#because the season’s over! it’s free real estate now!

[cerealforkart]

Ok now that the final teen talk has dropped I am free.

I have all the facts.

I will be making the Normal and Sparrow catharsis myself.

The age of recaps is ending I can make fan comics now ohohoho

[st-armand]

Author’s Notes: Ha, yall thought that the Plug!Hobie fic was gunna be posted first, gotta keep yall on your toes. I finished this first so here it is <3 Also any content by me about Hobie his age is 21-24. Im also looking for people to beta read.

CWs: Mention of piercing gone wrong, suggestive, stealing, not beta read

 Random Hobie Brown Headcanons

He has/had more piercings, notably a pair of sub-clavicle piercings, a belly piercing and nipples piercings (I know other people headcanon him as having a prince albert, but god I know that shit hurts so we’ll be skipping for now). He took those out because they kept getting caught in the frayed fabrics of his clothing, and especially worse his spider suit.

His final straw was amidst fighting a foe, he sustained several injuries, but he was horrified looking at the ripped skin of his clavicle, frantically looking for the bar and the flesh still attached, he did, but it was deep in the crevices of his suit and didn’t find it until after repairing it.

That was enough to get rid of all his torso piercings.

Hobie is extremely anal retentive when it comes to the upkeep of his piercings though, every night, maybe except those he’s really incapacitated from battle. He spends so much time in the morning carefully soaking q-tips in saline to clean the puncture holes, if he can take the jewelry out to let it soak in peroxide for a few hours.

You both fight over the real estate of the sink and its mirror, until you ask (threaten) him to get you a vanity so you both can have space to get ready, he does and its gorgeous; a vintage one he found abandoned on a side street.

But this doesn’t stop him taking up vanity space.

“Feel pretty sitting here luv”

Hobie is of Jamaican heritage, I headcanon that his grandmother is his only living relative, and he dedicates so much time taking care of her in her old age, despite their arguments about Hobie being able to be free, and not held down by family. She knows she won’t have many years left, and she may want to embrace him in her love for these final years, but she also doesn’t want him to feel a great heartbreak at the loss.

That being said he visits her every few days, stopping by for some beef patties, jerk chicken, curries of all kind, taking home the bulk containers of sorrell and ginger beer, Grandma Brown doesn’t question how her lanky streetlight grandson has gotten so strong and fit over the last few years, or how he’s able to take the large crates back to his flat.

She has her suspicions and theories, but she would rather not pry if it could end in harm for the both of them.

When he’s off being spiderman, or doing shows and odd jobs, you take up the mantle, visiting Grandma Brown and aiding her around the home, Grandma Brown gets to sit back comfortably as you take over cleaning and seasoning the chicken, she trusts you to remember all the ingredients she uses to make Hobie feel like he’s still a child with how nostalgic the food makes him.

She genuinely loves having you around, but she also loves to tease her grandson, “Don’t know what you see in that boy, he should kiss the ground you walk on darling,”

 

And that’s not to say he doesn’t. The undercurrent of his unruffled attitude, is an adoration for you, he loves you in a way he can’t even put into words for his songs. He thanks whatever cosmic source there is for dropping you in his lap, like a starved dog given shelter, and cared for the rest of its life.

Sometimes you catch him staring at you deeply, teasing the inside of his lip piercing with his tongue causing it to wiggle around, youre locked into his penetrating gaze, you feel critically wounded by his affection, it always comes in sudden frothing sea waves, cooling your body, leaving you to yearn for the warmth of the sun that is his love.

 

Hobie isn’t the type of punk to wear sexually suggestive clothing, but he does use riskier photos of you or the both of you, faces obscured or cropped, and edited heavily with grain to make it look vintage, he takes them to a vendor he works with closely for band merch and has them screen print the design on shirts for the both of you, loves wearing them during concerts especially to ward off erratic fans.

 

You let Hobie pester you about getting a piercing, which you know you can’t handle the pain for, but you humor him.

“Luv ya need some metal on that leng face of yours” He’ll say every few weeks, despite knowing the answer, insanity is doing the same thing knowing the results won’t change, Hobie’s fine with being insane if it means maybe one day your resolve will crack and he can see you two with matching jewelry.

He often ponders about what gems and metals would look best, the color, the shape, the size, and how all these can complement that enticing face of yours.

 

Steals you clothes (duh not original, but considering my taste of clothes…), and I don’t mean a few pieces here and there, he actively searches for things that will compliment your wardrobe, and in the span of a few months together your closet has doubled in size.

One day you say you’re interested in latex, he’s going to barter with some craftsperson to get you a few items to experiment with, maybe a few gloves.

You say you want to be corporate goth (I don’t see people ever adding corp goth to their alternative reader fics) ? He’s nicking the most gorgeous pants and skirt suits he can find, getting accessories and sitting beside you as you customize the outfits together.

Like high fashion, Thierry Mugler or VW? He has no problems with linking up with Black Cat to get into stock warehouses and design studios to steal some, Black Cat teases him by saying ‘You owe me for this bug.’ But she gets compensation by nicking a bunch of clothes for herself.After the fact they bound off in separate directions carrying webbed satchels of merchandise.

You know he stole them, in fact youre proud he was able to do it with ease.

(He doesn’t tell you Black Cat helped him, you wrongly assume they are attracted to each other, but Black Cat is actually a lesbian, he’s seen her in costume as a spectator of a dyke march parade under the guise of ‘watching out for the community’, he doesn’t tell her he’s seen her sneaking off into a civilian woman’s apartment, he’s happy to keep the city safe enough for everyone to nurture love.)

You wear these outfits with pride, sauntering down the street as an orchestra of gawks, and stares fills the area, blown away by the complexities of the outfit, and attention to detail to every complimentary aspects of the look, the essence of slay cunt one could say.

When Hobie’s there walking alongside you, he lets a hand glide to your lower back, urging you to walk faster, whispering into your ear,

“Walk faster luv, don’t you wanna give them a show?”

And scene. Hope yall enjoyed these, I aint great at british slang so be patient and give tips!

Comments, questions, criticisms? Let me know!

Request are OPEN

[pentrologram]

What Normal People Do

John 'Soap' Mactavish and Simon 'Ghost' Riley have routines. They have also each other, the truck, the dog, and their flat. That is until the dog practically manhandles you into their life. Changes ensue. please be warned this is very self indulgent and probably not in character at all. i have never played MM2, i haven't watched a single playthrough (unless countless tiktok edits count) and I only know what I do about their characters from a lot of tumblr posts and fics on ao3. speaking of- ao3! ghost/soap/gn!reader (established ghoap)

I'll Run Away With You

Simon Riley is not known for being tender and soft-spoken- he wasn’t a lieutenant because he spoon-fed soldiers and tucked them in on cots in the middle of a war field. He earned his stay on Earth, earned his title, hell, earned the clothes on his back. God would have had his head if he hadn’t made sure the younger, more incompetent kind didn’t have to, too.

It was hard for him to find that balance between the harshness of his job and the still bad but significantly less thorny outside (or inside?) world. Sometimes, while on the field, old injuries from years past would randomly decide to rear their heads. Maybe it would be an old knife wound that felt like it was bruising all over again or his ears would ring like he was hearing gunshots in the middle of a Marks and Spencers.

He was a valuable soldier, he knew. There were bunches and gaggles of people who wanted his head mounted on a stick- too many to count, and properly address. He was only one man, though. It would make sense that after all those years, it would weigh on him.

When he was younger, newer to the military, he tried to be normal when he was off duty. What his mam would have wanted for him, had she not been a deadbeat and dead. Polo shirts that stretched around his wide frame tucked into jeans, taking care of the flat he rented somewhere in the countryside-city (it’s not really a suburb but he calls it that anyways because who cares?) and pretending to debate about vacuums and silverware. Because that’s what normal people do.

But as time went on, it got harder to separate work from his life, and he just… let it consume him. Now that same suburb-y flat is in a place more urban than sub, “prime real estate,” he overheard in a decent pub with a pint once in between missions. Rent’s gone up, that’s damn sure. He offhandedly considers buying the whole building sometimes- he’s got bloody enough money, more than enough from saving absentmindedly, as the money had nowhere notable to go- but he wouldn’t be present enough to be a landlord and that shite. The flat he tried to furnish when he was twenty-something is still furnished the same way, if not a little more touched up by Johnny and his never-ending energy, and sometimes, it feels like being in a dead person’s house. It’s lived in but in a state of perpetual disrepair, never feeling like an actual home (at least for him).

The fridge was rarely ever stocked with anything but condiments and beer during their military days- he and Johnny never really had the energy to cook, preferring to use their free time elsewhere- but the bed had a frame (better than what he can think of some of his friends, bleedin’ Johnny and bringing girls back to a mattress on the floor before he moved in with Simon) and a rug underneath it and even a potted plant on a side table that is 100% plastic. It catches the light nicely in the wee hours of the morning, though, so it’s worth dusting the thin, leathery material of the fake lily now and again.

The flat is more furnished now, now that they’re officially in retirement. Knick knacks found at thrift stores or random handouts from the festivals and fairs that they go to every season, just to feel a little human again. There are more plastic plants on the side table now and Simon even tentatively tried a spider plant six months ago. It’s still alive, flourishing even, and now Simon has a couple of gardening books. Sometimes, when neither of them can sleep, Simon reads them out loud while Johnny fiddles with some new craft. Johnny says out loud once that they should get a house, for Simon and his plants.

Johnny came home with him every time they got some leave time together. The two of them are one in the same, really, feral animals without an off switch. It makes it easy for a relationship to foster, their understanding of the other in such an intimate and vulnerable way. It lets them open up guarded and bruised hearts, letting the other shine a flashlight on them and deciding to love them anyway. It’s the same as the hopeless romantic shit that you see in movies but plays out a lot dirtier in real life- it’s all the love and passion and borderline insanity that comes with a real first love mixed with the obsession of two retired soldiers who had been in the game too long and longer still without anyone normal to add some perspective to their lives.

That’s how it’ll always be, Simon thinks to himself as he stares at Johnny, hulk of a man he is, curled around Simon like a docile little thing- he surely looks it, as he was dwarfed by the extra five inches and the fifty pounds Simon had on him. He’s asleep- man sleeps like the dead, anywhere and everywhere- mohawk unruly and sticking up every which way. Getting long, Simon thinks to himself as he runs a hand through it- slightly sweat slicked but soft from a shower that night. It’s the right on the cusp of summer, the AC working hard- in this old flat, it doesn’t work the best but gets the brunt of it done. Simon’s opened up a window, (hesitantly- but between him, Johnny, and the dog, it’s sweltering and he fears he might get heatstroke) the one closest to his reach, so that the mesh covering can ventilate the room. They’re three stories up, but neither he nor Johnny enjoy having windows open. Too many weaknesses. He takes advantage of the window, though, lighting up a cigarette with a Zippo Johnny got for him a year ago.

His life is full of opposites, he finds. Johnny tends to take up a room, but Simon moves silently, just like his callsign. Johnny sleeps like a log while Simon struggles with his insomnia (right now he hopes the cigarette will help quiet him enough for sleep).

It won’t, Simon thinks to himself as he watches the moon move through the window and sinks below where he can see and eventually, the sun makes its appearance known. He puts his cigarette out sometime between the sun bleeding to view and the first rays of dawn because time keeps on moving and then Johnny is shifting awake at 0800. Johnny blinks, eyes already bright, ready for the day. He’s always alert when he wakes up, force of habit, Simon supposes. He doesn’t sleep enough himself to be so put together when he wakes up.

Then their day goes as follows:

Johnny puts the telly and the kettle on while Simon makes them brekkie. After two cups of tea are made (one with enough creamer to strangle a cow and the other black and simple, the way God intended it, as Johnny’ll tell Simon) and toast and egg sandwiches like the ones from cafes that Johnny learned how to make on a whim are put together, they sit for a while, just enjoying their company. Johnny fiddles with something- today it’s the newspaper- and Simon reads a book, and every once and a while, there’ll be a fair advertised in the paper. The fairs have always been there, in the city, but the two of them never really had the time while in the military. Now, they have more time than they can think to do with it, and so Johnny dragging Simon to them is now a familiar routine.

“‘S strawberries thi’ year,” Johnny says out loud.

“Mm?” Simon hums, immediately knowing what Johnny is talking about.

“Shite, 't started tae days ago.” He puts the paper down and puts his hands on his knees, and Simon puts a bookmark in his book before getting up.

They work cohesively around each other while getting ready to go to the fair. Johnny searches through the walk-in closet for a shirt and Simon digs through their dresser for socks. Johnny fixes his mohawk while Simon hooks a surgical mask around his ears. Johnny laces his sneakers up and pulls Riley’s harness on and Simon pulls on a hoodie, and then the three of them are in Simon’s truck, chugging along to the Town Center, where there are tents and stalls and people with strawberry hats. They get strawberry cider, strawberry pound cake and strawberry-shaped pasta to take home and strawberry cider that the both of them conclude is just Sp

rite in a pink glass bottle. Simon has to talk Johnny down from buying a big, ugly strawberry hat for Riley and compensates with a ceramic strawberry planter. There are strawberry-printed picnic blankets spread underneath trees with strawberry lanterns connecting them, lighting up the public park as the sun dances in the sky. Simon watches idly while Riley bites at a chip Johnny offers her.

They have a moment of peace there, on the picnic blanket, before Riley loses her shit and starts pulling on her leash, her distress signal- usually for Simon, but obviously for someone else now, if the desperate way she’s struggling against her harness is anything to go by. Simon gets up begrudgingly, the metal plate in his knee protesting as he jogs to meet Riley’s speed as she practically sprints behind one of the stalls. There is you; half curled on yourself with your phone in your hands. Riley rips herself out of Simon’s hold and barrels into you, calculating her speed so she’s at a trot when she lays her weight across your lap. You blink, phone forgotten, and Simon watches, silent, as you flinch away. Riley’s nothing if not persistent though, and eventually her weight forces you to calm down. Huh. Simon thinks offhandedly. You still haven’t noticed him, big and hulking as he is, just focused on Riley’s comforting weight as you calm yourself, slow, stuttering breaths evening, phone forgotten. DPT, Simon thinks to himself. When you calm entirely, you spot Simon. Your eyes go wide and you immediately try to wiggle out from underneath Riley.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry, your dog sort of- um, trapped me here, I didn’t mean to-“

“No.” Simon says, and his gruff tone matched with his physique is enough to quiet you. “She wanted to help you. ‘S fine.” He says.

“Um,” you say. “Okay. Are you sure?” Simon just grunts in response.

"Are you okay?” He asks, his voice softening just a little.

“Oh, um. Yeah.”

Simon doesn’t believe you.

He stares down at you for a long while, and your expression gradually grows more anxious.

“I just, um- I have an, um. A thing.” You say quietly.

“Are you okay?” He asks again, giving you a chance to tell the truth, to redeem yourself. “Riley doesn’t start DPT on total strangers for no reason.” This time, Simon’s insistent, giving you no wiggle room. He stares two holes through the back of your head. You look uneasy.

“No, I’m OK. Just… got a little upset.” You say, giving him a little smile. Simon stares longer than necessary. Just as he’s about to answer, Johnny comes in running.

“Si, ‘ave found a strawberry sex stall-!“ Johnny starts before his eyes land on you. Pleasantries are exchanged before you squeak out an excuse and you make a point in scurrying out before Johnny can even start his main charming event. Johnny pouts but watches you go.

“Bonnie, that one,” he murmurs, if a little mournfully. Simon only grunts in agreement.

Later that evening, the interaction is forgotten about. Passed off as just a weird event, perhaps an endearing story to tell about Riley- (sweet girl, always so concerned for others- took off running for a stranger once, she did)- and nothing more.

That night goes as follows:

Johnny and the dog watch telly until Simon is done with dinner. They eat together, their little family, Riley eating her generic shepherd’s meal through her slow feeder, chowing loudly while Simon and Johnny talk about everything and nothing at all. Then they all sit together on the sofa to watch a random movie. It’s time for bed after, which means brushing their teeth, showering, washing hair and getting the last of Riley’s jitters out. Then the three of them settle in bed- it’s barely past 1100 before Johnny’s out like a light.

This is where the routine of retired life varies:

Sometimes Simon will sleep. Sometimes he will stay up for a night, then two, then twelve. Sometimes he’ll take the medicines he is supposed to and others he will wake with night terrors. Sometimes he’ll wake up and feel so broken he’ll wake Johnny up so that can cuddle and fall asleep together and sometimes the dog will wake Simon before an especially bad nightmare.

Yes, his life really is full of contradictions, Simon thinks. Because knows he is in love with Johnny but somehow cannot get his mind off the brief meeting he had with you. He takes after his father in more ways than one, it appears. The heart of a cheater hidden in the skin of a new mind. He and Johnny have had thirds before- but Simon’s never felt so enraptured by one before. Not so quickly, not so strongly, not so potently. He finds himself craving to know more about you, to learn everything about you- the same way he felt about Johnny when they first met. The revelation makes him stay up and smoke and watch the moon bleed to the sun, with Johnny curled to his side and Riley in their bed.

Then their day goes as follows:

Johnny puts the telly and the kettle on while Simon makes them brekkie. After two cups of tea are made and omelettes are put together, they sit for a while, just enjoying their company. Johnny fiddles with something- today it’s a new paper craft- and Simon reads a book. Sometime during that, they'll part ways. Maybe the dog needs a walk or Johnny takes a piss- it's a little like a game of wills, looking for who will tap out of just sitting there first. Today, it's Johnny. He gets up to get his laptop before settling back on the couch with the TV buzzing lowly. Johnny job hunts. Simon reads. Johnny feeds the dog. Simon ponders their pension. At some point both of their minds wander to the same topic- you.

Then their night goes as follows:

Johnny and the dog watch telly until Simon is done cooking dinner. They eat together, their little family, Riley eating her generic kibble, chewing loudly while Simon and Johnny talk about everything and nothing at all. Then they all sit together on the sofa to watch a random movie. It’s time for bed after, which means brushing their teeth, showering, washing hair and walking Riley to tire him out. Then the three of them settle in bed- it’s not even past 1100 before Johnny’s asleep.

Then the routine of retired life varies:

This night, Simon lays on his back like a log before curling into Johnny's back. He sleeps that night.

[boasamishipper]

I was rereading Judicial Impropriety tonight (seriously so very hyped for Harry's POV!!) and I decided to go through your dan x harry tag and I saw that you mentioned a "they both raise abby" AU in one of the posts about slow burn but not really - is this another one of your WIPs because it sounds amazing! :D

hi nonny! it may please you to know that i've just posted the first chapter of Code of Conduct, aka harry's pov of how he and dan get together in Judicial Impropriety. hope you enjoy! 😄

to answer your question, the 'dan and harry raise abby' idea is an au that my dear friend @bornforastorm and i plotted together over discord one afternoon. will i ever write it? never say never. for now though it lives in my head rent free. here's the gist:

in the early 2000s, harry discovers that he actually Does Not Like living upstate and wants to move back to the city. gina wants to stay in skaneateles. they end up divorcing and harry gets full custody of abby - yay! except real estate in the city is So Expensive. luckily for harry, dan (who was widowed around a year before harry got divorced) has a spare bedroom and is more than willing to indefinitely put up his best friend / unrequited crush and his best friend / unrequited crush's precocious tween daughter.

harry is so busy trying to find a job (and so torn up about his marriage ending) that dan ends up taking abby out a lot. except he has no idea what to do with kids so they end up seeing r-rated horror movies together and throwing rocks at pigeons in the park and scamming people at fancy restaurants and toy stores by telling them that abby has six months to live.

abby may be perky and sweet but (like harry) she has no qualms about roasting dan like a melange of seasonal vegetables

abby: look at my dad's high-waisted roommate, he's got feminine hips! dan: no!! that's the thing i'm sensitive about!!

alternatively: dan: my hips are VERY manly excuse you!! tell her harry harry, so horny he's going to die: they're fine

turns out!! harry might have a thing for dan. a small, tiny, miniscule thing that he's pretty sure started the minute they shook hands in his chambers. this small tiny miniscule thing is not helped by the fact that harry now has to spend 24 hours a day in a two bedroom apartment with his unrequited crush of over a decade.

speaking of the two bedroom apartment thing. so abby takes the spare bedroom. obviously. that makes sense. harry crashes on the foldout sofa for about a week. then he learns one night that dan still has nightmares about the plane crash, so out of the goodness of his heart, he offers to stay with dan in dan's room until he falls asleep. and then they both fall asleep. and then the next night they fall asleep in the same bed. and the next night. and the next night. and every single night for the next year they platonically share a bed.

at the one year mark sleeping together becomes sleeping together. neither of them have gone out with or slept with anyone else in all that time. neither of them admit that they are in love with each other. after all having sex with each other is still totally platonic since they don't kiss.

they go to each other's work events and abby's parent teacher conferences as each other's completely platonic date.

harry: this is my best friend and platonic co-parent slash roommate dan: also bedmate harry: right that too abby: you sound like a yuppie harry: You Take That Back

abby: are you and dan dating harry: what!!!!!!!! no!!!!!!!!!!!!! why would you think that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! abby: you share a bed harry: to save space so you can have your own room!!!!! also because he has nightmares from almost dying and i have nightmares about him dying so it makes sense we sleep together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! abby: wow you need help

abby: i can snort chocolate milk out of my nose, want to see dan: that's disgusting and also impossible abby: no it's not. i bet you could do it. here, drink some dan: [drinks] abby: are you in love with my dad dan: [snorts chocolate milk out of his nose] abby: [covered in milk and snot] i knew it 😈😈😈

the second she figures out they're both in love with each other abby tries to matchmake dan and harry. the subtle approach does not work since they're both idiots, so she stages a hunger strike until dan and harry kiss.

dan: [kisses harry on the cheek] abby: pathetic

this all culminates with abby telling dan that she and harry found a new place to live (they didn't) and dan runs to harry's office at columbia like Do Not Move Out, Live With Me Forever, I Love You (but if you don't feel the same way ignore that last part)

harry, extremely confused: i love you too????????? student taking a makeup exam in harry's office: i'm just gonna head out

harry and dan, who have been having sex for over a year but have yet to actually kiss, spend the next four hours making out on harry's desk

harry: i feel like i'm forgetting something dan: it's probably not important if you can't remember harry: you're right abby: [standing in the pouring rain at soccer practice] 😈 i'm gonna get so much mileage out of this 😈

things about abby stone-fielding:

she is the queen of Wait Til My Fathers Hear About This

she threatens people with I'll See You In Court every time something does not go her way

she takes after her fathers in that she is a very intense dork and a fiscal conservative and flirts like a fiend but is terrible at it

she pulls the 'if you do this for me you'll be my favorite father' trick on harry and dan constantly and they fall for it every time

she also calls dan and harry both 'dad' and expects everyone (including dan and harry) to figure out who she's talking about

she tells everyone she has a secret third dad named reinhold and dan threatens to emancipate her when he finds out harry, sliding her twenty dollars: keep it up

abby's teacher: so abby told the class her goal is to go to law school so she can sue the government and take over the country dan: she gets her ambition from me 🥰 abby's teacher: she then proceeded to put an apple in her mouth and played the flute with her nose harry: [crying] that's my girl

[generalllimaginesss]

Hatton Carlisle head cannon

Everything Hatton Carlisle is here!!

I’ll probably add stuff throughout the series to this that make me think of who Hatton is, so feel free to keep checking back :)) anyways…let’s get to know our girl and her relationship with everybody! Feel free to request things based on her and I’d love to write it for you!

Jim and her dad (Roger) played college hockey together and had been inseparable ever since. They bought their first houses next to each other so that they could drink as much as they wanted and not have to drive home. That stuck and where one goes, the other goes as well.

Her birthday is July 7th, 2001

Everybody calls her Hattie unless something is wrong or they’re mad at her or vice versa

Trevor tried to call her “Hattie Cake” one time and she fought him

Girl’s girl raised amongst a pack of boys

Her parents are Roger and Tara Carlisle and they’re a year younger than Jim and Ellen.

Her older brother’s name is Corey Carlisle and he’s a year older than Quinn. He was projected to get drafted after college at UMich, but his injuries hindered him severely. He’s now an extremely successful real estate agent in New York.

The families celebrate holidays together

Jack and Hatton learning to skate together

Jim and Roger teaching them together

Jack and Hatton once made a pact that if they were both single at the age of 35 that they would get married. Trevor wouldn’t talk to Jack for a day because of that.

Quinn loves Hatton because she’s the female version of him and is unproblematic.

When they were little and Jack did something he wasn’t supposed to, Hatton would put him in time out and then snitch to Ellen about whatever it was that he did.

Jack didn’t dare move when Hatton put him in time out.

When Trevor came into the picture, Hatton felt like Jack was trying to replace her with him.

Trevor and Jack snuck off to the lake house one summer without her when they first met and this pissed Hatton off to no end.

Jim and Ellen definitely found out from a “little bird” and drove there to pick them up.

Hatton was sitting in the backseat waiting for them with a shit eating grin

It took a while for Trevor to figure his feelings out for her, but once he did there was no looking back

Trevor definitely used to buy her gifts for her birthday/christmas/etc.

Hatton tried to go on a date one time and Trevor, Jack, Alex, and Cole showed up at the movies and sat in the row in front of her and her date.

Caufield is like a less intense version of Trevor.

Hatton loves Luke, but isn’t as close to him as she is Quinn.

Quinn and Hatton’s brother are best friends.

Jack pissing Hatton off and Hatton letting him have it

“Hatton, you’re such a bitch” “I’d rather be bitch than be somebody’s bitch”

Ellen had to make a rule when Jack, Hatton, and Trevor were in high school that Hatton could only complain about Trevor 2 days out of the week for 20 minutes.

Quinn would shove a pillow over Trevor’s face anytime he mentioned her more than once.

Quinn loving Hatton like a younger sister

Hatton has always been way more mature than her age, so she gets along with all of the parents at the hockey games.

Trevor and Cole were always Hatton’s partners when they would go tubing on the lake.

Quinn would be the main driver, but would let Jack absolutely wreck his friends

Hatton has seasonal depression, but only Jack knows. He makes it a point to call and check on her almost everyday during hockey season.

One of her strong suits is her ability to read people. She’s very observant of tiny details that normally go unnoticed.

Jack and Hatton getting absolutely wasted one night when their parents went on a vacation together and Quinn having to hide the evidence because they were all underage.

Almost every friend of Jack’s either had a crush on Hatton at some point, or wanted the two of them to date.

“I could never date him. He’s my brother.”

Hatton is a totally different person when drinking. She’s loud, outgoing, and open to try just about anything. The boys know this well, but only sometimes do they take advantage of it by making her do embarrassing dares or coax information out of her.

Hatton has a toothbrush at Luke and Jack’s apartment that stays in Jack’s bathroom no matter what. There have been several girls ask about this throughout the years, but it stays right in its place.

Hatton used to give Jack pep talks the night before his games stretching as far back as middle school.

“No excuses. 100% for 60 minutes. Understand, mister?” “Nothing less, ma’am.”

Alex Turcotte has a special place in Hatton Carlisle’s heart.

Alex was convinced he’d marry Hatton, but when he heard the way Trevor started talking about her he knew he couldn’t take that away from him.

Hatton and Nico once blew all of Jack’s condoms up like they were balloons before he brought a date home.

Jack cussed them out for a solid hour and then went to his room to pout for the rest of the night.

Nico and Hatton are an absolute MENACE when together. Like worse than Zegras, Caufield, and Jacky boy when they’re together.

Nico is the only one that manages to get Hatton to let loose without the help of alcohol.

Luke subtly asking Hatton for dating advice

Hatton making Luke take her out on a date so she can teach him what to do

When everybody is at the lakehouse Hatton and Quinn are the voice of reasons

“No trevor, you can not try to do a backflip off the boat while we’re going 30 mph. There’s gotta be some clause in your contract against that.”

“Jack, sit your ass down.”

Cuddling with them all on the couch after being outside on the water all day long (Hatton’s personal favorite because she loves when the boys are all in one place)

Cole teasing Trevor to no end about Hatton and Trevor always wearing the biggest smile anytime her name gets brought up.

Jack used to try to set up blind dates between Trevor and Hatton, but Hatton always left as soon she saw him.

Her walking home one time because she refused to ride alone in a car with Trevor, but Trevor followed behind her at a distance to make sure she was safe (she didn’t know about this)

The boys offering Hatton unsolicited help with homework even though not a single one finished college

“We didn’t need to know what a Bell curve was to make it to the NHL…”

Her trying to get the boys to take a serious picture with/of her and them always making it the most difficult task

“Hattie you have like 3 followers..” “ooo work it girl” “do these shorts make my butt look big…at least bigger than Hattie’s…”

Jack and Hatton definitely have friendship bracelets that they made each other when they were 10 and they somehow haven’t fallen apart.

“Ok, Jack…what do we say to someone that wants us to take our bracelets off?” “You’ve gotta pry it from my cold, dead fingers..” “good job”

Jack FaceTimes Hatton everyday as soon as he finishes talking to Quinn on the phone. It’s like clockwork at this point.

Jamie feels like he’s known Hatton for as long as he’s known Trevor because Trevor DOES. NOT. SHUT UP ABOUT HER!!!

Hatton steals every one of Jack’s hoodies so he just buys 2 now.

Hatton is the epitome of sass

She had to develop thick skin to survive with the Hughes brothers, but she is naturally sensitive. Not a lot of people see this side of her.

[astralartefact]

NieR Reincarnation The People and the World Amber Spoiler Post & Theory Hour

Mama on Mama on Mama on Mama in this one. And I'm going to look a little bit too deep into that. Far too deep actually.

What can I say. They did a good job with the shitty gacha game. I'm so sorry, but I am once again validated in my opinion that this is the best NieR writing right behind YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse. It's just. Chef's Kiss.

And sure, I still prefer Sun/Moon over People/World as a story since that one just managed to weave the themes so well with the stories and everything whereas this one has certain moments where it doesn't really line up with stuff it has already established (some/many of the stories kind of seem to disregard parts of their hidden/ex stories which feels weird, also where are hina and yuzuki in all of this as rogue cage wanderers, i have a feeling they're not going to address them at all (which imo would be fine but kind of disappointing)), but we're finally getting the lore payoff we know to expect from Drakenier and it feels so good.

And you know, I did notice that all the seasons so far were in two distinct parts that lined up with their name - and as this was obviously the The People part I was wondering before playing this morning what the The World part would be about. But it didn't even occur to me that we could be going to the "Real World"... (Put a Pin in that)

But let's get into it.

Mama meets Accord (who I'm sure somebody has called mommy before)

I mean at this point we know she's coming - we just don't know when and how. I do wonder if these more and more overt mentions of her might be setup for the next NieR/DoD4 because I feel like Accord as a character would be prime real estate for the new big game, but of course it would also make perfect sense for her to show up here, she already has an established presence in the Cage - and I mean she could just do both!

It's interesting to note btw that the coffer that Yudil's story explicitly points out has recently appeared in the most recent Bakuken stage play (the one that's called Finale even though it's not the final one) where a portuguese merchant (The Cathedral City is on the Iberian Peninsula) called Michael (you know, like the Dragon) had it. Of course, they might also just have reused the prop since they made one for the YoRHa stage play Accord appeared in...

Mama meets Mother

She's giving Mother and she's back with a vengeance rhythm game. Amazing. Tens across the board. I love her fascinator head piece.

As the Mother Expert that I call myself I have to point out some things here:

a) What exactly is Mother Mourning? The Watchers have up until now only been described as motivated by a fervent hate of Humanity and anger - the Gods want to claw themselves free of their humanity-imposed seals and devour the world - so why is this version explicitly shown as sad? Her battle dialogue also kind of sounds... betrayed in a way? "Why Protect People? Destroy" and "Our objective. Why?" seem to hint that maybe Mama (points right at the name) was in with Mother this whole time but has now turned against her. And it makes me wonder if the Cage is a way for humanity to enslave the gods they sealed for profit...

But also, given recent Developments in SinoAlice JP's Ending Arc, there's likely something else in the Cage that the Mourning Mother could be talking to. Maybe the thing we saw in that one cutscene is actually protecting humanity?

b) With some of that already in mind I was thinking about her pose and was trying to find some connection to the dance of her Intoner version in the DoD3 Final Boss when it occured to me in a one-two punch: She's shackled. The Cage is for Her. She's what is Caged. And doesn't that sound like a seal that keeps a certain Round Egg at bay that I have an exciting theory for-

Tangent: Mama meets my Round Egg Theory

okay so strap in because it's time to bring up the thing I bring up every chance I get!

We know there's a connection between the Memory Tree and the Moon Server Data through two things:

a) In the Replicant Remaster's new Ending Kainé goes into the Memory Tree's Data to bring Nier back - which of course means that the Memory Tree contains Nier's data. This is important because

b) In YoRHa:Dark Apocalypse (My Love <3) the Red Girls have a Seed (we'll get back to that in a second) - and out of that Seed grows a Tower that contains "Ego Collectives" of People, which is basically the collection of memories that makes up one person.

Now I know that everyone just handwaved that away as a way to have cheap Replicant references as the first two bosses with the Remaster coming up but lol wouldn't that be easy, did you forget who you're dealing with? Because the exact two bosses used (Knave of Hearts and Hänsel and Gretel) means there's only one person this Ego Collective could belong to: Nier, because only he fought Hänsel and Gretel. (let's ignore that Weiss was there too bc that would be a dumb!!! this is much more fun bc of the implications!!!)

And I'm positive that this was intentional because in the remaster ending - in a scene that's eerily similar to the fight in Tower at Paradigm's Breach - Kainé only fights her memory of Gretel without Hänsel, so they knew.

Why does that matter? It doesn't really, I just wanted to bring it up as a little fun fact, but what does matter is that Y:DA establishes that whatever that Seed the Red Girls have recreated is, it also contains all the memories from the Memory Tree, because that's where those memories were recorded. And they were recreating it, which implies there was a basis to recreate. And that was always the big future overarching NieR plot thread that Y:DA left me with - sure, we know this is where it all ends, the Watchers are over now and this time forever through collaboration and power of friendship - but how did we even get here? How did the Red Girls get a Seed to recreate?

And now it fits right in with what's happening, especially now that we know what exactly the Moon Server can do:

The Moon Server/The Cage can peer into different universes - we know that since at least Hina and Yuzuki (Yuzuki knows Reinkane exists as a game but also their EX stories) - but as far as we know the Seeds only exist in Drakengard's Universe. So why do the Red Girls/The Watchers/The Mourning Mother want to get into the Moon Server/Cage so Bad? (It was even sort of highlighted in the Automata Anime where Adam transformed into a giant Reincarnation Mob - implying really hard that the Red Girls/Logic Virus is indeed behind the attacks on the Cage) Well, maybe it's because they want the Round Egg, because they have been separated ever since DoD1's Final Boss and they need it to Dark Apocalypse.

Before this chapter I thought that the entire Memory Tree might have been built from Seeds in the first place and that's why the Red Girls want into the Moon Server to get a basis to copy - I thought it would make sense that humanity somehow got that dimension-crossing technology needed for it out of a Seed - but that would require the NieR world to have Seeds to use for that and we know next to nothing about them so I just kept it in the back of my mind until something else comes along to strengthen it. I also didn't want to base too much on the cross-over one, even if I personally really don't understand why people are so hesitant to call it canon, it's definitely canon, it's one of the few things Yoko Taro is directly credited to have written the past few years and he literally always writes stuff that right away retcons things, so even if it changes details with Automata he has done the exact same thing multiple times now. ("It's not DoD3's Ending A that leads to DoD1, it's the version of Ending A in this specific novella that's basically the same except for one small thing.")

But you know what other tangentially related thing I can bring up that you won't believe I will stuff into this theory? Why yes, It's Yuki Wada's Breakout Hit Voice of Cards: Forsaken Maiden. And fair warning, this is where it gets entirely unfounded. And also spoilers for that game's ending.

I have the long and well-documented theory that the Spirits from VoC:FM might be the Watchers. In that game Maidens need to sacrifice themselves to the Gods so they 'keep humanity save' in return - but it ends with Laty (the female MC) going into an eternal slumber to sort of 'trap' the gods in her everlasting dream so humanity is save without them. And because I always found that very reminiscent of Drakengard 1's Goddesses I theorized that VoC:FM might have been the folkloric 'inception story' of that system, humanity just reiterated on the mechanics of it so it's spread over multiple people instead of one so nobody has to go to sleep forever.

So with that as an foundational thought, what if humanity did that again? What if they extended it again on more people so fewer people have the sort of responsibility Laty or Furiae had? What if they didn't only extend it to a finite number of people - what if they extended it to every human in every dimension that ever experienced any form of prolonged misery (or whatever else the requirements are to end up in the cage lol)

So what if the Cage is the Seal? What if keeping the Seeds locked up is the purpose of the Cage? What if the Cage is a Cage?

And if the Cage is just NieR's Goddess Seals then the Watchers have a really good reason to get in there: The exact same reason as in Drakengard 1.

But I'm not done. Because what if Mama didn't know that. What if Mama just knew there's a server on the moon and basically every single person ever is trapped in it, eternally doomed to relive the most horrible pain and suffering imaginable for some reason - and some figure, a mother figure if you will, told her she could fix their suffering. That she could change the system for the better by giving them hope and respite by giving them an afterlife. But that was a lie. The figure just wanted her to weaken the system built on sin and suffering so she could break through it and reach the Seeds.

What if Mama (points at the name) realised she was tricked by Mother and is now trying to fix her mistakes? And that's why Mother is Mourning, because she betrayed her?

Don't think so. Mama didn't seem all that "remorseful". But maybe something along those lines though.

Depending on SinoAlice JP's ending whatever other being the Library turns out to be might also be involved - maybe the Library is a god that turned away from the Watchers to help humanity and the Cage is instead a way to protect the being that is the Library which in turn protects humanity... That would be a full circle moment to VoC:FM too...

Either way I'm so stoked to find out what's really happening!!!

Mama meets Mama in the Real World

Already talked alot about Mama, but let's just all applaud ourselves for reading the room! We did it! We knew!

Just as theorized she was 10H all along! Probably should go reread her story to see if it still lines up with what I theorized above... And she's pretty. And has almost the same haircut as Hina and Marie. Hmm. Maybe they should have chosen one of the other Marie designs.

(Small correction: I read that last scene wrong, seems like Mama isn't 10H but Pod 006 - but since the character we're getting is 10H I'll still say we were right :3 ...and yeah, we do control the pod in that scene, makes sense, don't know why I went straight to Mama has to be 10H)

What I'm actually more interested in though is where we're going with this. Like what can she even do in the "Real World", doesn't 10H die constantly in her story for disobedience? So she can't be allowed to do all of this, right? I do think a "We rebuild the Cage on Hopes and Dreams" is in order, but the way to get there... ah! Look, it's the Pin I made you keep in mind!

What if they don't go to that Real World. What if they go to our Real World? Hina & Yuzuki - who came from our or at least another Real World - are notably absent from this arc. And that could just be because the true ending being optional makes things harder for the devs to write around and they want the spotlight off of them bc they were the main characters, but still: I would love a chapter or even just a scene of their perspective of what happens to the Cage. I mean what happens to them now that the Cage falls apart? Could Dark Mama and Papa save them just like Mama did with the others? Do we maybe even meet Dark Mama's and Papa's real forms?

But there's another character that immediately comes to my mind when we talk about "the Real World". And it's because of a throwaway line that I never see anybody bring up... mainly because nobody likes Y:DA.

In her final letter to Konogg, Anogg explains that at some point she visited another world (likely when she fell into the Pseudo-Seed) and in doing so she learned that both her and the world are constructs - which implies she knows that a Real World exists from which this world was created. And sure, that could have been a meta-joke about haha video game. But her constructed self also displays several similarities to moments in Noelle's Chapter - which came out vaguely around the same time - and now all of this lines up with what's happening in the Cage. So yeah. What if the ending scene is her emerging from the Cage to save Konogg just like these characters have done this entire arc? All I have to say is #AnoggForReincarnation. She would be perfect. Do it.

[aeshnacyanea2000]

What would an ideal Season 4 of Hannibal look like to you? What plot elements would you like to see? Or do you even want a Season 4?

Thank you so much for this ask!

Do I want Bryan Fuller to get the chance to make a season 4? Honestly, no. As far as canon is concerned, I think the season 3 finale (without the zinger) was the best case scenario for a series finale. It leaves enough room for interpretation, for a variety of scenarios as to what could come next.

If I could magically have exactly the season 4 I dream about? Ooof, that's more complicated. Because I have several ideas for a potential season 4.

There are just three things that are absolute must-haves for any hypothetical season 4 for me:

obviously, Hannibal is still alive

the zinger is not something that actually happened (if it gets referenced at all, then it's a dream sequence)

Bedannibal is endgame (that does not mean there has to be any significant amount of Bedannibal screen time in the season, but it should end with the two of them reunited)

Another thing I'd like to see is the aftermath of what happened, and the consequences for the characters. No convenient time-skip to gloss over the procedural/legal implications. I want to see the full cluster fuck unfold. The scandal, the public outrage, the internal FBI investigation and the politics. The media circus. I want to see Freddie Lounds having the time of her life spinning the story of the murder husbands, of Will Graham freeing Hannibal Lecter.

As for the actual season 4 story arc, or rather potential story arcs, here are some of my ideas:

Murder husbands not so happily ever after:

Hannibal manages to save both himself and Will from the ocean, and gets them away to lick their wounds. He once again forgives Will for his betrayal, and believes that they can now finally have the life he always wanted for them. Will seemingly agrees. But all is not as rosy as Hannibal dreamed it, and real life together proves disappointing. Will may be everything Hannibal hoped for when it comes to being his partner in murder, but he finds him lacking in other areas of their life together. And Will harbors considerable resentment over the failure of his murder-suicide plan. In the end, their happy life implodes, and this time in a terminal way, with Hannibal killing Will. Heartbroken, Hannibal seeks out the one person he never found lacking: Bedelia.

2. A helping hand:

Hannibal manages to drag himself out of the ocean and evade the searches of the FBI. But he is injured, and needs help. And there is only one person he trusts enough to provide that help. Bedelia du Maurier.

Bedelia, for her part, has anticipated this possibility, and prepared accordingly. Despite Will Graham's threats, she has not left her home. When Hannibal manages to sneak back into Baltimore and climbs over the back wall of her property into her garden, she is ready and waiting. She confronts him before he can try to enter her house, keeping him at a distance at gunpoint until he gives her his word that he will not harm her, and begs for her help.

Bedelia is prepared to help, but not here. She orders him to wait right where he is, disappears into the house for a few moments, and returns with a bag. Then she asks him if he has a car nearby, and when Hannibal answers in the affirmative, tells him to lead the way. They leave the property over the back wall, the same way Hannibal got there.

Once in his car, she directs him across town to what turns out to be a closed down veterinary practice. When Hannibal warns her that all such places would have received an advisory to be on the lookout for him or any signs of break-ins etc. she informs him that this particular practice has been shut down for a few months, ever since the owner died. And it will likely remain shut down for a long while, since there is an ongoing dispute about the estate the man left behind.

When Hannibal questions how she knows about this place, Bedelia reveals that she overheard a conversation between two former customers of this veterinary during a spa visit a while ago. The two women were gossiping freely, and she learned a lot of useful information. Including where to find a spare key for the back door, and the likely code for the alarm system.

Bedelia's info proves correct. They use the practice and a mixture of supplies found there and others Bedelia brought in her bag to patch Hannibal up.

Once that is done, they have a talk.

Earlier, when she first confronted Hannibal in her garden, she asked if Will Graham was with him. Now, she returns to that line of inquiry, asking if Will is still alive. Hannibal doesn't know. He tells her he doesn't care, because after his latest betrayal, he is finished with Will. While Bedelia is happy to hear that, it's not the point of her question. She doesn't say so, but Hannibal can read her well and asks, prompting her to tell him about Will's threats towards her. Hannibal is outraged, and now hopes the man is dead.

They move on to the next topic: the immediate future. Bedelia makes it clear that whatever Hannibal has planned as his next step, she will not come with him. She needs to remain in her home so as not to draw any attention. Hannibal is disappointed, but he understands.

Bedelia does ask if he has a safe place he can go and lay low in. Hannibal tells her truthfully that while the cliff side house was his main safe house, he does have a few other boltholes. But it's been more than three years since he could check on them. They may not be there and safe anymore. He will have to see.

Bedelia is not happy to hear that, and to Hannibal's surprise offers him an alternative. She hands him a printout of a map, of the kind hikers use. It shows some rural area, one numbered state road, a few smaller, local roads branching off of it, going into stretches of woodland dotted with small lakes. A very thin road branching off from one of the local roads is highlighted. It leads up to one of those lakes, and the spot where it ends practically on the lake shore is marked with an X there on the map. Otherwise, only the big road is labeled with a number, but no further identifying localities are shown. It could be anywhere along that road.

Bedelia explains that this is in upstate New York, and the X on the map shows a private holiday cabin. A cabin which was originally built in the 1920s, then later bought by a decidedly shady business man, who hid it under an offshore company registered in the name of his last mistress. When she died many years later, it was left in a trust.

That woman was Bedelia's "great-aunt Marie", not an actual relative, but a friend of her paternal grandmother. Bedelia is the only still living beneficiary of the trust the woman left behind. The trust is managed by a law firm in Switzerland. No chance of anybody tracing it back to Bedelia.

The cabin used to be rented out through a local agency, but bookings had become sparse in the last years, and Bedelia arranged for it to be taken off the market about a year ago. It is still in decent repair. Hannibal is touched and very grateful for her help. And he hopes that at some point in the future, after the manhunt for him has died down, they will be able to meet again and he will get the chance to show her his gratitude.

Bedelia and Hannibal part ways not far from her home, after he drives her back to her neighborhood. Then he sets out for the cabin, and Bedelia prepares for a visit from the FBI, and potentially also from Will Graham, should he still be alive.

3. Will Graham's descend into darkness:

After his attempted murder-suicide, Will is pulled from the ocean by a fishing boat, more dead than alive, but he somehow manages to pull through and recover. Of Hannibal Lecter, no trace is found either alive or dead.

Physically, Will has a bunch of new scars, some lasting mementos that will twinge every time the weather turns, but over all he makes an almost miraculous recovery and regains his old strength. Mentally…

After the inevitable investigations and media circus finally die down, he returns to his life with Molly and Walter, and at first all seems as well as can be expected. But that's not true.

That fight at the cliff side house awakened something in Will Graham. He finally gave in to his dark side, thinking it would be the end. But it wasn't, and now his inner darkness will not allow him to stifle it once more.

He tries to resist, at first, but circumstances conspire against him. Molly has some trouble at work with a local asshole who is harassing her. When Will encounters the man alone and witnesses him abusing a dog, he tries to intervene, the situation escalates, and Will kills him. And he feels the same rush, the same high as during the fight with the Red Dragon.

Will manages to make the body disappear, aided by the fact that the guy was an all round asshole and involved in shady stuff, and nobody is sad he is gone. But after that first incident, the dam inside Will is broken. His next killing is planned.

Gradually, his behavior escalates. More dangerous victims, more "artistic" murders, less careful disposal of the bodies. (Perhaps, mid-season, one of his kills is found, and to Wills delight there is speculation that it is the work of Hannibal Lecter, that Hannibal is still alive after all.)

But while Will is now thoroughly enjoying his own twisted darkness, these killings still can't seem to scratch that inner itch.

And then there is some news item about Bedelia du Maurier, and suddenly all his dark urges have a new focus. The woman he has hated and been jealous of for so long. And now, he decides that he will finally have his revenge.

Bedelia was seemingly unaffected by the events of the season 3 finale, refusing to leave her home after Will's threats, and even after the news that Hannibal Lecter has escaped.

She did eventually leave, when Freddie Lounds and other reporters got too annoying in the aftermath of it all. Nobody knew where she had gone, until now. Will gathers as much information as he can, and carefully plans his attack.

The season finale is him carrying out his plan, only to get a nasty surprise: Bedelia is not living alone. She has been sharing her new refuge with none other than Hannibal Lecter. And the two of them have anticipated his attack, and prepared for it. Will Graham has stepped into a carefully prepared trap.

Epilogue: a news bulletin about the gruesome discoveries in the woods not far from Will and Molly's home, where evidence found in an old hunting cabin provided proof that the missing former FBI consultant Will Graham has become a serial killer and is responsible for a number of disappearances and murders, some of which were suspected to be the work of Hannibal Lecter. Given the new evidence, there is now no doubt they were the work of Will Graham. While Hannibal Lecter's fate remains unclear, there is no indication that he survived the altercation between him, Mr. Graham and the killer known as the Tooth Fairy. Mr. Graham is currently missing, and presumably on the run.

4. The shadow of the monster:

The dead body of Will Graham is fished from the Atlantic ocean several days after the fight at Hannibal's safe house. No trace of Hannibal, dead or alive, is found. Weeks pass, then months. Gradually, the furor surrounding the escape of Hannibal the Cannibal dies down, and life returns to some semblance of normal. The official investigations take longer of course, but without any trace of Hannibal being found, and with the surviving conspirators (Jack and Alana) with every reason to remain silent, they aren't having much success.

And then Alana Bloom receives a package with a bottle of a specific craft beer that she liked - not the beer Hannibal brewed specifically for her, of course, but another one he did serve to her - and some also very specific sweets. The date the package arrives is exactly the date of Hannibal's last dinner party. Or, in other words, the date Alana slept with Hannibal for the first time.

Alana is instantly convinced that this is coming from Hannibal. But there is no definite proof. No note, no fingerprints or DNA traces, and the package itself got sent in such a way that the true origin and who exactly posted it cannot be traced.

Over the next weeks, the other "old acquaintances" of Hannibal Lecter receive similar mail. Jack Crawford, Bedelia du Maurier, Frederick Chilton, Margot Verger. Even Freddie Lounds. Always items that are reminiscent of encounters with Hannibal, but never any concrete proof that this is coming from him.

Once again, the investigations ramp up, and this time, Jack and Alana are on opposing sides. Alana is convinced Hannibal is alive, Jack keeps insisting - partly because that's the story he told until now and he has to stick to it or open himself up to questioning again - that Hannibal is dead and this is someone else. But he can't explain how anybody else would know about these things.

The recipients of the packages react with varying degrees of fear and paranoia, but none are unaffected. And all of them try to work out who could be behind it all, with varying levels of cooperation between each other, and between them and the official FBI investigation. None of them realize that the sender of these packages is right in their midst.

Bedelia was disappointed and heartbroken when Hannibal gave himself up to the FBI three years ago. Over time, those feelings changed to anger. Anger at Will Graham, anger at Hannibal himself, and of course anger at the other players in this game, starting with Alana and the Vergers, and Jack Crawford.

As Will Graham said, if you play, you pay. Bedelia has paid her own price in the pain she has been feeling ever since Florence. Will Graham has finally paid the ultimate price for his obsession. Hannibal may or may not be still alive, but even if he is, Will Graham is dead, and Bedelia knows that death will hurt Hannibal. Right now, she does not feel any sympathy for him. He deserves that pain. But the others, they deserve pain, too. And Bedelia has no more fucks to give. She is ready to burn everything down. Life after Hannibal has been boring, stultifying. She has nothing else to occupy her time. And she misses him. And now she has found the perfect outlet for her emotions, and a task to occupy her time.

Hannibal meanwhile is still alive, licking his wounds. He finds out about what's going on, and is intrigued, but also annoyed that someone would pretend to be him. (He is particularly angry that Bedelia is among the targets of this person.) He decides to investigate.

[lostbutterflyutau]

Reflections

Note: This "missing scene," like all my Furuba fics, takes place in my headcanon in which all canon events still occur, but my OC is part of the story and things change a bit after the OG ending. Because I still consider it free real estate.

I'll explain various plot elements as needed. For this one, all you really need to know is that my OC plays a major role and it might help to read about her (HERE).

Also, this is my first time in a while writing for this fandom and participating in a fandom event, so hoping it goes alright.

(Didn't have time to give it to my beta before posting, so I apologise for any silly mistakes).

**** Prompt: Missing Scene

Timeline: Chapter 132/Season 3, Episode 12 (Before the Meeting) **** “You have really long eyelashes,” Shima complimented, gently brushing mascara over them.  

“Is that a good thing?” Akito asked, doing her best to keep still even as she spoke.

Shima already had to re-apply her eyeliner twice due to her not being used to the feeling and accidentally smearing it. But Akito couldn’t help it. She’d never had makeup put on her before. It was strange, just like her ensemble. And everything else that had happened in the past few weeks.

Even just a few months ago, she would have never thought of being friends with people like Tohru and Shima. In fact, Shima’s hair still irritated her at times, which she seemed to pick up on given how it was tied back now, or maybe that was just to keep it out of her face. Akito wasn’t sure, but also knew that it didn’t matter. She was just grateful for the help from both her new friend and the maids that had helped her dress.

“It is. They’re pretty.” Shima sat back, put the wand in the tube. “Now you just need some lipstick.”  

Akito didn’t respond, only watched as Shima turned to the small bag sitting at her side and pulled three tubes from it. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to such words being directed at her and wanted to protest, but she knew it was fruitless. Shima wasn’t one to backpedal on her words. She and Shigure had that in common. Besides, there were much more important things at hand.

While she didn’t say anything, Shima could tell from the look on Akito’s face that she felt awkward, which was more than understandable. Dressing up this way – hell, just being a girl in general –  was still a foreign concept to her. And, on top of that, she was about to go and reveal that fact – and more – to her former Zodiac.

Unfortunately, it was one of those rare occurrences where she was at a loss for what to say. As much as she hated admitting it, anything having to do with the inner circle was outside her understanding. Always had been. She’d been foolish enough to think she understood once, but recent events proved that she never really had. It was something she was still coming around to even as she decided to look ahead instead of behind her. So many things had happened and today was going to be the official start of a new path for all of them, including Akito.

“Definitely this one,” She decided, twisting open one of the tubes.

“What is that?” Akito asked, looking over the applicator in Shima’s hand. Though she knew very little about makeup, it still didn’t look like any lipstick she’d seen before.

“Liquid lipstick,” Shima explained, gently slid her hand underneath Akito’s chin and tipped her head up.

She applied the colour delicately, smiled at the finished result before putting the makeup aside and pulling out the headband holding Akito’s hair back, watching as her fringe fell into place. She then swept up the flowers and pins, moved over to the side to complete the final touch.

For a moment, neither spoke, unsure of what to say. Navigating this friendship was new for both of them, and Akito wasn’t sure what she could or couldn’t say or if Shima would even understand the weight on her heart. The one that she wasn’t sure she was even allowed to have after everything. But, on the other end, there was any one else she could talk to aside from Tohru, but she wasn’t here. Shima was. And being the sister of one previously possessed, she’d lived with the cloud of the curse much longer, albeit in a different way.

Finally, she took in a breath, decided to take her chance.  

“Shima?”

“Hm?” Shima murmured. It was the most she could muster with the pins in her mouth.

“Do you think this is even worth it?

Shima didn’t answer. Not right away. Instead, she kept her focus on the task at hand, contemplating her response as her hands worked. Despite having a vague idea of what Akito was asking, she still decided to ask as she pulled the final pin out of her mouth,

“Depends. What exactly is ‘it?’”

Akito flicked her eyes down to her hands, fiddled with the end of one of her sleeves. “This whole thing, I suppose. They have to know what happened. And after everything, would they even listen to what I have to say?”

Cautiously, Shima reached over, placed a hand over hers. “I think they will. Especially after you come in like this. Remind me. What did Gure say when he gave this to you?”

Keeping her eyes down, Akito recalled, “He said it was both a parting and a welcome gift. That I was leaving behind the person everyone wanted me to be and becoming a new me. Whoever that is.”  

Shima smiled. She knew the answer. Had it stuck in her head since Akito told her a few days prior. But she needed her to say it, hoping that if she did, she would start to believe his words.

“In other words, it’s an external representation of the internal.”

 At that, Akito finally looked up, her expression telling Shima that while she probably got the gist of what she meant, she still didn’t appreciate her use of writer speak.

“They can’t see the change in your heart,” Shima explained. “At least not yet. But by doing this, you can show them that you’re taking the first big step to becoming your authentic self.”

“But even with the ‘external,’ will they believe me?”

“I can’t speak for them, but I like to think that they would. Even if it takes time.” She shifted then, and despite knowing it was a risk, moved to wrap her arms around the smaller woman.

“And if it helps, I believe you.”  

Though it wasn’t the first time and far less shocking than the time Arisa Uotani had hugged her, Akito still wasn’t sure what to make of her affection. Reassuring, but not pitiful, just like her words. Shima knew she didn’t need anyone’s pity. Not anymore. So, as she reached up and gently squeezed Shima’s arm, Akito chose to believe she only wanted to let her know she was there. That there was one more person in her corner.

“Akito?” Another voice interrupted as the door slid open, the maid first blinking at the unusual sight before shaking it off and continuing as Shima returned to her previous position.  “Are you ready?”  

Akito sighed to herself. There was no turning back now. It didn’t matter if she was ready. The time had come to take the first step into a life that was truly her own and begin her atonement. Whether anyone would accept it or not, especially without the pull of the curse, was another question, but one she had to face.

It had never been a matter of whether she could do this. It was something she had to do. For them. And to a lesser degree, herself. And even after today, there would still be a long road ahead. One without the eternity she had been previously promised. A world full of strangers.  

“Hey.”

A faint whisper caught her attention and it, along with a gentle touch, brought her back to reality. She turned, saw in Shima’s eyes nothing but warmth and support – underserved, she thought, but earnest.

“You got this.”   

It was such a small, simple declaration, but something about it eased the tension stirring up inside her, making way for a wave of relief she hadn’t felt before now. While it didn’t shake off all her nerves, the thought that maybe the world wasn’t completely full of strangers and that she had a few people – including Shima – on her side was enough to make her finally stand.

Releasing another deep sigh, Akito took a step forward, the movement as firm as her reply.

“Ready as I’ll ever be."

[wantonlywindswept]

the dinluke arranged marriage au i'm not gonna write

so this is a post season 2 story, where Din has just lost his baby and is a Sad Panda and doesn't really have much to do with himself but HEY look at that shiny lightsaber, it comes with some Free Real Estate and also a monarchy

so Mandalore gets retaken (details details, politics, blah blah) and Din ofc Does Not Want to be ruler, so he sets up a council. and Mandalore is. well Mandalore is Fucked, and while they have the manpower (clans coming back! Mandalor the Reunifer! give it to me) they don't have the resources to rebuild. 

blah blah blah, more politics, they realize they need to make alliances in exchange for goods and services, so they hit up the new republic. except Mandalore doesn't really have anything worth trading? maybe hyperspace lanes, patrols, future prospects, idk i failed economics in high school. but basically they got nothin.

but the senate (?? did they make another senate? it sounds like a bad idea so probably) is drooling to get their hands on Mandalore ('hey how about trading us beskar--' 'no and also fuck you') even if it might take a while to get a return on their investment. however. mandalorians are fucking SCARY. so how do you keep an entire people under your thumb?

you take their leader as a hostage, of course!

(no it's not a HOSTAGE, of course not, it's an alliance through marriage, and ofc the mandalor should stay on coruscant to protect mandalore's interests, right?)

however because mandalorians are fucking scary, they're also like. hey. hey who the fuck are we gonna get to control this guy. oh wait what about our Jedi, who is a confirmed badass and also the jedi have a history of fucking up mandalorians? yes excellent idea let's pat ourselves on the back and break for tea.

(also considered: mandalorian council standing in front of the senate or on holocall or whatever, obviously someone from that group will be chosen as the hostage/marriage prospect, so uhhh what about that quiet one in the back? or 'actually hey our guy specifically requested that one, hand him over.' cue eventual 'what do you mean you're the mandalor' shenanigans)

(also also, personally i think luke would Nope The Fuck Out re: the new republic giving him orders, but this is arranged marriage au and we all know how those gotta go)

anyway luke is all 'boooo dnw but i gotta do this for the Good Of The Galaxy or whatever', so he agrees, and hey look that's his new hubby. WAIT THAT'S HIS NEW HUBBY? MANDO! MANDO HI! HEY HI HOW'RE YOU DOING COME SEE YOUR KID!

so it goes surprisingly well, akshually. 

and then there are more politics and din probably being miserable on coruscant because it's coruscant, and eventually they go back to mandalore and the alliance becomes more equal and they erect (heh) a jedi temple bc mandalorians gonna be mandalorians like 'hey look at all those foundlings hanging around. be a shame if someone adopted all of them. what's that they're force sensitive? good news! we have plans for that. ours now.'

and they live happily ever after and adopt like ten kids and grogu's first word is 'fuck' the end

[ficsyoumayhavemissed]

all I remember — @andfollowthesun

2.159 words / @1dchristmasfest / Harry x Niall

“Okay,” Niall says. “Don’t get me wrong, ’m grateful for the fans and the music and everything— “—and your fifty guitars, and the very expensive pieces of real estate in London—” “Yeah, yeah,” Niall waves his hand. “But fame is also what’s right now preventing me from throwing me hat in the ring to be Holmes Chapel’s next jelly wrestling champion.”

Heartwarming, that is the perfect word to describe this fic because even though it is very short you are able to fall in love with Niall and Harry with every word. It's fun and portrays Narry perfectly, showing how important is for your partner to be your best friend as well.

Winter Light Spectacular — @reminiscingintherain

2.631 words / @girldirectionfest / Harry x Louis

‘Coming Soon! Winter Light Spectacular! Starting Friday 11th December, 5pm, Golden Botanic Gardens. Entry free.’ Louis blinked as she read the poster in the staff room. “Uhh… what is this?” she asked, looking around with a raised eyebrow. ~~~~ When head gardener Louis has the plans of a light show dropped in her lap, she's instantly protective of her gardens. Can coordinator Harry change her mind?

This fic is simply wonderful. Louis’ sassy character swearing up a storm, but still being kind and good natured rings so very true. Give this one a read if you’re looking for a sweet fic with good banter! You can also listen to this as a podfic here!

Dine with me — cyandiamond

2.689 / Harry x Louis

Harry’s ready to close up the shop and go home after a long shift, until an unexpected turn of events makes him rethink.

Some fics you read in order to be in a new world and this is one of them. This fic has such a wonderful and vivid sense of place. The imagery brings the cute story to life and a smile to any reader’s face.

Worries, Kisses and Surprises — @neondiamond

3.105 words / Harry x Louis

Harry and Louis are hosting Christmas dinner with both of their families for the very first time. Harry is a little stressed out about it, but for a good reason.

The domesticity packed in this fic is just perfect! It’s sickeningly sweet and a cozy read for a cold winter evening.

I don't care about the present — littlejo_ana

3.522 words / Harry x Louis

“You're not really saying that Michael Bublé's version is better than Mariah's." He said, raising his eyebrows, but Louis just smiled. “That's exactly what I'm saying," he answered, crossing his arms over his chest, his blue eyes focused on Harry as if daring him to contradict him. “Well, you're wrong then, Mariah Carey's version is a classic, and it's iconic!” He said back, crossing his arms over his chest as well, because two could play that game. “It's overplayed and everybody's tired of it," Harry gasped dramatically. “Now, Michael's version, it's new, romantic and engaging.” or the one where Harry and Louis compete for the best version of "All I want for christmas" and somehow, they both win.

This fic is a frank and fun discussion of Christmas songs. It’s wrapped in some cute banter and friendly competition that in the end both Harry and Louis win.

santa, won't you bring me the one i really need? — @alwaysxlarrie

5.539 words / @1dchristmasfest / Harry x Louis

This Christmas, Louis is going to ask for new friends, because his are the worst. That's the only possible explanation for how he's been dragged into dressing up as Santa and taking photos with strange small children at the mall for hours on end. I mean, Christmas is a season of being cheerful and all, but this is ridiculous! …although the handsome guy who his friend somehow managed to persuade to play the elf is at least a small perk of the job.

This fic is extremely cute and funny, perfect to start getting into that chilly Christmas mood, almost like a Christmas romcom!

Christmas won’t be the same this year— @dearmrsawyer

7.473 words / Liam x Louis

Liam is a suburban dream. Louis hates him and his Christmas lights.

One part new neighbors, two parts jealousy, one part attraction. Add some Christmas sparkle and stir generously, and you’ll get this crazy, fun fic about rivalry and redemption. Liam will warm your heart. Louis will have you groaning into your hands. But when they come together, it’ll leave you cheering.

Avoiding every mistletoe (until i know it’s true love) — @stylesthebrave

10.315 words / Harry x Louis

Even as the day comes to a close, Louis isn’t afraid to call the man sitting next to him on the sofa, watching snowflakes fall outside as the scent of sugar cookies fill the flat, the love of his life. Through his anger and sadness, never once did he stop loving Harry or regret loving Harry. If anything, he’s afraid of a world where he isn’t loving Harry. So, yeah, his heart is pretty content right now. Or, the Christmas exes to lovers AU.

While a chilling snowstorm builds around them, Harry and Louis attempt to talk about what broke them up and slowly rekindle the warmth that used to burn between them. The feelings are relatable and the hope is contagious in this sweet story of ex-lovers getting a second chance.

—-

As always, support the authors by leaving kudos and comments! Happy reading!

If you can’t get enough of our recs in this post, make sure to check out our tags page and scroll through the categories to see if you find any more fics you like! — FYMHM xx

[scarlethalowrites]

Timeloop!AU (Twisted Timelines) Timeline v1

Image Transcriptions:

Using actual years to keep things straight with January of the year Grian leaves Evo as year zero. Semi Color Coded: Black: Written/Planned Oneshots Blue: Watcher Stuff Red: Evo Stuff/Future!Grian Shenanigans Green: Hermitcraft Stuff Yellow: Other (Life Series, Empires, etc)

Year Zero The dragon fight on Evo occurs mid-September, after which Grian leaves the Server to train with the Greater Watchers (One and Two). (Note: Joe is there, Grian just occasionally sees Herobrine's eyes.) The Evolutionists begin to gradually leave the Server just over a month after Grian leaves (mid- to late-October). They have all left by the end of the year.

Year One Grian (now dubbed Xelqua) spends the entire year training with One and Two. Late January: Grian speaks with Joe for the first time. (Note: Joe has not yet lived through Hermitcraft alongside Grian, but he's known Grian for at least a decade, and quite possibly centuries. (Just how old is Herobrine, after all?)) Mid-February: Far Future!Grian begins traveling back in time to periodically meet up with Mumbo. (Notes: A. He lacks a physical form because of time travel, but he's from a far enough future that the form he projects is believably Grian, not a humanoid mass of eyes. (He uses Watcher powers to interact with the world [i.e. building] and avoids physical contact.) B. It has been so long since Evo (and probably since moving on from Hermitcraft) that his memory is fuzzy, so he avoids talking about Evo. (Mumbo comes to the misconception that Grian just doesn't want to talk about it. This later helps Present!Grian because Mumbo brushes off when he dodges questions.)) This continues through mid-May of year three. Mid-September (exactly one year since Grian left Evo): Grian gets the tattoo. Present!Grian meets Future!Grian for the first time. (Notes: This is the only time Future!Grian talks to Present!Grian like a normal person. They set ground rules for interacting when crossing their own timeline. The tattoo consists of a mock-up of the Watcher emblem (missing its corners) to symbolize Grian's age before becoming a Watcher. A line is added every year afterward.)

Year Two Xelqua is training with One and Two for the entire year. Far Future!Grian travels back in time to periodically meet up with Mumbo over the course of the year. Grian's tattoo is updated in mid-September.

Year Three Far Future!Grian travels back in time to periodically meet up with Mumbo until mid-May. Xelqua is training with One and Two until late May, after which he arrives in Mumbo's solo world. Mid- to Late-July: Season 6 of Hermitcraft starts and Grian becomes a Hermit. Early August: "Faith (Before There Was Made a God)" oneshot takes place. Grian learns that Xisuma is a follower of Xelqua. "“Faith” Is a Fine Invention" oneshot wherein Grian trains with Joe occurs within a week later. Grian's tattoo is updated in mid-September. Early to mid-November: "Sorting Through My Life's Debris" oneshot occurs wherein Grian meets Evil Xisuma for the first time.

Year Four Mid-March: Evil Xisuma is banned from Hermitcraft. Grian's tattoo is updated in mid-September. Look at all this free real estate...

Year Five Early February: Scar snippet. (This part is important to the overall story, but it's still too short to upload to ao3. Maybe someday... It will be vaguely alluded to in the meantime.) Late February: Season 6 of Hermitcraft ends and season 7 begins. (Note: Evil Xisuma manages to sneak in during the world transfer.) The Nether of the Hermitcraft Server is reset in mid- to late-June. Early July: "Look Into My Eyes (Tell Us All Your Fears)" oneshot occurs. Using the room built in that oneshot, Grian checks on EX [Xavier] at least once a month. (Although he tries to come every other week, Grian and EX are both worried that too frequent/routine of visits would raise suspicions.) This continues through the end of season 7. Grian's tattoo is updated in mid-September.

Year Six Third Life starts in mid- to late-April. The oneshot "Into the Void of Sight (His Own Reputation)" is marked as having occurred here because it focuses on Third Life, but it covers moments from the beginning of Hermitcraft season 7 through the end of Third Life. Mid-June: Season 7 of Hermitcraft ends, and season 8 begins roughly a week later. "Blessed by a Curse" oneshot occurs in late June. "Old, New, and Similar Faces" oneshot is listed afterwards chronologically, although it consists of two parts -- one before "Blessed by a Curse" and one afterward in early July. Grian's tattoo is updated in mid-September. Late September: Last Life starts. Late October: The moon begins to grow. Late December: "Two Seconds to Midnight" oneshot (currently unposted but coming soon!). Season 8 ends.

Year Seven Early March: Hermitcraft season 9 starts. (Author note: This is a long time for the Hermits to be stuck on the Hermitheus, which leaves the opportunity for oneshots of either Hermits on the ship, Hermits traveling to solo/other Servers, or I simply move the beginning of season 9 back a couple of months. Thoughts?) Mid-June: Double Life starts. There is a oneshot drabble planned here that is important to the story, but it is currently too short for ao3. Grian's tattoo is updated in mid-September. Late October: Hermits cross through the rift onto the Empires Server. There is a yet-unnamed but nearly complete oneshot here. Early December: The Hermits that went through the rift return to Hermitcraft, bringing a few members of the Empires Server with them. Late December: The Empires Server members return home.

[cerealforkart]

As someone who doesn't have the Patreon, could you summarise what the recent teen talk was about because I've seen a lot of my mutuals angry about will's thoughts on sparrow and I'm curious

Late answer sorry! Also some finale opinions oops.

Basically Will said he thought Normal would be really upset with Sparrow's love wolf moment in the finale because he would interpret it as "it takes me literally becoming god for my dad to love me". Which I think is a totally valid read from Normal's POV at the time!

He also said the reason Normal was depressed in the epilogue was because he and Sparrow in the 20 years between the ending and the epilogue never had a conversation and got closure which I'm more bummed about and a little ??? on

Sparrow always seemed like a really interesting and redeemable character with a lot of plot hooks in him who never got the chance to really... do anything. And it's just kind of disappointing to hear that even in the aftermath of the season the relationship never goes anywhere one way or the other. It just hangs there with neither of them able to communicate with the other. Which is sad in it's own way but also, 20 years is a really long time for that to still be the biggest problem in Normal's life, don't you think? I know the epilogue happened very suddenly and without a lot of prep, so I don't hold anything against Will for not having every aspect of Normal's life mapped out, but I sort of wish he had a little more going on

Anyways. Now that the season is over it's free real estate as far as I'm concerned. I'm gonna make a fancomic, give Sparrow his redemption arc, flesh out Normal's adult life, and most importantly, make these two have a gd conversation

[thevegetablewhichnoonedaresname]

okay. I’m gonna try and explain why I’m all emotional about Mob Psycho 100 right now for my followers who don’t watch it. y’all tell me if this makes sense okay?

SPOILERS (THIS IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY)

Mob (bowl cut 14yo kid with psychic powers) got paid in broccoli seeds by Reigen (his fake psychic boss) for an exorcism one time because Reigen is broke and there are no child labor laws in Seasoning City (the town where they live). There was a really evil guy trying to take over the world with his very strong psychic powers, but don’t worry about that too much because it was just a mid-series season finale and he’s not really relevant any more. Anyway, Mob is fighting this guy, right, and they threw around SO MUCH psychic power that everyone almost died, but then the broccoli seeds Mob stuck in his pocket and forgot about absorbed all the power so everyone was fine and there was a happy ending UNTIL Dimple (an evil ghost who follows Mob and Reigen around, makes snarky comments, and talks about how much he wants to take over the world) decided the broccoli was Free Real Estate. So now Dimple’s convincing the entire city to eat broccoli and everybody is mind controlled and loves broccoli. Dimple typically looks like a booger or glow-in-the-dark gum wad, but since he’s very powerful now he is a giant gold muscular bald man with no clothes on and thinks he’s a god. He’s chilling up inside the broccoli and Mob’s upset because of the mind control so he goes to give Dimple a piece of his mind, and Dimple hates Mob’s horrible ugly shirt so bad he loses it and you think they’re gonna fight, but it turns out that the REAL god powers were the friends we made along the way, and Mob and Dimple are besties and it’s all about friendship and love and trust and so instead of fighting Mob just gets open and honest and trusts Dimple with his vulnerabilities and Dimple is like “whoops, I’ve gained a conscience,” but then OOPSIE! THE BROCCOLI IS SENTIENT AND DIMPLE TAUGHT IT TO BE EVIL. OH NO. So Dimple commits the ultimate sacrifice to right the wrongs he caused and make sure Mob is safe. and they Wave at each other and Mob SMILES because he doesn’t KNOW because Dimple BRAINWASHED Mob so he wouldn’t WORRY and put himself in DANGER because Dimple’s WATCHED Mob do that OVER AND OVER and he KNOWS HE WOULD DO IT AGAIN BECAUSE DIMPLE (A NASTY LITTLE EVIL SNOT SPIRIT) IS IN MOB’S INNER CIRCLE OF PEOPLE WHO MATTER AND DIMPLE KNOWS THAT AND I’M GONNA CRY AGAIN

and then Dimple gets eaten by the broccoli and the broccoli flies off to space and Mob can’t remember anything except that his friend died but hey! They’re gonna hunt for aliens next week. Road trip! 🤪😘✨💕✨✨

[melishade]

After finishing the story and watching the visuals of aot, did it gave more ideas to work on?

Honestly, not really.

So for some context, I was a manga reader for AoT, and I specifically was in order to get more ideas for Attack on Prime. When the manga chapter for Assassin's Bullet came out, and Eren started laughing like a maniac over Sasha's death, I knew how I wanted to end the story, and I knew that the Rumbling was going to be activated. That is what spawned the creation of cm186: one of the first of many documents I had for AOP. (There was another that I had on a flash drive but the flash drive got busted and it costed too much to repair it and it devastates me to this day. Back up your files on different formats writers). cm186 was a lot of the brainstorming and rough drafts of that final battle and the aftermath of that battle.

Now I had an idea for an ending, it was just a matter of filling in the in between. How to get to that point. I continued reading AoT and continued writing for that 4 year gap that Isayama ignored. The Paths chapters dropped; that became some free ass real estate. And then AoT dropped the final chapter, and the final chapter wasn't something that I was particularly happy with. And I've stated in my author's notes of other chapters as to why that was the case.

Before and after the AoT manga ended, I was still writing, brainstorming, outline, analyzing, all that stuff for Attack on Prime. Even as I was writing chapters, I had written concept idea and scenes for future chapters that were either scrapped or changed via dialogue and action. Even now, as I've reached the climax: Guren No Yumiya, I still have to go back to previous chapters and fix certain things because I either don't like the direction I've taken, or the big scenes that happen in certain battles don't feel as impactful, so I have to add stuff.

Aot's anime ending remained mostly the same. I like the fact that they fixed Armin and Eren's conversation, which was one of the major problems that I had with the manga; however, there are still a lot of problems that I have with AoT's ending which would have benefited from an extra few chapters. Such as:

-Ymir's relationship with King Fritz, -Mikasa's role in the story, and the fact that she still holds onto Eren and thinks of him fondly when he killed 80% of all humanity (Also she kissed his decapitated head. That's still pretty gross.) -Also the whole Eren causing his mom's death because it's been shown in the show that abnormal titan can ignore a few individual people if they see a large host of people (i.e. Rod Reiss' titan) -We don't really see the fruits of the Alliance's labor post Rumbling. -Everyone looking at Eren rather fondly. This is kinda fixed in the anime, but it rubs me the wrong way in the manga. -The lack of time we really spend with the warriors and warrior cadets which causes their character development to be a little lackluster. I guess I'm thinking in the context of "I've known them for so little time compared to the main cast of three season"

There's a lot I could talk about, but I'm certain there are others who can explain it far better than I can. But AOP is essentially me addressing what I didn't like with AoT. Aot's anime ending did nothing to change that.

[simplesims24]

Growing Together Thoughts

The quality of this new expansion pack is yet to be decided because even when things have looked amazing, we know it can still flop or turn out broken. Something I have not seen a lot when it comes to the opinions circulating around the Growing Together Expansion is questioning what this pack is actually going to do. 

Now, I am a huge family gameplay simmer and have been screaming for “Generations” for years, but when My Wedding Stories was released that dream kind of faded. Then with the High School Years expansion, for me it kind of looked like Generations was going to be individualized throughout different packs. I did not mind this considering these experiences like weddings in the Sims 4 received so much more attention, even if it did release broken. My point is we have basically received Generations already. 

We put a lot of credit on the Sims 3 Generations, and it was amazing, but all it added was an upgrade to weddings, high school events, and a few broader lifetime milestones. This was great for us because we did not have ANY of that before, which is why Generations is what it is. BUT once again we have in-depth weddings. we have high schools where we can actually attend class. If a baby update and a new compatibility system is what this “Sims 4 Generations” pack is truly aiming at, I am going to be deeply disappointed. 

I generally don’t like to be negative about the Sims 4 because I enjoy playing it. I am honestly not hoping the Sims 5 comes out anytime soon because then we are starting all the way back at square one, back to waiting years for those staple gameplay pieces. However, I am bothered by the fact that the Sims team is fully milking our wants for a baby update by making us pay for an expansion pack. I know the baby update is free, but they specifically stated some features (which we know will probably be the better features) will be limited to the pack. I wouldn’t mind this as much if it was not the only damn thing this pack was marketing other than having the ability to mark another sim with a “close” or “distant” tag. What? How is that Generations? How is that an expansion pack? 

So if you say Generations already exists what do you want? 

Honestly, my ideas for how I would have wanted it are not that realistic considering the game is about to release. But if I had an opinion: 

1. Lifestage overhaul: Not just babies. Adding a pre-teen stage or at least make the teenagers look a little younger. 

2. Pregnancy overhaul: There are so many ways to go about this, while keeping it within ratings. Something as simple as fertility, like miscarriages or infertility could be so game changing. 

3. Wills, trusts, and real estate (real estate could be its own pack but thinking kind of small here): Being able to pass down your “vacation house” or old house or other items. When your teen sim ages up and moves out they receive their trust fund. AND being able to pick specifically who it goes to. Could be your child or it could be your neighbor.

I am all for a compatibility system and some attention to elders, but these are real gameplay ideas that would expand the entire game permanently, not just for a few months. THIS IS WHAT EXPANSION PACKS ARE SUPPOSED TO DO!!! And is kind of the reason I lowkey dislike the aim they took with My Wedding Stories and High School Years. They centered it too narrowly in a specific area. Yeah you still get to have better weddings, but all of your planning stuff happens in Tartosa- what if my wedding is somewhere else? Then they placed the high school in a town with barely any residential lots + most of the lots are super small. These challenges are often looked over, but they are the reason we have so much difficulty playing long-term. Seasons is implemented into every single game; in every town. It unnoticeably enhanced the way you play your game and so did Cats and Dogs. Sure there are certain parts you limit yourself to among those packs, but the main feature is most likely present in every single one of your save files. And I’m sorry, better babies is not something I wanted to see as the main gameplay feature for this pack. Before anyone comments that those suggestions I mentioned are unrealistic-there is a mod for each of them, so if a modder can do it, I know the Sims Team is more than capable of doing so.

[julietookoff]

February 2023 Tour

So some of the maintenance we did on our 11 year old RV:  replace part of a rotted slide-out floor, paint the yellowed ceiling fixtures, get front seat covers, a new driver’s side window, install a microwave over-the-stove, replace the 2 house batteries, "new" mattress and just scrub and touch-up everything.  We took it to Henkel's RV Sales August 9, knowing it was off-season for RV sales. . . it is still there!  We were hoping it would sell around the time of the big RV show in Tampa, but that's been a few weeks ago. . .  It’s still in good shape; as Shorty said, “Nobody’s got any money now.”

Closing on our house was July 22, 2022.  We found a G.E. dishwasher at an outlet store in Clearwater, a G.E. stove at an estate sale, and fridge, washer and dryer at Lowe's.   By the time we got the mattresses, shower curtains, and things you need to live, our first night in the house was July 29.  We still had to commute to Holiday to finish working on the RV at our tired senior pace.  We decided we're going to die here, because we're too old to move again. . . we were so worn out.  But dang, we're loving it here!

We continued commuting (about 35 miles each way) to see Shorty most weeks; a few times he came up to see us at the house.

The first two things I cooked in the new house were sheet pan chicken/taters/ corn on the cob and chicken parm on the sheet pan.  After 10 years with an RV oven, I had a heuge two-shelfer and two giant sheet pans I had been dying to use.  I had been collecting recipes from Julia Pacheco, my fav You-Tube home cook, for about a year.  To Corny's (and Bob's) delight, I have been cooking up a storm!  I also started a little canning.  I have wanted sodium-free beans for a long time - and the pressure canner takes them from dried, right outta the bag to squishy soft in 40 minutes.

^stuffed Manicotti

Corny watched and I re-watched Breaking Bad on one of the many TVs we've found in storage auctions.  This one came with a guest subscription to Netflix.  We watched "Better Call Saul".  He was Corny's favorite character.  I've always loved Bryan Cranston.  Then we watched all the Jurassic Park movies.

Here's a little tour.  The walls are a very light grey; flooring is grey vinyl:

^This is where I have my oatmeal with Piggie and Poco

Master bed and bath:

Life of Christ cross - all the little boxes were delivered to Shorty's house over the past year and accumulated in storage.  It was like Christmas, opening them all up and displaying them!

Bedroom 1, Den and bath 2:

Poco got a cute little 2' fence surrounding the patio.  Corny doesn't worry so much about him wandering away now.

Backyard visitors:  flock of 6 wild turkeys, pond turtle  

Fledgling woodpecker chatted with me and clung to my leg for several minutes when I went to pick up my bedside dresser.

Without gutters yet, when hurricane Ian headed our way in September, we made two trips to a county park to fill sandbags.  Some young, energetic people took pity on us old, slow-moving, moaning people and helped us haul the heavy bags to the Jeep.  Corny made a few bucks selling flashlights and lanterns he had gotten on clearance months ago, thanks to Ian.

In November I did a big 2-week Georgia county run.  I only got the Jeep stuck once, in mud covered by leaves.  A Lumpkin County Sheriff had me out within minutes.  I have about 1/3 of GA counties to visit:

On Thanksgiving Shorty brought Bob up to the house.  They arrived at 5pm; the turkey finished at 7:30pm.  I made real gravy for the first time in decades.

Corny had some kidney procedures in November, then found himself in the hospital for an infection in December.

Shorty told us on Dec. 1 he was moving "up north".  He heard rumors that Hyundai was hiring contractors to do his job so he promptly took his 3 weeks vacation.  When he went back to see if he was on the schedule, they were like "Who are you?".  He had worked there 10 1/2 years.  We were so glad they did what we couldn't - kick him in the pants so he would get a better job.  The little shit decided to move to Elkhart, Indiana to be able to afford a house of his own.  We miss him - my life has certainly changed.  I would plan all week what to bring him or ask him or tell him.  But we are very happy for him to be out on his own and experiencing real freedom for the first time.  He left for Elkhart Dec. 3 so now we just text.

We didn't have much notice, so Christmas was basically cancelled.  We went to Buffet City on Christmas Eve.   I made 4# of candied pecans to send up north and give to the neighbors and Liam - Shiloh Builders' Number Two.  They are building a house right next door which Chick, the owner of Shiloh, is going to live in part time.  They are using the garage as their office.  

I threw a tapestry over the TV for Christmas.

Corny scored a home run and got me a Kitchen Aid accessory that peels, cores and slices an apple all at the same time!  I made my first apple pie since I was 20-something years old.  I was always too impatient to peel apples.

We continue going to storage auctions.  The latest score was an entire tub of Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards.  I went through them all to check for the big buck$ cards.  There weren't any.  When I get back from BamaRama (GC9TB1Z) I will list them on Facebook Marketplace for prolly $20/box.  

Life is Godd!

We fit out.