love for books, kissing girls, and personal space (whyyy did you get killed off so fast why why why)

Book character - Dr Tamsin Riiiivers hot evil lesbian scientist swag...times 2! I love your your reality-hopping mental illness, the clones and the butches you pull without even trying, and your astounding tendency to fuck shit up and put it back together. scoop my eye out any time you want princess

dnd character! - I don't have a picture of her on hand but Hazel from Dragon Age!!! from @midnight1404 and I'd (well, mostly midnight's) dao campaign! you are the best mage and I love your talent for violence

under appreciated character - Jojo from Mayfair Witches, you were soooo underutilized by your show oh my god. also you deserved to kill your dad.

Side character - Karen Reynolds, you may be a shit mom at times, but are also hot, an arsonist, a poet, and unflinching as hell about what you want

video game character - Anufi! coming out of your tree and doing just fine (kicking ass after decades of depression)

Character from non-western media: Kushana from Nausica and the valley of the wind! you were completely nuts, but sometimes a girl has gotta raise a monster and pick a fight with one billion bugs

Animated character - Lisbeth Fischer, you suck soooo much and your cult was so evil and you should probably be on a list. marry me.

From your first fandom - Oroku Karai/Hamato Miwa!! your life sucked so bad and you always got impossibly cooler in response. you will always hold a special place in my heart and in a shitload of my fics.

if I'm taking "favorite media" as "media that I'm hyperfixated on to the point it becomes my favorite - CLAUDIA!!! you deserved to kiss girls and collect body parts until the end of time, I'm gonna be holding a prayer circle for your ghost to come back and rip everyone to shreds if you don't

free space - helaeana targaryen, you deserved a better show, a better family, and To Ride A Fucking Dragon. cover me with bugs please and thank you.

Fandoms don't show their female characters enough love. Here's a 20 prompt list for female character appreciation. Any kind of post or work for this is cool: art, fics, analysis posts, appreciation posts, gifs, memes, edits. Maybe make this an ask game. Anything. Feel free to tag me, I'd love to see what you do.

Film character

LGBT+ character

TV character

Childhood favourite

Comfort character/favourite character

F/F ship (canon or non-canon)

Character of colour

An old favourite

Disabled character

Character you relate to

Book character

OC/video game/dnd player character

Underappreciated character

Side character

Video game character

Non-western media character

Animated character

From your first fandom

From your favourite media

Free space

[shanastoryteller]

okay,but for realsies if I do end up watching Roswell New Mexico, what's the recommended place to stop watching before being filled with rage about writing choices, but still get the maximum time with the characters?

oh geez

ok so keep in mind this is a bad cw show!! that's the standard we're at

season 1 is legitimately good. solid writing and plot for what it is and AMAZING characters. the characters and relationships are 100% what make this show. i ended season one being absolutely in love with liz and michael. they were easily my favorite characters out of all of them, even though i really did like the others

i didn't start shipping alex and michael until season 2

in season 1 they're all, as michael puts it, "tortured lust" and now looking back i love all their scenes but at the time i just didn't find them all that compelling. it's all so high stakes that it just all feels like drama. they never get a moment to just be before they're fighting or something again

in season 2 you actually see them acting like friends. it was actually the episode where they break into the long farm that really got me, where they're laughing and conspiring together and watching wyatt make an ass of himself that they really clicked for me. i was fully invested from that moment on. the relationships and characters continue to be great into season 2 and the science and plot is sort of stupid, by which i mean very, but despite being stupid there is an internal logic being carried through the season, so that's something

season 2 is also, unfortunately, the season where maria becomes intolerable. spoilers below.

i was actually fine with it up until the last episode of season 2. maria betrays her best friend, the only one who's shown to know all her internal struggles and who goes to an effort to support her, by getting together with the man he's in love with behind his back after explicitly telling her best friend that she won't pursue him. i didn't like this choice, but

maria doesn't have to be perfect. so far in season 1 she's shown hints of impulsiveness and selfishness and thoughtless cruelty, but she's also shown the huge effort she goes to to be more than that, to be the fun friend and the good friend, to legitimately care about people and try and help them. maria of season 1 was interesting and multi faceted and a good character doesn't always have to make the right choices or do the right thing and can of course be capable or doing good things and bad things simultaneously

the thing that makes maria's (and to a lesser extent, michael's) actions in season 2 intolerable is that she's never held accountable for them

alex isn't allowed to get mad at her and michael ever. neither of them ever apologize to him for getting with his best friend/love of his life. he's never allowed to be upset with them about it - including after the infamous 2x06 threesome. alex is visibly, noticeably upset about what happened the morning after. michael doesn't get it and never gets it. maria uses it as a way to force michael to make a choice once and for all - her or alex

again, this isn't really a problem. it's conflict which stories need to progress

except it's not allowed to be

no one ever acknowledges how shitty this was of maria. michael never comes to understand alex's feelings about having sex that involves a woman (and his supposed best friend) as a gay man and with the man he loves and wants to be with who then chooses his best friend over him again. this is a really interesting, complicated thing for the show to navigate

except they don't

we don't see alex for an episode and then when we do he's actively trying to move on from michael with someone else in a way he hasn't been the rest of that season. maria's plan of using this to push alex away clearly worked and yet it's never really addressed. the next time we see michael and alex interact, michael says, surprised, "you came." and alex replies, "you asked." which is among one of my favorite interactions between them, but doesn't tell us anything. it implies that michael knows that alex was upset after the threesome and that he might not come, when alex has spent the whole season so far being at his beck and call, and alex affirming he's still here for michael, but that's as an explicit acknowledgement about everything that happened that we get

maria is fairly disparaging of michael even when she's with him, both before and after finding out he's an alien, and refuses to give him any say in her life and changes the subject to sex or something else when he tries to discuss anything serious with her. michael is stagnant with her, unable to grow because that's not what she wants from him. by contrast, all of his scenes with alex are about his emotions and what he wants and who he wants to be and who alex believes he could be. the contrast is really startling, and again could have been super compelling, except it's another thing that's never acknowledged. all the characters talk about how great michael and maria are together and there's no reckoning. michael even says he loves her and she has to break up with him. which is another thing that could have made sense, michael making a desperate bid to keep this thing he's hurt alex over worthwhile, for this relationship to be anything but another fuck up in a long line of fuck ups, while maria has finally figured out that what she wanted from michael wasn't michael, but an idea of him, an idea of someone that could love her exactly as she is without ever challenging her, which isn't really love. we could have salvaged it!

it's not salvaged. they play it straight. maria never has any reckoning for her actions and choices, no come to jesus moment, nothing. the narrative treats everything she does as good and fair and beyond reproach, which is why i didn't mind s2 on the first watch and hate her parts of it in retrospect. what i thought was a character arc and set up for growth was just bad writing

michael and alex never have a conversation about maria or her michael's relationship. they just move on as if it wasn't a big deal. it's crazy

season 3 is very bad, but malex gets together and liz is delicious and we get some great kyle scenes. season 4 is nearly unwatchable. if you watch either, i'd just skip around to scenes involving characters you like and ignore the rest as much as you can

[occasionalobjects]

Day 40!!!!!

I love wagyuscale yaaaaaay yaaaaaaaay!!!!!! I wrote a whole speech about them because I know people love to jump to conclusions so. read it if u wanna! :point_down:

Wagyuscale is a very complex ship to me. It's less of a romantic ship and more of a queer platonic relationship at its best, and it originally started for me as a crack ship. Around the time that the q&a came out, when it was said Dragonscale was an age regressor, it made me think about her a lot. 

Upon one of numerous rereads, I thought about how Invisible portrayed Wagyu, and how he probably didn't have a great childhood either (this was before Reflection was released). I liked to imagine a world where there was no apocalypse and everyone lived closer together, purely for fluff. I loved the idea of Ghost being their caregiver, and it was a silly little idea in the back of my mind for a while. White Noise came out, and it just cemented my love for the pairing even more. I wanted them to be happy and play.

And then came Lone Bandit… I was never ever expecting them to interact in canon in a positive or even semi positive way, so it was so exciting to see. Wagyu’s initial disdain turned clinginess to Dragonscale…. It made me so happy. My love for Wagyuscale just got bigger!

Another thing that contributed to this was the amount of dreams I had (and still have) where I was either Wagyu or Dragonscale in some sort of relationship with the other- friends, queer platonic, lovers, enemies, every time it happened it made me think about them even more. I have incredibly vivid dreams, so it was easy to insert myself into the scenario and it became my favorite ship because of that. It's not so canon adjacent, but I'm just here to have fun. I'm agender myself so I often project that onto Wagyu since I get to be him the most often in my dreams. Wagyuscale is yuri to me if it's even romantic in the first place. Every flavor of the ship is wonderful to me.

Even though she isn't in the ship name, I don't think it would be complete without Ghost being there in some capacity. She is like the mediator… They would get into too many silly arguments otherwise. Without her it is easier to push into the purely enemies or rivals category. 

Tldr; I like Wagyuscale because I dream a lot about them. I don't view it as romantic all the time, and when i do I'm heavily projecting myself and my agenderness onto Wagyu. They are my yuri. 

(ps, if you by any means disagree with what I said or just don't like seeing the ship, please don't hesitate to block or mute me! No hard feelings, take care of yourselves! <3)

[randomherofan45]

my thoughts on krusie:

a lot of things i think make them a good pair romantically can also be said about them platonically. same thing for why i find their relationship pretty devastating.

they are pretty similar people which is why they get along. all of the moments of them being weird are a highlight of ch 4. kris struggles with self hatred, more so in the weird route, but i think those feelings still exist in the normal route. susie makes them feel ok being who they are. susie is also the only one who we know has made kris smile or laugh, which i also think is very special.

of course, susie is going to find out about us at some point, which of course will be devastating. she already has all of these insecurities about friendship and about her friends being “real” or if they just see that friendship as a joke, so that’ll definitely be crushing. i don’t think she’ll be able to process that kris does genuinely care for her. then kris is also working with the knight. those two realizations combined will destroy their relationship. i hope it can recover, but i’m not sure. i do think kris wants to chose their friends over the knight, but they are shackled by this promise they made.

then, additionally devastating when looking at their relationship as non-platonic, is susie’s relationship with noelle. i’m like, 90% sure kris has a crush on susie. it is still up in the air, but i’m pretty confident. most players want to see noelle and susie get together. the concept of kris trying to set their crush up with someone else by the will of the being controlling them is kinda horrifying. but i think kris will go along with this because of their self hatred and because of the soul and their deal with the knight. also i think they want noelle to be happy. to kris, noelle is deserving of susie while they are not.

part of me is hoping that the whole “garden scorched by jealousy” thing isn’t just referring to asgore being jealous of sans, but kris being jealous of noelle. obviously, it’d be a more complicated jealousy because kris cares for noelle. that’s honestly why i kinda hope it’s a double meaning. but, i also think kris won’t want to get in the way of what noelle and susie have.

basically, if kris has feelings for susie, they will keep those feelings to themself. they might be unrequited, but they might not, and kris is just shooting themself in the foot by not asking susie out. but, noelle’s feelings are also part of this equation, which makes everything messier. this is a bit of a side note, but i could see her asking kris in ch 5 not to third wheel at the festival, but i also don’t know how we the player would see the suselle festival date if they aren’t there??? ofc, i love krusielle, but idk if these three are gonna be able to figure out their feelings for each other like that at age 15-16.

this was a really long post and i may have repeated myself a bit in different places, but i just really love krusie. i still have more thoughts about the similarities between kris and noelle’s feelings for susie, so that’ll be another post sometime soon. i’ll also probably make some kriselle posts because they are actually my favorite deltarune ship.

[lara635kookie]

Why are people on Twitter saying that Rumi will get a new love interest in the sequel based on what Maggie Kang said on Reddit? She literally never said that. She just said that they probably won’t have the “other Saja boys” in the next film because they were side characters and they might want to make new side characters. That’s it. They never thought to give the Saja boys any personality because they were just side characters. It’s clear that Jinu is very different from them. People are forgetting that Jinu was not a side character. He was literally the MALE LEAD, he was pivotal in moving the story forward. If he had not made the boy band, then there wouldn’t be any story at all in the first place or Rumi wouldn’t be able have character growth. There is even more concept art of Jinu than the other Huntrix members! Tbh, I would become a hater if Rumi has a new love interest. Also, Jinu is a fan favorite character. I don’t think the fans would like or even accept it if they decided to just replace him. The filmmakers are actually insane if they are planning to do it.

True, I don't know where twitter got that from. In the final credits Ahn Hyo-seop's name (Jinu's VA) appears after Arden Cho (Rumi's VA), the first one that appears, but before May Hong and Jiyoung Yoo (Mira and Zoey's VA). And it happened many other times too. They know the fans would only accept three options:

1. Either them all stay single and friends, which is the one most likely to happen if Jinu doesn't come back (but I hope he does).

2. Polytrix canon (and because it's a movie that even though reached a lot of people it's still targeted towards kids, they won't go there).

3. Rujinu canon, maybe imply Zoemira in a very discreet and subtle way, since it's basically confirmed the other Saja Boys won't come back, so no Zoeystery and Miromabby in canon.

Third option is my personal favorite because Rujinu is already one of my favorite ships of all time in a piece of midia and Zoemira is so cute too. There is space for Jinu to come back and death is not the only way to get redeemed. He can still be a useful character to the plot by helping Rumi with her demon side and powers, maybe help her find out things about her father, etc. The possibilities are endless really.

Rumi having another love interest just doesn't make sense. Clearly everyone that worked on the film loved Rujinu, and they can use the very common k-drama ressurection trope in a believable way. So why would they create a whole entire new character just to fill the role of love interest? It's not gonna happen.

[lilmissnatcat24]

today is the day!!! here's everything ive wanted to say about my minibang fic but havent been able to!!! (yap session incoming)

honestly, this is one of my favorite things ive written, so not talking about it has been really tough for me. i started writing this in january (not knowing the minbang will even be a thing), and then i gave myself my own deadline of april to finish because i didnt want to deal with writing something while i was in japan. and i probably didnt touch a single other one of my fics while i was writing this, it consumed my mind, body, and soul. i would be hunched over at work on my phone writing this, i stayed up way too late, i woke up early so i could write it before work. like i was actually obsessed with this idea. (and of course it burnt me out for like 2 months afterwards where i wasnt able to write anything because i couldnt replicated that high, whoops).

i had like 20 different titles the whole time (for the longest time it was called time after time which..... i like that song but i do not like that as a fic title) but i finally came on composed of nows, which comes from an emily dickinson poem, forever is composed of nows

Let Months dissolve in further Months – And Years – exhale in Years –

the inspo from the fic came mostly from a song i love called johnny dear by kassi vallaza, about a cowboy that returns to a ranch ran by a woman he loved long ago. something i always do with longfics is make my last chapter some sort of song lyric, so that one is from the chorus. a couple of books really inspired me as well, the unmaking of june farrow by adrienne young (about a woman who can travel in time but her timelines got screwed up so she does not remember her husband or her daughter), and the vampires of el norte by isabel camus (about a young couple torn apart when one of them becomes a vampire and their relationship afterwards-- actually a dnf, not because i didn't like it, but because my library loan expired and i havent been able to get it back)

initially, i wanted it to be longer, but i ran out of time, and by the time it was finished i really liked the pacing of it. it was different for me because i tried to get pretty technical with it-- everything from the riptides to the birkefield i mention in this, how they get around the fall of mass effect relays-- is all inspired by the great lakes (shockers, i know). i know riptides aren't exclusive to the great lakes, but growing up on them, ive seen them in the water, i know how dangerous they are, and that idea inspired me but in space, like if you get sucked up the only way to get out of it is it ride it out. and the birkefield that the ships installed has something to do with measuring earthquakes (again, the great lakes aren't necessarily known for earthquakes verses an area like san fransisco or japan, but because of their nature on old glaciers, they still experience tectonic movements, i think the biggest earthquake ive ever felt when i lived in cleveland ended up on around like a 4.5 on the richter scale. i barely felt it, but then the news freaks out like OH!! EARTHQUAKE!!)

anyway, this is my favorite little snippet from chapter 3 (aka chapter 2 if i was able to not make the prologue the official chapter 1 on ao3, but alas), please enjoy:

Slowly, he brought his hands up to her hood. He expected her to swat him away, to push him backwards, to knock him on his ass like she did all those years ago. The only thing she did was squirm her head backwards, some futile attempt for them to live in this suspended reality just a little bit longer. But even that was half hearted.  Garrus knew that Shepard never did anything half hearted.  She looked exactly the same. He supposed that the energy from the Crucible that was keeping her alive all those years would have put a pause on her aging, but he wasn’t expecting that she would look exactly, to the T , how she did on the night she left him. Hair so red it almost hurt to look at for too long, pulled back in the most haphazard updo he’d ever seen. Her skin was milky white, except for the thousands and thousands of freckles that dotted her face, concentrated around her nose with that little bump that he would let his fingers trace up and down, up and down. And her eyes-- Garrus had never seen eyes so big on a human before. He remembered when they first met, he thought they were almost yellow. But as he grew to know her, and as he grew to love her, he could see the lightness of warm browns and greens and ambers flecked in her pupils, her eyelashes almost comically large. They reminded him of grass, but the type of grass his mother used to yell at him for playing in as a child because the deeply embedded stains were so hard to get out of his clothes. Her eyes were more home than anything else-- a simpler time, a time where Garrus could just be a boy.  “ Claire? ” he said so quietly, he wondered if he imagined it. He doubted that she could hear it from his mouth, almost like it was a prayer. But she stiffened up, mouth turned downwards, nose crinkled, as if she were disgusted. Garrus didn’t blame her-- he’d be disgusted with himself, too.  “ Sir ,” Lonia’s voice finally cut through the fog that had battered his mind, voice shrill and sharp. “Do you know her?”  How could Garrus respond to a question like that? Turians didn’t do nuance, everything was black and white. But with Shepard, he could see the shades of gray that were invisible to him before. Yes, he knew her. And yes, at a time in his life, she was everything to him. She never stopped being that to him, but the hold on his heart lessened and lessened the longer she was away. Does he still know her? He had no idea. Nineteen years was a long time, long enough for someone to completely forget. She’s changed-- even though she looked exactly the same. She’s different-- even though he was certain he could reach out and trace the curves of her face from memory alone.  He forced himself to take a step back. He actually felt the neurons in his legs listening to the command from his brain, like perfect little soldiers. That’s what he was, after all.  “Never seen her before in my life,” Garrus managed to say. He turned on his toes and retreated, ignoring the pestering questions for orders and requests and demands and everything a good leader was supposed to do. He closed the door behind him-- and found the tiniest bit in solace in the fact that this time, he did it first. 

anyway if you're still here thank you for listening to my yap session and maaaaybe check the fic out idk if you're free or into that if it's not too much of a hassle..........

https://archiveofourown.org/works/66930793/chapters/172762642

[bluiela]

Okay the second ask is definitely heavy Gwynriel so I saved the best for last 😅

I think it’s hard to ignore the absolute change in Azriel from the beginning of ACOSF to the end, even if he was a side character, even if it was subtle. Then again he IS my favorite and despite loving all the characters he’s the only one I actually have counted down pages to get back to, so I probably pay a bit more attention to him than most. Apparently it’s been that way for me since I first read about him in 2017. What can I say, at least I’m consistent 😂

But I’ve noticed with this current reread I’m doing, just how much we’re subtly shown how he is NOT doing well.

At the beginning:

He’s staying at the House of Wind clearly for an extended period of time before Nesta’s arrangement was made. No one seems to know why, he never tells anyone what he’s suffering with or why, Cassian assumes it’s just because he likes his space.

He’s moody and more distant. Something noted by Cass at least a few times, especially when he notes it would be easier to get a mountain to move than to get Azriel to open up.

That conversation he and Cassian have after they find out that Feyre’s pregnant and Cass asks if he wants a child. Az’s “it doesn’t matter what I want” was heartbreaking. Also I’ve seen some from the other ship argue that he meant he didn’t want kids in this statement? I get we all interpret things differently, but to me, I truly felt like that was him at his lowest mindset yet. He’s used to wishing and hoping and desiring things he never gets so it came off to me a lot more like what he wasn’t saying was “it wouldn’t matter if I said I did, it’s never happening for me so I’m not going to bother to hope”.

Azriel tells Cassian he’s been in the training ring at night when he can’t sleep—which is then confirmed how much he’s struggled to sleep lately, in his BC so I assume a lot of that was spent up on the roof training

He’s more combative when defying orders in that scene where Rhys and Feyre no longer want him or his spies watching Briallyn. Like it didn’t just stop with the scene we read on page, Cassian even mentions they go on to have a further argument later where he finally relents though he’s not happy about it. Yes, he’s defied orders before but he’s never done it sounding like a petulant child before. This and the way he acted before Rhys in the BC was clearly his lowest against his High Lord and High Lady.

He continues to torture himself by staring a hole into Elain at Solstice and dwelling on the fact that he has to be near her. This might be an unpopular take, but I don’t think we’ve ever truly seen him feel sorry for himself with everything he’s been through, his awful early childhood, the challenges he faced getting a late start to training and flying, heck even the situation with Mor, until this point with Elain. Which makes me believe it truly was his lowest point at this time during the book.

It’s definitely a lot more subtle, but I truly think there was a minuscule shift in him from the moment he and Gwyn enter each other’s orbits. Yes, there’s two or so other scenes after that with Elain (I can’t remember if the him not wanting her around the dread trove thing was before or after him and Gwyn’s first time seeing each other again) but I know the dinner smile and the solstice night was the only other two. So no, he’s not over Elain at this point and obviously not even considering Gwyn as anything other than a priestess he and Cass are training and probably just Nesta’s friend. But his first reaction to her—obviously remembering who she is and the day they last saw each other—was to offer her comfort and stability. The small, reassuring smile he gave her, especially when he was more aloof and quiet for the sake of the other Priestesses he had began training wasn’t because he resented himself or was afraid to be himself around them/her like he does with Elain (and Mor frankly) but it was because he knew it was something she needed in that moment. He wasn’t thinking of himself and it was a teeny, tiny, selfless gesture but obviously that led to so much more. It just impresses me even more how she comes into his life and already she’s changed it for the better even if he’s so oblivious to it right now lol

Which also makes me so curious to know what’s been happening when we left off in ACOSF up to HOFAS. Cause he’s got an even stronger friendship with Nesta—I honestly love their friendship so much—but he’s also more open than we’ve ever seen him. More relaxed, more happy and even more comfortable in his skin he seems. All I could think of is, is someone busy catching some feelings out here? 😏

This is such a beautiful take and so spot on. That tiny moment when Azriel offers Gwyn that quiet, grounding smile is so easy to overlook, but it’s actually a huge deal for someone like him. He’s in this new, careful role, surrounded by trauma survivors, and yet when he sees her, his immediate instinct is to reassure. Not to perform, not to hide, not to brood but to show up for her in the smallest but most meaningful way.

And you’re right it’s not romantic in that moment. It’s not some instant spark of realization. But it’s kindness without calculation. It’s empathy. It’s safety. And when you look at how Azriel operates how guarded and internal he is that choice to offer comfort says so much about what Gwyn brought out in him from the very beginning.

It really highlights the quiet power of their connection. No mating bond, no obsession, no possessiveness just two broken people slowly building something unspoken and genuine.

[burntpaws]

ohhhh i got tagged by both critter and devil!!!! this looks too fun hehehehe.... i tried to pick songs that all mean a lot to me!!!! music is very sentimental to me and i wanted to acknowledge that w this hehe!!!! here's the songs i chose plus explanations under the cut!

B - Buy the Stars by MARINA

U - Upside Down by Jack Johnson

R - Radiant Revival by Hatsune Miku and Jamie Page

N - No Children by The Mountain Goats

T - Talk to You by Rick Montgomery

P - Pilvet Liikkuu, Minä En by Yona

A - Are You Bored Yet? by Wallows (feat. Clairo)

W - Weather by Ginger Root

S - Sparkle by Tatsuro Yamashita IF YOU'RE GOING TO LISTEN TO ANY OF THESE, LISTEN TO THIS ONE.

i'm not one for tagging ppl because i'm shy so.... i'll invite any moots to do this !!!! <333

Buy the Stars by MARINA: i was a warrior cats kid!!!! and the hollyleaf and ivypool map to this song was LIFE CHANGING for me. one of those ones that used to and still does leave me in awe... what a pretty map.... i spent a lot of time as a kid watching it...

Upside Down by Jack Johnson: GAH the curious george movie was such a staple for me as a kid... listening to this makes me so ;__; it's such a gorgeous film at least visually and it's just instant comfort...

Radiant Revival by Hatsune Miku and Jamie Page: THIS IS A FAIRYTALE ANTHEM!!! i've basically just been spamming this in my ears over and over again since my bff twily showed it to me and it's just. so sweet. i love the vocaloid community so much!!!! so much heart.....

No Children by The Mountain Goats: TRAUMA ANTHEM BABEY!!!! that's all i'm gonna say!!!

Talk to You by Rick Montgomery: this one is really dear to my heart because it applies to pretty much. all of my self ships. hero, akira, and vothero! i love listening to this song when i'm having a bad day and imagining hurt/comfort to my FOs and self inserts and guh... i love being a self shipper.....

Pilvet Liikkuu, Minä En by Yona: good lord the pilvet liikuu mina en map was another staple map for me. so many visuals from it that never leave me. and it's also just a song that inspires a lot of hope and soothes my anxiety for me. if you haven't seen it, i highly recommend it. still gives me chills at 1:50.

Are You Bored Yet? by Wallows (feat. Clairo): this is another self ship song for me!!! this time only for vothero <3 i have an animatic scripted and started on with this song but i haven't had the time to work on it in a while :( but it's basically the fairytale nation anthem babey!!!

Weather by Ginger Root: this is another feel good song!!! i really have no clue how i found it? but this song makes me feel better instantly :") ginger root is so good!!!!!

Sparkle by Tatsuro Yamashita: holy shit. this is genuinely a contender for my favorite song of all time. WITH THAT MUSIC VIDEO? HOLY FUCK??? yamashita was introduced to me by my boyfriend and we've bonded a LOT over the For You album which is sorta surface-level lost media?? it keeps getting deleted from youtube when people try to make it easily accessible so it's a constant cycle of it getting reuploaded then deleted, reuploaded then deleted, etc etc. but this video is an official music video, so it's safe! and it is. BEAUTIFUL. i flew off for France to see my boyfriend irl for the first time listening to this song and landed with it in my ears. absolutely fucking ethereal. by the gods, listen to this song. it's a masterpiece.

I got tagged by @cymatile, thanks for the tag! I love yapping about songs I like <3

Pick a song for every letter in your tumblr URL. Tag as many people as there are letters in your URL.

...dang, my name has so many letter "E"s /lh

E - Enigma by tart ft. Kevin

V - VOIDS by Patterns ft. vally.exe

E - Empty Page by The Crane Wives

R - Replicant by Yorushika

E - Eight Hundred by PinocchioP ft. Miku

S - Static by FLAVOR FOLEY ft. Miku

T - Thanks for being Lifeless by PinocchioP ft. Miku

G - Gira Gira by Ado

A - Aura by GHOST ft. Solaria

L - Lose Your Head by Vane Lily ft. Teto

Bonus: Left-Right Confusion by Yorushika. I couldn't just pick one-

E - Easier by The Crane Wives

...Uh, let's see if I can get 11 people to tag: @pink-november @voiceofthelionhearted @miyuuka1709 @pzysm @coldranger @artenjoyingcritter @grieselightning @fogbreo @writingdevil @hello-universe-lovers @neverpathia - I ACTUALLY DID, YIPPEE! Not forced or anything like that, but if y'all got songs to share, I'm giving you all an excuse to do it <3

But also anyone else can jump in if they'd like! If this sounds fun to ya, go ahead!! <3

[serotonin-dose]

AsaDen x Metaphor Re:Fantazio