#and killing maras whole family like

[mercutiotakethewheel]

yall dont understand. navarogs love language is throwing people off cliffs. maras his bestie and dougans like an uncle to him really. he just doesn’t understand why burning the knapsack didnt transition immediately into being kissed. like come on hes trying his best? why are you crying kendra? see. at least your brother gets it. he summoned a storm just for meee 🌸UwU🌸.

[arytha]

[ID from ALT: A digital drawing of my OC, Yuri, standing in front of a his wife's headstone. He is standing casually, with his back to the viewer and hand in his labcoat pocket. He is looking at the headstone with an expression of melancholy. The headstone is inscribed with his wife's name, Kyren Flauhaut, and underneath the grave is a splatter of red, reaching past Yuri's feet. End ID]

Visiting again. I never got the chance to miss you.

[struggling-jpg]

Thoughts About the Potential Underlying Hidden Tragedy of Yanqing and Jing Yuan

that isn't just the "Yanqing will have to kill Jing Yuan eventually" red flags.

A relatively longer-ish post so thank you for bearing with me if you choose to do so!

I'd already been thinking about this whole mess of thoughts for a long while now, and so have other people, but the urge to write this came from a comment I saw on a post that mentioned how Yanqing had lost to "Jing Yuan's ghosts" and overall how it contributes to the dynamic of them being mentor/mentee + father/son. While the narrative seems to be leading to "Yanqing having to strike down a Mara-stricken Jing Yuan," there's just enough weird points that stick out to the point some alternative outcomes for Yanqing and Jing Yuan's fates to play out.

And while I anticipate HSR to follow that most expected point, I feel like there's enough there that could lead to a subversion or something more likely than that, an additional twist to the knife alongside the expected point.

Jing Yuan's Flaws as a Mentor and Father-Figure:

While most of us love the family fluff, I'm pretty sure we can all acknowledge the issues in Jing Yuan's approach and decisions in regards to Yanqing. Yeah, this is a fictional space game story where it's likely they aren't going to delve into the consequences of having someone as young as Yanqing be a soldier, there seems to be something there regardless. Like the brushes with death that he has and how we see him have to worry about the Xianzhou's security as a teen due to having a higher position in a military force. This is all set up for more of a coming-of-age type narrative for him, which HSR has done amazingly so far, but there are a lot of chances for this to explore something darker.

Among official media, the one time I could even remember the term "father" being used in relation to Jing Yuan is in Yanqing's official Character Introduction graphic:

Another notable thing that we see here is how we do have moments where Yanqing expresses thoughts and questions about his own origins and birth parents. The fact that even here, he wonders if the general is hiding something from him, sets off some alarm bells in my head. But he then brushes that off because he's always been with the General and Jing Yuan accepts him for who he is (which under the theory that Yanqing originates/is connected to the Abundace adds a whole heavy layer (this will be discussed in a later section)).

Yanqing does something similar in his texts:

As Huaiyan says to Jing Yuan:

"Yanqing can understand your concerns."

Alongside Yanqing generally being a considerate and polite boy, it can possibly be said that his eagerness to share Jing Yuan's burdens not only stems from his own gratitude towards him but possibly also Jing Yuan's distance.

As in, Jing Yuan doesn't really express his feelings so blatantly, and what we can clearly tell from when Yanqing first met "Jing Yuan's ghosts," neither does he speak much about his past too on a personal level. In Jingliu's quest, Yanqing says that Jing Yuan simply told him to forget everything he saw that day.

For Jing Yuan, the loss of the quintet is a grief that feels fresh in his heart, especially with echoes of them running around him. This is in the description for "Animated Short: A Flash":

(Will also talk about this in a different section)

While Yanqing learns about his General's past in a more direct manner (aka the people involved), it's sad how avoidant Jing Yuan is at times. While he's never been a upfront person, especially in the case of solving problems, I wonder if HSR would go as far as to show the negative side of that in terms of raising and teaching Yanqing.

History Repeats Itself (Sometimes It Don't Need A Reason):

+ the Jingliu parallels

Following up on that last image, Jing Yuan, especially in A Flash, has that whole "history repeating itself" thing going on for Jing Yuan. It points to Yanqing having to take down Jing Yuan but it also comes with a lot of its own possibilities and meanings.

It's blatant that Yanqing parallels Jingliu to an unsettling degree. Anyone who personally knows Jingliu and meets Yanqing sees her in him. Jingliu probably sees herself in him as well. Beyond powers and passion for the sword, her Myriad Celestia trailer shows that her principles before getting struck with Mara were the same as his. But it took her losing her dear friends in such a cruel and brutal manner (alongside how long she'd been alive) for all of that to fall out and form the version of her we see today.

And while it seems that Yanqing is deviating from Jingliu's due to the teachings he's learning, especially with Jing Yuan's effort, I feel like there's still a chance for things to go so wrong and mess with that. Yukong's line about him strikes me as concerning:

"A sword will vibrate and beg to be unsheathed if it is unused for too long... Once unsheathed, it will either paint the battlefield in blood, or break itself in the process..."

Even though I don't think HSR will go down a route of tragedy with Yanqing, like say, he gets Mara struck somehow or killed because that's not how Hoyo's writing has fully gone for playable characters (Misha and Gallagher aside in terms of death). Even in the most despairing parts for Hoyo's games, they're usually outlined and tinged with hope in one way or another. It's just that with what's been presented, there's got to be more here than meets the eye.

Yanqing's Origins - The Breaking Point:

From what we've been given, I think the number one thing that would have the potential of shaking Yanqing's entire sense of his life and the reality he lives in is learning where he comes from. Where he actually comes from has been a strange mystery since the beginning, how Jing Yuan getting him being recorded in the military annals of all places.

As shown from the screenshots of Yanqing's texts, he doesn't know and tries to brush it off because he's happy with Jing Yuan now. The choice to have this aspect here leaves a lot to ruminate on. What is Jing Yuan hiding? And if he really is witholding information, does he ever intend to tell Yanqing? If he doesn't and Yanqing finds out, how will it play out? And even if he does mean to tell him, depending on the severity, how will Yanqing take it?

It's why the theory that Yanqing is connected to the Abundance, possibly even coming from it directly, is as harrowing as it is.

With his arc in mind, will his development be enough to sustain him when he does find out the truth? If he finds out sooner than he should, will he be able to rise above it? And what of Jing Yuan? If confronted with a situation that's outside of his control again, what will he do and how will he react?

The potential in that scenario is so fascinating to me, because we can all anticipate the absolute gut punch that Yanqing killing his master would be. It fits Hoyo's writing style of something so sad but having a hopeful end for the future type beat. But the idea of that being twisted, that expectation being flipped on its head, could be so agonizing. It's not a narrative we see too often explored, at least in my experience, so maybe that's why I'm brainrotting over it so much lol.

[devine-fem]

Characters that I wish to see more in Al Ghul Family fanon and utilizied more in Damian content because I can’t do it myself. More so fanon headcanons for domestic reasons because I am personally very hyperfixated and I wanna show the whole family tree.

Sensei. Sassy old man. Ra’s Al Ghul’s dad and Damian’s great-great grandfather.

Mother Soul/Ruh Al Ghul. Damian’s great-great grandmother. Ra’s al Ghul’s mother. She gives me very hysterical, traditional grandma type vibes.

Ra’s Al Ghul. Damian’s grandfather. Sorra, Talia’s not-mother. (last name idk, sorry queen) Sorra’s Ra’s late wife but her death sent him spiraling. She’s deceased. Ra’s personally gives me very, very boomer vibes like he’s a lazy grandpa that’s out of the loop on everything.

Melanesia. Talia’s mother. Dami’s grandma Deceased.

Nyssa Al Ghul. Dusan. Talia Al Ghul. These are the most annoying siblings you’ll ever meet and for domestic purposes, I’ll say they are all close. Nyssa causes the most trouble.

Mara. Damian’s cousin. Bratty but her and Damian get along, they didn’t always but I think they’re very sweet. This is Dusan’s daughter.

Respawn (he has no name) This is Damian’s brother. They both share a mother. (This also puts Slade Wilson in on the family tree but he’s horrible so I disown him and so would respawn) Since he doesn’t have a name, I’ll give him a cute brother nickname. How about Ressie or Rez (Meaning to come back to life) till someone comes up with something better. I know we have a lot of feelings about Respawn but I think it would also be really nice to still use him in fanon for healing on the character’s part.

Rez is the brattiest, meanest older brother you could ever ask for. Their dynamic would be cute in a I annnoy you because I love you type of way.

Heretic will also need a name but I can’t come up with anything but the arabic word for Heretic and that doesn’t seem convenient. If anyone has any ideas for a nickname for him, I’d love that. To me, he’s also any annoying older brother but much worse than respawn. He’s the type to play fight.

+ Anthanasia Al Ghul. Dami’s long lost sister (or twin). She can either have a fun twin dynamic with Dami. Or have a older sister dynamic with everyone where she keeps her brothers from killing each other.

I would also like to mention that Bruce counts in a way because Ra’s considers Bruce his son.

If I missed anyone, misremembered someone, got anything incorrect. Please tell me. Even if they have family in else worlds I’ll be happy with someone adding them as well.

[glorious-spoon]

9-1-1 Season 7 Post-Mortem

Mostly because I want to put my thoughts in order. Full disclosure: I'm really not thrilled with a lot of the choices this season made, but I'm also not at the 'fuck this show I hate it now' level either. The primary, overarching issue, IMO, is that they tried to stuff a full season's worth of plot into ten episodes, and the pacing and emotional continuity suffered badly. And also there were some writing choices that were simply deranged (and hopefully would have been reworked had they not been laying down the tracks in front of the speeding train, so to speak).

(Cut for me rambling at length)

So: Bobby and Athena were largely really solidly written. The cruise ship disaster was great: campy and OTT, but in a fun way. Their marital issues and the eventual resolution felt like a natural continuation of issues they've had in the past. Bobby Begins 3.0 was a great episode other than the cartel element, which was some ill-considered racial stereotyping (I've said it before and I'll say it again: you could have had the antagonists in that episode be a bunch of angry locals threatening people for tresspassing on their property, and the whole thing would have been 100% less gross without actually changing much of the plot. Really felt like Tim was cribbing from the similar Lone Star arc, which was also lazy and racist). Amir was a fantastic character, and while I could have done without that last scene of him offering Bobby absolution, I feel like he was generally allowed to be both gracious and rightfully angry. The cop Athena stuff in the finale was... less great, but also to be expected. I would have liked much less of that and much more time spent at Bobby's bedside.

(I'm really sad about the house fire mostly because that was one of my favorite sets, but I do appreciate the poetry of the parallel, with Bobby actually managing to get his wife out this time. Though I do wonder where Harry was that night, lmao.)

Hen was similarly wonderful. I really liked getting to see her wrestle with the responsibility of being captain, and the fallout of the car accident scene. In a vacuum, I actually like Ortiz as a villain - a complicated one, with sympathetic motivations, but still ostentatiously cruel. Were it not for the fact that there are basically NO latine characters other than Eddie who aren't villains this season, it would have been great. ALAS.

Did not love the rescue dog/foster child parallel with Mara. Otherwise really loved getting to see her settle in with the Wilsons, and I'm really glad that we got to see Chim and Maddie take her in instead of leaving her at the group home by the end of the season. Really leaned into the found family element, and Chim taking care of his best friend's child in the same way that Mrs. Lee did for him.

CHIM! Chim my beloved. 'There Goes The Groom' is the one episode that I have basically no issues with at all. The hallucinatory trip through Los Angeles, wrestling with Doug's ghost, was gorgeous. Bringing back Kevin - also gorgeous. I loved that we see the Lees explicitly framed as his real family (and am spitefully glad that his bio dad was nowhere to be found. Fuck that guy.) Kenny continues to be, IMO, the best actor on this show. He killed it. We need so many more Chim-centric episodes, because they're always SO good. He can make both humor and pathos feel so natural and human. Give us more Chim!

And of course on to Buck's bisexual arc, which was... so painfully Buck, lmao. Full disclosure: I have a lot of trouble rewatching 7x04 and 7x05 because the secondhand embarrassment is just too much for me, but objectively it feels very right and in character for him. LOVED the first kiss scene, with his dawning realization of what's about to happen and his softly stunned joy afterward. His coming out scenes with both Maddie and Eddie were lovely and perfectly appropriate to both relationships. I really liked him taking the initiative to reach out to Tommy to apologize and ask for a second chance after he fucked up their first date. Loved Tommy showing up at the hospital after what was clearly a long, miserable shift.

Their date in the finale didn't really land for me mostly because of where it was placed in the episode; if they did something with the two of them after Buck spent the entire day at Bobby's bedside waiting to see if he was going to live, it would have felt a lot more natural to me to have them exhaustedly eating takeout on the couch or something instead of having a formal sit-down date with wine and place settings. Intentionally or not, that made it feel like they're still on Date Behavior with each other and despite some gestures toward emotional vulnerability, they're not quite there yet - as seen by Buck steering the conversation back to flirting and innuendo. My overall feeling on the relationship at this point is that it's cute, but I'm not seeing any real depth of feeling between them yet.

Buck and Eddie on the other hand - look, despite my many MANY issues with Eddie's plot this season, I loved how his relationship with Buck was written. I love the intimacy and familiarity of how they are together, I loved the way Eddie let himself lean on Buck, I loved how Buck is clearly positioned as an integral part of the Diaz family.

Unfortunately, that's really the only thing I loved about Eddie's plot this season. His relationship with Marisol was ultimately pointless; she was never fleshed out enough to feel like a real character, and we never even see the fallout of Eddie's cheating with regard to her; it's all Chris. The Kim stuff strained credulity, and also I never felt like he got any kind of emotional catharsis or resolution through it; he still hasn't really confronted any of his issues about Shannon, about their marriage and how it ended. That whole arc felt really wobbly in terms of tone, as well: using plot elements of a very famous psychological thriller without actually acknowledging any of the creepiness of it. I would have liked it to lean into that more especially with the scene where Kim dresses up as Shannon, an objectively creepy and unhinged thing to do.

The Diaz parents handled the Chris thing in a selfish and opportunistic way that felt both disappointing and inevitable. Hopefully that's going to be a hook for the next season and Eddie actually confronting them, but overall Eddie's plot this season really felt like they just tossed a bunch of balls up in the air and mostly failed to catch them.

Gerrard - look, I'm not that worried about Gerrard. I could have done without him, but ultimately he's going to stick around just long enough to make his inevitable defeat satisfying. At least, that's my hope.

[waterfrontcomplex]

CYCRANE KILLER - A YANQING SERIAL KILLER AU

TW/CW FOR MURDER, VIOLENCE, DISMEMBERMENT, GENERAL MENTAL INSTABILITY, MENTIONS OF ABUSE

AU INFO ↓

after the disastrous battle at dragonprayer terrace, yanqing is left disheartened, confused, and alone. he was just defeated by 2 criminals, and the one person he trusted with his whole being left him there with no explanation.

he gets healed at the alchemy commission, and returns home. jing yuan eventually recovers, and... everything returns to some sense of normalcy. no 'i'm sorry', no 'are you okay?', no nothing. he receives assignments as usual, and goes through with them with ease.

during an assignment in cloudford, he encounters a man who was on the run and had a warrant out for his arrest for domestic abuse. yanqing pursued the man until he accidentally cornered him with some particularly violent mara-struck, and was killed before he could stop them.

that night, he couldn't stop thinking about the man. he had let a civilian die. but... that man was a terrible person. he had a family that loved him, and he hurt them in return. yanqing felt an unexplainable burst of 'satisfaction' or even 'happiness'. that man would never hurt anybody again.

a terrible idea appeared in his head. what if he purposely killed people like those?

it's extremely illegal and goes against his duty as a cloud knight, but they would deserve it and he's just so, so frustrated. so, he looks into a couple cases and finds one he takes interest in. if he wants to go through with this, he can't use yanzhuo or his ice swords; it would make his identity too obvious. he grabs a blade he's been itching to test out, dons a cloak and leaves during the night.

the break-in and murder is easy enough. most people on the luofu stand no chance against him. adrenaline is rushing through his veins, and now there's a body on the floor and his dagger is covered in blood.

the cleanup is simple; he has the knowledge and resources available to make it look as if his target had just vanished during the night. he dismembers and disposes of the body and returns home. he had just killed another civilian... but they were a terrible person— no, they're not even a person. they're just vermin, unworthy of the title of 'human' and waiting to be eliminated. he feels static in his head.

in the following weeks, he does his best to avoid searching up information about his target. yanqing listens in to gossip instead, and gathers that they had been reported missing but no traces were found. he had gotten away with murder.

and he was going to do it again.

the next few nights, he claims more lives; lives of those unworthy of them. after the murders, the static in his head clears, but comes back later. they disappear during the night without a trace.

while disposing of a body, yanqing encounters a partially broken down cycrane with sentience, like his swords. he fixes it up, and it says it doesn't want to 'return to a mundane life of endless deliveries', so he takes it home and hides it. after a bit of searching, he gives it a name: rosebane.

the cases are starting to catch the attention of the higher-ups. the public now knows about the 'mysterious disappearances', and rumors start spreading like wildfire. some claim it's a monster, other say it's a stalker, and some are claiming that it's a whole group of people. nobody suspects him a bit. tensions are high.

yanqing doesn't want the public to worry too much. rumors of a monster could put the cloud knights on high alert. if he let any witnesses see him, they would know it was a human. and if he brings rosebane, they would know it's the same person, and not a group of people. rosebane wouldn't reveal anything about his real identity, and would be particularly useful for tracking down targets. a monster would be extremely concerning, but a person would be... hopefully less concerning. and with a cycrane, it would lead the investigators away from him.

during his next murder, he chooses a time where there would be a witness, and commits the crime, leaving the body. word gets out, and news of the 'cycrane killer' is everywhere. yanqing masks his nervousness as worry for jing yuan, but he doesn't fully buy it.

he's not crazy, he's not insane at all. he doesn't kill for the adrenaline rush, or to clear the static in his head, or for whatever other reason.

he's just... doing the luofu a favor.

☆⋆⋅───────

RELATIONSHIPS

YANQING -> ROSEBANE

friendly. they are extremely close, but can't talk much since yanqing shouldn't bring them out during the day. they're partners in crime, bound to their secret. he finds their sentience interesting.

YANQING -> JING YUAN

tense. yanqing partly blames jing yuan for his... new hobby. he still cares and would never hurt him on purpose, but he's extremely frustrated and confused. he mainly wants an explanation but feels as if he has no right to ask for one. yanqing also has to tread lightly around jing yuan to avoid him figuring out about his murders.

YANQING -> FU XUAN

cautious. if fu xuan suspects him of anything, she could easily rat him out with the matrix of prescience. he's been keeping his distance.

JING YUAN -> YANQING

worry. jing yuan knows yanqing's upset and has been acting strangely ever since he recovered. he also knows that his retainer is hiding something, but doesn't know what.

[ahamkara-apologist]

Okay I kinda get being dissapointed at how they rushed the Sov sibling reconcilliation with just one conversation after drawing it out for months but y'all...this really isn't the end-all-be-all of Crow's character arc, nor is it necessarily out of line for him. His biggest weakness is that he's a bleeding heart who lets people walk all over him- remember how he decided not to get revenge on Spider despite Spider very literally keeping him as a slave? Or how he killed a psion because he was too empathetic to a hive guardian? As much as I love him, and as much as his love is a terrifying force when weilded correctly, he's soft and weak. He always has been. He was bound to forgive Mara eventually, esp. since they have a psychic twin bond going on.

I think y'all are also forgetting the fact that Mara has had quite a bit of character development over the past year or so and has very notably been more open about her emotions and better about keeping herself out of Crow's life- because she got bitchslapped by the reality of what she'd done to him in Season of the Lost and then got shaken to the core by her confrontation with the Witness in Witch Queen. She hasn't been 'defanged', she realized that the way she was acting qualified her to be a Disciple (aka the worst of the worst, the enemy she'd been hellbent on fighting this whole time) and that in tandem with Crow's rejection upset her deeply enough for her to change her behavior, which hasn't been as apparent until now. Idk how y'all can forgive how Uldren Sov slaughtered hundreds of Awoken citizens and wreaked havoc on the Reef but is changed as Crow without also acknowledging the fact that Mara herself changed as well. It's not as dramatic of a difference because it happened more gradually and without intervention from a Taken Ahamkara and the Traveller, but its still there and is the most apparent its ever been right now. It wouldn't surprise me if the reason why Crow is forgiving her now- apart from the fact that he's a softie and discounting potential Riven bullshit- is because she's proven she's changed by both keeping her distance and being more emotionally open with him, as well as open about how she knows she fucked up. That's the second thing Uldren wanted other than her approval, after all.

Also, it's been like, 2 years of Crow being pissed at Mara and avoiding her, so them starting to make up now is kinda necessary even if it feels a bit rushed. I personally would have loved to see more snark and nettling from Crow's end, bc I love conflict and sibling angst, but it really isn't out of character nor is it throwing away Crow's character arc. It would have if Mara hadn't changed, but she has. And while I myself love storylines where victims don't need to forgive their abusers and can exert their wrath upon them as they wish, the fact of the matter is that how such a situation needs to be dealt with varies immensely on a person-to-person basis, which the writing team has already proven they're capable of understanding. Just look at Calus's and Caiatl's relationship! That ended with no reconcilliation because Calus simply refused to change, while Mara has spent the past year trying to get Crow to feel comfortable with her as an equal in conversations and open up to him more and trying to break her habit of watching him like a hawk- aka, acting like an actual sister rather than the pseudo-mother figure she'd picked up from Osanna. Ofc Crow the softie is going to respond to that, esp. since he's got a psychic connection to her via Awoken Twin Magic and seems to have been walking Uldren's memories as of late. He just genuinely is really fucking bad at holding a grudge.

(And while its easy to go 'oh the writing is lazy and rushed', I also think its kinda sus that Riven specifically talks about the human wish to reconnect with family right after the Sov sibling talk happens. It wouldn't surprise me if she picked up on Mara's desire to reconnect with her brother and pushed Crow towards forgiving her. It seems like she's been trying to pull Uldren's memories to the forefront everytime she talks with him and that could be a big factor as to why he's been reflecting on them a lot recently)

[thefirstknife]

I hate how much of the non-tumblr fanvase wants Saint to be their Doom Slayer. Just balls to the wall violence and sadism and killing and "putting bitchy women in their place"

(so so much bad takes about mara and ikora and savathun i see)

Which is an insult to both Saint but also the Doom Slayer!

They are both traumatized men who lost their friends & family so many times over to an uncaring alien force and so turn to unspeakable violence and slaughter as the only was to stay "stable" and seek justice but if they had their way they would be in a comfy chair holding their loved ones and reading

Its just so ugh. They insult these well written characters to be their machoism Internet rage monster

Oh yeah, I hate that.

Like this whole lore tab was, again, about Saint being a deeply emotional man. That's his primary characterstic honestly. People think that his rampage has something to do with power, but it doesn't. It's the opposite actually. It comes from feeling helpless. He's been bottling up his trauma for so long and he can't deal with it because he doesn't want to burden others and given that he's incredibly emotionally driven, it just spilled from him first as rage, then as crying.

It's a sad display of being without power, not a violent power trip to show someone who's the boss. It's the reason why it hit so hard. This isn't Saint being cool, this is Saint being in deep and honest grief spiral.

[starplusfourletters]

I finally finished the last command

and it was a romp (spoilers)

Chewie spends the whole book on the edge of a nervous breakdown but buddy you very much did that to yourself. Sure, you swear a life debt to a guy who turns out to be One of the People in the Galaxy That Things Just Keep Happening To. Bad luck, bound to happen sometimes. But then you decide that life debt extends to his wife knowing FULL WELL that Even More Things Just Keep Happening to HER, and then they go and have TWINS? That’s on you, bud.

Mara “I still do want revenge on Luke Skywalker yes definitely now hold that thought I need to go risk my life to save Leia and the twins” Jade. Mara you’re embarrassing yourself.

Actual conversation:

Leia: Thanks again for saving my life. Mara: Don’t thank me until after I’ve killed Luke which I still absolutely want to do. Leia: So uhhh why’d you do it? Mara: I’m just opposed to kidnapping. Leia: Were you kidnapped? Mara: I dOn’T wAnT tO tAlK aBoUt iT yes. Leia: ... Mara: YOU THINK THIS IS ABOUT MY TROUBLED PAST?? Leia: … Mara: BECAUSE IT’S NOT Leia: … Mara: Anyway here’s the information only I can provide that will turn the tide of the war. It’s free. Friends and family discount. Leia: Thanks. Mara: I’M STILL GOING TO KILL YOUR BROTHER Leia: That’s nice, dear.

MY KINGDOM FOR GHENT. His dad boss forgets to pick him up from AV Club so he spends two months wandering unrestricted through the capital building and then cracks Enigma because he’s bored

A TWELVE-DAY Character Bonding Hiking Trip??!? Zahn’s really outdone himself this time

WAIT THIS WHOLE TIME MARA DIDN’T KNOW LUKE AND VADER ARE RELATED?? Omigod that’s HILARIOUS. I mean, yeah, I guess it just never came up? And she didn’t watch the OT movies? That’s very funny to me for some reason. I definitely assumed she’d gotten that memo

Oh man it really feels like I should have seen that reveal coming and I absolutely did not. Gawd I love the 90s. Wowowowowowow. Chef’s kiss. I have so many questions about the Bespin janitorial system

“LUUKE” I’m dying

Admiral “It appears to be a trap.” Akbar

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Good vs. Evil Star Wars content to bring you “the two Evil factions getting in each other’s way vs the two Good factions getting in each other’s way until they all realize we’ve hit the end of the book and just start attacking everything indiscriminately”

The Climactic Battle Scene:

Luke: Fighting his clone! Han: Pew pew pew pew! Mara: Psychic defense! Psychic attack! Leia: Dual wielding blaster and lightsaber! Karrde: In the back, petting his doggos and talking on his phone I was legit worried about his safety in this book. But he's not dumb; he knows he doesn't have enough plot armor to take on the Big Bad. He is simply the best there is

Wedge / Aves is the rarepair I didn’t know I needed

RUKH!!

Oh thank God the doggos are okay

So as far as I can tell Thrawn made one mistake that wasn’t just bad luck and it was doing a shit job of getting Mara out of the way. The dude really should have had MORE of his enemies killed

Thesis statement: Aww Themb! <3

Now I just need to watch someone explain this series to Ep9-era Palpatine. Preferably in the style of Worthikids.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

i just came by this post and i had to address it.

wow. that is a controversial take. and an objectively incorrect one.

i'll just preface this by saying that i'm not satisfied with arcane's finale either. i think it completely went against its own message in the end, and a lot of the arcs were resolved poorly.

but this take is still wild. let me break it down one by one:

there's nothing wrong with the "power of love/friendship" trope. the only problem is that

1. spop entirely focuses on romantic relationships. fuck familial relationships, fuck platonic relationships, the only thing that matters is romance.

2. most of the ships are either forced with no prior buildup or straight-up toxic.

horde prime as a whole was a poorly written villain who was only introduced because catra and hordak were "redeemed". that alone makes the entire finale weak, because horde prime is not as much of a threat as catra was. he's just a placeholder.

i'm convinced that the only reason they introduced the failsafe and the heart of etheria was because horde prime wasn't intimidating enough to keep the audience captivated.

mara convincing adora to stay alive would have been a touching scene if the message wasn't that adora should date her abusive sister.

i'm sorry, did we watch the same show? because how the fuck can you say that catra is no longer abusive after her redemption after watching all of this???

oh yeah, catra pushing adora to the ground and guilt tripping her for trying to save the world wasn't abusive at all. catra constantly screaming at adora for the smallest reasons isn't abusive, that's just catra's little quirk! /s

you would have to be blind to watch all of these instances of catra continuing to abuse adora, and still think that she has changed.

caitlyn hit vi with her rifle, yes, and I'm not going to defend that at all. i agree that it was completely unwarranted, regardless of her reasons. but caitlyn's actions are nothing compared to catra's.

you can love or hate caitvi, i literally don't care. but you can't hate caitvi for being "toxic" while acting like c//a is a healthy ship.

“catra ceased all intentions of being enemies with adora & glimmer and learned to love & fight for etheria”

oh yeah, that's why she kept taking jabs at the princesses and bragging about how many times she has defeated them. that's why she never apologized to glimmer for killing her mother, or to mermista for colonizing her kingdom. oh wait, mermista was very conveniently chipped so that poor catra wouldn't have to deal with all that, right?

let's be real, the only reason catra sided with adora was because she literally had no other choice. she was backed into a corner. she wanted to work for horde prime but since he was willing to throw her out, and the original horde was in shambles, catra's only choice was to join the rebellion. she does not care for the princesses or for etheria.

“catradora never had a power imbalance and fought pretty equally”

this just made me laugh. did this person even watch the show? catra had power over adora 90% of the time.

there were very few instances where adora had power over catra and usually in those instances, catra would attack adora in some way to bring her beneath her.

again, i have my complaints with caitvi. i don't think it's a perfect ship and i'm not going to defend the shitty parts of it. but catra has literally used every single type of abuse on adora - physical violence, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, guilt tripping, kidnapping, attempted murder, victim blaming - and y'all still think that caitvi is worse? be fucking for real.

five seasons isn't enough screentime to wrap up arcs in a satisfactory manner? come on. spop had plenty of time, the writers just didn't plan everything out. they absolutely did not make the most of what they had to work with.

they had 5 whole seasons and still decided to shove catra's redemption arc into the final one, completely rushing it and for what? so that adora had someone to smooch?

the conflict between glimmer and adora could also have been handled better. it was a complex situation, especially considering how catra and shadow weaver was the ones driving them apart. it shouldn't have been solved with a simple “i'm sorry, everything was my fault” and “lol it's okay we good now” like???

again, i'm dissatisfied with arcane's ending. i think a lot of the character arcs were sabotaged and there was too much going on in general.

but i don't think anything can compare to the character assassination in s5 of spop. everyone magically forgot about catra's crimes and forgave her; capable characters were suddenly incompetent and foolish so that catra could shine; and adora, who had completely moved on from catra, was now once again catra's doormat.

you can criticize arcane if you want but this post was just stupid. spop's final season was just as bad, if not worse than arcane. at least arcane managed to write a believable redemption arc for jinx within those 9 episodes - something spop couldn't do with five whole seasons.

[missbluesunflowersstuff]

AU where Talia decided to raise Damian in Metropolis and Jason decided to ignore Batman and go with her

Damian is still trained, but not as intensely (Talia allowed it because she knows very well how many enemies Ra's and Batman have, she wants her son to be ready to defend himself if necessary, but always vigilant so that Damian's training is not exhausting and terrible)

Then when Damian has 8 (or 10), she just looks for her father and says "bye"

Ra's is a good grandfather who loves his grandchildren (Damian and Mara), he is just a weird magic man for them (he is still the demon but not for his people and family)

So the trio move to Metropolis, Talia to get the job with Lex and Bruce almost had a heart attack because JESUS CHRIST IS THAT JASON TODD?! AND WHO IS THAT TINNY SMOL BOY NEXT TO HIM?!

Jason still hates Batman and tries to kill Tim (they'll get along later but not now)

Jason talks shit about Batman all time and Damian believes in him because old brother Jason knows things, and then Damian also dislikes his father

Jason became a crime lord in Gotham to piss Bruce off and annoying Dick and Tim, Talia just asked Jason don't put Damian in this crime thing, Jason and Talia tried to keep Damian a part of this mess crime and hero thing

Damian, like all other children in his age, is curious and impulsive. Then he stole a ninja costume and went to Gotham because he is curious about his father and the others brothers

And then he met Dick

Dick is just tired of Jason messing around but he recognizes a curious kid when he sees one (and he is also curious about Damian - no one knows Damian is Bruce blood son yet)

Dick and Damian become weird friends eventually (as canon their relationship is slowly but strong in the end)

When Jason finds out about Damian's new friend, he tries to hunt Dick down

Too late

Damian now has a cow and Dick has Damian's DNA

All the Batfam goes crazy because THIS BOY IS YOUR SON!!

just thinking about 'Damian, I need to tell you something, you're the son of the Batman' - Dick

'yeah, I know' Damian knew it all along because Talia told him and Jason about Damian's father

Steph and Cass are also curious about this little boy and kidnapped him to a playdate (and also annoying Jason and Bruce)

Damian dislikes Tim Drake because Jason told him to do so and he will listen to his older brother (they'll eventually get along)

Bruce tries to get close to Damian a few times and Jason always stops him. Whenever the two meet it is a terrible fight, both emotional and physical (Jason just gatekeeping Damian rn)

Talia could help Bruce, but she decides whatever Jason is doing is funnier, then she allows Jason to bully his dad for a while

Maybe it's Jason's rude words, the guilt of not being seen with the same admiration for the boy anymore, making Bruce become "softer" and try to get involved in Jason and Damian's lives because he doesn't want to make mistakes like he did in the past

somehow this becomes a mess in the media, after all Talia and Bruce are rich (she is richer than him) and a child custody dispute is always crazy and the favorite dish for reporters

the plan about protecting Damian from media harassment just fell apart (thanks Bruce and his bad decisions)

Talia and Jason were almost planning to send Damian to spend time on an Al Ghul family island when the images began to disappear from the internet almost instantly

This happened because the batkids worked together because 'Jason is our brother and Damian is also our brother'

When Jason goes to confront Dick about this, Dick says it's all Tim's plan (he knows about the assassination attempts and he doesn't want the family fighting)

Tim and Jason get along after this

"but you say he is a bitch' - Damian about Tim

'yeah, but he is a friend now' - Jason

Somehow Dick lures Damian in the mansion to him met Alfred

so while the media is covering the whole spectacle of the custody fight over Damian, Damian, Talia and Jason are having tea with Alfred and ignoring Bruce

And Jason still is a crime lord

Eventually Bruce gets the right to see Damian (I want to bully this man a little after Gotham War)

Damian doesn't go to school, but he still meets Jon and Kathy at a farming event because he wants to show off Batcow

They becomes friends there (Clack and Lois have no idea that this Damian who Jon is talking about is Damian Wayne, but they're super happy because Jon is making more friends)

Damian invites Jon to his birthday party, something that makes all of Kent very happy

Damian's birthday becomes incredibly awkward once Clack encounters Bruce and the Batkids, Talia Al Ghul, Jason Fucking Todd, Ra's Al Ghul, and some other assassins and children of assassins that Talia and Damian trust

Also Maya and Mara are also there

Mara because she and Damian were rising together in the league (they have a brother and sister relationship but they don't know it yet)

and Maya proclaimed herself Damian big sister since her father trained him

[venusthepirate]

like any unloved thing part seven : friends and coffee shops

Masterlist \ ao3 \ part one \ part two \ part three \ part four \ part five \ part six

taglist :  @avocado-writing @little-sunflower-bug @evangelineflowers @humbug5 @yume904 @sarcastic-sourwolf @chloeforde @illusionsnfantasies @cupofstarss @mystic-mara @staceysmomsposts @thatcharmingmushroom @www-interludeshadow-com @gingersass @hungoverhellhound @dunaahahah @raye2000 @eonnyx @supervoldejaygent​ @wanderedaway​ @princeresnikov​

Fawn doesn’t leave her apartment for the next few days.

The mere thought of going outside sends her careening into… Not panic, exactly. But every time she glances out the window, a strange sense of dread pools into her chest. She ends closing the curtains, and they stay that way, the room plunged in the dark for days.

She doesn’t mind it. She spends those days a bit out of it, either high or half asleep, drowsy in front of the tv. Maybe she ought to get better coping mechanisms or something like that, but she doesn’t feel like trying to be a reasonable adult. She at least remembers to call her agency and the coffee shop where she works to tell them she’s sick and can’t work at the moment.

She avoids responding to the few texts she receives. Though, every time her phone buzzes or rings, she can’t help but check. The disappointment every time is both maddening and pathetic. She should maybe feel scared that anyone’s trying to contact her. It could be the police. Could be… That asshole’s family, she doesn’t know. And yet, every time, she can’t quite stop herself from thinking that maybe Tangerine called her, or wrote to her.

He doesn’t. It might be the smartest thing. He helped her hide the body, if anything happened and police somehow got their hands on her phone, they would see that he contacted her.

She feels a bit angry at herself. When she has enough clarity to be able to think clearly, between two spliffs, she thinks about him, and Jesus, this is pathetic. She’s not some pining teenage girl. This isn’t some bullshit love story, some Pretty Woman thing. He’s an assassin-for-hire, and she’s a hooker, for God’s sake.

Violet tries calling her on the third day. Fawn doesn’t answer, but she sends her a quick text telling her everything’s okay, which prompts Violet into calling three more times. She doesn’t pick up, instead throwing her phone away from her and burrowing into the warm plaid around her, smushing her face against the pillow.

She killed a man. She killed a man, and here she is, getting high on her couch, and thinking about Tangerine.

She sighs, watching the way the smoke unfurls into the air, rising up to the ceiling. The whole apartment must reek of weed. She hopes her plants won’t mind too much.

She thinks back to what Tangerine told her. That she could come by his apartment to water his and Lemon’s plants. Her chest constricts at the idea. Fuck, she wants it. She wants the whole fucking… Domestic life. Not just the ideal, the fucking resemblance she gave him in those expensive hotel rooms. She wants the real thing. The intimacy. Waking up next to him. Reading with him. Water his plants.

She really needs to go easier on the weed.

Eventually, after one week and a half, she reasons that she has to go out. She can’t survive solely on instant noodles, no matter how good they are. She takes a long, scalding shower, scrubs herself until her skin turns pink. She carefully selects her clothes, throwing on black pants, the warmest black sweater she can find, a black beanie, and a long black coat. She puts on some makeup to hide the bruising on her face, and huge sunglasses. She’s glad it’s sunny outside, no one will suspect anything with the sunglasses.

She has to admit, the cold air is nice. She goes to the nearby grocery shop, wandering through the aisles. She didn’t even realize new year had passed until the cashier wishes her a happy new year. It’s already early January.

It’s weird, being outside. She feels strangely vulnerable. Like she should be different. She expects people to watch her, to instantly know what she’s done. But no one spares her a second glance. No one stops to point fingers at her and call her a murderer.

Nothing happens.

When she goes back, someone is waiting in front of her apartment. She freezes in the corridor, hands full of grocery bags, mind half wondering if she should make a run for it before the person realizes she’s here.

She must have made some noise, because the figure turns back to face her. Fawn recognizes Violet instantly, despite the big glasses encompassing her face, and the balaclava wrapped around her face.

“Fuck, Violet”, Fawn curses, trying to slow down the beating of her heart. She strides towards her door, passing next to Violet, and struggles for some time to find her key inside her pockets without having to put down her bags. “What are you doing here ?”

She lets them in, quickly putting down the bags on the floor and closing the door behind them.

“What am I doing here ?” Violet repeats, voice raising an octave higher. Shit, she’s angry. “You’ve been rejecting my calls !”

“Yeah, as a precaution ! It’s not safe to talk about this on the phone, alright ? We have to lay low for a bit.”

“Well, I couldn’t know that, since you didn’t tell me shit”, Violet retorts, crossing her arms on her chest.

They stare at each other for a moment, until Fawn realizes that they’re both still wearing those huge sunglasses. Violet must come to the same conclusion, because her lips quirk up, and then they’re both laughing. It’s more of a nervous laugh than anything, or maybe just because they’re relieved, but they can’t stop for at least five minutes. Every time Fawn thinks the laughter will finally die down, it starts again. Her chest starts to hurt at the end, and she kind of wants to sit down on the ground.

She’s worried she’s just going to start crying in the end.

“Fuck”, Violet says at last, wiping at her cheeks. She takes off her glasses and her balaclava. Fawn is met with the sight of the bruises on her face, not unlike her own, except Violet’s face is more battered than hers. There’s a huge purple bruise on her forehead, on the bridge of her nose and her temples.  “Was worrying myself sick, you asshole. I kept checking the news every ten minutes.”

“Sorry”, Fawn murmurs, taking off her beanie and glasses too. She finally gives up and sits on the floor, not quite feeling like her legs can support her longer. “How are you ?”

“Not bad”, Violet replies, sitting down too. “My nose was broken, but my boyfriend reset it. He’s a nurse.”

Fawn nods.

“That’s good. Did you… Tell him ?”

She shakes her head, looking away. “I thought it would be too risky. Didn’t want to rope him into this shitshow, in case of…” She cuts off. “What happened, after I left ? Did you… talk to the police ?

Fawn tries to find the words. Fuck, how does she explain what happened ? She can’t talk about Tangerine. She doesn’t want to break his trust, and Violet would worry. No one would react well to the news that someone is an assassin for hire.

Except herself, it seems.

“It’s complicated”, she murmurs. “Look, it’s best you don’t know, alright ? Someone helped me, and you don’t have to worry. The body won’t be found, nothing will be traced back to you. I promise.”

Violet stares at her for a moment, before nodding. She still looks unsure, like she wants to press Fawn for more answers, but she must understand that she won’t tell her any more, so she doesn’t ask again. She looks around, and turns up her nose.

“Your place reeks of weed.”

Fawn snorts out a laugh.

“You’re one to talk, you look like utter shit.”

Violet rolls her eyes.

“Girl, have you seen yourself ?”

They both can’t help but giggle. Fuck, this feels good. Being able to laugh, after spending the last few days wallowing in self-pity and pining.

“I’ve been smoking weed and watching TV for the last week”, Fawn tells her. “Don’t tell me you didn’t do the same.”

“Well, I didn’t, actually. I smoked maybe once. And then I cuddled a lot with my boyfriend.”

Something in Fawn’s chest aches, of all sudden, pulsing hot pain against her lungs. She’s reminded of that night. Slipping into Tangerine’s bed. His arms wrapping around her, pressing his face against her throat. His breath against her skin. The grip of his hand at the back of her neck, gently holding.

Cuddling.

She shakes her head, trying to disperse these thoughts.

This is starting to get really fucking pathetic.

She forces a smile out.

“I’m glad you have him”, Fawn tells her. “How did you explain the bruises and the broken nose, though ?”

“I told him the truth. I couldn’t really lie. I told him a client did this, and that’s it.”

“Oh”, Fawn murmurs. “But… Is he going to be okay now with you doing this job ?”

“I’m not.” At Fawn’s confused look, she goes on. “I’m not going to do it anymore. I called the agency three days ago. Told them I quit.”

Fawn definitely was not expecting that. She doesn’t know why, because, in hindsight, she should have. A client attacked them, almost killed Violet. And she has her boyfriend now.

“I knew I wasn’t going to do this forever, you know ?” Violet continues, as if she wants to convince her of something. “It was kinda fun, at first. Pretending to be someone else, being desired. The easy money. But… I stopped enjoying it for while, I think. If anything, what happened is… A wake-up call, if you want. It’s best to see it that way.”

“Oh”, Fawn repeats, unable to say anything else.

She hadn’t really thought of it. She’s never really thought about… Stopping this work, before. It’s been a constant in her life. The pay is good, easy. But now that she thinks about it, she realizes that Violet may be right. It was fun at first. But now… She doesn’t know if she still enjoys it. Clients liked a conversation, but now there seems to be less and less of them. She liked that part too, maybe more than the sex in itself.

“What about you ?” Violet asks. “You still planning on taking clients ?”

“I don’t know. I told the agency I was sick, but… I never really planned on doing something else. I haven’t really thought about it.”

Violet nods.

“You should think about it. I’m not going to tell you what to do with your life, I’ll support your decision no matter what it is. But I think you should consider it.”

Fawn thinks of Tangerine again.

She realizes now, how similar they actually are. He’s not just a client, is he ? She always knew that, could always sense that he wasn’t like the other clients she had. There was something too… wild, about him. He’s like her, in some ways. Selling his services to richer people. She wonders if he enjoys it.

“Yeah, I’ll think about it”, she finally settles on answering, voice quiet.

Violet reaches out and takes her hand, squeezing gently.

“I’m glad you’re okay”, Violet tells her, voice sincere. “If you had gone to jail, I… I don’t know what I would have done. I can never thank you enough for what you did.”

Fawn smiles, blinking against the sudden tears in her eyes. She nods, squeezing her hand back.

“It wasn’t your fault. I’m the one who…” Killed him, she doesn’t say. She can’t really bring herself to speak it aloud, sometimes.

It sounds surreal, every time. When she tries to remember what happened at that moment, her mind goes blank. She can’t describe precisely the scene, apart from vague feelings and sensations. Wetness on her hands. The feeling of the knife tearing through flesh. The sound of Tangerine’s steps as he stepped into the pool of blood.

“You did it because he attacked me”, Violet argues. “If it weren’t for me…”

“Don’t fucking say that”, Fawn snaps. Violet stares at her, wide-eyed, surprised at her outburst. Fawn takes a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I don’t blame you for what happened and I never will. And I don’t regret what I did. He was a creep. Alright ?”

She nods after a moment, stunned into silence. Fuck, she shouldn’t have talked like that.

“I just… I just wish you didn’t have to do it”, Violet murmurs, at last, very quiet.

Fawn reaches out, pulling her into her arms. Violet’s arms come around her, hugging her back just as tightly.

It takes another week before Fawn feels like she can finally go back to work. Her bruises have faded enough that she can cover them with some foundation. She calls the café, tells them she’s no longer sick and can take shifts.

She doesn’t call the agency, though. She contemplates it, sitting in her bed, the contact open, her thumb hovering over the call button. But Violet’s words are still deeply anchored in her mind. Does she still enjoy it doing this ? She did, with Tangerine, and she didn’t at the same time. She liked the conversations, being wanted for tender touches. She didn’t like the way it sometimes made her feel. The way she started craving those touches too.

She wants him. There’s no denying that anymore. She wants the almost sickly sweet domestic moments with him, falling asleep and waking up together. Wants to sit at his kitchen and watch while he makes her tea like he did last time.

Does he want it, though ? He told her, the first time that he met her, that he wanted something other than sex. That he didn’t have time for making connections. It wouldn’t take any of his time here. They already knew each other, they were already… Intimate. She couldn’t think of any other words to describe their situation.

But every time, she’s reminded of his reaction, when she kissed him. He told her he didn’t want sex, but she doesn’t really understand what he meant by this.

She wallows in her thoughts, forcing a smile every time a customer walks to the counter to order something. She finds her café shifts relaxing. The smell of cinnamon, coffee and hot chocolate wrapped around her. The soft music playing into the speakers.

She’s busy wiping the counter and the coffee machine when she hears the entrance bell. She looks up, ready to welcome whoever arrived and to ask them what they’ll be drinking, but she freezes, stunned into silence.

Tangerine strides towards her. His hair is styled back like it usually is, curling at his nape. He’s wearing a navy suit and a long matching coat.

She’s so surprised she doesn’t even greet him, just staring at him as he stops behind the counter. His fingers lightly drum against it, his gold rings glinting.

“Tangerine”, Fawn finally manages to say, getting a grip on herself.

“Hey, love”, he replies, easily.

“What… What are you doing here ? How did you… No, don’t answer that, I don’t even want to know”, she rambles, struggling to find her words. Tangerine seems amused. She wants to bash his head with the coffee machine.

“I’ll take a coffee, black, please”, he says, instead of answering her question. She stares at him, aware that she’s doing it. What is happening. “When does your shift end ?”

She contemplates not answering him, but he came all this way. She realizes, with startling clarity, that maybe he’s here to talk to her about the body. What if something happened ?

“I have a break in twenty minutes”, she hears herself reply.

Tangerine nods. “Great. I’ll wait for you out back, then.”

She doesn’t know what to think of this. Her mind is half torn between panic and being glad to see him. She busies herself with making his coffee, tries not to look at him, but the way he keeps drumming his fingers on the counter is very distracting.

She finally slides his coffee in front of him. He deposits a few coins in front of her, drops a bill (is that a fifty) into her tip jar, and grabs his drink.

“Cheers, love”, he says. “I’ll see you in twenty”, and with that, he walks out.

Fawn stares at the door for what might be ten minutes after he’s departed. She’s not sure she believes what just happened.

He knew her phone number without her ever giving it to him. He knows where she lives since he drove her back, and apparently now knows where she works too.

Jesus.

She wants to chew him out for his disrespect of her privacy. But he’s an assassin. It seems like being aware of things is a given, in this situation.

She wants to tell him what she feels. Wants to ask him what he wants.

Fuck.

Her break seems like it might never come, and also like it came way too fast. Before she knows it, she’s unwrapping her apron, setting it down in the backroom, and opening the door leading to the small alley at the back of the café.

Tangerine’s waiting there, leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette. He flicks the ashes off. His cup of coffee sits at his feet, empty.

She wordlessly extends a hand, and he passes the cigarette to her. She can feel the weight of his gaze on her as she takes a drag of it. She gives it back to him.

“So”, she finally speaks. “What are you doing here ?”

Tangerine half shrugs. He suddenly seems a bit self-conscious, his confidence from before melting away.

“Here to check on you, I guess.”

“You could’ve called”, Fawn points out. “You have my phone number. You even know where I live.”

Tangerine shuffles a bit. “Was trying to be respectful, or some shit”, he mutters.

Fawn can’t help the way her lips widen into a smile. “By showing up at my workplace ?”

“Oh, hush, will you”, he grumbles. “I’m shit at this, alright.”

She snorts, taking the cigarette from his fingers again.

“Called your agency, actually”, he adds. “They told me you weren’t available.”

Fawn’s throat gets suddenly dry. She manages not to choke on her next drag, breathing deeply, trying to clear her throat.

“Yeah, I… I’m taking a break, I think.” Tangerine remains silent, waiting for her to continue. “I don’t know if I’ll come back.”

“Oh”, he simply says. Fawn glances up at him, trying to decipher his expression, but his face is downcast, staring at the ground. Something in her chest twists at this.

“It doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you anymore”, she adds, before she can second-guess herself. At this, Tangerine looks up.

“Yeah ?”

This time, it’s her turn to look away. She tries to swallow under the heavy lump inside her throat. His voice sounded so… Fucking hopeful. Vulnerable, and guarded at the same time. She doesn’t know what to think of it.

“Yeah”, she murmurs, quietly. She clears her throat again. “How’s Lemon, anyway ? Did you buy him real plants ?”

Tangerine snorts, taking a drag of the cigarette, before dropping it on the ground and stepping on it. Fawn almost wants to tell him not to leave it here, but she doesn’t.

“I wanted to, actually. But we’re leaving for Tokyo for a job tomorrow, so I thought it was best to wait until we came back.”

“Tokyo”, Fawn repeats.

“Yeah. Hence the visit. I wanted to give you this, too.”

She watches as he pulls out small box and an envelope from the inside pocket of his suit and hands them to her. She takes them slowly, a bit unsure.

“What’s this ?” She asks.

“That’s the money I forgot to pay you last time”, he replies, motioning towards the envelope. “Plus some interests. And that’s a gift.”

Fawn raises an eyebrow, glancing up at him. He looks a bit embarrassed, raking a hand through his hair.

She looks back down at the box, and opens it. There’s a pocket knife inside. She frowns, gently plucking it out and flipping it open. She can immediately see that this is not a cheap thing like the one she had. The handle is smooth beneath her fingers, the blade sharp and shiny.

“To replace the one you had”, Tangerine supplies, rather unhelpfully. He takes a step forward, gently taking it from her hands and closing it, putting it back inside the box.

“I… Thank you”, Fawn tells him, unable to find her words and to look at him.

“Hey”, Tangerine says, coming even closer, until he’s right into her space. She can feel his cologne, and see the way his chest rises when he breathes. “What’s the matter ?”

He brushes a finger against her chin, and pushes a bit until she has no choice but to look up at him. She’s met with his face, a few inches away from her. She sucks in a sharp breath. Why do his eyes have to be so fucking blue ?

“I…” She tries to say, but fails to come up with anything. She can’t think, not with his fingers brushing against her face.

He looks concerned, a little crease between his eyebrows as he’s frowning. It really should not be as endearing as it is. Fawn wants to do something stupid, like cry, or kiss him.

He opens his mouth to say something, and she does just that. Closing the remaining distance between them, hand curling around the curls at his nape and angling his face down to meet her. She presses a kiss against his lips, soft, almost chaste, before pulling away. He looks at her, wide-eyed.

She raises her other hand to settle it on his chest, just on top of his heart. She can almost feel the fluttering beating against her palm.

“Don’t freak out”, she whispers, almost pleadingly.

For a fleeting moment, fear grasps her lungs. She thinks he’s going to leave again and for good this time. Tell her that’s not what he wants.

But then his hand comes up to the side of her neck, and he’s leaning down and kissing her. She parts her lips, kissing him back, her fingers curling tighter around his hair, but he doesn’t seem to mind. His mouth is urgent against hers, warm and soft. He tastes like coffee and smoke, and she can’t get enough of it.

She doesn’t realize he’s backing her off until her shoulders hit the wall behind her. He presses against her, tongue brushing against hers. Fawn feels like everything around her has collapsed into a hazy, foggy dream. She can’t focus on anything else than his lips against hers, and his hands on her skin.

She pulls a bit at his hair, and he whines against her mouth, breaking off the kiss. He doesn’t pull away, though, pressing his forehead against hers. They breathe against each other for a moment, panting.

“It’s okay”, she tells him, quietly. “It’s okay.”

His hands frame her face, his fingers warm and the metal of his rings cold on her skin. She lets him hold her, his grip firm but tender. She can feel how swollen her lips are. His are not better, pink and shiny with spit.

He presses his lips against hers again, long and insistent. She feels like the breath has been knocked out of her, warmth pooling in her lower stomach.

“Don’t be scared”, she murmurs between kisses.

When they finally break away again, his eyes are dark. But there’s something genuine, sincere and open in his expression.

“I’m not”, he tells her, voice rough. She closes his eyes, leaning against his touch. He kisses her forehead, and she almost wants to burst into tears, arms wrapping around his waist to hold him back. She can feel his breathing beneath her palms.

She looks up at him.

“I’m not”, he repeats, without blinking and looking away from her, and kisses her again.

[linda-likes-to-draw]

Ok hear me out

Chrysanthe as a dad. (+Miraak)

I actually had these finished a long, long long time ago but never uploaded them xD so here they are! GHD Timeskip!AU featuring Chry and Miraak as dads. How wholesome. This was all just an excuse to draw family shenanigans with Chry and Miraak sksksk

(the first two panel did not happen btw. it was a joke from the server xD Chry would be So Not Thrilled to know their baby is stolen and their parents killed by Miraak.)

After the whole Alduin Business they decided to get a baby from an orphanage! Hooray! I have never actually decided what the baby's name should be. Maybe @99corentine you'd like to choose one for them? 👀

And also have these two where. Chry has like 4 babies because we thought ''hey let's give them MORE'' and boom.

Info about the babies below!

Basically the Nord+Altmer kid is their lovechild(as in their biological son) gifted by Mara(cuz you know. they gay. can't really give birth.) Chry & Miraak got really confused but still kinda rolled with it. This baby has both Chry & Miraak's traits, having slightly pointy ears and a mix of white + golden hair, and has mostly Miraak's fight-y personality but still listens to Chry if he scolds them. They are Miraak's favorite and so they feel proud about it.

The Snow Elf, however, was made bc I accidentally misinterpreted @/mellowscrolls' convo and thought Erandur somehow got another child from Mara and was told to give them to Chry xD they are very shy, and clings to Chry the most. Miraak scares them a little due to his ominous aura lol They also like Erandur a lot! cuz he was the one that took care of them first hehe

The HERMAEUS MORA ONE, HOWEVER, is there simply and solely bc HM wanted to mess with Chry & Miraak. So after he heard that they got so many babies, for some reason, snatched/created a baby himself and corrupted it with his daedric dark magic or something. and just. left it at Chry's front door lmao Chry and Miraak did NOT take them well at first. Miraak in particular, as he refuses to even acknowledge them. Chry was afraid of it, thinking they could be HM's pawn. But, this kid was, in fact, just a kid. They are corrupted by Mora, but they were actually not influenced by him at all. They still maintain their toddler mind. And so Chry refused to kill them, as much as Miraak suggested to.

Chry starts to warm up to this half-daedra a little, but he is always unable to stare into their face, which is covered with numerous Hermaeus' eyes. Does HM have the ability to spy on them through those eyes? Nobody knows. They can also summon tentacles, which freaked Chry & Miraak out very much, so this ability was never brought back out again.

Because of both parent being wary of them, this baby is more mature and understands how different they are and does not blame either of them. They are actually a very sweet kid and takes care of all their siblings. But they know how much of a ''monster'' they are. They know about HM, they even hear his whispers to hurt Chry & Miraak when they sleep, and so they despise him, even if he was their ''creator''. They love their new parents and would never hurt them.

As they grew, maybe Miraak finally took pity and hand-carved a wodden mask for them to wear outside. They treasure this gift with their whole being as it was the first time the nord father cared for them.

Chry needs rest.

[stitchpunk1]

Ok bored at work so I think I’ll do a mini master post for all my current Hell ocs.

I’m gonna do it in kind of a list format starting with the parents of the kids, dosnt necessarily mean they are together but it’s just parents. At the end I’ll mention some of the pets I made for them. For Vidas I'm just going to copy and paste my last posts one because this has now taken my whole work shift and I am home now.

Charlie/Vaggie- Mara has mixed goat and sheep attributes being half demon and angel. She’s very artsy and likes to make big interactive installations that are meant to be destroyed so the citizens can have something that she hopes will stop the constant destruction they commit. She ends up dating Heather who is Husk, Angel and Alastors daughter.

Husk/Angel/Alstor- Heather and Isabella are the day and night siblings of the hotel. Isabella has a centaur like deer body and can turn into a grotesque deer/spider hybrid creature. She takes very much after Al in macabreness but has a cottagecore style personality at the same time. Heather is the more dour of the two. She’s takes completely after Husk who isn’t sure who her father is after a bender one night(either Al, angel or a stranger). This leads her to feel like she doesn’t fit in with her family. Heather was also born prematurely only a few days after her sister. One last thing for Heather is she has a hidden love of musical theatre and after some coaxing from her sister and a bit of training from an ex clown(I like to think fizz does some theater work for fun) she starts preforming. Isabella is dating Mable, Moxxie and Millie’s daughter.

Pent/Niss- Belinda is an arachnid demon with a small snake tail but can go full spider naga when pushed. She’s a hit woman for hire and one hell of a shot. She spends a lot of time with her uncle and cousins as she’s not on good terms with her grandfather who views her as a freak. She aims to be strong enough one day to take his spot as head of the family.

Vox/ Val- Vea is almost like a mini Val in looks but thankfully not personality. She has more of a blue color scheme like Vox and though she’s more organic she can take control of electronics. Shes so powerful that she once held the power grid of pride hostage when she was sick of how her parents treated those around her. She loves to cosplay and has made hundreds of outfits and wigs(shes bald like Val but to her it just means more fun wigs) she’s made. Vea is honestly good friends with the hotel kids and is ride or die with them. She is dating Chaz’ daughter Maeve.

Stolas/Blitz- Eris is a hodgepodge mix of imp Ang Goetia. She looks mostly imp with hair similar to Tillas but has random feathers and bird legs/feet. When in an absolute rage she can summon a form like Stolas. Eris is an avid reader but also loves to hit Hells beaches and go surfing. At her request her parents got her an old beat up van she refurbished to have a bed and amenities in the back if she wanted to stay at the beach for a day or two. She is dating Fizz and Ozzys daughter Izzy.

Fizz/Ozzy- Izzy takes much more after Fizz that her father but has wild blue hair that can turn into fire when very upset. As a child she was kidnapped and lost a horn in the process. The whole affair made Izzy a bit of a homebody unless she has her guard sharkdog. She became a huge fan of video games and started to stream, becoming a popular vtuber.

Moxxie/Millie- Mable is the little spitfire of the IMP kids. She very much takes after her mother and has little to no fear of anything or anyone bigger than her. She loves theater like Moxxie and preforms often with her girlfriend’s sister.

Striker- Nettie is half imp and half snake demon. Her mouth and snout are more snake and she has a rattle in her tail. Netties other parent was killed by a cult in her home of wrath and with her father not around she was forced to find work as a ranch hand anywhere that would take her. At some point she returned to her hometown, murdered the leader of the cult and burned it all to the ground. Her wandering after that landed her as cook of the Hazbin Hotel when she was tired of traveling. She doesn’t really know Striker but blames him for her other parents death.

Wally/Verosika-At first glance and even at second no one would realize that Wendy was the daughter of Verosika Mayday. She isn’t a succubus and is honestly a plain imp girl(her mother will take anyone out who says her girl isn’t beautiful). With her mother being busy she spends a lot of time with her dad and she develops a love for the carnival as he works at them a lot. Carnies fear her as there is no game Wendy can’t win, rigged or not.

Vortex/Bee- Once baby Jinx was weaned her parents were stumped at finding various foods in her crib or playpen. After watching tv one day with her near Vox discovered she was manifesting it just like her mother. She hasnt quite figured out her party groove just yet but she is very, almost overly, enthusiastic about it. Or maybe its just all the sugar.

Chaz- Maeve has absolutely no idea who her father is. She has a Irish accent she got from her grandmother who basically raised her. She sings and plays guitar in a rock band who has a good following but isnt quite famous just yet. She eventually moves in with Vea when they are still teens after Maeves grandmother passes and it takes her parents almost months to realize shes not just visiting a lot.

Vassago/Andrealphus-

Her name is Vida and she’s the result of a drunk night between Vassago and Andrealphus. She’s a macaw Goetia but her colors are more muted/pastel and she’s got her father’s blue eyes. Vida is extremely timid with Andre always trying to control or meddle in her life which Vass is always fighting with him over. She’s made fun of by other Goetia children for various bald spots she gets from self plucking out of stress.

She also somewhat got her father’s ice powers but all it seems to do is make Vida cold so she’s always bundled up in sweaters. To utterly piss off Andre, Vass asked Stolas to be her godfather what with Octavia being her blood cousin but considers Blitz’s kids family as well(which I think when he found out it almost sent the peacock to the hospital with an aneurism).

NOW... onto pets! Eris has a cat who actually snatched her when she was a baby when her parents took her to the garden and laid her on a blanket. It acted like it was a kitten so they took it in and was named Scrungles because of how it was so scrungly looking.

Izzy has a guard sharkdog named Isabelle. Her head looks like a shortfin mako and always seems to be angry/in a bad mood but she loves Izzy more than anything.

Nettie has a hell horse named Bourbon who has been with her sense she was forced to leave home. Charlie had a stable built for him after Nettie came to work for the hotel.

[asthedeathoflight]

Get bothered back fellow theater nerd:

Any favorite musicals/plays to recommend? Are there ones you think are like “easy starters” vs ones you think will tell people something important about your taste?

Okay so the problem with me is that I am not strictly speaking a "theater nerd" as in like someone who is a fan of theater. I am someone who works in professional theater for a living. I have opinions about theater even my fellow theater artists cant get behind. This is all to say i dont have any concept of what an easy starter play would be. I'm in too deep. Im the XKCD comic about geochemists. Fuckin... Hamlet? Hamlet is good. You've gotta find a Hamlet where Hamlet is like a foppish emo kid tho. Dont watch the branagh one. I dont have a good Hamlet to recommend I just read Hamlet and imagine it in my mind.

Also I must confess that I dont really like musicals. Which will sound like peak clownery coming from me with a musical pfp but compared to most theater people i am the Grinch of musicals. I just dont like musical music. Sorry Wicked, sorry Les Mis, sorry Into The Woods. Simply could never be me.

Having said that. Musicals which are good (complete list):

Spring Awakening (ONLY the Deaf West production. I have the bootleg you can dm me for it. The obc was. Bad. sorry.)

Come From Away (i am not immune to folk rock or narratives about the inherent goodness of humanity. Full disclosure I haven't gotten around to watching this one i just like listening to the soundtrack.)

Warriors (obviously)

Plays which are good (incomplete list):

Until The Flood, Dael Orlandersmith (series of monologues about the police shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson)

Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members, Mara Velez Melendez (drag show about Puerto Rican anti-colonial resistance)

Draw the Circle, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (one-man show about trans identity)

Keffiyeh/Made in China, Dalia Taha (series of vignettes about life in occupied Palestine)

Other stuff:

I saw the Geffen's production of The Inheritance two years ago and it was so incredible i went back and saw the whole thing again. There is an audiobook of it on Audible but ymmv because they made the baffling decision not to include any stage directions? So it might be incomprehensible unless you can find a script to read along with it. I might try and track down a pdf of the script for my own records so if i find one I'll share it with you.

Also I know Sara Porkalob's show at the Geffen just closed but if you ever have a chance to see her absolutely take it, she has this cycle of one-woman plays about the women in her family which are like. Absurd and heartfelt and incredible.

[pomplalamoose]

hey omg I have this idea, could you maybe do headcanons (IF YOU WANT TO) abt enemies to lovers with Luke? Well, you can have it kinda be like a Mara Jade scenario where she needs to kill him but Luke doesn’t necessarily hate her. Honestly all up to you!

Hiii anon, thanks for your ask🩵 I really like the idea, so let's jump right into it!

• I find this to be a very interesting concept because there are so many possibilities how this could play out 

• across the galaxy there is a wide array of people that could have good reasons to hate Luke, even the ones that have never actually met him before 

• the reasons for said dislike can range from petty to understandable, depending wholly on whose side you are on

• imagine: you could be a fellow kid from Tatooine, having one sided beef with Luke because he was always the better pilot and shooting womp rats came to him easily, whereas you wanted nothing more than to beat him once but always failed 

• maybe Luke stole the love of your life right from underneath your nose without even realizing 

• maybe you hate him just because he made it off that hell hole of a planet and casually overthrew the Empire in the process 

• like, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU and the jealousy is gnawing at you

• maybe you are a politician's assistant or the politician yourself and, because you can't stand Leia, hate Luke too, simply because they are related 

• possibly Luke's actions, unbeknownst to him, had a serious impact on your life; you are left reeling, trying your hardest to pick up the pieces left

• maybe you worked for Jabba and lost your job due to his death 

• alternatively you lost friends in the same battle that cost your boss his life 

• or maybe Jabba died before he could pay you your well deserved money

• and worse: you are responsible for caring for friends or family and now can't do that anymore because your employer is fucking dead

• maybe you had family or friends on the Death Star

• maybe you are part of what remains of the Empire 

• alternatively you could have been raised to hate and fight the Jedi, and now, that there is only one left, you want to end them one and for all

• either way: the only thing still keeping you from crumbling down, what keeps you going,  is the thought of revenge 

• no matter your motive, Luke will not hate you in return no matter what you do

• we have to be realistic here, that man didn't even hate his father and refused to kill the Emperor with his own hands

• so the whole enemy part is pretty much one sided, to him you are a slight annoyance at best 

• (additional reason to absolutely hate his guts)

• (personally I think it's hilarious but obviously you don't)

• there is nothing more infuriating than your sworn nemesis acknowledging your presence but not being really bothered by it 

• and why would he? 

• (going forward I'll assume your goal is to hurt him or possibly end his life)

• unless you have some serious outstanding skills, you wont be able to even get close enough to do any harm

• plus, it would be in your best interest to catch him alone, which in its own right is hardly implementable

• if you somehow get this far though, he will already know 

• it's basically impossible to sneak up on him, especially with murder on your mind 

• and taking on Luke wholly on your own? You wouldn't stand a chance 

• even though you could potentially be a trained fighter you are blinded by rage and thus not equipped to meet him at the same level he's on

• all of this, of course, doesn't mean that Luke would simply accept the way you keep trying to mess up him or his family 

• he might have developed lots of patience during his training and over the years but when the people he loves are in danger, he isn't playing around 

• (it doesn't matter that every single one of them is dangerous in their own right and can very well defend themselves)

• if you're lucky he only gets angry 

• but if you somehow manage to catch his interest and become subjected to his curiosity, you might as well turn yourself in straight away

• he will either make an effort to get you arrested, or alternatively, seek you out himself 

• abruptly the roles are going to be reversed; no longer will you be the hunter but instead the hunted 

• Luke will naturally want to know who you are and where you are from, what your occupation is or was and whether you are working alone 

• most importantly he'll want to hold you accountable for your actions 

• since he doesn't consider you a real threat he is able to take his time to methodically tire you out 

• he doesn't mind if you constantly manage to evade his grasp, he knows you will return again to try and hurt him

• eventually, if you like it or not, he'll get his chance to confront you 

• depending on your reaction, the results are different ones 

• if you insist on following your path, he'll see you punished according to your crimes

• if you're willing to engage in conversation/are reasonable enough, he will reach out, offer his help 

• you absolutely don't want to go to prison but his pity would make you feel similarly awful 

• it's easy to stoke hatred and to keep your anger burning when your target is, as far as you are concerned, a monster 

• however, coming face to face with Luke for the first time, you are thrown and your world, once again, is turned upside down 

• he is nothing like you imagined 

• he is kind, charming even, and not arrogant and blinded by pride, like you thought 

• above all he's so beautiful it hurts

• despite everything you did in order to bring him harm, he is ready to forgive you 

• and not only that: he offers his support, might even apologize and explain his point of view should you entrust him with the reason for your actions 

• while Luke does not expect you to do so, in fact doesn't demand anything, he still wants to come to an agreement 

• he's busy enough as it is and permanently keeping an eye out for you is, frankly, irritating 

• so what is it that you want? A stable job? A place to live? Money? Some other kind of compensation for what happened to you?

• it's hard to face the fact that maybe, just maybe, you were in the wrong all along 

• that he is, just like you, a survivor of the war and it's circumstances and did only what had to be done 

• (alternatively you are a Sith and want to admit to your faults even less)

• whatever the case, Luke will remain understanding and, should you refuse his help, won't judge you for it 

• if you promise to leave him and his family alone, he'll let you go

• it's all up to you and he won't pressure you into something your pride doesn't allow 

• he'll be happy to part ways peacefully, of course, but if that's not the case you'll still get your chance to stand by your word to not cross his path again 

• regretfully he does not disappear from your thoughts, no matter how much you try to forget about this embarassing encounter

• maybe you try to unfairly twist your interactions to make them fit your narrative

• it's not working though and with growing frustration you realize you want to, need to, see him again 

• only to accuse him of messing with your mind of course, no other reason (like taking a last look into his crystal blue eyes)

• if you can settle this once and for all, maybe he'll stop appearing in your dreams and leave you alone 

• surely this is all the doing of a Jedi and has nothing to do with a guilty conscience and a burning longing to be held in his arms