#and i'd be considering a lot more than threats if anything happened her

[times-chu]

Excited to see we're storming the castle today. Looking forward to seeing the king CEO cast off the battlements for executing a peasant who said she hoped something bad happened to him.

Nice job making that martyr, m'lord. What's your next marvelous plan?

[comically-callous]

Hello! I noticed that your requests are open.

I was wondering if I could request a (2023) Wonka x Fem! Reader where she’s a writer who had/has been writing about the happenings with the startup of Willy’s chocolate shop, and writes about chocolate but has yet to find a chocolate she really likes so Willy makes it his mission to create something perfect for her, which leads to the two of them falling in love?

No pressure if you can’t! Have a great day!

Yea

Willy Wonka x Fem! Interviewer!Reader (Wonka 2023)

A/n: Just wanna say thanks for all the support! I was really nervous about posting my writing, but y'all have been nothing but supportive 😽 My requests are open (see pinned post for info) feel free to request any character 😛

After the sudden success of Wonka's chocolate and the downfall of the chocolate cartel, there were a lot of publishers around wanting to get the story of exactly how this all occured.

Willy was getting a lot of requests for one on one interviews from a lot of different people. But, he decided to do one with the only interviewer he'd met before.

Y/n.

She'd talked to him before all of his success, back when he was still hiding from the chocolate cartel and having to do his business in secret.

She was one of the few people who had taken him seriously while also not seeing him as a threat.

He was a bit excited to get to see her again.

The interview was happening in the part of his factory that was considered his office (he didn't like that title, because it sounded "too serious"). When Y/n arrived for the interview Willy sat right next to her.

"Thanks for letting me talk with you." She started. "I can imagine you've gotten a lot of offers from different publishers to talk about everything that's been happening lately."

Willy nodded. "There have. But, I wanted to see you." He replied, offering her a soft smile.

"Oh?" She tilted her head. "Is there a reason for that?"

"For wanting to see you? Of course there is. It's because I already know who great you are at this." He stated. "After the last time we talked, Noodle read me the part of the paper that our interview was in."

"Noodle?"

"Oh, Noodle's sort of like my business partner. The brains of the operation."

She nodded. "Could you tell me more about that?"

"Absolutely."

Willy went on talking about Noodle, how she'd helped him, the adventures they'd gone on, and how close they'd gotten. Y/n continued asking questions, Willy gave adequate answers, and eventually, Y/n closed the notebook she was writing in with a satisfied nod.

"I think that'll be enough for now." She said. "Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes, actually." Willy leaned forward in his seat. "I wanted to ask you a few questions."

She blinked. "Oh?"

"I feel like you know a lot about me, but I don't know anything about you." He explains. "And I think I'd like to learn about you."

She was a bit flattered by that and gave him a faint smile. "Alright... Feel free to ask me your questions."

"Why'd you become an interviewer?" He asked.

"I think everyone's story is worth telling." She began. "And what better way is there to learn about someone's story than by asking them directly?"

Willy liked that answer. "How long have you been an interviewer?"

She thought for a moment. "The first time I interviewed someone was for a school project when I was 15. So, technically... 7 years."

He liked doing this. He liked learning about her. Maybe he just liked talking to her.

"What's your favorite chocolate?" He asked.

"I don't have one."

"What?!" His eyes widened. "Everyone has a favorite chocolate!"

She shrugged. "I don't."

"Do you not like chocolate?"

"It's not that I don't like it. I've just never tried a chocolate that stuck out to me."

Willy couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could someone not have a favorite chocolate?! "Well, we've gotta change that." He said as he got out of his seat.

"Wha-"

"Follow me!" He took her hand and began leading her down the halls of his factory.

She was about to protest, but she realized she didn't have anywhere she needed to be. And why would she pass up the opportunity to spend more time with a guy who was this cute?

He led her through the factory, stopping in different rooms to let her try the many variations of chocolate he'd made. And each time she said the same thing.

"It's good."

He was glad she didn't hate anything he'd given her, but he wanted to impress her! He didn't know why he wanted to impress her so badly, he just knew this was something he needed to do.

After several more attempts at wowing her, Willy sighed, feeling a bit defeated.

"Well, Y/n..." He said. "I guess you really don't have a favorite chocolate..."

Oh god, now she felt bad. She thought for a moment before speaking again. "Y'know, now that I'm thinking about it," She said. "I really liked the third one that you let me try."

His eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think that one's your favorite?"

"Definitely."

He beamed. "That's great! That's amazing! I'm so glad you found one you liked!"

Y/n smiled at his excitement. Truthfully, she couldn't even remember what the third chocolate she'd eaten was. But, if saying it was her favorite made Willy this happy, then it was definitely her favorite.

She finally left the factory, surprised to see that the sun was starting to go down which meant she'd probably spent a good 4 hours with Willy. She'd barely gotten 2 steps down the street when she was stopped.

"Wait!" She turned to see Willy running toward her holding a jar of... Something. He stopped in front of her and caught his breath for a moment before handing her the jar. "This is for you."

Y/n looked at Willy, at the jar, and then back at Willy. "Why?"

"Because it's your favorite." He smiled at her.

"Oh!" He was giving her a gift. That made sense. "Right. I knew that. Thank you."

"It's no problem. We should... Talk again soon." Willy suggested.

"For another interview?"

"Just to talk with each other." He smiled at her. "I think you're fun to talk to."

"Oh." A blush creeped on to her cheeks at that. "I'd like that."

His smile widened. "Great! I'll be looking forward to it." He began to step backwards toward his factory. "Till next time, Y/n."

Y/n gave him a small wave goodbye before finally continuing to walk away.

A couple minutes into her walk she opened the jar he'd given her and popped one of the chocolates into her mouth.

Maybe this one really was her favorite.

[dunmeshichilchuck]

For That One Guy on Tumblr, part 4

Chilchuck x !fem !halffoot reader

You were going to have to be strategic about this. You didn't want to step on Chilchucks toes after all, and you didn't know if there would realistically be work for more than one halffoot. It sounded like Chilchuck was strictly no combat, so maybe you could pick that side of it up? But even if you could convince them of your usefulness, would they be willing to sign a contract to take on a new party member? You frowned, considering.

You heard your name and glanced up. "yes, sorry, what?" 

"What do you think you want to do?" Marcille asked. "I'm afraid that I can't cast the leaving spell to get you out of here, it's not my specialty, but maybe we could get you back up to a higher floor? You could find another party and work your way back up."

"....I was actually going to ask if I could travel with your group." You hesitantly explained. "You wouldn't need to pay me or anything, and I don't eat much. I am skilled in my field and I could definitely be a big help to Chilchuck in disarming traps and giving advance warning of threats." You continued on with something that was only half a lie. "I think your group really can take down the mad mage, and I'd like to be a part of that." 

You were also pretty good at drawing monsters away or distracting them, or even engaging in combat if necessary. But you figured you'd keep that little tidbit to yourself while you figured out the dynamics of the group. Chilchuck had seemed to be pretty against the idea of halffoots as bait and combat participants, if you really needed to use it as leverage you could, but otherwise it wouldn't be wise to offer services he'd shut down already. After all, alienating the other halffoot in the party could only go badly. 

Marcille looked surprised, but before she could say anything, Laois jumped in. 

"Yeah! That would be great! Chilchuck you've talked about the difficulty of disarming traps before, if you had a helper wouldn't it be a lot easier? You guys could work in a team! And she's right, halffoots don't eat much." 

Chilchuck frowned consideringly. "Hmmm, I usually don't work with others....I guess we could give it a shot but if you get in my way and aren't helpful you'll have to stand back with the rest of the party. I'm good at my job and I don't need anyone jumping in trying to help and fucking it up."

You nodded, trying to keep a look of some kind of humble gratefulness on your face, reminding yourself firmly that you needed to stay on the good grace of the guy you'd be working with. But internally you felt the full concentrated wrath of a thousand suns. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? The god king of traps? All you were suggesting was working as a team to do shit like simultaneously disarm arrow and pressure traps and shit. You'd have to be fucking stupid to not be useful to another trap disarmer. Maybe he had more experience in this dungeon than you, but you'd hit plenty of other dungeons before this one was even discovered.

Senshi piped in. "I'd want to have y/n along for a bit anyway." He turned to you. "I'll need to draw up a careful food schedule for ye. I think you'll need to be eating a small amount once every couple of hours for the next few days."

Everyone kind of nodded, and...that seemed to be that. Through the rest of the night, you kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, more questions to be asked, someone to demand you demonstrate your skills, but it never happened. No one pried into your business, and it seemed to be just business as normal.

Once nighttime hit you were set up to share a bedroll with Marcille. A little awkward but Marcille was skinny and you were half her size so you actually both fit pretty nicely without having to be too tightly packed. 

Laois attempted to suggest that perhaps you and Chilchuck could share a bedroll, being the two smallest party members, but Chilchuck shut it down with a clearly practiced level of defensive aggression. 

Before bed Senshi popped up with a bowl full of delicious smelling soup. 

"Took me a bit but I've made some hearty stew with the lamb chops! I'm just giving you the broth to drink right now, but in the morning you should be able to eat it fully."  

You drank the broth slowly and carefully under the watchful eye of Senshi. You also noticed that Chilchuck casually positioned himself strategically close to you, although he was feigning an air of unconcern. 

So NOW the fucker cared what happened to you. He'd insult your ability without even knowing about you, but apparently he'd deign to babysit. 

You shot him a somewhat halfhearted glare as you pointedly sipped your soup with all the patience of a woman determined to prove she did actually have survival skills. 

By the time you were finished with your food, everyone else was already settling down. You slipped into Marcilles bedroll as quietly as possible, and almost immediately passed out cold. 

Tag list, ask to tag:

@night-shadowblood-writes2

@thoughtfulbelieverstrawberry

@dunmeshimeshi

@leguink 

[nerdishpursuits]

It's rather obvious the lavender marriage will, eventually, happen. And I'm not against it, given it's 1958. In fact, I think it can lead to interesting storylines if handled smartly (I know, I know ... smart isn't really the MO here) However? I have some gripes with the way they're introducing this scenario. Gripes which by no means lessen my enjoyment of the show. Like I keep saying, this is a novela de sobremesa and, thus, subject to the whims of its genre: nonsensical timelines, plot-points that don't quite connect, pacing issues etc. Nonetheless, it doesn't deter my amused nitpicking nor my eyebrow-rising routine.

Marta & Pelayo have known each other for 2.5 seconds.

There's currently no threat in sight that would merit Marta & Fina considering this suggestion (S. is in jail; the people who know them, and support them in their own way, wish them no harm; Marta is a wealthy widow, has a surname that carries weight, a social standing and, momentarily, needs no protection - if anything, it's Fina being perpetually single that would raise/raises most eyebrows; Marta & Fina have their own life and rhythm that requires no upgrade; Marta's business deal is going swimmingly etc.)

The one who stands to profit the most from this is Pelayo himself, who keeps repeating he has no interest in anything sentimental, unlike Marta & Fina who have been fortunate enough to win the sapphic lottery. This is a business decision for him, of course, yet he also confesses he envies their relationship. Pelayo then tries to sell this idea of a sudden epiphany he’s had? One he tries to wrap up in a neat little bow and market as the best thing since sliced bread? Ultimately, it involves invading the sanctuary he’d just praised for reasons that, at present, are largely selfish (befitting his character as a ruthless businessman and the show’s timeline). I will say I love the fact that in the preview for the next episode Marta goes “WE have a reply”, ergo. Fina and Marta herself.

Most of Marta & Fina's circle of family and friends are aware of their relationship and Pelayo would only expose himself (I assume most of the Mafin friends and allies would piece it all together and Jesús wouldn't hesitate to use this information to his own gain)

Even if this is a lavender-marriage, Marta would lose her freedom: socially and financially. She’d have to attend all kinds of functions and play the dutiful wife. Is it manageable? Eventually. And a lot of the conflict will derive from it, I think. At the same time, do I think a more solid reason is needed for Marta to take this step and for Fina to agree with it? Yes. But who knows. Maybe Marta’s own ambition will end up playing a part? More information is needed here. I will say, I hope they refuse at first.

Commendation to Marta's before and after reaction … hahaha, you’re kidding me … you’re kidding me, right?

I find myself pondering if, at first, they only want to test the waters with this idea. Introduce it as a possible option these characters can fall back on. To me it would make sense for Marta & Fina to initially refuse Pelayo's proposal. Their friendship can then continue to grow and when their backs are against the wall, which will inevitably happen, the lavender marriage-card can be pulled out of the sleeve. Ergo, Pelayo might be in danger and they decide to help him, Marta might be in jeopardy herself etc. As it comes across right now? They’re racing downhill without breaks. I suppose we'll see what they have in store for them, won't we? I have to say it was lovely to see Marta & Fina behave like a couple while in company. I don't think they've ever acted as relaxed in front of anyone, not even Carmen. Which is why I'd love to see their friendship with Pelayo continue to mature in a way that brings the three of them closer, making joint decisions. For now, I'd say more time is needed to grow a true sense of camaraderie. But hey: we're on novelita time and it has its own quirks. Other than that? Carmen inadvertently running her mouth in front of Tasio? Drop the ball she did. At least, she vehemently pressed hubby dearest to promise he'd hold his tongue. A tall order indeed, because knowing Tasio and his chronic foot-in-moth syndrome? It's only a matter of time before he shits the bed. Granted, he didn’t react as badly as I thought he would, but it’s obvious he considers Marta and Fina’s relationship an aberration, something laughable and ridiculous. Let’s hope he fully comes around and becomes the brother Marta deserves. And speaking of Carmen: she really needs to loosen up with Marta who's done nothing but bow her head, plead guilty and ask for forgiveness. I still think Carmen should have understood Marta’s position and anguish and shown more empathy. If not as a friend and Fina’s partner, at least as a fellow woman? It’s still unclear to me if she learned the extent of Santiago’s abuse? But given her attitude, I gather she’s still clueless.

Case in point? Carmen is pulling at this thread with Marta so hard it'll end up snapping and hitting her square in the face. And I do confess I'd like to see Marta finally bite back. Carmen is treating Tasio as if he doesn't have two brain-cells to rub together, incapable of making his own decisions and subject to the most devious manipulations. Not to mention Marta has never treated any of them as if the class divide mattered. And now Carmen heaps that reproach onto Marta's overflowing plate as well. Might be Carmen needs a healthy dose of Fina's volcanic temper. Front-row seats to that, please and thank you. If Carmen can go full-blown unreasonable over her troglodyte husband? Then Fina can go full-blown reality check over her fiercely protective wife.

Ahoy!!! Onto next week’s drama.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for indulging in my boyfriend's cuck kink?

Alright, so for some background, both me (25, M, panromantic asexual) and my BF (28, M, bisexual) live in a VERY conservative rural area, literally NOBODY knows we're together even though we've been dating for years and the community is pretty tight-knit, that's how much effort we've put into hiding ourselves. We've thought about moving out but honestly other than the constant threat of being found out our life here is pretty great, we know everyone in the community and are on very friendly terms with them, we were both born and raised here so we're honestly kinda scared of losing everything and starting over in a new place, plus I really want to stay to support my dad because I know he can already get pretty lonely as is (mom works out of town, only visits for holidays if even that, plus I don't have any other siblings to keep him company) and me moving away would hurt him a lot.

Now, with that out of the way onto the actual situation: the cuck thing is something me and my boyfriend have discussed about at length, he's not shy about it to me and I'm always glad to make him happy so I'd be open to trying it if the opportunity arose. The thing is- I never really thought there WOULD be an opportunity for it due to the circumstances described above. Well, that was until a girl we both know confessed to me on Christmas Eve. That girl- let's call her Ellie (23, F, straight(?))- is someone I've actually had feelings for a while now (my BF knows and told me he'd be fine with me dating her as an 'official' relationship, but only if I keep us a secret), however I never did anything about those feelings. I was honestly kinda shocked when the confession happened, but in a good way, and I ended up accepting in the heat of the moment, so now me and Ellie have been 'officially' dating for about a month.

Here's where I think I might be the asshole: since that happened my BF has started to hang out with the two of us while we're acting like a very lovey-dovey couple and he's obviously been getting off on that (as in, it's obvious to me, doubt anyone else picked up on it) and I've been having mixed feelings about this. On one hand we did talk about it and agree to it, but on the other I do think this is unfair to Ellie in a way that I didn't realize previously because I never realistically considered this happening. My BF is reassuring me, saying that it's best we keep hidden anyway and that so long as nobody finds out no harm is done, but I still feel kinda bad about it, yet at the same time I don't really know what I should do in this situation to make it right. The whole thing only gets even more complicated when you account for the fact that Ellie is our pastor's granddaughter and as such comes from a very well known family in our community, a family that has a reputation to uphold, and if the thing about me and my BF came out it would surely impact her badly in that way as well. On the other, she really gets along with my son (8, M) and I really think that she'd make a great mother to him so I don't want to deprive him of that and break things off just because of my own personal drama. On the other OTHER hand I also don't want to break up with my BF because it would feel cruel in my opinion, especially when I very much still love him.

So, AITA for keeping my promise and just going along with this and keeping quiet to save myself and my BF?

What are these acronyms?

[sleepy-grav3]

Obsessions

More of a ramble, but it could be taken as a prompt. Closer to a headcanon though.

Tw: swears, bad lab safety, murder (Dan's human half)

So you guys know how Danny's obsessions is either space, protection, or both of them? Well if it had to do with protection, what happened with Dan?

Obsessions are more of a ghost thing. His humanity was killed with his human half? What if that wasn't it?

Protection is actually a much wider spectrum. It doesn't just have to do with protecting someone else, but also yourself.

Getting rid of Dan's human half got rid of his morality, his humanity, the hero in him.

What if it also mutated his Obsession?

A lot of people like to call his obsession violence, maybe even family for a select few. But I think it should be Safety.

Yes, safety is basically synonymous with protection, but there are differences apparently. I'm more focused on differentiating them though. It just helps separate Danny and Dan's obsessions from each other to avoid misunderstandings.

But point is- what if Dan's obsession is actually about protecting himself? What if his obsession is keeping himself safe?

When he got separated from his human half, it was because his human half wanted him gone. There must've been some underlying part of Ending him, killing him, really making sure he was gone. And Dan would know. He was just the same mind as the other half before the separation took place.

So to keep himself safe, to protect himself, he killed off his human half. He knew how smart they were. You can't live with scientists, modifying their inventions to become less lethal, without learning a thing or 2.

And then there was Vlad. He was strong. The human half of him was what made Danny so durable, as he was resistant to anti-ecto equipment thank to that. Which meant Dan was weaker now and Vlad could easily avenge that Danny or take control of Dan. That's not even mentioning that he was only half a being.

So he stole Plasmius and fused, overpowering the other. Then becoming Dan and all that.

But then the whole world was still against him, with the GIW and all that (I don't know if they were introduced by then, but let's just imagine they were). They were a threat. The people hating him could all grow a pair and make weapons if they tried hard enough, so they were a threat.

So he killed them.

Then the time shenanigans came in and he met his younger self. That would obviously mess with reality somehow. Enough that he'd disappear. So he went to save himself by trying to make the same events happen to Danny.

It would make sense. So yeah. Dan's obsession is Safety in my opinion.

Maybe in a redemption arc, he protects his family (he won't admit that he thinks of them like that) because it'll affect his mental and emotional heal. He's trying to save himself from heartache of losing someone else.

Did you think that was it? Hell no. Let's continue with Vlad.

I bet his obsession is family. Obvious enough, but yeah. He considers Danny his son, Maddie his wife. No idea why he ignores Jazz despite her looking much more similar to Maddie than Danny.

Like- yeah, Danny is the one with ghost powers. But Jazz has the looks, specifically the hair. idk, I feel like he should obsess more for her.

"She has my eyes" not really "and Maddie's hair" yep.

That type of thing. He's delusional enough in the show.

Then there's Elle/Ellie/Dani. Obvious and agreed upon enough: Freedom.

But what about Jazz?

What if she became a halfa or considered liminal enough for an honorary obsession?

I'd think hers would be stability. She wants everyone to be ok, normal, and she's canonically a control freak. Sure, hers could be control, but I feel like she isn't much in the controlling thing.

Psychology, for example, is seeking stability and recovery. Recovery doesn't work much because I don't see her fretting over paper cuts or anything like that. But I bet she wants a break for everyone. and everything would be fine if everything went the same. Was normal. Was stable and not out of control like a government branch trying to commit war crimes and mass genocide.

This could probably be put differently. Maybe a different word, but I feel like this fits? Idk, maybe I'm not explaining this right, but this is technically a ramble.

Oh! And this makes sense if Jazz is the halfa. "I'll make sure everything stays the same" Everything becomes stable. There's still a problem, but as long as it's dealt with accordingly, it's ok.

Completely off topic, but there's this artist that draws Jazz as Jazz Phantom with blue hair and I think an orange headband and she's SO pretty like that. I almost want to get back into art to draw fanart with that now stuck in my head. She's just so PRETTY! she's pretty as a human too but- just- I love the blue hair. I love the idea in general. Made me get to the point of actively simping for Jazz and not just being a fan-

Anyway!

Jazz's obsession is stability.

and the Fenton Parents are just plain crazy. They have stuff to block out ectoplasm, right?

They still show skin. They still breathe in air with ambient ectoplasm in it.

What the fuck is their obsession called? Is it shared? Is it the same?

Are their kids part of it?

I'm not sure. Oh shit-

What the fuck would their obsessions be???

Just ghosts?

It could be but it could be more.

It could be so much more.

I bet Wes was hanging around Danny so much that he became liminal enough to get an honorary obsession. Sam and Tuck too.

Wes - Exposing the Truth

Sam - Save the Earth

Tuck - Technology

[anamericangirl]

Hey there, I discovered your blog a few days ago and have been reading all your posts since, and I must say I like them very much. I do have one question though, on the topic of abortion. I wouldn't say I am pro abortion, because to me, all life is valuable. But what would you say if an underage girl was r@ped? Cases like this have occurred, there was even a girl that got pregnant at four years old, and had the child at five, which was a result of her uncle r@ping her.

In cases like that, would you say that abortion may be an option, maybe even a good one? She herself was only a toddler, and carrying out a pregnancy at such a young age is a great threat to both the mother and the child, and could mean the death of both. Also, in this specific case, it was %ncest, which could have fatal consequences for the child later on.

I'd just like to hear your opinion on this.

Hi! Thanks so much!

When a child, or anyone, is raped that is a horrific circumstance that absolutely needs to be addressed. And if that rape resulted in a pregnancy, that creates an even more delicate situation and it needs to be addressed in a way that causes the least harm and doesn't bring about even more violence.

The foundation of my pro-life position is that the preborn baby is a living human being from the moment of conception and their life is just as valuable as the girl carrying them, regardless of how they were conceived. Because of this, I can't support abortion even in cases of rape.

If a minor is raped and becomes pregnant, the thing is now we don't just have one person we have to consider and care for. We have two. Two children. Both innocent. We can't kill one innocent child for the sake of another.

This is also because I care about the child who was raped. Even though I can completely understand the fear and sympathize with the victim, the fact is, as I've discussed a lot on my blog, abortion isn't safe. And it remains not safe even if the person undergoing it is a child. A child should never be pregnant or have to go through childbirth, but nor should they ever have to have an abortion.

Even though a pregnant child is never a good thing, biologically speaking, if a female, regardless of age, is capable of getting pregnant, then her body is capable of undergoing the birth process. What the child needs is thorough medical care and monitoring because the best and safest thing is to go through the natural process instead of an invasive procedure that forces her body to birth a dead baby long before it's ready.

Abortion doesn't erase the baby. It kills them. And then it makes the mother deliver her dead baby and dispose of them. It's a horrific thing to happen.

The girl and the baby are innocent and we can help the girl heal from her traumatic experience without killing a different child whose only crime is existing. They can both live. Even if it's incest, the baby doesn't deserve to be killed. They deserve to be given a chance at life.

The fact is, once a girl or woman is pregnant, the baby has to be delivered somehow. There's no getting around that. Abortion doesn't erase this fact or erase the trauma of the rape. In fact, many rape victims have said getting an abortion did not help their healing. Everyone thinks giving birth once pregnant is the ultimate form of torture and trauma but it's not. And only people who don't know anything about childbirth and are just trying to villainize pro-lifers would call childbirth a trauma inducing experience. No, a child should never have to endure it but abortion would be no less of a traumatizing experiencing for a child. I think it would be horrific to give birth to a corpse. I don't think there is ever a time where killing an innocent child is a good option.

Abortion in cases of rape is just continuing the cycle of violence by killing a person who didn't do anything wrong and doesn't deserve it. It's not safer for a child to go through an abortion procedure than it is to give birth and as someone who cares about the baby and the rape victim I can't ever endorse abortion. There are always other, better options.

[julietasgf]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how strabo and his wife navigated the Snows moving into their lives and disliking Coryo post the events of the book!

hiii anon, tysm for the ask!! and thank you specifically for asking abt this because I have so much to say!

I particularly think things took a bit to go downhill; I don't think the plinths were affectionate towards coriolanus pre-epilogue (like I said before, I don't think ma plinth was anything besides polite, and coriolanus exaggerated things... and strabo was interrogating him in his office the first opportunity he got), but then their son dies, and that's their only son. most of the actions we know about the plinths revolve around their son.

coriolanus was a boy without parents, the plinths were parents without their kid. in strabo's words, "my wife needs something to live for. and so do I, for that matter." it would be perfect, wouldn't it?

well.

there's something I find a bit curious about coriolanus, and it's his ego. he thinks very high of himself, and this also goes to the way he thinks others perceive him. he thinks he's a great liar, and great at fooling others by being fake, when we can see that other characters can clock him. I think something very similar would go through with the plinths, once their first stage of grief passes, specially because the plinths are older and much more experienced people, and we can see how much coriolanus underestimates them

I honestly think that ma plinth would be the one to clock him the quickest, and the one to dislike him the most as well. if we assume that he would spend more time with her than with strabo (considering that by the end of the book, coriolanus was already calling her ma), they would definitely talk more, and I think he wouldn't be able to hide his true self for much longer and it would show up little by little. one scenario I see happening a lot would be the situation of them talking about sejanus, and coriolanus saying something about him that made no sense, and ofc ma plinth would catch this detail and feel so off about it because coriolanus is always talking about how him and sejanus were friends. she would slowly not want him around their house anymore (tho I do think she would have a soft spot for tigris, and tigris has the same feeling regarding her).

now, strabo has a personality alike coriolanus, but I do think he grew much softer after sejanus' death, and it too made him take a bit longer to realize how coriolanus behaves (maybe everytime he tried to think about how coriolanus behaved in a way that felt off, he would feel guilty; I think guilt follows him much more than it follows ma plinth, and this made him more tolerant to coriolanus' behavior and little signs he would let out). but I also think it's important that strabo knew coriolanus' father, he knew that man's ideas and thoughts, and I do think that this knowledge and the similarities between coriolanus and his father would make him have to put the guilt aside and notice that there's something off going on.

and again, despite strabo growing softer, he's still the same ruthless man that's too alike coriolanus in personality traits, and it's hard to me to think this wouldn't clash at some point (and I don't think this would end well for strabo).

I also think it would be interesting to see coriolanus going through the same proccess he goes through with other district characters he interacts with and forms a bond with: coriolanus creating an image and illusion of them in their head, and in the moment when they don't follow the exact box he put them to, his feelings immediately turn sour. this happened with lucy gray and the perfect lover image, sejanus and the perfect friend that would never question him. now, I think it would happen the same with the plinths: from the perfect parents and caretakers, to then a threat.

again, anon, tysm for the ask!!! I hope my yapping made sense! <33

[bi-bard]

They Tell Each Other Who to Look After and Who to Watch Out For - Kaz Brekker Imagine [Shadow & Bone]

Title: They Tell Each Other Who to Look After and Who to Watch Out For

Pairing: Kaz Brekker X Reader

Word Count: 1,916 words

Warning(s): abduction, vague threats of violence, actual violence

Summary: After using their power to save the life of their best friend, (Y/n)'s time of running and hiding comes to an abrupt end. Now, they find themselves in a new reality where they can either survive or risk losing everything.

Author's Note: This is the second time in the last like month that I have accidentally started something that turned into an OC. It happened twice.

Also, I thought the pattern of using a line of dialogue as a title was clever, but I fear that I'm going to regret it later.

MORE OF THIS OC HERE!

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There was a time when Inej tried to claim that everything that happened to me was her fault. That it all boiled down to one action on one night that she thought was her fault.

She was wrong.

I would say that it was mine, but that also was wrong.

If it all could be traced to one person, then it would be traced back to the man that had tried to attack her.

I reacted out of instinct. I saw Inej get grabbed and my brain focused purely on helping her.

When I had saved Kaz, I was in an enclosed space. But in that situation, it was different.

It all happened before I could truly think about it. She had shoved this man back and as soon as there was enough space, I hit him.

As he fell back, I didn't even think about the arguably small burst of light that had come out of it. Or the chance that I had been spotted by anyone.

"Inej," I said, running over to her. "Are you alright?"

She took a moment to breathe.

"Inej-"

She stopped me by yanking me forward, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I let out a sigh of relief before hugging her back. A small grin formed on my face and my eyes closed for a moment. I was just happy that she was okay.

"Kaz would kill me if he saw that," I muttered as I stepped back.

"I'd like to see him try," she replied.

I laughed quietly, shaking my head. "Come on. We've got a job to do."

She nodded.

We went along with our night without much thought about what had happened.

I believed that I was safe. Or as safe as I could be considering the circumstances of my life.

I was constantly on high alert.

It was a natural part of living in the Barrel. Especially with the reality of who I worked with. Kaz Brekker could make a lot of people angry.

That day was no different than any other.

I was walking down the street, dodging people as best I could. The streets of Ketterdam were rarely not busy. People were usually going to work, just trying to keep their heads above water and maintain whatever vice they had.

It didn't take long for me to notice the men following me. Their eyes were too focused to merely be going the same way as me.

I didn't let them know that I was aware of them. Instead, I took turns that I usually wouldn't. I cut through alleys and took shortcuts that I saw no purpose for. My hope was to lose them by either going fast enough or just by forcing them to get confused.

I didn't get the chance to watch them run like mice in a maze.

One of them grabbed my arms after I had turned down one of the alleys. I yelled, immediately attempting to yank my arms away. I kicked the other man in the chest, causing him to stumble back.

The first man kept my hands apart, but I still struggled.

I pulled and kicked and moved as much as I could in the hopes of getting out of there.

When my attempts to escape went unsuccessful and seemingly unnoticed, I did the first thing that I could think of.

"Kaz!"

I was shoved to the ground as soon as the name left my mouth.

I don't remember anything after that.

My next vivid memory was waking up in some bed somewhere. I shoved myself up immediately, trying to get a hold of my surroundings.

I was sitting on top of the covers of a bed. Easily the comfiest bed I had ever been on. The bed was pushed against the middle of the wall that was furthest from the door. The rest of the room was full of intricate details and littered with pieces of furniture. Clearly, this was meant to be a place of luxury. One that I had never deserved and never wanted.

The room was mostly white. White walls, white bedding, white curtains for the windows, white doors. There were only a few exceptions. The floor was made of wood and laid in an intricate design. Details on furniture, the edge of the mirror, the frames of the chairs, and even the partition meant to give me some semblance of privacy were gold. Splashes of beige were thrown around too. Probably meant to make the room less like a cell than I knew it was.

As I sat in silence, trying to put together my fractured memory and devise a way out of there, I found my mind drifting.

Mainly to Kaz's office.

I had found more comfort in that office than I would probably find anywhere else. I thought back to that first night that showed him my power. And every night that I had been there after that. Moments where I would stand just in front of him, never allowing ourselves to touch. There was this silent longing. Yearning that would feel suffocating as I watched his eyes shift and move.

I would give anything to feel that familiar suffocating feeling again.

I took a deep breath. He would find me. Him and Inej and Jesper. They would find me. They would protect me. I trusted them to do that.

But I could always spare them some of the trip.

I shoved myself out of the bed, pulling on the heavy boots that I had invested in. Jesper made fun of me when he first saw them, but I defended them fiercely. They had lasted me longer than many of his hats had lasted him.

I was about to storm out of the room when the doors opened. I stumbled back a bit when a man walked in.

I composed myself quickly, straightening my spine and planting my feet.

"You're awake," he said. "Good. I hope the room was to your liking."

"Would have enjoyed it more without the kidnapping part," I replied.

He let out an amused huff through his nose. "Necessary steps had to be taken. We were under the impression that you wouldn't come willingly."

I let my eyes scan him. "Who are you?"

"General Kirigan," he held out his hand for me to shake.

Oh. I had heard stories about General Kirigan. I believe that most people had. I had never seen him before. I... I tried to not picture him. He terrified me. I knew that he had been the biggest threat to any freedom I had.

And now he wanted me to shake his hand.

I looked down at it.

"Maybe later," he mumbled, pulling his hand away from me. I looked back at his face.

"Where am I," I asked.

"The Little Palace. Safest place in all of Ravka."

I had to hold back my scoff.

"You'll be safe here-"

"I want to go home," I said bluntly.

"We both why I cannot let you do that," he replied. "You have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to all of Ravka."

"I have no interest in being a hero or a saint."

"You forfeited that decision with your little show in Ketterdam."

I took a deep breath.

"Everyone knows who and what you are now."

"I've had a target on my back my whole life. This is no different."

"It very much is-"

"I am not asking for permission. I am giving you the courtesy of telling you that I'm leaving instead of jumping from the window."

"I wouldn't do that," he advised. "It's a long way down."

Again, I had to bite my tongue.

"The two of us have a chance to do something great. To free everyone. I am begging you to see the good that this could do for everyone."

He stepped closer to me as he spoke. He wanted to convince me so much.

But I had spent far too long hiding and running to sacrifice myself now. I had been taught to run away from exactly this. My parents would cry for me from wherever they ended up. They sacrificed their lives for me to never end up in this situation. To keep me safe. I couldn't let them down like that.

So, I didn't: "I am going home."

"You can," Kirigan said. "After the Fold is down."

"No," I shook my head. "You cannot force me to be some... symbol for your cause."

"I see," he looked down for a moment.

"I am going home," I repeated. He nodded.

I went to walk around him, ready to leave. He watched me the entire time.

I only made it a few steps past him when he spoke up. "So, back to Ketterdam."

I turned to look at him again. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"That's where you want to go, correct," he asked.

"Yes."

"Back to that little family you found," he continued, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Inej, Jesper, and... Kaz. Right?"

I knew what he was trying to do. A small way to show me that he knew about more than merely my existence and where I had been.

I didn't respond because I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of watching me react.

In reality, I wanted to scream at him. Ask why he knew so much about me. Ask how long he had been keeping an eye on me. Ask if he knew while I was in my early days in Ketterdam and he let me form connections so he would have something to hold over my head. I hated that he probably knew more about me than anyone else in my life. Maybe even myself. But I would never let him see that anger and fear. I refused.

"It wouldn't be safe," Kirigan walked closer to me as he spoke again. "For them. You're the sun summoner. And you've been found. You can't hide anymore. From anyone."

I took a deep breath, my jaw clenching. I took note of how his tone darkened on those last two words.

"How long do you think you can protect them on your own," he asked. "That little band of misfits that you've got?"

That was enough for me.

"Let me make something perfectly clear," I snapped as I stepped forward. "If anything happens to any of them and you had anything to do with it, then you will not have the opportunity to use an ounce of my power. Is that understood?"

Kirigan's slight smirk didn't falter, but he did raise an eyebrow at me. "Understood."

I didn't stand down. I was going to make him step away. He took a sharp breath before looking away from me and taking a few steps back.

"You should spend the evening getting settled," he said. "You begin training tomorrow."

He nodded to me as a false sign of respect before stepping around me and leaving the room. It took every ounce of self-control to not try to kill him.

He knew that I couldn't leave. He knew very well that I wouldn't threaten their lives like that. I exposed my secret to keep one of them safe. Leaving now would be selfish.

Fine.

I would stay, I would train, and I would do what I had to to survive and keep the ones that I care for alive.

But no one said that I couldn't make the general's life hell while I was here.

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[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

"I'm afraid of squeaking and shaking" - Sara Murphy …y'know considering her childhood where anything squeaking and shaking would inevitably lead to catastrophe, reasonable fear.

In all seriousness though her being really jumpy is almost out of character considering her typical nonchalant responses. But she was really high strung about Murphy's law in her debut episode, its really seems she just gets really high strung about stuff, and when Murphy's Law can conflict with that, she gets high strung about that.

I think more specifically she tends to get anxious about the potential of Murphy's Law (see debut episode), like the squeaking and the shaking is a warning sign, than she is about Murphy's Law actually occurring. Because she can't address Murphy's Law until it actually happens. But once its happening, she can actually do something about it. She tries to plan for it, but she's not really as good at it as Milo is, though she's more purposeful with it. Murphy's Law doesn't like to adhere to predictions.

Speaking of Milo, Milo's establishing character moment is saying he doesn't tend to scream. But he also screams a lot during the show. Even during relatively casual situations, like hanging off a cliff. Like with the finger trap.

I think its that the Murphy kids still get scared like any other person, they just deal with being afraid better because they live most of their life afraid. So they also sometimes just don't get afraid in certain situations because they are familiar with them. But do in other situations where their not. And Murphy's Law loves throwing new situations at them. And their not ashamed of their fear, they just deal with it. Which of course being constantly scared and stressed can't be good for their health but I guess it's better than being dead. Long term screaming hurts the larynx but a good shout in surprise alerts anyone nearby of possible danger. And sometimes its just fun. (Like when Zack and Milo look at the cliff, look at each other, and then scream. It's like a weird social ritual more than anything). Though Zack keeps yelling, Milo quickly goes back to his normal tone. It's just height. He knows how to deal with that. But he does get upset about aliens potentially eating him (though admittedly that's only once they tell him they're going to eat him), and about Melissa potentially being a robot.

But they're still susceptible to jump scares because things that jump out are actually threats to them, and supernatural threats aren't something the Murphy siblings usually deal with so that's also an unknown. I also think generally they tend to get less scared in group settings but I'd have to actually think about that. But in situations where they are with their family they rarely get too upset, probably because on some level they feel safe with the Murphy adults around. (Murphy Family Vacation, Murphy Family Christmas, Game Night). Even when things are getting a little weird (see Game Night). And also maybe a more meta reason of it is that they scream when its funny, and its funnier when the whole Murphy clan isn't screaming but it still gives us a potential character detail.

On the other hand, Zack doesn't get scared easily by halloween scares, even though he usually gets scared by Murphy's Law more than anyone else. Zack has been getting jump scared since a kid, but things jumping out at him isn't really scary, especially stereotypical halloween things. Because its all a performance that he's gotten acclimated to. Not dangerous. But things like getting chased by actual rocks or dangling in high places is an actual threat. So he acts appropriately. But the Murphy siblings are more used to those things so have some idea on how to handle them.

Which maybe on some level, it makes sense that Zack having grown out of being scared easily would now be getting his kicks from Murphy's Law after he got over the whole "real actual peril" part.

[natureboy96]

Tamlin and the Hybern Deal: Fumbling or Preplanned?

Preface:

a lot of criticism for the series can be directed at the quality of the writing or narrative. ultimately, I don't believe the series is interested in a more nuanced approach when it comes to a relationship coming apart or having the characters understanding each others' motivations in favor of promoting an escapist fantasy for overcoming a traumatic event. That being said, I am going to approach this event aiming to be more objective than the narrative, because that's generally how I look back on most books, even the ones I am really invest in personally. I understand why people may choose to simply accept the narrative as is for catharsis or vicarious comeuppance, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I've had a number of thoughts about this part of the story since I read ACOWAR, as I'm sure a number of people have. After a lengthy discussion on a different post with two very passionate and respectable fans of the series, however, I found myself thinking about and discussing points about the deal I hadn't thought about before, and I feel a proper assessment of the event is worth doing. I've come to my own conclusions on this based on what I have read/remember, but I imagine there are other conclusions people can draw as well.

Tamlin's motivation pt 1 - Feyre

The first knowledge we have of Tamlin's deal with Hybern is when he shows up there, and he and the King tells us he's made the deal to rescue Feyre from Rhysand. Getting Feyre back is the only motive he clearly states in ACOMAF, though in ACOWAR we get more reason to believe there could be more to it.

I still hold that it feels very disingenuous to say his motivation was solely to control her or treat her like a pet. We do know that, at least at the start of ACOMAF, he's very much blind to what Feyre's going through, a combination of their two traumas making actual, honest communication between them impossible. We also know that Tamlin's motives for his actions at the beginning of the book, as stated by him, are to protect her from every threat he couldn't before. He cares for her as the person he'd fallen in love with, and did not know the person she became after UtM.

After Feyre leaves, there is no credible reason for Tamlin to believe that she wants to stay away and wasn't taken by the "evil high lord who could control people's minds and who had sexually assaulted her for months in front of him", whom she had said she didn't want to be with. Tamlin was not informed by Lucien or his staff that Feyre was rescued willingly by Mor, including hiding the melted ring. A short letter written in her own hand could easily be coerced, not even with mind control. When Lucien went to find her and bring her back, she tells him that, "When you're trapped in the darkness long enough, the darkness stares back", and then produces massive bat wings. I can't see that as anything but confirming that she was corrupted by darkness, whether it was her decision or otherwise. That doesn't seem like the sort of message that means you don't need rescuing.

Lastly, we get to Hybern itself, when Feyre tells Tamlin directly that she does not want to go with him, and Tamlin learns they are mated. I'd point to the whole, 'evil mind controlling HL' again for why she might say it, but the mating bond would have made it even worse; we know for a fact mating bonds doesn't mean true love, and a lot of bonds end up terrible - imagine the woman you love mated to a monster she wanted to escape from? Either way, this part happens after the deal is made, and as Lucien mentions, the deal couldn't be reneged on without costing his life, even if he did believe her. And no, I don't consider a high lord including his inner circle in an alliance as wrong, for reasons I will elaborate on in the next section.

Tamlin's motivation pt 2 - Hybern's inevitability

at the beginning of ACOMAF, we know that Tamlin and Lucien are off on their territory's borders, supposedly hunting down Amarantha's threats and doing other war things. It isn't until later in the book that Rhysand tells us that Hybern is preparing for war, and that the Spring Court would be the first target, as Hybern wants to destroy the wall and reenslave the human population. We also learn that Tamlin and Lucien's trips to the border and war camps were also in anticipation to Hybern's plans.

The question, then, is why would Tamlin make a deal to let the invading kingdom into his lands, when his court would be the first on the chopping block, and when he's explicitly stated he hates slavery? Some point to this as being a poor decision/oversight on his part, sacrificing everything to get Feyre back.

We learn, early on in ACOWAR, that Tamlin’s deal for Feyre wasn’t just to get her back, but also to leave the people of the Spring Court undisturbed and untouched:

I would also call to Tamlin's evidence during the HL meeting (another topic worth a deeper look) as proof that Tamlin had plans for more than just rescuing Feyre with this deal. We know that Feyre has been at Spring for a few weeks at the start of ACOWAR and doesn't stay for much longer, past the Summer Solstice and a bit longer at that, but not much. An indeterminate amount of time passes after, without any notable events/holidays to track it (worth clarifying if people know otherwise) And yet, Tamlin has months worth of records on Hybern's movements and plans when he's at the High Lord meeting. It's possible he started gathering this information after Feyre left, but I find it harder to believe he wouldn't have started this planning from the beginning - it's clear when Feyre is there that he isn't just looking to play along with Feyre, and tries to tell her there is more going on than just a betrayal. Lucien actually confirms it himself when the two of them are fleeing from Spring and through Autumn - he confirms Tamlin was already playing the double agent when he made the deal, to use Hybern for their own ends and hope to rally support later:

Ianthe (who Hybern calls one of his own) states that Hybern is inevitable, and Rhysand and the IC plan and prepare through the two books along the same lines. It seems foolish for Tamlin to assume otherwise, especially with Ianthe's manipulation so close. And it's already been confirmed that Spring would be the first court to be invaded, for its proximity to the wall and human lands. That leaves Tamlin with a choice: Should he risk open warfare against Hybern, devastate his forces without guarantee the other lords will come to help? And even if he could manage to hold off Hybern (we learn well that even all the courts together couldn't do it together without Amren) what would the devastation be?

This is where I draw a parallel between Rhysand's choice with Amarantha and Tamlin's choice with Hybern. When Rhysand knew Amarantha would be inevitable, he decided to play a double agent in order to better protect people he could. The choice to work with Hybern, once it was clear they were inevitable, would be the best out of terrible choices. pretending to be on Hybern's side offers Tamlin the highest level of control he can manage in the face of an all out invasion. We see that this was part of Tamlin's planning; his bargain guarantees the safety of his people, and he's able to evacuate people to the east to protect them. It mitigates damage in a way he can protect more people than not.

Was Tamlin's planning, then, effective at all, especially seeing as Hybern's twins were daemati, and Feyre has to protect his and Lucien's minds because they couldn't guard their minds themselves? I would posit that, as far as the story goes, we only know of 5 daemati in the entire series; Rhys, Feyre (from Rhys' powers), the twins, and the unnamed daemati Rhys claims was the one to actually kill the kids (sloppy retcon, thin lie or legit story, impossible to tell). Rhjys mentions that daemati are super rare and highly prized, but no other court seems to have one in their arsenal, a skill that could be very useful in the middle of a war. We certainly know the Spring Court hasn't one, none they know about.

As for protecting oneself against a daemati's attack, we only have a single example of training one's mind, that being Rhys training Feyre. We haven't any confirmation that non daemati can even guard their minds from mental attacks, and even if they could, we've only seen it be done by another daemati, and Tamlin neither is nor has a daemati.

Furthermore, we have no confirmation that Tamlin or the Spring Court knew Hybern had powerful daemati on their side, or that the twins were themselves. Even if it could be assumed they were, there's no indication that the twins are daemati or that they would be the ones sent to Spring as emissaries. There are a lot of things you can't plan for when it comes to things you don't know, and something as rare as a mind controller seems hard to plan for.

As for the rest of Tamlin's plans... We can't know for sure what he might have planned to manage Hybern, because Feyre's manipulations affected anything he might have had planned. Whether you think it justified or not, Feyre's actions were calculated with the intent of driving a wedge between Tamlin and his people, using her Fae Sainthood to do so. Tamlin was put into more and more situations between her manipulation and Ianthe's, and because of the deal (and his attempt to remain looking as a good ally to Hybern) his hands were forced to make terrible decisions. If Tamlin had sided with a sentry over Ianthe, a Hybern agent and not just priestess, he would have risked the double agent position he was holding, and Feyre made sure he would be punished for these choices. Feyre is, as she was in ACOMAF, Tamlin's blindspot. His love had blinded himself to what she could do or needed, to her detriment in ACOMAF, and then his own and Spring Court in ACOWAR. Perhaps Tamlin had plans to protect his people and his lands better than he managed... We can never know, though, because Feyre chooses to act and the narrative hasn't been interested in explaining more. We also know, from Feyre's own words, that she was aware her plans would hurt more than just Tamlin and was willing to let Spring fall to better unite the rest of the courts to work together.

Conclusions

Based on the evidence in the text, we can come to the conclusion that Tamlin had used his deal with Hybern to try and better protect his Court, a plan that Lucien seems to confirm was in their thinking to begin with, and Tamlin confirms in the High Lord Meeting with follow through. We cannot know the full effect of his planning, whether it would have worked or not, due to Feyre's actions in Spring. Saying Tamlin's only motive for Hybern was to get Feyre back and he hadn't thought through/planned for Hybern seems to be proven false from Lucien's words.

[illuminatedjoy]

Ace!Culprit Theory

I'm writing this on Thursday the 19th and I'd like to get it out before episode 14 arrives and shifts the case more. During my recent rewatch of chapter 2, I started to think Ace is the culprit, and the two newest episodes have further convinced me and helped me understand how it happened.

First, touching on the murder attempt in the gym. Back when Chapter 2 part 1 came out, I considered the possibility that Nico didn't try to kill Ace, and he actually attempted suicide. The trial shot that theory down fast when Nico confessed they did in fact attempt to kill Ace.

Or, did it? I think what happened was that Ace tried to hang himself, but the fan collapsed, drawing Nico to the gym. They would have been feeding the fish around that time. Nico saw him unconscious and unguarded, and tried to finish him off by cutting his throat with the wire. This was an attack of opportunity for Nico. Whether they truly meant to follow through on their initial threat or not, they were willing to go through with it when Ace was right in front of them.

Now, there are two pieces of evidence I need to address here, the turpentine and the wire. If Rose didn't notice Nico stealing the turpentine, she just as easily might have not noticed Ace steal it, so that's easy. Ace could have dosed himself with turpentine to pass out during the attempt and avoid pain. But the wire...

I previously thought, as many people did, that Hu gave Nico the wire and encouraged them to kill Ace. She would have either helped them win the trial or betrayed them and allowed Nico to be executed. However, I don't think this is consistent with Hu's actions in the trial.

I'm not saying she can't be a culprit later on, but I don't think she's lying about how she feels here. Therefore, trying to kill everyone to save Nico makes no sense, and throwing Nico under the bus makes no sense because of how she usually treats them. I also don't think Nico would have known about the mechanics of hanging if Hu wasn't helping them.

So, how'd the wire get to the gym? The same way the rope got to the playground: the culprit took it out of storage. We now know that Hu has struggled with suicidal tendencies most of her life. Speaking as someone who struggles with the same thing, I do not like to keep things in my home I could easily kill myself with if I can help it. It's not worth the risk. I think Hu put her wire in storage for her own peace of mind, perhaps after learning that Arei got rid of her rope. Ace took it for his suicide attempt because he thought it would be sturdier than the rope.

One more thing about Ace attempting suicide is this line. It's what originally made me think it was likely, but I kind of let it slide after Nico admitted to attempted murder.

So, I definitely think Ace has the most solid murder motive out of anyone in the cast. He's already given up on surviving the killing game. He's convinced everyone is out to get him, and he's shut out anyone who might offer him assistance like Levi or Eden. Furthermore, he has no alibi, either at night or in the morning. If he did attempt to hang himself, he likely does know enough about hanging to pull off Arei's murder. (Perhaps his one friend died by hanging? Hmm.) As for the evidence, something people bring up a lot is the grippy tape that disappeared from the gym. This is often used to point at Eden. But, why not Ace, too?

Ace left the gym intent on murder. He may have grabbed anything he thought might be useful. He also might have already had the tape on his person anyway, if he used it in his suicide attempt at all. Eden was thrown out of the gym without warning. I think it's simply much more likely that Ace had it then she had the presence of mind to grab it while everything was going on.

I don't really see any evidence that contradicts Ace!Culprit. There are a few things I don't know how to explain, like the starched up ball of clothes, but a different culprit doesn't explain that any better.

I think this is the most interesting outcome for the story. I'm curious to see how Levi takes it. I think Hu is going to be devastated when she realized her actions contributed to a suicide attempt and eventually a murder. Nico is likely to face some backlash too. If they had helped Ace instead of trying to kill him, it might have changed things.

And it punches a big hole in Teruko's belief that trusting no one is the safest way to survive. Because Ace trusted no one, and it drove him to desperation and murder.

[nayruwu]

This ques has been bothering me since I entered in this fandom.... How important is shinya to guren. Guren is surely very important to shinya as even his desire was to 'never give up on guren' but what abt guren. What I mean to say is:-

- guren has a lot of people who he loves and it's often (no, always) difficult to understand what his priority is, it's like his priority changed depending upon the situation,but then when someone is imp to you they are always your priority right?, talk abt shinya then I belive his top priority is guren. Therefore I'd ask 'is shinya guren's priority?'

-shinya has often seen showing his care for guren but that's not case with guren who is a tsundere but even if we talk abt actions guren has done a lot for shinya but he has done the same for 'the others' too I'm not saying he shouldn't but if I were to compare then, 'if shinya was the only one who died then would guren have touched the taboo?'

-guren has had a quiet a few people who are important to him like sakae, mahiru and shinya, again I'm not saying I want guren to consider shinya more important than his *father*, but when talking abt shinya i don't think he has had such people in his life therefore guren is somene 'different' in his life but I guess that's not the case with guren so, 'will it be easy for guren to sideline shinya?'

- finally, if some is important to us we care abt their emotions more than (or in addition to) their physical presence right? But the past few actions of guren he is kind of ignoring shinya's emotions

That's it ( ik that's quite long) but honestly thanku for even giving some time to read this silly question. I can be wrong , and if i am then please correct me.

Also I am not saying I want guren to make shinya his top priority I am just asking his importance in guren's life, and in order to do that I may have compared a few chracters but at the end of the I love guren and shinya and till the time they are happy I'm happy

a long ask requires a long answer. ghostwritten by my lovely friend mr. guren expert because there's no way i could have done this. hope you don't mind!

Those are some. pretty loaded questions with alot of nuance to them, but I'll do my best to reflect on them.

To dive right in, I think "If Shinya was the only one who'd died then, would Guren have touched the taboo" is an absolutely fascinating question to do this case study on. Of course, Guren ending the world was not something that happened exclusively because of the value Shinya holds to Guren. Being predestined, there were multiple factors at play, and I think your question is quite difficult to answer, specifically due the complexity of these circumstances. You're under the assumption that Shinya places a higher value on Guren than Guren does on him, because he never had any other attachments before him, and Guren therefore becomes his priority by default right?

Well I don't think the fact that Guren has attachments outside of Shinya, necessarily takes away from how much Shinya means to him. If anything it elevates that. In resurrection (Book 1, Page 24) it says "If Shinya didn't come back, Guren had violated the taboo for nothing." This idea is brought up multiple times throughout the book and does at the very least imply that had only Shinya lived, Guren would not have been the one to cause the catastrophe. Now while that is not the exact same case scenario, it does affirm the notion that Guren values Shinya's life above the lifes of his other friends, and perhaps, Mahiru if you want to take her into the equation too.

But I also know that Guren didn't only end the world for Shinya's sake, even if that might've been at the forefront of it. While I totally see your point about Guren having things Shinya lacks, you also have to understand that all of the attachments Guren has are under constant threat of being taken from him. By the time Guren ends the world for Shinya, he has already lost Sakae, he never had Mahiru to begin with and he has barely just found companionship with his friends.

(I don't think that comparing Sakae and Shinya's importance to Guren does much to prove a point either way, because Guren has never found himself in a situation where he had to weigh their lives against each other, like he did with Mahiru. When Sakae died, Guren and Shinya had only just begun to be friends in earnest and Shinya was always on Guren's side in trying to lift Sakae's execution order. While Guren does seem to prioritize a duty towards his clan over a duty towards saving Mahiru, Shinya is not within that. Yes, with his clan Guren had a semblance of community that Shinya never did, but i don't think it influenced whether or not he would end up valuing Shinya above it later on.)

I suspect that the fact that this was new for Guren too, friendship without the weight of expectations his Clan or Mahiru placed on him, factored into why Guren was so vulnerable, why he couldn't withstand. Guren didn't exactly have much autonomy under the Hiiragi regime and a big part of why Guren is "a tsundere" as you so delicately put it is because he is afraid that being emotionally attached to something, showing "weakness", wanting to save others, will cause them to be annihilated. And he's right at that, too. It's a threat both the Hiiragi and the curse of the resurrection pose. It's literally what caused him to end the world in the first place.

While Shinya isnt the first person Guren ever loved, he still holds a special symbolic value to him. It's about how they would've won had they died together, it's about weakness as the correct path, it's about reminding Guren of what he believes in and who he wants to be. I think you can most recognize the importance Shinya holds as Guren's moral compass in the last catastrophe book as well as resurrection, and you can see the care Guren has for him in his constant consideration of whether or not what he is doing is right by Shinya. Right in general.

The thing about Guren is that at his core his character motivation is that he wants to save everyone (whether that centeres around the liberation of his clan, or just people he generally deems weak (marginalized so to speak) or the resurrection of all of mankind.) But this isn't an entirely selfless ambition. (Guren's desire to save Mahiru has also always been. conflicted for this reason.)

Guren does acknowledge that this desire also stems from a need of approval, as well as jealousy and want of power. Oftentimes Guren will end up in situations where this is challenged head on, because he cannot in fact commit himself to saving everyone and simultaneously get what he wants, and is therefore forced to choose between the two obstacles.

When confronted with a choice like that, Guren will usually take a fundamentally selfish approach to it, sacrificing others for sake of his own pursuits: risking or sacrificing lives for the sake of saving Mahiru, sacrificing countless lives for sake of resurrecting Shinya (and his other friends), as well as the sacrificing of lives and the human experimentation he was involved in for sake of resurrecting humankind.

See Guren does in fact prioritize Shinya—else he would not end the world for worth of this one life, nor go to such gruelling lengths is finding a way to keep him alive even when the means to do it require him to contradict the principles he believes in. But unlike with Shinya, it is an inherently selfish act for him. While Shinya doesn't want to save Guren for the sake of any personal gain, not giving up on Guren being a purely selfless ambition, Guren is not satisfied with that. The thing I think Guren rationally believes, the moral stance he would take in an argument, is that there is no way to measure the value of a human life and no one is superior to anything. Guren is a very anti authorian character in that regard. Still Guren, in that very selfish irrational way, does value Shinya's life above all others regardless of this belief.

It's not really that Guren doesn't want to prioritize Shinya, I don't think, (because again that is too much of a rational approach to this), but more so that he knows he can't fulfil both a goal of resurrecting all of humanity and peruse his personal wish of keeping his friends alive. But this is what you have to understand right, it's that. Guren doesn't care that that's likely not possible. He will try in vain to keep pursuing both goals at once anyway. And that's where the conflict emerges from. You bring up that you don't think Guren is very considerate of Shinya in this regard, and congrats youre right about that. It is another sacrifice he feels he has to make. Hurting Shinya is a necessity in keeping him alive and I think Guren is sorry about it, but not willing to change it. I don't think Guren's goals and priorities are something that is inconsistent and changes with the circumstances and instead that they are consistent, but constantly at odds with each other.

Tl;dr yes I do think Shinya is a priority for Guren, but unlike how Shinya feels for him in return it is in a much more symbolic manner, often more centered around the idea of Shinya and what he means to Guren and why Guren needs him and than about Shinya himself

[rmbunnie]

I know Morrison's Batman tends to be considered one of the greats, and I am definitely warming up to it more than I did on my initial read, but there are still some elements of it I found really didn't mesh with me. I feel like I can say this a lot more concisely than I did during my initial readthrough of Batman and Robin 2009, plus I've had more time to reflect and actually form a coherent opinion that wasn't a gut reaction, and keep in mind that I've read Batman and Robin in a vacuum Morrison-wise and can't speak on it in the larger context of their Batman run, but aside from just. very odd writing of certain characters, I feel like one of the more significant things that rubbed me the wrong way with this storyline was that a lot of the "weirdness" I'd seen hyped up felt either inconsistent enough that it didn't have a significant presence for me, especially towards the end of the run, or very surface-level.

One of the runs I see hyped up as some of Morrison's greatest work is Animal Man, especially for its metafictional ending. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but I expect that I'll enjoy it, or find it very interesting at the least (although author-inserts can come across a bit arrogant sometimes imo.) The point is I've heard good things, that it comes down to a very interesting and one-of-a-kind conflict in the end, which made me in some part hopeful for similar with Batman and Robin, (although I do have to admit I was reading it in part to see how off his Jason really could be.) I didn't really find that, tbh. There definitely were genuinely weird plot points with impact on the story which I feel were really successful, unfortunately it seems like a lot of them were at the cost of any prior characterization for the characters involved. Damian has steel implanted into his spine which allowed Deathstroke to control his movements and set off his emotional connection with Dick, Talia just had to be written horribly for it to happen. Sasha is a really interesting parallel to Damian/Robin-in-general. The conflict around her grotesque mask permanently fused onto her face and the fear that it'll kill her completely to take it off, the scene in which she gets said mask in the first place/the dollotrons, and the concept of a villain getting their own Robin in someone completely unrelated to Batman and the impact their legacy has had is all really original and cool, it's just that it's all dependent on a bewildering version of Jason that directly contradicts all previous characterization save BftC. To me the tradeoff doesn't feel necessary, but the events are inventive and have weight in the larger story.

In other areas though, especially as the run wrapped up, the zaniness that I see hyped up a lot, while providing a unique atmosphere, felt a lot like set dressing more than anything. In retrospect, the first time I really noticed this was the Professor Pyg dance page back in issue 2 or 3, I believe? But it became much more frequent towards the end of the series. The entire city becomes infected with a viral drug by Professor Pyg which isn't a major threat and doesn't serve anything in the story much besides being wacky, letting Professor Pyg say odd things about his mother sometimes and putting Commissioner Gordon... in a dress! Zany! (Professor Pyg is eventually... presumably?... torn apart by a parade of dollotrons and his narrative importance dies with him.) Alongside the Morrison-original villains like Dr. Hurt and Professor Pyg, there's a mysterious new player in town who's been orchestrating everything, and after a dozen issues of mystery it's the Joker, but wearing a mask and making edgy "differently-abled" jokes!

Dr. Hurt is interesting, and I liked his part of the story if I ignored the panels of auxiliary weirdness thrown on to add to the vibe, and I think there's something fun and interesting there about the legacy of Batman vs. artistic interpretations with his motive of ruining the Wayne's legacy (made more apparent with his talk about the Batcave being "the way it was meant to be in his head," the manor and Batcave "his to ruin," but Dr. Hurt kind of fades out of the story as Batman returns and is defeated by Joker, laying a banana peel on the ground. In the context of the theme of artistic interpretation and Morrison's commentary that they never cared to pretend the story was going to end with anything but a return to the classic Batman, I actually find this really interesting. A character heavily defined and reinvented by Morrison's writing being defeated by one of the most iconic Batman characters with a classic comedy trick from the 19th century feels like the conclusion to the contrast between Batman's legacy and the artistic license of the authors writing the comics: you can have your personalized elements, but the legacy of Batman is elastic and unlikely to be molded by them: certainly it won't be destroyed. Despite this, it didn't change the exhaustion of seeing the Gravedigger's mask come off and settling in for another comic where the Joker is gonna be doing classic zany Joker stuff.

As much as I'm frustrated with the way Talia and Jason are written during this run, I didn't entirely hate it, and the more I think about it, the more I find things I like. Some of my frustrations come down to taste, and are an unavoidable product of my personal taste differing from a pro comic author who had an established writing career while I was going to elementary school. I feel like some previous Batman comics were referenced in really exciting ways, for example the combination of Bruce's absence, a drug being used to gain control over citizens, an odd demonic presence, an imposter cult leader (If you can call Dr. Hurt that) prolonging his life through magical rituals, the background detail of complete chaos in the city, and one of the main villains being torn apart by a crowd of his followers, from the limited number of straight-up-Batman storylines I've read, felt pretty strongly like a nod to The Cult. But even considering the commentary on creative license vs. the consistency of Batman as a pop culture icon, the feeling of reading the comic was frequently that I was being convinced of a weirdness that didn't extend through the story down to the actual structure or plot points of the issue I was reading (with exceptions, such as the Sasha + Professor Pyg thing,) and although I appreciate the message of the return to status quo in the ending, with the hype of the story's inventiveness and uniqueness on my mind, it was kinda disappointing to realize halfway through that for all the weird window dressing, the story would be commiting to a much more traditional turn than what I was expecting.

[calamitaswrath]

Cal Lucia plays Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: Chapter 14

A couple of story beats in Begnion, and. . . well, I can't really say much on them. Ike standing in for Elincia is nice moment, and my first impression is "Ah, that's how some people delude themselves into thinking that Ike and Elincia could be an implied couple". But really, what stands out more than anything is Oliver being there, cause I have definitely heard about him. Something about his obsession with beauty, him being a slaver, but also being a playable character?

It's a good thing though that I had some time to let the story beats of this chapter so far simmer a bit because I didn't get to play, cause that gave me time to let them Sink In. Begnion strikes me as the type of decadent but powerful nation that is so caught up in its own safety that it doesn't really acknowledge the threat of the antagonists until it is too late. To compare it to something, it brings to mind the High Entia Empire/Alcamoth from Xenoblade 1. Which is to say, I could also see some story beats similar to Xenoblade 1 taking place, like corruption which runs deep in the nation, or an unexpected attack from the main antagonists catching Begnion off-guard and forcing them into action. Considering that Oliver is an official here, I can definitely see the former being a thing.

Also, something about that tower in the capital. I vaguely remember hearing that the final boss fight of Radiant Dawn takes place here? I think?

New base conversations!

Marcia being from Begnion is addressed, which is nice. She's honestly pretty minor of a character, so seeing her search for her brother and all that being acknowledged is. . . I don't wanna say nice again, but it just is.

Stella's background getting explored, which I suppose is to be expected. She literally just joined after all, so there is stuff that needs to be acknowledged. Still not sure if I'm going to use her moving forward. . . the fast exp growth is nice, but I'm already having trouble deciding on who to deploy as is.

Gatrie ogling the woman, expecting Ike to join him. Yeah, I do not think that that is going to happen.

A conversation with a maid, who seems to hint at a lot of stuff. A laguz that doesn't transform back. . . is that gonna be a boss, or a new recruit? Either way, it's funny that Ike doesn't say a single word throughout that entire conversation.

Unlocked the support between Jill and Mist! I heard that getting this one is important, and it's a nice one. . . but also really short.

Well, some bonus exp usage later, let's continue the story.

Five days spent here already? That's the third time already where the game gives me instances that make my writer brain go brrrr. There's a timeframe to fill.

God, I love the sibling interactions between Ike and Mist

Ah, this has all the framing of a filler chapter. Important but slow stuff is happening here, so go somewhere else and have a battle.

We're supposed to stop merchants? That sounds like something that bandits would do. Are we the baddies?

. . .Oh. Those kinds of merchants. Yeah, we're not the baddies.

Ah! Serene's Forest? Now that is a name that you can't get around hearing when you're a Fire Emblem fan. So this is where it originates, eh? And references to a massacre, too. . . juicy little story bitses.

And there's a certain guy named "Makalov" on the enemy side on this map. I have heard of him. What I have not heard of him are good things.

Huh, a named character in the bottom left house. . . already forgot her name, but judging by the fact that she is named at all, I wanna say that she turns up later.

Makalov talks about his sister. . . ohhhhh, Marcia is his sister! I thought I'd need to talk to him with Ike. Well, that frees up my strategy by a lot.

You know, for enemies that are called "untamed ones" in German, these enemy laguz are surprisingly tame. Not even aggressive when I get into their range.

Boss talking about having nobles as his costumers. I guess that's how Oliver gets brought into this.

. . .Ike, how are you still not putting together what these merchants are working with.

­*Twirls hair* Hiiiii again Miss Tanith

Uhhh, another animated cutscene! And it's not ruined by voice acting

Oh, is this a meeting between Laguz kings? Interesting. Some actual politics, tensions, and worldbuilding!

Ah, so Nasaela's just ambitious. Still seems a bit greedy to go for such small fry as a random Daein commander who chases after Elincia, though.

I actually remember something about Reyson, I think! Wasn't there a scene later on where he punches somebody, but because bird Laguz have hollow bones like actual birds, he breaks his own arm doing so, but he doesn't regret it anyway because it felt good?

And a mention of "Lehran's Medallion". . . gee, I wonder where that could be. Good thing that that part being obvious doesn't actually answer why Mist has it, and what its signifance is.

Well, that was a lot more story-heavy content for a chapter that I was initially dismissive of. Colour me satisfied!

[revui]

(greetings to followers and mutuals alike. if you've seen recent tags, you know what's about to happen)

FL theory time: I think Miranda's missing twin is actually Sunset. Hear me out.

Hint 1 - The Timeline

We know Miranda and her twin were taken to the Foreverlands about/at least two years ago.

So assuming that Miranda and Skyler DID both end up in the Foreverlands, that means they got dumped in two different spots about two years ago. And that matches the evidence we have for when "Sunset" first rose to prominence.

And speaking of...

Hint 2 - "The Teeth Thing"

Rewinding to Tuesday, one of many things that went on included Sunset and Evander publicly turning on and killing Ranger. Now obviously the part people focus on is that, according to Miranda, Ranger looked a lot like how she remembered Skyler, even though once she found his body the differences were pretty obvious.

I think the spotlight on Ranger and how much he looks like Skyler is an intentional distraction from Sunset's involvement. The moment Ranger starts pulling Sunset's mask off during the fight, SHE RIPS HIS THROAT OUT WITH HER TEETH. Sunset escalates immediately in response to the threat of her face being exposed, and why? It could be that she knows there's someone out there who would hate to find out she's a murderer.

This is a microcosm of a greater point about how desperate Sunset seems to hide everything about who they are. They never speak, they hide their face religiously, the only time they even show skin (so far) is when they take their gloves off after Tessera goads them into a fistfight. And why?

Hint 3 - Colum

During School of Masters, there's that moment in the middle of Thistle's storm on Wildwood where something happens, something related to Sunset, and obviously Azar can't see it, but Colum does. Whatever it is matters more to him than pretty much anything else so far, and out of nowhere he starts expressing the desire to find Sunset himself.

Remember, Miranda has only told two people about her twin: Kassandra and Colum. There are only three people in the world who know Skyler's name and face, and only one of them is present for this moment. I contend that what happened was the mask coming off. How much do you wanna bet that Colum saw her face and realized she was Skyler?

That would also explain lines like this when he's talking about Sunset in the next book:

What "answers" does he want? His motives are much clearer if you assume that Sunset and Skyler are one in the same. And considering how Colum usually behaves, it's not a stretch to say he wouldn't tell Miranda right away.

Hint 4 - Gender

Miranda sort of implies that Skyler is genderfluid, and thus references to Skyler use he, she, and they pretty much at random. This next detail might just be a joke considering Sunset hides so much of themself that they have no observable "gendered" traits, but the way everyone constantly changes up how they refer to him could mean something.

It's not a lot to go on, but it would explain a lot. Sunset has been a very opaque character even after seven books with at least one appearance in each. She's obviously important, but she's not had a single line or revealed anything about her origin or motive aside from what vague knowledge the characters around him have gathered. We know that he's extremely loyal to Thistle and obeys the Rose without question, but it pretty much begins and ends there, without even a reason for why. The majority of people who actually know him personally often refuse to speak about him or will openly acknowledge their own ignorance.

(obligatory go fuck yourself freyja)

When even the people apparently closest to Sunset barely know anything about her, it's not out of the question that it's Skyler, taking great pains to obscure who she is. There are a couple complications, but I think it's pretty sound in general. If anyone else has something to add I'd love to hear it!