#because they dont seem to understand the more you change earlier on. the less the later stuff will work without also needing change

[aroaceleovaldez]

full on feel like pjo tv s2 is not gonna hold up so they need to drag as much attention to the series as they can by using nico as a sock puppet w tsats2

im fully expecting the show to go the way of the movies. it doesnt help Sea of Monsters is almost unanimously the least favorite book of the first series. People frequently forget it even exists or what happens in it, especially more casual fans.

Heck, just look at how little fanfare the second season has gotten so far as compared to the build up to s1. I wouldn't be surprised if s2 totally flops. It would be a little funny.

[twoa-plus]

dissecting stanford pines and finding organs that don’t exist but like in a metaphorical way

that’s it that’s the title i’m going with. this is a long one folks o7

most of this isn’t sourced or canon at all it’s just personal interpretation/headcanon/whatever else u wanna call it, but!! since more people are seeing my deranged gravity falls ramblings now i figure i should probably give some perspective as to why i like/defend ford as much as i do

(in my other gf posts i do try to stick to canon to back up whatever point i’m making - this is just about my personal opinion of ford as a character, and should be able to be thrown out in regards to my other posts)

so for some background/setup/whatever (it’s important i promise bear with me), different people have different instinctual responses to anxiety/stress. i come from a family (genetics are fun) where the default response is to start (metaphorically ofc) biting and hissing like a cornered animal. this doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any actual hatred or malice or anything towards the people that end up getting scratched - they might just be at the wrong place at the wrong time, they might’ve done something super minor and insignificant that added on to a preexisting pile of stress, etc etc

i cannot stress enough that i am not saying this is ok. you dont need me to tell you that hurting people who don’t deserve it is a bad thing, lol. what i am saying though is that sometimes people can kind of suck for reasons other than just genuinely wanting everyone around them to be miserable

this is the last “background” part i swear BUT another thing thats less genetic and more just me being weird is that i’m the type of person where like. any minor environmental change can really stress me out lol. like even just reorganizing my desk can be pretty emotionally taxing

SO. finally back on topic. stanford pines. i see a lot of the behavior/patterns i just described in him. like i’ve spent my entire life around people like this, and while i understand why a lot of people see him as just some asshole, i can’t help but see him as a guy who’s just kinda going through it lol

just talking about the more recent events as of the series, he’s just spent 30 years god knows where doing and seeing god knows what, he has an abusive ex who wants to murder him and his entire family (plus the whole dimension, really), and in the three decades he’s been gone the entire world - including his own house - has changed and left him behind. add onto that that he went missing in 1982, way before we had all of the emotional/mental health resources we have now, we all saw what the stans’ childhood was like, and that ford is terrible with people - including, imo, himself. if there’s anybody out there who would have Feelings and not understand what they are or where they’re coming from or what to do about them, it’s this guy

this entire setup is the perfect circumstance for fear and anxiety and stress and uncertainty to all get translated into anger. a really big example of this, to me, is how he talks about dipper in journal 3. i’ve talked about this before somewhere so i’ll try to summarize as fast as i can lol

reading his initial entry about dipper would make u think he like. hates this kid lol. but i really don’t think he ever did - he was really excited to meet the kids in the show and already seemed to care about them just by virtue of existing, and his opinion on dipper in journal 3 seems to do a complete 180 pretty quickly which ,,, doesn’t really fit ford as a character. like i love the man but that guy can hold a GRUDGE

here’s how it reads to me:

ford gets back to his home dimension after 30 years and everything is different

he’s subconsciously kind of struggling with the fact that he doesn’t really have a “home” anymore - the sense of familiarity and comfort that would normally come with the word is gone. (i specify that it’s subconscious because, like i said earlier, i do not get the vibe that he’s particularly aware of his own emotions)

he finds out that journal 3 - something he made with his own two hands and considers part of his life’s work - has also changed in the decades he’s been gone. this adds to the feeling of unfamiliarity with the world around him

it’s easier to blame that “final straw” and say that he’s just upset about his work being tampered with rather than address the actual root of the problem, so that’s exactly what he does. this still doesn’t mean that there’s any genuine hatred towards dipper. anger in the moment, yeah, but not hatred

again, this is entirely personal interpretation, and i completely understand if u don’t see it like this!! this is just a pattern of thoughts/behavior that i’m very familiar with, so it’s easy for me to apply it to situations like this even if it’s not really part of the canon

i also think there’s a big problem in this fandom with just ,, not seeing ford as a Person with Emotions? idk how to explain it but it feels like people expect him to always know exactly what to do in every situation just bc he’s old and academically smart. like whenever another character does something objectively bad it’s “well there were extenuating circumstances,” (which is usually true and i agree !!) but ford never really seems to get that treatment. if he does something bad it’s just because he sucks

a big example of this i think is the fight between him and stan (y’know the “you ruined my life”/“you ruined your own life”). you cannot look me dead in the eyes and, in full seriousness, with the context of everything ford was going through with bill at the time, say that he was fully mentally/emotionally stable during that conversation. “oh so you’re blaming stan-“ NO!!! stan was also going through it!!! that’s the entire point - they’re both people with their own lives and emotions and everything else that comes with that, they had very human reactions to their respective situations, and they both ended up hurt!! hopefully i’m explaining this right but i just don’t like it when people pin everything on ford, like there was a lot going on and at the end of the day he’s just a human

wasn’t really sure how to work this in so i’ll just put it here - i don’t think ford ever truly hated stan, either. familial bonds are complicated, and there can be a whole lot of anger towards someone without true hatred being present. i briefly mentioned the stans’ childhood sucking earlier, and i don’t just mean stanley - it’s easier to pinpoint him as a victim of abuse/neglect, but that doesn’t mean ford had it great either. their parents (specifically filbrick, but caryn didn’t exactly do a fantastic job with them either) expected nothing of stan and the world of ford, both of which would weigh heavily on any child. plus, ford being the favorite doesn’t mean all of his emotional needs were met - filbrick seeing him as an opportunity to make money doesn’t mean he was suddenly an emotionally present and caring father towards him. WCT wasn’t just an opportunity for ford to go be a famous scientist or whatever - it was a chance for his father to love him, something both of the stans desperately wanted. (WCT was also on the opposite side of the country from where they lived but i’m sure that’s completely unrelated !!!)

do i think stan deserved anything that happened to him after the science fair incident? no, absolutely not, he was a child. do i think it was right of ford to just stand there as his brother got thrown out? no, absolutely not - but he was a child too. as for them not speaking for a decade after that, like i mentioned earlier ford can hold a grudge like no other. (this doesn’t just apply to stan, either, ford dedicated half of his life to trying to kill his ex lmao.) i think ford’s ability to hold on to anger like that is actually a pretty major part of/flaw in his personality, but again, anger - even the strongest, most long-lived of it - is not synonymous with hatred. stan, who ford has always gone to for help when he truly needed it, it not what ford’s hatred looks like. bill, who ford actively wants to die, is

anyways!! i never know how to close these things lol. ig in summary i just see ford’s behavior (in the show at least) as more of a sign of internal struggle rather than like ,, genuinely hating the people around him and wanting their lives to suck. did/does he have an ego problem? absolutely. is he incapable of love and human connection? no. is he immune to manipulation/abuse/neglect/etc and everything that comes with that? also no

he’s an interdimensional criminal why can’t he go to the theraprism. i think he should

[amalgamate-exe]

Dye Dye My Darling

IRL's plz dont read ^^

Eli -Hawk- moskowitz x M!reader

This is like my first full fic so enjoy!

~~~~~~

Warnings: Unedited, Earlier series hawk, Flirting some and a whole lot of hair dye.

___________________________

Hawk and you have been dating for about 6 months which would make you the luckiest girl in the entire tri-state area if this was some cheesy rom-com, but alas that's not how life worked out for you two. Unfortunately hard-core Karate kids and of course… kyler wouldn't be so chill with you two together, but that was beside the point. You were sitting with your friends at lunch admiring Hawk from afar Admiring him, the way his liberty spikes stood larger than life, the way his nose crinkled when he was laughing, probably about the Miyagi- do kids, or some new internet video that hasn't become post ironic yet, His cleft lip his-

“Earth to Y/N?” One of your friends ask 

“Hm sorry? Yeah what's up?” you ask still wanting to keep an eye on your boyfriend, you had no reason to stare but he was just… so pretty, like a Greek sculpture with his liberty spikes seeming to tower on forever

“Did you get the answers for number 6 for Math? You’re a nerd and like- Hey are you even listening to me?” Your friend follows your gaze to see “Oh for the love of gods Y/N I understand you want to live out your little romance but how many times do I have to tell you? He’s taken and… no offense, You're not his… his type!” this was almost a weekly conversation at this point, your friends and anyone else just assumed you had a crush on Hawk, but it didn't matter you two had each other and he invited you over to his house to hang out and play Tekken, and maybe… just MAYBE he’d let you dye his hair, his roots were overgrown and his hair was more of a blue-green bleached color rather than the aggressive red or any other color he has had in the past 6 months. 

“Sure thing F/N, anyways here are the answers for the homework,” You say keeping an eye on Hawk. And sliding F/N the answers

The rest of your classes after lunch went by fairly quickly, nothing interesting or notable except that on Friday there would be a huge party at the creek. The final bell rang as you started walking to His house, when you heard the clop-clop of heavy boots on the pavement behind you you turned around and see Hawk 

“Hey! Were you just gonna walk off and leave me back at that hell hole?” He asks giving you a playful nudge in the side

“Oh sorry I figured you wouldn't want to be seen with me, social hierarchy and stuff,” you say with a smirk, understanding the cliques in high school are very important, just like 80’s movies. 

“Not that I don't want to see you! I get like during lunch where you’re playing all stealth, but I love seeing you, I crave you” he says with a smirk as you walk back to his house.

Once you get into his house you both drop your bags and sit on the couch next to each other, you start playing Tekken 7 on his play station, He selects Devil Jin and you select King, as you two start playing and getting into the groove of the game, you decide to pop the question,

“Hey Pigeon~,” You ask in an almost sing-song voice

“yeah, babe?” He asks Lasered focused on the game, some things never change

“I was thinkin’ like your hair is just bleached now all the colors faded out, and I was wondering if I could dye it for you?”

“No way in hell” Responds quick and toneless

“Aww, why not?” You ask attempting to counter His attack and failing miserably 

“Because you're going to mess it up then you made a fool out of both of us! I'll trust you a lot, however my hair dye, my spikes? No one touches those”

“Well, you weren't complaining when I was touching them the other night!” You quickly retort back

“That's– that’s beside the point,” he says slightly flustered “No one touches my hair for upkeep except me!”

“So you're saying that you trust me to give you a PERMANENT tattoo over more or less Temporary hair dye?” You ask with a smirk

“What-? No, that's not what I'm saying at all!” He seems annoyed but that could be because you're beating him at video games rather than you attempting to get permission to dye his hair

“I've been dying my hair since I was like 13 if anyone knows anything I do. Also, would you rather have a little purple on your forehead or the weird half-blond green with roots you have going on now?”

He thinks for a moment as he hits a combo on you, the TV plays a little sound and goes “Player 2 WINS!” 

“Wanna know what, Fine, you can dye my hair ONCE” and if you fuck it up you will have to be the one who goes out to buy black box dye to fix it, AND deal?”

You smile and steal a kiss “Deal” 

You guys go to his bathroom and he changes into his hair-dye shirt, 

“Can't you just be topless?”

“No! You're going to be messing with MY hair. I don't need your eyes somewhere they shouldn't be!” 

“Oh sure! I'm the one ogling you when your shirt is off, I swear if you think i'm bad you should SEE your teammates when you take off your Gi top”

“Well last time I checked, I wasn't taking my teammates to bed with me” he responds with a smirk as he takes the bright Red hair dye bottle from under the sink and hands it over to you, then he kisses you on your cheek, “Ok now don't make me regret letting you do this… ok”|

“Fine” 

After you start mixing the dye and put on gloves you start applying the dye to his head,

“Are you sure you didn't forget a step?” he asks with a smirk as you apply the dye to his hair

“Well if I did it's too late now… here my phone is in my pocket. play some music” You shift your weight so he can take your phone out of your pocket and he plays something, the noise of chiptune and 8-bit music fills the room, it is lively in its way 

“Hey this is kinda good what is it?” you ask about halfway done slopping (painting) on the red pigment to his hair

“You're not gonna believe me,” he says with a smirk

“Oh come on, you've seen my taste in music at times, this is good, what is it?” 

“It may or may not be the undertale soundtrack by Toby Fox?” he says almost embarrassed, which causes you to burst out laughing

“God pigeon, no matter how much of a karate badass you are, you're still a nerd at heart… I could kiss you right now” 

“Now now, focus on my hair, need your blood in your brain…’ he looks you up and down “Other��places,” he says smirking and giving you that damned look of flirtation 

“You know you’re making dying your hair seem like way more of an in-depth process than it is… also for your hair being bleached so many times it's still soft” You liked the conversation also the silence no matter how long you've been together still felt off-putting, he smiles 

“Thanks the hair dye I use has some conditioner property or something, also I use a shit load of conditioner you know it couldn't damage your hair too much if you wanted to dye your hair too” he was just straight flirting with you now but he seemed genuine with his offer causing you to blush, a lot 

“That doesn't sound like a ‘no’ to me, c’mon we can match,” he says with a smirk that you could never say no to. The way his cheeks moved, the way his-

“Hey space cadet, can I dye your hair while mine is setting?” He asks while he's turning his head making sure every bit of the hair is saturated with the crimson dye’

“Yeah, that would be nice… though you better not fuck it up,” you say playfully.

Once you are done dying your hair and rinsing it out, the bathtub looks like a murder scene, with red dye along the bathtub and partially up the wall

“Holy shit your mom is going to kill me!” You say looking back at the mess you've made, hair dripping in front of your eyes, which causes Eli to scoff

“She's fine with it, who do you think took me to buy the dye in the first place? It just needs some TLC and it’ll all be good, baby” He says in a playful tone of voice while wrapping his arms around your waist. “The red streak looks cute on you too,” he says kissing your cheek, it feels nice his hands around your waist, and you lean more into him 

“Hey since you don't have to get going for a few more hours, wanna watch a movie? Something cheesy like clueless or… 10 things I hate about you?” He shrugs holding you close

“Both sound perfect”

[rand0mfangurlstuff]

I'll Look After You Part 2 - Bucky x Y/N

First part here: https://www.tumblr.com/rand0mfangurlstuff/745510955233034240/ill-look-after-you-bucky-x-yn?source=share

Y/N woke up that morning with a terrible creak in her neck. She was in a awkward and uncomfortable possition. When she first woke up she thought she was in her own bed, but this hard uncomfotrable sufrace was not her bed. She slowly opened her eyes; before she could fully take in her surroundings she heard a familiar deep voice 'Morning Sleeping Beauty' she shot up like she had just been electrocuted. John 'Bucky' Egan looked at her with a smirk that she was certain made many a poor woman weak in the knees. She did her best to compose herself, act like she intended to fall asleep next to him. 'Morning, How'd you sleep?' she asked. 'Like a baby in his mothers arms.' He smiled that devilish smile again. 'I'm glad. A bit more rest and you should be in the air in no time.' His expression changed. It was softer now. 'Thank you, for staying with me.' She smiled, she could see he meant it. But she had to try her best and be professional. 'Don't mention it. Just doing my job.' It was then he switched back. It was like he was too different people. There was John; kind, honest, almost shy. Then there was Bucky; all cocky bravado and over-confident. He smirked, 'You sleep next to all your patients?' 'I'll do whatever I need to to make sure my patients get the best care.' She decided the best thing to do was to act natural and unfased. He was clearly goading her, she could see it in his eyes. She needed to reistablish the Nurse/Patient dynamic once again to regain control of the situation. She proceeded to check his vitals while asking him basic medical questions. The more she talked, the less he could.

'How's the pain?' She asked while checking his pulse. 'Fine. I'm totally fine.' 'Oh really? That's good. I'll let the doctor know. He'll examine you and if he sees you're fit for duty you'll be out of here by lunch time.' She knew he was not fit for duty. She just wanted to get him to stop this bravado act. Made everything a lot simpler. 'Sit up for me.' He tried, and tried even harder not to seem in pain, but as soon as Bucky tried to sit up straight in the bed, he winced in pain and fell back against the pillows. 'I uh, I guess I'm still a bit sore.' 'Major it's best if you be honest with us about your condition it's the only way we can make sure you are healing properly.' 'Yes Nurse.' There was a sudden tension in the air. She could feel that he wasnt pleased. Wither it be because he had to stay in the infirmary, or because she wasnt playing his game with him, she wasnt sure. 'I should go freshen up before rounds. If you need anything just ring the bell, one of the other nurses will help you.' He smiled, he looked a little hurt by her leaving, but he quickly turned on the 'Bucky' charm to hide it. 'I'll see you later Nurse Y/N, Will there be another sleepover? Dont forget your pajamas this time!' He said with a wink. She ignored him, walking away to get something to eat.

Bucky was confused. Last night she had been so kind to him. More than kind, she showed him more care than he had recieved in a long time. But this morning, it was like a different person. She was so stern with him, cold even. He couldnt understand what on earth he had done to make her change? Was she really only helping him last night because it was her job? Sure that was obviously part of it, but it felt like more to him. Was she ashamed that she let herself be in a vulnerable position with him? He would never hurt her. His teasing earlier was just that, teasing. Maybe even a little bit of flirting. Was that the problem? Was she taken? Had some lucky bastard already claimed her as his? There were no rings on her finger, but she still might belong to someone. Bucky sat contemplating, wondering what he would have to do to see her smile as she did lastnight.

The evening came again and she found herself back in the infirmary to relieve the day nurse, Barbara. Barbara was a nice woman, a little older, warm and friendly to the other staff but known to be very strict to the patients. Timing was everything to Barbara. When it was time to eat, she made those patients eat. When it was time to do physical exercise, those men better get out of bed faster than if the Nazi's were shooting at them. Y/N came to the nurses station as Barbara was finishing paperwork. 'They've all had their evening meals and I did their vitals half hour ago. One soldier in particular was very dissapointed to see me at his bedside and not you.' 'Why? Who?' 'Major Egan. He kept asking were you on shift today and when you would be back. Something to tell me?' Y/N blushed, wishing Major Egan and his blue eyes would leave the infirmary already. 'I don't know why he'd care if I was working or not.' She lied. 'I'd say it would have something to do with your little sleepover last night.' 'He told you?!' Forget the infirmary, he was going to the morgue. 'No he didnt, one of the other patients did. Saw you fast asleep on his way to the bathroom.' 'Oh, well he was having trouble sleeping so -' 'They all have trouble sleeping. Their soldiers in a war.' Y/N felt like she was being scolded. 'I'm sorry I just-' 'No need to be sorry, just be careful. I hear he has a reputation.' With that Barbara put on her coat and left for the evening.

She was here. He heard her sweet voice pass by his cubicle. He was suddenly angry at that other nurse for closing the curtain around his bed, preventing him from seeing her. He knew she would be coming to see him eventually, but waiting for that moment was almost more excruciating than his ribs. He felt his eyes tire, but he fought hard to stay awake. Firsty, because of those horrible nightmares, secondly, because he had to see her again. Had to make sure she knew he wasnt just some cocky pilot. Show her the nice Bucky.

It was 1am. As much as she didnt want to, she had to go check on Major Egan. She got to his cubicle and gently pulled back the curtain, expecting him to be asleep by now. But there he was, wide awake. His tired eyes seemed to gain a bit of extra sparkle when he saw her. 'Good Evening Nurse Y/N' she smiled. 'Major Egan you -' 'Bucky' he interrupted her. Confused she said, 'What Major?' 'I told you last night to call me Bucky, remember? You said it was cool.' That made her giggle involuntarily 'I did say that, didn't I? Must have been sleep deprived.' He dramaticly laid a hand over his chest 'Oh wow, that hurt worse than the ribs.' She came closer to him, to take his vitals. It was difficult though when his blue eyes were staring at her like she was a fresh bunch of daisys.

'Everything looks good, you need anything? Any pain meds?' she said with a gentle smile as she released his wrist from her grasp. 'I'm fine Nurse Y/N, thank you.' She turned to leave, and Bucky almost begged her not to. As she walked away from his cubicle she said 'Get some sleep Bucky, it's good for you.' 'Will do Nurse Y/N' just as she was outside his cubicle, she turned on her heel and said 'It's just Y/N. If you're just Bucky, I'm just Y/N.' He smiled, a smile that he felt all through him, 'Okay then. Goodnight Y/N.' 'Goodnight Bucky.'

He tried to sleep, and actually did for a while. He was lost in dreams of Jay Gatsby and Daisy, then dreams of her. Her smiling face. Then his dreams turned sour. Suddenly Y/N was no longer smiling at him. Instead she was crying while being dragged away by Nazis. Planes crashed around him. There were flames everywhere. He could feel the heat on his skin, he was burning. He was dying. 'Bucky! Bucky its okay! Shh.. you're safe.' He woke as he did the night before. Her arms around him, her wispering in his ear. He was covered in sweat and his heart felt like it was going to explode. She started to rub the hair and the nape of his neck, all the while still talking to him in that sweet, caring voice. 'You're okay Bucky. You're in the infirmary. Nobody's going to hurt you.' He managed to calm his breathing enought to let out a quiet 'I'm sorry.' She unwrapped herself from him, sitting on the edge of his bed. 'Don't be sorry. It's a nightmare, you cant help it.' Bucky scoffed 'I'm like a damn kid again. Pathetic.' She grabbed his hand. 'I dont see a kid, and I definitely dont see someone I would call 'pathetic'. You've been through a terrible ordeal, you risk your life on a daily basis. It's normal for what you've been through to affect you. I see a brave soldier, fighting for his country. There is nothing pathetic about that.' She looked to the nightstand to the book she had been reading him, 'The Great Gatsby'. A good book by all accounts, but Bucky had read it so many times now he was getting tired of it. He would however listen to the story a thousand times if she was the one reading it to him. Without a word, she picked up the book to the page on which she had bent the corner. Bucky protested 'You don't have to...' 'I need to know how it ends!' She said with a smile. She began to read again, her soft melodic voice like angles calling him to heaven.

[sneakyboymerlin]

if gwaine found out about merlin's magic, destiny, and the reason for his behavior towards mordred, what do you think he would do, regarding merlin and merlin's relationship with him? would he meddle at all? would he try to get merlin to realize that he (merlin) has more to life than what his 'destiny' is. and therefore mordred probably does too?

i read a fic recently where it was like. "merlin realizes he has failed at his destiny and so reconciles w/mordred because he figured mordred too can fail at his destiny" but i dont know if the whole "merlin failed at his destiny" thing sits right with me. so much of it was on him, by the dragon and the fandom, but its supposed to be "two halves of the same coin" for a reason--they are supposed to be equals yet everyone is content to keep merlin delegated to the role of serving arthur and only arthur, rather than valuing himself as well, and arthur is just as much as fault for magic not coming to camelot because arthur is king and is very much still prejudiced against magic for the most part. thats not on merlin. at a certain point you have to realize that arthur is a grown man he cannot be coddled forever, especially as a king?

if gwaine found out about merlin's magic, destiny, and the reason for his behavior towards mordred, what do you think he would do, regarding merlin and merlin's relationship with him? would he meddle at all? would he try to get merlin to realize that he (merlin) has more to life than what his 'destiny' is. and therefore mordred probably does too?

Easy answer: he’d fuck Merlin against a wall.

Complex answer: I think for Merlin, he already knew that it was possible for Mordred to fail in his destiny… if Mordred died, at least. As far as he was concerned, only one of them could fail/succeed, because just as Merlin was destined to protect Arthur even though he hated him at first, Mordred was destined to kill Arthur even if he did seem to like him. Merlin’s goal is essentially to make sure Mordred fails in his destiny so that he can succeed in his own. Kilgharrah warns Merlin from the start that the only way to ensure this is to kill him, or so Kilgharrah thinks.

I believe that both of their destinies were going to inevitably be fulfilled at some point. If Mordred died, he could still be Arthur’s Bane because we’ve seen a Druid ghost come back to seek revenge against Arthur. And even at his most accepting, Arthur was still pretty lukewarm towards magic, seeing “good magic” as an exception to its default “evil” state (as expressed in 5x05 and 5x09). Therefore, everything with Kara could still happen even if Arthur welcomed the Old Religion back to Camelot, since he doesn’t understand the true extent of his bias.

If Gwaine found out about Merlin’s magic, I think he would have some divided reactions. For one thing, he is pretty much unquestioningly loyal to Merlin and would most certainly accept Merlin as “one of the good ones” among sorcerers. The problem with this: he may believe that sorcerers are bad by default, much like Arthur does. He would probably not question Merlin’s judgment of Mordred much, though we never see Gwaine’s stance on prophecy/destiny, but he would notice the toll that this prophecy is taking on Merlin, as he’s shown to worry over Merlin when he’s aware of his distress (see: seasons 3-5). His prioritization of Merlin could lead to him minimizing the importance or overall possibility of the prophecy. However, he doesn’t take threats to Arthur’s life lightly, either, so it’s kind of hit or miss there.

Ultimately, for all that Merlin can try to advise him, it’s up to Arthur to fix his own biases. Merlin can’t do it for him. If Merlin stood by and did nothing, the end results would be more or less the same as when he tries everything—though maybe Arthur dies a decade or so earlier. Whereas if Arthur accepts magic, then maybe something changes. But the prophecy implies that the perfect balance comes from some equivalent effort between both Merlin and Arthur… which doesn’t happen, because Merlin is putting in all of the effort, and Arthur isn’t pulling his own weight.

On the bright side, if Gwaine knows about Merlin’s magic, maybe he gets to stick by Merlin’s side through the whole finale?

[kroosluvr]

(Sorry in advance for the long wall of text, but you did ask for Shu/ake/sumi or Ake/sumi ideas and stuff a while back hehe)

I always wondered why Akechi, despite being his "ruthless sort of person" self, seems to treat Sumi better and with more gentleness during 3rd semester than when he was using his "perfect and lovely detective prince" persona. When he meets with her and Joker by chance and they go to a cafe he is extremely sassy and passive agresive towards her. He even is pretty stand-off-ish to her seconds before they infiltrated into Maruki's palace. But i didnt know why.

But recently ive been thinking, he was a regular at the tv show her father worked at, and despite both of them being "oh no, we are not close. We've only shared pleasantries with eachother" he was familiar enough with the Yoshisawa family to inmediately understand everything that was happening at the start of Maruki's palace (With the tapes of her past and when Joker calls her Kasumi), even before either of then realizes what was wrong.

So then, he definitely knew she was "wearing a mask" during that coffee date earlier in the year, and maybe that passive agresiveness to her was because he must have seen her change from someone whose pain and grief he could relate a bit, into what he hated the most: someone with completely fake smile and personality, a living facade...someone like him.

But when he understood that Sumi also was manipulated, played with like a puppet by fate, he must have seen himself reflected in her again, his true self this time. And I think that's why he changed his attitude towards her. Even if it was an awful thought to have, he was a bit glad that there was someone else like him, suffering something similar to what he went through...it made him feel less alone, even if just for a bit.

YES!!! OH MY GOD!!! (ALSO DONT APOLOGIZE I LOVE ROYALTRIO. PLZ ALWAYS SPAM ABT ROYALTRIO)

re: ur first paragraph you're actually SO right i haven't thought about that... as his "true self" he's somehow ironically kinder/more considerate of her OUHHH IT HURTS

i actually was talking to a friend about that.. like what if akechi and sumire were closer/more acquainted than akechi and kasumi, so that's why "kasumi" didn't know much about him and him about her (SMILE. because he Knows she's not kasumi)

i was rolling with the concept that akechi dgaf that she was imitating kasumi so he didn't try to intervene/press her on why she's calling herself kasumi but ohh the angst of like. that's why he was acting so standoffish... because he Knew that something was up.... OHHH THAT HURTS SO BAD

i definitely agree so much that they feel sympathetic towards each other (in my head sumire never really learns abt goro's situation until he. um. dies. and then akira fills her in - cause i kinda think goro wouldn't want to uncover his past to her, because he likes how she treats him like any other person - as opposed to the pthieves who harbor animosity or pity or whatever for him bc they Know abt . the horrors)) and they can lean on each other bc of their shared circumstances... :'))) ak/esumi love forever

[sburbian-sage]

Hey so ive been watching your posts quite a bit and you seem pretty knowledgeable so i had a question

I was wondering what other species have been run into out in sburb?

I have a coplayer this session whos is a smith of heart who is some kind of plant creature? Shes made of vines or something

Tried finding info on the web and could find nothing but clearly made up rumors after a day or two of searching

Shes cool enough but has a habit of trying to pet my hair which like, no fuck off ive been through 4 sessions now thank you very much im not a child (although I am fine with her cooking because God damn I don't know how she does it but she makes that shit taste way better than it should)

Shes a fucking whizz with the alchemiter as well, making shit i can barely comprehend

Ive also never seen her kill an imp but according to grist torrent she has grist in the quadrillions which should be completely fucking impossible since we have only been in session for about 2 weeks

Currently shes building a 'ath based quantum code entangled communications array' which was about the only bit i understood other than the fact it somehow uses the furthest ring to send messages long distances? Which i dont understand the point of since we can communicate instantly anyway

Just wondering if anyone else has encountered them before, i asked for like a species name and she just rustled a bunch and changed the subject

Oh yeah, there are other guys out there. Humanity and Trollkind seem to be the most common (technically Trolls propogate more as a species across universes, but Humans tend to have more successful SBURB sessions and thus are over-represented among the Replayernet), but there are four other "well-known" species. Not to imply they're at all common, in fact I'd say all of them combined, there's probably less than 200 of them in the Replayernet. Less than 100, potentially.

Cherubs. Skull-faced, seemingly solitary, prone to doing solo sessions, and with a weird split personality thing going on. I recently got into drama with one of them. Technically one half of them. Keep up!

Hobs. Furry dinosaur things with prehensile tails (and sometimes arm-gliders). Evidently they frequently come into contact with Trolls (as in, they get conquered by them and tend to resent this). Known to be inordinately gregarious, making them pretty good networkers. Probably the "most common" of the rare species.

Birdbros. Big intelligent parrots with two-meter wingspans that tend to form technocratic societies. They have trouble walking on flat surfaces, but they can also fly so cry about it I guess. If you have a Birdbro coplayer, you can pretty much give up on navigating their houses unless you ask them to build accommodations, gain flight, or get really good at balancing on horizontal poles.

Hoofdogs. Technical bipeds, but they prefer four-legging it. Natural telepaths, but it's left their spoken and written language rather atrophied. If you want to hold a conversation, either get ready for a not-quadruped to get inside your brain, or get ready to start drawing pictures (and figuring out what they're drawing). In fact, they have a Pesterchum/Trollian equivalent called Expressfriend where you can only draw.

I can't say I have heard of a plant Player Species though. I tend not to think of them in general due to their rarity, but still, you may have actually come across an as-of-yet undocumented Playeroid. Assuming she isn't just a human who got heavily mutated, somehow. That might explain the evasiveness concerning her species.

Some notes, questions for you, and questions for her. Documentation appreciated, as always.

The fact that she can communicate seamlessly with you is quite notable. Some Player Species can communicate with each other mostly fine (Human English and whatever language the Trolls speak are kind of identical but with different alphabets and some goofy terminology, the Trolls get around like I mentioned earlier which may explain why Hobs and Cherubs can also communicate well), but the Birdbro language is mostly whistling and trilling, and the Hoofdogs barely even have a language. Either it's a hell of a coincidence (but not a conspicuous one), or the errant "she's actually a human" conspiracy theory I came up with on the cuff is holding up.

~ATH is a universal factor, nothing worth raising suspicion over.

SBURB's mythology and trappings vary wildly depending on the species making up the session. Alchemy is a universal, so it makes sense that she would have prior experience. But ask her what differences she notices between your (assumedly mostly-human) Session and her plant-based Session. In particular, if the Carapacians were physiologically/psychologically/culturally similar to her, if the Battlefield's chess metaphor was replaced with something else, if God Tier or other mechanics were different, stuff like that.

Related, while the game does have different "localizations", in a mixed-species Session it will actually partially localize itself in proportion to the different species present, and their proportion, in an attempt to create a maximally accessible Session. So you might be able to notice slight differences between this Session and a "Human Session" which clue you in to the more severe changes you'd see in her Session.

While you're at it, try to learn as much of her culture as you can. Do they have a fucked up romance thing going on? Was her attempts at tousling your hair a sort of mating ritual?

Extortion is a tool that must be used with discretion. If she can't provide a name for her species, you have free reign to make up something goofy like "Vineys" or "Verdancies" or "Seedrians" and make that the de-facto common terminology among the Replayernet.

This is your duty as a SBURB documentarian. It is also your duty to put to rest the "new species or a weird human" allegations. As well as, now that I am thinking about it, maybe keeping an eye on her. The phat Grist stockpile is pretty suspicious, and the communications array seems very odd. If it's actually a cover for her sending a signal to her home base so they can descend upon your Session and drain it of its resources, don't worry about it. Not only is any home base she had destroyed (SBURB Moment), but she ain't doing shit with the Furthest Ring unless she stakes her soul on it. But still, better to know than to not know.

[oscconfessions]

hey, anon from the ask about being kinda scared of the osc. you asked me to elaborate. So, this might be long. Hopefully it's semi coherent.

One example would be the extremely intense loathing that people have for some characters. You see that in every fandom, but here there's so much of it. It's kind of draining tbh. i'll encounter so many people who have "(insert character here)'s Number 1 Hater" as their user or whatever, and they feel the need to constantly mention how they want that character to die a nasty death.

that sort of thing can be funny if it's a joke, cuz it IS just a fictional character after all, but people in the osc take it so seriously. the amount of hatred people on Pinterest specifically still have for Two is wild. and that's another thing! Even characters that have shown time and time again that they're good still have dedicated despisers who will always find new reasons to hate them. Like, it's time to move on buddy. This hate fixation cannot be healthy.

Try putting your energy into liking something for a change.

There's so much infighting here. Tacomic anyone? It all reminds me of the earlier days of toxic fandoms. Why can't people in the osc just relax about things? It's possible to have civil discussions about topics without going full on apeshitt.

Let people enjoy things, too! Good grief. III is actually pretty good when you don't have somebody constantly breathing down your neck telling you it sucks.

And the fics of like "(x) character goes insane and kills everyone lol" are so numerous. I'll see a couple of those kinda things in other fandoms, but it seems like the osc has a surplus of them. And they're very flippant in a way that's hard to take them seriously. the amount of specifically II dark fics of that variety is crazy to me. You can find one of basically every single character.

and the people who can't/chose not to separate fiction from reality. I've seen people on Twitter saying Cobs is.. you know, the thing his voice actor got fired for being. VA does not equal character. Please understand that. Literacy comprehension can be so low at times here.

and just in general, i encounter a lot of odd content in the osc that I've just not seen elsewhere. Stuff that you can tell the person didn't think twice about before putting it out there where everyone can see it. Like that cabbyyinyang noncon anon. I'll see fics in every fandom with that unfortunately, but the anon was so brazen about it. It feels like a blatant fetishization of a very dark topic. I don't encounter that in other fandoms. Not to this confident degree.

There's a specific obscure au that comes to mind, not gonna mention it cuz the person who made it is/was on Tumblr and also because it's vulgar and "creative" enough that it's honestly hard to describe without being explicit. It wasn't technically sexual but trust me when I say, holy crap, it was unnerving.

Maybe it all boils down to that osc is less emotionally mature than some other more calm fandoms, but I dont know. It seems like this community feels a lot, and they feel strongly. And don't like when other people don't feel the same way. We're definitely not the worst fandom though, not by a long shot. *shudders* the things I've seen in the Hazbin Hotel fandom....

.

[actualbird]

totally agree about orange scent being rushed, i remember being pretty upset over it because he’s been stuck in this way of thinking for so long, he quite literally runs away from his problems and hes shown to very much struggle with changing his thinking e.g. worrying and then for him to suddenly change his mind after a walk? idk it seemed quite bizarre to me. like u said i think if there was a gap, where he processed the conversation in the graveyard and maybe aaron talk to him some more, maybe even peanut doing his thing!! it would’ve worked well. moreover what upsets me is that you don’t even see the ring in the evolved cg - you see the ring on mc’s finger in the other 3 cards but not in Luke’s!! also i felt it odd he engraved a french word when the whole spanish neruda thing was RIGHT There. don’t get me wrong i love the card but… i wish it had been written and released way later than the second anniversary you know?

irt my in the moment reacts to SSR Orange Scent and then my day-after reacts/thoughts about the story's pacing

on the rushed aspect: i neednt add more there because yeah i go into why it's odd to me in my last response. like, mc even says it herself in the story, she thinks "one heart to heart wont fix all this" or something along those lines and she understands that!! but the story had to wrap up in one last act jkhVSHFKSJH SADS

....ive actually been thinking about it more and wondering now if the 3-act pacing/structure issues is less a fault of the card itself and more a fault of what was sposed to come before it. because like i said earlier, anniv 1 cards didnt feel rushed even if it they were also 3 acts because they were preceded by the overarching story of the Blossom Chapters. meanwhile.....the Sweet Chapters, while enjoyable, just dont do as much of a good job at developing the relationship mainly because their stories are shorter one-offs. each sweet chapter is self contained instead of leading into each other and that...i think that really showed its downside here with luke's anniv 2.

because if i had to remedy the pacing of the anniv 2 card without adding a scene in between act 2 and act 3....i would change it so that instead of mc referencing the double rainbow back in SSR Iridescent Heartbeat, she references some kind key event that happened in a more well developed previous sweet chapter story, an event that fits with mc's desire for luke to do things for himself and to listen to his own feelings, and express those feelings.

on the ring in the evolved cg: i......actually did not notice that hVOAHFASOFIASFKASBFOASFKA

on the word engraved on the ring: i really like devoument (however u spell it kjHVKJSF) for luke's ring!!! u have a point that a reference to neruda in spanish wouldve also been super fitting, tho idk, i loved that luke's word was devotion/sacrifice. since his devotion and sacrifice (and the Faults of his devotion and sacrifice) is so central in this card's story. is there a pablo neruda poem that uses a spanish word/term that has a similar definition? if yes, then that would So Very Much be a wonderful word as well to replace the french one.

on the "written and released later": i dont completely relate to this one! and thats alright! all of us are gonna be reacting and interpreting stories differently. frankly of all the boys, luke is the most fitting one imo to be proposing after one year of dating, given his circumstances and his worries. the "rushing" that i feel is less on luke's choices and more on the structural pacing of the story (and the stories that have come before it) but man....to me, luke Would propose this early.

tho i have not watched the other boys' anniv 2 cards yet!!! i really wanna watch marius'.....

[away-ward]

KOOOOOOOOO,!!!.,

remember when anon and you discussed about willemmy and pd really thought we're the ones who read their book wrong when really it's their writing was whack? A couple of hours ago, willemmy stans on twitter are so mad because these pd replies in facebook.

delete space bwteen / and i:

https://x.com/ indieivar/status/1781880481740464260?s=61

delete space btween / and d:

https://x.com/ dearreadrr/status/1782044429635006885?s=61

girl, they really did NOT respwct their readers, AT ALL. they treat us like we 're dumb 😭 ohmygod i really am so upset about this? Like? Idkek what to say anymore, because my biggest upset about your many discussions with anon about how PD liked to gaslight readers when they wrote about situation a but they told us no, it was b, was right all along? Wtf? No because they literally said we dont like willemmy because its reverse grumpy sunshine?? And not because its their fault for listening to fb moms about inserting alex into nightfall? what the fuck is this kind of delusion? Pd is really the kind of author thats so?.. ugh. Idk man, god. I'm just so disappointed. They could just say, hey i'm i was stuck in a pickle when i wrote nightfall or something but to just say these? Why are we being gaslighted? Wtf?

ohhhh but they had time to build damon and rika's arcs? Oh yeahhhh. Ughhhh and they even gave us bonuses about them. I hate it here. I'm so upset idk.

Heyyy!!

Actually @kathanislilbitch posted about these earlier and we talked about it a bit there. I'm not sure exactly which ask you're referencing. If you get the number, I'll be happy to look, but no worries. I just might have some statements I need to walk back😅

That being said, it's super frustrating to see. The op in the screenshots seemed to ask for a guy that wasn't a jerk, and PD was like "well, I tried and nobody liked it."

And part of the problem was Alex, as well as the other characters trampling all over willemmy's time together. But people also didn't like how Will treated Emory outside of Alex. PD seems to struggle with understanding what really makes their MLI seem like jerks.

Either way, they clearly don't want to talk about Alex and it's probably because they're not going to change their mind, so it's a conversation that won't go anywhere. That's fair for them. It's their right. But then don't ask, and don't act like you don't know and haven't heard the complaints before.

It's ashame they won't just say they liked the Alex arc and understand that people don't, but it is what they wrote and they won't apologize for it. At least that would be honest.

Sorry this hurts. I can't say I'm too emotional-tied to PDs opinions, so for the most part I can ignore them and move on. Still, I definitely get that for those who want to be heard this isn't easy. I'm not sure what else to say other than try to focus more on the community and less on PD.

I'm sorry I'm probably not much help or comfort! But thank you for bringing this up. I'm sure so many feel the same way.

-ko

[salva]

do u find it harder to get into fandom now being an adult? clexa and supercorp were super easy to get into with them airing weekly with each creating a massive fandom and being a teenager / early twenties at their peaks. maybe because warrior nun was cancelled it’s hard to get into now? or maybe being an adult now? idk just been thinking about the past a lot… those past fandoms felt like a community but now they’re so fleeting in hindsight with no real connection

i have to agree with you on that last part, but also apply it to everything nowadays. To paraphrase Warhol, it seems like everything gets 15 minutes of fame and then goes out of fashion just as quickly, which is a real tragedy!

Its harder to be in fandom now for a lot of reasons, and i dont think being an adult is one, so much as the way that fandoms and being in a fandom has evolved from the earlier days to the way that it is now. But I still have a lot to say so phew buckle up because this is long so im gonna put it under the cut.

I also do find it a lot harder to get into fandom, and i think in part it has to do with being an adult, but also ive been 'doing fandom' for about a decade now (geez thats wild to think about lol) and ive been very uneasy and hesitant to engage in fandom the way that it is now. I've seen people being way too nasty and mean to each other, as well as to actors and other people in the media and I absolutely want no part in that! But it seems like those are the people that get the most engagement and it just goes on to encourage that kind of behavior amongst fandoms, that now its the unfortunate norm and i see new fandoms very quickly turn on each other. There is no more 'fandom etiquette' like there once was. Frankly it is way too exhausting and Ive mostly just turned to reblogging funny stuff I like and less fandom oriented which is real sad. I used to have different blogs that i regularly maintained for my main fandoms and around 2018/2019 it started feeling too much like a chore to be in a fandom that i stopped. But in the beginning, when i was really starting to get deeper into fandom was around 2013/2014, and 2013 - 2016 seemed to be imo the golden age of fandom. Everyone had a sense of community, artists and gifers and editors and authors and think piece bloggers were getting so much positive engagement, and it was very easy to fall into a group of people and feel welcome. I still talk to people that I connected with in a group chat for Carmilla! But now it really is a quick 'wham bam, thank you ma'am' sort of deal with show hype, and as someone who got really busy and had a whole lot of (good) life changes happen very quickly, i havent created anything for any fandom in a while, and I have felt a noticeable ostracizement / lack of interaction / friendly communication between me and people that contribute creatively. And I know Im not the only one. I understand though that, again with the new fandom style people close ranks pretty quickly and unless youre a loud (read: mean and/or annoying) voice in the community, people don't really want to have anything to do with you. Then theres the ease now of fans being able to engage with actors and media people and that has its own sets of problems (cough starting with lexa and jroth cough) and i think fans have developed more insane and extreme parasocial relationships with these people that I dont think existed before in the way that they do today. I think fans have a bigger feeling of entitlement towards actors/media people that rubs me in such a wrong way, and then using their platforms to call them ugly / bad actors / shame them for their partners / etc. which i think is so so childish but alas. Its also hard for creators to get engagement because people dont seem to reblog/retweet/share/credit them the way that they once did, and I think that also has to do with the lack of fan driven content, reducing fans interacting in fandoms with each other and resulting in the tapering off of hype and excitement and community that we once shared.

There's just unfortunately too many sad reasons that make it harder to find a sense of community within fandoms and I wish that I could take all the fans and shake them by the shoulders and teach them the proper fandom etiquette that i learned.

[wasflypaw]

Yo Dsmpblr: Can We Tone It Down?

I've noticed something recently, and it's been bothering me a little. The lighthearted apologist discourse has become... a lot less lighthearted?

Its normal to be passionate over this stuff, I am, I get it. Especially when it's about a character you really enjoy or relate to. I do it, a lot of the fandom does. It's easy to get invested in this stuff - whether its because you genuinely really enjoy writing essays (I do !! :] ) or whether its because a take you've seen got you so heated you just Had to respond.

I just think it's gotten to the point where we prioritize defending these fictional characters over the Very Real People talking about them?

Yesterday I made a post about how I wanted the prison arc with c!Dream to have a Little more immersive acting bc I Know that would make me feel more sympathetic. I got an anon telling me I'm deranged, a monster, a horrible human being, "a BAD person" because I was "invalidating c!Dream's trauma" and it got me thinking. This, alongside the Reddit post I saw earlier where someone got into an argument with their friend because they were a c!Dream apologist and accused them of being an abuse apologist.

Not only did anon:

1. Not consider the fact that I mightve gone through something like that

But 2. Didnt stop to think "is this fictional character I'm defending really worth telling someone they're deranged over?"

Guys: These are Not real people. These are Not real people with real trauma.

I get it, I really do. We can project onto characters and relate to their trauma, and it's easy to get hurt when someone downplays or acts like they deserved said trauma. But at the end of the day they are Fictional Characters. I dont believe anyone is an abuse apologist even when they say shit like "c!Tommy provoked c!Dream/c!Tommy deserve it" and while I believe that is a very horrid take I cant stop anyone from thinking it and its Very unlikely they think that of real abuse victims. I do think it shouldnt be said or at least needs tagging, though. Because the more people saying stuff like that the less people feel comfortable in this fandom. I do think it's a case of "block and move on", though

Nobody condones what their fav does. c!Dream apologists are Not abuse apologists, c!Dream apologists do not hate traumatized people (especially when they themselves say they relate to what c!Dream is going through in the prison), c!Dream apologists can make me uncomfortable with what they imply sometimes but that's as far as it goes. And it goes the other way too, people who dislike c!Dream dont condone irl torture or prisons (or even the DSMP ones), not every c!Tommy fan is a trauma dumper who projects on c!Tommy, etc etc

I have NEVER once thought of any of them as a bad person, they all seem like very nice people just with takes I disagree with over a fictional character.

Im making this post because I've also noticed something else: People insulting eachothers intelligence over these analysis posts. And it BOTHERS me

When I make a critical post against c!Dream refuting a take I've seen, I seem to get a lot of "c!Dream apologists lack critical thinking if they cant see this" and when I see takes from The Other Side I see stuff like "my takes are too nuanced for you" and it's like. Can we not?? That's NOT the intent of my posts at all. The intent of my posts is for anyone reading to try to understand my POV and what I think of the characters, NOT to insinuate they're dumb for thinking that way. Genuinely, stop

My posts arent to FORCE people to change their opinion, my posts arent to make people think they're DUMB for not agreeing. My posts are simply here to see My opinions and My side, and agree if they want to

I had to make a post the other day setting a boundary to Please Not Respond With Hostility On My Posts because someone disagreed with me and some people who followed me immediately jumped into an argument with them. That's not how you get people to see your POV - do not be hostile to people directly? There's a difference between a gossipy "lmao look at this take I saw" and straight up arguing with someone to their face

Curate your space, block people who make you even mildly uncomfortable, I do it. A lot of takes can be very uncomfortable relating to a characters mental health or what theyve been through but its Important to separate fiction from reality. I'm talking from experience - if a take makes you So uncomfortable you break down or have a very negative reaction it's best to step away, block and try to distract yourself. Apologist discourse can get heated because of the dark topics and it's taken me like 4 months to realise that if a take that's victim blaming for example leaves me shaking and angry that is Not healthy and I NEED to block that person and block as many tags/people as I can to never see that take again. Looking at discourse can be entertaining, I get it, but if its causing you genuine stress you Need to step away.

Anyway Yeah Tone it Down!!! We're all trying to Have Fun Here

[malfoysstilinski]

girl in the mirror pt2 | DRACO MALFOY

MASTERLIST

PAIRING: Draco Malfoy x Muggle!Reader

SUMMARY: part two of girl in the mirror. draco meets his soulmate for the first time. she’s pretty cool for a muggle, but reveals something that has him heading back to hogwarts a little less than happy. 

WARNINGS: none i think?  

A/N: i dont think americans have houses and i assume most of my readers are american,, so in case its confusing obviously theyre like harry potter houses, but jk rowling made it ten times more dramatic and a main part of her story. we dont really care about houses irl. 

Explaining to you that Draco was a wizard was one of the most frustrating and hardest things the blond boy had ever had to do. Only hours later were you starting to reluctantly believe that he was telling the truth. He’d been reluctant to tell you, but since you were his soulmate, you were allowed to know. You had the right. 

The pair of you hadn’t even realised how much time had gone by, sat on your bed as you stare at him unsurely. 

“You look as though you still don’t believe me,” Draco says. “I’ve shown you my wand.”

“Yes, but you’ve not shown me any real magic, have you?” You raise an eyebrow, folding your arms across your chest. 

“I told you, I have to wait a few months ‘till I’m seventeen,” Draco reminds you with a roll of the eyes. “Then I’ll show you something.”

You sigh, not wanting to believe him but having a funny feeling that he was telling the truth. I mean, how else could you explain the fact that he had literally fallen through your mirror? 

“So... We’re soulmates,” you repeat from earlier, before the two of you had fought over whether or not Draco was really a wizard. 

“Yeah,” Draco whispers with a nod. “You know what that is, right?”

“I guess,” you mumble, hugging your arms closer to yourself. “But why is your soulmate not... magic as well?”

Draco shrugs. “Happens sometimes,” he says. “Never ever to a Malfoy...” He looks a little paler as he says so. “But I suppose there’s a first for everything.”

You wonder why it’s a big deal for a member of his family to be put with ‘a Muggle’ as he had called you before. 

“Enough about me,” Draco claps his hands together when he sees the clogs in your brain turning. “Let me find out about you. Please. I’ve been wondering about you since the day I turned thirteen.”

“There’s not much to say,” you sigh. “I guess I just go to school... come home... homework... maybe hang out with friends sometimes.” 

Draco seems interested despite your negative mood, sitting up straighter with an eager look behind his silver eyes and an encouraging small smile on his face.

 He looks odd sat on your bed. He truly does look like some sort of magical being with his pale features and icy hair, and the black suit and turtleneck and polished shoes make him look like he belongs truly where he says he’s from-- a castle or something. Not your bedroom that screams twenty-first century teenage girl.  

“Well, tell me about school,” Draco suggests, glancing you over. “Your tie is red. Is that your house?”

You glance down with a frown, pulling at your tie. “Hm? Oh, no. I’m in Austen. The yellow house.”

Draco frowns. “Is that good or bad?”

You frown back, raising a brow at him. “I mean... we won the most house points last year? Not really a big deal. Oh, and we won house games, like, two years in a row.”

“Not a big deal?” Draco scoffs. “Well done, Y/N! That is a great deal.”

You stare at him like he’s grown two heads. “Thanks? I’m assuming houses are a big deal at your school?”

“Well, of course,” he says rather arrogantly. “I’m a Slytherin. How were you sorted into your house? Do you take personality quizzes in the Muggle world?”

“No,” you giggle slightly and Draco’s heart skips a beat at the sound. “You just get put into whatever house depending on what tutor group you’re in. I switched from green to yellow half way through secondary school because our tutor group got full.”

Draco had never looked so confused. He wonders how Muggles are even motivated to do well when their house points don’t even really mean anything to them. 

He knows a few things about Muggles-- he knows they definitely do not play Qudditch on flying brooms and would much rather play football. He guesses their house games are like that. 

“My tie’s red because I’m a prefect,” you say and reach into your bedside drawer, producing a red badge with ‘prefect’ written in gold on it. 

Draco’s grin brightens, taking it from you as he scans it over. “Oh, they look just like ours!”

You laugh at his eagerness. “That’s good.”

There’s a moment of silence and Draco peers at all of the records placed on your wall. He stands and moved to look at some of the vinyl covers, pointing at your The Neighbourhood one, releasing a huff of air past his nose and glancing over his shoulder back at you. 

“You listen to this one all the time,” Draco states. “I like the one about jumper weather or something.”

You laugh and nod. “Sweater Weather. It’s a good song...” You trail off. “You know, I don’t really understand your music. You only seem to listen to classical.” 

“That’s me,” Draco says, scratching the back of his neck. “Playing the piano. I don’t- I don’t really listen to music much. I never really have to when you listen to it 24/7 anyway.”

You look away with a small blush on your face, bashful. “Sorry.”

“No, no, no,” Draco moves to sit beside you on your bed. “I love it, actually. It makes assemblies less boring and sleeping in a dorm far more bearable.” 

“I’m glad,” you say. “Do you want to listen to something now?”

Draco’s breath hitches because it’s all he’s ever wanted. He nods slowly, scared that you would laugh in his face and take your suggestion back. You grab your phone off of your bedside table and press shuffle on a playlist. Draco can’t believe how weird it is to hear your music playing but not have it muffled in his ears as if he was underwater. 

He watches with parted lips as you slide down so you’re laying on your bed, staring at the ceiling. Draco looks at you like you put the stars and the moon in the sky. You might be just a Muggle, but you’re magic to him. The true definition of it. 

Slowly, unsure if he’s crossing a line or not, Draco slides down so he’s lying beside you on your bed, on his back like you. You both stare at your ceiling and he notices that you have constellations painted on it. He nearly melts when he sees ‘Draco’, one of the biggest ones. 

He slides his hand down the small gap in between you and hesitantly holds your hand before guiding it up above your heads. It’s not like real stargazing, but Draco likes it. Maybe one day he would be able to sneak you to the Astronomy Tower and show you the same sky he stares at most nights. 

“That’s Draco,” he says. 

You smile as you turn to face him and Draco shuffles to face you too, the only sounds being your small breaths and an Arctic Monkeys song playing behind you. 

“Maybe I always knew?” You suggest. 

“Maybe,” Draco chuckles back and turns to look up at the ceiling. 

You spend a few seconds admiring his side profile; his sharp jaw and the strength of his nose. It’s hard to be scared of the stranger when he’s so beautiful and feels so familiar. Like a puzzle piece you’d been looking for. 

“You’ve only been playing sad songs recently,” Draco says quietly after a little bit. “Is everything okay with you? I was worried... so I asked my friend to teach me how to do the mirror trick.”

You frown a little at the reminder and immediately grow embarrassed. You’re not sure if you should make up a lie or try to change the subject, but Draco seems really concerned and you’d feel awful lying. 

“My... Well, um, my boyfriend broke up with me,” you say awkwardly. 

You feel Draco stiffen beside you. He sits up after a few seconds. He knows it’s not really your fault but he can’t help feeling jealous and angry. He swallows as he stares at a spot on your carpet, unsure how to feel knowing that his soulmate had been with another person. 

He needed a moment to think. He didn’t want to scare you with his harsh words or looks.

“I should get back,” Draco mutters, trying to make his voice sound strong as he stands.

“Draco, I--”

“It’s nearly what? Four in the morning? I should of been going ages ago anyway,” he forces you a grim smile as he heads towards the mirror. “I’ll try and talk to you tomorrow, Y/N.”

You watch with a saddened expression as Draco slips his hand through the glass or your mirror and is suddenly gone. You push yourself up from the mattress and rush over, your fingertips brushing it but coming to a dead end. You blink back tears, wondering if you had just imagined the entire thing. 

You stare into the mirror, unaware that Draco is sadly staring back. 

...

i know it’s a lil dramatic but that’s draco for you and teen love in general tbh 

[intergalactic-padawan]

inquisitor - Ezra Bridger

Requested: yes, by the beautiful @raganbridger! Sorry for the wait, it's finally here!

Warnings: angst, dark side!reader, confusion, mentions of bad injuries/blood, betrayal

A/N: You asked for le angst, so here it is! I've had this idea for a long while and this request was the motivation I needed to start. LOTS of alternative endings were written, this was mostly the reason it took so long.

Pronouns of reader: she/her

*ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE! I make mistakes just like everybody else 😉*

x

.

-"oh, good, you're awake"

You sit and inhale sharply, focusing back on the real world, startled at the strange voice.

Well, not so strange per se. You knew who was talking to you. What was strange was why he was talking to you.

Before you can adjust your vision to the unfamiliar environment, the memories from hours earlier instantly come flooding back.

Malachor. The place where jedi go to die.

An easy kill for you and your inquisitor colleagues.

That's what they had said on the ship, at least. You, on the other hand, knew better than to underestimate how slippery those jedi could be - especially if they fought side by side, like they always did.

You remember cornering the younger one during the fight. His skill was minimal compared to yours, which would give you an advantage against his master if he were to die first.

The boy and his friends go after the sith holocron. There had been a blinding light when it was placed at the altar.

And also, the jedi knight who was blinded by your former master, Maul.

Maul.

Not only had the cursed man left you for dead years before, he had come back from hiding to haunt you and join forces with your other enemies.

But you were an inquisitor. You wouldn't - you couldn't let him get the best of you, not this time.

You feel a light hand pressing your forehead and recoil in fear, reaching for your lightsaber, only to feel it was not there.

-"whoah, woah, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you" - it was the padawan you'd been fighting before - Ezra Bridger. He had placed you and his master inside a cave in a planet you were not familiar with when you'd escaped Malachor.

You'd escapd Malachor? But how?

You couldn't have, unless he'd carried you back to his ship.

-"hey, hey, it's alright."

-"what do you want, jedi?" - you wince in pain again.

-"a thank you would be nice, actually. I did just save your life"

-"a foolish mistake. One you will pay for with yours"

You reach out for your lightsaber, but can't feel it anywhere close. Scouring with the force for its presence, you quickly realize he must have hidden it outside the place.

-"Nope, absolutely not" - just as quickly, he slaps your outstreched hand - "I may be an idiot, but i'm not stupid. Your lightsaber's not here, it's caused enough damage already."

You rub the hand he pushed away, more shocked at his actions than anything. How DARE he?

-"Then what do you want from me, if not revenge? Why treat my wounds if not to finish the battle we started?"

-"Listen, I'm not sure if it's the adrnaline or something, but you're in no condition to fight anyone any time soon"

-"You underestimete me, Jedi. Even in these conditions you would be no match for me."

-"Like I wasn't a match for you at the sith temple?"

At the mention of the event, images of the fight start to come back.

Back at the sanctuary, you drew him away from the fight, knowing his strengh lied with his allies. Only, you hadn't imagined your former master to join his side - not until you'd seen the holocron in Ezra's hands, at least. You'd warned him: "he will use it and throw you away. Like he did to me". Needless to say, he didn't listen.

Your vision starts to lose focus at the intensity of your anger and you groan in pain, not able to sit anymore. Driven by instinct, the padawan holds your side so you won't fall completely, pressing your abdomen and making you hiss in pain.

-"ah, looks like I was right. You're conscious, but not healed" - you feel yourself be adjusted back on the ground, too weak to fight him.

-"where are we? Why did you save my life?"

He hesitates, eyes studying you, like you might attack him any second and he still knew it.

-"not so sure" - he finally answers - "maybe because now you owe me one?"

-"Did you hit your head or something?" You scoff - "Make no mistake, I WILL kill you when the opportunity rises!"

-"And that is why your lightsaber privileges have been revoked for now."

You lock eyes, studying him like he had you. It made no sense- you'd followed his group to the sith temple, tried to kill him several times, called for the man who had murdered his strongest ally, Ahsoak Tano. Why was he helping you?

With a shiver, you realize he's still holding your side, not as firmly as before but still providing support for your back. Inhaling sharply, you graze his hand and he lets go instantly, realizing how close the two of you had gotten.

Standing up just as quickly, he brushes a strand of unruly hair our of his forehead, while you you clean your throat, diverting your attention to the exit of the cave. The rain pours on the large trees outside, but you can't make out much except for the fact that you're in a forest planet (maybe a moon?) and his ship is in less than ideal conditions to get out of it.

-"here" - Ezra kneels down with two bacta patches and a piece of fabric from a medical kit -"i felt your back was pretty sore, but didn't want to take off your shirt while you were out. Your cuts need cleaning."

You hesitantly take the items, using the rocks behind you as support to lean your body on. He stands up, hands on hips, and chuckles when you sniff the gel, suspicious.

With the small bit of privacy he gives you by turning around to check on his master, you fumble with your shirt, deciding to take it off in order to see better.

-"Need some help over there?" - he asks, hearing you grunt in frustration at not being able to reach some spots

-"Not from you, thank you very much"

-"Oh, so she CAN say thank you! That's a welcome change"

You throw the rag at his direction, irritated out of your mind. Who does he think he is??

He must sense the harmless ball of soaked fabric coming his way, turning around to catch it mid-air. Now that he's turned, you see a glimpse of amusement in his eyes at your rage, giving you the answer you needed as to why he went through the trouble of saving you; it was merely to see you suffer and laugh at your expense, apparently.

His expression quickly changed when he saw your bruised torso, however.

- "who did this to you?" - he whispers, and you look down at you look down at your sore ~ well, everything~, covered only by a wrap in the bust area.

-"As you said, jedi. I may be better than you, but you still gave me a decent challenge"

"No. I didn't even hit you there." - his serious reaction to your injuries had caught you off guard, you had to admit. - "those are old and deep, you shouldn't even be able to walk!"

-"I'm not, remember?" - you motion at your debilitated situation, unable to even sit down or cross your legs properly -"But i will be, soon. And then it's over for you"

-"you know what? I think if you wanted to, you would have killed me by now." - he shoots back and you're impressed at his audacity once again.

But he had a point. Why hadn't you attacked him yet?

Sure, you had no lightsaber or phisical conditions to stand, but your force abilities were still as strong as ever. You were vulnerable, but so was he, and you weren't kidding when you said you could deal with him even at your worse.

-"you know what? " - you cross your arms. He was playing with fire now - "maybe I might"

-"and why haven't you?"

-"because I wouldn't enjoy it as much." - you snap back venomously - "I want to see you suffer before I bring you to Lord Vader"

His expression darkens at the mention of Ahsoka's murderer. His whole body stiffens as he balls his wrists and clearly struggles to control his anger at the recent loss. For a moment, you fear you've gone too far, but reprimand yourself for worrying about his feelings over yours. You're not supposed to be anything more than indifferent to the weak and ruthless to those who dare oppose you.

-"Yeah, no matter what you do, you're still imperial scum"

You're not prepared for those words to affect you so much. You're supposed to have a response, but nothing coherent seems to come out of your mouth, so you settle for an an uncomfortable silence.

It doesn't last for long, however, as his comlink goes off. It's his droid, asking - no, demanding - that he go help him with repairs on the ship. He hesitates, looking at you and contemplating how bad it would be to leave you unnatended in the company of his defenseless master.

-"Dont worry."- You reassure him. -"I won't make his situation worse. Maul is the worse you can get, and I refuse to step that low"

You can see he doesnt like it, but leaves for a few moments before returning with what must be the droid that talked to him before. It was a C1 series unit with an orange top and a bratty atitude, you could tell that much by just seeing him interact with the jedi.

-"Chopper will stay here, just in case"

-"I understand. It's fine."

-"I wasn't asking if you were fine with it. Behave" - you can't be sure if his command is directed at you or the droid, but you weren't about to ask.

The coldness he now had to his voice was understandable - you had worked to get him to that emotional state - ,but you felt hurt at the change. The droid didn't do much to help you think clearly about what just happened, and by the look of it, your frustration would only grow bigger in the many hours it would still take to repair the ship to a normal flying condition.

'He thinks i'm imperial scum, huh?' - you think as you scour a pile of your belongings with the force, not too far away inside the cave.

Bad news, your lightsaber really wasn't there.

Good news, your wrist comm was.

'i'll show him imperial scum'

With a plan forming in mind, all you had to do now was be patient and wait for the right time. There's no exchange of words between the two of you when he gets back, which makes time fly by before he's betrayed by exaution and finally gives in to sleep. You take care of the droid easily after that.

Activating the tracking beacon, you start to leave the cave, but not before noticing the boy's lightsaber beside him. It was a bold move, he could easily wake up if you took it, but you knew that if he woke up to see you gone you'd need it to compensate for your injuries.

You were still on opposing sides, after all.

You knew there had to be an imperial ship near the planet, and they would pick up your signal in an instant when you called. Wallking to a less dense area of the forest, away from the crash site, you're proven right when, in a matter of minutes, a shuttle tripulated by four troopers and a senior lieutenant meet you on the ground.

-"and what of the jedi?" - the higher ranking woman asks when you finish your brief description of the events that led you there.

Well, not all events. You'd left out the part where Bridger had helped you recover.

You could just tell them to take the two jedi for excecution. You were supposed to do it, in fact.

-"it's just me. And the younger one's lightsaber" - you finally answer, not exactly knowing why you'd deliberately just saved them.

She nods curtly and escorts you back to the ship without a second glance. It was a good story so far, but you would have to work on it if your superiors were to believe it.

-"Wait- " - you start, second-guessing your motives for not giving away their location. One of the troopers turns to you expectantly.

-"yes, sir?"

You hesitate for a moment, ready to do what you'd beeen taught to do your whle life. Kill the jedi.

Kill the jedi.

A tingling crept up your sides, where the padawan had touched earlier to give you support. You try to betray the gut feeling pressing you to do your duty as an inquisitor, but it's stronger than you. Something is forcing your better judgement to be leaving your natural enemies alive.

-"nothing." - the tingle goes away as soon as it had come, leaving an unusual feeling of relief. - "Thought i'd sensed something. Let's leave"

'Perhaps it's for the best'. - you think as the shuttle's door closes. After all, you did owe him one for saving your life - whatever his reason was for doing so.

That was what you told yourself as you boarded the ship, at least. Now, the next time you saw him, there would be nothing to stop you from finishing him and his friends for good.

.

x

Hope you like it? I gave him a 'hands on hips' moment in honour of your videos for a more personalized touch hahahaha

[tobesolonely]

jealousy

a/n: hello! this is a little one shot that’s apart of my dad!harry universe! you dont have to read the original one to understand this one shot but if you’d like to, ill link it here . i hope everyone enjoys! please reblog and leave feedback if you do<33

summary: y/n and harry have another child, and their first born is a little skeptical on the idea of being a big sister.

warnings: none

word count: ~1.7k

my ko-fi! thank you :)

After hours of excruciating contractions, a backache like nothing you’ve ever felt in your life, and the horrid discomfort that came with pushing, you forgot all about your displeasure when Harry grabbed your hand, eyes sparkling, and said: “He’s beautiful, Y/N. Oliver’s here.”

When you found out you were having a baby boy, you were ecstatic. You and Harry already had a daughter, a fiery six-year-old named Allison, or Ally, as she preferred, and wanted to try for a boy. Girls run on both sides of your family, so you were pleasantly surprised when you found out you were expecting a baby boy. However, your daughter was not so happy about this news.

At first, you and Harry thought that the farther along you got in your pregnancy, the more your daughter would warm up to the idea of being a big sister. Unfortunately, the opposite happened. She became withdrawn and had outbursts that you would describe as “unpredictable and unprovoked.” You tried using your own experience as an older sibling to help your daughter know what to expect. You let her pick the color for the nursery. Harry got a t-shirt made that said, “Best big sister ever!” but she never wanted to wear it. Despite your greatest efforts, nothing changed your daughter’s attitude. She was much like you in that aspect— once she had an opinion on something, it was difficult to get her to see things from a different perspective. Still, you were looking forward to your eldest meeting the newest addition to the family.

After a few hours of skin to skin, feeding, and napping (because everyone knows you sleep when the baby sleeps), Harry breaks the silence. “Told my mum she can come over with Ally and Gem, now. Are yeh okay with visitors?” His voice is scratchy from not speaking for so long, and he’s whispering in an effort to not wake up your son.

“That’s fine,” you respond, rubbing sleep out of your eyes. “Just exhausted. Maybe a short visit?” Harry nods, telling you he already suggested they don’t stay for long. You look over at your son, starting to feel a little anxious. Ally had six months to adjust to the idea of having a sibling, and she was upset about it right up until the very end. When you went into labor, as Harry frantically got the car packed, she stood off to the side and said nothing. When Harry’s mom arrived as you were getting set to leave, the two of you told your daughter to be good, gave her hugs and kisses, and reminded her how loved she was. Still, Ally said nothing. When Anne waved as Harry backed the car out of the driveway, Ally had a look on her face that she didn’t often wear— a look that could best be described as pure hurt.

“What’s on your mind?” While you were lost in your thoughts, Harry moved from the chair near the window to the one next to your bed.

“I’m just worried about how Ally’s gonna react to him,” you gesture toward your son, who was still fast asleep in his bassinet. “Did you see how she looked at us when we left? Hardly said a word to either one of us.”

Harry hums thoughtfully, thinking back on the earlier day's events. “Guess you’re right, now that ‘m thinkin’ about it. She didn’t seem excited at all, did she?”

You shake your head, tears starting to form in your eyes. Harry’s expression softens, and he reaches to gently cup your face. “Hey, don’ gotta cry, lovie. Just wait ‘til she sees him. Promise she’ll fall in love jus’ like we did, trust me.” He wipes a stray tear from your cheek and gives you a reassuring smile.

“You’re right,” you tell him, feeling silly for getting so emotional so quickly. “I know it’s a big adjustment. My mom told me I was the same way when my little sister was born.” Harry nods, retracting his hand from your face and reaching to grab a tissue from the table beside your bed.

“See? Who woulda thought yeh didn’t like your sister when she was born? The two of yeh are inseparable at this point, know she’d be right here beside you if she wasn’t away at university.”

You’re about to respond when a gentle knock at the door interrupts your conversation. Harry’s eyes light up as he turns to see his mother, Gemma, and your baby girl all walk into the room. Gemma is holding a big bouquet of flowers, Anne has a bunch of balloons with “It’s a boy!” written in curly script, and Ally is clutching onto her grandmother’s hand, a stuffed bear that you don’t recognize as being hers in tow.

“C’mere and give Daddy a hug,” Harry immediately stands up and goes to pick up your daughter, twirling her around. “Missed yeh so much, love bug. Were you good for grandma and auntie Gem?” Harry’s voice is still quiet, as Oliver was still sleeping, and no one wanted to deal with a fussy baby at the moment.

“Yes, daddy.” Ally answers quietly and shortly, looking down at the floor. Harry notices this and sets her down, kneeling to make eye contact with her.

“What’s wrong, Ally? Mumma and Daddy have noticed that yeh haven’t been yourself lately. Something botherin’ you?” Harry questions, already knowing why she was so upset but wanting to give her a chance to freely express how she was feeling.

“S’just…” she says, tugging on her shirt and stretching it out, a bad nervous habit she developed. “I don’ think I want a brother, Daddy. Auntie Gem said it would be fun, but I jus’ don’t think so.” Your daughter has a look of genuine worry on her face. At this point, Gemma and Anne have made their way over to you, quietly offering congratulations and gushing over Oliver.

“What makes yeh think it won’t be fun, bug? What are some things you’re worried about?” Harry takes one of her little hands in his, rubbing gentle circles on her thumb. Ally harshly rubs at her eyes, and you know this means she’s about to start crying.

“Jus’ think you and Mumma won’t love me anymore… because you’ll be too busy playing with him,” She looks over in her brother’s direction, not even wanting to say his name. “I bet he’ll get more cuddles than me.”

Your heart breaks at the fact that your daughter thinks you and Harry don’t have enough love in your heart for her and her baby brother. “Ally, come over here and lie next to Mumma,” you call out quietly. Harry picks her up and brings her over to you, laying her on your bed cautiously to make sure she doesn’t accidentally get tangled in any of your IV’s.

“Baby, there’s nothing and no one on this planet that could make me and Daddy love you any less. We have enough love in our hearts for you and Oliver. Do you understand?” You ask. She doesn’t say anything.

“D’ya wanna hold him?” Harry offers, looking at his mom and sister who have hopeful looks in their eyes. They know how difficult it’s been for Ally to accept a new sibling, as Anne and Gemma have both reassured you countless times when you’ve vented to them about it.

“I guess,” she mumbles, looking at her hands. Harry tries a different approach.

“I see yeh had a new bear in your hand when yeh walked in. Is that for your brother?” Ally looks at the bear that she had discarded on the chair and nods slowly.

“Auntie Gem got Mumma flowers, an’ grandma got balloons. So I wanted to get something too,” she tells him, looking between yours and Harry’s faces. He smiles widely at this and reaches to grab the bear.

“That’s so thoughtful of yeh, bug. See? You’re a natural big sister! Did Auntie Gem teach you some things when I wasn’t around?” Ally chuckles at this, playing with the stuffed animal’s legs. “Do yeh wanna hold him and give him the bear, Ally?”

She quickly nods, a noticeable shift in her mood. Harry tries to hide his excitement as he walks over to Oliver’s bassinet, who was now starting to wake up. He coos when Harry picks him up, and you’re relieved when he doesn’t burst into tears like he has been for the past few hours.

“Hold your arms like this,” you demonstrate for your daughter, situating her body next to you so she could hold her brother without hurting him. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice Gemma pull out her phone and start recording.

“Ready for him?” Harry questions. Ally nods and Harry slowly places her brother in her arms. “Make sure yeh hold the back of his head, bug. Can’t let it dangle.” You help her readjust her hand placement to offer more support to Oliver’s head. Ally looks up, a dimpled smile on her face.

“He’s so little!” She exclaims, staring back down at him in awe. You and Harry look at each other, tears filling your eyes for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

“He is, isn’t he?” You ask, quickly wiping under your eyes. Anne places her hand on your shoulder, looking down at her grandson with a look of pure adoration in her eyes.

“He’s beautiful,” she gushes, sounding slightly choked up. “He’s got eyes just like yours, Ally.” You see her smile at this, but she doesn’t look up, not wanting to stop staring at her new brother. She reaches carefully with the hand, not supporting her brother’s head to grab the stuffed bear she picked out for him, setting it next to him.

“This is for you, Olly,” she says, placing the bear beside him. “You can sleep with him every night!”

Harry glances at you again, a look of relief on his face. “Olly, is it, bug? He has a nickname just like yours,” he tells her, reaching over you to smooth her hair. “Ally and Olly. I like tha’.” Your heart is full, and your family is complete.

At least, for now.

[doberbutts]

(Same anon from earlier about the dog buttons) I’m neither a speech expert nor a dog expert (I just like em) and maybe I’m just being fooled by the magic of youtube, but some of the dogs with very large soundboards and lots of time using them seem to be really communicating. I remember one (Bunny I think is her name, she’s the really popular one) where she communicated like “stranger paw” until her owner figured out that she had something stuck in her foot, (she consistently demonstrates “stranger” to mean any sort of thing that is not usually there) and I think recently she started describing her dreams when asked? Like I said it could be me dazzled at the magic and yeah my dog communicates in other ways just fine if something is bothering her paw or whatever, but it just trips me out lol. Also sorry for sending the ask about something you’ve talked about before, I searched your blog but didn’t see it. I think there was another dog who started it whos owner was a speech pathologist but I also know that doesn’t make anything fact either

TL:DR it is communication but not language, as language is far more complex than that.

It is worth saying that Bunny's owner is in contact with speech experts who are similarly hesitant to state that this is truly language, but do find it interesting and want to see more of what is going on here. And if they end up changing their minds, then so will I.

It's super easy to be tricked by this- people are tricked by this in regular training too. Take for instance the word 'outside'. Most dogs are pretty excited by that word, but is it because they understand what 'outside' is... or is it because to them 'outside' means 'place where fun things happen and also where I get to relieve myself and boy do I have to shit'?

Here's another: when I take my dogs anywhere recently, I've been saying 'let's go girls'. This nets me my trio of female dogs... but it also nets me my new housemates' dogs and one of those is male. Is he responding to 'let's go girls' thinking that he is included in 'girls'? Is he transgender and we've been misgendering him this whole time when we call him a good boy??? Or is he understanding the phrase means fun stuff will happen if he follows me and my dogs to our destination, and it matters less about the individual words and more about the conditioning to the phrase he's experienced the last two weeks I've been in the house?

This especially makes me hesitant to say that a lot of Bunny's videos aren't wishful thinking, because we *know* dogs don't dream the same way we do, and we *know* their working memory doesn't work like ours. So if I'm observing this with the dogs I'm in close contact with, and I know for a fact some of these things don't add up, and I know for a fact that various animal and speech experts are similarly hesitant... then is it more likely that what's going on is perhaps more easily explained, or are all of these things being proven wrong by two dogs on instagram? I'm not saying singular entities have not proven known science wrong before, they have, but it's a lot less likely than one might expect.