#but they'll at least have a good time >) and we're rooting for them!

[jackdup]

So, a super attractive guy sits next to you at a bar. He offers to buy you a drink. How do you respond—?

Well, let good ol’ Timothy give you a hint, kiddos: Do not follow his example.

Don’t overthink the rules of a drinking game so hard you make it unfun. But also don’t be a cocky, Jack-like bastard and respond with something along the lines of, Yeah, good freakin’ luck, buttface! You’re getting creamed! (Which you never wanted to hear from Jack, b-t-dubs; it could mean so many things.) So, what should you do?

. . . good question. If anyone figures that out, Tim would love to know.

For now, and shocking about every living thing in the system with half a brain cell, the guy wasn’t frightened off (in, like, the Ohmygod what the freakin’ hell is this dude’s problem? I better get outta here! way). He maintained a stupidly patient and mostly friendly smile. He continued to sit there next to him, making not even a single move to indicate he was even considering leaving—which was super impressive, really. (Timothy wouldn’t have held it against him, probably would’ve encouraged it the second it happened.) Hey, he even went so far as to . . . sort of offer a compliment? Was it a compliment? Being able to hold your liquor had as many negative implications as it did positive applications, so.

Coming from the kind of person who thought to challenge random strangers to this sort of contest . . . ?

Sure, whatevs. He’d take it.

Might be his only win of the night, anyway.

—especially taking his competitor’s final remark into account, one that definitely made Timothy flinch just enough to be noticeable. “Yeah, uh . . . sort of asked for that,” he murmured, but at the very least still managed half of a chuckle in spite of himself. “Hey, I mean, all evidence to the, uh, contrary, but I’m not that big of an idiot.” Timmy shook his head, the rustle of fabric enticing him to pull that damned hood down—and probably for the better, considering things were going to get hot. ( . . . In, like . . . Y’know, literally . . . because of the alcohol.) “It’s not like I’m gonna say no to a good-looking guy giving me free drinks. Oh, and speaking of ‘voicing reservations’—”

He twisted some in his seat, facing his company more deliberately as he added, “I’m not the only one here committing to something before really considering it; what makes you think I’ve got anything you might want if you win this?” Tim cocked his head, a brow shooting upward. “Like, hate to break it to you, pal, but I don’t really have much I can offer in the way of, uh . . . winnings. It’s like playing a game for the grand prize of one solid lump of skag turds.”

"It's not a bad thing," Kaeya chuckled, "it just means that you're actually a match for me. I can count on one hand the number of people who fall into that category." It almost felt odd to divulge as much, considering how opposite it was to his typical game. Normally Kaeya would feign drunkenness, play the part of a lightweight who was in over his head and getting a little too friendly in his stupor.

But Kaeya wasn't here for information. There was no job; no pressure point to oh-so-meticulously prod and push to the limit. No, he was simply here for a good time.

Debatable whether that was lucky or unlucky for his chosen company. Only time would tell.

"That's the challenge, isn't it?" he murmured as he leaned in closer, his voice dropping conspiratorially. "It wouldn't be fun if it were easy, right? Besides..." In stark contrast to the mischievous glint in that watchful eye, his smile was innocent as could be. "What makes you think I'm not the same way?"

It wasn't just about the alcohol (although that was certainly a bonus). The real name of the game was observation: a test of intuition and the ability to see through the charade. Even without some grand prize at the end to serve as an ulterior motive, who said that the game itself couldn't be just as fun?

Especially with this one as his second player. Kaeya laughed fully as his companion raised more concerns. "I think you've set a new record; I've never met anyone who asked so many questions about being given free alcohol." Reaching for his own glass, his attention remained fixed on the other man's hooded profile as he swirled the liquid inside. "If you had reservations, you should've voiced them before accepting the first drink. You're in it, now; might as well see if you can win."

[curseofaphrodite]

Midnight Chase

REGULUS BLACK X READER

one more marauders fic before I move onto Avengers :) Also, I keep writing Reggie as moody and silent so I wanted to explore the headcanon of him being more like his brother. Have some flirty and sarcastic Regulus for a change!

"Let's try to see this in a positive light," James said, in the middle of the pitch-dark forest which was possibly infested with dementors or worse. "We could think of this as camping!"

Your groan was in sync with Lily's.

"Right, Sirius? Didn't we always want to go camping—?"

"Oh I don't know, I'm not sure I find the death-eaters-made-us-dissapparate-to-an-unknown-forest-while-a-literal-war-is-going-on part all too pleasant!" Sirius replied, which was the closest to a disagreement he had with James. The latter feigned hurt.

"We're all tired," you sighed. "Let's just find a place to rest and we can go back to the headquarters in the morning."

"What if it's too late then?" Sirius said, almost nervous. His mood being depressive was very unlike his usual self, but you weren't too surprised either. The Order was the closest thing to a family Sirius had, and it seemed as if everyone's lives were hanging on by a thread.

"We'll be fine," James, ever the mother of the group, tried his cheerfulness again. "I'll pull up Hogly's tent charm and—"

"No!" Lily said quickly. "Are you stupid? Don't answer that. If we use magic, there's a good chance they'll trace us to where we are."

"But we're of age," Sirius said, outraged. "The Ministry wouldn't trace us — unless, yeah they're infiltrated. That makes sense."

"No magic?" James's mouth fell open. "At least we could use lumos?"

"No," you shook your head. "It's better not to take any chances."

"But then how would we see?"

Even in the darkness, you could feel Lily's gaze on the back of your head. Being two muggle-born witches of the group, you realized there was a lot you needed to do to survive the night.

"Bring me a couple of sticks. And dried leaves. Lots of them."

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

THREE HOURS LATER

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

Light snores came around you, but you were far from asleep. If your guess was right, it was over two in the morning, so the sun would be coming up soon anyway. It took everything in you to focus on the stars and not on the events that led you to apparate here.

Y/N! Get out of the way! Moody had yelled as the death eaters appeared. It was your first time seeing them in cloaks and lifeless masks. You felt exposed, but with the headquarters three feet away, you couldn't run in and let the death eaters follow you.

Moody's sound from the inside had already tipped them off, but they couldn't find the location of the safehouse as long as the charms held up.

Feet rooted to the spot, you felt ashamed to feel your hands shaking.

Can't even hold my wand right, you thought to yourself. And as if on point, your friends had gotten out of the house and placed themselves by your side. If you couldn't get in, they weren't going to let you get outnumbered on your own.

Sirius, Lily, and James were three of the bravest people you knew, but you couldn't let them get hurt on your behalf.

So you did what you should have done at the start. You held on to Lily's hand who grabbed James by instinct. Sirius was to your left, so you placed your other hand on his shoulder, and with every inch of your determination left, you disapparated on the spot.

Now with the same guilt washing over you, was it even a surprise that you couldn't sleep? You won't rest your eyes for five seconds before you let your friends get in the headquarters safely without any nasty surprises.

A soft rustle interrupted your dark thoughts. Being hyper-alert as you were, you snapped your neck towards the source. Another rustle rang out — this one sharper than the last. You stood up, cautiously walking to the root of the sound.

Bunny. Please let it be a soft, cute bunny.

You held your wand high, and someone — a human — let out a startled sound. More rustles followed, and before you could figure out what was happening, a person dashed off right in front of you.

"Hey, STOP!" Was it stupid to follow a stranger in the middle of nowhere simply because they appeared scared? Yes. Did you do it anyway? Also yes.

Both of you sprinted through the forest, the trees being a bare blur. They refused to slow down, so you kept up the chase. The adrenaline helped through most of it though the unknown silhouette was almost non-human in its speed. You pushed harder with your muscles burning, and finally, with a hopeless leap, you collided with the stranger.

They hit the ground hard, rolling over the damp earth. The impact knocked the wind from your lungs. Your fingers dug into the rough fabric and the stranger's hood fell back.

You gasped.

"Regulus?!"

He looked shocked to the core, either from your strength or from the fact you knew his name.

"How do you even know me?" he asked, his voice a whisper from all the gasping for air.

You pointed your wand at his throat.

"Well, you're a little unrecognizable without your mask."

His face drained what's remaining of the blood.

"I just wanted to — can you stop poking that thing inside my nose?"

"I'll poke it wherever I want, you traitorous little scrumbag!"

"I thought you were above that sort of thing."

"Why would you think I'm above name calling?"

"No, the poke it wherever you want part."

Your face reddened. "Shut up while I decide what to do with you."

He laughed. "I'm sorry, it's like you're not hearing yourself!"

Why the fuck is the usual depressed emo Regulus Black as happy as can be? Then again, it was the midnight in a deadly forest so he might have felt right at home.

"That's it, I'm charming your mouth shut." You pointed the wand even further, and he let out an ouch!

"I'm telling you again, get that thing out of my face before I sneeze all over it."

"Ewww," you stood up on instinct, and he used that moment to get his own wand and point at you.

A moment passed.

"You're so... crude," you said in distaste. "I thought you weren't supposed to be like your brother?"

"Something to do with genetics, I assume." He smiled warmly. "Now, I'm only going to say this once."

"Expelliarmus!" you shrieked.

Nothing happened.

He sighed. "I'm skilled in occulumency. I used a shielf charm the moment you said expel. Spells always have too many syllables, don't they?"

You lowered your wand in exasperation. He did the same.

"What do you want?"

"Didn't realize this land belonged to you."

"You could have disapparated the second you saw me. Why didn't you? Why are you here in the first place?"

"The Dark Lord sent me."

You tilted your head and thought for a second. "I highly doubt he'd send only one of his death eaters if he knew where we were, let alone the youngest and most inexperienced."

He gasped, just as dramatic as Sirius. "Are you saying I came here just to be pinned down by you?"

Yup, exactly like Sirius.

"Barty has pull in the Ministry," he went on under your shrewd glance. "I tracked down my brother."

"But we never did any magic here..."

"I've been tracking him since he left home."

You blinked in surprise. "You what?"

"Just to make sure he's alright. . . though I doubt you'd believe it."

A man in moonlight trying to explain his sins. You'd be a fool to believe his words. And even more stupid to ignore them altogether.

"What do you want?" you asked again.

"I was just checking in on my brother, as usual. And I saw someone stargazing. I recognized it was you."

"And?"

His gaze softened, then he immediately cleared his throat. "And I was wondering if you'd speak aloud like some damsels in distress do. I thought I could reply from the trees and surprise you like the skies have replied. But you didn't move, nor did you speak."

"Do you usually go to Elizabethan english when you lie, or is that a quirk?"

He laughed, though it appeared forced. "Trust me, I was just caught leaving."

"Why didn't you disapparate then?"

"Do you honestly think they'd only track the Order? I wasn't going to take any chances."

Regulus Black was... nice?

"Well, I'm not sure how much I trust your words," you said, face high. "Come back with me to see Sirius, and let him make something out of all of this."

"No." It's the first time he sounded serious through the entire conversation. "My brother hates me. He does. I don't want to talk to him."

"But—"

"Y/N." His voice was stern. "I have to go. Take care of my brother — just until I'm back, okay?"

"You'll be back?"

"I've to take care of something," he said, his hands unconsciously touching his locket. "But after that, I'd be back. The freest man in the continent, you'd say."

"I don't trust you."

"So you've said." He walked towards you, giving you a quick hug. It felt awkwardly sweet, as if he's giving a hug for the very first time. You froze, but before you could do anything, he already let go.

"Time's running short," he grinned. "Now, the real chase begins. Do start running."

"Wait, wha—"

But he had already gone, disappeared in the blink of an eye. How can he disapparate if he said he wasn't going to take any chances?

Oh shit.

You remembered how you broke the protection first when you tried to disarm him. How the expeliarmus might have made death eaters alert. Regulus Black had cleverly evaded the scene and you probably had seconds to warn others.

You disapparated on the spot to your makeshift tent, but not before looking at the spot Regulus Black had previously stood.

I'd be back.

You found yourself hoping that was a promise and not a possibility.

THE END

_________

commissions | kofi

[cal-writes]

Can you tell more about the "Law and Zoro in snow" piece?

sure! i was inspired by the idea of law being able to shamble with snowflakes and thought that was such a cool concept. dont really have a plot just that scene. i do have a little more that what i shared before! part 1

-

A fourth pierces through the borders of his room but similarly loses velocity quickly. The air is close to underwater in terms of pressure, rooting them both in place. 

Law squints at the horizon, stifles his breath so the mist of it won't obscure his vision further. 

There is nothing. The prison complex sits silent and still further back, no movement from there. He tries to figure out the trajectory of the bullets but their impact into the room as warped them to the point its hard to even tell their shape. It came from behind  them but that's all he can tell. And there is nobody behind them. 

Zoro stands with a grunt and presses up against Law's back with his own. "Can't see them." He mutters. Law feels something wet and warm where their shoulders are pressed together. 

"Me neither." Law says between grit teeth. He can't move the room with them, only expand it which would only cost him energy. Not to mention moving in it will tire them out fast. Dropping it without taking care of their threat will get them killed. 

He feels Zoro tense through the line of their backs. "Above." He grunts and before Law can look, Zoro shoves them apart, landing him in the snow. Something cuts through the room. Law tries to stop it but it glides through his powers like sand through his fingers. 

Sea stone. Zoro curses, glaring upwards, his eye glinting dangerously in the dark. The white snow around him is speckled red, black feathers clustered in wet clumps and Law has to look away. 

There is a ship in the air, flying so silently that it must be a devil fruit ability - Law has never seen such technology before even from geniuses like Franky or the people of Wano. He focuses his observation Haki but the people above them must be trained in it too. He can't get a definitive number. They are too high above, clearly familiar with Law's power and keeping their distance. 

"Drop it. Won't do any good." Zoro grunts, taking steps backwards while keeping his eyes up above. 

"We're sitting ducks down here." Law says. 

"Can't you bring them down?" Zoro asks tersely. 

"If I could I would have done it already. It takes time to expand the room to their height." He grits out, sparing the second to glare at Zoro out of the corner of his eyes. Both of them jump out of the way as the next round of projectiles hit, landing in the snow. "Where did they get seastone bullets?" Law growls and returns the air pressure to normal so at least their own movement won't be impeded. 

Despite stopping, the vessel keeps its distance. They want to take them out from afar then. 

"Do we run?" Zoro asks and the wind picks up, making Law's coat billow behind him like a shadow.

Law's eyes flicker around their surroundings. Curses himself for not taking camouflage with him. Zoro stands out like a dark shadow in the snow. Another projectile pierces through his borders and instead of trying to stop it, Law raises the snow to swallow it. A whole salvo follows right behind it. The seastone is in nail form, the same as it had been in Wano. It gets caught easily by the frozen water but the regular bullets rip right through. Even as he expands the room by the time he's caught up to their attackers they'll be ripped to shreds. 

Zoro rips a nail out of his leg, blood spraying. "How high can you toss me?" 

"What?" Law's head whips around to face him but Zoro's has a singular focus at the sky. His entire body is tensing for a fight even without any weapons. The air around them seems to shift and Law knows that it's not his doing. "You have a plan?" He asks, swallowing. He hadn't felt this from Zoro since their fight against Kaido. "You won't be able to knock them out, even with Conqueror's Haki. They can already hide from Observation." 

"Not all of them." Zoro says quietly. "Not what I'm doing anyway." He adds. Law exhales sharply to telegraph his annoyance, moving a bank of snow in the way of another hail of bullets. One manages to craze his biceps. The cold makes him stiff and slow. 

"I need something to switch you with." He says and focuses to increase his reach. He'll have to trust that Zoro's plan works or he'll spend all that energy for nothing. 

The prison building suddenly floods with light, becoming a beacon in the waste and a siren wails in the distance. Law curses. 

Zoro kneels down, digging through the snow with red fingers until he unearths one of the regular bullets. He holds it up for Law to see, waits for his nod and Law decreases the gravity in the room before he throws. 

Law shifts his stance, focuses on the path of the bullet. "Get ready." He says. 

Just before the bullet leaves his area of influence, he Shambles. The metal ball drops softly into the snow next to him as Zoro disappears into the air. Law squints into the dark, but in the night sky all he can spot is his white hat on Zoro's head. Zoro spreads his arms, the blue coat surrounding him before he spins. The air itself seems to cling to him, turning into a cyclone around him before he sends it off, straight at the airship. Law gapes.

The force of the twister moves the air even down on ground level and it advances quickly upon the ship in the air, catching it in its path and ripping it apart. 

Law shakes himself out of his awe as Zoro drops back down. A comet in blue and black feathers as he falls into Law's room. He shifts the air pressure once more, slowing his fall before he Shambles him back with the bullet so that the momentum won't carry over. Zoro still lands with a thud back in the snow, arms spread. 

Law's coat falls open, belt lost somewhere. Zoro's skin is slick with red. He sits back up as in the distance the ship falls. "You can just do that?" Law asks, offering a hand to help him up. He can barely feel Zoro's hand in his own, limbs too numb at this point. Zoro shrugs with one shoulder before he winces, seemingly just remembering that he'd been shot. "Why even use a sword at this point?" He adds incredulously. 

Zoro glares at him. His eyes flicker over Law's shoulder and the siren wails again, reminding him of their new problem. Law curses as he looks back, seeing the throng of people spilling out of the prison and towards them. 

"How about we run?" Zoro asks, panting. 

"Taking the words right out of my mouth." Law says and they take off. 

Despite their brief stop, the snow doesn't get any easier to run in. Even as he feels increasingly numb from the cold, the nicks of the bullets burn making everything take even more effort. 

Zoro, already not at full percent from his captivity, starts falling behind worryingly quickly, forcing Law to slow down as well. 

Their pursuers are mounted on some creature that makes Law think of an unholy mixture of Bepo and Chopper, long reindeer like legs with a big furry body. For how ridiculous they look they are much too fast. 

"This isn't going to work!" He shouts at Zoro. They have to weave as another salvo of bullets rushes their way. "Split up!" Law tells him before taking a sharp left. His hand glows as he creates his room, taking a wide turn until he is running right at their attackers. Zoro mirrors his movement on the other side of them. Someone in their troop whistles sharply and they split into two groups. 

Law really wished he had his sword right about now but needs musts. He expands his room and from there it's easy to take the riders off their mounts. Three of them get trampled as he switches their positions, two remain seated, resisting his ability. They must have seastone on them then. Law dodges with a roll, getting snow down the back of his shirt as they ride past him, cutlass drawn to swing at him. Across the way he sees Zoro wielding one of those swords, one of the riders scrambling in the snow. He catches his eye across the way, quirks his brow and with Zoro's nod switches their places. 

Zoro cuts into the side of the rider that had been advancing on Law and helps himself to another sword as he does it as Law sorts through the seastone carriers with a flick of his wrist. 

"This one's Trafalgar!" Someone shouts and Law glances around frantically but in the chaos it's difficult to tell who said it. He's confused for a brief second, before he sees Zoro disarm one opponent, wearing Law's coat and hat. Law doesn't get the chance to curse, having to dodge a sword stroke but feels the urge to. He grits his teeth. Now it makes more sense they were shooting at Zoro as they were running away. They wanted to recapture him and stop Law from taking him away.

Now that their accidental misdirection is cleared up their attackers shift their focus. Law doesn't even need to try using his powers to know that the ones focusing on him will be armed with seastone. 

Zoro roars from the distance and Law sees him cut down one of the goons that dared to turn its back on him. "Law!" He orders. Law bristles but if he tells himself he was about to propose the same thing, he doesn't want to refuse to follow it out of principle. 

Zoro drops one of the swords in the snow as Law crooks his fingers and swaps their places once again. 

Law's hand wraps around the hilt, finally having something to parry with. One guy clashes with his sword before Law lands a kick in his stomach to send him flying. He ducks out of the way of the next swing, catches Zoro's eye and switches them again. A guy with a rifle scrambles to adjust his aim when Law cuts into his hand. Zoro has gotten himself another sword and Law has a brief moment to think about how strange it is to see him with only two.

[11queensupreme11]

Me: I'm going to read Arsenic blues, wishing to see what the queen has to us ❤️

After reading the note: The fuck!?

Can't believe people are really stealing your job and asking why they haven't the right to it. People are crazier every time I check is half concerning and half amazing how their brains work

Have to be nice, living in that fantasy world for free and without Isekai yourself.

Be for real and growth. Write your own stuff and don't come here asking yourself why the author is mad when you literally just committed a CRIME

Anyway, great character as always queen! ❤️

It is amazing how Loki has one type, defender of rights only person here that knows about human rights and thinks they deserve it.

Loki's the "fuck around and found what happens" god and is always hurting him but he can't scape the consequences of his own actions

Dumb bitch, you're lucky you're hot

Baldur was the first to say: they deserve to live cause you created them and if they're bad it is because you all are worse, maybe if you all learn a minimum of moral they would be better ❤️

I love him, Loki really didn't deserve him, he doesn't deserve Percy either but Baldur is... *Chef kiss*

He was the first, if you know what I'm saying, it is even wonderful how a person (god) can be so kind without knowing what it really is. It is hard to be kind, but without an example!?

Made him the god of humanity and sent him far away from Loki's (too late)

Loki: what's wrong here? Him or me?

Me: You have one chance, and hint, it isn't Baldur you asshole

(That hint of karma. Poseidon is going to lose his daughter, one as loved as Baldur and it's just his fault cause he doesn't have a heart. Love that for him. I love him but I also love the drama)

(Maybe we're more like the gods that we like to think I guess)

Thinking about it, maybe Percy being too gremlin with him IS a good thing.

No matter what, that side of her, the way she's always ready to fight but also being ready to relax with him is his... Well, Loki is always on the edge, but her giving so much kindness to him is also pushing him away.

She chooses to spend time with him and genuinely enjoy that time when he isn't tricking her (to the surprise of EVERYONE including him)

(Percy, being too kind is one thing)

At least he's learning that maybe killing and hurting your loved ones isn't the best decision.

Took him millennials but progress is progress

For now, act 4 is going to give him a ticket express to that fall to madness

Beelzebub...

Well, his trauma is stopping him right now, but I trust him to find a way, it's the smartest one so I'm going to wait before saying something

(For once, the author's favorite is one of my favorites)

(Just laughed cause that is karma right there, you were the one always making the deals with bad ends, now is your turn babygirl. Still rooting for you king ❤️)

Thanks for the chapter Queen and remember, a alive Nico is the best kind of Nico ❤️

bro omg that plagiarizer was weird af. did you see the old ask asking for permission to make an hp x pjo x ror fic inspired by mine? THAT TURNED OUT TO BE THEM. they made a third wattpad account sfahdvbjhv 😭😭😭

i made another chapter calling them out on wattpad and they deleted the books and fucked off (they'll probably be back with a fourth account 💀) but yeah, that's just weird behavior fr 😭

and also.... the thing i wrote about poseidon getting karma? yeah, that's a big ass hint for the future HEHEHEHE

and yesss percy actually does enjoy loki's company most of the times, he just ruins it by... you know, being an asshole to her sometimes, but other than that, she likes hanging out with him! she actually considers him as a friend (but beelie is her #1 bestie in the ror verse LMAO)

[gaywatch]

So I started watching the first episode of The Sign, right? I'd had it on my computer for a couple/few days and couldn't immediately remember what it was actually about, but I knew it was a new Thai BL genre mashup thing I'd seen on my dash and that's good enough for me.

A team of special agents infiltrate a big warehouse/facility place at night. Okay. Cool. There are bombs and a hostage? Sure. One guy tells other guys what to do, so he must be the leader, and he tells a few guys to focus on the bombs and the others to find the hostage. They encounter bad guys when they get inside, and some of the fight choreo is cool and some of it is absurd, but I'm just happy to be seeing an action-oriented BL series and I've seen worse crimes committed by a low budget, no big deal.

But it's been a few minutes into the first episode now, and I'm starting to wonder a few things. We have stakes, technically: there are bombs and a hostage--it would be bad if the bombs went off while the team was inside because they would get hurt or killed, and by default we don't want to see a hostage harmed.

But we have no context. At all. I'm five minutes in and I know nothing. Who's the hostage? Who are the bad guys? What do the bad guys want? Why do I care? I'm assuming this is like some quick action-y beginning and we'll cut to a main character at some point to see the "real" first scene of the show, but now it's been like seven minutes and we're still here in this warehouse place. If the special ops team are supposed to be the cast, I haven't heard a single scrap of dialogue that wasn't about the task at hand. I haven't even seen anyone's face yet.

Tagging @bengiyo, @lurkingshan 'cause they were interested in a side comment I made about this in some tags.

Even when they finally start to pull up their masks and talk, it's all immediate business (which is somewhat understandable given they're in danger but we're still lacking important context). Who am I rooting for? Who are these dudes? Why is this one sequence taking over ten minutes without giving me anything or anyone to latch onto? Are they assuming I read a blurb on the premise of the show and then immediately hit play? Because that's a cardinal sin--you never assume that everyone who watches your show or reads your book will know the premise, even in this day and age. You always lay in the necessary exposition/context to immediately anchor the audience into the premise and main character (or cast). (The only time you can assume everyone already knows at least the broad strokes of a concept is in fanfiction, but even then there could still be changes you made that you need to clue people in on from the get go. )

Then Tharn got his first premonition about Phaya, and I was like 'ohhhh, this is a story about a guy with some form of precognition who's in some sort of special forces. I wish they could have brought this up ten minutes ago, but okay.'

And finally, the big reveal: it's all a test! They're trainees, not officers! Well, that certainly explains why we got zero context all this time, because they didn't want to give away The Trick. Except it didn't feel like a clever rug pull at all. Worrying that the audience will clue in to what's going on doesn't mean you get to just Not Tell Them. You mislead them instead. The team could have easily rattled off the necessary details and context about the mission--after the training reveal, we would have chalked it up to practice mission prep. And with no context or reason to care about anything, I sat there for fifteen minutes only to be told that I didn't have to care anyway because it was all staged.

I would have taken any context, even something super cliche and ham fisted. "Okay boys, remember: our old mission commander is being held hostage in there and they'll kill him unless we hand over their psychotic leader. It took us weeks to track them down to this warehouse, and if they escape again it's game over. Don't let me down!" or something, anything for me to latch onto besides Dudes Doing Things. It's okay to mislead the audience, in fact you pretty much have to in order to pull the well worn "it was all an exercise" trick in the first place.

And fifteen minutes to pull all that off was a rather astonishing waste of screen time. The opening scene in the 2009 reboot of Star Trek establishes a handful of characters, makes you care about them, takes them through an amazing high stakes action sequence, and has you in tears at the end as we watch a guy we've only known for a few minutes sacrifice himself to save what's left of the crew as the film's protagonist--his son--is literally born, and it does all of that in almost half the time.

Compare that to The Sign, where in fifteen minutes we know: dudes in black fight things, one guy has premonitions, and actually they're trainees. No complexity, emotional stakes, or context beyond that. I was floored.

But what really made my jaw drop came after that.

A first episode has a lot of heavy lifting to do. You're introducing a world, a cast, promising the type of fun that's to be had, kickstarting the central relationships, etc etc. One of the most fundamental aspects to all this set up is to let us know why the main character/cast is here, what they're trying to do, and why it matters if they fail. And the entire first episode of the sign doesn't have that. At all. Period.

Oh, we're introduced to characters, the harsh training, Tharn's gift, Tharn and Phaya's initial dynamic, but once again we're given no context or emotionally relevant exposition. Who are these dudes? Why are they training? Why do they care about becoming special ops? What's their motivation? Goals? Obstacles in the way of that goal? Motive/Goal/Obstacle is the engine of story, and we're not given a single one until--and this is what blew my mind--almost halfway through the second episode.

In episode two we finally get a line from Tharn's bff about how if Tharn doesn't get onto the special ops team he won't be able to investigate his dad's (parents? can't remember) mysterious death.

A goal! A reason to care about Tharn's training! Emotional investment! Except it's coming way, way, wayyyyyyyyyyy too late. We should have known about this in the first five minutes of episode one. They should've found another fake hostage, Tharn should've lifted his mask and said "shit, if we fail this I'll never have what I need to find out how dad died." THANK YOU, now I have a reason to care.

I was shocked at such a massive oversight, like I'm gonna remember it as a cautionary example for a long time 'cause that's just wild to me.

[solottrpgchronicles]

1d. First Day at the Lab - Outliers

Name: Ren

Day: 1

Funds: $ 100

Today is my first day working at Ar Leith Labs - I can't believe I finally landed a job!

To be honest, I didn't look too deeply into what they do at Ar Leith Labs - I basically sent my curriculum to every neuroscience research lab that was hiring. Now that I'm here, I can't even find a pamphlet explaining the research in detail.

Ok, I'll be professional and go introduce myself to my coworkers now; either them or the PI can tell me more about the job.

---

There are only two other research assistants in my group: Leanne and Perry; neither of them seems to be the chatty type, at least not with me. I was looking forward to meeting my PI, but Leanne told me that she has never shown her face around here.

Right then we heard the PI speak; it felt as if she was standing right next to us. This lab must have a pretty technologically advanced speaker system!

The PI's voice welcomed me and introduced herself as C.N, just her initials; she invited me to get acquainted with the lab environment, and help my coworkers out with anything they might need.

I found it a little odd that she's not meeting us in person, but maybe there's an excellent reason for it. I don't want to pry, especially not on my first day.

Nobody was available to give me a tour - lots of work to do, which is fair - so I walked around the lab by myself, studying the equipment. I didn't recognize any of the machines, except for the obvious desktop computer in the corner. That one even looks a little old, in contrast with the rest of the devices.

Leanne noticed me looking at the computer and asked if I know how to code; heck yeah I do, I took a few classes and I'm pretty ok at it! So she asked me to write a bit of code to generate graph data for her latest research data. It's strange that they don't have software for that already, but I decided to avoid asking any questions.

I took this opportunity to look over the data, hoping it would clarify what kind of research we're supposed to do here, but I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Oh, well.

I couldn't recognize the OS the computer is running either, but it seemed loosely based on Unix. I was making good progress until I started testing my code; I got the error "Unable to find or open '/Brain/TemporalLobe/Hippocampus/MISTAKE.png'". I'm 100% sure I never referenced this file, and what a bizarre name!

I immediately thought this must be a prank - Leanne and Perry must have planned this as a funny welcome for me. I resolved to laugh and tell them it was a cool prank; that would show them I'm chill.

Unfortunately, they kept insisting they didn't know what I was talking about. They looked annoyed, so I assume they were being truthful. Alright, time to debug.

A quick search of the codebase and external libraries for the file path in the error message yielded no results. I tried looking just for "Mistake.png" and got nothing once again.

Interestingly enough, though, "Ren/Brain/" exists, except there's only a "temp" folder in there. Maybe I don't have the right access levels to see other folders? There doesn't seem to be a root user either.

I bothered Leanne and Perry to see whether they have access to the other folders - they don't, but they have their own users on this machine, with their own "/Brain/" folders. Also, my code wasn't available to them. They said the users were already set up for them when they joined, just like mine; IT support must be incredible around here.

In the end I decided to share the code with Leanne's user, in the off chance it would work for her. It did, just like I hoped, and Leanne got her graph.

I don't fully understand, but... great. Maybe I should talk to the IT support people, or take a few more coding classes.

---

The rest of the day was spent on boring menial tasks.

I bet my coworkers think I'm more trouble than I'm helpful, but hey - they'll change their minds, soon enough. After all, I didn't graduate top of my class just to be ignored at my job.

Luckily, at least C.N. already sees potential in me: before I left for the day, she said tomorrow I'll be tabling at an event called "The Gathering"! My first table, and on day 2? I can't wait!

I forgot to ask for the address, but I bet I can find all the info I need online. I'm obviously being tested, and I will show initiative, dependability, and bring a ton of new participants for the study!

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

This is a playthrough of a solo TTRPG called "Outliers", by Sam Leigh, @goblinmixtape.

You can check it out on itch.io: https://far-horizons-co-op.itch.io/outliers

[attorneytrash]

I really really really love Such Terrible Tales, it's one of my favorite fanfictions of all time!! I was wondering how you write a "period piece" so well with all the terminology, dialog, and flow of the work feeling so reminiscent of 19th-20th century novels! (It still has its roots and humor in the modern era, but you get me.) Do you do a lot of research and editing before you publish a chapter or does it just flow naturally for you? Did you read a ton of Jane Austen and bodice rippers before penning the Jackdaw? Have you you plotted out Such Terrible Tales in full before writing or do you just fly by the seat of your pants (or do you do a mix of both)? Sorry if this is nosy, I'm just so curious and invested and I'm looking into writing fanfictions that captures a similar feeling myself ^q^

OH MY GOSH HIIIIIIII wait i've never gotten one of these before. this is so exciting. fair warning my advice will be terrible but you did ask

first off thank you I can't believe you think i write a good "period piece" (what is the period? we just don't know) because I feel like i'm so slapdash about it and it's all Vibes. ANYWAY I'M REALLY REALLY HAPPY YOU'RE ENJOYING THE FIC. TRULY

genuinely one of the reasons I started writing STT in the first place was because I was on a kick of reading stuff that takes place in that general era (again, what the actual era is remains unclear). A few people have pointed out the Jane Austen of it all, and I think when I was in the middle of reading an austen novel you can tell because of the language in those chapters. basically, I don't know if this is true of everyone, but I tend to lean into the style of whatever I'm reading at the time. I also think it helps, if you like audiobooks, to listen to audiobooks in the style you want to write in! Especially with older works, audiobook narrators are really good at getting the flow and cadence of the language across, and it helps get your mind flowing along and sort of "hooked in" to that style. or it does for me at least!

ALSO I do jot down a lot of notes, specifically little turns of phrase that I like! so for example, I wrote down to use the word "directly" meaning "right now" (as in, "I will read you the letter directly") and "presently" meaning "in a short time" (as in, "we're expecting his arrival presently"). Little things like moving words around too ("what have you there" rather than "what do you have there" etc) give it that sort of feel. if that makes sense. i just take a lot of notes

One tip I will give is that a little really goes a long way with old-timey language. I notice it less when listening to the audiobooks, but in older books the sentences are LOOOOOOOONG which is what makes them so hard to parse sometimes. And often in romance novels that take place in victorian or regency era they'll overdo the language to the point that it makes you roll your eyes (though I'm sure I've done that once or twice too)

ANYWAY I'M PRATTLING ON SORRY as for the plotting. I have a bare-bones skeleton that has all the larger plot twists in it, so I can make sure to foreshadow things. That being said, I think part of what's fun about a serial fic is coming up with things as you go while still having to stay true to what you've already written. One thing I will say is that it's EXTREMELY helpful to keep a couple cheat sheets: one is a timeline, which keeps track of all the events that happened in the past, when they happened, etc. The other is a list keeping track of what every character knows and when they find it out. It's saved me many times when I've forgotten who's aware of what secrets etc.

YOU'RE NOT NOSY AT ALL and in fact I'm seriously thrilled to get an ask like this bc i could talk about writing for days. I hope your fic goes well and that you have fun with it ^^

[practically-an-x-man]

5, 25, 30 for Kat/Ahk, and 42, 44 and 57 for Madison/Alex?

Thank you so much!!

Asks for OTPs and Self Ships

Katherine and Ahkmenrah:

5. Describe their cozy night in.

Depends on where they are. At the museum, they'll probably sneak off to one of the quieter places, like the planetarium or the ocean exhibit, and just cuddle up together and talk and watch the exhibit around them. Katherine's also figured out how to play movies in the planetarium theatre, so she's rigged that up once or twice.

If they're hanging out at Katherine's apartment, they'll probably share a late-night meal (or at least a snack) and cuddle up on the couch. Katherine's sketching, Ahk's reading something, they've probably got some music or a movie on just for a little ambiance, but they're really just enjoying the feeling of sharing the same space without the chaos and clutter of the museum.

25. Do they have any hobbies they share?

I mean, Katherine's definitely interested in learning more about Ahk's time, and especially learning to speak and translate his language, and he's more than happy to teach her. I think they both just have a lot of curiosity within them, and they enjoy learning together (whether that's one actively teaching the other, watching a documentary together and talking about it, or just parallel play where they're in the same room reading two books on completely different topics)

30. Your OTP gets to pick out each other’s outfits; what is each wearing?

Oooh, good question!

Katherine's canonically done this a few times across WWFA? and the sidepieces I've written for it, but she's picking something academic but comfy. Slacks, either a knit sweater or a vest over a dress shirt, maybe a jacket or blazer if it's chilly out. Something modern, comfortable to wear, but that's still going to maintain a bit of that "regal" look without being overblown (and, let's be real, he's gonna look damn good)

With Ahk, it's a little harder to predict. If he's given total free rein, he'd of course want to see her in clothes from his time, because wouldn't you if you were in his position? But if we're going based on what he could reasonably have available, I think he'd honestly try to recreate something he's seen Katherine wear often herself - he thinks she looks good in just about anything, but he also knows she still has a few deep-rooted insecurities and above all would want to make sure she's comfortable in what she's wearing. It might be the safer bet, but he'd rather see her smiling in an outfit he's seen her wear a hundred times than uncomfortable in something brand new.

____

Madison and Alex

42. What’s their favorite type of weather to enjoy together? (getting snowed in together, watching thunderstorms, etc.)

Madison doesn't like cold weather most of the time, but she loves hiking with him on those snowy winter afternoons. There's this sweet spot in there, right where it's cold enough that she has an excuse to snuggle up to him but not so cold that either of them are genuinely uncomfortable.

I feel like Alex would be the exact opposite - he's a fan of the hot summer days, particularly those where it's so warm and humid that a dip in the lake sounds like the key to the universe. It's another excuse for them to get close, but this one's a bit more in the line of splash wars and Chicken Fights and sneaky underwater kisses.

44. Who would dance in the kitchen making dinner? Would the other join in or watch from the doorway?

Madison for sure. She enjoys cooking a hell of a lot more than Alex does, for sure, and she's got that restless motion that would absolutely have her dancing. As long as she feels safe and at home, she'd absolutely dance around the kitchen! And I feel like Alex would go either way. Sometimes (especially when the other guys are around) he'd rather just watch, but other times (such as when they're alone in the house and there's nobody to walk in and rib at him for it) he's right there with her.

57. Whose the serious one when grocery shopping and who likes to toss random things in the cart?

Madison's the serious one, absolutely. Her mother was a lot stricter in teaching her efficient shopping and budgeting, for one, and her time in the woods gave her a lot of food insecurity that makes her very hesitant to waste any food she has. She's not putting anything in the cart without an idea for what to do with it, especially if it's a food that spoils easily.

Alex is definitely the "toss random things in" type - not to say he didn't also experience a bit of food insecurity from his time in prison, but he's been living off Charles' practically bottomless bank account the past few years, and his view becomes more "I couldn't have the food I wanted so now I'm going to try whatever the hell I want while I have the chance" in comparison to Madison's "I couldn't have the food I wanted so now I refuse to waste any of the food I do have"

And honestly, they balance each other out. Alex's method alone results in too much junk food and not enough ingredients of substance to make actual meals, while Madison's method alone is too conservative and doesn't leave room for snacks and other casual eating (since she's not used to having snacks and casual eating, she's barely gotten used to having three meals every single day again)

[nonuggetshere]

HI GIRL NEW IDEA BECAUSE I CANT LET FLOWER HAVE A MOMENT OF PEACE

But first, PK finds WL there chatting with Flower outside and ends up joining them, and they ask how Flower's been enjoying the ball

But later PK notices how they don't seem too excited to be around other people, only light up when around people they enjoy spending time with, including them

He goes off somewhere to process it and when WL finds him there he's almost crying

"My wyrm-?"

"My root, I–..."

"What's wrong?"

"...I'm sorry, I... I messed it all up again, I was...so wrong, they- ...they don't hate us, do they? They've been seeking us out all night, they light up when we're near, I...how could have I missed this? It's always just one blunder after another when it comes to them, why did I ever think it was ever alright for us to just- just-"

"...My love, even you can't be perfect. This is the first time we've spent time with them since the accolade, we couldn't have known-"

"Exactly, this is the first time we've paid them attention for months, and just look how happy they were about that! If I had- if we had just taken time to at least get to know them, it would never-"

He's cut off by the sound of the door opening and they look over to see Flower peeking outside, looking for them. He quickly wiped the tears in his eyes away but it seemed they already saw.

"Knight- I'm sorry, have you been looking for us?"

They nod but before either could reply they sign, their hands shaking and with teat hesitation but they still sign to their parents, "Are you alright, sire?"

PK wasn't sure if it was the visible concern or that word that felt like a hot blade being twisted in his chest, "...Mhm, just- taking a short break, the crowds are overwhelming at times and the nobles can be a lot. I'll be fine, we'll return shortly."

"...Do you wish to sit with us?" Their mother asked, "We can go back together, but it's good to catch a breather if you need it."

They pause then come sit by them, just a short distance away. Just enough for the gap to be noticeable yet still close to them.

She smiled, "The night is lovely isn't it?"

They nod and occassionaly glance in concern at their father.

"I like the balls, but I like sitting here in the quiet just as much."

PK looks at Flower, he can't meet their eyes...he looks away and through their bond reaches out to his lade beside him, his voice quiet, "...I don't deserve this concern or their worry... I don't understand why they care enough to stay by our side when..."

"And yet they do. Just appreciate it, my love, we can tackle this after the ball."

Later as they're returning to the ball and Flower is going ahead of them he just lags behind for a bit

"...Do you think they wish to be our child? Do you think they'll..."

And she just smiles sadly at him, "...I hope they do, despite everything..."

They decide they'll talk to them after the ball

But they don't get to, as not long after while they're away from Flower they hear a loud crash and look over just in time to see some nobles had tripped them and they landed on top of the table, taking it crashing down with them. The nobles laugh and taunt them, speaking to them something that neither monarch can quite hear. And PK feels his blood boil.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" PK flies over there in a rage, it takes everything in him not to bare his mandibles and hiss as he puts himself between his child and the nobles

His lady is right behind him, kneeling by Flower's side and carefully helping them up. The way they wobble and nearly fall again makes her concerned

"Oh- your majesties, we were just- they're just some clumsy, we didn't-"

"Do you think I am blind or do you take me for a fucking idiot?! Do not play coy with me, I've seen exactly what happened!"

"Come on," Their mother voice is soft as she holds them up, "He'll handle this, let's get you outside and cleaned up, alright?"

Later, after laying into these nobles and making them clean up the mess they've made, he joins his wife and child outside in the quiet, dark courtyard by the fountain.

They're sitting turned away from him, clutching the shawl in their hands, their cracked mask laying on the ground beside them.

White Lady looks at him, the two of them sharing that same concerned look.

"...How are they?"

"It seems they hit their head but they've healed now, they should be okay."

He let out a light sigh of relief, pulling out his handkerchief he approached them to gently wipe the pieces of food from their now messy and ruined hair, "Fates, look at you..."

A whine escaped them and immediately got both of their parents' attentions

"...Oh..." White Lady gently held their hand, "Your shawl..."

They held the formerly white, delicate fabric, now stained with red wine and ripped in multiple spots, tightly in their grip, their hands shaking as they fought back tears

"...I'm sure we can fix this..." Pale King gently took it from their hands to inspect it and immediately winced, it was really helpless "...Maybe we can sew it up and scrub the stains out. It won't be the same, but-"

"But red wine stains, darling? Wouldn't it be better to just get them a new one?"

"Oh, but all that work they've put into this one..." He looked at them, his heart cracking at the sight, and he gently handed them the shawl back, "...I'm sorry..."

"...It's okay, we'll get you a new one, you could even pick one for yourself. I'm sure you can make it just as beutiful as this one here."

Flower didn't reply, just hugged the shawl close

PK sighed softly and reached out to his lady through their bond as he gently brushed the crumbs of food from Flower's hair with hid fingers, "Love, what outfit did you say they liked second best again?"

"It's hung up by the door, that pretty silver dress with an overcoat."

"I'll go grab it then so they can change, you could try to clean them up a bit and fix their hair while I'm doing that."

The entire time their mother was fixing them up they didn't make a move, but it was clear they were upset. She tried to chat with them but it seemed like no matter what she did they just didn't light up like before. She even takes care to make their hair look even more intricate and beutiful, but they don't even react.

PK eventually makes it back with the dress and they go off to change, but when they return they just sit back down and grab the old shawl, running the fabric between their fingers as they look down. Their parents shared a look then just silently sat down with them, not wanting to leave them alone like this.

...But the nobles were right,

They had no right to be by the queen's and king's side, they didn't deserve this honour. They weren't even a knight, just a guard, a servant. They meant nothing to them, they weren't their child. They were nothing compared to them. Nothing. Just a nuisance, a bother, a mistake. They shouldn't be here, they dind't deserve it. They were just their fathe- the king's mistake, just a blemish on his name, a disgrace they were ashamed of, a traitor, they shouldn't be alive. They were nothing. Nothing compared to the king and queen. How dare they be in their presence? How dare they even think of them as their parents?

They let out a sob.

Then completely broke down. Just a full on loud, ugly crying into the shawl, burying their face in their knees.

The two tried to comfort them, but any attempts at reaching out were met with Flower pushing them away, swatting their hands away, shuffling away from them. They couldn't even look at them.

PK and WL stopped trying yet didn't leave, just sat close by them and kept them company until Flower cried it all out and calmed down.

Once their cries died down to weak, choked up sobs, PK slowly scooted closer to them

He removed the ribbon tbay kept his hair together and carefully reached for their braid, tying it into a little bow

The surprise of it was enough to make Flower completely stop crying and just look at him in surprise and confusion

"I know it's not the same as your shawl, but...this is my favourite ribbon, I always wore it, and I want you to have it now."

[pumpkinnning]

wow so this isn't a weird fever dream huh. still extremely mixed feelings

as a Lewis fan this makes sense for him, at least in some ways. The vibes at Merc have been off, he has a good relationship w Fred, and even if both Merc and Ferrari end up being meh he'll have swung for the fences and done sth iconic on his way out, that fits his legend status much more than just slowly fading out at Merc. I hope they'll treat him right and fight for him in case of issues like Merc just...didn't do much of late. But I am very worried about institutional/fan/media racism rearing its ugly head lbr

as a Charles fan I'm afraid this is gonna sabotage his chances to finally make his mark. but knowing how he likes to play everything on the hardest mode possible, he must be so incredibly excited to work with/learn from/fight with/potentially beat Lewis. And I believe in his abilities, I really don't think Lewis will wipe the floor with him like some are saying (or vice versa)

Overall I really hope this isn't just a prestige move but a sign that Lewis saw something he really, really liked in the current Ferrari project and that his remarkable instinct struck again and we're about to witness greatness. Lewis knows what it's like to be in a winning team and I hope he can bring things that will also end up benefiting Charles in the long run. I hope they fight hard and fair and that they're well matched and nothing happens to tarnish either of their reputations. Tbh I am still rooting for Charles to bring the WDC back first after all the years of struggle, but I also NEED to see Lewis win his 8th.

As a fan I am really excited to see them engage more - every time we've seen them go at it on track it's been such clean beautiful racing and the emulation levels could be quite extraordinary. I'm so intrigued to see them interact more and the possible vibes and narratives and potential connection over art/music/style. I hope Ferrari realizes they have a lot more to gain branding wise in working with Lewis re: the extracurriculars rather than restrict him (which I can't see him accepting anyway) - idk much about how all of that works lmao but surely there's some iconic fashion stuff they could do there like the Valentino stuff come on !!!! you're Italians ! you can do better than the McDonalds visuals...And Charles would take to this like a baby duck to water i think. they've got one driver that's a fashion icon and the other that looks like a model and also really into fashion they're insane if they don't tap that . in general as a fandom creator i am EXCITED by the possibilities

but yeah i think i am really not looking forward to the toxicity in the fan spaces, have already been seeing a lot of hateful shit, a lot of people being really pessimistic, and i really hope we can carve out a space for ppl who are fans of both and not make the whole thing too miserable for ourselves. in the end yeah it's sport it's passion it's myth whatever but it's also two guys doing their job for a very dodgy corporation so like. we have to look out for our own quality of life and make sure we're having more fun than sorrow

[ask-haruaki-honmaru]

"Ship content between swords"? Which ones? Any good examples of what to expect? What is your favorite?

Midare: Anon, I am SO glad you asked. Keeping tabs on citadel gossip is one of my favorite (self-assigned) duties. I even made a list to keep track!

Wanna hear about it~?

Kashuu and Yasusada: they've been together since before I got here, I think they were one of the first couples our citadel had. I'm not sure how it happened or who made the first move. According to Yagen-nii, they didn't really act any different except that they suddenly started holding hands a lot walking around the citadel, hehe. I guess they've always been inseparable, they were Okita Souji's swords after all, so it makes sense. They manifested within days of each other, so it's nice that Yasusada didn't have to wait long to see him.

Izuminokami and Horikawa: So… like… it's cute how much they care about each other, but they have NO shame. At all. Let's just say they were… um… really enthusiastic about experiencing everything that human bodies have to offer? I feel like almost everyone here has at least one story about walking in on them somewhere really unlikely. When Horikawa-kun manifested, I think Kasen was really hoping he'd end up being a good influence on his brother, but… it didn't really work out like that. Except Izuminokami's hair is always SO sleek and pretty now that Horikawa-kun is here, and Kasen's room is always much cleaner now that Izuminokami moved out of it, so it's not all bad.

Ookurikara and Tsurumaru: I'm not sure exactly when they got together, either. I think it was pretty quick after Kuri-chan joined us, but he's really private - and Tsuru-san talks all the time, but not actually that much about himself - so it's hard to say. They're not joined at the hip like Izuminokami and Horikawa, or Yasusada and Kashuu, but they seem really devoted to each other. And Kuri-chan gets SO jealous if anyone else flirts with Tsuru-san, hee hee. But I think they're really good for each other. Tsuru-san seems less stressed out when Kuri-chan is home, and Kuri-chan- well, he's still Kuri-chan, but he opens up a bit more around Tsuru-san.

Kasen and Yamanbagiri: Kasen was the one to show Manba-chan around when he first got here. Which I mean, he does that a lot, since he's the most senior sword, but Manba-chan really got attached to him, it was sweet. I think Kasen just puts him at ease, somehow. I see them walking in the gardens together a lot, and Kasen shares a lot of his unfinished poetry with Manba-chan, which is NOT something he lets many other swords see. Manba-chan's still rooming with his brother Yamabushi, but I think it's only a matter of time until he moves in with Kasen. We're all rooting for them!

Shokudaikiri and Taikogane: You should have SEEN the way Micchan lit up when Sada-chan manifested. They were so excited to see each other. Micchan used to talk about him a lot before he got here, so it wasn't surprising that they spent so much time together after he got here. Sada-chan's actually a pretty good friend of mine, since we go on sorties together a lot, so I heard a lot about their relationship as it was developing, hehe. It happens a lot with swords who were close as spirits, I think, where it just takes them a little while to figure out how their relationships work now that they have human bodies. I feel like Micchan just really, really wanted to do right by him, so he was taking it slow, but Sada-chan got really frustrated waiting for him to make a move. But TRUST me, they've figured it out by now. Micchan is super domestic and he dotes on Sada-chan so much, he's a real catch! I'm a little jealous!

Hasebe and Souza: It's really entertaining to watch these two go at it. They break up and get back together, like, ALL the time. I've lost track. Yagen-nii is SO sick of it. I guess their past is kind of complicated... Who knows if they'll ever work it out. It gives everyone else plenty to talk about, though. (Sorry, Yagen-nii.)

Nagasone and Hachisuka: If you ask me, it's super obvious that Hacchi is really into Nagasone-san, but I think he's too proud to say it. Urashima-kun keeps trying to get them to get along better, but... well, it only works sometimes. Nagasone-san is really patient, though. Well... I guess he'd have to be, being the captain of all the Shinsengumi swords. That's probably even more exhausting than dealing with Hacchi.

Kogitsunemaru and Mikazuki: So these two are definitely together, but I can't tell if they're just sleeping together or if it's more serious. The Sanjous are all pretty hard to pin down, I guess. And I'm actually not sure THEY know the answer, either. Mikazuki just laughs and walks away if you ask him about it. Maybe it's harder to figure out how human relationships work after you've been a sword that long...

Hizamaru and Higekiri: Okay. So. I can't prove anything but these two are WEIRD, right? Like, I don't act like that around MY brothers, you know?? It's just, Higekiri really likes winding up Hizamaru and it's right on the line where it could be flirting and I can't tell if he's doing it on purpose or if he's as oblivious as he seems. Hizamaru doesn't seem unhappy, though...? I guess it's fine if it works for them??? Relationships with forge-brothers are different for everyone, after all, it's not like with humans.

Hhmm, there's probably a few other swords who have a crush on someone in the Citadel, too... but that's a se~cret~! ;) If there's any developments, I promise to keep you guys updated~

[kanansdume]

I was really rooting for a well-done Bo-Katan redemption arc in this season. As weird as it was that Bo-Katan just sort-of took over as the main character of the show and sidelined Din, I've been wanting someone to focus on Bo-Katan's motivations and history for a while now and it seemed like we were primed to get it.

And in some ways, we did. We heard more about her relationship with her father and her faith, which definitely helps put a few things in perspective! I appreciate that!

But in other ways, we didn't. Not once did they actually have Bo-Katan or anyone else actually acknowledge the truly horrific things she's done or how she was the one who helped bring down Mandalore. Since the memory of her taking the Creed sort-of makes it near impossible for her to have joined up with Death Watch as a teenager and far more reasonable for her to have done it in her late 20s if not early 30s, she was fully aware of what she was doing when she made that choice. And she's refusing to take responsibility for that.

We're also not truly acknowledging all of Bo-Katan's FAILED attempts at leadership, from the way she had to rely on the clones and Ahsoka and the Republic to clean up her own mess with Maul, to being handed the Darksaber by Sabine only to lose it like a year later, and then to trying to find the Darksaber again afterwards only for all of her followers to completely abandon her the moment Din won the Darksaber instead. She's never been able to save Mandalore on her own, she's never been able to lead Mandalore into success or peace, and despite not really seeing any sudden growth or development in that area, I'm supposed to believe she's the Chosen One who will unite all of Mandalore now because she saw a rare creature in the water.

We see Bo-Katan lead a war party twice, sure, but she's ALWAYS been good at violence and war, so that's not exactly evidence of actual good leadership because she had that before and still failed over and over again.

What I want is to see Bo-Katan actually acknowledge the mistakes she made and recognize that the reason she failed was due to arrogance and a desire to live up to her father's high standards and expectations of her. What I want is for Bo-Katan to recognize why Satine was opting for pacifism and non-violence and try to find a middle ground between her respect for Mandalorian warrior traditions and Satine's attempts to stop the violence that was destroying them. I wanted to see more build-up to the whole "walks in both worlds" comment. I know we're 5 episodes in already, so things have to get moving, but I feel like we skipped steps and rushed this conclusion to her arc.

They don't have time to truly let her develop and grow because we're wasting time on this Imperial/New Republic bullshit that doesn't have any impact on the Mandalorians and shouldn't be here. We lost an entire episode to that storyline that could've been spent elsewhere. We should've had at LEAST one more episode with Bo-Katan bonding with the covert before getting to this point, let Bo-Katan acknowledge her mistakes more so that when she agrees to take up an attempt at leadership for a FOURTH time, I believe that this is something new rather than the same thing she's done the entire time.

I don't think Bo-Katan can move forward without acknowledging her history, who she's been, and what she's done. Pretending as though she's done nothing is an insult to the complexity her character could have if the writers were brave enough to allow it. Maybe they'll still have it happen in the upcoming three episodes, but at this point I'm a little skeptical.

[fandom-trash-xl]

EPISODE 1: CONSPIRACY

Hello, hello! Welcome back to weekly Dragon Ball commentary- feels good to say that, these posts were my roots on this website.

I would like to thank a friend for sharing their Crunchyroll and to apologize in advance to my roommate who has already caught me mid-ramblings- sorry, bestie, this is going to last several more Fridays.

Anyway, onto our very first episode of Dragon Ball Daima!

Firstly, an amazing "welcome back to Dragon Ball" recap. Since the Power Pole is due to make its comeback, I'm not surprised that they didn't forget to include a reference to the series roots in OG Dragon Ball- and the fade to them growing up AAAAHHH MY HEART

"Saiyans are known for appearing youthful for longer"- OH YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW

And speaking of recapping, we're introduced to the silly little demon clown guy, Gomah, and Shin's out-of-nowhere brother, Degesu, as they do an abridged Mystery Science Theater of the Buu Arc. Apparently, all powerful Demon Not-Kais still rely on pen and paper to take notes.

With no one left to oppose him after the disposal of the Majins and Dabura, Gomah's the king of the Demon Realm. And turns out Shin also has an out-of-nowhere sister too, Dr. Arinsu. Wonder why she has the God of Destruction gold collar? Might be relevant, might just be jewelry.

It's looking like I may have to finally dip my toes in the Xenoverse lore... we're getting suspiciously close to Towa territory.

However, Goku and his friends pose a threat to Gomah's power- because of course they do, it's Goku and friends- so we need a way to nerf them in the way that's not an evil wish. So, let's turn them into kids! GT BUT ON PURPOSE!

The Demon Realm has their own Dragon Balls created by a senile Namekian they picked up off the street, but they're guarded by these figures called the Tagamis- safe bet that they'll be fighting the Tagamis later.

We have a confirmed timeline placement! It's not long after the Buu Saga and Trunks is turning nine. Gohan is conveniently off studying... why the exclusion? We don't know yet.

And now for the two casual lore drop points that I proceeded to ramble about because my roommate had just walked in:

Saiyans get growth spurts at 15

I guess this was a casual excusing of Goten and Trunks still being short in Super and it sort of lines up with Goku in original DB. He grew slightly, but I guess he was a late bloomer because he was still rather petite at the King Piccolo fight where (not counting Minus) he was 16.

But, Gohan! He had a decent amount of height at 11 in the Cell Saga. Perhaps he got a little more of the Ox King genetics than Goten did.

Goku then proceeds to slander Vegeta's height and- "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

THE SECOND POTARA RETCON

Yep, it happened again. We went from "Potara fusion is permanent, we don't know what happened with Vegito" to "Potara fusion is permanent for Supreme Kais, but if it's two mortals, it's a hour" to, now, "it was Buu's stomach acid the whole time!"

So, instead of using the Dragon Balls to separate like in Super, Kibito Kai just had Buu eat them and spit them out.

I guess this helps confirm that Daima's running on its own track and won't lead into Super. Does this mean we have three separate canons now? I'm okay with this. At least this means my fanfics are safe.

Also, looking a bit pale there, Kibito.

Back to the plot:

Seems that all of the Namekians were originally from the Demon Realm! The Demon Gang can tell because of the pointy ears- I'm getting Owl House flashbacks.

Then what does that mean for Mr. Popo?

The old Namekian magnetizes all the Dragon Balls to the lookout- because of course he can- then reactivates them from their stone state- because of course he can.

Shenron's not dealing with any monkey's paws today and he's not going to guess like Ultimate Shenron did in GT- you're going to want to input all the settings you want for your turn people into kids wish. The adult gang are all first graders and the kids are now babies.

THE WISH HITS RIGHT AT THE END OF THE EPISODE

We'll have to deal with the fallout of this next episode. Hope someone fills Gohan in.

---

Feel free to send asks- I'll screenshot them if there's spoilers so I can put the question under a Keep Reading break if need be- or have a discussion in the replies.

Otherwise, stay tuned for more of my ramblings next Friday!

[bassiter2]

just wondering from your poll do you believe that if you don’t go to heaven you cease to exist or just continue to exist outside of it or something else? i find people’s beliefs on the afterlife outside of ‘you either go to heaven or hell’ really interesting and haven’t heard this point of view yet

well my genuine nuanced belief wrt other people is that you go where you expect/want to. i feel like if you have strong, deeply rooted beliefs about your afterlife, then it happens. heaven, valhalla, elysium, reincarnation, ceasing to exist, whichever. and yeah, i guess that counts for fire-and-brimstone hell too, like, if you wholeheartedly believe you deserve to go there and have accepted that that's where you're going.

though i think that's very rarely the case that anyone has that mindset where they 100% believe it and are chill with it and don't have any drive in them to wonder if something else might await them instead, because at least with the christian idea of hell, that's literally the worst possible thing. who wants to believe that they'll get eternal torture? i feel like the Bad Afterlife is just naturally gonna come with doubts.

i just don't think the christian hell makes sense, is my thing. like at all. there is nothing that anyone could do in this life, not even the worst people who've ever existed who've inflicted suffering on millions, that could warrant an eternity of torture. and i just don't think that there would be any notion of punishment inherent to the afterlife. i don't see heaven as a reward, either. and i definitely don't see it as one singular place in the clouds that exists to glorify god or whatever. i just feel like we mostly get what we want, because i think desire and belief themselves are powerful things.

i also do very much believe in ghosts and i feel like all the people who didn't have strong beliefs in their lifetime about where they would go wind up a ghost of sorts. the majority of them definitely don't get powerful enough to have any influence on the material world or do the stuff you typically associate with ghosts, like they're probably just kinda there. basically in (colloquial, not biblical) purgatory, spending time figuring it out before they (hopefully) move on.

anyway i just figure that after suffering through life (the real hell) we're just pure will and energy and can choose to do whatever, and "heaven" is really just shorthand for "a good place." i think in the long run pretty much everyone goes to some equivalent unless they fully want to just stop existing.

[lendmyboyfriendahand]

more in my Silmaril Saga of Scholomance

The first problem is the people on horses pointing swords at them.

The second problem is that the language they speak is totally unfamiliar.

And the soldier-cosplayers don't speak English. Or Swahili, or Spanish, or any other language Elrond speaks.

(The third problem is that Elros has now picked up how to say "I'm sorry, we're very lost. Do you have a phone to call our parents?" in half a dozen languages. He hopes the Scholomance doesn't give him spells in all of them - though at least Elrond will be there to help him out.)

It's still very clear that the people with swords are suspicious of Elros and Elrond.

They initially gesture for the twins to dump their bags right there on the muddy path.

Elros mimes losing things in the grass, and then gestures at the castle. He gestures dumping the bags.

There's a bit of conversation among the people with swords, but they eventually nod, and agree that the twins can empty the bags at the castle.

It's not as good as getting to actually keep their possessions, but it gives them a chance of recovering the things they'll desperately need to survive.

(Although Elrond has never heard of an induction happening late. They might not get the Scholomance at all, just living with the Feanorians for four more years, hoping that they aren't such alluring bait for mals that Caranthir refuses to let them share a house with his son.)

(And it won't even help if their mother sends the Silmaril, in a house that's very well warded but far from the Void. They'll have the mana they earn, and as much protection as the Feanorians wish to give them. No more.)

Elrond and Elros continue up the hill, surrounded by strangers on horses pointing swords at them.

Elrond tries to be polite, and introduce himself. Even Amras had looked at Elrond less as dead weight when he started calling him by name, rather than just "one of Elwing's brats".

"Elrond." He taps his chest.

The nearest soldier laughs, but the leader looks tense.

Elrond hopes his name just sounds like a swear word in this language, not a threat or insult. He tries again. "Elrond, my name is Elrond. My brother's name is Elros." He taps Elros's chest, then points at the one who laughed - though he keeps his finger very firmly in his own personal space, far from the sword at the man's hip. "What's your name?"

"Cirmacin." And then the man shook his head and said a long sentence containing Elrond and Elros's names, and a sideways gesture that Elrond couldn't interpret but was unsettlingly near to the height of his neck.

If introducing himself was already leading to death threats, Elrond ought to keep quiet.

That just gave him more time to worry though. He tried sending messages to Elros through their rings, but then he stumbled and lost track of the dots and dashes.

Besides, there was no real way to plan, not until they knew why these people were so offended by them.

Elros's message of "Amish but older and swords" was one guess as to what was happening, but incomplete. Elrond had just replied "ears", as the idea of a cult eschewing all modern technology except plastic surgery was even stranger.

The walk to the castle was only a mile, but it took far too long. Especially as neither twin had eaten breakfast or drank water that morning.

Elrond tried etymologies to pass the time. Cirmacin didn't speak Latin, but maybe his name was in it? Or Greek?

He nearly fell over when he realized it. This man with a sword was named in the conlang that Feanor invented - named "sharp edge", even!

Had the Feanorians been teaching everyone except the twins their father's secret language? Including a band of historical reenactors with bad tempers? It made no sense!

Still, Elrond wanted his twin to know. "Name is Feanor's conlang."

Both Elrond and Elros spoke it, but Elros had studiously avoided the habit of guessing a word's root language. The number of loanwords in English made it too great a risk.

Elrond was not expecting his brother to act on the information, they just tried not to keep secrets, and two heads were better than one to figure out what was going on.

Elrond was certainly not expecting Elros to immediately ask, "I still intend to go to the castle, but can anyone understand me?" in the language the two of them had been told for years was as great a secret as the Silmaril itself.

Nor was he expecting the leader of the soldiers to draw his sword and command a halt in the same language.

"How long were you planning to keep the naive act up, little spies?"

[variousqueerthings]

This is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me in my life. The only exciting thing!

Bill! I've been writing with a friend while watching s10 and this friend really doesn't like m*ffat, and I think by s10 all goodwill had run out and they do tend towards the most negative read of every episode, and bill as character generally

and look, bill is introduced with a truly stupid, fatphobic, rambly-in-a-bad-way bit of dialogue. we breathe deeply. we remember that we're here to do a rating and so this will be included in that. but also that there are many many facets of bill's character that are very interesting, fun, and different to anything we've seen since m*ffat took the helm on this show, and that this line -- while fucking... argh... is not repeated. but also just never should have existed to begin with

(also oh gosh, fatphobia as sexism and/or as political... it's really both isn't it, it's going on both, y'all making your first lesbian main character say fatphobic shit, c'mon!)

sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 7/10

sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 10/10

interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 8/10

furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 7/10

companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 8/10

the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 7/10

doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 7/10

isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10

internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 7/10

Politics (how conservative is the story): 7/10

FULL RATING: 78/100 (if I can count….)

m*ffat where was this energy five seasons ago???

OBJECTIFICATION: I knocked a whole three points off just for that "joke" to be honest. this episode is otherwise pretty good at writing its female characters, bill and heather

it's especially as a counterpoint to the paternoster gang, where lesbianism = sexy master/servant powerplay in leather, and look- look I am not averse to that as concept

but written my m*ffat on doctor who? yeurgh

point is, that's not bill and heather

PLOT-POINT: bill is the POV character in a way none of the other companions were in their first episodes (barring amy as a kid, but as an adult, not so much anymore). the doctor is some weirdo but compelling professor at her college, which she works at and secretly goes to classes at, her potential relationship with heather is what sets off the plot and carries it throughout, and is what drives the ending

it's pretty neat on the whole. my friend's main angry point about this episode (well one of them) was that bill was totally unconcerned with what happened with heather/that it should have had a bigger effect on her longrunning and... yehhh I'm not not in agreement but I do think that with doctor who being a bit of a bullshit-science type show in which characters don't die in a number of ways + that I know heather comes back at the end + there's that setup that they'll probably see heather again + the focus on bill's character as being in the closet to her foster mum (foster or adoptive, I've forgotten now) and working in a canteen and just not really knowing where her life is going and all of that wrapped up in meeting heather and that adventure with the doctor... it does work on the whole

it could have been more I do think that, especially heather's character, whom we know basically nothing about other than that she was probably depressed and wanted to travel places, but I think bill's emotions are far more grounded and long-reaching and important to the story than amy's or clara's ever were and this already in episode one

maybe I'm just happy to see something but I do think it's also something done -- for the most part -- quite well

COMPLEXITY: this plot as a mystery is quite fun. bill is just as much figuring out the doctor as she is the mystery of the puzzle. as such, it's kind of a slow-burnish that's not massive in scope, but I think it's rather delightful

CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: new companion called bill whom we already know a fair bit about, woman in a puddle, mystery in the cellar, nardole is still there, the doctor is having a bit of an emotional Time (when are they not -- but it's an evolving emotional Time)

COMPANIONS MATTER: bill does a lot in this episode, which is extra great because she's so new. it's a lot of questions, but also a lot of proactive behaviour, and it's also questions that are about bill learning and not about acting as a sounding board for the doctor all the time

“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: the doctor is mainly trying to stay out of things, and then bill drags them into things, and it's a bit about emotions and a bit about becoming a (grand)parental figure to bill, who needs some support, I like that this is the impetus that gets the doctor involved in the story... well, that and can't resist a mystery of course. and boredom. multitudes

also a defining thing the doctor does is go back in time and take some pictures of bill's mum for her. this is simply done out of kindness (and it doesn't hurt that it affects a later plot)

PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: I really like the callbacks in this one, it really says some stuff about the doctor-as-character where they currently are -- that is, looking with melancholy at the past. funnily enough, with river and susan on the same desk, it kind of ties river to that past more effectively than the show managed to do during her actual episodes, I feel

also by putting susan there, it says a lot about how the doctor is going to be interacting with bill. a very different kind of dynamic to any we've had before on nu!who

“SEXINESS”: I've put this highly, as I don't remember anything. generally this season I haven't remembered if there's anything (actually no lies, one thing just popped up, but not this episode), so I'll just have to operate on that assumption and... maybe take notes for the latter half. but I think we're relatively free of this anyway, considering a lot of the heteronormativity has been removed from the show at this point

INTERNAL WORLD: there is a university and bill lives with her foster mum because her mother is dead, and she works in the canteen and sneaks into lectures. honestly an old university is the perfect place for the doctor to hide, tenured professors are like cryptids

there's a biiit less on the queer side of things, and there will be throughout the season. this not to say that bill is not definitely a lesbian, in a way where I'd say (controversially perhaps) that clara never felt queer to me

but simply that it doesn't seem like bill's involved much in queer culture, and that culture doesn't affect the plot as such. I'm okay with this, I think there's still a lot to be said for how bill's lesbianism already affects the text for the better, but it is the point and I am doing this particular rating, so it should be said

POLITICS: I mean to strip bill to box-ticking (not in a bad way) for a second, but she's a black, working-class lesbian who's living with a straight, white foster mother, whom she's not out to

and she is the hero of the story. she's funny, she's kind, she sees things, she asks good questions, and she remembers very very well and applies what she learns to the situations she's in. while one might ask whether some of these aspects of her could have been explored more throughout her run, it's fair I think to say that they are explored and are recurring parts of her story and affect how she sees and moves through the world

I also think there's just something about this weird professor type seeing her in turn, singling her out as special, which is such a different way to how m*ffat has written the doctor opposite women since s2, in which only women who are suitably Special in particular ways (through being "well-bred" and "highly educated" and essentially very classist ideas of being from the right background, or by first being introduced as a mystery and then later as a character)

dare I say... he might have learnt something?

which is why, to bring the mood down for a second, her fatphobic ramble feels out of character for who we later learn she is, and just feels more like a throwaway joke on the side of m*ffat to show that... idk actually what it's meant to show. that bill rambles? that she's slightly awkward? and of course m*ffat doesn't know that fatphobia is a thing (I imagine) and so wouldn't have wanted to write it to show that bill has unexamined bigotries (which could be interesting, but not done in this way or with this character or with the themes of this season), especially is we're kiiind of seeing bill flirt with that woman in a later scene?

(I also think this ramble is weird in terms of how it describes the doctor, it's so nonsensical. is it implying the doctor was essentially sexually harassing this unknown woman? this unknown woman that she also objectifies before we even get to the fatphobia???)

I should actually just include it as a reminder to people, because it really does suck: "Okay, so my first day here, in the canteen, I was on chips. There was this girl. Student. Beautiful. Like a model, only with talking and thinking. She looked at you and you perved. Every time, automatic, like physics. Eye contact, perversion. So I gave her extra chips. Every time, extra chips. Like a reward for all the perversion. Every day, got myself on chips, rewarded her. Then finally, finally, she looked at me, like she'd noticed, actually noticed, all the extra chips. Do you know what I realised? She was fat. I'd fatted her. But that's life, innit? Beauty or chips. I like chips. So did she. So that's okay."

I am not negating that this was terribly written and offensive, but I do think it's also at odds with later bill and I don't take it in as part of her character, so much as a massive bit of bad writing on the m*ffat's part, same as, say, when the doctor grabbed jenny and kissed her without her consent, which would be a character-ruiner for me if I decided that that was part of my canon. this isn't quite as bad as that, but it's not a great way to introduce a character that you're meant to root for, and also just... I mean not that there aren't fatphobic lesbians but c'mon, you're showing an ostensibly queer perspective and you're turning her into a bloke????? nah nah nah, fuck right off with that

FULL RATING: 78/100 (if I can count….)

it's frankly wild how far and fast this jumped for the first episode of the season. its main detractor, really is that joke, and perhaps the general limitations in including a queer culture to bill's queer identity, but bill is -- on the whole -- fantastic and immediately shifts the show into a completely different gear

I feel like it's a shame she came here at the end, after a lot of people had dropped off, not just for one season in and of herself, but the final season of this entire era. it's a lot of weight to carry and I think pearl mackie does a fantastic job