#and the darkest timeline 2 in 1 deal

[all-pacas]

stupid chase 13 self indulgent sibling shit:

13 is the first one to jokingly refer to chase as her brother. except she calls him her younger brother. chase is like super touched but also hi i'm older than you "sure you are buddy". it's like an ironic "haha we're not actually siblings" joke except secretly no. it's not ironic

13 also has made at least a couple "let's go find dad" jokes about house. she finds it funny and deeply annoying that house and chase don't seem to Get It. it's very obvious to her that chase's deepest dream is for house to pat his shoulder and say "i'm proud my son" but they deny it

at least once 13 has pat chase's shoulder and gone "i'm proud my son"

at least once though. at least one time. "i killed my older brother." "i abandoned my younger sister to rehab." like they know. all their darkest shit. they don't want to be siblings because they did terrible things to their families. but it's why they are

they text. she's constantly sending him photos from her greek island. the food. the beach. look how hot my girlfriend is. he's in the middle of some gross procedure and gets a text of a beautiful sunset. he sends back a photo of a urine sample or some gross wound

when chase quit at the end of s8 and 13 swung by the next episode to talk with wilson the next day? she was staying with chase while she was in town. they mostly just hung out and watched nature documentaries. when wilson called she was like "oh i just happen to be in new jersey, let's meet up" while wearing sweats and sitting on chase's sofa

chase offers to kill her since house is gone and can't. they come up with a rough timeline and plan and then never discuss it again. until it's time.

at least a few dark "oh, shit, i'm wilson now, aren't i?" jokes from her in return. shit, the new house has a dying best friend too! except with so much less sexual tension!! they joke because they can't bring themselves to be serious about it. she tries to set him up with new friends. big advocate for choreman

idk but i get the feeling they'd watch crappy reality tv together.

they'll sometimes just have the darkest and most serious 1 am conversations about morality and souls and what makes a person good or evil, and then the next time they see one another instead of following up it's just "did you see real housewives last night"

chase has never asked 13 for a favor. like he'll ask her little things or let her pay for lunch, but that's about it. meanwhile she can call him at 2 am and he'll show up no questions asked. maybe kind of grumpy about it tho. kind of pisses her off he never lets her return the favor and sort of shut himself off emotionally after s6. but also it's nice? not the "chase's turn towards cynicism" part, but having a standing no questions asked deal.

when he annoys her enough, 13 DOES call chase "robbie" or worse "bobby" but he's never called her by her first name and probably never will

he didn't tell her he got stabbed and she was mad about it because see above. that was a real bobby day

chase knows she doesn't want to fuck around with more huntington's trials but he reads EVERY article and EVERY journal, just in case some miracle comes up. 13 meanwhile follows fake african country politics with a weird intensity to make sure diabla's forces aren't regaining power. they never discuss either thing with one another.

first time 13 visited Chase MD office she forced him to pose in front of the door and took like 15 photos like it was bobby's first day of school. absolutely humiliating

chase goes to 13 and amy's wedding. he's the only one of the PPTH folks who do (taub sends a card. they forgot to tell foreman.)

once 13 was like "we're both hot and single and should do what hot, single people do!" "....have...sex...?" "no, go to a gay bar" they actually go quite a few times

[studyingthelore]

I have two incompatible and diverging thoughts on what’s going on with Cas in this timeline:

1. The obvious assumption is that he’s still in the Empty; that was the deal he made, and we have no real indication that Cas is anywhere but the Empty. Sure, there’s the throw-away line of “Cas helped” in the spn finale, but that’s never explained.

2. But the events of The Winchesters have me wondering if there might be another option. Facing one’s darkest secrets, speaking the truth, bravely accepting reality have all led to unexpected transformational experiences. Lata was able to rescue herself and Carlos from the site of her deepest guilt by sharing what happened between her and her parents. Carlos was able to break everyone free of Limbo’s spell by getting the little boy to acknowledge that he was sad, he missed his parents and his brother. So, what if Cas summoned the Empty, but then he transcended it through the power of that moment of truth? He isn’t in Dean’s heaven (because I’m still going with the Limbo parallel here; this heaven isn’t real happiness. It’s little more than a list of things that someone who didn’t really understand Dean might get for him to try to comfort him)... but that doesn’t mean that he has to be in the Empty. What if Cas broke free and created something new in that moment? And Dean is following an instinct that’s telling him to break free and he can make his way to Cas: reject this heaven, reject this false “peace” and pursue freedom, and you’ll find him there.

The more I think about it, the more I’m leaning toward/hoping for option #2, because that would go with the more hopeful themes of The Winchesters. But, I would love to see Dean on a mission to the Empty to rescue Cas too. And Robbie, Jensen, and Misha probably have some totally different plan in the works that I can’t even foresee, but I just know that they’re going to do something really special with this.

[cinderella-ish]

Fic Recs: WIPs Part 1 (Last Update After Jan. 1 2023)

Last updated August 8, 2024

A Good Start

Along a Pitch Black Path, by me M | Tohru/Kyo, Akito/Shigure, Mayu/Hatori | AU & tragedy Last Update: Sept. 2024 | Ch. 1/? | under 5000 words What if Akito's slash to Tohru's arm had been fatal? This is the darkest timeline.

Hummingbird, Summer Song, by tohruisms M | Tohru/Shigure | drama & romance Last Update: March 2024 | Ch. 2/? | 5000+ words “Maybe I should have dreamed of you. Maybe someone like me needs someone like you the most… the author finds himself thinking.” A retelling of Fruits Basket where instead of Akito, Shigure dreams of Tohru.

ichigo ichie, by me T | Tohru/Kyo, Akito & Haruhi & Tohru | crossover & drama Last Update: July 2024 | Ch. 1/15 | under 5000 words Fruits Basket x Ouran High School / Your Name AU

Memories of the Cat, by Modzy78 T | Tohru/Kyo | drama & hurt/comfort Last Update: Aug. 2024 | Ch. 2/3 | 5000+ words Kyo wants to distance himself from being the Cat. But he has one thing to deal with first.

Of Lost Cats and Half-Shadows, by me T | Tohru/Kyo, Megumi/Yuji | crossover, drama & romance Last Update: Aug. 2024 | Ch. 1/30 | Under 5000 words Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara enroll at Kaibara High School to investigate the Zodiac curse and free the souls it binds. Kyo is immediately suspicious of the three new students and rejects their attempts at friendship. Will they be able to break this ancient curse before Kyo is locked up forever?

The One Who Stays, by me T | Tohru/Kyo, Akito & Yuki | drama & romance Last Update: July 2024 | Ch. 1/4 | Under 5000 words What if Yuki hadn’t run after Kyo? Tohru confesses her love. Kyo confesses his sins. Yuki sees it all. And then Akito arrives.

The Sun That Hides Behind Clouds, by coughdrop G | Tohru/Kyo | drama & romance Last Update: May 2023 | Ch. 1/? | Under 5000 words Tohru loses her memory due to a car accident and is unable to remember anything past living in a tent. Kyo and Tohru embark on a journey of memories as they visit places that contain echoes of rememberence.

Well Underway

Against All Gods, by Athena_theunicorn M | Tohru/Kyo | angst, dark, & drama Last Update: June 2024 | Ch. 16/? | 30,000+ words Tohru Honda woke up in a hospital bed. Kyo Sohma woke up in a desolate cottage. Akito Sohma woke up on a crumbling throne. What would have happened if Akito locked Kyo up, despite Tohru's best efforts? He did lose the bet, after all...

Bloom Within Us, by me T | Saki/Kyo, Momiji/Hiroshi | angst, drama, & hurt/comfort Last Update: Aug. 2024 | Ch. 69/105 | 200,000+ words What if Tohru Honda didn't survive her fall from the cliff? Kyo, Yuki, Saki, Arisa, and the rest of Tohru's loved ones mourn together and figure out a way forward without her.

desiderium, by tessohma M | Kakeru/Yuki | hurt/comfort, romance, & smut Last Update: June 2024 | Ch 2/5 | 10,000+ words desiderium - an ardent longing or desire. A Yukeru friends with benefits AU.

Empty Basket, by RunningOnSunshine M | Tohru/Kyo, Tohru/Kakeru | angst, drama, & hurt/comfort Last Update: May 2024 | Ch. 66/? | 100,000+ words The Sohma family is thriving. The curse has been broken, marriages are happening, and children are being born. Never before has the Sohma family been so at ease… until Kyo contracts a fatal illness, just months after Tohru becomes pregnant with their first child.

End of the Banquet, by AveSolace M | Tohru/Kyo | drama Last Update: July 2024 | Ch. 11/? | 50,000+ words All the geopolitical tension in East Asia has come to a head. China has invaded Taiwan, and Japan is immediately drawn into the conflict. The Sohmas' lives are thrown into chaos, even as the Zodiac curse remains unbroken.

If You Ever Forget That You Love Me, by villianizuku G | Tohru/Kyo | drama & romance Last Update: Feb. 2024 | Ch. 17/? | 50,000+ words After three months of thinking she was dead Yuki stumbles upon Tohru in an old neighborhood only to find out that she has lost every memory she had. Tohru is wiling to risk everything to find the people she used to love and get her past self back.

I'm Sorry, by SWAM_Drowned E | Gen - Kyo | dark & drama Last Update: April 2024 | Ch. 6/? | 10,000+ words How did life turn from "trying to hold on" to "I want to kill myself" in the matter of a day? Kyo doesn't know.

Like Fireworks in the Night Sky, by Princely_Hairdos T | Kakeru/Yuki | pining & romance Last Update: July 2024 | Ch. 10/? | 50,000+ words Yuki starts winter break in a relationship he feels unhappy in. He doesn’t know why, only knowing that he needs to get his act together and quick. Somewhere along the way, he falls madly in love with his best friend. Watch him throughout the year as he tries to reign in these feelings only to find out he might not actually need to.

like the flowers and the bees, by me E | Machi/Yuki, Momiji/Hiroshi, Saki/Kyo | smut Last Update: Aug. 2024 | Ch. 5/30 | 10,000+ words In a world without Tohru Honda, three couples explore intimacy as they fall in love, process their grief, and deal with the many twists and turns of life.

Ripples, by proseprincess NR | Tohru/Kyo | drama & romance Last Update: Jan. 2023 | Ch. 31/? | 100,000+ words *Note: this is a two-part series. The first work is complete! What happens when one decision leads to unintended consequences?

Sweet Disposition, by truthwallflower E | Tohru/Kyo | pining & smut Last Update: Dec. 2023 | Ch. 33/34 | 50,000+ words Tohru wants Kyo and Kyo wants Tohru. Too bad neither of them know how to go about it. A story of how Kyo overestimates Tohru's naivety and of Tohru remembering Kyo being disappointed in her. Even relationships that have faced millennia-long curses aren't impervious to misunderstandings.

Truth and Consequences, by OnigiriCat4Ever T | Kyo & his daughter | angst, drama, & hurt/comfort Last Update: Feb. 2023 | Ch. 35/? | 100,000+ words For twenty years following the breaking of the Curse, Kyo did his best to forget it. Telling his son Hajime was terrifying, but in his son's acceptance, understanding, and unwavering love, Kyo felt a lightness and freedom he never could have imagined. Both of his sons know; both of his sons accept. Only one person has yet to learn the truth: his daughter, Sachiko.

undertow, by hungryhungryhanachan E | Tohru/Kyo | dark, drama, & tragedy Last Update: Aug. 2024 | Ch. 16/? | 30,000+ words Tohru has always smiled through her pain. Why would this be any different?

Here's a link to my bookmarks tagged incomplete!

[khaleesiofalicante]

reread the new chapter (as i often find myself doing) and the present timeline seems pretty self-explanatory so i wanted to dive into the flashback scene.

So we start with max’s psych eval where he’s just constantly thinking about David (and the kids, but really David). He doesn’t even remember exactly what happened but is always trying to keep David safe 🥺

It looks like along with some insanity, max is just dealing with PTSD, particularly shock, about what happened. He keeps spacing out, and stays in a state of disbelief.

And we get more information about the big Mallory accident. Max shooting Mallory again when she said the line about David was very deserved. We keep learning more and more about the truth, but it seems like every new chapter just gives us more questions, I’m excited to see how it turns out :)

Max thinking David will forgive him when he sees that the kids are fine but then him having tears of grief when he sees lance :( Or were those tears of grief more because David can’t look at max anymore🧐

“Max couldn’t blame him. He wished he could hold his husband too” when I tell you my stomach dropped.

And visualizing Max’s depression like a movie was a very effective choice. It makes much more sense to the reader to see why max was so unresponsive to an outsider’s perspective. Max being catatonic basically. I always loved how nuanced your takes on mental health and depression are. Depression can come in many different forms. For max, it seems to be deep disassociation.

I think those are all the coherent thoughts I have on this chapter. Again, I just love how complicated your descriptions of mental health are, and how the vary so much between characters. I really should use this energy to right my upcoming analysis on my English assignment, but my priorities said otherwise. Love you 💛

ps: can we expect another chapter on Monday or Tuesday? Or maybe some time later in the week?

pps: you mentioned that “before Mexico” was gonna have a mavid situationship development and a job development. We DEFINITELY got the situationship development, but is there more to the Mexico thing we haven’t gotten to yet? Please don’t tell me max is gonna get hurt on the job 🙏

thank you 🥺

writing about (and creating awareness about) mental health is so so important to me. i think it's crucial that stories need to portray mental health struggles more (not just in the extreme way but also in terms of everyday struggles - like with rafe in tlnd). it's not always easy to write, but it's good work :)

the decision to use dissociation is max's prevalent symptom is such an easy one. i can't even explain it properly. but when i sat down and thought about how his depression would manifest, the visuals were so intense and easy for me to imagine. I'm glad i was able to do it proper justice.

one of the things i decided while i was writing this story was NOT to write the scene between max and mallory (i.e, how she died and what exactly happened). it was for many reasons including 1) only max knows what exactly happened and his memories of the incident are so fuzzy it won't make sense for me to write an accurate version of it 2) it's one of his darkest memories and something he is not proud of, so i didn't want to go back to it. i preferred to give context and info where and when necessary. it was also symbolize that it was something he had left behind in the past, and something he had healed from and did not want to revisit 3) i did not want the risk of humanizing mallory by writing her death - especially because she dies in his arms (ew). 4) just didn't wanna write it period lol

but we will see what happened with mallory and David. it's an important scene and that's why we learn about it at the very end of the story too. in the real life, people learned about the incident first and it really messed up with their perception of David and made them take sides (mostly david's side). it was very important to me that the incident doesn't change how the readers feel about max or David. in david's show too, you learn about the incident at the very end. it's almost an anecdote, an incident that changed their life, but is not their whole life. what the readers need to remember is all the love they built, not what happened over one weekend. so i hope, at this point in time, when we read what happened to David and lance, it only gives us context. that it doesn't make us hate max or feel pity for david. it only fills the gap we've been carrying around.

ps - we will definitely get a chapter update later this week (perhaps thursday?). i definitely have my energy back to think and write (as you can see ha!)

pps - there is no more to Mexico. it did what it was supposed to do :)

[valoisfulcanellideux]

you know, i started writing this SO sure i would have a billion questions and suddenly all thought has deserted me. hm... i've been very curious about where the world of the fic aligns with ours and where it diverges (you've referenced real places and alluded to the use of the gregorian calendar, for example, but skeleton archers and soul sand also exist) -- are there lines or principles you're using to decide how 'minecraft-y' the world is? are there unexpected ways pix's world's history is different from ours because of the existence of those minecraft-y elements?

those might be kind of vague questions and i'm also remembering now that your list of topics was about specific people / places. alternative question: hey, what's etho's deal? can you talk more about him / the redstone masters in general?

Oh my word, you asked the doozie xD

My thought process for the world itself is 'alternate timeline where a form of natural magic exists but not everyone is aware of it'. Much of what has happened in our world has also happened in the story world, but there's a lot more going on beneath the surface, as it were.

What do I mean by 'natural magic'? Explanations coming right up! I'd best put this behind a cut, because it got really long.

1) There is a mystical (almost spiritual, but not in a classically religious sense) power to the Earth itself, and certain races are aware of it, but they keep it a closely-held secret, feeling that they are 'guardians' of it. These races include all of the Empires, but some Empires - especially those in more remote/difficult locations where a deep knowledge of their surroundings is essential for survival - are much closer to this mystical power than others (Paixandrians being one of them), and some people within those races are usually chosen as leaders because of their innate affinity with this power (this being the Emperors, of course).

2) With the above in mind, this is where the more Minecraft-y things can be understood: things such as enchantments, soul sand, and skeletal archers, etc. I'll split out the Nether and the End into separate sections, otherwise this bit would get long!

2a) The Nether is literally the deepest, darkest places of the world. It's not exactly accessed through an actual portal as it is in Minecraft, but it can be discovered in deep caves. The way to get to it is through liminal areas of the underground; areas where the veil between worlds is thinner than most. Again, only those with a sense for these places will be able to spot them and use them to go much, much deeper than others can. 'Ordinary folk' will just see another wall of the cave or tunnel they're in, and - even if they dig through that section - they won't suddenly find themselves in the Nether; instead, they will just have opened up the liminal access point so those who can see it could just walk right through and into the Nether.

2b) The End is something I can only give a more vague explanation for, since it will have a very important impact on the future of the story, and I'm avoiding giving spoilers. There are no Endermen or End Cities/Ships, there is a great winged beast guarding the exit, it is accessed through a liminal space (albeit a special one that must be triggered in a certain way) but it's never been accessed before what happens in my story, and… let's just say that there is a very specific reason why - during the dragon fight in S1 - Pix said "I'm tired of dying in the void". The only thing I can give you as a clue is that you should think of the End as being the place between life and death.

3) The Xornoth arc did not happen in this story's world. There is another reason why the 'great winged beast' was killed. Here I definitely do diverge from Pix's canon reason for going into the fight.

4) The world of Empires S1 is set 2,000 years before the time of my story, so their knowledge and industry is from that time. Empires S2 is set 1,000 years before the story, which is why everything on the Greatbridge is in such a ruined state. S2 is going to be more tricky to explain, purely because some of the CCs have opted for more modern characters and some have opted for much older ones, so I'm doing my best to blend that together, and I'm leaning heavily on the magical side of things to explain it.

5) We won't be meeting any of the other emperors in the story, but there will be a few references. We've already had mention of Sausage, when Pix explored the Sword of Sanctuary on the Greatbridge, as well as Pearl as the Helianthian Queen, and there will be a much shorter mention of at least one or two more emperors later

6) And then there's Time. With a capital 'T'. In this story it is, indeed, wibbly-wobbly and timey-wimey. I really can't go into that in too much detail, again because of spoilers.

As to Etho and the Redstone Masters, it was Etho who discovered the properties of redstone. He's a lot older than he first appears, but the only sign of that is his white hair. I'm still working out all of the lore around redstone in this world, but I suspect there's something about it that increases longevity, and since Etho has been working with it the longest, he is the eldest. The three Guildmasters that we've met thus far (there are more, but I didn't want to over-egg the pudding in that chapter!) all came together in various ways, and they are all older than they first seem:

Tango just turned up on Etho's doorstep after one too many eyebrow-removing explosions and begged to apprentice under him, so he's the first Guildmaster

Impulse had been quietly working on his own redstone circuits for a while, and came to Etho's attention when he presented the then-king (Paix's father) with the blueprint for a storage system for the city's grain imports, so he's the second Guildmaster

Mumbo was a teenage prodigy whose parents brought him to the guild for training, because they were fed up of finding weird circuits all over the place, and were fearful that he'd blow up their family home, so he's the third Guildmaster

[joshuaalbert]

top 5 star trek episodes that were so close to being something incredibly compelling and then weren’t

ough ok I’ve already talked about these first 2 at length but like 3 people total followed me back then so it’s new to someone at least. also this is long as hell. preemptive readmore.

1. tng 4x5 remember me is in a dubious position in that I do still like the episode as it exists and it’s certainly not Not compelling, but tng lacked a beverly and wesley episode, and i firmly believe this one should have been it. for being like the #1 key dynamic for these characters for the last 15 years before the show, we never got to see anything super interesting, and this episode seems like it’s set up to be that, and then it gets picard syndrome. this doesn’t even fully count because I still like the episode but I’m counting it

2. tng 3x23 sarek. the sarek/picard plot is fine, no real complaints there iirc, but the rest of the crew getting angry at each other should’ve had way more interesting character moments than it did. the arguments all being based off of surface level annoyance, rather than starting there and then digging into legitimate conflicts, really feels like a missed opportunity. it didn’t have to get into Darkest Secrets territory necessarily, I’m not looking for characters to hate each other given the constraints of episodic storytelling, but I think it would’ve been fun for characters to air some legitimate grievances with each other even if they’re the kind that could be neatly resolved with an apology at the end. idk I love writing about anger so this one stands out as a missed opportunity to me.

3. ok time for a little controversy i dont think the tng finale is Bad by any means but i don’t worship the ground it walks on yknow. i think the central storyline is generally good, and i was pleasantly surprised by the way it brought the series back to the beginning, both with the q plotline and the examination of how the crew dynamic has shifted, but it does....kinda fuck over a not insignificant number of the characters. troi/worf/riker drama consumes way too much of their storylines for something that showed up in the last half of the last season, and troi being dead so they can fight about it for 20 years is so. really? this is what we’re doing? idk troi at least has some good moments in the earliest timeline piece so at least there’s that, but given that they’d finally started giving her some solid episodes about her career aspirations, I was just kind of disappointed that that was the choice.

4. ds9 7x9 covenant. ive talked about this one at length too bc i just say every thought that comes into my mind all the time forever but this is me coming back at the end of the season so i guess it’s technically different. on one hand i understand that they wanted sisko’s ending to tie into dukat and sisko’s ending needed to tie into the prophets so like, i guess. but on the other hand i think this as a more bajor-focused storyline could have been really interesting? like how does sisko deal with this religious schism given that he’s the emissary of the prophets, but also acknowledging that some subset of the bajoran people are coming to terms with the fact that they feel betrayed by what the prophets allowed them to suffer, and maybe they’re right to feel that way (and like, maybe dukat allies with them at some point so they can put him in there, but the focus is still on the people). it was never going to be that and this is solely wishful thinking based on what i personally find interesting, rather than with some of the earlier ones where im like “yeah this feels pretty objectively stronger,” but i think realistically i’ll always want more depth on bajor and the bajoran people themselves lmao.

5. ok this is kind of a cop out answer in some ways bc i’m sure there are others i actually feel more strongly about and im just forgetting, but ds9 5x8 things past is just like. i wish this episode was just better written on a sheer technical level. it deals with things that are compelling in theory, like odo’s past working under the cardassians and the things he did to maintain what he believed was order at the time, and it also touches on garak’s ideology, but it handles all of these things with the light touch of a fucking sledgehammer. everything in this episode is said far too plainly and is repeated like four times to the point where it both doesn’t reflect the characters and kind of just gets annoying, and while it doesn’t have the significant structural issues the other episodes i talked about have, i just think this one was lacking on a basic writing level despite having an interesting concept, and i found that frustrating

additional notes:

- I was tempted to put journey’s end but the thing is like. the core arc is compelling to me but I have no idea what I’d do with the episode itself. the problems with the arc also mostly come from not having a s6 episode I think and that’s out of scope here.

- naked now was too easy everyone knows that’s a missed opportunity so I removed it from my lineup. same w/naked time being kinda too early imo.

- i had a harder time nailing down ds9 ones because i didn’t have as many individual episodes that came to mind as “close but a little off.” maybe with more distance i’ll have some, but so close to s7 im mostly just thinking of the broader arcs that got kneecapped by pacing issues. i did have a cheating answer that was “what’s compelling about inter arma enim silent leges is its placement as episode 16 of season 7 and the missed opportunity is that they didn’t use that timeslot to start the damar plotline earlier, thereby giving it more room to play out with slightly more believable pacing, and also that they didnt put a jake sisko plotline here” but instead i did my best lmao

[arediscoveryofself]

Been a long while since i’ve last updated this space and I wonder if people still read my post.  It’s been a long while coming back to church. I kind of still rmb the date that I’ve started going back church.. prolly around 20+ October.  And I still rmb how lost I felt because of wtv that have transpired during Oct to Nov 2022 cause it was really a terrifying period for WNB. I really had alot of bad night sleeps. Sometimes there were only 2 hours of sleep cause I was waiting for my developer to get back which he sometimes get back at 4 am or never did and I had to rush him for it.  We were basically stuck on a project and looking back, it was a mistake for us to:  #1: Accepted a job that had a very rushed timeline by client. It was initially not so rushed, but client wanted to rush it, so we only had 1 month to do up the 1st draft. And being as unexperienced gundos, we complied without knowing the technical complexities behind it.  #2. We engaged a very bad developer whom we did not work with before cause of kind - of introduction by another client. Instead of engaging our usual developer, we chose another one thinking pricer = better. But we were wrong in the end. He was not responsive and he really totally suck.  We ended up needed to engage a total of 3 developers to solve this mess. But because of this mess that was created right from the beginning, we ended up have to let go of this project because we didnt iron out the wireframe and user flow right from the beginning.  #3. So it was our mistake right from the start for not drawing out the user flow, because it means we couldn't foresee how many pages or designs we need to do to create a functional website, which ended up with a myriad of problems like rushed timeline etc.  I still rmb feeling so distraught by the project that I simply sat outside 7/11 at bugis+ and watching the cars past by. I was already smoking at that point in time, so I rmb smoking sticks after sticks while watching the cars past by.  I still rmb it was the rainy season for Singapore. So it kind of rained and drizzled. While waiting for the rain to end, I smoked indoors before going out to smoke again haha.  I still rmb it was Deepavali eve, and I was dreading for Tuesday to come. I knew I had to face client’s remarks when Tuesday comes.  Those were prolly one of my firm’s darkest days, and 2022 was a very tough year for us. Not only did client not pay on time, we had to face harsh criticism from clients and there were existing clients who dropped out too.  Now that this big storm has passed and we’re into much smoother waves, I’m simply thankful for how 2023 has transpired so far. Of course, its far too early to know how 2023 will end, but i’m immensely thankful for all the deals closed and all the clients earned.  But more importantly, thanking God for leading me back to church, to the House of God, back to this safe nest where I feel assured and calm.  I still get reminded of those dark days time to time, such as today. My heart still skipped a beat when that nasty client texted us for some follow up questions cause her tone simply sucks. Of course, as vendors we have our faults but I would like to think that the very fact that we have compensated by offering a refund, our culpability has ended. But anyways that is besides the point.  My mind still wanders back to those dark days when I walked past 7/11, but i’m just so glad, its all over now.  As i was journalling today, tears rolled down my cheeks. Maybe those days were really tough but I held it all in, without knowing I was on the brink of breaking. It was honestly a traumatising experience.  But maybe, those tears were also signs of gratitude towards God, for pulling me back to Church, where the Home is. I’m such a blessed child of God, where He really chased after my heart. I’m truly blessed.  And lastly, thankful for these 2 friends. One who randomly texted me on Sat afternoon thanking me, and another one for always jioing me to meals and winning me back to church subconsciously. 

Tonight is such a warmly night. 

I really hope, my presence makes cell alot less boring for them. And one day, may all prodigal children find Home.  Oh, how He loves us. 

[noro-noro-noro]

anyway the dream i had was like...really long, but since my first thoughts was  “oh shit is there a bee in my room” it’s a bit scattered.

1. adventuring in some kind of ruined & post apocalyptic & monochromatic ashy gross world. it was a slightly similar layout to octopath, where the easier cities are closer to the center of the map & the more difficult ones are further away. there was a city called like Enmasante or something similar, there might have been an M in there, and my party had a time-sensitive quest to reach it even though it was the second level city & we weren’t quite levelled for it. we’d tried to reach it before, but night fell & it became too dangerous & we wiped. this time, i made us use the camp item (limited) to skip the night & make it safely enough. the city was on top of a huge tree that had fallen over a ravine, but the roots were a huge tangle & weren’t traversable, so we had to cross the ravine first to climb up onto the trunk.

2. the city was less black & white than everywhere else & seemed to be in perpetual sunset. we were rendevouzing with other parties here, & from the chatter & gossip i realized there were 5 (?) different sacred pieces of something that we needed to get. there was the pillar, the axe, & 3 other things. you could only obtain those under special conditions, maybe in certain areas as well? idk. it was trial & error, & there was also a limited number of each, so as soon as you figured it out, the pool decreased. i think there were like 3 of each but only 5 teams. you could equip the special item as well - i remember we had the pillar (& maybe one or two more, we were 3/5) & i had it on a party member, & i think it gave them a low damage but guaranteed to hit attack. the combat layout was like darkest dungeon with limbus company characters btw. the pillar was actually obtainable by using base gregor but having 2/5 trauma points (i don’t know what those are, but this was his most dangerous state iirc) on him at a certain point. 

anyway we still had quests in the city - they were marked on the map with the genshin impact commissions marker, but we had to socialize in a big group with the other parties first. there was some kind of meet & greet for smokey bear...? a girl i knew was like omg i just got such a good pic of him he was doing a peace sign :D & i was like okay..hm. (looking at hte map at the nearby commissions that i wanted to do. there was something called regis’s soup bowl in one of the upper levels that ws nearby ish)

then it was dinnertime. i ordered some kind of sushi roll. also there was a person i think on my team that had fully given themselves over to the bit of pretending to be an animal mascot or something??? i don’t remember what they were pretending to be, but i was wondering if we’d see their hands or face when they ate. anyway, as what usually happens when i order food in a group in dreams, my food never arrived. everybody else got theirs & there were like administrators or staff or whatever walking around & i was like WHERE is my FOOD? & i was getting increasingly angry & hungry. first i was like yeah tis fine but i’d been there for AN HOUR and like all other 15-30 people were EATING. even the person in whatever kind of animal? outfit. the administrators and staff told me to be patient. i didn’t want to be patient i wanted to eat my dinner becaus ei was hungry and then i wanted to go deal with regis’s soup bowl. 

anyway as i walked over to the front desk they had my sushi ready. i was like yay

3. SMASH CUT TO A SNOWBOARDING MINIGAME THAT TAKES PLACE ON THE MOUNTAIN OUTSIDE THE CITY THAT THE TREE FELL OFF OF!!! YOU’RE IN A CURVED PIECE OF POLISHED WOOD HURTLING DOWNWARDS AT HIGH SPEEDS and gregor limbus compan was there. he was saying something to me, but i woke up because there was a bee flying around in my room. 

there was also a second dream. like i don’t know where it fell in the dream timeline though. 

?. i was in my mom’s house with my dad & sister. my dad was setting up an incredibly convoluted game of monopoly that required a whole mess of different sticky notes, but i just wanted to play scum  (the card game) wtih my sister. that’s a 3+ person game by the way. anyway i felt a bit bad that bc i know my dad was excited about monopoly but i just didn’t want to play it. i ended up bailing early & taking all the post it notes & sorting them by color. there were a lot of nice ones.... multiple shades of gray, lots of dark blues & purples...

[karla-the-elemental-dreamer]

Terra Week 2023 - Day 2 Package

@terrakhweek

Prompts Addressed: Loyalty

Pieces: 1. Drawing of Lingering Will 2. Last minute convo. with Ventus re. Loyalty

To be acknowledged/shared: THU 23 MAR or FRI 24 MAR

Requires mod/re-share on Twitter (written pieces)?: No - published via Twitlonger.

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

Drawing done of Lingering Will; ‘Guardian of the Keyblade Graveyard’:

Keyblades are from pre-made assets (2022).

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

To have a bit more content, here is a last minute conversation that I decided to pull Ventus aside for; re. ‘Loyalty’:

Me: “Hey Ventus. Can I have some of your time?”.

Ventus: “Yeah sure. What’s the deal?”.

Me: “I just wanted to ask you some a question or two about loyalty.

Ventus: “Uh… Okay? First I have to know what the question is. You could just ask Terra as he’s your dream guide”.

Me: “It’s for Terra-Week, and it sounds a little silly complimenting yourself. So I wanted to know, from a friend’s perspective; what makes Terra a loyal guy?”.

Ventus: “Oh, right! Well he’s not just a loyal guy, he’s one of the most loyal guys I know. He showed Aqua and I what you wrote for Day 7, and those three reasons you gave for Terra being a hero… Well… Being a hero and being loyal go hand in hand. He didn’t have to come and jump in when I was in trouble with Eraqus. Anything that Terra did, he said he was doing it for his friends. Tell me, why did you draw the Lingering Will to give them on the same day?”.

Me: “Because I think the Lingering Will is a sign of loyalty and guardianship. My slogan for that piece was going to be ‘Guardian of the Keyblade Graveyard’. Loyalty and perseverance do go hand in hand, and he wasn’t going to leave that place until either something was done with Xehanort, or you guys returned; which I bet none of you were expecting to get a full trio reunion”.

Ventus: “Bingo! I just played ‘dream guide’ with you”.

Me: “Hehe. Getting me to think a bit hey? Can you give me some more scenarios where you think Terra was literally exercising loyalty in your Birth By Sleep timeline?”.

Ventus: “Mmm… If I do that, I’ll be giving away all of your Day 7 work. Hey, while you were getting a drink, I just had a thought to extend this topic a bit more. Y’know Terra says some iconic quotes in that timeline, right? So why don’t you find a couple of quotes and list them at the end of our chat?”.

Me: “That is actually a good idea, Ventus. Thanks for all the help on this, and I guess the reason you’re here is because you are Terra’s friend, and in my opinion, you and Terra actually have a two-way thing going for loyalty with each other”.

Ventus: “You think?”.

Me: “Well you always said you would be there for Terra and that you had a promise to keep; sooo”.

Ventus: “Yeah, cool stuff. Well I might let you go and find those quotes now. Thanks for giving me a chance to talk about Terra; I hope they don’t mind that it was me doing it. Keep up the great work and Aqua and I can’t wait to see what happens for the rest of that week”.

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

QUOTES:

“You may be my master but I will not let you hurt my friend!” – Terra (KH-BBS)

“Even if you do wrest control of my heart from me; even if you do cast me into the deepest, darkest abyss, you’ll never sway me from the one cause that pushes me to keep on fighting. Whatever the cost, I’m ready to pay it”. – Terra (KH-BBS)

“One day I will set this right. I will return to this land and protect my friends”. – Terra (KH3)

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

PRODUCTION WOES:

Me: “Ah Ventus, can I just utilise you again for a quick bit?

Ventus: “Okay, what are we doing this time?”.

Me: “Just a quick apology leading into Day 3. You know what happened during production. I thought it’d sound a bit better coming from you”.

Ventus: “Oh yeah, to Terra’s audience, we’re sorry for how the Day 3 conversation starts off. It’s just our luck that Karla decided to start with the prompt of ‘Deception’, and because Terra’s sorta been on cloud-9 for a year, he had a bit of a hard time when he had to address his past again, and he kinda went into shock”.

Me: “Yeah, just a mini tantrum, but he handled Day 3 well overall, and he’s come to terms with Terra-Week ever since. He did the later pieces a lot better and he’s now embracing the event. Also, I had a subconscious blockage during that time, so we could’ve gone deeper into Day 3 if it wasn’t for that”.

Ventus: “Is that all?”.

Me: “Yeah that was it. Thanks Ventus… Aaaaand Terra”.

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

Thank you and see you on Day 3! 24/25 MAR (TZ dependent).

[spacemilkbag]

.

[skyfallslayer]

The Daughter of The (Dare)Devil

Main MasterList || Ao3 LINK

Summary: A Series of stories revolving around the MCU timeline of Matt Murdock and his Daughter, Kaila. Being the child of a vigilante can be hard and scary at times, but it doesn't mean she ain't going to enjoy the most of it. (Can be read as Y/N if you'd like)

Pairings: Matt x Murdock!OFC; Foggy x Murdock!OFC; Karen x Murdock!OFC; Karedevil; Foggy x Marci; OFC x OMC (Kaila Murdock x Jayden Walker)

Rating: Teen through Mature (will warn before each chapter)

Warnings: At the beginning of each chapter

Word Count: 91,842 (11/22 Stories as of now)

Start Date: 2/15/22

End Date: N/A

A/N: This story is kind of a rewrite of Daredevil just with Matt having a kid, so this WILL contain spoilers from the TV show and later on the new Spiderman movie. So read at your own risk! Enjoy!

Update: (1/7/24) Now since 'ECHO' had confirmed that the Netflix Series is Canon I'll be slowly writing about whatever new DD stuff the MCU throws at us.

Extras: Kaila Murdock Fanart

SEASON 1:

Story 1: Welcome Home The Blood and Bruises

The Introduction to it all. Matt Murdock is just glad he has someone to patch him up so he doesn’t have to bother Claire for the night. Although, he still feels guilty that he’ll never stop smelling the dried blood beneath her fingernails (Set pre-season 1).

Story 2: I'd Burn The World For You

The new addition to Nelson & Murdock is great, they surely enjoy the company and help. Although, Matt would have to admit, Miss Page was a curious thing. Maybe TOO curious when it comes to personal questions (Set shortly after S1E1, "Into The Ring").

Story 3: Crossing The Line

While Foggy and Kaila make it a mission to find out what's going on with Karen, Matt is dealing with a person from his past who dared disrespect his daughter in his own home (Set during S1E7. "Stick").

Story 4: I've Got The Devil Inside Me

He's already confessed his fears, but sometimes talking it over with a love one is so much better than any priest. Or, Matt has no choice but to spill his fears to Kaila who just desperately wants him to come home safe (Set during S1E8 & E9, "Shadows in the Glass" & "Speak of The Devil").

Story 5: The One Where The Uncle Finds Out

Kaila knew she should have made up an excuse and pushed him away, but she knew she couldn't patch him up alone. She just hopes Foggy isn't going to pass out before strangling her father or herself (Set during S1E9, E10 & E11, "Speak of The Devil", "Nelson V Murdock" & "The Path of The Righteous").

Story 6: No Good Dead...

Crashing under the weight of her Father and Foggy’s dilemma, Kaila heads to Karen’s house for a break but it takes a turn for the worse; and unfortunately it will test the young girl’s strength and sanity. (Set during 1x11, 1x12 & 1x13 "The Path of The Righteous", "The Ones We Leave Behind" & "Daredevil".)

Short Story: The New Suit

Kaila’s reaction to her Father’s new suit, all while she tries to navigate around his abnormal abilities (Set During 1x13, “Daredevil”).

SEASON 2:

Story 7: The Point of No Return/Murdock V Murdock

Part 1: While Kaila tries to balance between a new friendship and nightmares about Fisk, Matt is dealing with a new player in the ring. And unfortunately he says things he ends up regretting (Set during 2x01 and 2x02, “Bang” and “Dogs to a Gunfight”).

Story 8: The Darkest Time With Our Thoughts/Murdocks V The World

Part 2: Matt always knew his night job would give him enemies, but never in his wildest dreams he would have thought his day job would too. Or, someone with an old grudge comes after Nelson and Murdock in the worst possible way (Set During 2x03, "New York's Finest").

Story 9: I'm Trembling, But I'll Protect You/Love V Death

Part 3: Matt, Karen and Foggy scramble to find out who their “official” first client was in an attempt to find their missing teenager; Meanwhile, Kaila finally sees what her father sees in her darkest time in Hell’s Kitchen, making her question everything she believed in (Set shortly after 2x03).

Story 10: A Glimmer Amongst The Sinners

Summary: Relieved that his daughter is finally home safe, Matt makes two life changing moves. First is to stop and help Frank Castle in any way he can; The second one? Finally asked Karen out on a date. A date that might have to get cut short when someone from his past shows up unexpectedly (Set Between 2x04 & 2x05; "Penny and Dime & "Kinbaku").

Story 11: The Toxic Game We Call The Past (Coming Soon)

Summary: Trying to rebuild the many crumbling things in her life, Kaila must keep things civil between her father’s old acquaintances. But during the trial of Castle v State, she discovers that Fisk is coming back into play. She must then decide if now is the right time to tell her father about what she did to survive (2x06 - 2x12).

Short Story: It's Better To Let It Wither (Coming Soon)

Summary: Everything’s falling apart. The city’s in disarray, Nelson & Murdock is ceasing to exist, and Kaila must help her father hold onto what he has left (2x13).

-Taglist is open if anyone wants to join-

@stinkywhore @invinciblerikkai @glass-ghost

@your-not-invisible-to-me @ohtacosindrome

@mirkwoodshewolf @dreamscandys

@omniromanticbitch @987coley

@hearts4murdock @katnisspeetaprim

@astrobees @cg94 @simpingforpeterparker3000

@cg94 @mattmurdocksstarlight @wolfgirl-205 @hallecarey1 @mademoiselle-marquise-blog

@graciegoeskrazy @magsmilk @bifuriouslatina

@emodruig @skarrkiie @moon22flower @dragonflyreader @thepurpleclown

[tired-teacher-blog]

This took me a lot longer than I thought. I'm really sorry. But here is the promised part 2 I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed working on it.

Title : It is the darkest before the dawn

Chapters : (1) (2)

Characters : Bakugo Katsuki/ fem reader (quirkless)/ class 1A members

Genre : fluff/ angst

Summary : Your happy married life with Bakugo suddenly turned into a nightmare when you were kidnapped.

Status : Completed

Note : The events of this story take place ten years after the manga's current timeline

Original request

Masterlist

Part 2 :

Katsuki jumped up so fast, he almost knocked over his desk:" Who the fuck do you think you are?! Where is y/n?! What did you do to her?? Don't you dare lay a finger on her or I swear I'll fucking blow you up to pieces!"

The person on the other end stayed quiet for a moment before laughing obnoxiously and saying:" Oh you heros never learn do you? Always full of yourselves and think that you own the world. Do you think you're in a position to be giving me orders?!"

Katsuki knew at that moment.. he had to answer calmly for your sake :" How can I know she's not hurt?"

_"I'll let you talk to her in a minute, but first you need to listen to me closely. Now that our location is exposed, you're gonna have to buy us some time so we can move, in the meantime the police will have to stand down as well as the heroes. You have to make sure no one comes for us. Your wife will be back to you safely once we're done relocating. But if anyone tries to stop us, then you'll be receiving her pretty little head in a plastic bag. Am I clear?"

Katsuki fell to his knees, unable to utter a word. His mind traveled to the worst places. All he wanted at that time was to see your face, to tell you that he loved you more than anything else.

Was the last time he saw you the last time ever?

The thought itself killed him.

_"Let me talk to her." He answered the villain in a small broken voice.

He heard a small shuffle before your shaky voice came to his ear:" Katsuki, honey I'm sorry I'm so sorry."

_" Baby are you alright? Did they hurt you? I promise I'll get you out of there so just hang on a little longer." He tried as much as he could to reassure you, even though he wasn't sure of anything himself.

_"I'm okay sweetheart don't worry about me, but please don't do anything they asked you to! You can't trust them! this is bigger than the both of us pleas..." You stopped mid sentence when your kidnapper snatched the phone away and slapped you with the back of his hand.

_"Take your fucking hands off her!!! Leave her alone!!! That wasn't the deal you fucking bastard!!!" Katsuki was desperate, he could only imagine what was happening on your side and it wasn't a pretty picture.

_"Your girl is tough I like her. But let's see how long it will take to break her, shall we?"

Katsuki's eyes widened and he started to shake tears falling uncontrollably down his face. He wanted to speak, to yell, but his throat was dry and clenching. He felt.. useless.

Seconds later, the line went dead.

Was that a dream? Did this really happen? He held up the phone in a shaky hand trying to make sense of what just happened. He couldn't.

His phone rang again, and his heart almost stopped. It was an unfamiliar number.

_" Hello.." he said after picking up.

_" Mr Bakugo! What's happening? We just received a mysterious message from y/n's phone saying that the organization's got her! What's going on??" It was the chief of police.

Katsuki broke down at that moment, this was real after all.

_" Mr Bakugo answer me! Are you alright?! What should we do??" The chief of police kept yelling.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

It took Katsuki a few more minutes to take in the situation, and when he finally did, he stood up on shaky legs, cleaned his messy face and started thinking about the next step.

He wasn't going to give you up, not even if it kills him. You are his everything.

He stormed out of his office, gathered everyone and informed them of the situation. He ordered his staff to send word to his pro hero friends before running out to his car and driving straight to the police station where you worked.

The place was chaotic, and the moment your boss spotted him, he came running, eyes filled with unanswered questions.

_" Mr Bakugo! This is insane! They figured out our entire plan! They knew that y/n is the team leader of this operation and that she's your wife! It was like hitting two birds with one stone!"

Katsuki was trying his hardest to remain calm, he didn't want to hear any of this, he just wanted to know if they have a location already. He felt shackled, he didn't know what to do. One wrong move and you're gone.

He stood there lost in his own thoughts until a pat on his shoulder brought him back to reality. It was Eijiro and Shouto. Their worried expressions spoke to him before their words did.

_"How are you holding up man?" Eijiro spoke softly although he didn't really need to hear the answer, it was all written on your husband's face.

_" We heard the news and we'll do our best for y/n we promise." Shouto added trying to calm his friend's nerves.

Moments later, Izuku and Denki came running in followed by Ochaco, Mina and Momo.

They all gathered around their friend trying to cheer him up. It wasn't working, but it felt nice to have them around.

They started working right away trying to come up with a plan that would both guarantee your safety and bring down the organization.

Katsuki was in hell, unable to focus on anything but the thought of you. He was afraid, what if something goes wrong? What if they find out he wasn't following their orders? Wouldn't it be better to do as they said for now?

He couldn't forget your last words to him, you knew that he treasured you more than anything else in life, and that he would burn down the world for you, that's why you asked him to forget about you and do the right thing.

He clenched his fists trying to focus with everyone else in the room but he couldn't. Nothing made sense to him anymore, so he excused himself and went outside for a breather.

His friends knew that he needed to be alone for a moment so they didn't attempt to follow him and kept focusing on the case.

Katsuki went up to the roof of the building and sat there looking at nothing in particular. His mind kept repeating the events of the day.

Were you alright? Did they hurt you? Were you scared? His mind kept going back to the part where that bastard hit you. He couldn't help his tears, he felt powerless. He promised to protect you with his life but there he was unable to do anything.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

You slowly opened your eyes, trying to adjust your vision to the darkness of the room.

It was cold and damp. You tried moving but you couldn't, your wrists were restrained.

All you could do was sit there and wonder what was happening.

Katsuki.. how was he doing? You hated to be the reason for his distress. You wished you could see him one more time and tell him how much you loved him.

You were forcing back your tears. You had to be strong.. for him.

The door opened all of a sudden, and you flinched in fear. An unfamiliar man walked in, dressed in black and covering his face with a mask, he said nothing and just placed a food tray in front of you before turning around to leave.

_ "Excuse me." You whispered from the corner: "Could you remove these chains please? I'm going to need my hands for this."

The man turned around and let out a thundering laughter that made you squeeze even further into the corner.

_ "I don't give a fuck how you eat, you can do it like a dog for all I care. That's what you truly are after all Mrs cop."

He suddenly came closer to you and grabbed you by the neck: "The only reason you're still alive is that we need you to secure a smooth relocation. So don't give me grief or I'll snap your pretty neck am I clear?!" He finally released his grip and left.

You started coughing uncontrollably and brought your hands to your now bruised neck. Your coughs soon turned into sobs, and you collapsed onto the dirty floor. You felt worthless.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

Days had passed and Katsuki was finally losing it.

The lack of food and sleep and working day and night with his friends to finalize their plan took a tool on him and it showed on his face. His dark circles and unshaved face were a screaming evidence of his deteriorating mental state.

He never stepped foot in your home ever since you were gone. He couldn't stand being there without you in his arms.

His friends were getting more and more worried each day that passed. They knew they had to speed things up if they hoped to save you both.

Another week had passed before they finally concluded a full proof plan that's ready for execution.

Katsuki sat down on the rooftop of his agency's building thinking about every possible scenario they could encounter the next day. He was lost in his thoughts when a voice came from behind him, it was Eijiro, Shouto, Denki and Izuku.

_ "What are you doing here by yourself man?" Eijiro's cheerful voice sounded from behind him before he plopped down by his side.

_ "Oh he's counting the stars apparently." Denki didn't miss the chance to make fun of his friend.

_ " Come on guys leave him alone, Kacchan l brought dinner, let's all eat together." Izuku joined his friends and placed the food containers in front of everybody.

_ "You have an amazing view Bakugo." Shouto was admiring the starry sky.

_ "Yeah, y/n tells me the same thing, she likes coming up here when the sky is clear." Katsuki finally smiled after so long, but it was a sad pained one.

_ "Is this why you keep coming here everyday after work?" Izuku asked even though he knew the answer.

_ "I come here to talk to her, crazy I know, but that's all I have."

_ "For now!" Everyone was thankful for Denki's cheerful personality.

_ "Oh by the way! You'll have a long ass explanation to do tomorrow after we save y/n." It was Eijiro's turn to address his friend.

_ "What do you mean?" Katsuki was genuinely confused.

_ "Oh I know! He means the GPS tracker you installed in her phone without telling her! Man she's gonna kill you for that." Shouto spoke, still guarding his poker face.

_ "Oh come on man he only did it because he was worried something like this would happen. That was smart!" Denki's not so convincing serious facade didn't fool anyone.

_ "But you know, all jokes aside that tracker saved us a lot of precious time." Izuku was the only voice of reason in their group.

They spent a few more hours there, during which they had dinner and force fed Katsuki a couple of bites.

They were nervous, things had to go perfectly because the alternative was your life.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

It was the day of the operation, everyone was getting ready to move. They had to be careful not to attract any attention, it was a secret mission after all.

The chief of police gathered everyone and went through the details one last time.

_ "First, the stealth team will make their move and keep us informed about the situation especially the enemy's security system. When the time is right, they will cue the technical team to join and disable their alarms." He stopped for a moment and turned to face Katsuki and his hero friends: "This is the hard part, if we're lucky, it will take them ten minutes to figure out what's going on so you'll have to move fast and find y/n. They made it clear that if we were to interfere she will lose her life." Katsuki's heart dropped after hearing this, he had to get to you before anyone else does.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

You didn't know what day it was, you stopped counting a while ago. You got so weak and the dark filthy room wasn't helping your case. The only thing that kept you going was the precious memories you had of your husband.

All of a sudden, you heard noises coming from outside, explosions, screams, loud thuds, gunshots. It was obviously a chaos.

You gathered what's left of your energy and tried to stand up when the door suddenly flung open.

It was one of the villains, he walked right up to you and grabbed your neck: "Your fucking husband and his friends are here! I will kill you and teach him a lesson! If we're going down then I'm taking you both with us!"

You were gasping for air, desperately trying to stay alive even for a moment to see your husband one last time. Tears started forming in your eyes. This is it.. it's over.

Things went dark and you lost consciousness.

Then suddenly you felt a touch, a familiar soft touch. Were you dead? Were you dreaming? Was it real? You couldn't tell for a moment until you heard the voice you yearned for the most, calling your name: "y/n! Baby please answer me! Open your eyes I beg you! I kept my promise and came for you so please open your eyes! Please, don't leave me y/n!"

It was really him, you weren't imagining.

You forced your eyes open to find the villain dead at your feet, and your husband crying.. your big baby.

His tears turned to happy screams when he saw you looking at him: "Baby! I was so scared! I thought I lost you! Please don't leave me!"

Your throat hurt too much to speak, so all you could do was nuzzle his chest and cry.

You felt yourself being picked up in his strong hold. He ran outside with you in his arms. There were still noises everywhere, it wasn't over.

Katsuki placed you gently on the stretcher and the doctors came running to your aid. You didn't want to let go of him, neither did he: "Baby I will be right back I promise, we still have some work to do in there, but now that you're secure I won't have to hold back. It will be over soon, the doctors will take good care of you." He kissed your cheek and left.

"""""""""""""""""""""""""

The next time you opened your eyes, you were on a hospital bed all bandaged up. You felt a lot better than before. How long has it been since then? You couldn't tell.

You heard a soft sound and turned your head to inspect the source.

It was him, your husband and the love of your life.

He was sitting on a chair by your side, eyes closed and breathing softly. You struggled to get up from your bed, and you had to. You wanted to be closer to him. A few useless attempts later, you managed to finally leave your bed and walk to his side albeit unsteadily. You dropped to your knees and put a hand on his thigh before whispering his name. He opened his eyes slowly to see you smiling at him, and wasted no time to embrace your form: "You're finally up! I was so worried about you."

You hugged him even closer burying your face in his chest and planting a soft kiss to the beating of his heart: "I missed you so much Katsuki, more than you know."

_ "Me too sweetheart I was going crazy. Never leave my side again, please." He desperately begged you and you nodded smiling.

He then picked you up and carried you to bed. You kept talking for hours, he told you that you had been unconscious for two days, and you asked him if anyone got hurt during the operation.

He told you that everyone was fine and you felt relieved.

He came closer to you and you knew what he wanted, so you grabbed his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss. It was delicate and sweet, exactly the way you remember. You moaned into his mouth and he slid his tongue into yours. You got lost in each other's touch until a loud voice disturbed you: " Oi oi oi this is a public space you know? Can't go around kissing each other like that." It was Eijiro and he wasn't by himself, everyone else came too.

The girls ran to your side hugging you and asking if you were feeling better.

You were happy to have them and took the opportunity to thank them for saving your life: "Guys, I wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for you. You risked your lives for me and that is something that I will never forget. I'm so lucky to have you in my life. I really love you all."

It was an emotional moment, they were all happy to have you back. Momo and Ochaco even cried listening to you. But you can always count on Denki to ruin the moment: "Oh by the way y/n! Did you know that Bakugo installed a GPS tracker on your phone without telling you? What's up with that?" Everyone burst into laughter, and Katsuki was about to kill him. You smiled to yourself watching them joking around. Yeah, you are lucky.

[sinclair-wax-fan]

I don’t think Victor actually saw patients at the Sinclair’s home during his time as a doctor.

I think all the medical equipment we saw only came later, when Trudy was very sick, with Victor investing in some last ditch off the book medical experiments to try and save her.

And when I say “save her”--there’s actually three versions of how that could be interpreted:

1) Victor kept attempting medical solutions long past when other doctors would have just said “all we can do is make her comfortable,” partially out of co-dependency and largely out of professional pride--and probably greatly to the detriment of his wife’s quality of life in those last few months. 

2) Trudy was not actually in immediate danger of dying due to the tumor, rather that it just altered her personality so drastically (delusions, outburst of violent rages, ongoing disorientation, even possible neurological affects that caused her to loose partial use of her hands or vision--thus requiring her be physically cared for) that he decided to “fix her”/”bring back” the woman he loved--in a manner involving deeply unethical and likely unnecessary medical treatments. 

(This is the interpretation I tend to gravitate to personally--because I think it most reflects how Victor and Trudy saw the world, as extrapolated by their handling of Bo: utilizing any method available--no matter how extreme or unethical or abusive--they thought would make a person behave “the right way.”)

3) The darkest timeline: Trudy never had a tumor. She simply had a severe mental/personality disorder Victor grew tired of dealing with and he decided to try and “fix her.” 

(I personally find this a little too extreme for my taste, but it would be in-line with HoW’s schlocky over the top melodrama.) 

Regardless of how it went down:

I personally headcanon that at the end--whether due to affects of Victor’s medical experiments or him simply being unable to stop growth of the tumor--Trudy was largely gone mentally, nearly reduced to catatonia, but still very much alive. Possibly--though possibly not, depending on how you want to spin it--with months or even years ahead of her. 

I think Victor killed himself partially out of shame and largely out of not wanting to deal with the reality of the situation.

He didn’t want to be left the single father of three high-needs teenagers, while forced to care for his now disabled wife, who he now viewed as nothing more than a testament of his professional and personal failures. 

So he killed himself, and left his kids to deal with the fallout.

And this is all a very long way of sharing this final headcanon:

I don’t think Trudy simply passed away on her own.

I think Vincent euthanized her.

Now--as I said above, I personally like to believe Trudy really did have a tumor and I think it’s clear that Vincent genuinely loved his mother. So, I don’t think this would have been his go too option right out of the gate--I think he would have tried to carrying on care for her on his own for several months. Eventually, however, I think it would quickly wear him down to the point he could no longer continue doing so.

And at that point--after all the behavior that had been modeled for him, with the emphasis that you never revealed “family matters” to outside people and the glaring fact that Bo was likely actively beginning to kill people at this point--I think he would have seen euthanizing her as the only option available to him, and likely the kindest thing to do, in his mind.

I think he also never told Bo what he did.

(For many complicated reasons.)

At the end of the day, I think Trudy’s death is the one death Vincent has caused that he harbors real guilt over.

[gentil-minou]

Theories about S4 Cliffhanger

Okay so we know the finale is going to hang on a big cliffhanger so I wanted to go through some of my theories (will probably add to this as well, feel free to add your own!)

1. Ladynoir conflict doesn't get resolved and instead we get Adrien relinquishing his miraculous because he has also discovered he's a sentibeing and can't be a hero.

I spoke more about this theory here but yeah this is the darkest timeline.

2. Marinette confesses and Adrien rejects her and we are left with the biggest sad face ever

self explanatory, my children being heartbroken would hurt meeeeee

3. Ladybug tells Chat about how she revealed her identity and he is really sad but to help him she explains why he can't reveal to her but says he can reveal to someone else, someone who can support him. Initially Adrien considered Nino but remember Rocketear and then is afraid Nino will hate him, so he thinks about the one person who he was able to talk to and be honest and made him feel like he mattered and could help and was really reliable and he really should have gone to her all along and so...he reveals himself to marinette and we fade to black

i'm a sucker for half reveals and i would love to see how future episodes might deal with marinette leanring about this in addition to all the other stuff adrien has been through, though it might be too similar to the ephemeral reveal so i don't know. the difference here is it's marinette and she might have different worries about revealing herself, perhaps something like i hurt him too much and im afraid i'll hurt him more but idk

4. Felix has a hold of the peacock miraculous and shows his true colors as being a more conniving and fearsome foe...or friend?

this seems likely anyways given gloob's spoilers but not sure how much of a cliffhanger this would be unless....

5. Sentiadrien confirmed at the very end by Gabe doing something like asking if Adrien knows who Chat Noir is and then he just says yes.

if sentiadrien is actually a thing i think we will find out either in the finale or at the start of s5, so i can see it being a huge cliffhanger, but i think in order for the heroes to win adrien needs to discover before his father can get to him which leads me to what i really want to happen...

6. Felix gets the peacock and puts it on, and is able to sense that Adrien is a sentibeing too. He shows and tells Adrien and together they team up to take down Mothman in the next season

alternatively he could just tell him but maybe he wants proof. this is what i want to happen but also i love felix as a villain so i am torn

7. Marinette gives up the guardianship and loses her memories

ngl this hurts me more than sentiadrien but i've heard folks discuss this. for me i'd rather explore this next season after the reveal because i feel like it could be an interesting dynamic to see in an established-relationship setting. i think i'd prefer this as a late s5 plot point or even put it in s6.

These are just some of mine, but please add your own! Would love to see what other's think

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

“Heloise the book addict” masterlist

Heloise’s map | Masterlists | LinkTree 

This little masterlist contains all the posts where I rant about characters, discuss and recommend books I have read, write reviews when my lazy butt feels like it and talk about some movies and series both which are based on books and ones that aren’t. 

All these posts and more discussions can be found under #heloise the book addict and #heloise reads You can also find me on Goodreads. 

I promise, I’ll find time to organise this mess of a masterlist, but reading is more important!

Audiobooks vs Physical Reading 

Tis the Season for Revenge by Morgan Elizabeth Review 

Icebreaker (UCMH #1) by Hannah Grace Review 

The Spanish Love Deception & The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas Review 

Snowed In with the Player (Holiday with the Players #1) by Rebecca Jenshak Review 

Personal favourite romance books 

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang is this year's biggest disappointment for me! (No Spoiler!) 

Book Boyfriends 

Last book that I— (tag game) 

Crescent city, Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses: Spoilers! 

Rhysand and Gwyn bonding (Acotar) 

Jude Duarte and Cardan Greenbriar (Art) by Elizabeth 

Angsty romance book recommendations 

The Heart Principle (Art) by Liz 

Canon Cardan (Cruel Prince): Butthole or no Butthole 

BookTok: TikTok’s algorithm is glitchy 

Birthday present: Kindle Paperwhite Signature! 

Bookish Controversy: Alex Aster and Lightlark 

BookLog finalised 

Spicy sapphic books recs 

Book recs with summer vibes/beaches 

Quick question; Book rant 

YA romance vs. High School romance 

Romance books with mental health representation 

Book recs with marijuana usage 

Monthly Reading Log: March and April 2022 

Bridgerton book 2 vs season 2 

Book recommendations with third person POV 

Degradation and Humiliation book recs (18+ and 25+) 

Book rant; Actions, gestures, expressions over self-monologues! 

Booklog; An excel file of organised chaos! 

Nothing to be guilty about when reading/buying books

My bookshelf

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller 

The Dare by Harley Laroux [Strictly 18+]

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas [Rant] 

ACOTAR hate in the fandom 

Fable and Namesake by Adrienne Young 

I should not be allowed in a bookstore! 

Checkmate by Lindsey Powell 

The epitome of morally grey characters; Desmond Flynn 

Spice-level: Darkest London Series by Kristen Callihan  

Elucien [Elain + Lucien] from A Court of Thorns and Roses 

Fantasy romance genre rant - Healthy family trope and female leads with morally grey love interests and actions 

Underage book recommendations 

Random book recommendations  

The Bargainer series by Laura Thalassa 

A Dance with the Fae Prince by Elise Kova

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black 

Cardan’s letters to Jude 

Finishing a book leaves me hollow 

The Wicked King by Holly Black 

Book recommendations with morally grey characters 

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black 

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood [Review] 

My bookshelf decoration 

A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova 

TBR inspired tag game 

Sassy Lucien Venserra 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo 

Throne of Glass vs A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass 

Gwynriel [A Court of Thorns and Roses] 

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass [Review] [x] 

Book recommendations: Mousai series by E.J. Mellow 

Bridgerton; the show 

Book recommendations: The Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan 

The Dark Elements series by Jennifer L. Armentrout vs University lecture 

Book binding 

Ben Barnes’ film/series recommendations 

Narnia; ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ and ‘Prince Capian’ by C.S. Lewis 

Ron and Hermione moments in the books [Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling] 

Bridgerton: Daphne and Simon 

Bridgerton; don’t give into temptation 

Bridgerton: At first glance 

Bridgerton books timeline  

Midnight sun [Twilight Saga] by Stephenie Meyer 

Favourite characters: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling and Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward 

My books 

Fanfiction recommendations can be found on my sideblog at @heloisedaphnebrightmore-sideblog​ 

[an-eldritch-peredhel]

El-names and Doriath's line

So in this post about the backstory behind Elrond and Elros' names, it mentioned how other members of the Spooky Forest Family had "El-" names too, except for Lúthien, who probably had one that we just don't know. And that got me thinking about the surprising lack of second names that they have (especially compared to "minimum of 4 names" Noldor) despite presumably having a similar tradition to mother-and-father names- and about what those missing names would be. So here it is: my personal guide to the Doriath Royal Line's Father-names, Mother-names, After-names (as relevant) and what they mean. (- Elrond and Elros because frankly that'll be a whole post on it's own.)

Elamarth | Lúthien | Tinúviel - Star-Fate | Daughter of Flowers | Nightingale

Elamarth is referencing her original apparent fate as Thingol's heir and daughter of the very starry Melian, but on a meta level it refers to her fate as a star-crossed lover, that her fate is to go "among the stars" (wherever humans go when they die), and that her story will be "written in the stars" i.e. remembered forever. I could probably think up more star puns if I put in the effort but I'll spare you.

Elagar | Daeron - Star-Blood | Polished Shadow

He's Lúthien's younger brother and you can fight me on this. Elagar references my headcanon that Daeron should have been more Maiarin ("star-blooded") but his spirit dropped the ball and he had to force his body into an elf-shape or risk imploding. On a brighter note, it also references his parentage, same as Lúthien.

I went with the sketchier translation of "polished shadow" (possibly shadow-doer?) because 1) that's a sick name, 2) the other option is "great" with a masculine ending and that's boring, 3) it's probably closer to the original translation of Dairon which is what he's called in the Tale of Tinúviel where he's canonically Lúthien's brother, and 4) it fits his status as son of Melian (the og shadow lady) more

Aludae | Dior | Eluchil - Wholesome Shadow | Successor | Elu's Heir

So I really wanted "dae" as part of his name as a reference to Daeron, uncle extraordinaire, but there weren't lots of not evil sounding names that had shadow in them. Finally I stumbled on Alu (praise be to RealElvish.net!) and it was both literally wholesome and not dissimilar to Elu, which I thought was good for Beren wanting to subtly reference his father-in-law because he's nice like that, while also not wanting to name his son after him (also the reason I didn't want Eluchíl to be one of his og names). I did want to work cir/ciw (new/renewed) in there too as reference to the resurrection deal but alas it was not to be. For bonus wholesome points, Daeron calls Dior Dae-pîn (little shadow) and Dior calls him Dae-daer (great/large shadow).

I'm also pretending that Dior was adopted into Taliska so that B & L could name their son in each other's languages since we don't know enough about Taliska (or Dior's name. RIP.) to dispute it.

Eluréd | Tinnuiglass - Heir of Elu | Twilit Joy

Tinnuiglass! I'm ~pretty sure the timeline works out so that it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that Nimloth is pregnant around the same time Beren and Lúthien die for realz (assuming the version where Dior leaves before they do). Tinnuiglass is therefore both a reference to Lúthien (Tinúviel) and to the bitter sweetness of joy while you're still mourning. And also how he's born in the twilight of Doriath's joy before the Kinslaying- not that they know that :)

Elurín | Berestel - Remembrance of Elu | Bold Hope

Berestel is the counterpart to Tinnuiglass. Beren means bold in Sindarin, so it's a reference to him and to the hope that they held onto even when things seemed darkest. And to the boldness of the hope they dared to have when they thought they were safe from the Kinslayer's Oath- again, not that they know that :)

Elwing | Filigel - Star-Spray | Little Bird

I specifically interpret "star-spray" to mean the milky way. It's cooler that way. The sheer vibes of naming your part-angel kid "galaxy". 5 stars.

For Filigel I specifically have to thank @niphredilien for the inspired headcanon that Daeron used to call Lúthien Filegol (and that he names his daughter after her- check out Ivárë she's very cool). Filigel is mostly just a more feminine spelling, although I did consider naming her Filigelui (starry-bird. because bitter bitter foreshadowing) and may change it yet. It's another reference to Lúthien, but also subtly to Daeron and the stories he told Dior that allowed him and Nimloth to meet and get together in the first place. And of course, more Kinslaying foreshadowing, because they'll never get to know her as anything but a little bird, and obviously at the 3rd Kinslaying she literally becomes one.

Bonuses!

Melian translates to Dear/Beloved Gift. The older form is Melyanna, and the fan-made Valarin form is Miliyanâz.

Elwë translates to Star with a typically masculine suffix meaning "person", so Star-person (fun fact! Elenwë can be translated the same). Elu is the Sindarinized form, but as a separate word it means "light blue". Thingol is the Sindarinized form of Þindikollo and means "Grey-cloak" in reference to his hair.